Profession
Delegates reject plan to create database on practice environment
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 18, 2005
A proposal calling for the American Medical Association to create an annual report on the practice environment of each state was rejected amid claims that it would be too expensive and might duplicate information that is already available.
Delegates at the AMA's Annual Meeting in June voted down a resolution that called for an annual specialty-specific report with information about each state's liability climate, liability insurance costs, tort reform laws and payer reimbursements.
The goal of the proposal was to help residents and young physicians make more educated decisions as they enter practice. But critics balked at the roughly $1 million price tag of amassing and preparing the data.
Others pointed out that much of the information is already available through state and specialty societies and through some AMA departments. "Why reinvent the wheel?" asked Raj Lal, MD, a thoracic surgeon and alternate delegate from Illinois.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/07/18/prbf0718.htm.