Dear colleague,
Your board of directors completed our first meeting of 2020 and I am honored to report on today’s outcomes.
1.
Public Policy: The 2020 Colorado General Assembly is in session and it is going to be another active year! Health care, specifically the rising cost of care, continues to be one of the hottest issues at the legislature and your board heard about the latest developments on priority issues including the creation of a public option; an all-provider, all-payer initiative to decrease the total cost of care; driving down pharmaceutical costs; and rumored attempts by lawyers that sue physicians to make it easier to sue providers. The board also heard a presentation by the Colorado Business Group on Health about their efforts to create a statewide purchasing cooperative where businesses would directly contract with providers.
The board has been strategically positioning CMS over the past three years to be the voice of patients as physicians who are best suited to be the trusted resource in addressing public concerns about cost via a focus on value, quality, access and support of physicians directing health care decisions. This approach includes active engagement with other organizations to provide our voice in discussions regarding cost and quality. We have found that active engagement allows physicians to better understand proposals being made and provide our input into the process. While we may not always be in full agreement when we choose to engage, it is better to be included in the discussions, have an ability to influence the outcome and, if needed, speak in opposition to issues, than have decisions made without the voice of your Colorado Medical Society.
Because of the projected ongoing nature of the multitude of proposals and challenges, today the board voted to permanently create a CMS subcommittee to serve as an expert body advising your Council on Legislation and board as we continue our engagement and leadership in discussions regarding health care value. We always need thoughtful physicians to help guide our work. If you are interested in sharing your expertise, then please reply to this email. I’d love to hear from you.
2.
Your board of directors reviewed an ambitious multi-year plan for CMS to rekindle and reinforce a physician’s role as an advocate for their patients and to be viewed in society as the trusted resource regarding health care decisions, quality and delivery while striving to improving the practice of medicine for Colorado physicians. The program will begin this month with a multi-modal approach to information gathering. This will include a member survey that will help identify the challenges and opportunities facing physicians, the issues you wish your medical society to champion and the practice of medicine in Colorado. Then CMS will begin a comprehensive listening campaign to ensure the engagement and input of all stakeholder groups of physicians that span the different roles and practice models of physicians in Colorado. This data will help to inform a multi-year strategy to guide CMS and member physicians to advocate and promote an improved recognition of the role physicians play and the improvement of all Colorado physicians’ practice of medicine. Watch for the survey and check out the
president’s letter in the latest issue of Colorado Medicine
to learn more.
3.
Minutes-Consent Calendar-Appointments:
Click here
to read the minutes of the November meeting and the consent calendar
Your thoughts and feedback on these outcomes from today’s meeting are very important to me, as well any input you have on issues that are important to you that I should know as your president. Simply reply to this email to provide me with your thoughts.
