Docs lobby against treatment costs in outcomes research

The American Medical Association (AMA) has begun to lobby against the mandates of a new research agency that was created as a result of the Affordable Care Act, reports The Hill's Healthwatch.

The AMA is drafting a comment letter to the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), urging the organization not to consider the cost of treatments when evaluating them. The primary lobbying group for the nation's physicians is also trying to recruit other organizations to sign on to the letter.

PCORI began seeking public input as to its specific mission last month.

"We seek further clarification toward the Board's intentions...and whether this includes cost analysis," states a sign-on letter scheduled to be sent today to PCORI executive director Joseph Selby. "If that is the case, we do not believe that it is consistent with the PCORI's enabling statute."

Although in much of the letter the AMA is supportive of PCORI's mission, it notes that "physicians today have access to a wide array of medical information. However, there remains far too little rigorous evidence readily available to physicians and patients when they need it most about which treatments work best for which patients."

To learn more:
- read The Hill's Healthwatch article
- read the letter