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News and announcements
MMS, Mass. Prescription Drug Affordability Coalition testify
on drug cost bill
Thursday, Massachusetts Medical Society president Dr. Alain Chaoui, in partnership with Health Care For All and the Massachusetts Prescription Drug Affordability Coalition, provided testimony in support of An Act to ensure prescription drug cost transparency and affordability (
H.1133/
S.706). This comprehensive legislation aims to make prescription drugs affordable and available to consumers, ensure pharmaceutical costs are more transparent, and contain costs for MassHealth, employers and the entire health care system.
The Health Policy Commission’s (HPC)
2018 Cost Trends report showed that Massachusetts drug spending increased more than twice as much as overall health care spending last year – 4 percent compared to just 1.6 percent for all health care spending. In addition, we know that drug spending in MassHealth has doubled from $1.1B to $2.2B over the
past five years, twice the rate of growth for other MassHealth spending.
Evidence shows that high cost-sharing for prescription drugs leads patients to not take the drugs their doctors prescribe. During his testimony, Dr. Chaoui
shared his perspective and a harrowing and troubling story about a patient who went into diabetic ketoacidosis after rationing insulin.
"It’s time for real reform," said Dr. Chaoui, "and this bill does just that. It provides necessary transparency and real protections for the most egregious cost increases."
Read More
MMS and Connecticut State Medical Society address Continuing Board Certification with American Board of Medical Specialties
Last Thursday in Norwalk, CT, the MMS and Connecticut State Medical Society leadership met with the American Board of Medical Specialties to discuss the "Continuing Board Certification: Vision for the Future Commission" final report and its implementation plan. President Alain Chaoui, MD,
Executive Vice President Lois Cornell, and Director of Accreditation & Recognition Danna Muir represented the MMS. A discussion was held on the report's results and how state medical societies may be engaged as stakeholders to provide input in the continuing certification
program.
2019 Legislative Leadership Conference
Organized by the MMS Government Relations and Advocacy Department, the April 10th conference was designed to teach MMS members how to effectively advocate for health-related policies at the state level. Senator Cindy F. Friedman, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care
Financing, delivered the keynote address, after which attendees broke into workshops to hone the skills needed for presenting memorable testimony, talking to the media, developing a valuable social media presence, and conducting successful legislative meetings
Reinstatement of MassHealth Dental Benefits
MassHealth is reinstating periodontal dental benefits for adults on April 22, 2019. Please note that MassHealth has not provided adult coverage for said treatment since 2010. This is a very important service for your patients, especially those with heart disease, diabetes and rheumatoid
arthritis. Periodontal disease is a chronic bacterial infection of the gums and bone that surround teeth. When left untreated, this disease causes irreversible gum and bone loss, leading to eventual tooth loss. It also negatively impacts outcomes of the diseases mentioned above and
others. Coverage for the treatment of periodontal disease (also known as a deep cleaning OR scaling and root planing) is clearly critical to improving the oral and general health of the adult population. For additional information, see the
MassHealth public notice.
Annual Education Program: Restoring the Art of Medicine: The Power of Physician Wellness
More than 50 percent of US physicians report significant symptoms of burnout, and evidence indicates that this public health crisis is growing quickly. Join the Massachusetts Medical Society and our distinguished faculty as we address the issues and challenges around
physician burnout and discuss ways by which we can restore physician wellness and joy of practice. Woven through the program, playwright
Michael Milligan will perform a multi-layered perspective on a physician in crisis.
Shattuck Lecture: Future of Care: A Call to Collaboration
Amid high anxiety about health care costs, a shifting health care landscape, and an epidemic of professional burnout, the future of care must focus on the patient. The 2019 Shattuck Lecture will focus on the future of care and will be delivered by
John Noseworthy, MD, president and CEO emeritus of Mayo Clinic. Dr. Noseworthy served as president and CEO from 2009 to 2018, leading one of the largest not-for-profit, academic health systems in the United States.
Register
Benefit Buzz
Adding a new physician to your group? Contact the Physician Practice Resource Center and learn how best to onboard a new provider in an efficient and comprehensive manner including but not limited to operations, marketing,
and credentialing. We can answer your questions. Our goal is to provide you with the support and information you need to maintain a thriving practice. Feel free to contact us today at PPRC (781) 434-7702 or email us at
pprc@mms.org.
April 16 – Healthcare Decisions Day
National Healthcare Decisions Day is a fifty-state annual initiative to provide the public, providers, and appropriate facilities with clear, concise, and consistent information on healthcare decision-making. Advance care planning is taking charge of the future – for your patients and for yourself. Planning ahead makes your wishes known and ensures that they
are fulfilled. A number of events are planned across the Commonwealth and can be found on the
Honoring Choices Mass site, of which the MMS is an Alliance partner. Information, forms, and instructions for you and your patients are available at
www.massmed.org/advancecareplanning.
