Mass. doctors take stand on professional issues

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Massachusetts Medical Society’s House of Delegates adopted several resolutions May 14 as part of the group’s annual meeting, tackling scope-of-practice issues, on-call coverage, prior authorization, and liability reform, among others.
Also at the annual meeting, the society elected Dr. Alice Coombs, an anesthesiologist and critical care specialist at South Shore Hospital, as its new president.
The House of Delegates sets policy for the society, which is Bay State doctors’ largest advocacy group, with about 22,000 members. Resolutions adopted by the group will guide the society’s lobbying and the positions it takes in the public and private sectors.
Regarding on-call coverage, the delegates adopted a document that urges physicians and hospitals to collaborate to solve emergency departments’ on-call needs; suggests working with the Massachusetts Hospital Association to develop systems for on-call coverage; and calls for malpractice reforms to address increased liability linked to emergency call coverage.
On scope of practice – a growing issue as efforts to cut health care costs consider bringing lower-paid professionals to do work now done by doctors – the society adopted a policy saying it will only support an entity’s attempt to increase its scope of practice if it meets two conditions: (1) if it has proven a clear and distinctly identifiable public purpose and benefit, and (2) if it has proposed legislation that addresses appropriate supervision, meaningful educational requirements, public protections and practice standards.
On prior authorization, delegates called for the society to sponsor a bill requiring insurers to reimburse physicians for “reasonable” office expenses related to processing prior authorizations for medications and procedures that require a medical decision or review by someone under their supervision.
Regarding the Bay State’s ongoing payment system reform efforts, the society adopted a resolution saying it would “work diligently” to ensure that “significant changes” in the payment system be associated with “significant and meaningful” liability reforms.
Other resolutions covered medical peer review, physicians’ self-governance, principles for hospitalists, and a strategic plan that includes health care reform and liability reform measures, a push for more “valid, accurate and reliable” performance measures, and new modes of education and communication for members.
For more details, go to www.massmed.org. A video of Coombs’ acceptance speech upon becoming president is posted here.