August 22, 2023

NEED TO KNOW

Mildred Reardon Medical Student Scholarship Applications Due August 25th

Do you dream of becoming a Vermont doctor? See below to apply for a $10,000 scholarship by August 25th for a rising 3rd year student committed to practicing medicine in Vermont.

The Vermont Medical Society’s Education and Research Foundation (VMSERF) is now accepting applications for the Mildred Reardon scholarship, which awards $10,000 to a University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine third year student committed to practicing medicine in Vermont. The scholarship is made to a student interested in any specialty, with a preference for specialties in high need in Vermont.  The scholarship is tuition-linked and is paid directly to the College of Medicine towards tuition. This year the award will be made at the VMS Annual Meeting, being held at Topnotch in Stowe and virtually on November 3, 2023. 

Click here for more information and details on applying for the scholarship.

Office of Professional Regulation Assessing Licensing Regulations for its Mental Health Professions - Feedback Requested

The Office of Professional Regulation(OPR) is conducting a study to assess Vermont’s mental health profession licensing regulations. This study will evaluate the potential for streamlining Vermont’s mental health profession licensing processes, whether additional regulation of supervisors for mental health professionals-in-training is necessary, and how OPR can more effectively and equitably address barriers to the mental health professions.  Click here to read the Act (page 8).  

The initial study meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 30^th at 12:00pm via Microsoft Teams.

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 279 199 958 105 /  Passcode: zP2g4U

Or call in (audio only) - +1 802-828-7667,,677539144#  

Phone Conference ID: 677 539 144#

Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee Discusses Overdose Prevention Sites

Commissioner of Health Mark Levine led an August 22 Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee meeting. The Committee is made up of a combination of lawmakers, emergency responders, health and addiction medicine specialists, and municipal leaders whose primary responsibility is to provide recommendations on how the State should allocate the opioid settlement dollars recently awarded to Vermont. Levine reported that 70% of Vermont's Opioid Abatement funds go to statewide opioid prevention and recovery efforts, 15% of the funds go to municipal efforts and 15% go to state administrative needs. Click for more information. Through 2028 the State is expected to receive roughly $98 million, not including the Sackler family settlement, which is still being litigated. Vermont moved very quickly in passing H.222 in the 2023 session, which contains the 2023 recommendations from the Advisory Committee on how to spend roughly 1/3 of the $25 million in the abatement funds from 2022/23. Kelly Dougherty, Deputy Health Commissioner, reported on the current progress in implementing the recommendations:

• $1.98 million for naloxone distribution - vending machines and naloxone lockboxes to ensure availability. Ceremony on launch of vending machines next week;
• $1.97 for 29 case management experts as part of our preferred provider network will provide opt-in services;
• $400k syringe service providers expanded education on safe syringe use;
• $840k contingency management services preferred provider network - opt-in services;
• $200k to distribute fentanyl and xylazine test strips - focus on xylazine; and
• drug-checking protocols are in development - RFP to be released shortly. Click here for the VMS Legislative Bulletin, which has a full summary on H.222. 

The Advisory Committee briefly discussed the feasibility of overdose prevention sites in Vermont and heard from Onpoint NYC and and overdose prevention site in British Columbia.

Vermont Board of Medical Practice Call Scam Alert!

Last week, the Vermont Board of Medical Practice heard from Vermont medical professionals who have recently been targeted by scammers who have posed as law enforcement or medical board investigators or staff.

You should have received an email from the Board with details on the incidents and what you can do to avoid being a victim, protect yourself, and recognize these scams.

Frequently the scammers claim to be medical board investigators, DEA agents, or FBI agents. In several reported cases, the scammers claimed that the professionals' medical licenses or prescribing permits had been compromised and were being used by criminals in drug trafficking schemes. Victims were then directed to wire money to foreign bank accounts, and in some cases with a claim that the money would be returned within three days. One report today included a report that the scammer had directed the licensee to go to a UPS store to open an account.

Most of these cases begin with telephone calls, but there may also be text messages, emails, and faxes. In some cases, the thieves are able to make it appear that a call is coming from our office telephone number. Some victims receive information allegedly detailing aspects of the investigation that feature official-looking letterhead, seals, stamps, and water marks from the FBI, DEA, and Department of Justice, as well as publicly available information such as the victims' National Provider Identifier numbers, license numbers, and business address. Criminals may modify their schemes, so you cannot count on a ruse fitting this exact description, but there are certain signs that are almost guaranteed to indicate you are dealing with a scam:

• A demand or request for you to act immediately.
• A demand for money, account information, or protected personal information.

Theses scams are often designed to take advantage of a person's fear of getting in trouble with a regulatory or law enforcement agency and to prompt action before you can think about the situation or seek advice. It is possible that any medical professional could receive a legitimate call from a regulatory body or law enforcement agency, but you can avoid being a victim if you remember one important lesson:

The Board (and other government agencies) will never contact you by telephone, text or email to demand money, account information, or protected personal information in this way. Likewise, no legitimate regulator or law enforcement agent will force you to respond immediately and without opportunity to confirm their identity.

