Vital Signs This Week
May 22, 2015

MMS Announces Plan to Combat the Opioid Overdoses; Makes Pain Management CME Free for All Prescribers 
 
“Physicians must step forward immediately to do everything we can to help bring this devastating problem under control,” said MMS President Dennis M. Dimitri, MD. “There is no more important public health issue today than the opioid epidemic.”
 
The MMS campaign will have three components; a set of guidelines to help physicians make the right decisions for their patients; free education resources for prescribers, including MMS’ Pain Management CME courses, to help inform their judgments; and an effort in conjunction with the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, to educate the public about proper storage and disposal of medications.
 
More about the MMS announcement:
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MMS Executive Vice President to Retire in May 2016
MMS Executive Vice President Corinne Broderick announced this week that she will retire in May 2016, after 30 years of service to the organization.
“It’s important to me that I retire at a time when the organization is in a strong position, and that is exactly where we are right now,” Broderick said in her announcement to MMS employees. “Thanks to you and your hard work, we are poised to do even more great things.”  Read more
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$38 Million Senate Budget Includes Funds for PMP, Smoking Prevention
The Massachusetts Senate passed a $38 billion state budget late this week that includes more than five million dollars to improve infrastructure for the Prescription Monitoring Program, which the MMS supports.  An additional $3 million is proposed for a rate increase for providers of addiction services, and funding for treatment of substance use problems through police intervention. The budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 will next head to a legislative conference committee. 
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Medical Injury Alternative to Malpractice Litigation Continues to Expand Across Mass.
The Massachusetts Alliance for Communication and Resolution following Medical Injury, or MACRMI, announced this week that it continues to increase the numbers of patient cases and sites across Massachusetts and the nation where health care providers and patients can cooperatively resolve medical injury situations. Its Communication, Apology, and Resolution (CARe) program, has so far handled more than 850 patient cases around the state and resolved more than 75 percent them without referral to an insurer, said group co-founder Alan Woodward, MD., a MMS Past President and Chair of the MMS Committee on Professional Liability.  Read more.
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Want to Help BU Medical Students? Orientation Session at MMS on June 10 
Are you interested in volunteering as a facilitator for the Integrated Problems course at Boston University School of Medicine for the fall semester? BUSM will hold an orientation session at MMS Headquarters in Waltham on Wednesday, June 10, from 9:30 a.m to 1:00 p.m. for interested physicians. Come to learn more about the program. Lunch will be served.
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Renew Your MMS Membership Today
If you do not renew before May 31, your MMS membership will be cancelled at the Board of Trustees meeting in June. Every MMS member counts! You help us achieve historic victories on behalf of physicians, such as Congress' overwhelming repeal of the SGR formula. Renew today!
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Live CME Activities 
 
Unless otherwise noted, all events are held at MMS headquarters, 860 Winter St., Waltham.
 
 
13th Annual Symposium on Men's Health
Thursday, June 18, 2015
 
 
The above activities have been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit
 
Save the Date
Caring for the Caregivers X: Enhancing the Quality of Your Professional Life, October 20, 2015
 
Featured Online CME Activities – Risk Management Credit
The above activities have been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit
For additional risk management online CME activities, visit www.massmed.org/cme.

Children's Hospital Set to Expand

Boston Children's Hospital is extending its reach to patients far outside Boston, with a deal to acquire a large and growing group of doctors in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Related: Why Boston Children's Hospital is expanding outside of Massachusetts
 

Lahey Health Cutting Workforce

Burlington-based Lahey Health has announced it will be laying off 130 people, a cut that represents approximately 1 percent of the hospital's staff. Related: Lahey Health Exec Sheds Light on Reasons for Layoffs
 

Partners HealthCare Bruised Following Difficult Second Quarter
 
Though usually the health system's strong point, the hospitals were the main reason for Partner's losses in the quarter.
 

Settlement Reached in NECC Victims Case

Hundreds of victims of the fungal meningitis outbreak caused by the New England Compounding Center will be compensated for their pain and suffering after a settlement plan was reached in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
 

Mass. Joins Multi-state Lawsuit Against Fake Cancer Charities
 
Attorney General Maura Healey has signed on to a federal lawsuit against four sham cancer charities and their operators for allegedly swindling more than $187 million from donors throughout the country.
 

AG: Hyannis Doc Accused of Running “Pill Mill"

A Hyannis doctor charged with doling out powerful painkillers to recovering addicts and trying to cover his tracks in paperwork once specialized in treating sick children, but later transformed his office into a "dangerous" pill mill built on adult patients getting a hold of the addictive opiates, according to Attorney General Maura Healey.
 

Your Doctor, Always Available, For A Monthly Fee
 
Dr. Jeff Gold may be the first physician in Massachusetts practicing under a model called direct primary care. But is this model, direct primary care, just a different way of paying a doctor or is it a new form of insurance? The state's Division of Insurance is reviewing this question. ( text and audio of 5:03 )
 
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