MMS News and Announcements
MMS Voices Opposition to American Health Care Act
MMS President James S. Gessner, M.D., took part in a press conference in
Boston March 9 to voice opposition to the American Health Care Act, the
Republican-led replacement for the Affordable Care Act. The press conference,
which was held at the Old South Church, also featured faith leaders; consumer
advocates from the disability, substance abuse, and senior care communities;
health care workers; and physicians from Boston Children’s Hospital and Planned
Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
What’s Your View on
Data Sharing?
Sharing clinical trial data is a complex issue. Should data be shared
broadly? What is the data’s real value? How do we align incentives and rewards?
Join your peers and participate in an online conversation among patients,
trialists and analysts at a free web event hosted by the
New England Journal of Medicine on April 3-4, 2017. Click
here to register.
Your Membership Counts – Renew Today!
The
MMS is a proactive advocate representing the voice of physicians and their
patients. The Society will propose no less than twenty pieces of state
legislation on Beacon Hill this year, and has recently testified before the
Board of Registration in Medicine against proposed regulatory changes ranging
from expanding the grounds for filing complaints leading to disciplinary action,
to more onerous credentialing requirements, and additions to informed consent
provisions. Please renew your MMS
membership for 2017 and support the Society in its mission to ensure the
perspective and expertise of physicians is reflected in regulatory proposals.
Disaster
Psychiatry Course Offered
The
Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, in collaboration with the American Red
Cross, is offering a CME-certified Disaster Psychiatry Training Course on April
8, 2017, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at MMS headquarters. Click
here
to register.
Mindful Practice in
Medicine Workshop Planned
A Mindful Practice in Medicine workshop is planned for
March 18 and 19 at MMS Headquarters, followed
by 4 consecutive Wednesday webinars. The workshop focuses on developing a
capacity for self-awareness in stressful and demanding situations and building
resilience in community. Click here for information; click
here to register.
Benefit Buzz: PQRS Reporting
Deadline Extended, Webcast and Special Member
Discount
The
deadline is extended to March 17, 2017 for submitting your 2016 Physician
Quality Reporting System (PQRS) measures to CMS. Members receive 33% savings
using the PQRSwizard to validate, report, and submit data to CMS
with 99.5% success rate. Avoid payment adjustments and penalties. Check out the
Resource Center to access PQRS-related archived webcasts and educational
resources. Click
here for more information.
Register for the live webcast
on Wednesday, March 15th at 3 p.m. ET: Submitting your PQRSwizard Report: A
review of the most frequently asked questions of 2016.
Benefit Buzz: Legal Advice with Board of Registration in Medicine Issue
Your medical license is one of your most valuable assets and the Legal Advisory
Plan is designed to help safeguard your license in the event of a Board of
Registration (BRM) investigation. The LAP, a member only, lost-cost legal
service, is designed to provide expert advice from the plan's attorneys to
effectively respond to BRM issues. Enrollment for 2017-2018 plan year is
available. Click
here to learn more. Questions? Email
lap@massmed.org, or call (781) 434-7311.
Women’s Health Forum to Present Awards April 21
At the Women’s Health Forum on April 21, Robert H.
Young, M.D., will be presented with the 2016 Women’s Health Research Award;
Barbara L. Smith, M.D., will receive the 2016 Women’s Health Award; Fatima Cody
Stanford, M.D., will receive the 2017 Women’s Health Award, and JoAnn E.
Manson, M.D., will receive the 2017 Women’s Health Research Award.
JoAnn Manson, M.D. will deliver the morning
keynote address at the MMS Women’s Health Forum, “Hormones: Do They Define us?”
Dr. Manson is a physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Michael and
Lee Bell Professor of Women's Health at Harvard Medical School. Barbara L.
Smith, M.D. will deliver the afternoon keynote speech. Dr. Smith is director of
the breast program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
The Women’s Health Forum, sponsored by the
MMS Committee on Women in Medicine, features a lecture and panel on transgender
health, a session on the effect of hormones on metabolism and weight regulation, and a discussion on the evolution of
breast surgery by faculty from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
For registration, visit www.massmed.org/whf2017, or contact Erin Tally at etally@mms.org.
