January 17, 2023

NEED TO KNOW

Take Action Today: RSVP for VMS Advocacy Day Tomorrow

If you have not registered yet, please RSVP and plan to join VMS member colleagues for the 2023 VMS Advocacy Day at the Statehouse in Montpelier tomorrow afternoon from 2-6PM. This is a unique opportunity early in the new legislative session to let lawmakers know how they can help address the pressing issues you and your patients are facing. The VMS policy staff knows this session lawmakers will be introducing policies on the topics listed in the graphic above. Some policies the VMS supports, some the VMS opposes, and all of them would benefit from the perspective of practicing clinicians

You are invited to attend in-person for all or some of our advocacy activities, including:

• 2-3pm: Advocacy Know-How: Learn more about the 2023 VMS Policy Priorities and how to engage your lawmakers on these topics
• 3-4pm: Observe Statehouse Committee Work: Observe Legislative Committees at work discussing issues relevant to your practice and patients (with possible limited opportunities to testify)
• 4-6pm: Legislative Reception in Cafeteria: Invite your lawmakers to attend our reception "Health Care Crisis: Steps to Ensure the Survival of Medicine in Vermont"

Please reach out to Jill with any questions at jsudhoffguerin@vtmd.org

Please RVSP here.

Commissioner of Health Public Health Update on February 2nd and Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems Meeting Notes

Commissioner of Health Mark Levine, MD, gave a public health update on Friday to the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems. Notes from the call can be found here. He highlighted that the Department of Health is aware of the pressures still facing Vermont hospitals and the challenges transferring patients as well as discharging patients to skilled nursing facilities and home health.  The Vermont Department of Disability, Aging and Independent Living (DAIL) is working to assist with staffing skilled nursing facility beds, address challenging discharges, and explore the health part of the equation.

The next Public Health Update call will be on Thursday, February 2nd at 12:30 pm. 

You can join the zoom meetings here.

MISC.

Big Provisions in $1.7 Trillion Omnibus: What Doctors Should Know

In enacting the end-of-the-year spending package, Washington politicians failed to stop the entirety of scheduled Medicare pay cuts, which will come at a financially precarious time for physician practices left reeling in the COVID-19 pandemic’s third year. Nevertheless, the $1.7 trillion bill signed by President Joe Biden does include a number of important AMA-supported provisions that physicians should know about. Read the full story from Kevin B. O’Reilly, AMA News editor, here.

Of note, the bill included an immediate elimination of the X-waiver, which required prescribers to obtain specific training and federal certification to prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder.  On the other hand, it also contained the Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act which will require all health care practitioners to receive one-time, eight hours of addiction education and training before receiving or renewing their DEA license.  Visit the SAMHSA website for future developments on this training requirement. 

Physician Executive Leadership Course Kicks off This Week

The Vermont Medical Society Education and Research Foundation (VMSERF) recently announced the selection of participants for its fourth Physician Executive Leadership Institute (PELI) Foundational Course.  This year’s class consists of 14 physicians from a broad range of specialties and employment settings. Find their biographies here. The course begins this Thursday with the first session focusing on systems thinking and the importance of leadership in healthcare. The VMSERF Board will also introduce themselves to the cohort and discuss their paths into leadership.   

Hospital Association Releases Workplace Violence Toolkit

The Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems recently released a toolkit to address workplace violence in health care. The toolkit includes steps hospitals and health facilities can take to address violence against workers, as well as resources and model signs. Find the toolkit here.

Drug Utilization Review Board is Currently Seeking Board Members

The Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) manages the publicly funded benefit programs for the State of Vermont including the pharmacy benefit programs and oversees the activities of the Drug Utilization Review Board (DURB). The DURB is composed of prescribers, pharmacists, and other qualified medical professionals that meet approximately every six weeks with a total of seven meetings per year. Materials for the meeting are sent via email ahead of time to allow DUR Board members to review before the meeting. The agenda typically consists of:

• Drug utilization review and analyses
• Review of new drugs, new indications, and dosage forms
• Therapeutic class review including recently published treatment guidelines and best practices that may influence clinical criteria
• Safety information
• Drug information pertinent to managing the drug benefit programs of DVHA for the State of Vermont

You can find the DURB description, meeting schedule and location, meeting agenda’s, meeting minutes, current members, and contact information on our website at Drug Utilization Review Board | Department of Vermont Health Access

For additional information on being a part of the Drug Utilization Review Board, please email or call Taylor Robichaud at Taylor.A.Robichaud@Vermont.gov / 802-585-8744  

EVENTS

Emergency Medicine Update

January 22 - 25, 2023

In-Person - Lodge at Spruce Peak, Stowe, VT

This course will discuss a variety of timely, practical issues that are encountered in the emergency department on a daily basis. Lectures will be engaging, sometimes controversial, and present the audience with examples of both successes and failures in emergency medicine. At the end of this program, participants should be able to distinguish between advancement and change in the emergency department in a relaxed, family-oriented environment where learning does equal fun!

