A Call for Truth
and Transparency
Ronald Szabat, J.D., L.L.M., Director
Governmental and Legal Affairs
s the
Washington Post observed in an article
some years ago: notice that we are calling this the
“information age” and not the “knowledge
age.” Anesthesiologists, physicians, patients,
consumers and people everywhere are literally being
bombarded by “incoming messages,” whether
wanted or unwanted, important or not. How to cope
with this deluge of facts, trivia, half-truths and
outright falsehoods remains a daunting and daily challenge
for us all.
Here in the nation’s capital, public policy
experts and lobbyists abound, all competing with one
another for a small amount of public attention or,
in most cases, the attention of members of Congress.
There is no shortage of information to be “packaged”
and increasingly limited time in which to sort it
all out or absorb it.
But what of consumers and patients trying to navigate
the complexities of today’s health care industry?
How are patients able to make “consumer-directed
health choices” amid hype, hyperbole and falsehoods?
While the debate on price transparency in health care
costs gains momentum in Washington and reveals the
distortions brought on by government-controlled Medicare
and Medicaid pricing and physician payment —
not to mention distorted private payer fee schedules
— recent surveys show that Americans need and
want better information about all the nonphysician
providers seeking direct patient access and a greater
share of reimbursement for patient interactions.
After all, a bad or uninformed “choice”
is really no choice at all. When it comes to one’s
health, making bad choices can endanger patient safety,
cause injury or even lead to death.
In this spirit of helping our patients, ASA was pleased
to accept a recent invitation to join the Coalition
for Healthcare Accountability, Responsibility and
Transparency (CHART). Comprising leading medical and
dental organizations, including the American Medical
Association and other large national medical specialties,
CHART is dedicated to advancing legislative, regulatory
and legal actions at the federal level to counter
misrepresentations by nonphysicians as to their titles,
education, skills or training.
With the advent of so-called “Doctorate of Nursing
Programs,” which appear to be retooled master’s-level
nursing programs with limited clinical skills offerings,
anesthesiologists are rightly concerned that patient
confusion will soon result if those persons other
than medical doctors or doctors of osteopathy begin
using their “doctor” titles in clinical
settings, seeking to represent themselves as true
physicians. Similarly, in the medical marketplace,
patients deserve not to be misled into believing that
someone has the same, equivalent or similar education,
skills and training as an M.D. or D.O.
To highlight the need for Federal Trade Commission
enforcement to protect patients through “truth
in advertising” and ensure the integrity of
other public pronouncements or patient encounters,
ASA is pleased to support new legislation recently
introduced by Representative John Sullivan (R-OK),
in the U.S. House, as H.R. 5688, the “Health
Care Truth and Transparency Act of 2006.” This
straightforward and commonsense bill draws a line
in the sand and says that those nonphysician providers
misrepresenting themselves and misleading the public
will be subject to stringent investigation and prosecution.
With so much at stake for patients seeking knowledge
in this crazy “anything goes” information
age, the Sullivan bill would ensure that patients
get better and more accurate information so critical
to their own health care.
As it is doing with the American Medical Association’s
Scope of Practice Partnership, focused on state legislative,
regulatory and legal issues, ASA looks forward to
working jointly to protect patients and avoid injury
or death through better truth and transparency at
all levels of health care.
With our drive to save our anesthesiology teaching
programs through legislative reform of the onerous
Medicare teaching rule, the Sullivan bill joins ASA’s
other major legislative and regulatory priorities
for 2006. Translation: “governmental affairs”
work remains a major pillar of ASA activity on behalf
of its members. As always, your active involvement
and support on these important matters is appreciated!
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