Welcome to the DCMS E-Newsletter!
In This Issue:
 President's Message
Brief Reminder about DCMS Committees
2010 President's Dinner a Great Success!
DCMS Members Recognized for 50 Years of Service
Submit a Resolution Today
September 11: The Skinny on Diets CME Event
Petition Drive Targets SGR, Medicare Cuts
DCMS Alliance Report
Haiti Experience
Patient Safety CME Clarification
Harrisburg Town Hall Meeting
Contribute to the Gunder Fund
Welcome New Members
2010 Calendar of Events
President's Message
By Gwendolyn Poles, DO
Let me first begin by thanking all of you who were able to participate in my President’s Dinner in support of the Community Check-Up Center of South Harrisburg. Both the Check-Up Center and I are grateful for your participation, whether by attending the dinner or by being a sponsor, advertiser, patron, or exhibitor. Attendance was excellent with diverse representation – physicians, members of the community, friends, and family.
Our speakers were well-versed and engaging in the topic of health care disparities. They addressed the topic from two perspectives that, on the surface, appear unrelated but are inseparable if we truly desire equality in health care access and outcomes.
Dr. Donald Spigner, a well-respected family practitioner in Harrisburg, and Dr. Vivian Gadsden, an educator from the University of Pennsylvania, tackled the medical aspect and the educational impact on health care disparities, respectively.
With the looming implementation of “health care reform” and the emphasis by insurers, hospital systems, and other entities on accountability and measuring outcomes, challenges to physicians will undoubtedly continue to increase.
In the May 3, 2010, AMA posting entitled, “Ending health disparities takes interdisciplinary approach,” AMA President J. James Rohack, MD, discussed the persistence of racial and ethnic health disparities among both insured and uninsured in the context of the expansion of health insurance coverage through health care reform. To quote: “While the passage of PL 111-148 and 111-152 -- the health system reform package -- was historic, it is not the final step in achieving health care reform in the United States.” He goes on to note that “So the documentation of the disparities is well known, widely disseminated and becoming more accurate all the time. The question becomes, "Now what?"
At the national level, the AMA, the National Medical Association, and the National Hispanic Medical Association are addressing this through the Commission to End Health Care Disparities, an organization founded by these organizations. Their focus is on promoting policies aimed at eliminating health disparities.
So…what can we do in Dauphin County and, more broadly, Central Pennsylvania to address this issue? How can we locally impact any of the following documented findings AND prepare for the imminent implementation of “health care reform?”
1. The death rate due to heart disease in the U.S. has fallen 66% over the past 60 years but not equally for all racial groups and in all areas of the country; e.g., it has declined 65% for white men and 50% for black men from 1950 – 2006 (US Dept. of Health and Human Services).
2. Nationally, blacks are four times more likely than whites to have kidney failure but less than half as likely to receive transplants from living donors.
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine assessed the perceptions and experiences of 126 patients evaluated for kidney transplants at either the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center or the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. Multiple factors were identified that contributed to longer waits for kidney transplant approval, including patient perception, health literacy, and resources.
3. The American Cancer Society’s report, Cancer Facts and Figures For African Americans 2009 – 2010, states that “African Americans have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial and ethnic group in the U.S. for most cancers.” Again, the causes are complex and include inequalities in work, wealth, income, education, housing and overall standard of living, barriers to high-quality health care, and racial discrimination.
4. Connie Curry and Julia Cass state in their Children’s Defense Fund Report, America’s Cradle to Prison Pipeline, “Children know by about the third grade whether they are part of the mainstream or of another, more marginal world. Those who are routinely disciplined or struggle with schoolwork mentally drop out at this point. They actually leave school in the ninth grade, the major exit ramp from the path to college. The ninth grade is also the school year when many youth commit their first criminal offenses.”
5. The national graduation rate for the class of 1998 was 71%. For white students the rate was 78%, 56% for African-American students, 54% for Latino students (Jay P. Greene, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research).
Well…taking the AMA’s lead, there are many options.
1. We can decide for ourselves and encourage our colleagues to become involved in the implementation process of health care reform through organized medicine.
2. We can actively participate in the political process.
3. By virtue of our profession, we can engage and influence our community leaders and community-based organizations.
4. We can impact our educational system and encourage bright, motivated, but possibly disenfranchised young students to eagerly pursue a career in health care.
5. We can mentor youngsters through local organizations, who otherwise may never consider such a lofty goal as medicine, because they have been misled to believe that this is out of reach for them.
