Business
AMA to teach evidence-based medicine
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 11, 2005
The American Medical Association's House of Delegates passed a resolution that the AMA, working with state medical associations, specialty societies and other medical organizations, will "educate" various bodies about "the uses of evidence-based medicine and the dangers of cost-based medicine."
The education, aimed at CMS, state legislatures and state Medicaid agencies, would focus on the definition of evidence-based medicine as that which improves the quality of care for patients. The resolution was introduced because of concerns that insurers and others were equating "evidence-based medicine" with the least-expensive medicine, regardless of quality of care.
The resolution also asks the AMA, through its Council on Legislation, to work with other groups to develop model state legislation "to protect the physician-patient relationship from cost-based medicine policies inappropriately characterized as 'evidence-based medicine.' " The legislation then would be disseminated to state medical associations through the AMA's Advocacy Resource Center.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/07/11/bibf0711.htm.
