bulletin - Allegheny County Medical Society

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEHealth Care PeregrinationsLEO R. MCCAFFERTY, MDIam honored to be your presidentand grateful for the chance toserve. I joined the Allegheny CountyMedical Society in 1990 when Ireturned to Pittsburgh after trainingand specializing as a plastic surgeon inMiami. ACMS was the first organizationI joined in Pennsylvania uponmy return. I still believe that was oneof the best decisions in my professionalcareer. Becoming a member ofACMS instantly made me feel athome within the medical communityand gave me a voice in AlleghenyCounty and Pennsylvania health care.As president of ACMS I welcomeand encourage you to becomean active member of the society; ifyou’re already a member, pleaseencourage your cohorts to join byvisiting www.acms.org or calling(412) 321-5030.There continue to be manyunresolved issues changing the face ofmedicine nationwide such as medicalliability and Medicare paymentreform, as well as health care reform.Share your opinions. Make yourvoice heard. Organized medicineprovides the ideal platform forphysicians to join forces and worktogether as a profession. ACMS isthere for you and your patients. Thesociety’s mission says it all—Leadershipand Advocacy for Patients andThe concept of reducing costs and improvingefficiency when it comes to patient care issomething most of us would like to achieve,but at what cost?I would like to take this opportunityto address some of the globalconcerns that I have with the healthcare reform law that passed about 10months ago. There is perhaps toomuch focus on cost savings and notenough focus on promoting competition.The combined effect, I suggest,will ultimately take the windout of the sails of what has traditionallybeen recognized as the planet’sbest medical care.A recent article in the New YorkTimes (November 20, 2010) addressedwhat some consumer advocatesfear: that the health care lawcould worsen some of the veryproblems it was meant to solve byreducing competition, driving upcosts and creating incentives forphysicians and hospitals to stint oncare in order to retain their costsavingbonuses.These fears have been spurred bythe growing frenzy of mergersinvolving hospitals, physician groupsand clinics eager to share costs andincentives for controlling costs.The concept of reducing costsand improving efficiency when itcomes to patient care is somethingmost of us would like to achieve, butat what cost? While the new lawencourages doctors, hospitals andother health care providers to cometogether and jointly take responsibilityfor the cost and quality of care ofpatients, I believe it must be donewithout compromising basic tenets,laws and values of American society.Lawyers and lobbyists, in analarmingly unsettling movement, aretrying to persuade officials in Washingtonto relax or waive antitrust lawsthat are intended to prevent healthcare monopolies and to protectagainst careless patient care andfraudulent billing of patients orMedicare. Some believe that thecurrent anti-trust laws are obstaclesthat will make it difficult for hospitalsto reward doctors for cuttingcosts or following best practices.Relaxing anti-trust laws is comparableto relaxing freedom of speech orPhysicians.savings while earning government10 Bulletin : January 2011