All emergency medicine professionals are welcome.

AMA Steps Forward: Private Practice Simple Solutions

January 24, 2023, 10:15am CST to 11am CD+ST

Virtual 

AMA Private Practice Simple Solutions are free, open access rapid learning cycles designed to provide opportunities to implement actionable changes that can immediately increase efficiency in private practices.

This upcoming Private Practice Simple Solutions session, hosted in collaboration with the AMA Telehealth Immersion Program, is a four-week learning session using the AMA Telehealth Implementation Playbook as a guide and is aimed to support private practices in continuing to leverage telehealth and virtual care to provide patient care.

Physicians will be able to access a pre-recorded didactic presentation and a discussion board. The discussion board runs for 4 weeks, offering opportunities to interact with fellow cohort members and ask questions of the subject matter experts who oversee the session. 

Topics addressed will include:

Hospital Medicine 2023

January 29 - 31, 2023

In-Person - Lodge at Spruce Peak, Stowe, VT

This course will provide practical approaches to common problems in hospital medicine informed by experts and the latest evidence. Target audience: physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and nurses practicing Hospital Medicine. Also open to program administrators, resident physicians, and medical students with an interest in careers in Hospital Medicine. Topics will include: Curbing the Opioid Crisis, Pharmacy Pearls, Long COVID, Biliary Disease, End of Life Care in the Hospital. Optional workshop: POCUS

Grand Rounds with Dr. Libby Stuyt

January 31, 2023, 9am to 10:30am ET

Virtual

Dr. Libby Stuyt is a board-certified Addiction Psychiatrist and has worked in the addiction/behavioral health field since 1990.

Her current mission is to educate as many people as possible on the un-intended consequences of the

commercialization of marijuana in Colorado, focusing primarily on the deleterious effects of high potency

THC on the developing brain.

This webinar will discuss the negative impacts of high potency THC on community and patient safety.

Learn more here.

Register here.

Eastern Winter Dermatology Conference

February 2 - 5, 2023

In-person - Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa, Stowe, VT

The 34^th Annual Eastern Winter Dermatology conference is designed to provide high-level continuing education for dermatologists and medical professionals specializing in dermatology, keeping them abreast of new and exciting findings in basic science, clinical dermatology and dermatologic therapy. Primary care physicians and medical professionals with a special interest in dermatology are also welcome to attend. Topics will include: Acne & rosacea update, innovations in connective tissue disease management, diagnosis of early CTCL, hidradenitis suppurativa, pediatric psoriasis issues, professional development - “how to say no,” erythema migrans pearls, management of high risk skin cancer, medical pearls from the literature and more!

2023 Epilepsy & EEG in Clinical Practice

February 10, 2023

In-person - Main Street Landing, Burlington, VT

Held in Burlington for the first time, the 2023 Epilepsy & EEG course will focus on providing a review of current medical and surgical clinical practices related to seizures and conjunction with adjunctive EEG testing and will address errors that may lead to incorrect diagnosis and treatment. An interactive and didactic format that includes multimedia presentations and allows for audience participation. Target audience: internists, family practice and general practice physicians, pediatricians, neurologists, physician assistants, nurses, allied health professionals and residents involved in the care of patients with seizures and epilepsy are encouraged to attend.

Note: This is being held in conjunction with the EAEEG Annual Meeting. There is a discount for attending both events.

Future Health Best: Practices for Advancing Care

March 31, 2023

Virtual and In-person at Waltham, MA

Join physician leaders and health care experts from the Northeast for a signature event to share knowledge and research that advances equitable, sustainable, patient-centered, and best-in-class health care.

For more information about the speakers, program, CME accreditation and to register please visit here.

Note: You can use the discount code of FHB23NE when registering for this event 

Save the Dates - Preparing for and Delivering Value-Based Care in Rural Communities

April 4th, May 2nd, June 6th, and June 27th, 2023

View the topics of the webinar series here.

Look for more information and registration details in February 2023 

More conferences from UVM CMIE are expected this Spring to include these topics: Anesthesia, Cardiovascular/Vascular Disease, Geriatrics and Family Medicine. Sign-up to get updates via email for topics that are of interest here

Vermont Medical Society

134 Main Street

Montpelier, VT 05602

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