| March 2012 | Alejandro R. Gonzalez, MD, FACP, Governor |
- Greetings and Notes from Your Governor
- Capitol Update by John Nikoloff
- Four Resident Focus Groups Look at ACP Membership, Education and Value
- ACP Leadership Day 2012
- PA Chapter Holds Strategic Planning Session
- PA-ACP Strategic Planning Session, Hershey
August 20, 2011 in Hershey, PA - Good News! West Penn Hospital Will Host 2012 Western Residents Poster Competition
- Congratulations 2011 Western PA Poster Winners
- Allegheny/West Penn Team Won Western Championship
- Einstein Medical Jeopardy Team Wins PA State Championship
- Congratulations!
- PA Chapter Presented With ACP Excellence Award
- PA-ACP Wins Evergreen Award
- Pennsylvania Chapter Recognizes Eleven Exceptional Members
- Pennsylvania Chapter Calendar of Events March 2012 – June 2012
Greetings and Notes from Your Governor
Dear Members,
I would like to share with you my concerns for organized medicine, especially the American College of Physicians. As Dan Kimball, my fellow Governor for Pennsylvania’s Eastern Region said recently, the strength of the ACP is you, our members. There are approximately 4,000 General Internists practicing in our ACP Western PA Region but only 1,371 of them are members of our ACP. Why is this? Why are only one-third of all general internists today members of the ACP?
How can we do better? Is it simply poor communication that many internists do not understand the many benefits of membership? If so, I, and the ACP need to get the word to these non-members. There are helpful benefits for internists at every stage of their careers.
Is it cost? I agree that the economic challenges for our colleagues and their practices are substantial! But I believe that the value of membership is well worth $1.33/day! Some of us spend more than that for a cup of our favorite coffee each day. It is a matter of priority for each of us. From talking with members and non-members, I am reminded that recruiting and retaining members is very much of a personal contact sport! We need your help to reach out and touch one or more of your non-member colleagues. Help us by enrolling at least one non-member this spring. To encourage your recruiting initiatives, the ACP provides you a financial incentive to be part of our recruitment efforts. (http://www.acponline.org/membership/recruit/)
Speaking of the value of membership, how many of you have visited the ACP website, specifically the ACP Medical Home Builder site? This is a very useful tool for those of you interested in establishing a Patient Centered Medical Home for your practice.
Two specific benefits of membership that reflect the variety are SEP/MOC and our advocacy initiatives. Our single-day SEP/MOC meeting at Penn State Hershey will be March 31. Seven + CMEs and an amazing day of low-keyed education review of hospital based and office based medicine led by Drs. Marc Shalaby and Ted Bollard. The day is heavily discounted as a benefit of membership. e Dix (http://www.acponline.org/about_acp/chapters/pa/sep_hershey12.htm).
Another of my favorite benefits of membership is our advocacy efforts led by Mr. Bob Doherty at ACP (http://advocacyblog.acponline.org/) and Mr. John Nikoloff in Harrisburg. You can be a part of these efforts by serving as a Key Contact for ACP, by meeting with your local congressional or state representative in his or her office in your town, by joining us at our National Leadership Day event in Washington DC on June 6-7. This event will get you to understand the major national legislative issues and meet with our elected representatives and their staffs on Capitol Hill.
This will be my last opportunity to write you as the Governor for Pennsylvania ACP’s Western Region. In April, following the ACP national meeting in New Orleans, Alan Yeasted, MD, FACP, will be your Governor. He is a talented and enthusiast man who continues to see his patients on a part-time basis in his internal medicine practice while serving as the Chief Medical Officer for St. Clair Hospital in Pittsburgh. He is a past president and Chairman of the Board for the Allegheny County Medical Society. Alan will be a superb governor and I wish him all the best.
As always, I welcome your suggestions.
Alejandro R. Gonzalez, MD, FACP, Governor, Western Region, PA Chapter, ACP
Capitol Update by John Nikoloff
State Electoral Politics
2012 is a major election year, with the offices of President, US Senator, State Attorney General, Auditor General, Treasurer, the US Congress, State Senate and State House of Representatives all on the fall ballot. The primary ballot will include these offices as well as selection of party delegates to the National Conventions.
In Congressional elections, the new reapportionment of the state forced loss of one seat, and the new map significantly changes many districts. Congressmen Jason Altmire and Mark Critz will face each other in a new 12th district, and Congressman Todd Platts has announced his retirement in the 4th district.
Four State Senators have announced their plans to retire: Sens. Jane Earll (R-Erie), Jeff Piccola (R-Dauphin), John Pippy (R-Allegheny) and Mary Jo White (R-Venango). At least 18 new members will be elected to the PA House of Representatives. Six current members have already resigned to take other elected positions, and another 12 have announced their plans to retire.
Special elections will be scheduled to fill the six vacant seats, but because the State Supreme Court ruled the legislative Reapportionment Plan was unconstitutional, those elections – and the districts for the fall elections – are up in the air.
Legislative Updates
Insurance Rate Review
In late December, major insurance reform legislation was signed into law as Act 134, establishing state review of ALL health insurance contracts, and rate reviews including small groups and individual contracts. Previously, the state was only able to review group rates for products issued by HMOs or Blues. Commercial insurers and commercial subsidiaries of the Blue entities were exempt. With passage of this legislation, PA insurance department can continue to regulate rates for Pennsylvanians, rather than the Department of Health and Human Services, which would have taken over that role under the Affordable Care Act.
Genetic Counselors
Late in December, legislation was signed that provides for licensing and regulation of genetic counselors.
Fair Contracting
PA-ACP and other physician organizations succeeded in getting a public hearing on HB 1763, the Physician Fair Contracting Act. The bill would put the provisions of the Love Settlement – including a standard definition of medical necessity, clean claims payment requirements, prohibitions against automatic downcoding of E&M services and all products clauses, and limits on retroactive audits - into law in Pennsylvania. We are working with the Corbett Administration to seek its acceptance of this legislation, as the national agreement expires. And we will continue to work with House Insurance Committee members and others to get the Chairman of that committee to schedule a vote on the bill.
Physician Credentialing
Similarly, the PA Chapter is working for passage of Physician Credentialing legislation (HB 1551), which would allow new physicians to begin practice and be eligible for reimbursement 15 days after a complete request for credentialing is filed. The insurance companies would have to reach a credentialing decision within 60 days of receipt of a completed application.
Highmark and UPMC
The House passed HB 2052 by a 186-6 vote, and the bill is now in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. HB 2052 establishes a system where any failure to renew an existing insurer/hospital contract becomes subject to investigation by the Insurance Department, automatic extension for six months, a process of public hearings, recommendations for terms, extended negotiations, and finally, should other means fail, independent mediation and binding arbitration. The announcement that Highmark would continue to honor UPMC physician contracts through June 30, 2013 confirmed an agreement reached in late December, but does not fundamentally solve the overriding issues.
Caps on Punitive Damages
The House passed HB 1907 in January by a 103-89 vote, setting the stage for a battle over caps on punitive damages. The bill amends the MCARE act to set a cap at $200,000 for a medical liability lawsuit against any personal care home, assisted living community, or long term care nursing facility. In many ways, this bill was a test vote for further tort reform, but even if the bill is passed and signed into law, it’s certain lawsuits will be filed. The state Constitution prohibits the General Assembly from placing limits on punitive and noneconomic damages.
Naturopathic Medicine
PA ACP is opposing HB 1717, introduced by Rep. Mark Mustio (R, Allegheny) which recognizes the practice of naturopathic medicine and that naturopathic physicians comprise a distinct health care profession. The bill creates a naturopathic licensing system within the Board of Medicine. Naturopaths argued that they have four years of postgraduate training, and that 16 other states, DC and Puerto Rico have legislation similar to HB 1717. We are opposing the legislation because the science of medicine does not support the suggestions made by naturopaths, and because the proposed scope of practice is too broad, the education standards pale in comparison with medical training and ordering of tests in the legislation is beyond the scope of a naturopath's practice.
Federal Issues
Congress Passes Short-term SGR Fix
Late last year, the House and Senate passed HR 3765, providing a short-term extension of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) fix. With the signing of the bill into law, the 27.4 percent cut to Medicare payments to physicians scheduled for Jan. 1, 2012 was pushed back, and a conference committee was named to reach agreement on how to offset the cost of extension. Both Senator Bob Casey and Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz were named to the Conference Committee. A more permanent solution will be attempted in discussions over real tax reform which will not take place until 2013.
Four Resident Focus Groups Look at ACP Membership, Education and Value
Florence Momplaisir, MD, MSHP, General Internal Medicine Fellow, Health Policy Research Program, University of Pennsylvania, and Danielle Krol, MD Candidate, MSIV, St. George's University School of Medicine.
The SE chapter of the PA- ACP organized focus group sessions at major internal medicine (IM) training programs in Philadelphia from November 2011 to February 2012 in order to assess awareness of the ACP and its membership benefits among interns and residents and to come up with ways to better meet the needs of IM trainees. Participation in the focus groups was voluntary and the sessions were logistically coordinated by the chief residents in each respective training program. Participating programs included Temple, Drexel, University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson. In general, participation varied from 5 to 12 residents, the majority was second and third year residents, most were interested in subspecialty care and most were not current ACP members.
Overall, the majority of residents had heard about ACP but they didn’t know exactly what the benefits of membership were and what the organization stood for compared to other organizations like the AMA. Knowledge of the specific role of ACP in education and health policy varied by institution. Among members, motivation to join included presenting their research in the regional or national conference and receiving discounts for the Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP). Barriers to ACP membership included cost, the perception that there was no added value to membership (they can access the Annals of Internal Medicine at no cost) and time constraints. In order to increase their involvement in ACP, they suggested having an ambassador at each training program that could disseminate updates about the organization.
They thought that getting generic emails are impersonal and they generally don’t read them. There was a moderately strong interest for getting the ACP newsletter and getting bullets on health policy updates. Some would be interested in Smart Phone Apps that easily access their more specific needs. They also wanted to know more about leadership day and the health policy internship.
Despite the majority of residents going into subspecialty medicine, they voiced the need for stronger primary care and were willing to advocate for that. For research, they didn’t think that learning about research opportunities nationally would be interesting since they are bound to the Philadelphia area but if ACP wanted resident involvement in the literature review process of clinical guidelines, they would be interested to participate in that. There were mixed feelings about having an online network of ACP mentors that they could reach for advice: some felt that they get appropriate mentorship in-house and that having an online network of mentors is impersonal, others felt that it would be helpful and suggested having the mentors by category (academic medicine, private practice and government).
We welcome additional comments and suggestions. Please email them to jd@pa-acp.org.
ACP Leadership Day 2012
Leadership Day is set for June 6-7, 2012. This event gives us an opportunity to have our voices heard on Capitol Hill. Dramatic changes in the Healthcare Reform Act are expected. For an update on the status of reform, what the reform provisions are and how they will impact you as a physician, simply visit the ACP web page
.
Bob Doherty directs the College’s advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill and provides excellent insight into the workings of the government. See a current recap of the presidential candidates’ positions on healthcare.
PA Chapter Holds Strategic Planning Session
The PA ACP held a strategic planning session in August 2011 where we focused on meeting the needs of our members in the professional development, advocacy/health and public policy, and communication realms. We are grateful to the sixteen volunteers. See their names and affiliations in the accompanying box. These teams continue to work on some initiatives identified last August and confirmed at the September Council meeting. Our next meeting is planned for August 20 in Hershey.
PA-ACP Strategic Planning Session, Hershey
August 20, 2011 in Hershey, PA
Membership/Communication
Dan Kimball, Governor, PAE
Alex Gonzalez, Governor, PAW
Chuck Cutler, Past Governor, PAS, BOG, BOR
Renee Cassidy, CCYP founder
Bravein Amalakuhan, Resident, Council Member
Preyanka Makadia, PCOM IMIG, LD
Education/Professional Development
Rich Simons, Past Governor, PAE
Baber Ghauri, Hospitalist
Florence Momplaisir, Penn Fellow, ACP’s COA
Danielle Krol, Medical Student
Lulu Liu, Temple IMIG
Merranda Logan, Chief Resident, Temple
Advocacy/Health and Public Policy
Alan Yeasted, Governor-elect, PAW
Ed Ma, Hospitalist
Evan Pollack, HPPC vice chair
Zia Dimachkie, Temple Medical Student
Greg Kane, Jefferson Program Director
Carolyn Thimot, Temple Medical Student
Other
Darilyn Moyer, Governor, PAS
Eileen Moser, Facilitator, Council Member
John Derrickson, Staff, PA-ACP
Good News! West Penn Hospital Will Host 2012 Western Residents Poster Competition
The Pennsylvania Chapter sponsors THREE regional abstract competitions offering residents an opportunity to compete with and meet his/her peers. In collaboration with program director, a resident may write an abstract on research, case study, or quality improvement based on their experience. The abstracts receive professional critiques and the best are presented as posters at the annual Residents Day.
This year, the West’s Residents Day is set for November 3, 2012. Residents who want to submit an abstract must be a member of the ACP. All residents who have provided the ACP with an email address will receive emails about the 2012 abstract competition.
Last fall, 28 abstracts were selected for the poster presentation. Prizes were awarded to 11 outstanding posters and the first author of the three first-place winning posters was invited to present his/her work at the ACP’s IM 2012 set for New Orleans on April 19 and 20, 2012.
