-
In this Issue:
- Governor's Corner
- ACP National Annual Meeting
- Health and Public Policy Update
- Chapter Awards
Alwinn Steinmann, MD, FACP, ACP Governor
Governor's Corner
Wow! Hard for me to believe that this in my final newsletter to our membership as the Colorado ACP Governor! I started my term (a little early) at our 2020 annual chapter meeting just a few weeks before COVID touched our shores and our state. I applaud the amazing work that our members did during the pandemic and hope that you found the ACP a helpful resource during those uncertain times. Due to the fortuitous timing of our annual meeting, we did not have to cancel any of those meetings and only had one that was completely virtual. Many thanks to our Meeting Planning Committee, Executive Director, media support, and the people involved in our resident and fellow activities for helping us minimize the impact of COVID on our educational sessions! One beneficial "side effect" of dealing with the pandemic is that we have been utilizing a hybrid format for our chapter meetings, allowing folks to attend virtually. While our overall attendance is still a bit below our pre-pandemic numbers, we have been making slow but steady gains each year. I am happy that as my term sunsets, we have regained much of the normalcy that we lost during those crazy years.
In addition to the folks mentioned above, I am grateful to our Committee Chairs and members for their work in holding our Chapter together over the past four years. We are only as good as our members perceive us to be. Therefore, we must strive to meet our members' needs.
I hope you all join me in welcoming Dr. Gail Mizner as our new Governor and will work with her to keep our chapter moving and improving.
Thank you all for affording me the privilege of serving as your Colorado Chapter Governor for the past four years!
ACP National Annual Meeting
The annual ACP meeting will be held April 18-20 in Boston, MA. For our members who will be attending, our Chapter will co-host a reception with the New Mexico and Mexico Chapters on Friday evening 5:30 – 7:30 on Friday, April 19 in the Marina I Ballroom in the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel. If you would like to attend, please email your name and the name of your guest to: cochapteracp@msn.com. Hope we will see some of you there!
Health and Public Policy Update
It has been a very busy legislative session! Dr. Dave Downs has been serving as our ACP representative to the Colorado Medical Society's (CMS) Council on Legislation, and our HPPC Committee has been meeting regularly to discuss our position on various bills. There are too many to list in this newsletter, but here are a few of particular note:
Prior authorization – a bill supported by CMS and CO ACP aimed at reducing prior authorization burdens (HB24-1149) has cleared the House and seems to be headed for approval in the Senate and is expected to be signed by the Governor. This will be a significant win for organized medicine!
Physician CME – A bill seeking to establish CME requirements for physicians (HB24-1153) has been significantly modified after input from CMS and a grassroots outreach to legislators. Total required CME hours in the bill was reduced from 40 to 30 per two year cycle and a requirement around training in women's health was dropped. Most importantly, there was a change that will allow maintenance of board certification activities to satisfy state maintenance of licensure requirements.
Liability – Two proposed ballot initiatives from the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association are advancing through the legal process and your urgent support is needed to stop them. Initiative #149 aims to remove peer review protections, which would significantly decrease quality of care and medical protections. Initiative #150 aims to eliminate caps on non-economic damages, skyrocketing our state's liability and medical malpractice insurance costs. If enough signatures are gathered, these will be on the November ballot. The Colorado Medical Society, Colorado Hospital Association, COPIC and other partners who comprise Coloradans Protecting Patient Access are working to stop these ballot initiatives, including through two counter ballot measures and proposed bills in the legislature, but we need your help.
Get informed and become an advocate: Invite a CMS representative to present to your practice, group or hospital. Email kate_alfano@cms.org to schedule.
Spread the word to your family, friends and community groups: Initiatives #149 and #150 are bad for Colorado patients, physicians, families and businesses. Read this fact sheet for 5 reasons to oppose the CTLA-supported ballot measures.
Go to CMS.org for more information on this effort to protect medical liability caps and professional review.
Chapter Awards
At our annual Chapter Meeting in February at the Broadmoor, we celebrated the recipients of our Chapter awards. Here is a list of the awardees:
Volunteerism & Community Service Award—Dr. Ted Palen
Early Career Physician Award—Dr. Juan Lessing and Dr. Mugabe Walker
Joel S. Levine Distinguished Healthcare Advocate Award—Dr. Rebecca (Becky) Hanratty
Robert B. Gibbons Distinguished Medical Educator Award—Dr. Chad Stickrath
Colorado Chapter Laureate Award—Dr. Richard (Rick) Miranda
Additionally, Dr, Erik Wallace was recognized for being awarded Mastership in the College and Christine Westbrook, our Executive Director was recognized for her work in helping our Chapter achieve a gold level Chapter Excellence Award.
Please join us in congratulating all our awardees!!!