MMS NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
MMS Submits 20 Bills to State
Legislature
Over the past several weeks, MMS has submitted 20 bills to the Massachusetts State Legislature to select committees that hear bills of most relevance to MMS members. These include the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, Joint Committee on Public Health, and the Joint Committee
on Mental Health and Substance Abuse. All testimony will be posted online at
massmed.org/advocacy.
Register Now for Annual Education
Program and Shattuck Lecture and Luncheon
This year's Annual Meeting is scheduled to take place, April 27-29, 2017 at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in Boston.
Join us on Friday, April 28 for a full-day of educational programs including the Annual Education Program and the Shattuck Lecture and Luncheon.
The NEJM Group Continuing Education has convened international experts to present the 2017 MMS Annual Education Program The Winding Road of Addiction: Hope on the Horizon as both a live CME and webinar session. Using lifelong research and
experience, our faculty will mine the pathology of addiction highlighting the medical, psychological, socioeconomic, and environmental contributors to this disease.
The annual Shattuck Lecture is organized by the New England Journal of Medicine. This year’s Shattuck Lecture, Personalized Medicine or Precision Medicine, will be delivered by Nobel Laureate Philip A. Sharp, PhD. An interview with Dr.
Sharp appears in the April issue of Vital
Signs.
For more information on all 2017 Annual Meeting CME events please visit
www.massmed.org/annual2017/cme and to register please visit
www.massmed.org/annual2017/register.
MMS Alliance Celebrates National Doctors’ Day
MMS Alliance invites all members and their families to celebrate National Doctors’ Day honoring physicians for their dedication and service. The free event will take place on Friday, March 31, at the College Club of Boston, 44 Commonwealth Ave.,
Boston from 6:00-9:00 p.m. An open dinner buffet and entertainment will be provided. For more information and reservations contact
jcricones@mms.org, at (781) 434-7372.
Senior Physician Luncheon:
Experiencing Retirement - Before, During and After
MMS Committee on Senior Physicians invites retired members or those considering taking that step to discuss various aspects of retirement. A panel of MMS member physicians will be sharing their experiences. The free luncheon will
take place on Tuesday, May 23rd from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., at MMS headquarters, Waltham. Significant others are welcome.
Learn more and register for the event here.
Free Web Event:
Aligning Incentives for Sharing Clinical Trial Data on April 3-4
The New England Journal of
Medicine (NEJM) is hosting a free web event on sharing clinical trial data. Gain insights into data sharing issues from leading experts representing those most involved in data sharing – researchers, patients, and funders. Participate online in real
time through moderated online sessions and working groups. Register today at http://events.nejm.org.
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.
Leading Experts to Speak at Women’s Health Forum April 21
Are you up-to-date on how certain hormonal changes can worsen – or improve – a woman’s well-being? At the Women’s Health Forum on April 21, leading experts will explore how hormones can affect the women you treat from puberty to pregnancy and through postmenopause. It will also feature 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).
JoAnn Manson, M.D. will deliver the morning keynote address. 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 is provided by the Massachusetts Medical Society and its Committee on Women in Medicine in collaboration with the Brigham and Women's Hospital Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology. It will be held at MMS headquarters in Waltham.
For registration, visit
www.massmed.org/whf2017, or contact Erin Tally at
etally@mms.org.
Introducing NEJM Knowledge+ Pediatrics
Board Review
Following the successes of NEJM Knowledge+ Internal Medicine Board Review and Family Medicine Board Review, NEJM Group announces the addition of NEJM Knowledge+ Pediatrics Board Review. NEJM Knowledge+ Pediatrics Board Review includes the same adaptive learning technology to increase learning
efficiency and knowledge retention clinicians have come to expect from NEJM Knowledge+. This new product, however, is designed expressly for pediatricians and pediatrics residents. Reflecting the ABP exam blueprint, NEJM Knowledge+ Pediatrics Board Review is packed with clinically relevant,
rigorously edited, case-based content, helping primary care clinicians refresh and retain the broad body of medical knowledge needed to deliver the best patient care. Learn more
here.
