Physicians Adopt Resolutions at Massachusetts Medical Society’s Interim Meeting

Delegates approve positions on payment reform, biomass plants, physician-patient relations

December 5, 2009

Contact: Richard P. Gulla
781-434-7101
rgulla@mms.org

Waltham, Mass. -- December 5, 2009 -- The topics of payment reform, patient-physician relationships, and biomass power plants led a list of resolutions adopted by physicians of the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) at its Interim Meeting held December 4-5 in Waltham. The Interim Meeting brings together hundreds of Massachusetts physicians from across the state to examine and consider specific resolutions on public health policy, health care delivery, and organizational administration by the Society’s House of Delegates, its policy-making body.

In response to a resolution on “Physician Advocacy in Relation to Cost Containment, Quality, Access, and Practice Viability,” members voted in two separate resolutions to oppose the imposition of the payment system of capitation on physicians and groups that are not ready by insisting that the decision to accept capitation be voluntary; to oppose any activity on the part of government or insurance companies that decrease payments to physicians as incentives to accept capitation; and to use Medical Society resources to oppose the elimination of fee-for-service medicine.

The adoption of these resolutions is consistent with the Medical Society’s current positions in the debate about payment reform. From the beginning of the discussion on payment reform, Society officers have been firm in saying that any reforms must be made slowly and approached carefully and deliberately. Officers have further stated, and have testified before state legislators, that payment reform cannot be the sole answer to the rising cost of health care. Patient education, wellness and prevention incentives, defensive medicine, administrative waste, and the over-concentration of our health insurance industry must also be taken into account. Society officers have also stated that any new model must consider waste in the administrative aspects of health care and the widespread costly and wasteful practice of defensive medicine – two areas that could yield substantial savings.

In an effort to reduce air pollution and promote public health, delegates approved a four-point resolution regarding biomass power plants. The resolution stated that the Society (1) urge state government to adopt policies to  minimize the approval and construction of new biomass plants: (2) declared Medical Society opposition to the three currently proposed large-scale power plants in the state on the grounds that each facility poses an unacceptable public health risk, (3) urge state and federal governments to remove large-scale biomass electricity generation plants from the list of technologies eligible to receive renewable energy credits, federal stimulus funds, and Mass. Technology Collaborative loans; and (4) urge state government to extend Department of Environmental Protection regulatory authority to small-scale biomass facilities to ensure that the most protective air pollution emissions controls are used.

Delegates also reiterated their unwavering position on the sanctity of the physician-patient relationship, adopting a resolution that the Society advocate for the “importance of the relationship between patients and their physicians” in all discussions about health care reform and health delivery.

Among a number of other resolutions considered at the meeting were changes to the organization’s bylaws, procedures of the House of Delegates, and representation on the Massachusetts delegation to the American Medical Association. A complete listing of the resolutions adopted by the delegates may be viewed at the MMS website at www.massmed.org.

The Massachusetts Medical Society, with more than 20,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The Society publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and Journal Watch alerts and newsletters covering 13 specialties. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education for health care professionals throughout Massachusetts, conducting a variety of medical education programs for physicians and health care professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. For more information, visit www.massmed.org, www.nejm.org, or www.jwatch.org.