AMCNO Hosts Legislative Breakfast at Saint Vincent Charity Hospital

On Friday, May 4th the AMCNO sponsored a Legislative Breakfast at SVCH. A key component of the AMCNO legislative agenda for 2007 is to coordinate meetings with hospitals/groups in the region. These meetings are to educate physicians and legislators on the ongoing impact of medical issues on access to care, physician practice, hospital care and reimbursement issues.

The breakfast format is not a fundraiser, rather an opportunity for physicians to meet with legislators from the hospital’s district. Legislators in attendance for the SVCH breakfast were Representatives Sandra Williams, Barbara Boyd and Armond Budish. Each of the legislators spent time providing the physicians with their background as well as their ideas for the upcoming legislative agenda. Rep. Budish is part of a health care coalition working on insurance reform legislation and he indicated that there should be a bill developed in the near future – and it would not entail collecting additional taxes to implement the program, rather the plan is to utilize funds that are already available and could be redistributed.

AMCNO representatives provided information on the AMCNO legislative agenda for 2007 inclusive of work on SB 59 – the mandatory arbitration bill. Another key topic of conversation evolved around the rollout of the Medicaid Managed Care Plans (MCP) in Northeastern Ohio. Both the physician and hospital representatives in attendance expressed concern about the fact that their established Medicaid patients were now being referred to other physicians and institutions because of the manner in which the MCP program has been developed. Everyone in attendance agreed that when these plans are implemented it should be of paramount importance to respect an established patient/physician relationship to assure continuity of care. The legislative representatives in attendance offered to facilitate a future meeting with the new head of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services – and the AMCNO is pursuing this suggestion on behalf of our members.

The AMCNO is working to set up legislative breakfasts at area hospitals across the region. The next one is scheduled for June 8th at 7:30 a.m. at Parma Community Hospital. If you would like to attend the event or would like to set up a breakfast at your hospital, please email the AMCNO EVP/CEO at ebiddlestone@amcnoma.org