Education Programs & Events
Live CME Activities
Unless otherwise noted, all events
are held at MMS headquarters, 860 Winter St., Waltham, MA. Visit www.massmed.org/cme/events to view our full calendar of upcoming live CME activities.
Norfolk District Attorney’s Office
– Safe Prescribing & Dispensing Conference
Tuesday, March 14, 2017, 7:30 a.m. –
3:30 p.m.
Randolph, MA
Open to subscribers of controlled substances who
practice in Norfolk County.
Women’s Health Forum – Hormones: Do They Define Us?
Friday, April 21, 2017, 8:00 a.m. –
6:00 p.m.
Annual Education Program – The Winding Road of
Addiction: Hope on the Horizon
Friday, April 28, 2017, 8:00 a.m. -
12:15 p.m.
MMS
Annual Meeting, Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center, Boston, MA
Shattuck Lecture and Luncheon – Personalize Medicine
or Precision Medicine
Friday, April 28, 2017, 12:30 p.m. -
2:00 p.m.
MMS
Annual Meeting, Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center, Boston, MA
Directors of Medical Education Conference – Advancing
Collaboration and Compliance
Thursday, May 18, 2017, 9:00 a.m. -
3:00 p.m.
The above activities have been
approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
Featured Online CME Activities –
Risk Management Credit
The above activities have been approved for AMA PRA
Category 1 Credit™
For additional risk management
online CME activities, visit
www.massmed.org/cme.
This
Week in Health Care
Philanthropists Donate $25m to
Battle Opioid Addiction
John and Eilene Grayken, billionaire South Shore residents,
have given $25m to Boston Medical Center to create the Grayken Center for
Addiction Medicine, which serves more low-income patients than any other medical
facility in New England.
Massachusetts Health Association CEO
to Retire
Lynn Nicholas, CEO of MHA, has served in the
hospital advocacy group for a decade, after serving as president and CEO of the
American Diabetes Association for three years.
Salem Pediatric Unit to Close
North Shore Medical Center in Salem will close its inpatient
pediatric unit, saying there is little demand for overnight care for children.
Partners HealthCare CEO Critical of
Health Panel’s Recommendations
Dr. David Torchiana, CEO of Partners HealthCare, said
that the plan brought forth by the state-convened health care panel
recommending that Massachusetts regulate hospital and insurance contracts would
prohibit rate growth, resulting in losses for the system down the road.
St. Elizabeth's Appoints Partners Executive
as President
Craig Williams, executive director for global
programs at Partners HealthCare International, has been appointed president of
St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.
Patient in Right-to-Die Case Defies
Odds
Roger Kligler, M.D., defying the odds, has received
promising news that his most recent blood tests show the levels of his
metastatic prostate cancer have significantly declined, opening up the
possibility that he could possibly live for many unexpected years.
Local Study Shows Doctors from
Banned Countries Serve Millions
Immigrant doctors from six
Muslim-majority countries
included in President Trump's revised travel ban play a critical role in caring
for Americans, especially in many of the Rust Belt and rural areas that voted
heavily for the Republican, according to an analysis by students at Harvard
University and MIT.
North Shore Medical to Cut 200 Jobs
North Shore Medical Center will cut about 5 percent of its
workforce after suffering a second consecutive year of multi-million operating
losses.
State Funds Substance Abuse Clinics
for Women
The Baker administration is awarding $1.75 million to create
60 new inpatient substance abuse treatment beds for approximately 240 women a
year, to be split among programs in Pittsfield, Salisbury, and Lowell.
St. Anne’s Hospital Expands
Children’s Center
Fall River’s St. Anne’s Hospital will expand its Fernandes
Children's Center, a program that has seen a major increase in patient numbers,
caring for children with complex medical, developmental, and behavioral health
issues.
