Sponsor Message:
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Last Chance to Register for WCMS' Healthy Healer Retreat: Medicine & Family: New Challenges; New Solutions
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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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| Message From WCMS Foundation Board Chair, Dr. Britt Peterson |
Most physicians and physician assistants (PAs) are aware of the increasing trend of burnout that faces our profession. The challenge remains how to best address this crisis that threatens not only our enjoyment of medicine but its effects on the patient experience and the overall vitality of our health care system. As we know in teaching our patients about managing their health, there is often a desire for a magic pill/solution that will make the problem go away. For example, I often catch myself thinking, "If only I had a scribe to deal with the Electronic Medical Record, how much better my life would be!" However, if I am to think more rationally, there really has to be a broader, multimodal strategy to address burnout.
In regards to burnout prevention strategies that are accessible right now, I am pleased to announce, as Chairman of our WCMS Foundation Board, that the
Western Carolina Medical Society Foundation's (WCMS) Healthy Healer Program was awarded a two year grant of $127,938 by the Physicians Foundation to develop a replicable program to address the growing trend of physician and PA burnout. This program is one component of what will need to be a larger, cooperative strategy with commitments from health care systems, third party payers, and policy makers to address this problem. However, I believe even on its own, The Healthy Healer Program will be an incredibly helpful, robust, and accessible tool to our members for addressing burnout when it arises. Read More
Here.
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Information Regarding Mission Health and BCBSNC Sent on Behalf of Dr. Hathaway
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Dear Colleagues:
We trust you are aware that Mission Health is now out of network with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. We also anticipate that you have had or will receive questions from your BCBS patients regarding the implications of this for them. This email is intended to clarify the impact of this situation.
Top Eight Things You Need to Know re: Out of Network Status for BCBS Patients and Mission Health System: Read Email
Here.
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MAHEC Partners with Helpmate To Reduce Domestic Violence
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WNC Family Health Clinics Implement Intimate Partner Violence Screening and Response Training
October 23, 2017 - This month, Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) providers are helping patients identify goals that support their overall health by asking questions about family planning, physical activity, nutrition and risk factors including intimate partner violence (IPV).
According to recently published data from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, more than one in three women have experienced violence by an intimate partner at some point in her life. Despite IPV's prevalence, medical providers have not typically screened for it until now.
"We know that survivors are 4 times more likely to seek help after talking with a healthcare professional about abuse," shares Jeff Heck, MD, MAHEC president and CEO. "And research shows they are 2.6 times more likely to leave an abusive relationship. These important conversations with a provider can literally save a life."
Read more
here
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Healthy Healer - Simple Tool Shows Lasting Reduction in Burnout
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Rabiya S. Tuma, PhD
October 23, 2017
Physicians and other healthcare workers who use a simple tool for 2 weeks show reduced burnout within a few days of starting the intervention and retain most of the benefit a year later, researchers reported here at the American Conference on Physician Health.
The intervention, called Three Good Things, revolves around strengthening a person's ability to perceive and savor positive emotions, said J. Bryan Sexton, PhD, director of the Duke University Health System Patient Safety Center at Duke Medicine in Durham, North Carolina.
The standard measure of burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, includes three pillars: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished sense of personal efficacy. Yet when researchers look at what interventions appear effective in reducing burnout, they all seem to have something in common, Dr Sexton said: They all seem to improve a person's ability to perceive positive emotions.
Read more
here
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| Donations Being Accepted for Local Physician and WCMS Interpreters Families In Puerto Rico |
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The families of a WCMS physician and two WIN interpreters are affected by the ongoing crisis in Puerto Rico. WCMS is helping the physician and interpreters through gather things like D batteries, non-perishable food, baby diapers and wipes, etc. to send to their families. If you would like to help these families gather supplies to send to their families in Puerto Rico Bring, drop supplies by the WCMS office anytime at 304 Summit St. Monday - Friday between 8:00 - 5:00 before November 22.
Thanks so much for anything you can do!
Click here to see a list of what their families need.
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Health Innovations in Our Community- Blue Mountain Surgery Innovative Practice Interview
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Blue Mountain Surgery, a division of 21st Century Oncology and Radiation Therapy Associates of Western North Carolina is a small surgical clinic in Asheville performing general surgical and advanced laparoscopic procedures. Dr. Claudine Siegert, Blue Mountain Surgery's solo physician, is a long-standing WCMS member. WCMS interviewed Dr. Siegert and practice manager Lindsay McCraw recently about the efficiencies of a small, independent surgical practice and how it helps foster a better physician-patient relationship. Read full interview
here.
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PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT CORNER
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PAs are Key to Ortho Urgent Care Model
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Every weekend, countless high school athletes and weekend warriors twist a knee or ankle and go to an urgent care center or emergency department to have the injury checked out. In many cases, the facility will take an X-ray, splint the joint and tell the patient to make an appointment with an orthopedist as soon as possible, which may be days or even weeks later.
But in some parts of the country there is a better option: an orthopedic urgent care clinic, staffed by experienced PAs. Unlike traditional urgent care centers, these urgent orthopedic access clinics are set up specifically to deal with orthopedic problems- the PAs typically have years of surgical as well as clinical diagnosis and treatment experience in orthopedics. The clinic has the specialized equipment needed to handle almost all problems on the spot. For those requiring surgery, the clinics can use their direct access to the affiliated anchor practice to get patients in to see an orthopedist much sooner. And they cater to weekday patients as well as weekend warriors, of course. Read more
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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