Delegates Set Policy on EMR Use, Prior Authorization, and Health Plan Coverage Decisions
Vital Signs: December 2012/ January 2013
By ERICA NOONAN
The House of Delegates voted on nearly 30 resolutions at the 2012 Interim Meeting, passing resolutions on medical marijuana, electronic medical records, issues of prior authorization, and health plan coverage decisions.
The House directed the MMS to work with the Board of Registration in Medicine (BRM) to define the nature of the physician-patient relationship required under the law and advocate for the development of appropriate standards for medical marijuana certification by physicians, among other actions (see accompanying story, "MMS Medical Marijuana Policy Expanded"
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HOUSE OF DELEGATES: OPENING SESSION The MMS House of Delegates convenes on Friday, Nov. 30, at Society headquarters in Waltham. Photo by Doug Bradshaw |
The HOD also determined that the MMS would research and develop clear guidelines, best practices, and ongoing education regarding the effective use of electronic health records, and conduct of a statewide survey of physicians to ascertain time spent on authorizations and pre-authorizations and the identification of legislative, regulatory, and third-party requirements and strategies that are the most burdensome on physicians.
The Society also adopted a set of Principles for Health Plan Coverage Decisions, stating that a health plan's processes for designing and determining coverage decisions should be evidence-based, transparent, participatory, equitable, and consistent.
H. Eugene Lindsey, M.D., president and CEO of Atrius Health, delivered the Interim Meeting's Oration, titled "Working Together: From Guild to Enterprise."
Physicians are watching their profession rapidly transform from the guild-oriented practice of medicine to an enterprise-oriented industry one might call "Big Med.'' "One could say that we are now a guild under siege," said Dr. Lindsey.
A crucial objective is to improve physician happiness through improved management performance and standardization of work so that physicians have more time for patient care and critical thinking work. Among the challenges his organization will face is a predicted shortage of PCPs. By 2025, more than 130,000 physicians nationwide - more than half of them PCPs - are expected to complete retirement.
"Improving the experience of practice remains a great challenge," said Lindsey. "We must move guild thinking into a new environment."
The MMS Ethics Forum, "Serving Two Masters - What Practicing Cost-Conscious Medicine Means for Patient Care and the Public Trust" was delivered by James Sabin, M.D., director of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Ethics Program, and Martin Samuels M.D., professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School.
Over nearly two hours, the physicians offered their perspectives on payment reform and the direction that physicians might take in today's practice environment of ever-increasing fiscal constraints.
"Implementing cost-conscious medicine will take time and will not be easy … the biggest impediment is more emotional than intellectual. …We must involve patients and the public in our deliberations and policy-making. They will only trust the concept of cost-conscious medicine if they believe the quality of care is preserved and the savings will be used for good purpose," said Dr. Sabin. "Physicians are the crucial players in this endeavor, we can be spoilers or leader. It is our responsibility to make it work."
Physician-led change was a frequently discussed throughout the two-day meeting.
In his President's Report, MMS President Richard V. Aghababian, M.D., urged his fellow physicians to maintain "collegiality and cohesiveness as physicians, even when certain issues threaten to divide us. We must recognize diversity of opinion, but not allow those disagreements to define us."
"Let us take this opportunity, at this meeting, to honor our traditions and values, while continuing to serve as leaders in health care reform," he said.
A complete listing of the resolutions adopted by the delegates and full coverage of the Interim Meeting is available on the MMS website at www.massmed.org/interim2012.
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HMS STUDENTS SURVEY PATIENT EXPERIENCEPaige Qin, Laura Huppert, Scott Elman, and Kyle Dempsey discuss their project assessing patient experience at Harvard's Crimson Care Collaborative Clinic with judges at the MMS Seventh Annual Research Poster Symposium held during the 2012 Interim Meeting. Photo by Doug Bradshaw |
