N
E W Sx I T E M S
SHC launches on-line physician portal
Dean praises student free clinic
Column
1 Michael Sexton,
president of
CMA
Column 2 J. Kent Garman and James Hinsdale
Tennis?
Innovative medical treatment
for tendonitis
Nurse week scholarship winners
NIMH study seeks memory patient referrals
Letter to the Editor - Sri Lanka
Cop Doc Norris may now carry Glock
Clinics move to Blake Wilbur building
GUEST
COLUMN 1 •
JULY
2005 •
Volume 29 •
No. 7
MICHAEL SEXTON, M.D. president, California Medical Association
* * *
We Need Stanford Physicians: Why You Need Us
California has its own ground zero - our health care delivery system - or what is left of it. Few academic medical centers or their affiliated medical groups are immune from the constant economic and regulatory pressures felt by their community colleagues.
In recent years, larger numbers of UC-Davis and UC-San Diego physicians have joined CMA because they have done the math - their investment of professional dues yields a tremendous rate of return. I can fill this newsletter with dozens of examples of why every Stanford physician should join SCCMA and CMA, but I'll focus on just a few:
RICO Class Action vs. For-Profit
HMOs
Nearly five years ago, CMA lit the fuse, bringing a class action lawsuit
against HealthNet, PacifiCare and Blue Cross for what we saw as concerted
anti-competitive practices. Many other states piled on and more HMO defendants
were named. Aetna, CIGNA and now HealthNet have settled. Stanford may
receive approximately $1 million from the CIGNA settlement alone. Beyond
monetary damages, this litigation is creating court-enforced changes in
how HMOs do business with physicians and patients.
Defending MICRA
California's MICRA malpractice statute is the envy of physicians around
the nation and, not surprisingly, is the bull's-eye in trial attorneys'
gun sights. Enacted in 1975, this statute saves every physician in California
nearly $60,000 each year - ranging from several thousand dollars for psychiatrists
to more than $100,000 per year for surgeons. That is several million dollars
that Stanford does not have to pay to insure its physicians each year.
A key focus for CMA is protecting MICRA, and CMA defends this law from
assault in Sacramento and the courts 24/7/365 days a year.
MediCal
CMA's lawsuit has stopped the governor and legislature from imposing 10
to 15 percent reductions in physician Medi- Cal payments each year since
2002. What would a 15 percent reduction in MediCal physician payments
mean to Stanford and its medical center?
Medicare
CMA is leading the charge to unite our state's Congressional delegation
against the scheduled physician fee reductions (more than 35 percent over
five years!). What would such a cut mean to Stanford? And even closer
to home. . .
The Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps permits more than 100 physicians to receive medical school loan repayment in exchange for practicing for three years in medically underserved areas.
Beyond the business case for membership, there are two very simple reasons for Stanford physicians to join CMA and SCCMA:
We are all responsible for our profession and many of the threats facing medicine today would be simpler to deal with were CMA even stronger.
My colleagues in CMA leadership - including your own Jim Hinsdale - welcome the opportunity to visit and speak with you, in a group or individually. Questions? Give me a call at (916) 551-2030.
CMA and SCCMA are safeguarding the practice and viability of medicine, enabling you to spend more unfettered time with your patients, providing them the highest quality of care with as little interference as possible. We need Stanford physicians and Stanford physicians need us.
Please join us in this important work.
