On Wednesday, October 26th, the Medical Society of the District of Columbia (MSDC) held its 2011 Annual Meeting and Reception at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health.  During the meeting, the Medical Society presented the John Benjamin Nichols Award, for outstanding contributions to community health, to Whitman-Walker Health. Dr. Raymond Martins, the Chief Medical officer, and Mr. Don Blanchon, the Executive Director, accepted the award on behalf of the Whitman-Walker Health organization.

     Following the awards presentation, James C. Cobey, MD, assumed the presidency of MSDC. Dr. Cobey is a recently-retired orthopaedic surgeon in private practice, and was elected by MSDC members last October. He has been an active member of the Medical Society for thirty-five years, previously holding the positions of Chair of the Membership Committee, and At-Large Member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Cobey has extensive experience in international health and relief through his work with the American Red Cross, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, the United Nations, the US Agency for International Development, Orthopaedics Overseas (now Health Volunteers Overseas), Physicians for Human Rights, the Human Rights Watch and the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines.  He has worked in Nigeria, Haiti, Hong Kong, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Thai-Cambodian border.  As a member of Physicians for Human Rights, his work with the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines at the Thai-Cambodian Border led to sharing in the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.

     "There are many issues facing the Medical Society with health care reform, scope of practice decisions and dealing with good and not so good proposals by the City Council," said Dr. Cobey. "The Board and staff will be spending a lot of time on issues with the Department of Health and testifying at City Council meetings. To support these activities and the critical need for more staff, we must increase our membership from 2,000 to 3,000 active and engaged members."  Dr. Cobey continued, "too many physicians who are not members ask, 'what does the Medical Society do for me?' The question should be, 'how can I help the medical society protect and improve the citizens of the the City?'"

     Charles Krauthammer, MD, political commentator and syndicated columnist, addressed the evening's attendees. Dr. Krauthammer discussed the current state of affairs in national politics, and took audience members questions on topics ranging from health system reform to the 2012 presidential elections. Dr. Krauthammer's attendance was very provocative, challenging and informative, and we thank him for taking time to attend our meeting.

     Other 2011 Election Results:

• President-Elect: Daniel I. Perlin, MD
• At-Large Members: Julian R. Craig, MD; Joan B. Loveland, MD; Reginald L. Robinson, MD
• MSDC Delegate to the AMA: Joseph E. Gutierrez, MD
• MSDC Alternate Delegate to the AMA: J. Desiree Pineda, MD

     On November 9th FEMA, DHS and FCC will conduct the first national test of the Nationwide Emergency Alert System test. This test will kick off at 2:00 p.m. (EST). The test will be nationwide, running concurrently across all time zones. This system test is the first of its kind. It is designed to broadcast a nationwide message to the American public. Nothing like it has been conducted in the history of the country. There have been tests in the past but none to all parts of the Nation at the same time. The test will run concurrently on all radio and TV bands and the message will run for three minutes. Most messages in the past were anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute. There is great concern in local police and emergency management circles about undue public anxiety over this test. The test message on TV might not indicate that it is just a test. Fear is that the lack of an explanation message might create panic. Please share this information with your family and friends so they are aware of the test. Below are two websites, that will provide more information:

http://www.fema.gov/emergency/ipaws/eas_info.shtm 

     Due to multiple reports of difficulty accessing the CMS Communications Support website, the AMA has worked with CMS to secure an extension to the deadline to file for an exemption. The new deadline to file for an e-prescribing hardship exemption is Tuesday, November 8, 2011. The hardship exemption categories include:

• Your practice is located in a rural area without highspeed internet access
• Your practice is located in an area without sufficient available pharmacies for ePrescribing (CMS clarified by providing more examples including disruption of e-prescriptions between physician offices and pharmacies caused by natural disasters).
• You are registered to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid electronic health record (EHR) Incentive Program and you adopted certified EHR technology by October 1, 2011, and did so prior to requesting an exemption.
• You are unable to electronically prescribe due to local, state or federal law or regulation, (CMS clarified that physicians who mainly prescribe narcotics but due to certain limitations cannot submit these prescriptions electronically can apply for this exemption category).
• Limited prescribing (you do not prescribe on a regular basis).
• There were too few opportunities for you to report the ePrescribing measure due to limitations of the measure's denominator (you do e-prescribe but your electronic prescriptions are not related to qualifying visits/services).

The link for filing for a hardship exemption can be found by clicking here.   

 

If you have trouble with the website

     CMS and the QualityNet Help Desk has been receiving calls from physicians who are having difficulty with accessing the Communication Support Page. After doing some research they found that the problem is related to an issue with the internet browser. CMS is asking eligible professionals to take the step below if they are unsuccessful in accessing the Communication Support Page when trying to submit their Hardship Exemption Request.

     After typing in the above link, in the internet browser, select Tools > Internet Options > Advanced. Scroll down toward the bottom and locate the "Use TLS 1.0" choice. Place a checkmark in the "Use TLS 1.0." Click OK. Attempt to access the site again.

     If you still have trouble accessing the site, the QualityNet Help Desk may be reached at 1-866-288-8912 or email at qnetsupport@sdps.org from 8am to 8pm ET, Monday through Friday. Due to the high volume of calls that the QualityNet Help Desk has been receiving there may be a waiting period.

     November marks the AMA's "Heal That Claim"™ month. By streamlining their claims process during this time, physicians can worry less about administrative tasks and focus more on patient care. The AMA offers a library of resources to help physicians make the most of key electronic health care transactions-such as verifying patient eligibility and contacting a health insurer about the status of a claim. Using these transactions, physicians can save significant time and money while reducing administrative hassles. 

     Visit www.ama-assn.org/go/htc to access these resources and pledge your participation in this campaign.

Save the Date!  AMA Webinar on ACO Rule Nov. 21st

     The American Association on Health and Disability is a non-profit organization in Rockville supporting health promotion and wellness initiatives for people with disabilities.  Since women with disabilities tend to get screened for breast cancer much less often than women without disabilities, AAHD has used funding from Susan G. Komen for the Cure® in the past to develop a series of three local grant projects to address barriers to mammography screening.  For information on our past and current 2011-2012 Komen grants, please see http://www.aahd.us/page.php?pname=komengrants and this fact sheet. 

     AAHD's current grant entitled "Bridging the Gap:  No Woman Left Behind" focuses on the Komen service areas of DC's Wards 7 and 8, part of Prince George's County, and Arlington and Prince William Counties.  Our goals are to: 1) disseminate through community partners educational materials on breast health and screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow up to women with disabilities, and 2) provide a brief one- to two-hour breast health education program on these topics to women with disabilities in the Komen service areas.

     If you would like more information on hosting one of these breast health education programs, please contact Janet Kreitman at jkreitman@aahd.us.  For additional information on the American Association on Health and Disability, please view this brochure.

     The Montgomery County Medical Society will be hosting their "2011 Medical Practice Strategies Conference" on November 17 and 18 at the Rockville Hilton.

     The Conference has two different tracks that attendees may select - Management and Operations.  There will also be a physicians-only session on Thursday, the 17th, titled "Blueprint for Physicians: Successful Strategies to Consider Now."

     For more information, click here.

     For more information on a few sessions, click here.