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FOR SALE
| Family Practice Physician retiring. Beautiful office building, Ray Rd. in Chandler. Ideal for 1-2 docs or satellite.
Practice also available for purchase, if interested.
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Arizona's Infectious Diseases Manual
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The Arizona Department of Health Services has released a manual for physicians about Arizona's infectious diseases. This includes information on Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever), Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Plague, Tularemia, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, State Reporting Requirements and Expedited Partner Therapy. Find the manual here >>
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OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE TEMPE-MESA AREA
| | Medical Office Suites for lease in beautiful garden office complex. 1200 or 1800 sq. ft. includes covered doctor parking. Excellent location with easy access to 101 & 60 freeways & close to Desert Samaritan & Tempe St. Luke's Hospitals.
Best rates in area.
Call 602.625.6298.
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Obama Signs Veterans Healthcare Bill
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Written by David Jackson, published in USA Today
New legislation should improve medical care for America's veterans, and shorten the time in which they receive it, President Obama said Thursday.
"This bill will help us ensure that veterans have access to the care they have earned," Obama said as he signed the Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014. Read more >>
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Are You On the Move? Share Your News!
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 Are you moving on up to the East, West, North or South-side? Or moved in a different direction worth noting? Have you recently taken on a new role at your practice, clinic or hospital? Recognized for excellence in delivering care? Accepted a new training or certification? Recently retired?
If so, we want to know! Please share with us your recent professional achievements, and we will share them with the rest of our members and readers and "connect our docs."
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A Doctor's Perspective on Obamacare Plans
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Written by Jeffrey Cohen, published in Kaiser Health News
"I cannot accept a plan [in which] potentially commercial-type reimbursement rates were now going to be reimbursed at Medicare rates," says Dr. Doug Gerard. "You have to maintain a certain mix in private practice between the low reimbursers and the high reimbursers to be able to keep the lights on." Read more >>
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9865 S Priest Dr - Tempe Crossings
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Beautifully built-out medical office available for immediate move-in. Desirable Tempe location with excellent proximity to shopping and restaurants with immediate access from I-10. Contact Marina Hammersmith, CCIM, 602-954-8414 or Autumn Storm 602-385-2854 at Ensemble Real Estate Solutions.
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ER Closures Raise Death Rates at Nearby Hospitals
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Written by Roni Caryn Rabin, published in Kaiser Health News
Emergency patients who are admitted to the hospital are at a greater risk of dying if another emergency room at a hospital nearby has closed its doors, a new study of California hospitals has found.
The analysis is believed to be the first to examine the impact that emergency department closures have on the quality of patient care at other hospitals within the same service area. Read more >>
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MEDICAL OFFICE
TIME SHARE IN GLENDALE
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(NE Union Hills/59th Ave)
Excellent time share opportunity. Surgery practice with well-appointed 3300 sq. ft. office condominium. Conveniently located in Arrowhead Ranch one mile from Loop 101.
The office includes private office for the Practitioner, support staff work space, 2-3 full exam rooms, and a spacious waiting area. Mon., Wed. and Thurs. available. Utilities included.
Arrowhead Commons, 18275 N. 59th Ave, Glendale.
Contact admin@
doctorangelchik.com for more information.
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Promising New Approach Helps Curb Early Schizophrenia in Teens, Young Adults
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A new approach is being used nationwide to find and treat teenagers and young adults with early signs of schizophrenia. The goal is to bombard them with help even before they have had a psychotic episode - a dramatic and often devastating break with reality that is a telltale sign of the disease. Read more >>
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Practice Spotlight - Round-up Feature Series
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The Maricopa County Medical Society's Round-upis pleased to bring you a new feature series, "Practice Spotlight".
Each month we will spotlight a physician or a practice that has made changes to their care delivery model for the benefit of the patient. Articles will focus on new methods of treatment, technological advances, and patient education, to name just a few.
If you would like to submit yourself or your practice for consideration, or would like to recommend another physician or practice group for our spotlight, please contact Jay Conyers at 602.251.2361 or
jconyers@mcmsonline.com
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Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative
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The Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative is comprised of four broadly defined models of care, which link payments for multiple services beneficiaries receive during and episode of care. Under the initiative, organizations enter into payment arrangements that include financial and performance accountability for episodes of care. These models may lead to higher quality and more coordinated care at a lower cost to Medicare. Read more >>
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| President's Message: Will Care Be There? Is the Question Still Relevant 10 Years Later? | |
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Miriam Anand, MD
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Perhaps the question for 2014 is not whether or not care will be there, but will quality care be there? The answer to this question remains to be seen. Your membership in organizations such as MCMS and ArMA indicates your dedication to ensuring that quality care will be there. You likely have colleagues who believe in the MCMS mission of promoting excellence in the quality of care and the health of the community and having a strong, collective physician voice. Despite this, they are not members. Please help them understand that our strength lies in our membership and the more members we have, the more powerful we become. Read more >> |
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Calling for Opinions: U of A/Banner Health Agreement
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Dear Readers,
The announcement that the University of Arizona Health Network (UAHN) and Banner Health are in negotiations regarding a potential 30 year agreement came out recently. The UAHN is a private entity which owns the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson and a number of other U of A affiliated medical sites, whereas the University of Arizona runs the medical college campuses in Phoenix and Tucson. Banner Health runs the largest not-for-profit hospital system in the state.
