Weekly Roundup: In Case You Missed It |
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COVID-19 By the Numbers (as of 8/21/20):
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Solano County: 5,006 confirmed cases, 44 deaths
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Napa County: 1,295 confirmed cases, 13 deaths
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California: 64,4751 confirmed cases, 11,686 deaths (as of 8/20/20)
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US: 5,551,793 cases; 173,490 deaths
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Physicians Affected by Fires |
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The Napa County Medical Society (NCMS) and Solano County Medical Society (SCMS) are gathering information regarding resources and support available to help these physicians. As a first step, we are requesting your assistance identifying physicians who have been impacted by the fires.
If you or a colleague has been affected by the fires, please provide their name and contact information via email (exec@ncms.com) or by calling (707) 255-3622. We also encourage members who wish to offer assistance, particularly housing or other items, to inform the medical society. We will endeavor to pair the needs of individual physicians with the assistance offered. SCMS/NCMS will make every effort to support our colleagues during this time of need.
Napa and Solano counties are experiencing multiple wildfires in the eastern portion of the county due to lightning strikes.There are mandatory and warning evacuation orders, and multiple road closures. This is a rapidly evolving and dynamic situation. For the most up-to-date information, please call the CALFIRE public information line at (707) 967-4207 or check out the Napa and Solano County Fire Department websites for maps and latest updates.
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Free Wellness Series and CME
SCMS/NCMS is pleased to present a 4-part virtual wellness series to help strengthen resilience in the COVID era.
This session focuses on self-care and understanding self-preservation. Most of us were taught that being self-centered is an undesirable trait. What if the opposite was true? Could being a little more self-centered improve your well-being and restore resiliency? In this presentation we will identify the importance of putting SELF first.
We will explore the correlation between improved well-being and practicing the 3S Model: Self-Compassion, Self-Awareness and Self Care.
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AB 890 Passes Another Senate Committee
AB 890, the Nurse Practitioner bill, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee by one vote. This bill will now be heard and voted on by the Senate. Please contact your Senator now to ensure patient safety is protected! As a reminder, AB 890, introduced by Assemblymember Jim Wood, DDS, grants full practice authority to nurse practitioners (NP). This bill would remove critical patient protections by allowing NPs to practice without physician supervision.
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Registration is Now Open for The Physician Leadership Program
SCMS/NCMS has partnered with Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association to offer The Physician Leadership Program at a discounted rate to Solano and Napa physicians! Earn up to 24 hours of CME credit through eight virtual sessions. Each virtual session provides an intense, experiential learning experience led by nationally recognized faculty using a dynamic interactive online format. The NEW format provides additional opportunities:
- Enjoy collaborating and networking with colleagues in breakout rooms
- Additional CME opportunities with supplemental materials in each session
- Interact during sessions with digital collaboration tools
- Apply new practices and share in discussion boards with your peers
- Attend online office hours with the Course Director for Q & A
Spots are limited! Register by September 15 for an early bird discount. Group discounts also available. .
Click here for registration. To view the full program brochure, click here.
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COVID-19 Testing & Guidelines
The FDA issued an alert regarding accuracy of widely-used coronavirus test, Thermo Fisher’s TaqPath genetic. Potential accuracy issues with a widely used coronavirus test could lead to false results for patients. The FDA provides a full list of recommendations, the link above, for laboratories using Thermo Fisher to mitigate inaccuracies.
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In Other News
Burning fires across California are pumping out smoke that can worsen coronavirus symptoms leading to increased ER visits for asthma and other respiratory issues. Dr. John Balmes, UCSF professor of medicine, said: "It's Important to remind people that the cloth face coverings, that people are wearing with regard to COVID-19 do not protect you – by in large, do not protect you – from wildfire smoke exposure." In addition, research indicates “the more children are exposed to pollution, the greater the risk they will develop their first case of asthma. The findings were published in the BMJ.
On Wednesday, August 19, 2020, the FDA issued a statement warning that ultraviolet lights may not be as effective at disinfecting surfaces as many people believe. The agency said in a new advisory, “The effectiveness of UVC lamps in inactivating the SARS-CoV-2 virus is unknown because there is limited published data about the wavelength, dose, and duration of UVC radiation required to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
On Thursday, August 20, 2020, the Washington Post reported a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics “found that some children have significantly higher levels of virus in their airways than the most severely ill adults – suggesting their role in community spread may be larger than previously believed.” The study’s findings suggest that children “may have been acting as silent spreaders” throughout the pandemic.
Lastly, Coronavirus cases in nursing homes have surged to an all-time high, driven by the spread of the virus in Sunbelt states, according to a new report by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living. Almost “four in five of coronavirus infections were at facilities in Sunbelt states, where total nursing home cases nearly tripled since mid-June, according to the report.”
