AMA, physician groups push back on VA’s plan to establish new national standards of practice

MedPage Today (8/2, Firth) reports, “The American Medical Association (AMA) and dozens of physician groups are pushing back on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ plan to establish new national standards of practice, which would override current state practice and licensure laws and allow non-physicians to operate outside of their training.” AMA President Gerald E. Harmon, M.D., said, “These back-of-the-envelope standards will have the unintended consequence of reducing the quality of health care for veterans, many of whom suffer from complex symptoms that require expertise from trained medical professionals.” He added, “These new standards of practice are unlikely to encompass the complexity of modern medicine. They will supersede longstanding state regulations and laws and create confusion. This is a solution in search of a problem.”