WCMS is proud to announce another high quality addition to the series of "The Physicians' Voice" media presentations aimed to showcase to the general public our physicians' world-class medical expertise and focus on patient/community health.  

The Western Carolina Medical Society wants to help physicians, their staff, families and patients make the most informed decisions on election day.  So we are conducting a "virtual" candidate forum.  We have sent e-mails to each candidate running for NC State House and NC State Senate with five key questions on important healthcare topics.

Once we receive responses from candidates, we will post the results on our website so you can see each candidate's opinions on these important topics.  Results will be posted in early/mid October- in plenty of time for voting day on November 4!

Click here to see the letter and questions we asked each candidate.

We've been hard at work collecting data and assessing themes from interviews with over 100 key stakeholders about our current performance and possibilities for the future.

On September 8, the Association Board met to contribute to the strategic discussion. The board was asked to discuss some root causes for "ambivalence" about membership among WCMS members and non-members alike, along with proposed solutions.  Some of the root causes included lack of time (significant); lack of alignment with a strong sense of purpose; perceptions of being disrespected by the public, politicians, business, patients; and the feeling of being disempowered, ineffectual, irrelevant.  Proposed solutions included: moving physicians from current burnout to renewed joy and meaning in their practice of medicine (mentoring program strongly recommended); enhancing easy-to-use technology for communication and connectivity; clarifying WCMS' purpose/mission with a focus on the physician-patient relationship; more clearly identifying/promoting WCMS' value-added services, engaging directly in recruitment/retention activities; serving as a resource hub; and promoting the value of profession of medicine to stakeholders.

If any of these topics resonate with you and you'd like to elaborate, or if you disagree with them, let me know at Miriam@mywcms.org.

From this kind of feedback and with help of our interviewees, Association Board, Foundation Board, and Development Council, we will develop key strategies for 2015 that will enable WCMS to better fulfill the aspirations of the stakeholders who were interviewed, such as: independent physicians, employed physicians, health system leaders, funders/donors/business leaders, practice managers, community leaders, Project Access patients and of course, our employees.