AMA Reaffirms Policy Supporting the Practice of Physician Self-Referral
At its June 2004 annual meeting, the AMA House of Delegates adopted an emergency resolution affirming its policy on self-referral and, in addition, specifically directing the organization to "work collaboratively with state medical societies and specialty societies to actively oppose any and all federal and state legislative and regulatory efforts to repeal the in-office ancillary exception to physician self-referral laws, including as they apply to imaging services."
Resolution 235, Physician Ownership and Referral for Imaging Services, was sponsored as a late resolution by the American College of Cardiology, American College of Physicians, American Urological Association, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Gastroenterological Association, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Medical Group Association.
Given very little lead time regarding this late resolution, the ACR delegation met with representatives from some of the sponsoring organizations, suggesting their concerns could be better addressed in a venue other than at the AMA House of Delegates meeting. During discussion of the resolution, Arl Van Moore, Jr, MD, chair of the ACR delegation to the AMA House of Delegates, made a forceful statement to the House reiterating the College's commitment to reducing the inappropriate utilization of imaging services and offered to meet with the AMA and any other specialty to discuss the most effective way to end this practice.
There was a great deal of testimony by physicians from the sponsoring societies in favor of the resolution and it passed. Most importantly, the ACR will continue to pursue solutions to the inappropriate utilization of imaging services by nonradiologist physicians. The successful resolution of this issue is critical for patient choice, patient safety, and cost reduction to an already cash-strapped medical reimbursement system.
For additional information, please contact ACR Director of Congressional Relations Josh Cooper at (800) 227-5463, ext. 4308, or by e-mail at joshuac@acr.org.