The CMS Board of Directors met on Friday, March 15. Here are the highlights.

• The Board discussed anticompetitive conduct, firearm safety, prescription drug abuse, the Larimer-Weld component society merger, and upcoming events. See more information on these items below.
• The Board approved minutes from the January 2013 meeting, the Finance Committee report, and a consent calendar. A written update on the strategic plan was provided to the Board in writing. All of these materials are available upon request.

Please contact us about any of the items in this newsletter. Your comments are important to us!

The board approved a report by a joint CMS-CHA work group on anticompetitive conduct. The group recommends that when a physician believes a final action taken by the hospital governing board against the physician is a result of anticompetitive conduct and the physician believes that mediation or non-binding arbitration may resolve their concerns, the physician may request -- and the hospital may participate in -- mediation or non-binding arbitration. 

CMS and CHA will provide information on what may constitute anticompetitive conduct and on dispute resolution processes, develop best practices, and survey CHA-member hospitals and health systems in the future to assess whether these recommendations have been adopted.

During the last board meeting, members approved a policy that CMS will support the enactment of "reasonable laws" that seek to regulate the sale and distribution of firearms to protect public health and safety. The Council on Legislation was presented with the task of recommending a CMS position on current legislation following a survey of the membership and they recommended supporting measures to reinstitute universal background checks for firearm buyers and to strengthen mental health checks at the time of purchase. The board agreed and passed the recommendations.

The board approved the long-term goal and strategies for addressing prescription drug abuse in Colorado as drafted by the CMS Workers Compensation and Personal Injury Committee. 

As a long-term goal, CMS will work to assure access to compassionate, evidence-based care for patients who suffer from acute and chronic pain, while significantly reducing the potential for medically inappropriate use or diversion and the resulting range of medical, psychological and social consequences, including addiction, overdose and death. CMS will achieve this by reviewing current evidence about the misuse of opioids and developing strategies to address it, developing and promoting new tools and educational materials, developing a public outreach campaign, partnering with other stakeholders, and establishing monitoring and tracking systems to allow for future evaluation.

As recommended by the Executive Committee, the board approved a multi-part recommendation that will change the format for the consent calendar presented at the Annual Meeting to allow more time for deliberation on strategic issues.

CMS will convene the Reference Committee immediately before the Annual Meeting to produce a report that will serve as the consent calendar; make the final report immediately available to components and widely available at Friday registration for discussion and action on Saturday morning; and use the remainder of the Annual Meeting for strategic, interactive programming.

The board approved a request from the Weld and Larimer county medical societies to merge the two component chapters into a new entity called the Northern Colorado Medical Society. The new NCMS will better serve members in this area and accomplish their purpose. In accordance with the bylaws, the CMS Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs will now process the request and prepare a formal recommendation for the board to vote on at their May 3 meeting.

• May 3-5 - CMS Spring Conference - Vail, Colo.
• June 15-19 - AMA Annual Meeting - Chicago, Ill.
• Sept. 20-22 - CMS Annual Meeting - Vail, Colo.
• Nov. 16-19 -AMA Interim Meeting - National Harbor, Md.