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July 31, 2015
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The
AMA Task Force to Reduce Opioid Abuse, which includes the MMS and two dozen other physicians groups, announced the first of several recommendations to reduce the public health crisis facing the country. The Task Force is focus on several areas: prescription monitoring programs, physician education, reducing the stigma of substance use disorder, enhancing access to treatment, and expanding access to naloxone.
“The efforts of the Task Force,” said MMS President Dennis M. Dimitri, M.D., “can only add strength to our efforts in the Commonwealth.” He said the AMA’s effort is benefiting from the expertise of its Massachusetts representative, Richard S. Pieters, M.D., immediate past president of the Massachusetts Medical Society.
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The MMS has produced a guide especially for physician practices, to help them understand and comply with to the new Massachusetts law requiring all Massachusetts employers to allow their employees to accrue and use sick leave. The law took effect July 1, 2015.
Read the document; available via login for MMS members.
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MMS officials this week testified in support of legislation that would create patient choice and improve education in dispensing of opiate drugs. The bill calls for the option of partial filling of prescriptions, while allowing for patients to return for the remainder of the prescription if pain persists. The bill gives patients the choice of filling less and paying less, which could reduce the risk for addiction.
Read full MMS testimony here.
Related news:
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MMS’ Physician Health Services, Inc. has launched a new blog,
Physician Health Matters, about its work on behalf of Massachusetts physicians on issues such as substance abuse, metal health, work-life balance, and other important topics.
Read more here.
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The August edition
of Physician Focus with the Massachusetts Medical Society will discuss the major vision problems people over 40 may face. The guests for this episode are both ophthalmologists from Eye Health Services in Quincy, John T.H. Mandeville, M.D., Ph.D., president of the Massachusetts Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons, and Gerri L. Goodman, M.D., a board member of the New England Chapter of the Glaucoma Foundation. This episode is hosted by B. Dale McGee, M.D., past MMS president.
Watch the episode online here.
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The MMS Committee on Nominations is currently considering candidates for nomination as AMA Delegate and Alternate Delegate on the Massachusetts AMA Delegation. The deadline for submission of nomination applications is
Friday, Aug. 21 at 4 p.m. Please visit
www.massmed.org/AMAnom to learn more about qualifications and submit your application online.
Interviews with the Committee on Nominations will be held at MMS Headquarters in Waltham
on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015 between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Applicants should plan to be available on this date. If you have questions, please contact Linda Healy (
800) 322-2303, ext 7008 or
lhealy@mms.org or Karen Harrison at ext. 7463 or
kharrison@mms.org.
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The MMS regional offices are hosting annual Individual Claims Consultation Days, which are in-person troubleshooting sessions that are designed to allow MMS members and their practice staff to schedule 30-minute appointment with Massachusetts major payers to focus on adjudication of troublesome claims. Upcoming sessions are scheduled in Lakeville and Waltham.
Information and registration available here.
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Live CME Activities
Unless otherwise noted, all events are held at MMS headquarters, 860 Winter St., Waltham, MA
The above activities have been approved for
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
Featured Online CME Activities – Risk Management Credit
The above activities have been approved for
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
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Addiction Treatment Center to Open in Plymouth
Mass. Skin Doctors Urge Under-18 Tanning Bed Ban
Dermatologists who treat skin cancer patients urged state lawmakers this week
to approve a bill that would bar anyone under age 18 from using tanning beds, but salon owners accused critics of overstating the risks.
Suit Against Harvard, Brigham and Women’s Dismissed
A federal district court judge has dismissed two scientists' lawsuit against Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
over an ongoing investigation into alleged scientific misconduct. Dr. Piero Anversa and Dr. Annarosa Leri, both heart stem-cell scientists, alleged that the investigation was "procedurally and legally flawed."
Boston Medical Center Appoints Dr. Thea James as Senior VP of Mission
UMass Memorial Plans Big Patient Record Upgrade
UMass Memorial Health Care will spend $700 million over the next decade
to upgrade its patient records and information technology systems, its chief executive said.
Risk of West Nile Infection Increases in 12 Boston-Area Communities
The state Department of Public Health on Thursday
increased the risk level for West Nile to moderate in Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Newton, Revere, Somerville, and Watertown.
Advocates Hope New Guidelines Encourage More End-of-Life Talks in Mass.
Advocates say it will take much more than new Medicare reimbursements
to overcome the obstacles to end-of-life conversations. Both patients and doctors are reluctant to talk about death, and even the willing are unsure when to start. And medical professionals get little training on how to conduct such conversations.
Are There 10,000 Missing Medical Marijuana Patients?
More than 20,000 Massachusetts residents have been approved by doctors to obtain marijuana since the state passed a medical marijuana law in 2012. But so far, as of July 1,
only about half of them are registered medical marijuana patients. What happened to the others?
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