The ill-crafted Weiner-Braley amendment to HR 3200 (which would eliminate the ability of physicians to provide advanced diagnostic imaging services in their offices beginning in 2013) was not heard last week before the historic vote. But it has not gone away. Chair Henry Waxman will hold a special session of Energy and Commerce, with participation of Ways and Means and Education and Labor representatives, to hear more than 60 proposed amendments to the bill, including potentially the Weiner amendment. This will happen as soon as the House is back in September.

So we need everybody mobilized this month to meet with their members of Congress during this recess, and to be eloquent and emphatic about how damaging to access and patients this amendment would be if included (the House members are already mostly home in their Districts; the Senate will stay in session for a few more days, but will be on recess by the end of this week). We need for Congress to understand the importance of making the leap to REAL reform -- which would make this amendment and the whole self-referral debate moot. We need therefore to frame our conversation with members of Congress in terms of our support for true payment reform to promote patient-centered and evidence-based care leading to improved quality, outcomes, and efficiency.

Leading By Example
ACC Chapter Gov. George Crossley, M.D., F.A.C.C., is an example of how to do just that. He was featured in an opinion piece on health care reform in the Tennessean on July 28. Dr. Crossley writes, “There is a right way and a wrong way to reform our health care system. And while opinions clearly differ on right and wrong in the halls of government and at our nation's kitchen tables, one aspect of reform cannot be overlooked: doctors.” Crossley also addresses the payment cuts that would result from the proposed 2010 Physician Fee Schedule when he writes that the “large-scale arbitrary cuts” will inhibit cardiovascular professionals’ ability “to make great strides in how patients with heart disease and other illnesses are treated.”