The AAMC has launched an online video
contest to give college students a chance to turn their dreams of
a career in medicine into assistance with the costs of preparing
for and applying to medical school. The AspiringDocs.org Video Contest
asks college students to submit a short video explaining why they
want to become a doctor-an "Aspiring Doc." Ten winners will each
receive $1,000 toward their MCAT and medical school application
fees. The video contest is a new feature of the AAMC's AspiringDocs.org
campaign, a Web site and outreach effort to increase diversity in
medicine. Entries are due Dec. 1.
"Joining Forces" program prepares
doctors to care for returning military veterans
The AAMC has joined
with the HealthPartners Institute for Medical Education, the American
Hospital Association, and more than a dozen other organizations
to launch an initiative to generate awareness among medical professionals
about the challenges-medical, social, and emotional-that veterans
and their families face as they return home from military service.
The "Joining Forces" program, a four-part series of online educational
resources, gives non-military clinicians the tools they need to
provide proper care and treatment to returning troops.
Federal patent court issues decision in Bilski
case
On Oct. 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's rejection of a patent on
a "business method" that claimed nothing more than a series of defined
mental or cognitive acts. The Court supported the rejection on grounds
that the subject matter of the claimed "invention" was not eligible
for patenting (Section 101 of the patent code states, "Whoever invents
or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or
composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof,
may obtain a patent…"). In its ruling on the appeal brought by plaintiffs
Bilski and Warsaw, the Court emphasized the role of "physical transformation"-that
a process must result in the physical transformation of an article
to be eligible to patent. In March, the AAMC joined with Eli Lilly
in an amicus brief to the Court citing the implications of this
case for medicine and research. Consistent with the AAMC's argument,
the Court's ruling would continue to permit patents on medical diagnostic
test kits, for example, but would not permit patents that claim
methods for interpreting or correlating (by cognitive acts) the
measurements determined by a diagnostic test.
Notably, in 2006 the U.S. Supreme Court in Labcorp v. Metabolite
declined on technical grounds to review a diagnostic test patent
that effectively claimed such a correlation, but a minority on the
high Court sharply criticized that decision and argued the necessity
of clarifying the criteria for eligible subject matter in assessing
the patentability of diagnostic tests. The AAMC hopes that the Appeals
Court decision in the Bilski case will provide this clarification.
Information: Stephen Heinig, AAMC Biomedical and Health Sciences
Research, 202.828.0488 or sheinig@aamc.org
CMS releases 2009 Medicare physician fee
schedule
The Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted online the
final rule for the 2009 physician fee schedule. As required by law,
the final rule increases the Medicare reimbursement to physicians
by 1.1 percent for 2009; however, due to a change in the methodology
used to compute this increase, physicians may receive less than
the 1.1 percent update. The rule also extends the Physician Quality
Reporting Initiative, as required by the recently enacted "Medicare
Improvement for Patients and Providers Act of 2008," which increased
the incentive that eligible professionals can receive for satisfactorily
reporting data from 1.5 to 2.0 percent of their covered professional
charges in 2009 and 2010. Finally, the rule provides for a 90-day
additional comment period to seek input on a proposed targeted exception
to the physician self-referral law that would permit certain types
of incentive payments or shared savings programs. CMS concluded
that additional information is needed in order to finalize an exception
that will allow the full array of beneficial, non-abusive incentive
payment and shared savings programs, such as pay-for-performance
and other quality-focused programs.
Former AAMC president receives leadership
award
AAMC President Emeritus Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., has been awarded
the University of Iowa College of Public Health's 2008 Richard and
Barbara Hansen Leadership Award and Distinguished Lectureship. The
award honors individuals who have made contributions to the health
field and have demonstrated leadership, integrity, ethical standards,
and a commitment to improving healthcare on a national and international
level. Dr. Cohen is recognized, too, for his work to promote greater
racial and ethnic diversity in medicine, uphold professional and
scientific values, and transform the nation's health care system.
In memoriam: AMA's Dr. Ronald M. Davis
Ronald
M. Davis, M.D., immediate past president of the American Medical
Association (AMA), died last week of pancreatic cancer. He was 52.
Dr. Davis, a preventive medicine physician, served as president
of the AMA from June 2007 to June 2008. He led the AMA's focus on
preventive medicine and had been a longtime public health and anti-tobacco
advocate. He also led the association this year in its apology to
African-American physicians.
Applicants sought for NIH Pioneer and New
Innovator awards
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) are seeking applicants
for the 2009 NIH Director's Pioneer Awards and New Innovator Awards.
Both programs support exceptionally creative scientists who take
highly innovative, potentially high-impact approaches to major challenges
in biomedical or behavioral research. Pioneer Awards provide up
to $2.5 million in direct costs over five years and are open to
scientists at any career stage. New Innovator Awards provide up
to $1.5 million in direct costs over five years and are for early
career investigators who have not received an NIH regular research
(R01) or similar NIH grant. The agency expects to fund up to ten
Pioneer Awards and up to 24 New Innovator Awards in Sept. 2009.
The Pioneer Award competition begins with a proposal submission
period from Nov. 17 to Dec. 17, 2008. The New Innovator Award competition
begins with a proposal submission period from Dec. 15, 2008 to Jan.
15, 2009.
On the move
Mark L. Tykocinski, M.D., has been appointed dean of Jefferson
Medical College and senior vice president of Thomas Jefferson University,
effective Dec. 1. He will also serve as president of Jefferson University
Physicians. Dr. Tykocinski is currently a professor and chair of
the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University
of Pennsylvania. He is a represents the Association of Pathology
Chairs to the AAMC Council of Academic Societies.
Barbara S. Schneidman, M.D., M.P.H., has been named interim president
and chief executive officer of the Federation of State Medical Boards
(FSMB), effective Jan. 1, 2009. She is currently vice president
of medical education at the American Medical Association. Dr. Schneidman
served as president of the FSMB from 1991-1992.
Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., will step down as president of the
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in September
2009, following the appointment of a successor. He has served as
the university's president for eight years.
