The official e-newsletter of the Maricopa County Medical Society  

Volume 9 | January 5, 2015 
In This Issue
It's Dues Time Again!
Midwestern to Host Community Health Lecture Series
CDC Flu Vaccine Recommendations
Open Payments: CMS Final Rule Changes
ACA Tip Sheets for Your Patients
High Noon for Federal Health Records Program?
ATSU to Hold Fall Prevention Outreach
ESTABLISHED PRACTICE FOR SALE 
1,830 sq. feet, 4 exam rooms, CLIA lab, e-MDs EMR/HR software, plenty of parking space.

The clinic was established in 1970 and purchased by the second owner in 2006. Located in downtown Scottsdale on McDowell Rd.

Call 480-686-1635 or email akidane@akcrfr.com for more information.
LOCUM TENUM DOCTOR NEEDED 
Weekend shift for an urgent care, 8 am to 4 pm, $90/hr.
Call 480-792-1025 or fax your resume to 480-792-1026.
Urologists! Looking for Part Time or Full Time Work? 
Prostate On-Site Projects needs a part time, board-certified Urologist to provide prostate cancer screenings on their mobile screening unit. No surgery, or treatment and minimal paperwork. 

Their mission is to raise awareness of the importance of early detection for prostate cancer.

Contact Marla Zimmerman at 480-94-3013 or 

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Human Trafficking and Its Health Consequences

January 29 - 30, 2014

Presented by Gloria M. Halverson, MD, Adjunct Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical College of Wisconsin. No fee, registration is required.

 

Learn more >>
3rd Conference on Medical Issues in Cancer Patients and Survivors

February 6, 2015

This conference is designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of clinicians who manage medical issues in cancer patients and survivors and clinical researchers interested in supportive care research in these patients. The conference will cover issues related to toxicity of cancer therapies, supportive care, symptom management, and quality of care. In addition, special sessions in three different areas will be offered: clinical management, nursing management, and clinical and health services research.
Law and Ethics for Those With Special Needs

February 18-20, 2015

Presented by The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix and the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics, this conference will explore the dynamic relationship between the law and ethics as it relates to those with special needs.  

 

Learn more  >>  

NLM Georgia Biomedical Informatics Course

April 12-18, 2015

The National Library of Medicine and Robert B. Greenblatt, M.D. Library, Georgia Regents University will host the NLM Georgia Biomedical Informatics Course. The course will offer participants a week-long immersive experience in biomedical informatics and provides continuing education to healthcare professionals and librarians interested in the application of computer technologies to medicine.

Learn more >>
It's Dues Time Again! - Payment Deadline Extended!
Please remit your dues before February 1, 2015
Because your involvement and support is crucial to help us promote and protect the best interests of the physician community, and to promote higher quality of care in Arizona, we ask you to please remit your 2015 membership dues.

Dues can be renewed one of three ways:

  1. Online https://www.mymcms.com/renewal
  2. Mail a check to the Maricopa County Medical Society, 326 E. Coronado Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85004
  3. Pay by phone by calling the Society at 602-252-2015

As you renew this year, please take a few moments to provide your contact/mailing information and patient referral status. It is critical we have the most up-to-date information in our database so that we may refer patients to your office, email or mail official MCMS communications and your subscription to Round-up Magazine.   

 

If you have any questions please call us at 602-252-2015.

Midwestern University to Host Community Health Lecture Series

Midwestern University's Community Health Lecture Series offers free monthly public lectures throughout the year on health and medicine by University faculty at the Glendale Foothills Branch Library. Learn more >>  

CDC Continues to Recommend a Flu Vaccine as the Best Way to Protect Against the Flu

On December 3, 2014 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Advisory announcing that H3N2 viruses are predominant so far this season, some of which are different from the vaccine virus and reminding clinicians about CDC's vaccine and treatment recommendations.  

 

Learn more >> 

Open Payments: Final Rule Changes Related to Continuing Education Events
On October 31, CMS published four revisions as a final rule in the Federal Register as part of the 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule publication. The Law and Policy web page includes details about the four revisions made to the Open Payments final rule. Learn more >>
ACA Tip Sheets for Your Patients

With the arrival of a new year, many consumers - your patients - have new health insurance coverage, and probably a lot of unanswered questions.  

 

As a service to MCMS members, we've provided CMS' 2015 Provider Toolkit - fact sheets on marketplace.cms.gov that may come in handy when talking with consumers or patients.  

 

View and download the fact sheets >>

High Noon for Federal Health Records Program?
2015 will be a Critical Year for Testing the System

By Arthur Allen, Politico.com

 

Vast spending, frustrating software, angry doctors facing a punch in the wallet - and a hungry new Congress. It could add up to a powerful threat to the Obama administration's $30 billion program to digitize the nation's medical records.

 


Many doctors hate the clunky, time-sucking software they got through the massive subsidy program, and most complain that cumbersome information exchange is frustrating their efforts to coordinate and improve patient care. A quarter-million - half of those eligible for the electronic health records program - will face fines in 2015 for failing to use the systems in the way the government required.

State Medicaid officials don't know how many of their doctors are using electronic records, although they have handed out $9 billion of those federal funds to encourage their adoption. Nor do they have much sense of how much the technology is helping low-income patients.

All in all, while many believe digital health will eventually bring huge benefits, physicians have seen few of them to date.

Now, as the government begins cutting payments to those who have failed to demonstrate "meaningful use" of the electronic health records Washington began subsidizing four years ago, physician groups are fighting mad. And Congress wants to know why an industry with three freshly minted billionaires isn't making better software.

2015 promises to be a critical year for determining whether electronic health records will enable physicians to communicate with each other efficiently to create better care. If they can't get their systems to interact, the program may be seen as largely a waste.

 

Learn more >> 

A.T. Still University to Hold "Still Standing Fall Prevention Outreach" Winter Educational Series

A.T. Still University (ATSU) is gearing up for the annual "Still Standing Fall Prevention Outreach" winter series. The eight-week courses are scheduled to start January 2015.

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries among older adults. It is without doubt that falls in the elder population are a pressing public health concern in our community. According to the Arizona Department of Heath Services, Arizona continues to have one of the highest fatal fall injury rates in the country for both men and women.   

 

Free of charge and open to the public, this is a community health education program aimed at helping elders prevent falls and address their fear of falling. Since the program's inception in 2008, more than 2,000 Arizonans have participated. Students from a variety of ATSU healthcare disciplines will be reaching out to approximately 20 sites Valley-wide.   

 

Interested participants should call the site location nearest them. Site details may be accessed here >> 

 

For additional information please contact Elton Bordenave at ebordenave@atsu.edu.   

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Phone: 602-252-2015 | FREE Physician Referral Line: 602-252-2844 

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