On December 28, 2009, the American College of Cardiology, joined by the ACC Florida Chapter, the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, the Association of Black Cardiologists, the Cardiology Advocacy Alliance, two practicing cardiologists and two patients filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius challenging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' use of Physician Practice Information Survey (PPIS) data from the American Medical Association in calculating practice expense Relative Value Units (RVU). (Learn more on the Practice Expense cuts)

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, explained that the use of the AMA PPIS data will have a negative impact on Medicare patients’ access to cardiovascular services as thousands of cardiologists may be forced to close their offices, sell diagnostic equipment and work for hospitals.

On January 12, 2010, Judge William Dimitrouleas dismissed the case because he estimated that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida had no jurisdiction over this issue. For more information about the lawsuit, please visit the Campaign for Patient Access Web site.

The cardiovascular community will continue fighting the practice expense cuts through legislative strategies.