Sponsor Message:
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Register today for WCMS' Healthy Healer Retreat: Medicine & Family: New Challenges; New Solutions
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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!
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| Press Release from the Buncombe County Health and Human Services (BCHHS) |
As a reminder, physicians in NC are required by state law (NC General Statute ยง 130A-135) to report suspected or confirmed communicable diseases to the local health department. The Communicable Disease report form for Buncombe County is located at
https://www.buncombecounty.org/common/health/Morb_Card.pdf. Please review the list of reportable diseases and conditions on the form, as well as the time frame for reporting them to public health.
Finally, we have had situations where health care providers have been hesitant to share protected health information with our Communicable Disease nurses during their investigations. Please understand that release of this information is allowable under HIPAA. See the attached memo from the NC DHHS for specifics. Read full press release
here.
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Blue Cross: If Mission Drops Termination Notice, We'll Negotiate
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Thursday October 5th is the 'termination date' for the contract between Mission Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina. If no agreement between the two is reached by then, customers of North Carolina's largest insurer will find themselves 'out of network' for non-emergency visits at facilities operated by Western North Carolina's largest healthcare provider.
This would affect hundreds of thousands of people in the region, meaning they would either have to pay more for non-emergency visits, or switch insurers and/or doctors. There has been little movement between both sides since
Mission announced it's termination intention on July 5th
. Ever since, both sides have waged a protracted PR battle against one another. BCBSNC's vice president of network management Mark Werner sat down in studio with BPR's Matt Bush to discuss the latest. Read more here.
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Pardee Hospital comments on Mission/Blue Cross standoff
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Pardee UNC Health Care has been asked by many in our community to comment on or engage in the current impasse between Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC and Mission Health. We have chosen to remain neutral on this matter, believing that both parties are reasonable, respected entities who can and will eventually reach an agreement.
We value our relationships with both Blue Cross Blue Shield and Mission Health. We know them to be fair and sensible and we strongly believe it is important for both parties to sit down and work this out, allowing patients to stay with their physician or provider of choice.
No one wants to leave their doctor to find a new one and very few of us enjoy doing so as a result of a disagreement completely out of our control. At Pardee, we believe patients should have access to care, close to home. For those currently under the care of Mission Health, we understand their desire to keep their current relationships and avoid a move. Read full article
here.
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Bowtie Briefing for Sept. 29, 2017: Graham-Cassidy, CHIP funding and more
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Chip Baggett covers three important topics in this week's legislative update: the Graham-Cassidy bill and how it would have impacted our state; the CHIP funding issue; and recent developments at the NC General Assembly. View video
here.
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FROM THE AMA: Congress allows CHIP to expire
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The
Washington Post (10/1, Strauss) reports that "Congress just allowed the Children's Health Insurance Program, which provided low-cost health insurance to 9 million children, to expire." If Congress fails to act to restore the program, many children will be unable to get routine checkups, immunizations, prescriptions, doctor visits, dental and vision care, inpatient and outpatient care, laboratory and x-ray services, and emergency services. The Post adds that states still have some CHIP money remaining, but several states and DC are expected to run out of funds by the end of this year. Read full article
here.
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HHS Secretary Tom Price resigns
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| HHS Secretary Tom Price resigned Friday in the wake of news reports he spent more than $1 million of taxpayer money on travel this year, including several private flights for him and his staff. Since Politico broke the story this week, Price has apologized. He offered Thursday to repay the government for costs of his seats, but that amounts to only a fraction of the total. Before being named to the top spot at HHS, Price frequently criticized wasteful spending by the government. Dr. Don Wright, the deputy assistant secretary for health and director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, will become acting HHS secretary. Read full article here. |
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Healthy Healer-
The Amazing Way This Hospital Is Fighting Physician Burnout
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Hospitals have procedures and alerts in place to deal with practically anything that could possibly go wrong: "Code Red" for fire, "code blue" for medical emergencies, and "code white" for behavioral disturbances, to name a few. But the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio has introduced a new alert, "Code Lavender," for a more unlikely and much more common threat: stress and burnout.
Code Lavender - which has also been employed at
North Hawaii Community Hospital in Waimea - is a "holistic care rapid response" serving patients and physicians in need of intensive emotional or spiritual support, according to Amy Greene, director of spiritual care at Cleveland Clinic. Read more
here.
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Healthcare for All-WNC presents a lively, non-partisan, multi-faith discussion Healthcare for All A Moral Obligation ?
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Do our core beliefs move us toward Healthcare for All? Five speakers, representing a variety of spiritual paths, will explore whether we have a moral imperative to care for all. They will address how their different theologies and philosophies inform responses to our current healthcare crisis.
- Thursday, October 12, 2017 7:00 - 8:30 PM First Baptist Church of Asheville, 5 Oak Street Admission is free. Doors open at 6:30 PM.
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PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT CORNER
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| #PAWEEK October 6-12 |
| Each year from October 6-12, we celebrate National PA Week, which recognizes the PA profession and its contributions to the nation's health.
This week is also an opportunity to raise awareness and visibility of the profession.
Before it was a weeklong event, National PA Day was first celebrated on October 6, 1987, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the first graduating class of PAs from the Duke University PA program. October 6 is also the birthday of the profession's founder, Eugene A. Stead, Jr., MD. Now the profession is
50 years strong! Get social media posters and banners to help celebrate your PAs
here.
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WCMS Job Board
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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.
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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,
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| Miriam Schwarz |
Miriam Schwarz, MPA
WCMS CEO/Executive Director
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