ASAP: The election's impact on medicine; Plus, peer assistance petition, president's statement and more

ASAP e-newsletter: Nov. 4, 2020

Pro-physician candidates win Colorado election

The Bipartisan Colorado Medical Political Action Committee (COMPAC) endorsed 75 candidates for state legislature this election based on their pro-medicine stances. 73 won their races. You can see the complete results for Colorado’s state legislature here.

COMPAC is unique for our thorough candidate interview process, which educates candidates on the minutia of physician priorities and vets them on their health care stance. We extend a grateful thank you to all the physicians and friends of medicine who participated in the process and contributed to COMPAC and the SDC.

Read the complete article on how COMPAC-endorsed candidates performed at the polls here.

Don’t forget to renew your Colorado Medical Society membership for 2021!

In case you missed it: Sign the petition to protect access to confidential counseling for physicians

Later this month, the Colorado Medical Board will address the decision by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) to award the contract for physician peer-assistance mental health services in Colorado to a new vendor that will require physicians entering the program to sign a release of information form prior to undergoing evaluation. Unfortunately, some have stated that this loss of confidentiality is unimportant to physicians and that the average physician is not impacted by this erosion of privacy. Please consider adding your name to this petition to show the Colorado Medical Board and DORA that this issue is a critical patient safety concern, and will negatively impact the practice of medicine in Colorado.

The Colorado Medical Society invites you to a Virtual Grand Rounds event: Colorado's COVID-19 Vaccination Operational Plan. It will be held via Zoom on Wednesday, Nov. 11, starting at 6 p.m. Experts from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will speak about the draft plan recently submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and next steps for physicians. More details will be available soon. Register here.

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Colorado Medical Society president releases statement on ongoing attacks on physicians treating COVID patients

CMS President Sami Diab released the following statement on Nov. 4: "During these unprecedented times, Colorado Medical Society salutes the physicians of Colorado for their dedication and sacrifice. The ethical obligation to our patients is the guiding light for all physicians at all times. Colorado physicians have done heroic work not only in caring for their COVID patients under less-than-ideal circumstances, but also caring for all of patients to maintain their health during this pandemic. The Colorado Medical Society also unequivocally supports the statement from AMA President Susan Bailey, MD, on recent political comments attacking physicians treating COVID patients. The Colorado Medical Society calls on our leaders and communities to show their unwavering support and appreciation for physicians and all front-line health care workers."

ONC extends deadline for implementing info blocking rule

Following advocacy from the American Medical Association, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is extending compliance deadlines for certain information blocking and health IT certification requirements from Nov. 2, 2020 to April 5, 2021. To help physicians navigate the requirements, the AMA has created a two-part educational resource:

Part 1 outlines what information blocking is, key terms to know, examples of information blocking practices, and a summary of exceptions for when physicians may restrict access, exchange, and use of electronic health information.
Part 2 will help physicians start down the path of compliance, including questions to consider, considerations for maintaining a compliance program, and next steps. The AMA will continue to update these resources as the federal government releases new guidance.

AMA COVID-19 physician practice survey results

In July and August, the American Medical Association conducted a nationwide online survey of 3,500 physicians to better quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on physician practices. Read a summary report here. Key findings:

81 percent of physicians said that their income this summer was still lower than it was in February, before the pandemic began to escalate. The average revenue drop was 32 percent.
The use of telehealth expanded significantly with eased coverage restrictions, although this revenue stream did not completely offset the decline in in-office visits.
Spending on PPE is up, with physician-owned practices having the most difficult time acquiring these supplies.

PPE -- including Nitrile gloves! -- available through ActionPPE

Use CMS's discount code for 5% off total order

Order your next round of PPE through ActionPPE.org, which has partnered with the Colorado Medical Society to give physicians access to medical-grade PPE supplies. Available products are KN95 or disposable tri-fold masks, disposable gowns, face shields, nitrile gloves and hand sanitizer. Place your order through the CMS order form here -- actionppe.org/3/cms/ -- and share this link with your colleagues. Use discount code cms-save5 for 5 percent off all orders through the link above.

CDPHE survey: Provider awareness of the Diabetes Self Management Education and Support program

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment seeks responses to a survey regarding provider awareness of the Diabetes Self Management Education and Support program. The survey is intended for providers who do the primary treatment of their patients with diabetes. Take the survey here.

Upcoming events for physicians

Nov. 4 and 11: Virtual research poster sessions sponsored by the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention

Join the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention on Nov. 4 and 11 from 12 - 1 p.m. for a series of virtual research poster presentations. Hear from your colleagues around the state on innovative research topics related to COVID-19, opioid use disorder, harm reduction, addiction treatment, and chronic pain. Use this Zoom link to connect on the day and time of the event. No pre-registration is required.

Upcoming CMS committee meetings

As part of continued member engagement, all Colorado Medical Society committee meetings are open to all CMS members. Find the latest list of events on the CMS events webpage, cms.org/events. Upcoming meetings for November and December are also listed below with registration links and agendas, if available. If not yet available, use the "request the agenda" link to be notified by a CMS staff person when the agenda has been published.

CMS Board of Directors - Friday, Nov. 6, 1 - 5 p.m. Register here | View agenda
Committee on Health Care Value - Tuesday, Nov. 24, 6 - 7 p.m. Register here | Request agenda
Workers Compensation and Personal Injury Committee - Wednesday, Dec. 2, 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. Register here | Request agenda
Council on Legislation - Wednesday, Dec. 9, 6 - 7 p.m. Register here | Request agenda
Committee on Health Care Value - Tuesday, Dec. 22, 6 - 7 p.m. Register here | Request agenda

Registration is required; non-members or those unable to be identified at the time of the meeting will be removed from the meeting.