The agreement, which ultimately needs to be approved by the Board of Regents, is expected to include a 30 year collaboration and affiliation in which Banner would provide considerable financial support to both college campuses. Banner would purchase the land associated with the University Medical Center in Tucson. In addition, Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center would be converted to a faculty-based academic medical center.
Some speculate that this could represent the early stages of what the future could hold for other state academic medical centers that are struggling financially in the current climate.
What are your thoughts on this potential merger?
Miriam K. Anand, MD
President, Maricopa County Medical Society
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| The Arizona Medical Association (ArMA) 2014 Voting Guide | |
ArMA's Arizona Medical Political Action Committee (ArMPAC) Board of Directors has considered the Arizona primary election candidates. Incumbents were largely evaluated on their overall voting records regarding health care services. After deliberation, the Board recommends the following list of candidates as deserving support in the primary election on Tuesday, August 26. The MCMS joins with ArMA in urging you to vote for these candidates who have supported medicine. The ArMPAC Board has deferred several endorsement opportunities and further endorsements will be forthcoming after the primary election. We have endorsed all the legislators that supported the Medicaid restoration/expansion and are now as a result facing a primary election challenge. Should you want to discuss these recommendations or obtain information regarding your voting district, please do not hesitate to call David Landrith or Carol Wagner at (602) 246-8901. An additional message from Dr. Gary Figge, Chair, ArMPAC Board of Directors, is available in the newest edition of AzMedicine (featuring the ArMA Legislative Report) and here.
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| Tell Us What You Think | |
Seeking Testimonials for the
September Issue of Round-up
Please share with us your thoughts on your membership in the Maricopa County Medical Society (MCMS). Why did you join? Why do you continue your membership every year? How has the MCMS helped you in your professional and personal goals? Are there any changes you'd like to see with the MCMS or your membership?
September's issue of Round-up will focus on membership in the MCMS and we want to know what you, our members, really think and feel about the Society. Please email us at mcms@mcmsonline.com and share your thoughts.
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| Looking for Some Reading Material? | | | Come and Get 'Em!
The Maricopa County Medical Society (MCMS) has an excess of the following books by some of your peers:
- Healthseekers in Arizona by Robert E. Kravetz, MD and Alex Jay Kimmelman
- The Road to Retirement by Robert G. Beers, MD
- Mostly Medical Vignettes and Mostly Medical/Legal Vignettes by Rudi Kirschner, MD
If you are interested in owning a copy of any of these books, please come and visit us at our office (326 E. Coronado Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85004) or contact Emily at 602.417.2307 or at
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| Update Your MCMS Membership Information | | |
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| Opioids: The Epidemic That YOU Can Cure - Free Seminar | | |
The Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery, Arizona Medical Board and Arizona Regulatory Board of Physician Assistants invite you to attend this CME on prescribing opioids. Developed by the University of Nebraska Medical Center - Center for Education, this course covers risk evaluation, examination, chronic pain management, statistics of abuse, and mitigation strategies.
You are invited to attend one of the following Saturday sessions - all sessions 9 am - 1 pm:
- Sierra Vista: August 16, 2014 - Ethel C. Berger Center
- Kingman: September 27, 2014 - Kingman Regional Medical Center (East Campus)
- Phoenix: October 11, 2014 - A.T. Still University, Mesa, AZ
- Tucson: October 25, 2014 - Tucson Osteopathic Medial Foundation
Advance registration is requested. Register by email or call 602.771.2521
4.0 hours of Category 1-A CME Credits are anticipated for this program.
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| EHR Incentive Program: Learn More About the Stage 2 Electronic Notes Menu Objective | |
To help improve clinical processes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) included "Electronic Notes" as a menu objective in Stage 2 of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs. The objective requires more electronic documentation of patient symptoms, treatments, circumstances, and other observations to give providers additional historical information to use throughout a patient's treatment plan. Eligible professionals and eligible hospitals who select this menu objective are required to create electronic notes for more than 30 percent of their unique patients. The text of the notes must be searchable and may contain drawings and other content. Read more >> |
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| What Ails Appalachia Ails the Nation | | |
Written by Laura Unger, published in USA Today
Diabetes is slowly ravaging Alisha Blankenbeckler's body - stealing her eyesight, impairing her kidneys and damaging her nerves so severely she can barely walk across a parking lot without help. And she's only 48.
"I try to stay upbeat no matter how bad I feel," she says, mostly so she can keep caring for a husband with dangerously high blood pressure. "It's difficult, though. Dying is something I think about every day."
