The Colorado Legislature is back in session after a month-long recess and is scheduled to run until June 12. It is set to be a busy few months; 100 bills were introduced in the first day following recess! I encourage all physicians to be engaged in advocacy for medicine as your time and interest allows.

Building relationships with legislators is invaluable to making our voices heard and the interests of our patients served. Thankfully we have great representation in the senate through our own hometown hero, Senate President Leroy Garcia. In our conversations with the senator, he has been very supportive and interested in our fight to protect confidential counseling services. He signed onto a Senate leadership letter on peer assistance spearheaded by Sen. Rhonda Fields over the summer. Though veteran and transportation issues are his biggest focuses this session, he is a prime sponsor of the Health Care Reserve Corp bill, which the Colorado Medical Society Council on Legislation (COL) supports.

Thank you to Terry Lakin, DO, MPH, PCMS's representative on CMS COL, for his service on this important group. View all the bills Dr. Lakin and COL are tracking on behalf of Colorado physicians on the CMS Bill Tracker. You can direct comments or questions about legislative issues directly to Dr. Lakin or PCMS CEO Cheryl Law.

Finally, I encourage you to participate in legislative discussions at the local level by attending the Greater Pueblo Chamber's Legislative Breakfast Series. There are two events, March 20 and April 17, 8-9:30 a.m. at the Pueblo Convention Center. Cost is $25 for chamber members and $30 for non-members. After March 17, cost increases by $5. RSVP is required to ensure adherence to COVID-19 gathering restrictions. RSVP to jill@pueblochamber.net.

Thanks -- as always -- for everything you do for our community.

PCMS is beginning the production of its 2021 ONLINE Medical Directory. Please email directory@pueblocms.org with all updates no later than noon, Friday, July 30, 2021. A suggestion for submitting edits would be to make a copy of your 2020 listing and send us a copy with your updates. We also request color photos. Accuracy is important to us. The Directory is the only comprehensive listing of Pueblo providers and available as an online resource, it could be accessed by more physicians and patients than ever before.

PCMS is planning the 5th Annual Symposium in October 2021. The purpose will be to educate and connect primary care providers with specialists to discuss the latest procedures offered to treat patients. A post-Covid discussion will also be included. The venue will be in-person depending on the pandemic. There will be no cost to attend. More details are coming soon. If you’re interested in participating as a volunteer speaker or have a recommendation for content, contact cheryl.law@pueblocms.org.

Do you do SDOH screenings in your practice? Darena Herschler, BS, health promotion specialist for the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment, wants to connect to and learn more about how different providers are implementing this, which tool they use, how they make referrals, etc. so she has a better understanding of how the process works. Email her at herschlerd@pueblocounty.us.

In the interest of time and to save you from another email, we will be posting regular updates from our local health department about the vaccine on the PCMS website. Please check out www.pueblocms.org/updates-2020.html to access the information.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) recently launched a new, statewide campaign in English and Spanish asking Coloradans to get the facts on the COVID vaccine, so they are ready when it is their turn. This is a statewide effort, with additional focus on Colorado’s communities that have been most impacted by this pandemic, including those age 70 and over, and Black and Hispanic/Latinx Coloradans.

Use this toolkit as you have important conversations about the COVID-19 vaccine with your community. For information about COVID-19 vaccines:

COCovidVaccine.org (English) and VacunaCovidCO.org (Spanish).

The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing has increased the COVID-19 vaccination reimbursement rate to reflect extra costs providers might incur in efforts to vaccinate Health First Colorado (Colorado's Medicaid program) or Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) members. All claims going back to Nov. 20, 2020, will be processed at the new rate of $19.27 for the first dose and $28.39 for the second dose – a 24 percent increase over the standard vaccine administration rates. These updated rates can be found on the department's Provider Rates and Fees website under the “Immunization Rate Schedule” section. To offer the vaccine to your patients, you’ll first need to enroll in the State’s vaccine program.

The state requests your help ensuring all your Health First Colorado patients get vaccinated. Please let them know when you have the vaccine available for them or where they can get it if you don’t offer it. Please let your patients know that the cost is entirely covered; they won’t be charged co-pays or for the office visit. Kindly reassure them that it’s safe to come to your office and that there is transportation available if they need it.

The Smoke Free Protections Group (SFPG) coalition, which includes PCMS, is looking for medical providers to submit cautionary, educational content that we can push out to the public. We also need medical providers to participate in "gold standard” videos of less than 1 minute on the medical reasons we need to keep Pueblo smoke free. PCMS will create the videos during FaceTime calls and set them up similar to a Q&A interview. The videos will be pushed out to the public over social media sites -- it’s sometimes easier to watch someone speak than read it; and it’s also more eye-catching! Click here for more information.

The SFPG was formed to educate policymakers and our local community on HB19-1230 (marijuana hospitality rooms) and the HB19-1234 (marijuana delivery) legislations.

The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing recently released its Telemedicine Evaluation Report. This report summarizes the research and work completed by the Department from June 2020 through December 2020. The Department is continuing its evaluation and planning for post-pandemic policies and will continue to engage stakeholders in those discussions. Please check the telemedicine stakeholder page for upcoming events and discussions.

