You're invited to the 2017 CMS Annual Meeting in Breckenridge, Sept. 15-17. Join your peers from across Colorado as we engage some of the top health care policy and political experts in the nation! In an era of burnout and relenting change and stress, this meeting will serve as a motivational sanctuary for physicians to share, argue and learn from the best of the best.

 

Attendees can experience:

Your family and friends will have plenty to do in this mountain paradise: spa time, guided hikes, a saloon tour, ghost tours, gold mine hikes and panning, the Mountain Top Children's Museum, the Edwin Carter Discovery Center... the list goes on and on! And you'll have time in your schedule to join them. Childcare will be provided during conference events; advance registration is required to ensure proper child-to-caregiver ratios.

 

CMS members have exclusive access to the next event in the Physician Leadership Skills Series on July 8. The topic is "Communications: Mastering the skill of getting to the point," and speaker Norm Hartman, veteran news director, is sure to keep your attention as he shares top tips for delivering the right message in the best way. The program will be held 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. at CMS Headquarters in Denver.

 

The saying "communication is key" could not be more true for physicians. Physician leaders face daunting and sometimes unique challenges when it comes to communications. Whether you have seconds to react with a powerful pitch to your practice partner, the local hospital CEO or a patient, or whether you have 30 minutes to prepare to serve as a spokesperson for your organization to the broadcast media, this program will help all physicians optimize their communication skills.

 

As a physician leader you are likely constantly called upon to capture others' attention so that they will understand and act upon your message. Now is the time to master how to get your point across by phone, by email or in person in the patient exam room, the boardroom, the community center or even your own home.

 

Like medicine, there is an art and a science to getting to the point. Learn from a pro and practice with your peers on camera during this dynamic workshop. In addition to his extensive newsroom experience, Norm Hartman is the former director of the office of information and public affairs for the California Department of Health Services, and a media training and crisis communications expert.

 

Less than half of patient care physicians had an ownership stake in their medical practice, according to a newly updated study on physician practice arrangements by the American Medical Association. This marks the first time that physician practice owners fell below a majority portion of the nation's patient care physicians since the AMA began documenting practice arrangement trends.

 

The share of patient care physicians with ownership stakes in a medical practice declined 6 percentage points to 47.1 percent in 2016 from 53.2 percent in 2012. In contrast, the share of patient care physicians with employed positions increased about 5 percentage points to 47.1 percent in 2016 from 41.8 percent in 2012. As a result, there were equal shares of physician employees and physician practice owners in 2016, while the remaining 5.9 percent of patient care physicians were independent contractors.

 

The preference of younger physicians toward employed positions has had a prominent impact. Nearly two-thirds (65.1 percent) of physicians under age 40 were employees in 2016, compared to 51.3 percent in 2012. The share of employees among physicians age 40 and older also increased between 2012 and 2016, but at a more modest pace than younger physicians.

 

The recent 'WannaCry' (also known as 'WannaCrypt') ransomware infections reported to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) gave physicians and organizations an important reminder to conduct a checkup of their systems and secure networks and office computers to keep practice information safe. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that infects a computer and restricts users' access until a ransom is paid to unlock it, and some of the organizations affected were in the health care sector. As a side note, individuals and organizations are discouraged from paying ransoms, as this does not guarantee access will be restored.

The American Medical Association has resources to help physicians with cybersecurity. First, physicians should ensure that their computers' operating systems and anti-virus software are updated and patched. In addition, physicians should contact their medical device vendors and manufacturers to ensure that they have patched their device software.

How to help protect yourself from downloads and email-based ransomware

• Only open emails from people you know and that you are expecting. 
• Do not open email attachments from an unknown, suspicious, or untrustworthy source. 
• Do not open an email attachment unless you know what it is, even if it appears to come from a friend or someone you know. 
• Do not open any email attachments if the subject line is questionable. 
• Vigilance is the best defense against phishing scams that attempt to acquire confidential information such as credit card numbers, personal identity data, and passwords. Often these emails look like they come from real companies or trusted individuals. If you want to find out whether the email is legitimate, contact the company via their published customer service contacts. Do not reply to the email or click on any links.
• Exercise caution when downloading files from the internet. 
• Do not open messages or click on links from unknown users in your instant messaging program.