Pueblo County Medical Society News
October 2016 - Volume 16, No. 10
Executive Director’s Message – Cheryl Law, MA, MNM
Happy fall! The days are getting cooler and the leaves are changing color. It's a beautiful time to be in Colorado! It's hard to believe that only a month remains until Thanksgiving. It's even harder to believe that our PCMS Annual Meeting is the week before that, Nov. 17! We are busy planning an engaging and fun meeting. See more information and registration information below, and join us in reinvigorating our society and coming together!  
Join us for our 2016 PCMS Annual Meeting
Larry Wolk, MD, MSPH
The 2016 Pueblo County Medical Society Annual Meeting will be held Thursday, Nov. 17, 5:30 - 9 p.m. at the Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center in Pueblo. It will include cocktails, dinner and an engaging guest speaker. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to bring a guest and meet your colleagues for free cocktails, dinner and camaraderie while earning CME and enjoying an outstanding presentation on recreational marijuana and public health by Larry Wolk, M.D., MSPH, Chief Medical Officer, Colorado Department of Public Health andEnvironment, pictured right.

WHERE: Sangre De Cristo Conference Center, 210 North Santa Fe Avenue, Pueblo, Colorado 81004

WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, beginning at 5:30 pm

RSVP by email to pueblocountymedsoc@gmail.com. The first 50 members who RSVP will be entered into a drawing for a free iPad, compliments of the Colorado Medical Society!

CME: Attendees can earn up to 1 AMA PRA Category 1 credit. View the event flyer for the complete accreditation statement. 

Please come participate in your local medical society's annual meeting as we hope to increase involvement. Space is limited.
Final MACRA rule issued
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a final rule implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). Initial analysis by the American Medical Association shows that the federal CMS responded to many of the concerns expressed by physicians about the proposed rule issued last spring. For example:
  • Details are provided about the 2017 transition period announced in September. The only physicians who will experience payment penalties in 2019 are those who choose to report no performance data next year, and those who report for at least 90 days will be eligible for positive payment adjustments.
  • The low-volume threshold that exempts physicians from all performance reporting has been increased from $10,000 in annual Medicare revenue and less than 100 Medicare patients to $30,000 in revenue or 100 patients. CMS estimates that this change will exempt 32.5 percent of physicians and other clinicians from the program.
  • Performance reporting requirements have been further reduced, and the resource use component of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) has been reweighted to zero for 2017.
Summaries, fact sheets and other  resources  are available on the agency's website. In the coming days, the AMA will make additional resources available on its  MACRA web page , which can be accessed at  www.ama-assn.org/go/medicarepayment .
Physician Compare preview period now open
The Physician Compare 30-day preview period began on Oct. 12 and will end on Nov. 11. The preview period provides clinicians and group practice representatives an opportunity to preview their 2015 performance scores as they will appear on Physician Compare in late 2016.

To learn more about the preview period and which measures are targeted for public reporting later this year, select one of the following:
There are two final Physician Compare public reporting information sessions on Oct. 18 and 20. These webinars will present information about Physician Compare, public reporting, and how to preview your performance scores. Click here  to register. 

If you have any questions about public reporting or the preview period, please contact  PhysicianCompare@Westat.com .
Free SBIRT webinar on opioids and the workplace
A free webinar, "Under the Influence and on the Clock: Opioid Misuse and the Impact on the Workplace," will be offered on Thursday, Nov. 10, 1-2:30 p.m. MT.  Click here to register.  Those who can't participate live can access a recording afterward if registered.

The webinar will explore the impact of opioid use on the workplace. It might be the 19-year-old grocery clerk, the mom who works part-time as a substitute teacher, or the physician's assistant at the local urgent care clinic; opioid abuse reaches beyond stereotypes of "addicts and drug seekers." The United States is confronting the deadliest drug crisis on record. Opioid prescription medications are both a health and safety issue in the workplace. Opioid medications are potent, highly addictive drugs that have the potential to cause impairment, increase the risk of workplace incidents, injuries and death, even when taken as prescribed.

Click here  for more information.
Free access to PainNet system for Colorado primary care providers
The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing has worked with the vendor of the Project ECHO Pain Management program, Community Health Center, to expand access to the program website known as PainNet. Current ECHO Pain participants have access to the website, which is an online learning community that aims to improve pain care expertise amongst primary care providers. The website is now available to other Health First Colorado' (Colorado's Medicaid Program) primary care medical providers (PCMP) for free as well.

The PainNet learning community enables PCMPs to develop expertise to treat patients with complex chronic pain through a combination of archived Project ECHO Pain case presentations, resource libraries, community forums and expert consultations. Providers and specialists are able to communicate through discussion boards, chat rooms and direct messaging.

This is a great chance for any provider who was unable to sign up for Project ECHO to access resources that can increase their knowledge on how to manage chronic pain more effectively.  Click here for a flyer on PainNet.  For any providers who would like to sign up for access please contact Agi Erickson at  ericksa@chc1.com . Other questions can be directed to  jd.belshe@state.co.us .
Board Officers: President: Henrique Fernandez, MD; Secretary: Ross Patrick, MD; Treasurer: Lev Asherov, MD; Past-President: Alfredo Vargas, MD;  CMS Director: Christine Nevin-Woods, DO |  Directors: Teresa Braden, DO; Thomas Greidanus, MD; Rickland Likes, MD; Donald Luebke, MD; Robert Manguso, MD;  Julie Newburg, MD; James Roukema, MD; Vaishali Saini, MD; Robert Tonsing, MD; Atul Vahil, MD; James Valenzuela, MD |  Executive Director: Cheryl Law, MA, MNM
This newsletter is intended for the members and interested persons of the Pueblo County Medical Society.  If you have received this and wish to opt-out call 719-281-6073 or use the “unsubscribe” link below.