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.
13th Annual Public Health Leadership Forum: Social
Determinants of Health - Improving Population Health through Prevention Based
Care
Tuesday, April 4, 2017, 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Women’s Health Forum – Hormones: Do They Define Us?
Friday, April 21, 2017, 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Ethics Forum
Thursday, April 27, 2017, 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 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 or Via Live
Webinar
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™
SAVE
THE DATE
The
Many Facets of Men’s Health: Clinical Conversations Impacting Your Patients
Thursday, June 15, 2017
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
Gov. Baker Proposes
Alternative Health Care Levy
Gov. Charlie Baker’s new proposal would apply to many more businesses but would require them to pay less. It would increase an existing assessment, called the Employer Medical Assistance Contribution, which applies to employers with six or more workers.
Gov. Baker Opposes AHCA
Gov. Charlie Baker voiced opposition to the American Health Care Act, saying, "House delay on AHCA vote is good news.”
Trump’s Proposed NIH Cuts
Could be Dire for Mass.
The NIH annual funding is important in Massachusetts, which receives the highest amount per capita of NIH funding annually. The proposed cut comes after a year of record funding for the Bay State, with Massachusetts organizations collecting $2.57 billion.
Partner’s CEO Decries NIH Cuts
Partners, which includes Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, receives more NIH funding than any other institution in the country. MGH alone was given $360 million last year.
Jones Bill Aims to Spur Health
Care Cost Containment Talks
House Minority Leader Bradley Jones’ bill would ... lower the benchmark to 2 percentage points below the annual growth in gross state product, cutting acceptable medical spending growth by more than half.
DPH Seeks Permission to
Collect Opioid Data
Department of Public Health is seeking permission to collect data from across state government as it studies the opioid epidemic will expire on July 1, bringing an effort that has attracted national attention to a halt.
CEOs
Pledge Beth Israel/Lahey Merger will Contain Health Costs
CEOs of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health pitched their proposed merger as an antidote to the state's high health care costs, arguing that coming together would allow them to grab market share from pricier hospitals.
Botticelli to Run BMC’s Grayken
Center for Addiction Medicine
Michael Botticelli, a recovering addict who rose to become director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, will head Boston Medical Center's new Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine, which aims to become a national leader in fighting opioid abuse.
DPH Tackles Rising Suicide Rate
The Department of Public Health reported that there were 608 suicides in Massachusetts in 2014, the most recent year for which complete data are available, a number greater than the number of deaths because of motor vehicles (328) and homicides (147) combined.
State Treasurer Seeks $10M to Police
Cannabis
State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg is asking lawmakers for $10 million to pay for upfront costs for policing the new recreational marijuana law and arguing against legislative efforts to strip her office of cannabis oversight responsibility.
State Lawmakers Consider
Single-Payer System
Massachusetts lawmakers, embroiled in a battle to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in Washington, are proposing a single-payer system solution they believe is long overdue.
Northfield Doctor to Lead Academy of
Family Physicians
Northfield’s Dr. Flora Sadri-Azarbayejani said she pledges to ensure the human side of medicine doesn't disappear as she assumes the role of president of the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians.
WalletHub Report: Worcester Residents
Fare Better under Trumpcare
WalletHub assessed the impact of the proposed Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA) on American households, by comparing 457 U.S. cities of varying sizes based on the difference in premium tax subsidies that a joint-filing household would receive under the AHCA vs. the Affordable Care Act
(ACA).
Baker Urges Mass. Delegation to
Fight for ACA
Gov. Charlie Baker is including his concerns in a letter he's planning to send to the all-Democratic Congressional delegation pledging he will outline potential federal revenue losses for Massachusetts if the American Health Care Act, which is being touted to replace the Affordable
Healthcare Act, becomes law.
