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Features for Senior Citizens
Medical Association Decides Against a Ban on Retail
Health Clinics but Wants Governments to Investigate
AMA to launch own investigations of how
prescriptions are handled
June 26, 2007 – The American Medical Association
delegates decided at their annual meeting yesterday to not call for a
ban on retail health clinics, as many had proposed, nor to set a minimum
age limit for patients allowed to use these walk-in facilities. They
decided, instead, to toss the ball to government officials, requesting
they investigate to see if they are safe for consumers.
AMA Calls on State, Federal
Officials To Investigate Whether Retail Health Clinics Create Conflicts
of Interest
The
American Medical
Association on Monday at an annual meeting adopted a
resolution to ask state and federal agencies to launch investigations
into whether retail health clinics place the health of patients at risk,
the
Chicago Tribune
reports (Japsen, Chicago Tribune, 6/26).
Retail clinics -- low-cost,
walk-in facilities often located in supermarkets, pharmacies and large
retail stores -- in large part are staffed by nurse practitioners and
physician assistants under the supervision of physicians who in most
cases are not on site.
Currently, AMA policy on retail clinics in large
part addresses standards of care, such as the use of electronic health
records and adherence to guidelines for proper sanitation and hygiene.
At the meeting on Sunday, some physician groups said that the lack of
physicians at retail clinics places the health of patients at risk, and
others said that nurse practitioners lack the ability to properly treat
patients younger than age three (Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report, 6/25).
Under the resolution, AMA also will seek an
investigation into whether retail clinics encourage patients to fill
their prescription on site, a practice that might involve a conflict of
interest. In addition, AMA will seek a ban on a practice in which health
insurers offer to waive or reduce copayments for members who seek care
at retail clinics.
Walgreen
spokesperson Michael Polzin said that retail clinics operated by the
company do not encourage patients to fill their prescription on site. He
added, "If the AMA pushed this agenda, its members may find out that
legislators and constituents have been demanding accessible, affordable
and high-quality health care for years, and that's what retail clinics
are delivering" (Tanner,
AP/Houston
Chronicle, 6/25).
AMA Will Not Seek Ban
However, AMA "backed down" from a proposal by some
doctors to seek a ban on retail clinics or minimum age limits for
patients treated at the facilities, the Chicago Tribune reports (Chicago
Tribune, 5/26).
Peter Carmel, an AMA board member, said, "If we
believe in consumer-driven medicine, if we believe that it is the
responsibility of medicine to respond to the needs of our patients and
if there is a strong consumer demand, then we in fact are going to have
to compete in this arena" (AP/Houston Chronicle, 6/25).
Additional Resolution
AMA on Monday also adopted a resolution to lobby
for the passage of legislation that would allow children with severe
food allergies to take medication to school, the
AP/Albany Times
Union reports. Eighteen states and several school districts
have policies that ban the practice, according to Duane Cady, an AMA
board member.
The resolution applies to prescription epinephrine
and other injectable medications that treat anaphylaxis, a severe
allergic reaction that can cause swelling, difficulty breathing, loss of
consciousness and death. Under the resolution, AMA will encourage
schools to develop preparedness plans for their responses to children
who experience severe allergic reactions and ensure that all affected
children have individual emergency care plans.
AMA board member Rebecca Patchin said,
"Life-threatening allergic reactions to foods can easily happen at
school or away from home, and an epinephrine injection at the first sign
of a reaction is critical" (Tanner, AP/Albany Times Union, 6/25).
Journal Launch
In related news, AMA on Thursday introduced a new
medical journal that will examine the science of disaster preparedness
and response. The first edition of Disaster Medicine and Public Health
Preparedness features studies related to Hurricane Katrina, the 1995
Oklahoma City bombing and the 2004 Indonesian tsunami. An online version
of the journal is available at
http://www.dmphp.org (AP/Macon
Telegraph, 6/21).
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