AMA meeting: AMA collecting complaints on insurer directories

Doctors say insurance plans often fail to update physician listings.

By Pamela Lewis Dolan, AMNews staff. July 16, 2007.

Chicago -- Physicians can drop an insurance plan, move, retire, change practices or even die, and their information will remain the same in the insurer's directory, say doctors who are fed up with the inaccuracies in insurance plan physician directories.

At its Annual Meeting, The AMA House of Delegates approved a resolution calling for the Association to solicit and compile complaints by members regarding inaccuracies contained in health plan directories.

The House also resolved to have the AMA collect the physician complaints and make them available to members upon request.

Board Trustee Peter W. Carmel, MD, a pediatric neurosurgeon from Newark, N.J., said when inaccuracies occur, "it places physicians at a disadvantage when his area of expertise is not listed or is not correct."

"We believe these inaccuracies are financially mandated by the insurers ... to show they have a larger spectrum of providers than they actually do," said Peter Kaufman, MD, a gastroenterologist from Bethesda, Md. He said the inaccuracies have caused gastroenterologists serious problems when patients seek out specialists, and the physician's specialty is not listed or is wrong.

Dr. Kaufman went on to say he has seen physicians listed in directories up to two years after they have died.