In his first president's letter, NCMS President Peter Smith, MD, talks about what the medical society has to offer northern Colorado physicians specifically and what medical societies in general provide the medical profession. "Simply having a medical society is of vital importance. Without an organization to advocate for physicians and patients, many of the other players in the field would go unchecked." Read more here.

Longtime NCMS board member Jeff Donner, MD, is passionate about detecting vertebral fractures and treating them with a variety techniques -- non-invasive, medication or surgical -- to improve a patient's quality of life. Through his practice, Colorado Spine Institute, Donner has taken steps to ensure its osteoporotic fracture patients receive the treatment and care they deserve through participation in the American Orthopaedic Association's Own the Bone® quality improvement program. He urges other northern Colorado hospital systems and practices to join him in the program. An upcoming AOA webinar on Feb. 22, "Identification and Capture of Fragility Fracture Patients," can provide more information.   Read more here.  

NCMS member Kristine Rivera, DO, a family physician in Fort Collins, responds to an opinion-editorial, "Dr. Nassar was not a doctor," published by Virginia Heffernan in the Los Angeles Times on Jan. 26, 2018. Rivera calls the article "inaccurate and sloppy" for essentially asking the public "to view Osteopathic physicians and, specifically, Osteopathic manipulative medicine as criminals and quackery because of one individual's actions." Read Rivera's letter here.

The Economic Impact of Physicians in Colorado, a report released recently by the Colorado Medical Society and the American Medical Association, illustrates that Colorado physicians created a total of $31.1 billion in direct and indirect economic output in 2015.  Colorado physicians supported 175,246 jobs (including their own) and, on average, each Colorado physician supported $88,867 in local and state tax revenues. Across the country, physicians add $2.3 trillion to the U.S. economy, support more than 12.6 million jobs nationwide, contribute $1 trillion in total wages and benefits paid to U.S. workers, and generate $92.9 billion in state and local tax revenue. To view the full report and an interactive map, visit www.PhysiciansEconomicImpact.org.

NCMS thanks all our members and guests who joined us for the 2018 NCMS Annual Meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at Brookside Gardens in Berthoud. Attendees enjoyed a healthy choice buffet, music and dancing, and helped NCMS plot the course of the next year through a live member survey. See photos on our Facebook page here and view our recap video here!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a four-part free continuing education training series that aims to help clinicians apply the CDC's recommendations for prescribing opioids. These trainings aim to help providers gain a better understanding of the recommendations, risks and benefits of prescription opioids, non-opioid treatment options, patient communication and risk mitigation. The trainings can be found here. The CDC also has a seven-part free continuing education webinar to help providers choose the most effective pain treatment options and improve the safety of opioid prescribing for chronic pain. The webinars can be found here.

Health First Colorado (Medicaid) recently posted an updated version of the program's fee schedule. If you treat Medicaid patients, make sure your practice knows about the latest fees. The July 2017 Fee Schedule Data File (1/18) and the July 2017 Fee Schedule Instructions (1/18) have been posted to the Provider Rates and Fee Schedule webpage. Some northern Colorado practices continue to face problems getting paid by Medicaid following the system's conversion to a new payment processing system last year. CMS continues to share problems that members have raised with this conversion process. Click here to view the latest known issues and associated work-around solutions regarding the Medicaid conversion process.

To enhance physician communication capabilities with Spanish-speaking patients, the Denver Medical Society is offering a four-day intensive, total-immersion learning experience in conversational and medical Spanish for physicians, nurses, PAs, NPs and other medical staff. Find more information here.

NCMS staff is finalizing the 2018 NCMS Physician Directory and Patient Resource guide that features contact information and photos of actively practicing physician members. Do you have changes to what we're printing for 2018-19? Take a look here and email kate@nocomedsoc.org with changes as soon as possible.

• COPIC - 2018 Diamond Sponsor
• Columbine Health Systems - 2018 Silver Sponsor
• Health District of Northern Larimer County - 2018 Bronze Sponsor