12/14/2009 6:50:02 PM #

To the ACC: Please stop talking about "patient access." Your responsibility is to fight for the rights of your membership, the people who pay dues to you. That's not patients, it's physicians. You should be arguing for physicians' rights, not patients' rights. The argument is that these planned cuts in reimbursement are unacceptable by us, not because of patient access issues, but because it represents a terribly unfair and devastating blow to our ability to make a decent living as physicians. The position of the ACC could be strengthened by the implied threat of recommending to your members to opt out of Medicare totally, thereby reimposing a normal fee schedule for our services, and placing the responsibility for payment back where it belongs: with patients. In addition, your argument could be tremendously strengthened by the ominous fact that bright, motivated young college students will undoubtedly decide against a career in medicine when it becomes clear to them that medicine is no longer a financially viable profession.

Bruce Martin, M.D.

2/21/2010 5:20:46 AM #

The current threats to cardiology are unbelievable. I am a very humble cardiologist but I cannot keep silent. I fear that the cuts will threaten patient's access to timely and life saving cardiac care. I can personally account for several dozen "saves" this past year through my practice and hope I can continue to provide the same level of care to my patients going forward. The expenses in practice do not decline, the importance of cardiac care remains high (this is why I practice cardiology to the best of my abilities daily and with good effect) and the threats to private practice must be halted. Successful practices which lengthen and save lives need to be rewarded and not threatened by unjustified cuts. The inner city community in which I practice will unfortunately suffer if my practice's growth is stifled.. Joining with larger institutions is not the answer and will undoubtedly lead to poorer healthcare access to my community and worse outcomes. I hope for the best and that thoughtful legislature will succeed in reversing these threats. Hopefully these threats will not become reality and I can continue to further serve those with cardiac disease in the local community. I want to prevent bad outcomes by continued early detection and intervention (this remains key to successful cardiac care).

Solo Cardiologist's Feelings