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In this Issue:
- Governor's Corner
- High Value Virtual Journal Club
- Interested in being a Chapter Wellbeing Champion?
- Annual Chapter Meeting
- Chapter Awards
- Advocacy Update
- News from the National ACP:
Alwinn Steinmann, MD, FACP, ACP Governor
Governor's Corner
As I sit here writing this, it is the first official day of autumn, and it feels like it! After our warm, smoky, “delta variant” summer, I am looking forward to fall. I hope you all had some opportunity to destress over the summer and do some traveling or at least enjoy what Colorado has to offer. Given that this newsletter covers the summer period, there are not a lot of updates to share, but here are a few items:
High Value Virtual Journal Club
Thanks to the efforts of Drs. Marianne Novelli and Mugabe Walker, our chapter hosted three virtual journal club sessions over the summer. These are brief (30 min) zoom calls in which 1-2 high impact articles are reviewed and a short COVID update occurs as well. This has also been opened up to members of our neighboring New Mexico chapter as well. We hope that as we move past the summer and people get into a more usual routine, we can expand participation in this new chapter venture. These sessions take place at 5pm on the second Tuesday of the month - watch for e-mail notifications!
Interested in being a Chapter Wellbeing Champion?
For a few years now, the national ACP has had a program through which interested chapter members can receive training and serve up to three years as one of our chapter wellbeing “champions”. The role of a champion is to help promote wellness activities, resources and communications within our chapter.
Training is provided by the ACP (likely virtual training delivered between January and March of next year), and our current champions, whose terms are ending) will be an available resource. Many thanks to our current champions - Drs. Lela Mansoori and Rick Miranda!
If you might be interested and want more information, please email me at alwin.steinmann@sclhealth.org
Annual Chapter Meeting
Our annual meeting is planned for Feb. 4 - 5, 2022 at the Broadmoor. (SEP Modules on 2/3). At this point we are planning on an in-person meeting with a probable virtual option. More to come, but please save the dates!
Chapter Awards
Please watch for the upcoming call for nominations for our Chapter awards.
We ask that you strongly consider nominating a deserving colleague for one of our awards!
Advocacy Update
Summer is typically a fairly quiet time in the advocacy realm. The State is doing early work around the “Colorado Option” standardized plan design. Our chapter has been working with the Colorado Medical Society's (CMS) Committee on Value in Healthcare to provide input to the State. ACP member Dr. Dave Downs Chairs that committee, and I participate as a member.
Also, I recently rotated off the Colorado Primary Care Payment Reform Collaborative, which is under the Department of Insurance. ACP member Dr. Raj Kadari has been appointed as a new member of that body.
Link to a recent NEJM editorial discussing state efforts at significant healthcare reform, including the Colorado plan.
News from the National ACP:
Annual Report of the EVP and CEO
This was a year marked by uncertainty and upheaval, but even in the most trying of times, internal medicine stepped up and stood out for its leadership role and steady focus on prioritizing the welfare of patients and focusing on evidence-based guidance. Read more of the Annual Report here.
ACP Statement on For-Profit health Care -
ACP Says Profit Motive in Medicine May Contribute to a Broken Health Care System. Read more here.