Governor's Newsletter, June 2001
David C. Dale, MD, FACP
Governor, Washington Chapter
Governor's Message
I have just returned from the annual ACP-ASIM meeting in Atlanta. It was a superb meeting. As usual, the education program was filled with sessions by leading authorities in internal medicine opportunities to meet and listen to the outstanding teachers of our profession. In recent years, these presentations have become much more focused and clinical in their orientation. Particularly popular this year, were the "clinical pearls" sessions, which were standing room only. I listened to several of these talks and truly enjoyed them. If you have not recently attended an Annual Session, I encourage you to do so. Next year's meeting will be in Philadelphia, April 11-14, 2002.
A highlight of the annual meeting was the Convocation ceremony on Thursday evening. Seven new Fellows joined me in attending this grand ceremony. The Convocation address by ACP-ASIM President, Dr. Sandra Adamson-Fryhofer, of Atlanta, was excellent. She spoke eloquently about the joy of being a physician, the honor of being President of our College and the high calling of being a physician. At this ceremony, Dr. J. Findlay Wallace, became a Master of the College. We were all very proud of him.
At the end of this year's session, current Executive Vice President, Dr. Walter Mconald, announced his resignation effective in 2002. Walter has done an excellent job in leading the College, including its recent merger with the ASIM. A committee will be appointed soon to search for his successor. Currently, both Eric Larson and I serve on the Board of Regents; we will be pleased to forward of your recommendations for future leadership. At the final Board of Regents meeting of the current year, Dr. Hal Sox, was welcomed as the new Editor of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Plans are well underway for our Fall meeting of the Washington Chapter of ACP-ASIM. The program chair is Dr. Paul Sutton of the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System. Joining him on the program committee are Scott Ramsey, Rebecca Ruud, Doug Paauw, JoAnn Elmore, and Richard Tucker. We do hope you are planning to attend this year's meeting, October 19-20, at the Bell Harbor Convention Center in Seattle.
As my term as Governor draws to a close, I am very pleased that Doug Paauw, Governor-Elect, is very quickly assuming responsibilities with me for the activities of our Chapter. We promise a smooth transition, with the assistance of Kory Diemert and our very able Council. I am looking forward to continuing to serve the College as the Chair-elect of the Board of Governors and Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee and member of the Board of Regents. If you have questions, concerns, or ideas for us, please let me hear from you.
Sincerely, David C. Dale, MD, FACP Chair-elect, Board of Governors Executive Committee
We Need Your Participation
The Washington State Appropriate Antibiotic Use Campaign needs physician participation in several of its key work groups. The campaign represents a multi-year comprehensive collaborative effort focused on bacterial resistance and the role of antibiotic use in its cause and correction. It is directed at the public and physicians and its members include the Washington Chapter of ACP-ASIM, major medical groups, other specialty societies, the Washington State Medical Association (WSMA), the Department of Health (DOH), the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Association of Washington Healthcare Plans (AWHP), and key University of Washington faculty.
A central part of the campaign has been the development and distribution of practice and prescribing guidelines for respiratory infections and measuring physician performance against them. Physician leadership and participation in these activities is essential.
For the past two and a half years the project has been run primarily by the DOH and AWHP, but because it has grown so large, the non-DOH activities will now be carried out through the Washington State Medical Educational and Research Foundation (WSMERF).
The continued active involvement of physicians is essential for this effort to be successful. Please contact the program director, Art Sprenkle, MD, (425-891-0502, asprenkle@myexcel.com), if you are interested in participating on one of the working groups data analysis/practice patterns, guidelines, practitioner education, patient education and communications.
