State of the Union: MGMA Supports Bush’s Initiatives on Medical Liability Premiums and Healthcare Information Technology; Concerns About Medicare Reimbursement Remain

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) strongly endorses a number of the initiatives that President Bush promoted in his State of the Union address, including his call to arms against skyrocketing medical malpractice costs. "We commend President Bush for his strong leadership in ensuring continued access to high-quality care for Medicare and non-Medicare patients," said William F. Jessee, MD, FACMPE, MGMA president and CEO. "Reducing medical costs is a crucial component of improving the national health care system, and the president's professional liability reform initiative is an essential part of that effort."

MGMA also expressed appreciation for President Bush's renewed commitment to advancing the adoption of health information technology (HIT), which has been shown to both improve the quality of patient care and reduce administrative inefficiencies in medical practice. The President has worked creatively to fund the Office of the National

Coordinator for Health Information Technology and has proposed additional funds for HIT demonstration projects in 2006. MGMA has worked closely with David Brailer, MD, PhD, national coordinator for health information technology, to advance the use of HIT in the medical group practice setting.

While supportive of these proposals, MGMA remains concerned about the looming cuts to Medicare physician reimbursements, projected to take effect in 2006. "It is critical that the president and Congress reverse these projected cuts and fix the flawed Medicare physician reimbursement system. Medical group practices cannot be expected to improve quality of care through HIT when they are faced with Medicare cuts of more than 30 percent between 2006 and 2012," Jessee said. "The projected cuts threaten physician group practices' ability to continue serving Medicare and non-Medicare patients."

MGMA recently detailed potential improvements to the reimbursement system to new Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, and will continue to work with the administration and Congress on this important issue.

The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), founded in 1926, is the nation's principal voice for medical group practice. MGMA's 19,500 members manage and lead some 11,500 healthcare organizations in which more than 240,000 physicians practice. MGMA leads the profession and assists members through information, networking, education and advocacy.

Source: MGMA

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines