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Notice:
Due to the Labor Day holiday, VSTW will take a one-week hiatus. We wish
you a healthy and relaxing weekend and will see you in September.
What’s up in advocacy and policy
Massachusetts Opioid Law Changes MassPAT Requirements
With Gov. Baker’s signing of the Care Act, a comprehensive bill aimed at further addressing the opioid crisis
supported by the MMS, certain provisions will affect clinical practice. One of the most immediate reforms comes as a slight change to the requirement to check MassPAT, the state’s prescription monitoring program. Specifically, the Care Act now requires prescribers to query MassPAT prior to every
benzodiazepine prescription. Previously, MA law only required such a query prior to initial benzodiazepine prescriptions (as well as all schedule II and III narcotic prescriptions.) With such ongoing requirements, MMS encourages physicians to develop systems, including
the use of delegates when appropriate, to ensure regular querying of MassPAT, especially for patients with long term benzodiazepine and narcotic prescriptions. Please stay tuned to MMS for more information regarding relevant changes from the opioid legislation.
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MMS grants for International Health Study; apply today
Medical students and resident physician members of the MMS are eligible to apply for grants of up to $2,000 to defray the costs of studying abroad. The primary goal of these International Health Studies (IHS) grants, provided by the Massachusetts Medical Society and Alliance Charitable
Foundation, is to encourage international education, particularly focusing on under-served populations. Preference will be given to projects providing health care-related work and/or training of staff, and to applicants planning careers serving underprivileged populations.
Research projects that do not involve direct clinical care or teaching will not be considered. Programs must last at least three weeks to receive consideration. Applications are due by September 15, 2018. For more about the grants and application expectations, click below.
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Tobacco Free Mass Policy Forum Thursday, September 6
Registration 9:30 a.m., Program 10 a.m. -11:30 a.m., Mass. Medical Society, Waltham
Vaping has exploded onto the public policy scene as electronic nicotine devices have appeared in schools, convenience stores, and online. After years of declining cigarette use, young people are again becoming nicotine users. Hear national experts address e-cigarettes and vaping
from different perspectives - all with an eye to policy change. Dr. Lisa Henricksen of Stanford will address point-of-sale issues and youth-focused marketing. The CDC’s Michael Tynan will discuss the intersection of vaping nicotine and vaping marijuana. Dr. Youn Lee (RTI)
will talk about emerging nicotine products that will shape policy moving forward. The forum will be moderated by Tobacco Free Mass’ Vice-Chair, Dr. Lauren Smith, a pediatrician, Co-CEO of FSG, and former Commissioner of the MA Department of Public Health.
Register online at TobaccoFreeMass.org. Tickets are $100 per person.
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News and announcements
Benefit Buzz
Need Help to Collect Claim Co-Payments?
IC System is a MMS-preferred vendor that helps physician practices with effective collection management while assuring that client accounts are safeguarded by strict regulatory compliance and data security. MMS members receive a discount. Visit
icmemberbenefits.com. For questions, please contact Bryan Campbell at (800) 279-3511 or
bcampbell@icsystem.com.
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Reminders: Stuff you should click on
In Western Mass.? Join us for some fun October 25
Please
join your colleagues and friends for an evening of professional networking, with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and drinks, on October 25, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Hotel on North in Pittsfield. Physicians (members and nonmembers) and your guests are welcome.
Please reply to
sfrazier@mms.org or
mjussaume@mms.org. The MMS plans to bring fun, convenient, and casual networking events to all parts of the state. Connect with physicians from across organizations and specialties, make new professional contacts, and meet MMS leaders.
Questions? Call (800) 944 5562.
Photo: Networking event 2018, Cape Cod
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Problems getting reimbursed? - Individual Claims Consultation Day upcoming
Looking for an efficient way to resolve unpaid insurance claims? The MMS is hosting an Individual Claims Consultation day. These are opportunities for you and/or your practice colleague to meet with representatives from insurance companies to troubleshoot specific claims. The event will be
held in Lakeville (Sept 20). Click below.
Read and register
Educational programs and events
Live events: Leadership development
The First Penile Transplant: The Surgeons and Patient Report
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Gender and Bias in Medicine – Effect on Physicians, Impact on Patients
Friday, October 19, 2018
Managing Workplace Conflict: Improving Leadership & Personal Effectiveness
Thursday & Friday, November 1-2, 2018
Visit
www.massmed.org/cme/events to view our full calendar of upcoming live CME activities.
SAVE THE DATE:
Conference on Universal Health Care
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
More live CME
Featured online CME:
End-of-Life Care and Non-Disclosure: Case Study
End of Life Series (3 Modules)
More online CME
Quote of the week
"If violations of the patient-clinician relationship are at the core of moral injury, then it’s time to re-establish the sanctity of that space — medicine’s collective true north."
— Andrew Morris-Singer , Stuart Pollack, and Matthew Lewis (Stat)
Tweet of the Week
@CDCFlu
Flu-related updates from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Comments received are subject to PRA & may be archived.
What’s new in health care
Check out the most clicked-on stories from this week's MMS Media Watch.
Sign up for daily Massachusetts media roundups by email. Some publications are fully accessible only to their subscribers.
29 charged, including former aide to city councilor, in fentanyl bust (Boston Globe)
Twenty-nine people are
facing federal or state drug, firearms, and counterfeiting charges, including a man who was City Councilor Michelle Wu's former constituent services director and another who killed a Boston police officer in 1973, authorities said Thursday. Gary Webster, 35, of Boston, who had worked for Wu, and Terrell Walker,
63, of Falmouth, who was involved in the slaying of Boston police Detective John D. Schroeder, were among those charged.
March for gun reform from Worcester to Springfield (Telegram and Gazette)
The marchers plan to ask
Smith & Wesson to cease manufacturing and distribution of all weapons outlawed under the 2004 Massachusetts Assault Weapons Ban, including weapons under Attorney General Maura Healey's copycat weapon ban enforcement, and to donate $5 million toward
gun violence research. "We're fighting for change in a state that has some of the strictest gun laws in the country and has significantly less gun violence than some of the states, unlike Louisiana, which has some of the highest gun violence and some of the weakest laws," Mr. Hogg
said.
Hodgson's jails won't join pilot program for drug treatment (Standard-Times)
A coalition of more than a dozen organizations, including the Massachusetts Medical Society, have urged legislators to support requiring the Department of Corrections and county sheriffs to
provide medication-assisted treatment when appropriate. One of the groups leading the charge was the Association for Behavioral Healthcare, an advocacy group for mental health and addiction services.
Boston medical schools won't join NYU free tuition plan (Boston Herald)
Harvard Medical School, in a statement, applauded NYU and said it is working to lower student debt by partnering with donors. "We believe
the cost of attendance should never prevent promising students from going to medical school," the Harvard statement said. Boston University School of Medicine also says that scholarships are of top priority, but they can't currently compete with NYU.
Harvard professor is calling coconut oil "pure poison" (CBS)
A lecture from a
Harvard professor blasting the popularity of coconut oil has gone viral on YouTube, garnering nearly 1 million views since it was posted in July. During the talk titled "Coconut Oil and Other Nutritional Errors," Karin Michels calls coconut oil "pure poison" and "one of the worst foods you can eat," according to
a translation from Business Insider Deutschland. Michels is the director of the Institute for Prevention and Tumor Epidemiology at the University of Freiburg and a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
