AMGA urges President to reconsider proposal that restricts patient access to imaging services

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA)Feb 9 2015

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) sent a letter to the White House yesterday asking the President to preserve the ability for its member multispecialty medical groups and integrated health systems to provide advanced imaging services to their patients. At issue is a provision in the FY 2016 President's budget that would amend the Stark law and prohibit physicians from referring their patients for advanced imaging services.

"Prohibiting multispecialty medical groups and integrated health systems from providing imaging services will lead to more fragmented care and would impede the ability of AMGA members to coordinate care, " said Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., CAE, AMGA's president and chief executive officer. "AMGA members utilize sophisticated health information technology, care management processes, and clinical decision support tools to help ensure that patients receive appropriate imaging care."

AMGA's letter noted that prohibiting "physicians practicing in multispecialty medical groups from referring patients for advanced imaging services within their groups would have a devastating impact on some of this country's leading healthcare organizations, the patients they serve, and the integrated infrastructure that exists to deliver better health care at lower costs. Instituting such restrictions runs counter to the Administration's efforts to stimulate greater integration and care coordination in our healthcare system."

"We hope the President will reconsider any proposal that restricts patient access to imaging services in multi-specialty medical groups," Fisher concluded. "Ensuring patient access to the best available care has been a repeated tenet of this Administration, and we hope the President will review the unintended consequences of this proposal."