As a condition of renewing, reactivating, or reinstating a license on or after Oct. 1, 2019, Colorado physicians who prescribe opioids are required to complete at least two cumulative hours per renewal period (by April 30 of odd years) of training to demonstrate competency in preventing substance abuse and/or to demonstrate competency in treating patients with substance use disorders.

Training options include relevant continuing education courses, self-study of relevant scholarly articles or relevant policies/guidelines, peer review proceedings that involve opioid prescribing, relevant volunteer service, attendance at a relevant conference, teaching a relevant class/course, and participation in a relevant presentation.

There are free, online education modules available here and here.

Mental Health America Pueblo is seeking nominations for a new award to be presented at their annual Robert Hawkins Tribute Dinner. In addition to honoring the 2020 Robert Hawkins award winners -- Dr. Robert Tonsing, Teah Miller, and Dominque Mundt -- MHAP will honor a Behavioral Health Pandemic Hero.

Nominate an individual who has demonstrated courage or extraordinary services to address the challenges of the pandemic, whether counseling, providing medication, peer support, tele-behavioral health, IT support, medical care, custodial care, or any other service that has reached beyond the boundaries of traditional care or position responsibilities. Please see the nomination form for more information. Deadline: Friday, April 30. The Robert Hawkins Tribute and Awards Ceremony will be held Friday, Sept. 24 at Pueblo Community College.

The Southeastern Colorado Area Health Education Center asks members of the health care community to nominate nurses for the 2021-22 Regional Nightingale Nurse Recognition for the southeastern region. Take this opportunity to recognize a nurse deserving of this honor. Southeastern Colorado AHEC, only, is also accepting LPN nominations to be recognized at a regional level in the Pueblo event. The deadline to submit your nomination is June 1. Click here for the nomination forms.

The Northern Colorado Medical Society, with the Colorado Medical Society, presents the first program in a Virtual Education Series: "THC and Vaping," on March 18 at 12 p.m. Register today to participate in a dynamic discussion on THC and Vaping with speaker Doris Gundersen, MD, Medical Director of the Colorado Physician Health Program. She will discuss marijuana legislation, the social trends and medical impacts of vaping among youth. 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ available. Full accreditation information available on the registration page. Register here.

The next COVID-19 Provider Roundtable will be held March 24. Zoom Meeting URL or join by phone: 888-475-4499; Meeting ID: 926 5730 8097; Passcode: 457184. 1 CME Credit available to providers who attend this presentation. *Evaluation must be returned to receive CME credit* Return to: Sandra Proud - fax 584-4038 or email: sandra_proud@parkviewmc.com.

Additional resources:

Parkview Medical Center is accredited by the Colorado Medical Society to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Parkview Medical Center designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s) ™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Register for a webinar on Friday, March 19, with Kevin Sabet, PhD, who will preview his newest book, "Smokescreen: What the Marijuana Industry Doesn't Want You to Know," that outlines how today's new and highly potent marijuana is on the rise despite warnings from public health experts. Sabet will examine the inside story of the marijuana industry and what regulatory agencies have and haven't been able to do to ensure safety over profits.

Do you know what 420 Day is? The National Marijuana Initiative is symbolically holding an Anti-420 Day on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. This conference is for parents, teachers, coalitions, law enforcement, counselors, and all adults with young people in their lives who need to understand the latest scientific data on the harms of marijuana on youth. Your donation is your registration! You'll learn from nine marijuana experts, all of whom are part of the National Marijuana Initiative (NMI). These instructors will present a full day of continuous youth marijuana prevention education to bring you up to speed on recent research on the dangers of today's high-THC marijuana on adolescent brain development, mental illness, and suicide, to name a few topics. Learn more and register here.

The Colorado Medical Society continues a partnership with ActionPPE.org to give Colorado physicians access to medical-grade PPE supplies. For a limited time and by special order only, ActionPPE has access to Honeywell H910 Plus N95 Respirators at below-market prices. Order now for immediate delivery. Free shipping on orders $500+. Minimum order: $250. Visit the CMS order page here. Use discount code cms-save5 for 5 percent off all orders.

MISSION: Facilitating meaningful collaboration of medical professionals in Pueblo County through social networking, education, and advocacy! 

VISION: To create a medical society that serves as a venue for collaboration for the betterment of healthcare in Pueblo County, and improve the practice of medicine and life of medical professionals, locally.

Board Officers: President: Marcel Junqueira, MD; President-Elect: open position; Secretary: Kathleen Brown, MD; Treasurer: Robert Tonsing, MD; Past-President: Tom Greidanus, MD | Directors: CMS Representative Brittany Carver, DO; Teresa Braden, DO; Jacob Mathew Jr., DO; Ross Patrick, MD; Brad Roberts, MD; Cheryl Walker, DO; and Kevin Weber, MD | Chief Executive Officer: Cheryl Law, MA, MNM

Visit our website at www.pueblocms.org