Most initial contacts are by telephone. If you receive such a call, we recommend the following:

• Ask the caller to provide you his or her name and the telephone number of the Board office (or other agency) so that you can call back. Do not call back the number that you are given. Independently check the number on a reliable source if you want to call the Board.

• Do not provide any personal financial or identifying information.

• If you think it may be a legitimate call, get the number of the agency yourself and call the office.

• Report the incident to the local FBI Field Office. Licensees in Vermont should call the FBI Field Office in Albany, NY at (518) 465-7551. For other states check online at: https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices.

Federal Evaluation Finds Vermont’s ACO Model is Successfully Driving Down Health Care Costs

NORC at the University of Chicago recently concluded an independent evaluation of the Vermont All-Payer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model to test whether scaling an ACO model across all major payers in the state would facilitate broad care delivery transformation, reduce statewide spending, and improve population health outcomes.

The evaluation concludes that over its first four years, the Vermont All-Payer ACO Model:

• Reduced gross spending for beneficiaries in the Medicare ACO initiative and for Medicare beneficiaries statewide
• For the Medicare population statewide, hospitalizations and unplanned hospital readmissions have trended downward
• Has achieved key statewide financial targets for Medicare and all-payer total cost of care, maintaining low spending and limiting growth rates well below national projections in the model’s performance years, despite having historically low spending but high spending growth

The report goes on to identify promising practices and factors that have led to success of Vermont’s model, external challenges to success, and implementation challenges. The full report can be found here. 

MISC.

Volunteer Opportunity in Honduras

Cape Cares is a nonsectarian nonprofit organization that has been sending medical-dental teams to rural Honduras for about 30 years. Volunteers (physicians, NPs, PAs, nurses) are needed for a trip from October 21-28th this fall.  The destination is San Marcos, a remote mountain village that is visited twice yearly by a Cape Cares team.  Visit Capecares.org for more information, or contact Dave Coddaire, MD, of Morrisville, the team leader for this trip: 802-798-2496, 802-888-5650 or coddaire@pshift.com.

Commissioner of Health Public Health Notes from Update and Next Call on Thursday, September 7th

The Commissioner of Health, Mark Levine, MD, joined the VMS for a public health update on August 3rd. You can find the notes here.

The next Public Health Update will be Thursday, September 7th at 12:30 pm. Hear about the the most pressing public health information affecting the state and nation and have the opportunity to submit questions to Dr. Levine who will answer them, time-permitting.

You can join the zoom meetings here.

Free State Park Passes for Your Patients

In our 10th Year for this program, the Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation proudly offer free day use State Park Passes for your patients.

The prescriptions are distributed to physician offices. The purpose is to give physicians and their colleagues a meaningful way to discuss with their patients the importance of outdoor exercise and the obvious connection between exercise and good health. This year we hope to reach as many diverse groups as we can. 

If you have questions or if you are interested in participating this year, please let us know at dbutsch@gmail.com. Please let us know how many prescription pads of 50 each you think you will be able to use when you reach out and if you are interested in posters that we may be able to send you.

The prescriptions are numbered and we hope to be able to tell which of your prescriptions were turned in at a State Park if you ask in the fall.

EVENTS

Save the Date: Vermont ACP Chapter Annual Scientific Meeting

September 29, 2023 at Trapp Family Lodge, Stowe, VT

The Vermont ACP Chapter's Annual Scientific Meeting will occur on Friday, September 29, 2023. We are planning for an in person meeting. We will again host a poster competition for resident and student members.

Update your medical knowledge, engage with colleagues, and receive 5 AMA PRA Category 1 CME credits and 5 MOC points.

Meeting details, agenda and registration information will be forthcoming.

Primary Care Sports Medicine and

The 2023 Primary Care Sports Medicine and Wilderness Medicine is designed to update knowledge and skills in the diagnosis and management of common sports medicine and wilderness medicine problems. Topics will include discussions of medical and orthopedic issues. There will be ample opportunity for participants to ask questions and interact with faculty, who hail from the University of Vermont Health Network and local community. The teaching program includes lectures and workshops.

For more information, go to the website here.

Register Now for the 210th Annual and Collaborative Meeting

November 3-4, 2023

The 210th VMS Annual Meeting will be held on November 3rd and 4th in person at Topnotch Resort, Stowe, VT, with virtual options. The weekend will be filled with educational content, time spent with colleagues, policy-setting meetings, and the opportunity to honor physicians and other health care leaders across the state.

Register here and nominate Vermont leaders who have provided outstanding contributions to the medical profession, to health organizations and to the welfare of the public for a VMS Leadership Award here.

CPT & RBRVS 2024 Annual Symposium

November 15-17, 2023

CPT & RBRVS 2024 Annual Symposium is the world's only medical coding conference where attendees learn about the upcoming changes to the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set and payment policies directly from members of the AMA-convened CPT Editorial Panel, AMA/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC), and CPT and RUC Advisors.

Join virtually to get the first look at the 2024 CPT code set with guidance from the experts, earn continuing education credits, and join over a thousand of your peers for premier coding education at the CPT & RBRVS Symposium!

Register with early bird discounted rates through September 30th here.

For more information about offerings from UVM CMIE, visit here.

Vermont Medical Society

134 Main Street

Montpelier, VT 05602

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