Massachusetts Medical Society Physicians Adopt 8 New Health Care Resolutions

Thursday, December 11, 2014

GoLocalWorcester Health Team

Physicians at the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) in Waltham, Massachusetts held an Interim Meeting on December 6 in which they adopted new policies and resolutions for healthcare. Included in their new health care resolutions were concerns about how the Society will handle end-of life-care, the age to purchase tobacco products, bicycle helmets, medical marijuana, and care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) patients.

The Interim Meeting brought together hundreds of Massachusetts physicians to discuss how to resolve current policies on these matters through existing public health policy, health care delivery and administration by the Society’s House of Delegates.

Resolutions

All resolutions were adopted as policies of the MMS, by the MMS - here they are in detail:

End-of-Life Care: "Physicians adopted a set of principles for end-of-life care to include whole-person care, containing physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs; the integration of health care and long-term social services; basic palliative care; public awareness to encourage advance care planning; and informed preferences of care in line with a person’s values, goals, condition, circumstances, and needs."

Tobacco: "Delegates voted to encourage state government to impose strict penalties for the sale of tobacco and e-cigarette products to persons under age 21 and to support funding of a statewide anti-tobacco campaign, including pursuing dedicated funding for nicotine addiction treatment programs for all ages."

Bicycle helmets: "Responding to the soaring increase in bicycle use and the fact that head injuries are reduced anywhere from 68 to 85 percent with helmet use, physicians agreed to petition for legislation to change bicycling laws so that everyone, regardless of age, would wear a helmet and also be encouraged to wear highly visible clothing during daylight and darkness."

Medical Marijuana: "In the 'interests of public health and patient safety and physician protection under state and federal laws,' physicians voted to write to federal officials expressing the urgency to re-classify marijuana to accommodate appropriate scientific research and quality control."

Care for LGBT patients: "MMS approved a three-year pilot program to establish annual grants for medical students, residents, and fellows to be used for curriculum development or research that addresses lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender health disparities. Up to $16,000 each year will be available for grants."

Guidelines on Physician Performance: "Delegates adopted an amended version of the MMS Guidelines for Measuring, Reporting, and Rewarding Physician Performance, first adopted in 2005, that includes general principles, program development, the types of measures and their characteristics, risk adjustment, public reporting, and pay-for-performance measures."

Prior Authorization: "Delegates also updated the MMS policy on Principles for the Use of Prior Authorization Programs, first adopted in 2005, stating that the principles should apply whether the program is administered by a health plan, third-party vendor, or provider organization.

The policy also states that such programs should be used only upon a showing of substantial variation in the targeted practice and good evidence of over utilization, that the programs should be entirely transparent to patients and physicians, that they should be conducted to avoid administrative burdens for physicians, and that they should be implemented using up-to-date clinical criteria and appropriate clinical experts."

Maintenance of Certification: "Joining the growing concern of dozens of medical societies and thousands of individual physicians across the country that maintenance of certification (MOC) programs have become an administrative burden on physicians and disrupt physician availability for patient care, MMS delegates adopted a policy on MOC consistent with that of the American Medical Association.

The policy reaffirms the value of continuing medical education and supports physician accountability, life-long learning, and self-assessment after initial specialty board certification, but opposes mandatory MOC programs as a requirement for licensure, hospital privileges, and insurance payments. In stating their opposition to mandatory MOC, physicians cited their preference for collaborations with universities and specialty societies to define medical excellence within their profession."

For more information on The Massachusetts Medical Society please contact Richard P. Gulla - Media Relations Manager at 781-434-7101 or [email protected]

The Massachusetts Medical Society, with more than 24,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The Society, under the auspices of NEJM Group, publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and NEJM Journal Watch alerts and publications covering 13 specialties. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education for health care professionals throughout Massachusetts, conducting a variety of medical education programs for physicians and health care professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country.