AMA Adopts Principles for Physician Employment

Nov. 13, 2012

CHICAGO – The American Medical Association (AMA) adopted new guiding principles for physicians entering into employment and contractual arrangements. The principles address the unique challenges to professionalism and the practice of medicine arising from the physician employment trend and were adopted at the AMA’s semi-annual policy-making meeting.

Read the rest from AMA here.

AOA, ACGME Move Toward Unified Accreditation for Graduate Medical Education Programs

Released Oct. 24, 2012

The AOA [American Osteopathic Association], the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) have entered into an agreement to pursue a single, unified accreditation system for graduate medical education programs in the United States beginning in July 2015. During the coming months, the three organizations will work toward defining a process, format and timetable for ACGME to accredit all osteopathic graduate medical education programs currently accredited by the AOA. The AOA and AACOM would then become organizational members of ACGME.

Read more from the AOC here.

Federation of State Medical Boards Endorses U.S. House Measure to Expand Residency Training

H.R. 6352 would add 15,000 new residency slots over the next five years to address physician shortage

DALLAS – The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) today strongly endorsed "The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction and Graduate Medical Education Accountability and Transparency Act" (H.R. 6352), proposed legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would create 15,000 new residency training positions in the United States and add much-needed physicians to the nation’s health care workforce.

Read the rest from FSMB here.

Interested in joining a NAMSS-sponsored online community for Managed Care Credentialing professionals?

The National Association Medical Staff Services (NAMSS) is exploring ways to build a new online community for MCO credentialing professional colleagues. Last year, NAMSS organized focus groups to learn more about the needs of the credentialing professional in a managed care or health plan environment. That research told NAMSS that there are not a lot of resources for individuals working in the MCO environment and often times it’s hard to find trusted colleagues to reach out to for advice and mentoring. NAMSS believes a network could help.

The focus groups also found that differences exist between hospital and the managed care environments that need to be considered, such as, a) Joint Commission, HFAP, or DNV accreditation v. NCQA or URAC; b) Differing terminology among environments; and c) Complexity of hospitals overall, as compared to MCOs. Despite this, NAMSS believes that the similarities are stronger than the differences. NAMSS’ goal is to bring together all Medical Services and Credentialing Professionals and provide resources and networking opportunities that aren’t available elsewhere.

If you’d like to be part of a workgroup to share ideas about the best way to build an online community for managed care credentialing professionals, contact NAMSS by sending an email to tboykin@namss.org. There’s no cost, and we promise not to waste your time! NAMSS wants to hear your ideas on how best they can support you.

Get Ready for National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week

This year, we have something very special to help us kick off NAMSS Awareness Week.  NAMSS has produced a video featuring  NAMSS Treasurer, John Pastrano, to help us get the word out about the important role of the MSP.  This video also aligns with NAMSS' plan to roll out a Technology Strategy in 2013.  We hope you will help us spread the word about MSPs and NAMSS Awareness Week by reposting this video on your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages. 

National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week

November 4-10, 2012

In 1992, President George Bush signed Congressional House Joint Resolution #399 proclaiming the first week in November as National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week. Since then, NAMSS has partnered with hospitals, MCOs, doctor’s offices, university health systems, and government agencies to promote awareness of medical services professionals. Join with us as we again celebrate National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week this November 4-10, 2012.

Court: Medical staff bylaws are not contracts between doctors and hospitals

A Minnesota ruling takes away a medical staff’s right to govern itself and make health care decisions that are best for patients, physicians say.

Alicia Gallegos, amednews staff. Oct. 17, 2012.

A judge has ruled in a Minnesota case that medical staff bylaws do not constitute a contract between physicians and hospitals.

The State of Minnesota District Court, 5th Judicial District, County of Lyon, said the creation of bylaws does not include the necessary legal requirements to make the regulations a binding contract. Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center in Marshall, Minn., had the authority to change the hospital’s former medical staff bylaws, and physicians must follow the latest rules, the court said in its Sept. 25 opinion.

Read the rest from amednews.com here.

HealthLeaders Media: Medical Harm Complaint System Could be Quality Data Goldmine

Cheryl Clark, October 18, 2012

 

A first-of-its kind federal pilot project designed to make it easier for patients to directly complain about medical errors, safety issues, and harm may prompt some doctors and hospitals to blanch.

Might it unleash a gripefest about relatively unimportant aspects of care, like the yucky taste of hospital food, the lack of parking, or meandering laments that one got sick in the first place? A rage against the night?

Read more about AHRQ's new database at HealthLeaders Media.