Featured speakers at the ACR Washington, DC Metro Chapter’s inaugural advocacy session highlighted the College’s work as the voice of radiology on Capitol Hill.
Before a full audience in Washington on Sept. 24, Loralie D. Ma, MD, PhD, FACR, former chair of the ACR State Government Relations Committee, urged radiologists to become spokespeople for their patients by getting involved in state advocacy efforts.
Ma, who serves as chair of the AMA Radiology Section Council, walked members of the District of Columbia Metropolitan Radiological Society (DCMRS) through the current barrier to physician advocacy. “Physicians just aren’t trained in the importance of advocacy,” she said. “Lawyers are trained…straight away. Obviously, training programs want to teach people to be good radiologists. But to be a good radiologist, you have to know the landscape you’re operating in and why it’s important to be there at the table and not on the menu.”
According to Ma, the way to get started is to know who represents you at your state and national level and follow them on social media. Second, you need to become a member of both your state society and ACR. Third, answer the College’s calls to action.
“It only takes one or two clicks to send that email to your legislators,” said Ma. “The offices of those legislators are counting those emails. And if they’ve received a lot of them, they’re more likely to vote your way on that legislation.
“We cannot be complacent,” she added. “We need to always be aware that there are things going on around us that can affect our lives and our ability to care for patients. Our elected leaders want to hear your voice; [they] are interested in hearing from their constituents.”
Physicians just aren’t trained in the importance of advocacy. Obviously, training programs want to teach people to be good radiologists. But to be a good radiologist, you have to know the landscape you’re operating in and why it’s important to be there at the table and not on the menu.
ACR President Alan H. Matsumoto, MD, MA, FACR, followed Ma’s presentation with a preface: “No other radiology organization does what the ACR does for radiologists and their practices to the extent the College does.” He followed with an update on the Radiology Outpatient Ordering Transmission (ROOT) Act. Introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate, the ROOT Act aims to modernize and make the Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) program proposed by the Protecting Access to Medicare Act easier to use for ordering providers. Rather than requiring a cumbersome real-time claims transaction, the legislation would require ordering providers to attest that they consulted a qualified, evidence-based AUC product before ordering an advanced imaging study. GOP Doctors Caucus co-chairs Greg Murphy, MD (NC-03) and John Joyce, MD (PA-13), alongside Kim Schrier, MD (WA-08), chair of the Democratic Doctors Caucus, folded the ROOT Act into their bipartisan Medicare payment reform bill, the Patients First Act (H. R. 9693).
According to Matsumoto, radiology’s inclusion in the Patients First Act matters because standalone bills rarely move; hence, the ROOT Act (H.R. 5737) has been sitting in committee since its introduction last year. He noted that the Patients First Act attaches the radiology proposal in the ROOT ACT into a much larger healthcare vehicle. Matsumoto also added that, if implemented, the ROOT Act would result in approximately $2.2 billion in savings to the Medicare program and about $1.5 billion in savings for patients’ out-of-pocket expenses over 10 years.
“Chosen on the merits as an offset for the projected costs of the Patients First Act, estimated to be more than $100 billion over 10 years, the ROOT Act financial savings is relatively small,” said Matsumoto. “However, having the ROOT ACT embedded in the Patients First Act does deliver technical fixes that CMS said it needs to implement the clinical decision support in the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (OAMA) legislation and allow Medicare beneficiaries to realize the full benefits, both clinical and financial, of the Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) program. Importantly, inclusion shows that the bipartisan Doctors Caucus also sees the value and importance of the ROOT ACT, which shines a light on the significant influence that ACR advocacy has in the halls of Congress.”
By Nicole B. Racadag, senior managing editor, ACR Bulletin
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