Health Law & Policy

The American Association of Clinical Urologists (AACU) rejects the USPSTF's complete disregard of the positive effect the PSA test has had on so many men in this country.

Today’s five-to-four vote by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) as constitutional will result in sweeping health care system changes for all physicians and their patients.

Three leading urology associations have announced support for the USPSTF Transparency and Accountability Act of 2012 (H.R. 5998), which calls for significant changes to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the process by which the group makes formal recommendations regarding preventive care services.

Noted Irish playwright Oscar Wilde once mused, "Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result." Thanks to a foundation strengthened by direct and indirect participation in advocacy campaigns across the country, the urologic community secured positive policy outcomes in the first several months of 2012.

Forging and leveraging relationships with state legislators and their staff can help you protect your patients, employees, and practice from harmful legislation.

For the second time in a month, urologists are being criticized for self-referred ancillary services?this time by radiologists for providing intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatment for prostate cancer patients in urologists' own radiation therapy centers.

Urologists' self-referral of prostate surgical pathology services leads to increased use and higher Medicare spending but lower cancer detection rates, according to a recent study.

Effective advocacy depends on data, relationships, and, for lack of a better term, money.

Urologists who gathered for the annual Joint Advocacy Conference listened politely as a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force explained the thinking behind the group's recommendation against routine PSA testing, but few, if any of them seemed to have been swayed.

The AUA and the American Association of Clinical Urologists have lost no time in pressing Congress for a better solution on Medicare physician reimbursement following passage of legislation to delay a 27% cut in payments for 10 months.

A developing advocacy campaign in Washington state has the AACU Government Affairs team implementing the very practices described in this space and thereby urged upon urologists in seemingly ad nauseum Calls to Action.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPTF) announced it was no longer recommending the PSA test to screen healthy men for prostate cancer, but experts say the impact this recommendation could have on health insurance coverage and treatment decisions remains unclear. While insurers are likely to take their time issuing formal coverage decisions, the AUA and other urology organizations have been quick to respond to the recommendation.

The Alliance of Specialty Medicine soundly rejected MedPAC?s approval of a recommendation that Congress reform the Medicare reimbursement system by reducing reimbursements to specialists by 5.9% per year for 3 years while freezing the reimbursement rate for primary care physicians.

The AUA said the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is "doing a great disservice" to patients with its draft recommendations regarding the PSA test.

The future of patient-centered urologic care depends on collaboration with allied advocacy affiliates.

After seeing physicians in Maine ask legislators to delay a bill limiting medical liability, speculation is that because doctors who have joined large groups or hospital practices have fewer concerns related to running a business-eg, meeting payroll, hiring staff, malpractice premiums, and meeting overhead-their priorities might be shifting.

The American Medical Association and 91 state and specialty medical societies, including the AUA, recently submitted formal comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the proposed changes to the electronic prescribing penalty program.

While very few legislatures remain in session after July 1, from late summer into early fall and beyond, so-called interim committees meet with regularity to establish much of the agenda that will be considered the next year.

The House of Representatives has approved an amendment offered by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) to increase funding for prostate cancer research by $16 million.

Rising operating costs and selecting and implementing a new electronic health records (EHR) system are among medical practice professionals? greatest challenges to running a group practice, recent questionnaire results indicate.

Two issues of concern to urologists?compensation for ancillary services and the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula?are among the issues discussed by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) in its June 2011 report to Congress.

The AUA recently voiced its support for the Prostate Research, Outreach, Screening, Testing, Access and Treatment Effectiveness (PROSTATE) Act of 2011, H.R. 2159, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) and Paul Broun, MD (R-GA).

In March 2011, urologists united their voices once again in Washington at the 6th Annual Joint Advocacy Conference (JAC).

The American College of Surgeons has called on members of Congress to eliminate the current sustainable growth rate (SGR) Medicare physician payment formula and transition over the next 5 years to a new physician payment system that fairly reflects the costs of providing high-quality health care.

The non-medical use of prescription drugs is thought to represent the fastest growing drug problem in the United States, and urologists aren't immune to it.