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Indiana Governor's Newsletter May 2020

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In this Issue:
- Governor's Welcome
- Congratulations Indiana New Master
- ACP's Comprehensive COVID 19 Resources
- Internal Medicine: Leaders. Patient Champions. Essential.
- COVID-19 Information Resources from Other Organizations
- A Message for All Internists
- Resolutions Update

Bradley M. Sutter, MD, FACP, ACP Governor
Governor's Welcome
Dear Indiana ACP Colleagues:
Greetings from your new Governor! I am honored and privileged to have the opportunity to represent each of you to our national ACP colleagues, now over 159,000 members strong. I know that all of us are overwhelmed with emails related to COVID19, our healthcare system expectations, patient needs, and family issues, so I pledge to keep our email communications helpful and informative.
I am so proud to represent our 1,800 Indiana ACP members, residents, and students, especially at a time when the knowledge and clinical expertise of Internal Medicine physicians and subspecialists are so critical, and so obvious to all. “Healthcare Heroes” is indeed a deserved and appropriate appellation. On behalf of the ACP Indiana Chapter, let me take this opportunity to thank each of you for your contributions to the effort to care for patients, families, and each other, during the COVID19 pandemic.
Please know that we are actively working with ACP National to determine an optimal way to deliver meaningful CME to each of you during this unprecedented time, be it via virtual, or in-person meetings.
We are also providing links to various ACP National COVID19 resources for your practices, as well as your personal well-being
I am confident that we will discover many “silver linings” to the dark clouds currently enveloping our practice of medicine. The ability to rapidly share important medical information via virtual meeting resources has certainly been extremely valuable in dealing with this virus, and will not disappear when the crisis abates; likewise, telemedicine, “hospital at home,” and virtual specialty consults are just a few of the many innovations that will most certainly positively impact our practices going forward.
Let me also take this opportunity to thank the inimitable Dr. Brad Allen, who admirably served as our Governor for the past 4 years. Dr. Allen helped the chapter make enormous strides in membership outreach, resident and student participation, and made important contributions to foster international medical community relationships and understanding. Indeed, thanks to Dr. Allen's efforts, our Indiana Chapter was recently awarded an Evergreen Award by ACP National, in recognition of our budding and mutually beneficial relationship with our ACP colleagues in Chile.
Whether we meet in-person in late October of this year, or virtually, I want to share my enthusiasm for the future of our Indiana ACP Chapter, and the incredible potential we all possess to shape a better healthcare future for all.
Sincerely,
Bradley M. Sutter, MD, FACP
Governor, Indiana Chapter, American College of Physicians
Service Line Leader, Hospitalists
Indiana University Health Physicians
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
Indianapolis, Indiana
Phone: 317-962-8776; 317-306-8331
Emails: bsutter@iu.edu bsutter2@iuhealth.org
Congratulations Indiana New Master
J. Matthew Neal, MD, MBA, MACP, FACE
Muncie, IN

Masters are highly accomplished persons demonstrating impact in practice, leadership, or in medical research. Evidence of their achievements can come from many types of endeavors such as renown within their field and/or ACP chapter, research, education, health care initiatives, volunteerism, administrative positions, care of patients, and service to their community.
Thursday, April 23, 2020, was to be the day of the 2020 Convocation Ceremony. ACP Indiana was looking forward to celebrating Dr. Neal's achievements. We regret that we must wait a full year to recognize him, but we congratulate him on his award.
ACP's Comprehensive COVID 19 Resources
ACP is committed to doing everything possible to help internists prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19 virus to ensure that our patients get the care they need.
The resources on our regularly updated webpage include:
- Educational resources, including ACP's “Novel Coronavirus: A Physician's Guide”
- Podcasts
- Resources on Telehealth including ACP's New Curriculum, Telemedicine: A Practical Guide for Incorporation into your Practice, and ACP's Telehealth Coding and Billing Practice Management Tips
- The collection of Annals of Internal Medicine
- Advocacy and Regulatory letters and statements
- A link to ACP's Member Forum
Internal Medicine: Leaders. Patient Champions. Essential.
The global pandemic has brought to light what we've known all along—internists are essential. Thank you for leading, putting patients first, and exemplifying the best in medicine.

COVID-19 Information Resources from Other Organizations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html
Johns Hopkins University: Corona Virus Resource Center https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
ISMA COVID-19 Resources and Business Impact Resources https://www.ismanet.org/ISMA/Resources/Coronavirus%20Resources.aspx
A Message for All Internists
Meet Dr. Nirav R. Shah, MD, MPH, MACP, the Keynote Speaker originally scheduled for ACP's Internal Medicine Meeting 2020. Dr. Shah is Senior Scholar at Stanford University's Clinical Excellence Research Center. He is a leader in patient safety and quality, innovation and digital health, and the strategies required to transition to lower-cost, patient-centered health care. Dr. Shah continues his clinical efforts as well, serving on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing patients, and using his diagnostic skills to assess and treat ailments to yield the best outcomes. Board-certified in Internal Medicine, Dr. Shah is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale School of Medicine, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Previously, he served as senior vice president and Chief Operating Officer for Clinical Operations for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, and as Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health.
In this video, Dr. Shah poignantly describes the changing landscape and dynamic of internal medicine and discusses how transitions in team-based care in the future will allow for better patient outcomes.
Please view Dr. Shah's video message that all internists should hear during these challenging times.
Resolutions Update
It is clear we are living in unprecedented times with so much uncertainty about what lies ahead. After careful consideration of the feedback and comments received from the Board of Governors, many of who are on the front lines, the discussion of the spring resolutions has been postponed until the fall. The ability for many Governors to find the time or focus effectively on resolutions right now seems unlikely. Given there is a full slate of resolutions the College will not accept any new resolutions for the fall.