2001 ACP-ASIM Washington Chapter Council
Officers |
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| David C. Dale, MD | Bruce C. Smith, MD |
| Governor | Vice-President |
| E-Mail: dcdale@u.washington.edu |
E-Mail: bsmith@overlakehospital.org |
| Doug S. Paauw, MD | Paul A. Smith, MD |
| Governor-Elect | Secretary/Treasurer |
| E-Mail: dpaauw@u.washington.edu |
E-Mail: gimpas@vmmc.org |
Council Members |
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| Linda E. Pinsky, MD | John V. L. Sheffield, MD |
| 10/01 - 10/03 | 10/01 - 10/03 |
| E-Mail: lpinsky@u.washington.edu |
E-Mail: jvls@u.washington.edu |
| Mark Lindenbaum, MD | Stephen R. Shaul, MD |
| 10/00 - 10/02 | 10/00 - 10/02 |
| E-Mail: mmlindenba@HINET.org |
E-Mail: shaulmd@cwcr.com |
| George Novan, MD | James R. Patterson, MD |
| 10/01 - 10/03 | 10/01 - 10/03 |
| E-Mail: novang@inhs.org |
E-Mail: pattersonjmd@interisland.net |
| W. Hugh Maloney, MD | Rebecca T. Ruud, MD |
| 10/00 - 10/02 | 10/00 - 10/02 |
| E-Mail: hughmaloney@swedish.org |
E-Mail: cwhrtr@vmmc.org |
Associate Reps |
|
| Aaron Apodaca, MD | Mary Dittrick, MD |
| 1/01 - 12/03 | 6/00 - 12/01 |
| E-Mail: Aaron.Apodaca@vmmc.org |
E-Mail: mdit@u.washington.edu |
Student Reps |
|
| Steven Mitchell | Julie Ake |
| Second year student | |
| E-Mail: smitchel@u.washington.edu |
E-Mail: julieake@u.washington.edu |
WSMA Delegate |
|
| Alvin J. Thompson, MD | |
| E-Mail: althomp@u.washington.edu |
|
2001 Annual Meeting Program Chair |
|
| Paul R. Sutton, MD | |
| E-Mail: plsutton@u.washington.edu |
|
Executive Administrator |
|
| Kory Diemert | |
| E-Mail: kad@wsma.org |
|
Virginia Mason Medical Center Internal Medicine Residency News
Roger W. Bush, MD, FACP
Director, Internal Medicine Program, Virginia Mason Medical Center
Several innovations are on tap for the new academic year at VM. Our Critical Care Unit Teaching Service continues to evolve into formal integration of faculty intensivist management and education. Similarly, we are integrating Cardiology education and patient care into a single service. Our annual overnight retreat on November 12, 2001, will address the interface between clinical medicine, professionalism, and spirituality.
Celebrate Teaching! One of our revered outpatient clinician-educators, James Simmons, MD, has been honored by the National ACP-ASIM Community-Based Teaching program with their Excellence in Community-Based Teaching Award. This is the second such award to VM faculty members. We look forward to publicly honoring Jim for his commitment to education and wisdom at the bedside. Jim has been a major, low-profile contributor to clinical education at VM for over 25 years.
ACP-ASIM Works to Reduce Medicare Hassles
ACP-ASIM is pleased to announce its endorsement of the "Medicare Education and Regulatory Fairness Act" (MERFA), S. 452/ H.R. 868, which directly addresses internists' concerns with Medicare red tape and hassles.
Medicare's complex regulations have created a heavy paperwork burden that significantly reduces the time doctors spend with patients, according to William Hall, MD, FACP, President-Elect of ACP-ASIM and a practicing geriatrician.
Dr. Hall represented the College and announced support for this important legislation at a March 7 press conference with the American Medical Association and the American College of Cardiology, as well as MERFA's Senate and House sponsors.
MERFA directly addresses the Medicare procedures and rules that are the source of much frustration with the program. Under Medicare regulations, physicians must comply with numerous federal rules and local contractor policies to complete claim forms, provide advance beneficiary notices, certify medical necessity, file enrollment forms and comply with code documentation guidelines. Yet, there is no single source that physicians can access to learn Medicare's rules and policies.
Introduced in the Senate by Senators Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and John Kerry (D-MA) and in the House by Representatives Shelley Berkley (D-1-NV) and Pat Toomey (R-15-PA), MERFA would allow physicians and their staff to spend more time treating patients, and less time handling needless paperwork. It would enact the following reforms:
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Medicare rules and policies and answers to "frequently asked questions" would be made more accessible, and physicians would be given advance notice about changes in rules.
