Physicians

March 14, 2008 -- Statement of Nancy Nielsen, MD, AMA President-elect:

"New legislation introduced by Senator Stabenow is the critical ingredient needed to save seniors' access to care as it stops this year's harsh Medicare payment cut to physicians. In three short months Medicare will cut physician payments by 10.6 percent. This cut will be a disaster for Medicare patients as 60 percent of physicians say it will force them to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat.    » read more »

ANNAPOLIS, MD (December 13, 2007) – Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley joined with Maryland Insurance Commission Ralph S. Tyler today to announce that Medical Mutual Liability Insurance Society of Maryland (Medical Mutual) will return nearly $100 million to the State of Maryland and local physicians. The move by Medical Mutual comes after a number of public hearings held by Tyler and the Maryland Insurance Administration.    » read more »

Western New York Health Insurer Adopts Model; Code Developed with National Physician and Consumer Groups

BUFFALO, NY -- December 12, 2007 – New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced an agreement with Buffalo-based Independent Health Association, Inc., in which the company has adopted Cuomo’s Model Code for doctor ranking programs.

With this agreement signed today, a total of seven state, regional and national insurers have adopted Attorney General Cuomo’s Doctor Ranking Model Code.    » read more »

National Consumer and Medical Groups Endorse Model; Establishes Standards for Accuracy, Disclosure, Transparency and Fairness in Physician Comparison

Agreement Includes First-Ever Independent Oversight Monitor for Ranking System

NEW YORK, NY (October 29, 2007) – Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced an agreement with one of the nation’s largest health insurers, CIGNA HealthCare (NYSE: CI), as part of his industry-wide investigation into doctor ranking programs.    » read more »

September 25, 2007 -- New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, along with representatives of hospitals, anti-cancer agencies and immigrant organizations, today called on the federal government to allow physicians to decide what emergency treatments are appropriate for their patients instead of ceding life-and-death decisions to federal Medicaid administrators.    » read more »

September 18, 2007 -- TRENTON – New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram announced today that she has convened a task force to explore the issue of pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers giving gifts and other compensation to physicians, and to determine what impact, if any, such practices have on patient care in New Jersey.    » read more »

Canadian "bedside manner test" a reliable predictor of patient complaints

4-Sep-2007 -- Physicians who score poorly on patient-physician communication skills exams are far more likely to generate patient complaints to regulatory authorities, says a new study led by McGill University's Robyn Tamblyn and published in the September 5 issue of JAMA.    » read more »