The couple's travails are common in this corner of Appalachia, one of the nation's unhealthiest regions, a place plagued by poor health habits and sky-high levels of chronic disease that some experts say may be a harbinger of where the country is headed if we don't rein in epidemics like obesity. This week, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden made a "house call" to find out more about the underlying causes of the region's ills and how to treat them - and in the process gain traction against the rising burden of chronic disease that ails the nation. Read more >> |
| ICD-10 Allows Healthcare Industry Ample Time to Prepare for Change Deadline | | | The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a rule (CMS-0043-F) finalizing October 1, 2015 as the new compliance date to implement section 212 of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 by changing the compliance date for the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) for diagnosis coding, including the Official ICD-10-CM Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, and the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) for inpatient hospital procedure coding, including the Official ICD-10-PCS Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, from October 1, 2014 to October 1, 2015. Read more >> |
| Save the Date - 3rd Annual "Current Trends in Liver Disease" and Gastroenterology Board Review | | | Friday, September 26, 2014
St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
Endorsed by the MCMS as an Honor Roll Activity
Topics discussed by local experts and guest faculty will include information on the current and developing therapies for Hepatitis B and C, NASH, and hepatocellular carcinoma, liver cancer treatment options, and and update on current listing criteria for liver transplantation. Physicians preparing for gastroenterology or hepatology board certification will find the sessions helpful for Hepatology content review. Read more >>
For more information to to register, call 1.877.602.4111. |
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MCMS Preferred Partner Program
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Catalina Medical Recruiters, Inc.: It is more than just filling vacancies. We match lifestyles, personalities and practice philosophies!
Since 1991, our staff has provided permanent and locum tenens services. Our main focus is bringing well trained, quality providers to Arizona and the Southwest.
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| Congratulations to MCMS Business Partner GPE! | |
GPE Companies, a long-time business partner of the Maricopa County Medical Society (MCMS), has secured the exclusive leasing assignment for a new office/medical project being developed by The Mahoney Group in one of Phoenix's highest-growth areas. The Mahoney Group, Arizona's largest independent Insurance agency, will be relocating one of their Phoenix offices to the new project. Read more >> |
| FY 2015 Payment and Policy Changes for Medicare Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities | |
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System (IPF PPS) final rule for FY 2015. The IPF PPS applies to inpatient psychiatric facilities across the United States, including both freestanding psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric units of acute care hospitals or critical access hospitals. The updated rates would generally be effective for discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2014. Under the final rule, payments to IPFs are estimated to increase by 2.5 percent compared to FY 2014. Read more >> |
| August is National Immunization Awareness Month | |
August is National Immunization Awareness Month. This toolkit from the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) is designed to help you communicate the importance of immunizations during this annual observance - and throughout the year. The toolkit contains key messages, vaccine information, sample news releases and articles, sample social media messages and links to the web resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other organizations. Read more >>
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| CMS Issues Hospital Inpatient Payment Regulation | |
The final rule issued on August 4 by CMS adopts improvements in the quality of care that limit payment for hospital acquired conditions (HACs) and readmissions. The rule, which updates Medicare payment policies and rates for inpatient stays at general acute care and long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) for FY 2015, builds on the administration's efforts for better hospital patient outcomes and slowing the long-term health care cost growth. Read more >> |
| Register Now for the Fall Buffmire Lecture | | |
The Donald K. Buffmire Visiting Lectureship in Medicine - founded in 1997 through the support of the Flinn Foundation - continues to bring renown medical practitioners and thinkers to Arizona
The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix is honored to introduce a physician who quite literally helped write the book on how to teach medicine. Learn more >>
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Virginia G. Piper Auditorium
UA College of Medicine - Phoenix
600 E. Van Buren St., Phoenix, AZ 85004
5 pm - 6 pm: Hosted Reception
6 pm - 7 pm: Lecture
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| California Neurology Society Annual Meeting and Conference | | October 10-12, Santa Barbara, CA
The California Neurology Society (CNS) is pleased to announce an annual meeting that addresses neurology from the perspective of these tumultuous times where science and technology has let not only to progress for mankind but more immediate hazards and dangers than encountered by previous generations.
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| CME and CEU Opportunities in Cardiology | | | Friday, October 10 - Saturday, October 11
Physicians and nurses are invited to attend the symposium, Cardiovascular Disease Management: A Case-Based Approach at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix. The symposium is hosted by Course Director, Richard Heuser, MD, a cardiologist with Phoenix Heart Center, a member of Physician Group of Arizona.
For physician attendees, Promedica International designates this live activity for a maximum of 12 hours AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s). Promedica International is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #8495. Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Education Unit (CEU) certificates will be sent in a secure document via email upon completion of the online evaluation from post symposium.
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| Save the Date - Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever) for the Primary Care Physician | | Saturday, November 8, 2014
8 am - 12 pm
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center
1111 E. McDowell Rd, Phoenix
Two-thirds of all worldwide Valley Fever infections occur in Arizona; most of those in Maricopa County. Are you testing your patients with community-acquired pneumonia for Valley Fever? The 7th annual FREE conference is open to physicians, nurses and healthcare providers.
Endorsed by the Maricopa County Medical Society as an Honor Roll Activity. St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center designates this live activity for a maximum of 3.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. Register now >> |
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