Environmental justice symposium; MMS committee applications due March 1

News and announcements

International Development, Health, and Environmental Justice Symposium

Where do we stand? Where are we heading?

Is global development at odds with environmental justice and health equity? The industries that have historically fueled economic growth have also accelerated climate change and exacerbated issues of global health. How might those interested in both economics and justice reconcile such a tension? In pursuit of an answer, one thing is clear: the actions of individual people are insufficient to address this collective, global challenge. Only strong, coordinated efforts will ensure lasting change.

The College of Professional Studies M.S. in Global Studies and International Relations program at Northeastern University, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Medical Society and the Boston Network for International Development, will host a free symposium to address these questions. The event will be held on Thursday, March 7 at Northeastern University from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM.

Livestream available via  https://www.facebook.com/NortheasternAlumni/

Deadline March 1: Last call to join an MMS committee

MMS committees form the backbone of the MMS, where the important work of the Society is accomplished. Do you have a special interest or desire to make a difference in organized medicine? Or, to assist in achieving the greater goals of the Society? Joining a committee is one way to get involved. MMS is currently seeking interested members. Applications are due March 1; more info and applications.

MassHealth ordering, referring, and prescribing requirements update

MassHealth is preparing for, but has not yet established, a date to begin denying claims that do not meet the ordering, referring, and prescribing requirements described in the February All Provider Bulletin 274. We are staying on top of this important issue and will let you know in advance of the date the denial process is set to begin. The information in this bulletin is intended to continue to help billing providers prepare their processes and systems for compliance with ordering, referring, and prescribing requirements, and reduce the impact on them once claim denials take effect.

Below are the reasons for denials:

POSC version of the remittance advice

• 1080—Ordering Provider Required
• 1081—NPI required for Ordering Provider
• 1200—Referring Provider Required
• 1201—NPI of Provider Required—HDR
• 1202—NPI of Referring Provider Required 2—HDR²
• 1204—NPI of Referring Provider Required 2—DTL²
  

2019 annual meeting: Hotel deadline reminder

This year's annual meeting is scheduled to take place May 2-4 at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in Boston. The MMS hotel deadline is Friday, March 22. Please visit www.massmed.org/am19reservations to make your reservations today.

Important *NEW* registration information

The annual meeting website will launch in late February/early March and will include online registration. We are pleased to announce that we are using a new registration system for the 2019 annual meeting. Please view this flyer to read more and please view www.massmed.org/annual2019 for important dates and deadlines and a schedule at a glance. The upcoming 2019 annual meeting is sure to be an exciting event and we hope you can join us.

Renew your membership by March 8

Thank you to all our members who have renewed! We are 25,000 strong.

To avoid any lapse in your exclusive member benefits, please renew by March 8.  

Takes less than 4 minutes. Login to your account here. Or call member processing at 800-322-2302 ext. 7495

Save 5% or more for multiyear or group discounts. Learn more.  

Connect with colleagues

The Massachusetts Medical Society invites you to join colleagues and friends for an evening of professional networking and cheer at one of our upcoming events! Connect with physicians from across organizations and specialties, catch up with colleagues, make new professional contacts, and meet members of the MMS leadership. Professional networking, complimentary hors d'oeuvres, drinks, and good fun!

• Thursday, March 21, 2019, 6:30–8:30 PM. Samuel's, Springfield, MA
• Thursday, March 28, 2019, 6:30–8:30 PM. The Cove Restaurant, Fall River, MA

RSVP no later than two weeks prior to each event at sfrazier@mms.org or mjussaume@mms.org. Questions — (800) 944-5562.

Educational programs and events

Live CME activities

Managing Workplace Conflict – Improving Leadership and Personal Effectiveness
Thursday, June 6, 2019, 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. 
Friday, June 7, 2019, 7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Featured online CME: Online electronic health records courses  

Creating a Successful EHR that Physicians Enjoy Using NEW

Electronic Health Records – Understanding the Payment Landscape (Module 1)

For additional online CME activities, visit www.massmed.org/cme

Upcoming lectures and training

March 16: Improving Access to Mental Health Care Services through the Collaborative Care Model and Telemedicine (Yale School of Medicine)

The Collaborative Care Model integrates effective psychiatric care into primary care practices. The training, led by John Kern, MD from the University of Washington’s AIMS Center, will provide participants with the practical skills to work in collaborative care. The course describes the delivery of mental health care in primary care settings with a focus on the evidence-base, guiding principles, and an introduction to implementation strategies.

