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Opinion content from 2007

GO TO » Jan. - Feb. - March - April - May - June - July - Aug. - Sept. - Oct. - Nov. - Dec.

December

� Discussion: Prescribing a more active life - Dec. 24
� Letter: Protect doctors so they can say no to improper requests for antibiotics - Dec. 24
� Letter: Open-source code is best path to creating physician-friendly EMRs - Dec. 24
� Discussion: AMA's plan for 2008 - Dec. 17
� Letter: Small practices could benefit from EMR data -- if given the chance - Dec. 17
� More maydays for a Medicare meltdown - Dec. 17
� Discussion: Tax credits for EMRs - Dec. 10
� Letter: ACPM: Ask lawmakers now to fund preventive medicine residencies - Dec. 10
� Discussion: Putting the quality in rankings - Dec. 3
� Letter: Proposed law would rework residency spending to increase primary care - Dec. 3
� World of medicine gets smaller, flatter - Dec. 3

November

� Discussion: Heeding the MRSA warning - Nov. 26
� Letter: What will the test of time reveal about what really matters to those seeking medical career? - Nov. 26
� Letter: Tort system reflects a greedy society - Nov. 26
� To partner or perish? That is the question - Nov. 26
� Discussion: Repair student loan repayment law - Nov. 19
� Letter: Insurers distort the proper economics of providing heath care in this country - Nov. 19
� Letter: SCHIP bill would have been "first big step" towards socialized medicine - Nov. 19
� Discussion: Longer view on drug safety: New power in FDA law - Nov. 12
� Letter: Religious needs are important element of an effective treatment plan - Nov. 12
� Discussion: Medicare Advantage: Wrong way to spend $54 billion - Nov. 5
� Letter: For organ donation, eminent domain argument fails morally and ethically - Nov. 5
� Letter: Health insurance creates its own drawbacks for patients, physicians - Nov. 5
� Letter: Key question in health coverage: Who needs insurance but can't get it? - Nov. 5
� Let's keep competition in medicine -- and insurance - Nov. 5

October

� Delivering an ounce (or more) of prevention in your office - Oct. 22
� Discussion: Don't duck the flu shot - Oct. 22
� Letter: Stylish scrubs undercut germ control - Oct. 22
� Letter: Medicare sends uninsured count up - Oct. 22
� Discussion: Addressing health care costs -- the right way - Oct. 15
� Letter: How will a reworked health system attract those needed to provide care? - Oct. 15
� Discussion: Restaurant menus: Reveal the calories - Oct. 8
� Letter: Sticking with paper records for now - Oct. 8
� Letter: Unregulated growth of retail clinics undermines primary care medicine - Oct. 8
� Discussion: Prescription for confusion - Oct. 1
� Letter: This footwear a safety flop - Oct. 1
� Letter: AMA Alliance: We are active partners in Voice for the Uninsured campaign - Oct. 1
� Reaching top quality of care a joint effort - Oct. 1

September

� Discussion: The uninsured: A campaign for action - Sept. 24
� Letter: Encryption not a burden when communicating with patients - Sept. 24
� Letter: Rodeo injuries seem a waste of already strained medical resources - Sept. 24
� Letter: The government should claim organs for donation by eminent domain - Sept. 24
� Discussion: Reining in rankings for tiered and narrow networks - Sept. 17
� Letter: EMRs are not designed now with human factors in mind - Sept. 17
� Letter: Untangle SCHIP from the needed Medicare pay increase for physicians - Sept. 17
� All is not quiet on the Canadian health system front - Sept. 17
� Discussion: Protect health access for kids, seniors - Sept. 10
� Letter: Forcing physician to e-prescribe would create a "financial burden" - Sept. 10
� Letter: Pen and paper still best for now - Sept. 10
� Discussion: Federal prompt-pay law: A path to timely reimbursement - Sept. 3
� Letter: People want, need medical homes - Sept. 3
� Letter: Allow compassionate and ethical involvement by doctors in executions - Sept. 3
� Letter: Medicaid should include incentives for patients in pay-for-performance - Sept. 3
� AMA joins the battle with a campaign for the uninsured - Sept. 3

