News in brief - Nov. 28, 2005

AMA wants laws to require insurers to pay fairly for emergency care - Trustees' report finds little evidence of bogus ADA-based legal threats - AMA to report ways to protect doctors from HIPAA problems

AMA wants laws to require insurers to pay fairly for emergency care

The AMA House of Delegates asked the AMA to lobby for language in the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act or balance billing-related legislation "which would require all insurers to assign payments directly to any health care professional who has provided EMTALA-mandated emergency care, regardless of in-network and out-of-network status."

Despite being required by EMTALA to provide emergency care, physicians and emergency departments are inadequately compensated by insurers because federal and state laws don't expressly require fair payment, stated a Board of Trustees report issued at the AMA Interim Meeting in Dallas earlier this month.

Trustees' report finds little evidence of bogus ADA-based legal threats

Incidents of patients with disabilities and their lawyers threatening lawsuits against physicians for purportedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act "seem sporadic and unconnected," according to an AMA Board of Trustees report issued in response to a June Annual Meeting resolution. "It is difficult to tell whether these threats are part of a general strategy," stated the report, given at the American Medical Association Interim Meeting held in Dallas in November.

The report's recommendations, which delegates adopted, direct AMA members who suspect they are being unfairly targeted to contact the AMA's Private Sector Advocacy Group for assistance. The AMA also will post a notice on its Web site instructing physicians on how to report incidents. Existing AMA policy provides guidance on how to comply with the ADA. The Association published a comprehensive manual, "The Americans with Disabilities Act: A Practice of Accommodation," in 1998.

AMA to report ways to protect doctors from HIPAA problems

The American Medical Association will look into ways to protect physicians from Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violations when they contract for services overseas.

AMA trustees will report back at the Annual Meeting in June 2006 on how to provide safeguards for doctors who outsource services in good faith who are later found to be in violation of HIPAA privacy and security statutes. Delegates at the Interim Meeting in Dallas also approved a trustees report that urges physicians to exercise due diligence on HIPAA issues before entering into contracts with overseas business associates.

Some AMA delegates called for the AMA to address additional issues, including the need for information technology standards and for liability protections when physician business partners are the ones who outsource. The committee reviewing the testimony, however, said certain issues can be addressed only by doctors' personal attorneys.