Earlier this week, the Medical Association convened a work group of stakeholders to discuss hurdles and or delays that patients and their physicians face in accessing the tests, treatments and medications the treating physician believes are appropriate.
Patient advocacy groups, many of them disease-specific, joined the Association and others in discussing the hurdles patients face in accessing what their doctors have ordered or prescribed. In addition to delays or denials of care patients and their caregivers face in these situations, the administrative tasks required of physicians by insurers increase annual health spending nationwide by more than $250 billion and occupy millions of uncompensated hours of American physicians and their staff’s time.
The coalition that’s been formed to work collaboratively on these issues is gathering information from other states. If you are interested in participating in this effort, contact cflack@alamedical.org