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What We're Reading - COVID-19 Resources and Guidance |
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If you are interested in placing a classified ad in the weekly SCMS/NCMS newsletter, please email exec@ncms.com. Members are eligible to place a classified ad in up to 4 issues of the weekly newsletter for free.
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Job Posting – Physician Wanted
Harvest Pediatrics is seeking a full-time physician to join an experienced MD and two pediatric nurse practitioners. We are seeking a board-certified pediatrician experienced in general outpatient pediatrics to work four days/week and every 4th Saturday morning. A typical day consists of two, 3-hour shifts plus time for charting and correspondence and typically involves seeing 20 patients per day. Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. A generous benefits package includes medical and dental coverage, malpractice with tail coverage, a 401K with Safe Harbor match and generous vacation and sick leave allowances. We encourage those interested in a partnership to apply.
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FREE | CME Available | Tuesday, August 25 | 12:00 - 1:00 PM
This session focuses on self-care and understanding self-preservation. Most of us were taught that being self-centered is an undesirable trait. What if the opposite was true? Could being a little more self-centered improve your well-being and restore resiliency? In this presentation we will identify the importance of putting SELF first. We will explore the correlation between improved well-being and practicing the 3S Model: Self-Compassion, Self-Awareness and Self Care. Register Now.
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Saturday & Sunday November 7 & 8 | 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Presented by UCDavis Health: Center for Advancing Pain Relief
This two-day event will feature expert presentations, 20-minute hot topic talks, and engaging panel discussions on the latest issues in pain management. Primary care clinicians and all other health sciences professionals with an interest in pain management are encouraged to attend. This event will be held exclusively online. Zoom information will be provided closer to the date.
Registration coming soon!
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CME Available | Eight evening sessions | 6:00 - 8:00 PM
The Physician Leadership Program, a program of the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association, is an innovative program developed in 2016 by physician leaders in collaboration with faculty from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and Haas School of Business. It addresses the fact that physicians are, and should be, placed in roles with organizational responsibility, but have limited formal opportunities to learn the concepts, skills, and tools of leadership.
Each virtual session provides an intense, experiential learning experience led by nationally recognized faculty using a dynamic interactive online format. The NEW format provides additional opportunities:
- Enjoy collaborating and networking with colleagues in breakout rooms
- Additional CME opportunities with supplemental materials in each session
- Interact during sessions with digital collaboration tools
- Apply new practices and share in discussion boards with your peers
- Attend online office hours with the Course Director for Q & A
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On-Demand Library
FREE | Available On-Demand | CME Available
To cope with the stress of the present and the future, doctors will need new resilience in the face of suffering, expanded capabilities to pay attention in more complex environments, and greater emotional intelligence in their relationships to care for others while also caring for themselves. This presentation introduces physicians to a positive psychology framework for promoting resiliency, grit, and self-care to ultimately increase their effectiveness and satisfaction at work and at home. Physicians actively pursuing their own resilience may be better equipped to handle the many challenges presented throughout their medical career and less likely to experience burnout even in the COVID era.
FREE | Available On-Demand
On June 13, the SCMS, NCMS and the ACCMA hosted a Virtual Telehealth Vendor Fair. Telehealth vendors from across California and the Nation showcased their products and services so members can evaluate what solutions will work best in their practice. Vendors include Decoded Health, Doctorgram, TigerConnect, Updox, and VSee.
FREE | Available On-Demand | CME Available
This one-hour, on-demand webinar led by Linda Hawes Clever, MD, MACP, offers practical, creative, and effective remedies to deal with the crush on personal and professional lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. It contains strategies, resources, and suggestions for handling physician wellness, as well as addressing questions and answers, as we listen and see the ingenuity, guts, and devotion with which we are addressing the harrowing challenges we all face as a profession, community, and nation. Discover how to reduce personal stress and learn healthy ways to contend with the impact of COVID-19.
FREE | Available On-Demand | CME Available
Telehealth services are expanding rapidly during the COVID-19 crisis. In partnership with Bay Area medical associations, experts developed a comprehensive webinar series to help physicians swiftly ramp up their telemedicine capabilities, from technology to practice implementation to coding. Experts discuss choosing a telemedicine platform; compliance; privacy and security considerations; billing and payment; policies, procedures, and workflow; informing your patients; and malpractice. Physicians who have experience practicing telemedicine share their practical reflections.
FREE | Available On-Demand
Medical offices and practices are essential businesses and were not required to close, but many physicians have faced difficulties with staffing, incorporating Telemedicine into their practices, ensuring waiting rooms are safe, etc. Sessions include "Getting Back Up and Running Safely," "HR and Employment Issues," and "Telemedicine and Reimbursement."
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CMA On-Demand Library
FREE | Available On-Demand
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Please contact SCMS/NCMS at 707-255-3622 or exec@ncms.com with any questions or concerns you have.
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