MMS NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
MMS 2018 Annual Meeting: Special report next week
Early next week, a special edition of Vital Signs This Week will report on the Annual Meeting, including the Annual Education Program, held April 26–28, 2018, at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center, Boston.
(Shown: Tall Ships, Boston Harbor, oil painting by Sanjay Aurora, MD, featured at the Annual Member Art Exhibit and Silent Auction, April 26)
Free financial wellness workshops for physicians — UPDATED
Need
to plan for your financial security while starting out in your medical
career or anticipating your retirement? Join your peers at an in-person
class geared to residents or established physicians.
- Physician Finance: Planning for Residents covers career risks, building a solid financial foundation, and student debt; Brookline, May 2, 6:30–8:00 p.m.
- Physician Finance: Planning for a Bright Future covers retirement,
protecting assets, estate planning, charitable giving, and college
planning; Brookline, May 8, 6:30–8:00 p.m. (Corrected date)
The
classes are being promoted by the Physicians Insurance Agency of
Massachusetts, an MMS subsidiary, and Baystate MD. Get more information
and register at the links above. Questions? Email Tom Bryant or Meghan
Stanley at piam@mms.org.
Share your professional news in Vital Signs
Have
you recently received a promotion, award, or another opportunity or
honor? Have you switched jobs lately, opened a new practice, been
elected to a board, or retired? Share your professional news with
colleagues via the Member News and Notes column in Vital Signs. Email vitalsigns@mms.org; include the relevant information and a headshot.
Thank you for renewing your MMS membership
The
vast majority of our members have renewed their memberships
through 2018. The Society greatly appreciates your support. Please
continue enjoying the New England Journal of Medicine, JournalWatch,
discounts on CME and events, collegial networking opportunities, and
the other benefits of MMS membership. If you haven't renewed yet, here's the place.
Reminders: Stuff you should click on
Free webinar: How to achieve your desired MIPS score — MONDAY
The
Quality Payment Program Year 2 is in full swing. Are you on top of how
your performance and chosen submission method may affect your score?
Join the New England QIN-QIO to explore how your MIPS quality
performance category score will be calculated, including how to select the measures on which you perform well and other ways to achieve your target score. Decoding the QPP Year 2 Quality Measure Benchmarks and Deciles to Maximize Performance will be held on Monday, April 30, 11:00 a.m.–noon; registration. Questions? Email neqinqio@healthcentricadvisors.org.
Resident Fellow Section: Dinner and discussion on unconscious bias — WEDNESDAY
Unconscious
bias, also known as implicit bias or implicit social cognition, refers
to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our subconscious
understanding, actions, and decisions. In The Impact of Unconscious Bias in Health Care, Sheri-Ann
Burnett-Bowie, MD, of the MGH Center for Diversity and Inclusion will
help us examine strategies to reduce unconscious bias in health care
settings. Participate in this
conversation at the 2018 MMS Resident & Fellow Section Annual
Meeting and elect your resident/fellow leaders for 2018–2019. The event will be held at Maggiano’s Little Italy, Boston, on May 2, 6:00–9:30 p.m. The cost includes a four-course dinner and two drinks; $10 for members and $20 for non-members; program agenda and registration.
Educational programs and events
View our full calendar of upcoming live CME activities. Unless otherwise noted, all events are held at MMS Headquarters, 860 Winter St., Waltham, MA.
Live CME events
Medical Dental Integration
Tuesday, May 1, 2018, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Artifical Intelligence and the Future of Clinical Practice
Saturday, May 12, 2018, 8:00 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Directors of Medical Education Conference — Leading and Designing for Change
Thursday, May 17, 2018, 9:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
Featured online CME courses
Find additional risk management online CME activities.
This week in health care
Sign up for daily roundups of health news affecting Massachusetts.
Partners among hospital systems advising Trump on improving VA
Leaders
from Mayo Clinic, Partners HealthCare, and other large hospital systems
have been quietly advising the Trump administration on how to improve
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Docs: Medicare failing addicted seniors
"We
are in the midst of a public health crisis of overdose and untreated
addiction," said Dr. Sarah E. Wakeman, medical director of the
Massachusetts General Hospital Substance Use Disorder Initiative. "Methadone treatment is the best-studied and most effective treatment for opioid addiction."
Massive Lawrence drug ring dismantled with 45 people arrested, 60 pounds of fentanyl seized
A
year-long investigation involving the Drug Enforcement Administration
and several federal, state and local authorities in New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, and Maine ended this month with the arrest of 45 people
and the seizure of more than 60 pounds of fentanyl, two guns, and $500,000 in cash.
Medicaid needs to change, head of program says in Boston
Verma,
who was picked by President Trump, also espouses certain conservative
views that are unpopular in liberal-leaning Massachusetts. She advocates
for capping Medicaid spending, and she blames the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, for driving up costs and limiting choice for consumers.
Opening statements in trial of former gynecologist accused of HIPAA violations
Lawyers
in the ongoing trial of a former gynecologist charged with lying to
federal agents investigating a suspected kickback scheme offered opening statements to jurors in US District Court. Prosecutors said
Rita Luthra accepted bribes in the name of "speakers fees" for
prescribing particular medications to her patients at Mercy Medical
Center.
Urgent care centers becoming major health care player on North Shore
Massachusetts has witnessed a 740 percent increase in the number of urgent-care centers
in the state, from 10 in 2008 to 84 in 2015, according to a 2016
Massachusetts Medical Society article on urgent care's growth across the
commonwealth.
'Death is not a failure': Medical schools adapt end-of-life lessons
Local medical schools are in the process of a curricula revamp that will train students to focus more on end-of-life care, making Massachusetts the first in the nation to reach a statewide commitment to quality of life.
Hospitals look to merge to compete with Partners
Some
of the state's top hospitals, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center, New England Baptist Center, Lahey Health, Mount Auburn and Anna
Jacques, want to merge — to compete with the state's biggest healthcare operator in the state, Partners HealthCare.
Cannabis Control Commission hires research director
Most recently, Johnson
was a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health and previously was a fellow at the Heller School of Social Policy
and Management at Brandeis University, and worked at the Center for
Adolescent Substance Abuse Research at Boston Children's Hospital.
