Today, March 30, is Doctors' Day, and the Colorado Medical Society wants to say "thank you" to our members as we celebrate the tireless efforts of all physicians who put their heart and soul into their work each and every day.

A recent American Medical Association survey of 1,200 physicians and physicians-in-training found that despite challenges common to each career stage and today's challenging health care landscape, nine in 10 of the respondents are satisfied with their career choice. Half of those who pursue medicine consider it a calling, and three-quarters of physicians are motivated by the opportunity to help people above all else. Remarkably, 73 percent of those surveyed knew before they reached the age of 20 that they wanted to become doctors, and nearly one-third knew before becoming a teenager.

This is part of what makes medicine - and the community of health providers - so special and unique. Thank you.

Get the help you need to prepare for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Quality Payment Program (QPP) through the Colorado QPP Coalition. The coalition released the first in its series of "QPP Fast Facts in 5 minutes," which will be published regularly on the coalition webpage, www.cms.org/coqpp, and in coalition members' newsletters. Click here for the first installment, which includes basic questions-and-answers to QPP participation, eligibility and reporting options.

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), represents the most significant change in Medicare physician payment policy in over 25 years. Last fall, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released final policies on implementation of MACRA's Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and alternative payment models (APMs). Collectively, these programs are part of what CMS now calls the Quality Payment Program (QPP).

Physicians have the opportunity to pick their pace of participation during the 2017 QPP transition year. During the 2017 transition year, physicians only need to report one quality measure for one patient, one Improvement Activity or all of the required Advancing Care Information (ACI) measures to avoid a negative payment adjustment in 2019. While the performance year is 2017, physicians will not receive their payment adjustment until two years later.

Taking steps now to prepare for 2017 and beyond can ease the transition for your practice and position you to earn financial rewards for the high-value care you provide. This webinar will help physicians and medical society staff understand both MIPS and APMs. Join the AMA on Thursday, April 20 at 5 p.m. MT to learn what needs to be done to prepare and succeed. Register here for the webinar.

Due to an increase in AMA membership, the Colorado Medical Society has been awarded a fifth AMA Delegate and a fifth AMA Alternate Delegate. As a result, the nomination period for the positions of AMA Delegate and Alternate Delegate has been extended through April 30, 2017, to seek candidates to fill the two additional positions. All CMS members are encouraged to consider nominating a colleague or self-nominating for one of the open leadership positions in our AMA delegation. Overall, there will be four Delegate and four Alternate Delegate positions elected in an all-member election this August. The term of the positions will begin Jan. 1, 2018 and continue for two years through Dec. 31, 2019.

Read more about these positions in the the election guide, available here. This guide provides all the information a potential candidate needs about the duties, eligibility, terms of office and honorarium for each open position, as well as candidate requirements, campaign guidelines and the election process. The position descriptions and qualifications for office are available starting on page three of the election guide and the candidate requirements on page five of the election guide. Questions? Contact dean_holzkamp@cms.org.

Earn up to 3.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ at the next program in the CMS Physician Leadership Skills Series, to be held in Denver on Saturday, April 22, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.  Register here.

CMS members will learn about multi-generational leadership. Health care requires teamwork, and for physicians that often means leading and working with people of different ages and generational attributes. Understanding what that means for patients is important, but increasingly it is becoming essential to know what that means for those that you, as a physician, work with daily.

Find more information on the full series, including the CME accreditation statements, and access registration here.

The Tri-County Overdose Prevention Partnership - a partnership of public and private agencies serving Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties - presents "Moving From What to How: Practical Tools for Safe and Effective Opioid Prescribing" on Thursday, May 4, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. at Community College of Aurora.

This program will review best practice recommendations for prescribing opioids for acute pain, chronic pain and opioid dependence, and provide prescribers with practical tools for implementing these recommendations in their practices. Five mini-talks will be presented, each focusing on a key dimension of safe and effective opioid prescribing and management, followed by a panel discussion on Medication Assisted Treatment.

This conference is open to all health care providers who treat patients suffering from acute pain, chronic pain and opioid dependence, including physicians, psychiatrists, pharmacists, mental health providers, therapists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, allied health professionals, as well as public health professionals, and health policy experts. CME Credits and a COPIC Point may be provided. Learn more and register here.

CIVHC will host a webinar on federal health care reform on Friday, April 14, 12-1 p.m. MT to encourage dialogue and listening from many perspectives. "Repealing, Replacing, or Repairing the ACA: Finding Common Ground" will bring together one progressive and one conservative in a moderated discussion to unpack the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the proposed replacement. Register here.

National Healthcare Decisions Week - April 16-22, 2017 - was created to help people understand the value of advance care planning. Advance care planning documents, including health care power of attorney and "living wills," spell out one's health care preferences should a medical crisis leave one unable to communicate one's wishes.

Telligen's Sharing the Care Campaign has long advocated for advance care planning within northern Colorado's Larimer and Weld counties. This year, the group has joined forces with other community organizations to educate the residents of these counties, help them complete advance care planning documents, and then add these documents to their electronic health records. Read more on CMS.org.

• View the Cohort 2 handout
• Sign up for the SIM distribution list
• Explore the SIM cohort 2 website