New AMA Online Database Looks to Help Docs Contract with Insurers

The American Medical Association today launched the National Managed Care Contract, an online database that the physicians' association said will help its members negotiate better contracts with managed care organizations.

"The concentrated market power of large health insurers gives them an unprecedented advantage in dictating key aspects of healthcare to physicians," said AMA President J. James Rohack, MD, in a media release. "The AMA's new resources will be a welcome guide for negotiating fair contracts with health plans angling for an even greater advantage over physicians."

NMCC is the first managed care contracting resource designed specifically for physicians, and it is expected to provide model contract language that complies with the managed care laws of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and to cover the range of physician concerns with managed care contracts, AMA said.

The searchable database associated with NMCC provides physicians with access to updated laws and regulations across the nation. It covers the managed care contracting process, the managed care contract itself, and the business relationship between physicians and health plans after an agreement has been signed, AMA said.

The NMCC database also allows physicians to:

• Provide alternative language to support contract negotiations with health plans.


• Ensure managed care contracts and insurers comply with state legal requirements.


• Clarify key contract issues and manage ongoing relationships with health plans.


• Assist with legislative, regulatory, and legal efforts to reform unfair managed care business practices.


• Monitor emerging state and federal legislative and regulatory trends.