The New State Government Relations Committee


By Alan Kaye, MD

As part of his plan to revitalize the government relations activities of the College, Steve Amis, MD, chairman of the ACR Board of Chancellors, asked me to chair a new State Government Relations Committee. Until now, the American College of Radiology has focused primarily on federal advocacy efforts. The ACR employs more than 20 people in the areas of government relations and economics to ensure the proper advancement of the ACR's legislative and regulatory agenda. The ACR also utilizes staff in the legal, quality and safety, education, and public relations departments to further assist its federal efforts.

Yet state politics may actually have more impact on members' practices than federal politics. State legislatures introduce more than 100,000 bills each legislative session, an increasing proportion of which are related to health care. These bills are screened by ACR staff, who then report to the state chapter leaders on the 250 to 500 bills considered relevant to the radiology profession. In the past such bills focused on medical liability reform, managed care issues, certificate of need, mammography coverage, reimbursement and quality assurance, radiologic technologist licensure and certification, physician self-referral and other scope-of-practice issues, patient safety and telemedicine licensure. Historically we also have assisted state chapters with their legislative and regulatory activities on an as-needed basis. Such assistance has included offering advice to individual chapters on developing the infrastructure necessary to help themselves.

In recognition of the more direct effects of state laws and regulations, the establishment of the State Government Relations Committee signifies a significant new focus for the College. Brad Short and I have enlisted 17 members for the committee from around the country, most of whom have considerable experience in radiology politics and are currently involved in issues of relevance to the committee and other states. The members are: Alan D. Kaye, MD, chairman, Connecticut; Steven B. Brown, MD, Colorado; Timothy P. Farrell, MD, Pennsylvania; Howard B. Fleishon, MD, Arizona; Thomas B. Fletcher, MD, Texas; Thomas S. Kilcheski, MD, California; Karsten F. Konerding, MD, Virginia; Lee A. Martin, MD, Georgia; Frank McWilliams, MD, Ohio; W. Ross Stevens, MD, Illinois; Thomas J. Stoffel, MD, Illinois; Christopher G. Ullrich, MD, North Carolina; William G. Wolff, MD, New York; Robert J. Entel, MD, Florida; Ken Peelle, MD, Massachusetts; Robert Achermann (consultant), California; and Phil Pinsky (consultant), New York.

The committee has met twice since its formation in 2003 and has developed the following objectives and goals:

  1. Gather data from the chapters regarding their issues and needs; determine the level of sophistication in dealing with state legislative and regulatory matters; and determine the prevalence and nature of state regulations and laws of importance to radiology, such as certificate of need, self-referral and technologist licensure
  2. Develop the infrastructure for and method of communication among committee members, chapter leaders and rank-and-file members; disseminate information on potential problem-solving strategies; and educate the membership and the leaders
    1. Work with Committee on Chapters
    2. Develop newsletter and listserv
  3. Utilize College resources to make state chapter legislative efforts more effective and provide general guidance to states in establishing effective legislative surveillance and activity.
    1. Create handbook to serve as a resource for chapters looking to build a government relations infrastructure
    2. Create template for legislative branches of state chapters
    3. Create template for development of a request for proposal for lobbyist services
    4. Offer chapters consultations with ACR staff and committee members regarding specific issues (committee members can be assigned as liaisons to specific states)
  4. Encourage legislative activism within individual state chapters, perhaps by suggesting specific legislative initiatives (i.e., the teleradiology legislative issue of a few years ago)
  5. Proactively plan for and draft legislative initiatives (for example, radiologist assistant, self-referral, certificate of need)
  6. Aid state chapters in developing relationships with legislators

The College would like to become a better resource to chapters striving for success in their legislative and regulatory campaigns. It is important that we provide the necessary information and resources to those who are fighting radiology's battles on the front lines every day. The committee has begun implementing a process whereby it may be of help in achieving the goals of the committee and the general membership.

While our chapters represent the primary interface between the profession and state legislatures and regulatory agencies, I believe that the committee, with staff assistance, will be able to help chapters promote and defend the profession at the state level. I am also confident that the committee will have a successful 2004; the committee members already have impressed me with their breadth of knowledge, experience and commitment to achieving our goals. Just as important will be the continued assistance of the ACR staff.

The ACR Web site will soon have more information about the upcoming projects of the State Government Committee. To learn more about the work of the committee, contact Brad Short at (800) 227-5463, ext. 4975, or brads@acr.org.