Fair Reimbursement
Patient
access to care is directly tied to fair physician reimbursement. Fair
reimbursement is more than just payment for procedures performed; it
is also fair and appropriate payment policy that does not make the practice of
medicine overly burdensome or prohibitively expensive for physicians. The appeals process for disputed
claims should be just and expedient. Incentives and penalties for
e-prescribing, Maintenance of Certification, and the Physicians Quality
Reporting Initiative (PQRI) should be reasonable and realistic.
Sustainable
Growth Rate & Medicare Physician Payment Cuts
In order
to ensure access to care, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) must
address the inherent problems with the deeply flawed Sustainable Growth Rate
(SGR) formula to accurately reflect changes in medical practice costs. ASDSA will continue to urge CMS to work together with Congress and the
physician community to address this issue, which becomes increasingly critical
as more Americans reach retirement age and eligibility for Medicare.
Mohs Codes & Multiple Procedure
Reduction Rule
Together
with the Mohs Coalition, ASDSA will continue to address the issue of the loss of the Mohs Micrographic surgery codes exemption from the Multiple Procedure Reduction Rule of the Medicare Physician Payment Schedule.
Physician Gifts
ASDSA
strongly supports policies which put patients first, promote the highest level
of ethics for physicians and industry, and ensure medical and investigational
decisions are not motivated or influenced by the promise of financial gain.
Public
policy relating to physician relations with industry should clearly distinguish
between gifts which are effectively inducements intended to influence treatment
decisions in prescribing the use of specific drugs and medical devices versus
justifiable compensation for clinical trials and research, legitimate
ACCME-approved Continuing Medical Education (CME) and other irreproachable
scientific and educational uses. The burden of reporting and compliance should
rest on the donor pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, not
physicians.