Bill Would Clarify Clinicians' Credentials, Stop Misrepresentation

When is a doctor not a doctor? That question is the focus of legislation just introduced in Congress and supported by APA calling for clarification of any practitioner’s qualifications and licensure. The Truth in Healthcare Marketing Act of 2013 (H.R. 1427) refers to surveys conducted in 2008 and 2010 and points out that “patient confusion result[s] from ambiguous health care nomenclature…” because “consumers are often unaware of the differences in, and seek more information about, the qualifications, training, and education of their health care professionals.”

For example, patients are often confused by obscure sets of initials following a practitioner’s name or by titles (like “medical psychologist”) that may not be connected to any actual professional license. The bill requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to identify misleading practices regarding health care practitioners' credentials and detail instances of harm these practices may have caused. It would prohibit any misrepresentation of a person’s licensing, training, or expertise, and be enforced by existing FTC measures. APA, the AMA, and other medical professional organizations have urged Congress to pass this bill.

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Psychiatrist to Become Next President of the AMA

Jeremy Lazarus, M.D.

Psychiatrist Jeremy Lazarus, M.D., was elected Saturday as president-elect of the AMA. Lazarus, speaker of the AMA House of Delegates and a past speaker of the APA Assembly, is only the second psychiatrist to be president of the AMA. The first was Rock Slyester, M.D., who was installed as the 93rd president of the AMA on May 16, 1939.

Lazarus, who ran unopposed for president-elect, is a private-practice psychiatrist in Denver and was reelected speaker of the AMA House of Delegates in June 2010, after having served as vice speaker from 2003 to 2007. He is a past president of the Colorado Medical Society, Colorado Psychiatric Society, and the Arapahoe County Medical Society. He serves as chair of the AMA Board of Trustees (BOT) Compensation Committee and as a member of the AMA-BOT Executive and Finance committees. Representing the AMA on the Health Coverage Coalition for the Uninsured and the Ride for World Health, he has been one of the AMA's chief spokespersons on issues involving the uninsured. Read more about Lazarus and psychiatrists' involvement in policymaking at the AMA in Psychiatric News at http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/11/3.1.full and http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/10/8.1.full.

AMA House of Delegates Meets This Weekend

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The 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association House of Delegates begins tomorrow in Chicago. The House of Delegates is the policy-making body of the AMA, bringing together an inclusive group of physicians and medical students representing every state and specialty. More than 200 policy proposals will be considered on emerging issues in science, ethics, government, public health and business. In addition, a number of APA member psychiatrists are running for elective office at the meeting, including Jeremy Lazarus, M.D., currently the Speaker of the House, who is running unopposed for President of the AMA. Also running for office are Patrice Harris, M.D., a candidate for the Board of Trustees, John McIntyre, M.D., who is running for re-election to the AMA’s Council on Medical Services, and Stuart Gitlow, M.D., who is a candidate for re-election to the Council on Science and Public Health. For more information, see Psychiatric News, http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/11/3.1.full.