Advocacy Update

Ten bills on the WMS radar heard committee debate this week.

HB07 - Air ambulance membership organization Passed Senate Committee WMS -monitor HB38 - Community behavioral health-priority populations Re-referred to Senate Corporations WMS - monitor HB70 - Abortion - informed consent Passed House Health Committee 7-2 WMS - monitor HB82 - Implementation requirements for medical marijuana Passed Committee, Re-referred to House Appropriations WMS - monitor HB134 - Human heartbeat protection act Passed House Health Committee 7-2 WMS - monitor HB161 - Human life equality-prohibiting discriminatory abortions Passed House Health Committee 7-2 WMS - monitor HB162 - Medical treatment opportunity act Passed House Revenue Committee WMS - support HB253 - University of Wyoming ban on funding for abortions Passed House Health Committee 7-2 WMS - monitor SF30 - Pandemic response review task force Passed House Health Committee 9-0 WMS - monitor SF52 - Insurance-mental health and substance use parity Passed House Committee WMS - support

For a complete listing of all the bills the Wyoming Medical Society is tracking, click the link below.

View WMS Bill Tracker

WMS Members Making a Difference...

WMS members testified on several different bills this week. These members included: Dean Bartholomew, MD, Kathryn Noyes, MD, Rebecca Franklund, MD, Lindsay Capron, MD, Brent Blue, MD, Giovannina Anthony, MD. Thank you for sharing your expertise, education, and passion with members of the Wyoming Legislature.

WMS bills being debated/reviewed next week: MONDAY, March 22 Labor, Health & Social Services (Senate) - 8:00 a.m.  HB109 - Local health officers-education requirements Labor, Health & Social Services (House) - 8 a.m.  SF47 - Clinical laboratory regulation Appropriations (Senate) - Noon recess HB87P - Provider recruitment grant program If you would like to testify on any of these bills, please visit the LSO Calendar page, select the date, and then click TESTIFY on the right side of the page.

The Wyoming Medical Society (WMS) is calling for nominations for any eligible physicians interested in serving on the WMS Board of Trustees. TRUSTEES-AT-LARGE WMS members will nominate and elect representatives to serve one-year terms in the roles of at-large-trustees for county medical societies who do not currently have state board representation. Nominees are not required to reside in the county they represent as a trustee-at-large. OPEN-TRUSTEE Nominations are being accepted for WMS Open Trustee. This position must be filled by an active WMS physician member who is not currently serving in another capacity on the board. PROCESS The WMS Nominating Committee, chaired by Past President Lisa Finkelstein, DO, will identify current board trustees to serve as officers on the WMS Executive Committee during the 2021-2022 year. The full slate of both officers and nominated trustees-at-large will be submitted to the WMS membership no later than April 1, 2021. WMS Bylaws require that the board-eligible physicians hold active licenses to practice medicine in the state of Wyoming and have been active members in good standing with the Wyoming Medical Society for a minimum of two years. Please click on the link below to view the formal nomination form. Nominations must be submitted no later than Monday, March 22, 2021 in order for the nominating committee to have the slate prepared and distributed to the membership no later than April 1, 2021.

Nomination Form

Wyoming Leaders in Medicine

The WLM Class Takes the Capitol! The Wyoming Leaders in Medicine 20-21 class had quite the exciting day in Cheyenne! The class began the day by sitting in on various committee hearing meetings in the Capitol Extension. WMS Director Sheila Bush scheduled a roundtable discussion for the group with Governor Mark Gordon and his Healthcare Policy Advisor Jenn Davis, Public Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist, and Director of the Board of Medicine Kevin Bohnenblust. The WLM class listened to house and senate floor sessions. Later, everyone had lunch with the Labor, Health and Social Services Chairmen Representative Sue Wilson and Senator Fred Baldwin. Back at WMS Headquarters, WLM hosted a Zoom chat with Congresswoman Liz Cheney.

COVID-19 Immunization Data

Click image to view full sized PDF.

To view the latest COVID-19 vaccine information in WY visit the Wyoming Department of Health's Provider Information Page. Here you will find: Vaccine program provider enrollment Required training for COVID-19 vaccine coordinators COVID-19 vaccine resources and information COVID-19 vaccination program templates and forms CDC's V-Safe After Vaccination Health Checker Wyoming Immunization Registry (WyIR) Resources

Project Firstline

WMS has partnered with the Wyoming Chapter of the AAP to bring the CDC's Project Firstline to Wyoming.

Check out Project Firstline's Episode 5: How do viruses make you sick? (5 min)

A Message From TDC

The Doctors Company is surveying physicians about how they will make changes in the way they practice medicine after the pandemic, with responses due by March 24. Medical Economics will publish the results in their April issue, so the more physicians who answer this short survey, the better the information will be to inform healthcare providers and patients about what to expect in coming months. Therefore, we ask your help in immediately sending the following message to your members and/or posting this information on your website: -------------------------- As millions of Americans receive vaccines, the nation moves toward herd immunity, and the pandemic hopefully comes to an end soon, the practice of medicine will be forever changed. The Doctors Company is very interested to know if you will make changes to the way you practice medicine after the pandemic. They’d also like to hear your concerns about telehealth and about the risk of malpractice litigation related to the pandemic. Answers to the following anonymous five-question survey are requested by March 24:  https://survey.thedoctors.com/f/41556486/d7a0/ -------------------------- Survey results will help inform other healthcare providers and patients about what to expect in the coming months. Thank you for taking a few minutes to complete the survey and for delivering care during the past year under conditions previously unimaginable in the United States.

Thank you 2021 Friends of WMS!

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