The AMA owns the so-called CPT codes that effectively define the reimbursement system every time a health care professional -- be it a physician, nurse, pharmacist, or otherwise -- provides a good or service.  This appplies to medicare, Medicaid, or any private insurance plan.  And, believe me, they OWN them.  Constantly under revision -- so a physician office is literally extorted to buy the new versions every year -- these codes cost an average of ~ $100 per year for a single professional.  It's a little like paying the locals $100 annually if don't want someone to accidentally throw a rock through your storefront window.  This organization cares NOTHING about your healthcare.  They are simply the local mob who owns the racetrack.  Think you have a good horse?  You cannot run on our racetrack unless you pay up.  It's as simple as that.   The estimate 8 years ago was ~ $71 million that the AMA collected annually for the uses and royalties of this corruption. 

Interestingly, the former Senator Trent Lott went after this monopoly-racket in 2001 only to see the industry partners (3rd party payors) rally around the CPT system and at worst, called it a "minor inconvenience".  I would not be surprised if someone eventually found out that the AMA was behind the groundswell of criticism that Lott suffered when he made his famous faux pas about his support of Strom Thurmond for president.  Such a comment would be considered minor by today's standards, but it cost him his career in the Senate.  Rumors of Lott's sexual preference were also rampant for a short time despite being happily married for 40 years.  One wonders whether some of the innuendo was circulated by AMA lobbyists -- an easy way to "whack" someone in public life without committing a crime. 

In any case the CPT codes effectively codify what a healthcare professional's time is worth -- the ideal tool with which a 3rd party administrator can control and broker the value of any health care transaction.  This very 3rd party brokerage is what makes the physician "unprofessional", for it is the essence of the professional contract that the terms are established by the two interested parties, not by a 3rd party whose interest has nothing to do with your health.