What Has the American Society for Microbiology Done Lately for Clinical Microbiologists?

LETTER

We read with interest the Camp Clin Micro opinion article by Craft and Harrington (1). Regarding the commentary “There was brief discussion of the role of the ASM in influencing public opinion with the potential to seek an effective political voice. Most agreed that the ASM does not embrace that role, and there was no consensus that the ASM could define, provide resources for, or sustain such an effort related to clinical microbiology …” we would like to comment.

Following is a brief update on some of the recent actions taken by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) to influence public policy and promote the interests of clinical microbiologists. We worked with and/or addressed (i) Congress to ensure that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rule was revoked that required a physician's signature on paper requisitions for laboratory tests reimbursed by the clinical laboratory fee schedule; (ii) the Clinical Laboratory Coalition to continue opposing a competitive bidding process for laboratory services, prevent the implementation of a 20% coinsurance requirement on clinical laboratory tests, and monitor issues related to health care reform; (iii) the Pathology Coding Caucus on new current procedural terminology (CPT) codes for microbiology/immunology tests; (iv) CMS to present ASM payment recommendations for new CPT codes; (v) the FDA Microbiology Devices Panel on the reclassification of molecular diagnostics for the rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis; (vi) the FDA on laboratory-developed tests and the marketing of diagnostic products labeled for research use only or for investigational use only; (vii) updating of the sentinel laboratory guidelines for suspected agents of bioterrorism and emerging infectious diseases and for packing/shipping of infectious substances; (viii) the Laboratory Response Network partners, distributing a poll to DivCNet and ClinMicroNet to obtain information on current levels of sentinel laboratory training; and (ix) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with a survey regarding an outbreak of Salmonella infections associated with exposure to microbiology laboratories. In addition, we wrote several practical guidance documents for emerging pathogens and had formal representation in guideline-issuing organizations, e.g., the CDC, CLSI, and USP.

This is but a sampling of what the ASM Public and Scientific Affairs Board (PSAB) Professional Affairs Committee and Committee on Laboratory Practices have accomplished over the past several months. As Chairs of these committees, we understand the effort expended by ASM member volunteers and ASM staff. We work closely on behalf of clinical microbiology with 18 laboratory professional organizations and are involved in more than 15 coalitions.

For years, ASM has embraced the role of public outreach/policy education as a means to bolster the effectiveness of the clinical microbiology community. We encourage you to read our monthly newsletter for updates on our ongoing work (http://www.asm.org/index.php/policy/clinical-microbiology-issues-update.html).