The Colorado Medical Society will hold our second all-member election of CMS officers Aug. 1-31, 2017 -- that's just a few days away! We encourage all members to visit the election page on CMS.org to view each candidate's profile, CV and personal statement, as well as brief video addresses. Eleven exemplary physicians are running for eight positions for CMS delegate/alternate delegate to the AMA. Deb Parsons, MD, is unopposed in her bid for president-elect.

All CMS members are eligible to vote for CMS officers via electronic ballot. Read more about voting in the July/August 2017 issue of Colorado Medicine. You will also receive more information by email. Are CMS e-communications coming to your preferred email address? Email  membership@cms.org with any contact information changes.

A new, online and self-paced overview course on the Quality Payment Program is now available through the federal CMS's MLN Learning Management System. Learners will receive information on:

• The Improvement Activities performance category requirements, and how this category fits into the larger Quality Payment Program
• The steps you need to take to report Improvement Activities data to the federal CMS
• The basics about scoring of the Improvement Activities performance category

Physicians can earn up to  0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. It is the third course in an evolving curriculum on the Quality Payment Program, where learners can gain knowledge and insight on the program while earning CME. First-time learners will need to register. Click here to go to the MLN Learning Management System and access the program.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has introduced new information on qpp.cms.gov that indicates whether clinicians have "special status" and can therefore be considered exempt from the Quality Payment Program.

To determine if a clinicians' participation should be considered as special status under the Quality Payment Program, the agency retrieves and analyzes Medicare Part B claims data. A series of calculations are run to indicate a circumstance of the clinician's practice for which special rules under the Quality Payment Program will affect the number of total measures, activities or entire categories that an individual clinician or group must report. These circumstances are applicable for clinicians in: Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA), Rural, Non-patient facing, Hospital Based, and Small Practice settings.

For more information, visit the Quality Payment Program website.

Pharmacists from the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy have developed a survey to assess provider knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding opioid education. If you already took this survey in December 2016, you do not need to take it again.

The results will be shared with the Provider Education Work Group of the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention to help improve patient education and address barriers to education. This survey should take less than 20 minutes to complete. Access the survey here.

Have you witnessed first-hand the connection of oral health to one's overall health?

The Colorado Medical Society has teamed up with Delta Dental of Colorado and a statewide coalition to better inform businesses, health professionals and the public about how closely connected oral health is to overall health. And we need your help!

If you have a story that demonstrates the connection of oral health to overall health, we'd love to consider including it in the #TeethMatter campaign. Email RussRizzo@gbsm.com to share your story.

Did you know that a dentist or dental hygienist can spot early signs of 120 diseases, including heart disease, diabetes and several forms of cancer? Or that 90 percent of systemic diseases have symptoms in and around the mouth?

By taking care of your oral health, you can help prevent or better manage many serious chronic health conditions. And you can increase your chances of living a long, healthy and productive life.

Through the #TeethMatter campaign, we hope to encourage Coloradans to make regular visits to their dentist or dental hygienist and to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of oral health to us as individuals and as a society.

Our coalition includes dentists, physicians, health foundations, business groups and many more.

If you are an employer, encourage your employees to see their dentist or dental hygienist regularly. If you are a medical institution, educate your health professionals on the connection between oral and overall health.

For more information, visit www.deltadentalco.com/wellness.