AMA appoints new RUC chair

A Texas radiologist will be the next chair of the American Medical Association (AMA)/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC).

According to a news release, Ezequiel Silva III, MD, of San Antonio, Texas, will lead the 32-member committee and 300 medical advisors in its mission to assess the impact in science and technology have on patient care and its effort to use physician input and insight to inform Medicare payment policy. His two-year term begins March 1.

“The rise of the digital-native physician will have a profound impact on health care and patient outcomes, and the RUC will be increasingly called upon to assess the impact of digital health technologies on patient care,” AMA Board Chair Russ Kridel, MD, says in the release. “Dr. Silva’s respected insights into emerging digital technologies and his leadership qualities will help guide the RUC’s vital work as a source of physician input on policies that govern Medicare.”

Silva has been a member of the RUC since 2016 and most recently served as chair of the research subcommittee tasked with developing and refining RUC methodology. He has also served as co-chair of the Digital Medicine Payment Advisory Group which identifies barriers to digital medicine adoption, the release says.

He has served in leadership positions on the Texas Medical Association’s Council on Socioeconomics, American College of Radiology’s Commission on Economics, and the Society of Interventional Radiology’s Economics Committee. Silva was also a founding board member of medical imaging socioeconomic research organization, the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute, according to the release.

To learn more about the RUC and the work it does visit the AMA website here.