Sponsor Message:
|
 |
|
|
Registration now open for WCMS' Healthy Healer Retreat: Medicine & Family: New Challenges; New Solutions
|
In this entertaining and thought-provoking seminar, noted speaker Rebecca Fallon of the Sotile Center for Resilience and Center for Physician Resilience, will shed light on the inner workings of contemporary medical providers and their families who manage to have it all: productive careers, high levels of collaboration and collegiality in the medical workplace, and thriving personal lives. Drawing material from the Sotiles' books, over 15 years of clinical and consulting experiences, and her practice's ground-breaking research with medical families, Rebecca will teach practical strategies that can immediately make a difference in your work and family relationships, regardless of how you define "family."
This event is FREE for all WCMS Members. Discounts apply for non-member physicians and PAs of Gold Level sponsoring hospitals. $75 for non-member physicians and PAs. Significant others attend free of charge! CME will be offered and we'll be giving a copy of the Sotile's book "Letting Go of What's Holding you Back" to all attending physicians and PAs.
Register online today
HERE!
|
Mountain maternity wards closing, WNC women's lives on the line
|
On a frosty January evening, Nancy Kerr felt the first twinges of contractions.
Snow was piling up outside her house in the mountains of rural Spruce Pine, in Mitchell County, but the contractions were mild, and she was a week shy of her due date, so she assumed it was simply false labor. Kerr called her doctor, drank a glass of water and tried to relax.
At 11:30 p.m., Kerr's water broke and she was suddenly thrust into active labor. Her husband raced around the house, throwing everything the couple needed for the hospital into his dirty work truck, and they began the six-mile descent to the hospital on winding roads covered in 5 inches of snow.
Kerr did her best to breathe through the contractions that crashed down upon her, trying not to fixate on the two occasions they'd spun off the very same roads in similar whiteout conditions. Read full article here.
|
Blue Cross, Mission Health CEOs speak out as contract deadline looms
|
Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Brad Wilson said Mission CEO Ron Paulus is shading the truth when it comes to details of the two powerful health care entities'
negotiations over a new contract.
"Mission is one of the most expensive hospitals in North Carolina," Wilson said to dispute Paulus' statement that BCBS was looking to give BCBS a cut in payments in a new contract over the next three years or no increase.
"We are happy to pay increases for performance," said Wilson, who indicated there would be higher payments for Mission in return for proof that the health care system with more than 600 doctors and surgeons was making strides in improving the health of patients coming in for surgeries and other benchmarks. Read full article
here.
|
Dr. Scott Donaldson announces congressional candidacy
|
After a couple of months of mulling it over, Scott Donaldson is ready to announce his candidacy for the 11th Congressional District.
The Democrat had weighed the decision for a while, but after a discussion with his wife, he knew his window of opportunity was quickly closing.
"She was like, 'if you do this, you have to do this right. You can't go half-way on it,'" Donaldson said. Read full article
here.
|
Blue Cross Will Continue as the Face of State Employee Insurance
|
North Carolina state Treasurer Dale Folwell announced his decision Tuesday to continue contracting with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina to administer the health plan for more than 700,000 teachers, state employees, retirees and their families.
Folwell said he and his staff made the choice despite BCBSNC's competition with three national companies for the contract, which last year netted Blue Cross $83 million in fees.
"This announcement is not a renewing of our vows with Blue Cross, or with the medical community of North Carolina, or the providers, or to some degree our pharmacy services. This is a resetting of our priorities and our relationship," Folwell said. "It's not emotional, it's not political, it's mathematical." Read full article
here.
|
No vote for Graham-Cassidy ACA repeal bill
|
| The Senate will not vote on the Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) this week, the bill's authors said Tuesday. The budget reconciliation process Republicans need to pass any repeal legislation ends Saturday. GOP leaders have pledged to continue their efforts, but it would now require procedural maneuvering, and an agreement to forego other legislative priorities. Graham-Cassidy would have overhauled the nation's healthcare system, giving states immense power to create their own coverage system, but with restricted funding and precious little time to do so. It went beyond previous repeal bills in the House and Senate, and had provisions that could remove protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Read full article here. |
Emeritus Luncheon October 4, 2017
|
|
WCMS is looking forward to our quarterly Emeritus Luncheon featuring our guest speaker, Dr. Brian Asbill of Asheville Cardiology Associates.
Dr. Asbill discovered that some 80 percent of our chronic diseases, such as heart disease - the No. 1 killer of men and women in the United States - as well as type 2 diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, hypertension, were related to poor lifestyle choices. He learned about CHIP, certified through the Lifestyle Medicine Institute, a lifestyle enrichment program designed to reduce disease risk factors through the adoption of better health habits. Read more about the luncheon here.
|
|
Healthy Healer-
Loosening the Grip of Physician Burnout
|
|
In recent years, the health care industry has undergone unprecedented changes that have affected the ways physicians deliver care. At one time, most physicians were small business owners who could control the parameters of care.
Now, in part because of need to pay back large student debts, most physicians are employees of health care systems and some feel a loss of autonomy that is a risk factor for burnout. Read full article
here.
|
| Free Film Screening |
|
|
PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT CORNER
|
|
PA turns transplant team service into model of care
|
|
Since accepting a position in the transplant surgery service at the University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) in Seattle, Monica Morrison, PA-C, has transformed the transplant team's PA service into a model for other departments within the facility.
Monica Morrison is a PA on the transplant surgery service at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. Credits her success to teamwork. She and her three PA colleagues collaborate with many physicians, including the attending surgeons, transplant surgery fellows and surgical residents who rotate through the service on a monthly basis.
They also work with nurse coordinators involved in patient care, as well as the center's consulting services, such as the nephrology service and hepatology service, whose patients are often admitted to the transplant service pre- or post-transplant. Read full article
here.
|
|
WCMS Job Board
|
Medical Office Space: for a 1-2 provider practice to share with an established wellness/GYN solo practitioner. We are most interested in office based practitioners of lifestyle, integrative, or functional medicine. Please contact Erin Elliot at (828)489-3942 for more information.
If you are a 100% Member Practice, posting job openings here is FREE!
Click here
for more information.
|
|
WCMS is a thriving 650+ member professional association of the physicians of Western North Carolina, and a chartered component medical society of the NC Medical Society and the AMA. WCMS is an organization run by physicians, for physicians. In 2017, WCMS opened membership to physician assistants.
Our Mission
WCMS Association: WCMSA is the physicians' voice advocating for the health of the physician, the patient, and the community, through strengthening the physician-patient relationship.
WCMS Foundation: WCMSF is the physician and community-led charitable arm of the medical society improving access to quality healthcare, decreasing disparities in health, and promoting health & wellness.
Our Vision
To be a dynamic physician community dedicated to a healthy, vibrant Western North Carolina.
About WCMS
The purpose of WCMS is:
- To strengthen the voice of WNC physicians in advocating for the health of the medical profession, the health of the patient, and the health of our region
- To inform, educate and prepare physicians for rapidly occurring changes in health care at national, state, and local levels
- To share legislative and policy information and advocate on behalf of physicians in areas of mutual interest
- To share available resources in areas of mutual interest
- To promote physician-to-physician communication and dialogue in an open, honest and safe environment
We hope you enjoy our weekly e-Newsletter. If you have questions or suggestions please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
 |
| Miriam Schwarz |
Miriam Schwarz, MPA
WCMS CEO/Executive Director
|
|
|
