- Project: Healthcare workers in contact with any patients should have access to appropriate PPE.
Specific goal – Legislation and state regulations requiring all workers in patient care areas have access to PPE if desired. Hospitals without enough PPE must scale back admissions commiserate with available PPE. Hospital availability of PPE should be considered on par with hospital bed availability. No PPE, no patients.Physicians have a right to protect their own safety. Hospitals, facilities or offices may not reprimand any physician for wearing PPE in any circumstance where the PPE is purchased by the physician independently.
Action plan: Lobbying state and federally elected officials, and state medical boards.
Funding: expensive! Approx. $500,000 to achieve success in two states and initiate lobbying of congress. - Project: Physician compensation for peer to peer, patient pre-authorization phone calls
Specific goal: Pre-authorization work be reimbursed at approximately 0.8 RVU per 15 minutes with minimum blocks of 15 minutes.
Action plan: Lobbying congress.
Funding: Expensive ie $500,000 or more. - Project: After COVID crisis, the U.S. maintains a stockpile of PPE per state corresponding to its population, ventilators and temporary hospitals to manage a future infectious crisis.
Specific goal:Legislation regarding the above.
Action plan: Lobbying congress.
Funding: inexpensive ie $100,000 or less. This will likely be a popular proposal that will already be supported by congress. - Project: Hospitals, facilities, or offices may not forcibly redeploy physicians to positions in which they do not hold hospital privileges or hold credentials for patient care. Where physicians refuse redeployment, and no suitable alternative is found, physicians may be furloughed, but not terminated.
Specific goal:Agreement of State Boards
Action plan: Lobby State Medical Boards
Funding: expensive ie $500,000 or more. - Project:U.S. sponsors research on techniques to respond to pandemics with rapid diagnostics and therapeutics.
Specific goal:Legislation regarding the above.
Action plan: Lobbying congress.
Funding: inexpensive ie $100,000 or less. This will likely be a popular proposal that will already be supported by congress. - Project: Ongoing promotion of telemedicine due to its positive impact on patient access and reduced costs.
Specific goal: Telemedicine to be reimbursed at same level as in person encounters after COVID-19 crisis subsides.
Action plan: Lobbying congress.
Funding: inexpensive ie $100,000 or less. This will likely be popular proposal that will already be supported by congress. - Project: Patient choice of telemedicine versus inpatient consultation due to its positive impact on patient comfort and cost.
Specific goal: Telemedicine to be reimbursed at same level as in person encounters after COVID-19 crisis subsides.
Action plan: Lobbying congress.
Funding: inexpensive ie $100,000 or less. This will likely be a popular proposal that will already be supported by congress. - Project: Insurance carriers to provide on-line calendar appointments for peer to peer patient pre-authorization, whereby failure of the carrier’s representative to attend leads to approval of authorization
Specific goal: On-line appointment-based peer-peer available with all carriers
Action plan: Lobbying insurance companies.
Funding: Inexpensive ie $100,000 or less.