Colorado Medical Society

Introduced by: M. Eugene Sherman, MD

Subject: Freedom of Practice in Medical Imaging

Referred to: Reference Committee on Health Affairs

WHEREAS, the American Medical Association has established a policy at its annual meeting in June, 2005 concerning the freedom of practice in medical imaging, and

WHEREAS, the same issues are important to the physicians of Colorado, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Colorado Medical Society encourage and support collaborative specialty development and review of any appropriateness criteria, practice guidelines, technical standards, and accreditation programs, particularly as Congress, federal agencies and third party payers consider their use as a condition of payment, and to use the AMA Code of Ethics as the guiding code of ethics in the development of such policy, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Colorado Medical Society actively oppose efforts by private payers, hospitals, Congress, state legislatures, and the administration to impose policies designed to control utilization and costs of medical services unless those policies can be proven to achieve cost savings and improve quality while not curtailing appropriate growth and without compromising patient access or quality of care, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Colorado Medical Society actively oppose any attempts by federal and state legislators, regulatory bodies, hospitals, private and government payers, and others to restrict reimbursement for imaging procedures based on physician specialty, and continue to support the reimbursement of imaging procedures being performed and interpreted by physicians based on the proper indications for the procedure and the qualifications and training of physicians regardless of their medical specialty.