TUCSON, Ariz., Nov. 21, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Albert L. Fisher, M.D., of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, represented the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) at the National Physicians Council for Healthcare Policy in Washington, D.C., Nov 4-6.
The NPCHP is a national voice for physicians in private practice. It advocates market-based solutions, price transparency, and the reform of regulations that obstruct physicians’ efforts to care for patients, as described on its website.
This coalition meeting focused on onerous new procedures for getting paid by Medicare, which were created by MACRA (the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015) and its Merit-based Incentive Payment System/Alternative Payment Model (MIPS/APM). Presentations showed how this model is not only burdensome and costly, but a serious threat to patient privacy, Dr. Fisher reported.
How consolidation of hospitals is driving up the cost of medical care was another featured topic. While nonprofit hospitals do not pay taxes, they behave like for-profit companies, and many of their executives receive 7-figure salaries, Dr. Fisher noted.
Direct primary care was offered as one model for decreasing bureaucracy and improving care.
Dr. Fisher spoke about the American Board of Medical Specialties Maintenance of Certification program (ABMS/MOC®), under which physicians are tested and retested. This has become a costly and time-consuming process with no proven value to patient care.
Dr. Fisher was installed as president of AAPS last month at its 74th annual meeting, held in Tucson, Arizona. Dr. Fisher has been in private practice in Oshkosh for more than 30 years and specializes in family medicine. He received an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and an M.D. degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin.
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) represents physicians in virtually all specialties and every state. Founded in 1943, AAPS has the motto “omnia pro aegroto,” which means “all for the patient.”
Contact: Albert Fisher, M.D., (920) 236-3290, alfisher36@yahoo.com