An organization of New Jersey doctors launched to challenge the Medical Society of New Jersey met for its first "leadership summit" this month and heard from state legislators and health-care officials.

The new group, New Jersey Physicians, heard from Senate President Richard Codey, Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman and Commissioner Steven Goldman of the state Department of Banking and Insurance.

Codey and Watson Coleman both told the doctors requiring more New Jersey residents to carry health insurance would improve health care in the state. About 1.4 million, or 15 percent of residents, lack health insurance.

A panel discussion focused on "step edits," requirements by managed-care companies for doctors to prescribe certain drugs prior to prescribing other, more costly pharmaceuticals. The discussion also focused on pre-certifications and preauthorization requirements many doctors find burdensome.

Goldman, the banking commissioner, said doctors must look to find better ways of communicating with insurance companies to resolve conflicts.

"The principal difficulty that I've seen since I have been commissioner is an enormous lack of communication generally between the physician community and the insurance community," he said.

John Ciccone, a cardiologist from Essex County and a member of the NJ Physicians' Leadership Council, said the growing use of step edits and pre-certifications represent improper interference with a doctor's decisions and are a growing threat to patient safety.

NJ Physicians, created in 2007, says it has 1,100 doctors. The Medical Society of New Jersey, the main professional group for physicians in the state, says it has 8,000 members.

-- Carol Ann Campbell

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