Physician Specialists Document Abuses And Applaud Biden Administration’s Efforts To Fix The System In January, The Alliance of Specialty Medicine (Alliance) participated in an in-person roundtable discussion on reforming prior authorization in federally-sponsored healthcare programs. The panel was convened by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, and U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, MD, as the Biden…

Payment Integrity Remains a Priority — Representatives of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine met virtually in early January to discuss their federal agenda for the newly convened 118th Congress. The specialty coalition also welcomed its newest member, the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR). The addition of SIR brings the Alliance membership up to 16 national…

Aline Charabaty, MD, AGAF, FACG I practice medicine at Johns Hopkins-Sibley Hospital in the Palisades neighborhood of Washington, D.C. I am fortunate to be fewer than 10 miles from Capitol Hill, so I have met in the past with my lawmakers in support of legislation I am certain will improve…

The Alliance of Specialty Medicine’s newsletter, On Call, provides updates and information on legislative and regulatory issues for which the Alliance is advocating and highlights our individual member societies’ work. In the Winter 2020 edition, we cover the Alliance’s first-ever “virtual” fly-in, where specialty docs from around the country…

Murad Alam, MD. George Hruza, MD. Madhav Swaminathan, MD. As the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in the spring, many dermatologic surgeons, along with their physician colleagues saw their scheduled procedures and visits with patients, canceled or postponed in accordance with federal and state guidance designed to reserve limited supplies of…

Deborah L. Benzil, MD, FACS, FAANS The economic, medical, political and psychological tsunami unleashed by the COVID-19 virus is unlike anything we have seen in our lifetime. The traumatic disruption of 9–11 was limited in comparison to our current crisis. While impossible to include up to the minute statistics…

Sajan Nagpal, MD • Gastroenterology The outbreak of COVID-19 has wreaked havoc around the world. Despite ongoing efforts by local and national governments, new cases and deaths from COVID-19 continue to spike in some countries. Most western countries, including the U.S., finally (and hopefully!) are reaching their respective “peaks” after…

Kristen Conrad-Schnetz, DO, FACOS, FACS It is no secret that physician shortages will be part of our not-so-distant future. Even before the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic become apparent, the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) predicted in its annual study of the physician workforce that by the year…