August

� Discussion: Autism and vaccine safety: Courtroom controversy, exam room reassurance - Aug. 27
� Letter: Transgender policy is misguided - Aug. 27
� Letter: To serve patients and the profession, more physicians should be lawmakers - Aug. 27
� Discussion: Dr. Pou's plight: Heroic actions, harrowing aftermath - Aug. 20
� Letter: Focus on numbers is a misleading approach on doctor discipline - Aug. 20
� Letter: Antitrust case reveals what government thinks of physicians - Aug. 20
� Autonomy vs. accountability: A delicate balance - Aug. 20
� Discussion: Veterinarians and physicians: Working together for one medicine - Aug. 13
� Letter: Physicians shouldn't casually dismiss patient mistrust of treatment plan - Aug. 13
� Letter: Referral rule change not in sync with real world of medical practice - Aug. 13
� Discussion: Right response to wrong incentives - Aug. 6
� Letter: Retail clinics have something to teach on the subject of access to care - Aug. 6
� Letter: CEJA: Ethics code does not allow physician participation in an execution - Aug. 6
� Quality care results from comparing, analyzing data - Aug. 6

July

� Discussion: Quality must come first in retail health clinics - July 23
� Letter: Neurological surgeons: Back surgery is safe and effective when warranted - July 23
� Discussion: Doing what's best to prepare for the worst - July 16
� Letter: Medicare should not be trusted to make medical decisions - July 16
� Letter: Abortion participation just as sullying to medicine as aiding in executions - July 16
� Letter: Primary care, rational premiums are needed to make Medicare sustainable - July 16
� Discussion: A new tool against childhood obesity - July 9
� Letter: Patients think they have traditional Medicare, but it's actually an HMO - July 9
� Letter: Pa.'s $12 solution to control costs - July 9
� Discussion: Getting aboard SCHIP - July 2
� Letter: Ready "day or night" to ensure execution takes place on schedule - July 2
� Letter: Cooperate on care, not stress division - July 2
� Letter: Pay-for-reporting a shell game - July 2

June

� Discussion: TB on a plane - June 25
� Letter: In the real world outside Capitol Hill, it's clear that Medicare's a mess - June 25
� Letter: What a deal: Lower pay but more work - June 25
� Letter: ABMS: Our board certification process is rigorous and does not require specialty society membership - June 25
� Discussion: Fighting back against frivolous lawsuits - June 18
� Letter: Medicare and Social Security can't be sustained as currently operated - June 18
� Discussion: Medicare health plans' unfair advantage - June 11
� Letter: Physicians are acting properly when they participate in executions - June 11
� Letter: Where's the voice of physician outrage over the bids to take over practices? - June 11
� A president's review of critical issues facing medicine - June 11
� Discussion: Health plan class-action settlements: Trust, without the expiration date - June 4
� Letter: Legal training teaches that physicians must take control of their own destiny - June 4
� Letter: United's threat to fine physicians is on top of enough other burdens - June 4
� Celebrating -- and reflecting on -- a year of principles - June 4

May

� Discussion: New thinking about flu vaccination - May 28
� Letter: Lawmakers should consider toll insurers take on the quality of care - May 28
� Letter: If board certification essential, why is it not part of licensure exam process - May 28
� Letter: Don't limit videotaping to surgery -- turn the camera on lawyers, too - May 28
� Discussion: Physician pay cuts no solution to Medicare Part B problems - May 21
� Letter: Create a no-fault period of probation for new drugs - May 21
� The AMA: A 160-year commitment to quality care - May 21
� Discussion: United's fine mess: A way to alienate physicians - May 14
� Letter: Serious Medicare repair will start when enough doctors drop out - May 14
� Letter: FDA tobacco control bill is misguided - May 14
� Discussion: Roadmap for health IT - May 7
� Letter: Rhyming pay-for-performance plea - May 7
� Letter: Lay people -- and especially lawyers -- should not evaluate physicians - May 7
� Letter: AMNews edited out a resident's acknowledgement to her mentor - May 7
� Trust: A reciprocal relationship between us and patients - May 7