Residents Day is a challenging, fun and worthwhile experience that requires many volunteer hours. We want to recognize Alex Gonzalez, MD, FACP, Governor, Western Region who served as the 2011 Program Chair, Andrew Adams, MD, FACP from Allegheny General Hospital who accepted the challenge of Abstract Chair, and Jennifer Gonzalez McComb, MD, FACP who volunteered to be our Medical Jeopardy Chair. We extend a sincere thank you to each of the Chairs and also to everyone involved in the event for their untiring work to make the day a success.
We invite you to join us at West Penn on Saturday, November 3, 2012. The competition is open to all residents who are members of the ACP and we welcome abstract reviewers and poster judges willing to volunteer a few hours to help create a fabulous Residents Day for the Western Region.
Congratulations 2011 Western PA Poster Winners
Congratulations to all residents who competed in the Western Region’s annual Poster and Medical Jeopardy competition. Standing in front of the poster submitted by Barath Ragaswamy is UPMC – Mercy colleagues (L to R) Amit Ladani and Prabhat Singh.
Listed below are the winners in the three categories: Case Report, Quality Improvement and Research.
Research
- Chathur Acharyac, UPMC – McKeesport, McKeesport, PA Title: Concordance Between MRCP and ERCP for Biliary Stone Detection
- Abhishek Biswas, UPMC Mercy, Pittsburgh, PA Title: Comparison Between Transthoracic and Transesophageal Echo in the Detection of Vegetations in Endocarditis Patients: A Retrospective Analysis
Quality Improvement
- Ravi Sharma, UPMC – McKeesport, McKeesport, Pa Title: Tackling the Readmission Epidemic, a Resident Teaching Service Prospective
- Barath Ragaswarmy, UPMC Mercy, Pittsburgh, PA Title: Placement of a Magnetic Small Bowel Feeding Tube at the Bedside: The Syncro-Blue Tube
Case Report
- Anna Kaminsky, UPMC – Shadyside, Pittsburgh, PA Title: Successful Treatment of Kaposi’s Sarcoma with Antiviral Medications in Non-HIV Patient
- Juhi Moon, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA Title: Complicated Clostridium Perfringens Empyema Secondary to Bilateral Pulmonary Emboli
- Abhishek Krishna, McKeesport Hospital, McKeesport, PA Title: Primary (Idiopathic) Loin
Allegheny/West Penn Team Won Western Championship
Allegheny/West Penn Jeopardy Team members (left to right) Arpit Bhargava, Vishal Goyal and Navneet Dang. Missing from photo is team alternate, Lindsay Lucas.
Allegheny / West Penn, McKeesport Hospital and UPMC competed in the 2011 Medical Jeopardy Tournament. This year, AGH- WPH became the Western PA champion team and went on to challenge Lehigh Valley Hospital (East) and Albert Einstein Medical Center (SE) for the state Championship. Congratulations to all the teams. We think you are all champions.
Please join us at the 2012 Medical Jeopardy competition set for Saturday, November 3, 2012.
Einstein Medical Jeopardy Team Wins PA State Championship
Presenting the newly implemented SE Regional Medical Jeopardy Trophy is Chairman Dr. David Cohen (right) to Dr. Glenn Eiger, IM Program Director for Albert Einstein Medical Center. Einstein team members are (left to right) Dr. Mahasweta Gooptu, Dr. Praveen Ramakrishnan, Dr. Riyaj Kaskar (Team Coach), Dr. Jedrzej Wykretowicz, Dr. Guillermo Garrido and Dr. Nina Mingioni Associate Program Director. Dr. Mingioni will serve as Chair for the SE tournament next year.
Congratulations to the Einstein Medical Jeopardy Team for winning the 2011 SE competition and the Pennsylvania State Championship. They will compete in New Orleans for the national title during IM 2012. Einstein has been to the national tournament four times and has won three of those four times.
We also congratulate the Southeast teams from Abington, CCMC, Drexel, Lankenau, Mercy Catholic, Pennsylvania Hospital, Temple, Jefferson, U of PA and Christiana Hospital, as well as the competitors in the State tournament, Allegheny General Hospital (West) and Lehigh Valley Hospital (East). We are looking forward to seeing you in 2012.
Congratulations!
The Chapter recognizes and congratulates the following members who were elected to Fellowship from July to December 2011.