Book signing at annual meeting
David F. Gouveia, M.D., author of "A Local Boy – A Memoir," will be signing copies of
his book during the art exhibit at Annual Meeting. The memoir is a series of personal reflections about medicine in the 1950s and 60s, as well as a story about coming-of-age in small town USA. A portion of all book purchases will be donated to the Alliance Charitable Foundation.
Educational programs and events
Featuring 2019 Annual Education Program and Shattuck Lecture
2019 Annual Education Program and Shattuck Lecture
2019 Ethics Forum – Ethical Values in Value-based Care Models
More live CME
Featured Online CME Course
MedPEP, Medical Professionals Empowerment Program
Restoring Well-Being to the Medical Profession
Running on Empty? Physicians’ Path to Enjoying Life and Medicine More
More online CME
Upcoming lectures and training
April 17: Medical Device Group Boston: US healthcare economics forum (Regis College)
The US spends more than any other country in the developed world on healthcare on both a per capita (US$ PPP) and percentage of GDP basis. Despite that high spending and incredible technical sophistication, US healthcare ranks near the bottom of the developed world on many health
care quality indicators.This forum will discuss how the costs in healthcare, and the never-ending efforts to lower them, drives innovation and initiatives to help accomplish that.
May 7: The 7th annual communication, apology, and resolution forum (MMS Headquarters)
The forum will take place at the Massachusetts Medical Society Conference Center on Tuesday May 7, 2019. The event includes live simulation of using the CARe process in adverse event situations, an update on the CARe pilot study data, as well as a keynote by Richard Boothman, J.D.,
formerly of the University of Michigan Health System. Register for this free event online before May 1st.
June 6-7: Managing workplace conflict: Improving leadership & personal effectiveness (MMS Headquarters)
This program explores complex relationships within the medical work environment. The course provides techniques for addressing and resolving difficult relationships and stressful situations, as well as strengthening relationships with other team members and patients.
Read the full program flyer here.
Quote of the week
"We have the names of people who have died because they couldn't get their insulin. This is a commitment on the part of the Congress to get drug prices -- particularly life-saving life necessities -- to get those prices under control. ... Your days are numbered."
— Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky to pharmaceutical industry executives during a congressional hearing on prescription drug prices
(CNN)
Tweet of the week
@DrKathyHughes
General Surgeon | Acute Care/Surgicalist | Advocate for Women in Medicine and Surgery | Blogs at
http://www.behindthemaskmd.com
| Co-founder
#ILookLikeASurgeon
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.
In Boston visits, Trump health officials ridicule 'Medicare for All' plans (Boston Globe)
Two top Trump administration officials visiting Massachusetts slammed the Affordable Care Act as a failure – even though the law has
broad bipartisan support in this state and key measures suggest it is working smoothly here. US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex M. Azar II and the administrator of Medicare and Medicaid, Seema Verma, in separate appearances Monday, also ridiculed the "Medicare for All" plans that
many Democrats are now promoting. They argued that costs would rise and the quality of care would decline under such a system.
Prescription spending in MassHealth doubled over past 5 years (MassLive)
Dr. Alain Chaoui, the president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said rising prescription drug costs are affecting his ability to
give his patients the best care he can. Chaoui also told of a patient who went into diabetic ketoacidosis after rationing insulin, another who had a stroke after being unable to afford an anticoagulant, and a patient with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who couldn't afford inhalers.
Mass. ACLU: 'Abortion is healthcare, and healthcare is a human right' (WGBH)
The established state law around late-term abortion has received renewed consideration and criticism after a Massachusetts woman was forced to travel cross-country to terminate a fetus at 28 weeks.
Doctors told Tara Mendola that if she carried the fetus to term, the child would die shortly after birth. Mendola told the Boston Globe for an article published Wednesday she thought aborting the fetus would be "less traumatizing" for herself and for her other children, and decided to terminate.
Massachusetts law prohibits abortion after 24 weeks, unless the mother's life is at stake. There is no exception for fetal health conditions, so Mendola had to travel to a clinic in Colorado and pay $15,000 out of pocket for the procedure.
Confidential patient info accessed in email phishing attack (NECN)
The confidential personal information of approximately 12,000 Baystate Health patients was accessed as part of a
recent email phishing incident. The health care system said in a statement that between Feb. 7 and March 7, it learned of "unauthorized access to a limited number of employee email accounts... due to a phishing incident." An investigation showed patient information was contained in the emails, including
patient names and dates of birth, health information including diagnoses, treatment information and medications, and in some cases health insurance information.
