Dear ACP Indiana Friends and Colleagues:
It has been another eventful summer season for our chapter, with advocacy efforts in support of CMS/Medicare complexity code G2211 legislation as well as support for rescinding Indiana State Medical Licensing Board sanctions against OB-Gyn physician and IU faculty member Dr. Caitlin Bernard—which also garnered the attention and welcome support from ACP National and our ACP President, Dr. Omar Atiq. We also had a very successful outreach effort to our Evansville-area chapter members—more on that later in this newsletter. The Fall season brings the promise and return of our annual Chapter Scientific Meeting and related activities which are also highlighted below. We want to close this opening paragraph by emphasizing the value of ACP membership to those of you whose membership/dues may have temporarily lapsed. ACP brings incredible educational resources to members, in addition to financial resources or students, house staff, and physicians in practice. Our advocacy as a chapter and national professional organization continues to influence legislation and legislators locally and nationwide. ACP's DEI and justice efforts and policies are at the forefront of addressing long-neglected disparities in healthcare for many of our patients as well as our own professional colleagues—so please, take this moment to renew your membership in ACP you will be glad you did!
As noted above, we are in the final stretch of planning and preparing for our upcoming annual Chapter Scientific Meeting, along with the preceding Poster Session, Doctor's Dilemma competition, and POCUS training sessions to be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Carmel on November 2nd and 3rd –and there's still time to register. It's all available at minimal cost to membership and free to students and house staff. A special and sincere shout-out to Areeba Kara, MD, MS, FACP, SFHM who has spearheaded the Program Committee's efforts to provide superb and relevant content for our attendees, with valuable input and assistance from Governor-Elect and Program Committee Co-Chair Dee Moonesinghe, MD, FACP. In Dr. Kara's own words:
“We all want to care for all our patients to the very best of our abilities. We do this in a myriad of ways: through honing our clinical skills, through teaching others, through leading, or through scholarship and advocacy. New knowledge emerges daily to help us but can be hard to keep up with! Please join us (either virtually or in person) for our annual Chapter meeting on November 2nd and 3rd for an opportunity to come together to learn! The content is focused on high-yield updates on topics we encounter in our daily care of patients in the clinic and in the hospital. The meeting is also an opportunity to connect or reconnect with colleagues across the State who share a passion for excellence in care and a commitment to lifelong learning. We hope to see you there!”
-Areeba Kara MD, MS, FACP, SFHM
Our chapter outreach event on September 8th to our Evansville-area colleagues was a tremendous success and truly a good time was had by all. Similar to our March visit to Fort Wayne, ACP Indiana Governor's Council members Scott Yen, MD, FACP, Matt Neal, MD, MACP, and our GE Dee Moonesinghe, MD, FACP joined me to spend a memorable evening with IU Southwest medical students, residents, faculty and local physician attendees enjoying good food, drink, and lively discussion, with a few closing comments highlighting the incredible value and long-term benefits of ACP membership. Dr. Adrian Singson, Southwest Indiana IM Residency Program Director and Co-host for this event, described our shared experience thusly:
“On behalf of the IU Southwest Internal Medicine Residency Program, I wanted to thank you and the rest of the American College of Physicians Indiana Chapter for arranging such a fabulous event in Evansville.
It was clear that the IU Southwest residents were engaged and took to heart the value of the ACP, the additional resources their ACP membership provides, and the opportunity to network with physician leaders across the state.
Finally, I personally appreciate having three generations of ACP Indiana governors showing such immeasurable initiative in making the ACP more visible to the early-career physician.
Here's to doing this again next year!”
Sincerely,
Adrian Singson, MD, FACP
A shout-out to our Chapter and Executive Director Colleen Keeku as we recently learned that we earned “Gold Chapter Status” for achieving excellence in chapter management. Colleen is the common denominator in all of our success, and we sincerely appreciate all of her hard work and behind-the-scenes efforts on behalf of our chapter Governor's Council and membership.
Lastly, we appreciate your thoughtful feedback regarding the upcoming Fall 2023 Board of Governors (BOG) resolutions to be addressed at the upcoming BOG meeting in early October in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Sutter and Dr. Moonesinghe shared your feedback with fellow Governors already and Dr. Moonesinghe will vote in Orlando on your behalf according to the input.
As 2023 winds down, we appreciate your ongoing engagement and support in the life of our growing, vibrant chapter. Our sincere thanks and admiration go to each of you for your selfless devotion and dedication to patients, medical education, the profession, and your colleagues.
-ACP Indiana Chapter
New ACP Paper Addresses Ethical Issues in Physician Fundraising from ‘Grateful Patients'
A new paper published in Annals of Internal Medicine, “ Ethical Guidance for Physicians and Health Care Institutions on Grateful Patient Fundraising: A Position Paper From the American College of Physicians,” reviews the concerns surrounding the act of “grateful patient” fundraising.
The paper, developed by ACP's Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee, believes physicians should not engage in, or be asked to participate in fundraising or financial solicitation of their patients.
We Need Your Help to Urge Congress to Support Implementation of New Medicare Complexity Code, G2211
ACP is calling on internal medicine physicians to urge Congress to support the implementation of a new Medicare add-on code to support continuity and coordination of care.
Background: On July 13, 2023, CMS released the Calendar Year (CY) 2024 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) proposed rule which includes implementation of the G2211 code on January 1, 2024. The code was originally slated for implementation on January 1, 2022, but was delayed by Congress until January 1, 2024.
G2211 is a Medicare-specific add-on code designed to address the complexity inherent in office and outpatient evaluation and management (E/M) services. Recognizing that some office outpatient E/M visits are more complex and comprehensive than other E/M visits, CMS created this code to better describe or reflect the resources and additional costs associated with furnishing comprehensive, longitudinal primary care, such as the time, intensity, and practice expense involved in providing comprehensive, patient-centered care that integrates the prevention and treatment of illness or injury, management of acute and chronic health conditions, patient education, shared decision-making, and coordination of specialty care.
Implementation of G2211 will allow physicians to account for services like chronic disease management tracking, review of consultative or diagnostic reports, medication monitoring, safety outside of patient visits, and physician input at assisted living or nursing homes.
Please contact Shuan Tomlinson at stomlinson@acponline.org with any questions about this campaign. Thank you for your continued advocacy.