ACA/AMA Sign Joint Letter Opposing Testing of Examiners for Dept. of Transportation Physicals

By Editorial Staff

News flash: the ACA and AMA working together? Yes, it's true. The AMA and the ACA, and other provider groups, have signed a joint letter to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) opposing the possible creation of a new testing/registration procedure to qualify providers to perform physical exams on the nation's interstate truckers.

There are about 800,000 providers who perform Dept. of Transportation (DOT) physical exams, including MDs, DOs, PAs, advanced practice nurses, and chiropractors. The FHWA estimates that 300,000 to 400,000 providers perform physicals at least once every two years on the 7-8 million interstate truckers.

The joint letter notes that other federal agencies do not test examiners, but rely on the practitioners being state licensed.

Further, testing hundreds of thousands of examiners would be extremely expensive, and require extensive manpower to develop the test, and to validate, distribute and grade it.

That the AMA and ACA would be signing a joint letter concerning physical examinations is beyond ironic, in that the AMA House of Delegates recently passed a resolution to "develop model legislation for use by state medical associations to limit the performance of comprehensive physical examination to licensed doctors of medicine and osteopathy."¹

Reference

1. AMA Passes Anti-Chiropractic Resolution: Supplemental Resolution Tries to Disguise Intentions, DC, April 1, 1997, p. 1,18,19.