Carl F. Jueng, MD, FACP, Pittsburgh, PA
Patrick M. Gray, MD, FACP, Windber
Roseanne Granieri, MD, FACP, Pittsburgh, PA
Susan Manzi, MD, MPH, FACP, Pittsburgh, PA
Vikas Ghai, MD, MSBS, FACP, State College, PA
PA Chapter Presented With ACP Excellence Award
We are happy to announce that our chapter received a Chapter Excellence Award for 2011! The Chapter Excellence Award is only presented to chapters that meet all basic criteria and seven optional criteria. Criteria include such activities as formulating an effective Governor’s Council and committees, communicating frequently with membership, providing educational opportunities, recruiting and advancing members and celebrating membership through local awards. The PA Chapter would like to extend a special thank you to the membership! For your hard work and dedication, we received this award.
PA-ACP Wins Evergreen Award
At Internal Medicine 2011, ACP presented John Tooker Evergreen Awards to five chapters. The Tooker Evergreen Program provides recognition and visibility to those chapters that have successfully implemented programs that increase membership, improve communication, increase member involvement, enhance diversity, foster careers in internal medicine and improve management of the chapter.
The Pennsylvania Chapter was recognized for its recruiting initiatives at the Pri-Med Access with ACP educational programs held in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania Chapter Recognizes Eleven Exceptional Members
An exceptional group of Pennsylvania physicians were honored for their commitment, dedication and excellence in leadership and service during the Pennsylvania Chapter’s annual Awards Dinner held at The Hershey Country Club on December 3, 2011.
Laureates Awarded to Three Extraordinary Physicians
Charles Cutler, MD, FACP
David L. George, MD, FACP
Keith T. Kanel, MD, MHCM
The Laureate is the highest honor awarded by the Pennsylvania Chapter to its members. This year, Drs. Charles Cutler, David George and Keith Kanel were selected for a Laureate based on their dedication and commitment to excellence in medicine, education and research.
Dr. Gerald Tracy Was Awarded a Pressman and Drs. Karl Bushman and Michael Korman Received the Clinical Practice Award
Gerald P. Tracy, MD
Karl E. Bushman, MD, FACP
Michael Jay Korman, MD
Gerald P. Tracy, MD, FACP (East) was granted the Pressman Award for distinguished service to Internal Medicine.
Karl E. Bushman, MD, FACP (West), and Michael Jay Korman (SE) received the Clinical Practice Award in recognition of exceptional service to patients, community and profession.
A Chapter Special Award Was Presented to Five
Richard J. Simons, MD, MACP
John Nikoloff
Douglas F. Clough, MD
Richard J. Simons, MD, MACP, immediate past Governor of the Eastern Region, was recognized for his dedication and commitment to the Pennsylvania Chapter and the ACP.
John Nikoloff, a founding partner and president of ERG Partners, was recognized for his exceptional dedication, vision and advocacy that serve as the foundation of the Pennsylvania Chapter.
Douglas F. Clough, MD, FACP (West) was recognized for his on-going leadership and grass-roots involvement in advocacy activities.
Susan Borys, MD
Andrew Adams, MD
Last but not least, two members received special recognition for their ongoing commitment to our Chapter. Andrew Adams, MD, FACP (West) was recognized for his dedication to the Western Region’s Abstract and Poster competitions, and Susan Borys, MD, FACP (East) for her legislative involvement on behalf of patients and physicians in Pennsylvania. A sincere congratulation and thank you to all.
Pennsylvania Chapter Calendar of Events March 2012 – June 2012
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| March 17 | Council Meeting | Harrisburg |
| March 20 | Penn State/Hershey IMIG dinner | Hershey |
| March 31 | Single-Day Maintenance of Certification | HMC, Hershey |
| April | ACP – IM 2012 | New Orleans |
| April 19 | Tools Workshop (Practice Managers) | Radnor |
| April 20 | Pennsylvania Chapter Reception | New Orleans |
| April 28 | Medical Student Forum | Temple |
| May 7 | Council Webinar | Home or Office |
| June 6 – 8 | Leadership Day | Washington, DC |
Page updated: 3/5/2012
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Contact Information
Eastern Region
Daniel B Kimball, Jr, MD, FACP, Governor
Southeastern Region
Darilyn V. Moyer, MD, FACP, Governor
Western Region
G. Alan Yeasted, MD, FACP
John Derrickson
Executive Director
Phone: 610-543-6880 or Toll-free: 800-846-7746
Fax: 610-543-6806
E-mail: jd@pa-acp.org
General chapter information/questions:
John Derrickson
jd@pa-acp.org
Chapter Office:
Jackie Franco
jf@pa-acp.org
VoterVoice:
votervoice@pa-acp.org
Chapter Events:
events@pa-acp.org
