Posted Aug. 29, 2018
During KMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting, held this past weekend at the Louisville Marriott East, newly inaugurated president Bruce Scott, M.D. of Louisville spoke of the importance of physicians unifying around issues on which there was consensus, which includes reduction of administrative burdens.
Yesterday, the American Medical Association (AMA), together with 150 health groups representing almost every specialty and state medical associations, including KMA, sent a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Director Seema Verma applauding the proposed reduction of documentation requirements, but expressing concerns about proposed collapsing of office visit codes and reduction in payment for office-based procedures. The consensus statement proposes that CMS collaborate with the medical community to work through the complicated issues.
Upon seeing the letter, Dr. Scott proclaimed, “This is a great example of medicine uniting to protect our patients and our profession. Administrative burdens including unnecessary documentation distract physicians from patient care, increase the cost of healthcare and lead to physician burnout. I am proud to see the KMA listed on the statement.”
The full letter from AMA, along with the list of organizations, is available here: https://www.ama-assn.org/150-groups-send-letter-proposed-changes-physician-payment-rule.
