Year: 2010
Resolution Number: 25
Action Taken: Disapproved
Status:
Author(s): Ponon Dileep Kumar, MD
Sponsor: Ponon Dileep Kumar, MD
On behalf of: St. Clair County Delegation
Committee: C (Internal Affairs and Public Service) [Pre-2014]
Resolved Section(s):
RESOLVED: That the Michigan Delegation to the AMA urge the AMA to work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the federal government to make physician courtesy legal.RATIONALE: The Committee believed that the appropriate conventional use of physician courtesy is not the issue. The Committee heard testimony that physician courtesy, in some cases, could be construed as fraud, kickbacks, and an enticement to refer, according to the law. An AMA delegate indicated that there has never been a physician who has been prosecuted for fraud for using physician courtesy, but the risk does exist.
RESOLVED: That the Michigan Delegation to the AMA urge the AMA to work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the federal government to make physician courtesy legal.RATIONALE: The Committee believed that the appropriate conventional use of physician courtesy is not the issue. The Committee heard testimony that physician courtesy, in some cases, could be construed as fraud, kickbacks, and an enticement to refer, according to the law. An AMA delegate indicated that there has never been a physician who has been prosecuted for fraud for using physician courtesy, but the risk does exist.
Fiscal Note: NULL
Resolution: View PDF for Make Physician Courtesy Legal