ASTROnews: ASTRO members advocate for radiation oncology on heels of health reform passage

On March 22, 2010, a mere nine hours after Congress passed what many are calling unprecedented health reform legislation, 100 ASTRO members gathered in Washington to meet with their senators and representatives  and advocate for the practice of radiation oncology during the Society’s seventh Advocacy Day.

Held during what ASTRO CEO Laura Thevenot described as “a historic time in Washington,” participants at this year’s Advocacy Day had the challenge of making their voices and unique perspectives heard in a time when all healthcare services in the United States were being scrutinized and, in some cases, revamped. On the other hand, participants had the benefit of talking to their representatives when healthcare was at the forefront of important issues.

“It was a great thrill for all of us to be present in Washington when history was being made,” Dave Adler, ASTRO assistant director of government relations, said. “The timing allowed us to commend Congress for their hard work to reform America’s healthcare system, discuss areas of reform we support, such as ending coverage limitations for pre-existing conditions, and highlight issues that still need to be addressed, such as physician self-referral in radiation therapy.”

Also fresh on the minds of congressional representatives were the recently published The New York Times articles questioning the safety of radiation therapy and the related congressional hearings. In ASTRO President Tim R. Williams, M.D.’s, Advocacy Day opening address he spoke of the articles and ASTRO’s response, which included the unveiling of the Target Safely plan to improve patient safety, and stressed the importance of letting Congress know that ASTRO is stepping forward to ensure that patients are
getting the best possible care.

“[The problem brought up in The New York Times] is out there and it’s not going to go away,” Dr. Williams said.

ASTRO staff spent much of the first day of the meeting reviewing talking points for the next day’s Capitol Hill meetings. In addition to the customary explanation of what radiation oncology is, how radiation therapy works, what radiation oncologists do and the Target Safely plan, participants were briefed on addressing the self-referral loophole, doubling the cancer research funding for NIH and stopping the 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut.

“In light of recent media reports about radiation safety, it was most important for ASTRO to carry a message reassuring Congress that radiation therapy is safe and effective,” Adler said.

Several members of Congress signed the letter that prevented the Medicare physician payment cut from taking effect last year, and special emphasis was placed on thanking those members who protected access to cancer care in 2009 while reminding them that a permanent fix to the overall physician payment formula is still needed.

A variety of speakers were also on hand to brief participants on healthcare projects and programs. Steven D. Pearson, M.D., M.Sc., from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review spoke about the institute’s comparative effectiveness research for prostate
cancer, which found that brachytherapy is the most cost-effective treatment for prostate cancer.

“Radiation oncology will be in a position to capitalize on comparative effectiveness,” he said.

David Hunt, M.D., from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, spoke on the incentive program for physicians who implement electronic health records and explained the goals of electronic health records, including improved health
outcomes, increased transparency and efficiency, and improved ability to study and improve care of delivery.

“We can’t develop electronic health records and lose sight of basic medical knowledge,” he said.

In addition, participants heard talks on the impact of health reform on the 2010 midterm elections, an ASTRO-sponsored self-referral research project, using social media for advocacy and an update on NIH projects.

On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, Advocacy Day attendees met with senators and representatives from their home districts to lobby for the important radiation oncology issues they were briefed on the prior day. Most attendees said their meetings went very well and that their representatives or his or her healthcare staff were responsive to the issues.

In a post-Advocacy Day survey, 100 percent of respondents rated the overall quality of the meeting as “excellent” or “good.”
   
An informal survey at the beginning of the meeting showed that almost half of this year’s attendees were at Advocacy Day for the first time.

“As a first-time attendee, I learned a tremendous amount about the challenges facing our field and ways to enact legislative change,” said Gita Suneja, M.D., a resident at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “I found the experience to be quite phenomenal and will definitely be back in the future.”