SHM Signs onto Support Letter for the Continuing Physician Education and Patient Care Act

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The Honorable Michael Burgess, MD
US House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Peter DeFazio
US House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representatives Burgess and DeFazio:

The undersigned organizations write to thank you for introducing The Protect Continuing Physician Education and Patient Care Act, H.R. 293, and to express our support for the provision exempting medical textbooks and peer-reviewed journals from reporting requirements under the Sunshine Act.

The facts are straightforward: better informed physicians provide better care to patients. Making sure that medical professionals have access to the highest quality information should be a goal of public policy, and H.R. 293 does just that. Your legislation ensures that physicians’ access to the highest quality publications in the world will remain unobstructed. Medical textbooks, consults, conference reports, journal articles and their reprints are written and published for the purpose of building upon and improving clinical understanding. These universally respected publications not only meet the rigorous standards of the highest quality peer-review and editing, but also provide impartial and independent information that provides direct benefit to patients through improved care.

Physicians routinely rank among the most respected professionals in the United States because of their understanding of the ever-changing science of medicine. That respect is built upon patients’ trust that their healthcare professionals remain well-informed on the latest breakthroughs in health science. Maintaining an open channel for the flow of educational information is paramount to ensuring that patients continue to be cared for by informed physicians. Provision of these materials accrues directly to the benefit of patients and to improved healthcare for all Americans.

On behalf of countless medical researchers, physicians, and the more than 30,000 Americans employed in scholarly publishing, we thank you for introducing this important legislation which will remove barriers to ensuring that physicians are able to provide the best possible care to their patients through access to the most current medical information.

Sincerely,

American Academy of Forensic Sciences
American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy
American Academy of Pain Medicine
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
American Association of Anatomists
American Association of Blood Banks
American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine
American Chemical Society
American College of Chest Physicians
American College of Clinical Pharmacology
American College of Clinical Pharmacy
American College of Rheumatology
American Geriatrics Society
American Mathematical Society
American Physiological Society
American Psychiatric Society
American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery
American Society for Preventive Cardiology
American Society of Agronomy
American Society of Hematology
American Society of Transplant Surgeons
American Society of Transplantation
American Thoracic Society
Association of American Publishers Professional and Scholarly Publishing
Crop Science Society of America
Demos Medical Publishing
Elsevier
Gerodontology Association
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
International Continence Society
International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology
International League Against Epilepsy
International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
International Society for Sexual Medicine
International Society of Pediatric Oncology
International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis
John Wiley & Sons
McGraw-Hill Education
NEJM Group
New York Academy of Sciences
Oxford University Press
Peripheral Nerve Society
SAGE Publications
Silverchair Information Systems
Society for Pediatric Dermatology
Society for the Study of Reproduction
Society of Hospital Medicine
Soil Science Society of America
Springer Publishing Company
The Triological Society
Thieme Publishers
Wolters Kluwer Health