The event will take place on Saturday, March 16th from 8:30 AM – 3:30 pm in the Anlyan Center for Medical Research at Yale School of Medicine.
 

March 18: 15th Annual J. Worth Estes Lecture (Harvard Medical School)

"The Wired Clinic: Experimental Television and the Media History of Medicine" What can the history of older technologies teach us about the future of digital medicine? 

Please join the Boston Medical Library for the 15th Annual J. Worth Estes Lecture on the history of medicine. This lecture will be presented by Jeremy A. Greene, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine and the History of Medicine and Elizabeth Treide and A. McGehee Harvey Chair in the History of Medicine at the department of The History of Medicine at the John Hopkins School of Medicine.

The free lecture will be held on Monday, March 18th from 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM in the Cannon Room at Harvard Medical School.

 
April 2: The 24th Annual Massachusetts Adult Immunization Conference (Sheraton Framingham)

At the 24th annual MA Adult Immunization conference, over 350 immunization providers will come together for a day-long conference to support statewide efforts to increase adult immunization rates in Massachusetts. Keynote speakers are David Kim, MD, MA; CAPT, US Public Health Service; Deputy Associate Director for Adult Immunization, Center for Disease Control, and Elisa Choi, MD, FACP, Governor of Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Physicians.

The event will be held on Tuesday, April 2nd from 8:00 AM – 3:30 PM at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center.

Quote of the week

"We’ve watched so many students come into medical school wanting to work in underserved communities or go into fields that are underpaid in medicine, and have to move away from their original goals once they really understand the impact of their debt. We wanted to create an environment where they weren’t making decisions based on debt but on where their hearts were.”

—  Mark Schuster, founding dean and CEO of the Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, which will open in 2020 and offer tuition-free medical education to its first five graduating classes.   (SF Chronicle)

Tweet of the week

@BrandondelPozo
Burlington, VT chief of police. Follow the dept at @OneNorthAvenue. Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight tweet was ever made.

What’s new in health care

Check out the most clicked-on stories from this week's MMS Media Watch. Sign up for daily Massachusetts media roundups by email. Some publications are fully accessible only to their subscribers.

New England Baptist to launch campaign to attract low-income patients (Boston Globe)
New England Baptist Hospital, a renowned hilltop institution where Boston Celtics and amateur athletes alike go for repairs of balky knees and shoulders, sits amid two of Boston's neediest neighborhoods. Yet just a tiny fraction of its patients are poor. State regulators say the Baptist, which specializes in orthopedic surgery, can no longer remain an outlier. Attorney General Maura Healey's office has reached an agreement with the hospital requiring it to work harder to attract low-income patients, who now constitute less than 3 percent of its business. Baptist executives said they will launch a major multilanguage marketing campaign this spring directed at residents with MassHealth, the state Medicaid program.  

Massachusetts to help test addiction treatment rating system (WBUR)  
Massachusetts has agreed to participate in a new rating system that is being developed to measure the quality of addiction treatment programs. State health officials say the rating system will primarily use data from three sources: insurance claims, provider surveys, and consumer experience surveys. The information will be made publicly available to those searching for high-quality addiction treatment, as well as to public and private payers, states, and referral sources. The system is being developed by the national nonprofit organization Shatterproof.

Cambridge Health Alliance CEO to retire in June (Boston Business Journal)
Cambridge Health Alliance CEO Patrick Wardell has announced that he will retire from the role in June, leaving after seven years as CEO of the community health system. Wardell announced his retirement in an email to staff on Tuesday, saying that he would spend more time with his family and new grandson. Wardell recognized that he is departing the organization amid controversy that came after a woman, Laura Levis, died from an asthma attack on the doorstep of a locked emergency room door at Somerville Hospital, which is part of Cambridge Health Alliance. 

Children's Hospital neuroscientist dies while climbing Mt. Washington (NECN)
The U.S. Forest Service says police are investigating the death of a Mount Washington climber who was hiking up a snowy and icy area of the Northeast's highest peak when he apparently slipped and fell more than 300 feet into a boulder-strewn area. The Forest Service said 37-year-old Jeremy Ullmann, of Somerville, Massachusetts, a neuroscientist at Boston Children's Hospital, died Feb. 10. Frank Carus of the Mount Washington Avalanche Center tells New Hampshire Public Radio that Ullmann fell into a boulder field known as the Fan. He said Ullmann had two ice axes, "one of which dragged quite well through the snow for a long distance." Carus said Ullmann was an experienced rock climber and mountaineer, but "this was an accident that could have happened to anyone."