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Medicare would be required to pay its claims, without demanding more paperwork, unless there is evidence that the bill is incorrect.
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Medicare would be required to actually examine the records, rather than using a statistical sample, to determine that some claims were billed incorrectly.
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Medicare's ability to investigate fraudulent claims would be preserved, while also educating physicians on how to prevent inadvertent billing mistakes that result in overpayments.
Enactment of MERFA is one of the College's highest priorities. The College strongly encourages you to ask your Senators and Representative to cosponsor this important bill if they have not already. Illustrate for your legislators your experiences with the burden of complying with regulations, and how much time it takes you and your staff to deal with complex, confusing, duplicative and unfair Medicare requirements.
E-mail, fax or compose a letter to your legislators through the ACP-ASIM Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/acp/home/ (draft letter provided, please personalize), or call your Senators and Representative toll-free through the ACP-ASIM Grassroots Hotline at 1-888-218-7770. (The Hotline will prompt you for your 8-digit member number, which you can find on the mailing label of ACP-ASIM publications, such as Annals of Internal Medicine.) Report your contacts to Jenn Jenkins in the ACP-ASIM Washington Office at 800-338-2746, ext. 4536, or by blind copying e-mails to jjenkins@acponline.org. Thank you for your help.
What ACP-ASIM is Doing for You Today
"What have you done for me lately?" is a question that ACP-ASIM strives to answer before it is asked, by making membership needs an integral part of its strategic planning process.
As such, the following is a comprehensive list of products and services that ACP-ASIM offers to its members, which was compiled by the Board of Regents. Since the College leadership realizes the needs of its membership are ever-changing, they will continue to re-evaluate this list and add new products and services when appropriate. In addition, the College encourages you, the members, to submit your ideas for changes/additions to the list to Dr. David Dale, Governor, Washington Chapter at dcdale@u.washington.edu.
Education
Self-study
Practice assistance
Publications
Advocacy and professionalism
For Associates and Medical Student Members
International programs
Recognition program
Personal benefits
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From Spokane Residency Program
George G. Novan, MD
Darryl Potyk, MD, FACP, a full-time faculty member of the Internal Medicine Residency Program in Spokane has received the 2001 WWAMI Excellence in Teaching Award from the Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. The award is in recognition of his abilities, enthusiasm and dedication to the teaching of the residents and medical students. Dr. Potyk is currently the Ambulatory Clinic Director for the residency program. His research interests are in perioperative internal medicine consultations. He emphasizes an evidence-based approach to managing medical problems in his teachings and models that for the residents and students when he attends on the wards and in clinic.
Calendar of Events
September 20-22, 2001
WSMA Annual Meeting
Jantzen Beach, OR
October 19-20, 2001
Washington Chapter ACP-ASIM 2001 Annual Meeting
Bell Harbor International Conference Center
Seattle, WA
April 11-14, 2002
ACP-ASIM Annual Session
Philadelphia, PA
Washington Chapter ACP-ASIM 2001 Annual Meeting
"Is It Worth It?
Effectiveness and Cost in the Practice of Medicine"
October 19-20, 2001
Bell Harbor International Conference Center
Pier 66, Seattle, WA
How to Reach Us
Governor
David C. Dale, MD, FACP
U/W, Dept. of Medicine
Box 3564222033
Seattle, WA 98105-6422
Phone: (206) 543-7215
FAX: (206) 685-4458 Email: dcdale@u.washington.edu
Executive Administrator
Kory Diemert
Washington Chapter ACP-ASIM
Sixth Avenue, Suite 1100
Seattle, WA 98121
Phone: (206) 956-3646
FAX: (206) 441-5863
Email: kad@wsma.org
What's New
Contact Information
Carrie Horwitch, MD, FACP
Governor, Washington Chapter
Amanda Miller,
Washington Chapter Staffperson
Phone: 206-956-3650
Fax: 206-441-5863