April

� Discussion: Reducing underage drinking: Surgeon general issues Call for Action - April 23
� Letter: P4P not so simple a solution, proven by confusion over who gets the bonus - April 23
� Letter: Don't let IMG externships become a lucrative and exploitative business - April 23
� Discussion: UnitedHealth Group-Sierra merger a bad deal - April 16
� Letter: Pay cut ahead; so is a plan for "graceful exit" from Medicare - April 16
� Letter: Managed care wrong for Medicare - April 16
� Letter: DEA should allow marijuana studies - April 16
� Letter: As new certifications appear, they raise practical and legal issues - April 16
� Discussion: Joining forces for patient safety - April 9
� Letter: Be sure to check with liability insurer about possible "free" tail coverage - April 9
� Letter: Walter Reed scandal suggests what a single-payer system would be like - April 9
� Letter: Physicians must take a stand over their right to set own fees - April 9
� Discussion: Dump -- don't expand -- the SGR - April 2
� Letter: Good-bye to drug rep gifts and unholy alliance with pharma companies - April 2
� Letter: AMA brings medical and moral weight to quest for mental health parity - April 2
� The partnership principle: Together we are stronger - April 2

March

� Discussion: The FDA and tobacco control: New hope for action - March 26
� Letter: Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement: We are committed to improving quality of care - March 26
� Discussion: Dr. Nathan Davis Award: AMA honors outstanding public servants - March 19
� Letter: Living donor transplants underscore failures in obtaining cadaver organs - March 19
� Military medical care and lessons for the home front - March 19
� Discussion: Time to pass mental health parity - March 12
� Letter: "Underreported" conditions or common problems exaggerated? - March 12
� Letter: To ease ED overcrowding, spend more on Medicare and Medicaid office visits - March 12
� Letter: Boards letting nonphysicians stray into areas beyond their qualifications - March 12
� Discussion: E-prescribing stumbling blocks - March 5
� Letter: It's "childfree," not "childless" - March 5
� Letter: To take strain off EDs, put money into primary care, mental health services - March 5
� Letter: Take a break? Not likely, given the pressures of medicine today - March 5
� AMA's health advocacy agenda, our own Sacagawea - March 5

February

� Discussion: Shoring up the drug safety system - Feb. 26
� Letter: New board certifications beg question: What's an IM physician qualified to do? - Feb. 26
� Letter: Sleep deprivation among physicians is hardly limited to residents - Feb. 26
� Letter: Spread the burden of paying for care - Feb. 26
� Letter: Calif. provider tax idea is a bad idea that could spread across the country - Feb. 26
� Discussion: Covering the uninsured: Working from common ground - Feb. 19
� Letter: Court erred in expert witness ruling - Feb. 19
� Letter: A break from this practice won't work without a vacation from expenses - Feb. 19
� Letter: Advice from Capitol Hill: How physicians can lobby effectively - Feb. 19
� Pay-for-performance: It's about cost control, not quality - Feb. 19
� Discussion: An honor for AMNews - Feb. 12
� Letter: ABIM chief: We will be working with three co-sponsors to create sleep medicine certification - Feb. 12
� Letter: Looking past pills, adherence efforts offer insights into being a physician - Feb. 12
� Discussion: Tobacco control: A long way to go - Feb. 5
� Letter: ISDA: Our Lyme disease treatment guidelines were rigorously researched - Feb. 5
� We can echo the leadership principles of past presidents - Feb. 5

January

� Discussion: AMA's advocacy agenda: Helping doctors help patients - Jan. 29
� Letter: Rising expenses outstrip the ability of part-time physicians to cover them - Jan. 29
� Letter: PHRs, sure, but to cut care costs, target exorbitant plan profits - Jan. 29
� Discussion: Medicare crisis avoided, but hard work ahead - Jan. 22
� Letter: ACS: Our standards program was the prototype for the Joint Commission - Jan. 22
� Starting the new year with our priorities set realistically - Jan. 22
� Discussion: Crisis for nation's EDs - Jan. 15
� Letter: IMG's knowledge of U.S. medicine and culture came by trial and error - Jan. 15
� Discussion: Plans drive doctors to tiers - Jan. 1
� Letter: Pay-for-performance is fine for factories, wrong for medicine - Jan. 1
� Letter: Key votes on abortion rights and stem cell research were victories for science and physician autonomy - Jan. 1
� A new year but continued resolve to reform pay system - Jan. 1

2007 in � Government - Profession - Business - Opinion - Health - Columns - Regions

Copyright © 2007 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.

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Current Topics »

September 2

American Medical News ceases publication after 55-year run

■ Unsustainable financial losses forced the move despite the newspaper's editorial quality, the AMA's senior management says. The Association's other news operations will be enhanced.

AMA readies campaign for Medicare SGR repeal

■ Physicians are rallying for the remaining months of the legislative year to overhaul the formula and build a new payment system based more on quality.

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