FEATURE
Walking from the Senate buildings to the
House buildings
the value of the cognitive time that a
hematologist spends on patient care and
the time that a surgeon may spend on
a quick wound check. Not to demean
what surgeons do at all, but it’s just not
an equitable reflection of the amount of
work we put into a patient visit.
We had a team-based strategy: One
advocate was assigned to handle the initial
presentation of the issue, then the others
would contribute their perspective. The
people we met with were sympathetic
Dr. Bering: “Overall, the staffers and
Congressmen and women were receptive and supportive, particularly of
the oral parity legislation – or, no one
seemed to be opposed to it, at least!
Gauging response to the E&M
research request was a little bit more
difficult. The reaction to that request
seemed to be, “We just repealed the
SGR; now what are you asking for?”
Once we explained the concerns about
awarding cognitive services rather than
just procedural services, people were
more interested in supporting research.
For most people we met with, this was
likely not even an issue on their radar,
so, in that regard, we were successful in
our goals.
These issues are certainly not going
anywhere. Even if the oral parity legislation gets passed, there are still questions about high-cost drugs and access
to them. The high cost of drugs is very
frustrating for physicians. Over the last
10 years or so, it seems that physicians
are being targeted to a greater degree
than other players in the industry. Physician reimbursement has been cut back,
and we are asked to sacrifice to help
control health-care costs; meanwhile the
drug companies keep raising their prices
and insurance company executives are
making mega-millions of dollars. It’s a
demoralizing situation for the physician
community.”
Drs. Kleinerman and Donald with Rep. Kennedy
“Although we
are all busy with
our practices,
it is extremely
important that
we take time
to help shape
policy that will
impact our
patients. ... We
can only claim
success if we
are effective
in shaping
appropriate
policy.”
—CHANCELLOR DONALD, MD
hematologists from around the country.
Although we are all busy with our
practices, it is extremely important that
we take time to help shape policy that
will impact our patients. It is disappointing to see stalemate in politics,
but we cannot allow this to deter our
willingness to have a loud, singular
voice regarding the delivery of care to
our patients.
We can only claim success if we are effective in shaping appropriate policy.” ●
The end of a long day on the Hill
and, on the whole, asked great questions
and were engaged. There was no hostility
– there rarely is. Even when we were lobbying for SGR repeal, we were met more
frequently with eye-rolls than hostility.”
ASHClinicalNews.org
Dr. Donald: “For me, highlights of the
day were seeing how the unique character of each office reflected its district,
educating congressional staff on issues
pertinent to the practice of hematology,
and enjoying collegiality with fellow
Goal #2: Encourage Congress
to Urge CMS to
Study E&M Codes
Medicare and private
payers pay physicians
according to a series of
more than 7,000 different
codes describing various
services. Services are codified according to Current
Procedural Terminology
(CPT), a product coordinated by the American
Medical Association
(AMA). Each of these
services is then valued
according to the level of
physician work required
as well as the supplies,
equipment, and staff that
are needed to complete it.
Physicians who work
in the areas of surgery,
radiology, and pathology have a large number
of procedure codes to
describe the ݽɬ