DAY 1 Blog (Saturday, June 11)
AUA Delegates, Drs. Hans Arora and Jason Jameson; AUA Resident/Fellow Section Delegate, Dr. Ruchika Talwar; and AUA Gallagher Scholar Dr. Brian Duty joined hundreds of physicians at the American Medic
al Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HoD) 2022 Annual Meeting to consider resolutions and reports covering clinical practice, payment, medical education, and public health topics. Top issues at the meeting include reforming the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, delaying appropriate use criteria, telemedicine expansion, scope of practice and professional liability issues.
Following Friday night's opening session, which officially kicked-off the AMA HoD Annual Meeting, AUA delegates participated in a variety of specialty caucus pre-meetings, including those hosted by the Surgical Caucus (organized by the American College of Surgeons) and the Cancer Caucus (organized by the American Society of Clinical Oncology).
Later, the AUA delegation participated in multiple reference committee meetings covering more than 210 different reports and resolutions. In particular, they attended six reference committee hearings and weighed-in on numerous measures including in the Reference Committee on Amendments to Constitution and Bylaws, to which Dr. Arora testified in support of amending Resolution 014
Healthcare Equity Through Informed Consent and a Collaborative Healthcare Model for the Gender Diverse Population to strike the term “medically unnecessary surgeries”. The intent of the measure is to urge the AMA to support shared decision making between gender diverse individuals, their families, their primary care physician, and a multidisciplinary team of physicians and other health care professionals.
In Reference Committee B (Legislation), Dr. Arora also spoke in favor of Resolution 226
Coverage for Clinical Trial Ancillary Costs asking AMA to actively advocate for federal and state legislation that would allow coverage of non-clinical ancillary costs by sponsors of clinical trials. This aligns with a similar request made by urologists and other urologic professionals on Capitol Hill during the Annual Urology Advocacy Summit that was held this past March in Washington, DC.
Dr. Jameson participated in Reference Committee G (Medical Practice) where he testified in support of Resolution 727
Utilization Review, Medical Necessity Determination, Prior Authorization Decisions. “The AUA is in strong support of the resolution. Reducing regulatory burdens remains a top priority for the AUA. Prior Authorization is routinely used in urology, especially for overactive bladder medicines, forcing urologists to use medications that are on the Beers Criteria to avoid in elderly patients due to cognitive function and dementia concerns,” he said.
On Sunday, AUA delegates will continue their work deliberating reports and resolutions within reference committee meetings covering Medical Service and Science & Technology.
AUA Lead Delegate Dr. Hans Arora testifies at the AMA House of Delegates Annual Meeting on June 11.