6. Or, we can just sit back and complain and allow whatever happens to happen and then complain some more!
Dr. Rohack also stated that “In fact, it is likely that health care disparities may worsen if not addressed proactively during the changes in store as the American health care system evolves" and "...when patients do not understand their medical conditions or what to do to control them, unnecessary health care costs will only increase. And that is a situation the AMA is committed to avoiding – both for our patients' health, and for our country's economic future.”
I will continue to repeat my message of the need for physician involvement. Many options exist, all of which can have an impact, except sitting on the sidelines!
Dr. Rohack’s Posting
Kaiser's May Update on Health Disparities
Brief Reminder about DCMS Committees
Robert Ettlinger, MD, Chair, Networking and Membership Task Force
As stated in a recent newsletter, DCMS is looking for members to participate on various committees, whose functions support the overall goals of the Society. If you're thinking that you just don't have one more minute to spare on anything related to work, please remember that involvement with these committees incurs a very minimal amount of time on your part. Typically, it might involve a one-hour meeting yearly or a few phone calls or e-mails. Above and beyond that, only if you so desire, very little is expected of you in the way of time expenditure. We desperately need your help. The work of these committees comprises the main efforts of DCMS members outside of our quarterly Board meetings. Imagine the look of pride on your dear mother's face when she finds out that you've volunteered!
The following is a list of our current committees. Please call us if interested in helping, or for more information.
1. Community Involvement
2. Networking and Membership
3. Education
4. Bylaws
5. Grievance
6. Doc Talk
7. Scholarship
2010 President's Dinner a Great Success!
On Friday, May 14, Gwendolyn A. Poles, DO, was formally celebrated as the 144th President of DCMS. The event was held at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, and attendees had the pleasure of touring the historic facility and enjoying dinner with colleagues.
The guest speakers presented an interactive discussion on “Healthcare Disparities.” The speakers included Donald Spigner, MD, a Harrisburg family practitioner and DCMS past president, and Vivian Gadsden, EdD, with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, who is the William T. Carter Professor of Child Development and Education, Director of the National Center on Fathers and Families, and Associate Director of the National Center on Adult Literacy.
Dr. Poles presented outgoing President, Andrew Richards, MD, FACS, with a plaque, in recognition of his hard work, leadership and dedication as President of DCMS from 2008-2009.
All proceeds from the President's Dinner will go to the Community Check-Up Center of South Harrisburg, which serves a very impoverished community.
Thank you to all those who attended and a special "thank you" to the following sponsors.
Gold Sponsor
PMSLIC
Bronze Sponsor
Harrisburg Gastroenterology, Ltd.
Oakwood Cancer Center
KePRO
Pennsylvania Neurological Associates and Sleep Health Center
PinnacleHealth Hospitals
PinnacleHealth Hospitals Medical Staff
Unrestricted Grant
Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute
Exhibitor
Boehringer Ingelheim
Patron
Dr. and Mrs. Domingo T. Alvear
Homeland Center/Homeland Hospice
Virginia and Don Kuhn
George W. Kunkel, MD
Moffitt Heart & Vascular Group
Margery Wasko, MD, and Michael Katzman, MD
DCMS Members Recognized for 50 Years of Service
|  | DCMS Board members and award recipients: Drs. Ettlinger, Fischman, Goldman, Poles, Kunkel, Gordon, Yates, and Weigel
| |
DCMS recently recognized eight area physicians for achieving 50 years of professional medical service since their graduation from medical school. This is a long-held tradition of both the state and county medical societies. At the March meeting of the Board of Directors, Gwendolyn Poles, DO, president of the Society, presented each recipient with a lapel pin and recognition plaque “providing testimony to their faithful performance in the traditional ideals of the medical profession.”
Four of the honorees were able to accept the recognition in person. William Gordon, MD, a retired family medicine practitioner and 48-year member resides in West Hanover Township. George Kunkel, MD, is a practicing rheumatologist in Susquehanna Township and a 40-year member of the Society. Jesse Weigel, MD, is a retired emergency medicine physician from Mechanicsburg and a 48-year member. James Yates, MD, is a practicing plastic surgeon in Camp Hill and a 40-year member.
Dr. Poles also recognized four members who were unable to attend the ceremony. Robert Greer, III, MD, from East Berlin is a 41-year-member and retired orthopedic surgeon. Leonard Griff, MD, is a retired radiologist living in Lantana, Florida, and a 36-year member. Francis Perna, MD, is a part-time endocrinologist in New Cumberland and a 42-year member. LeRoy Zeigler, Jr., MD, is a retired anesthesiologist from Mechanicsburg and a 43-year member of the Society.
DCMS would again like to congratulate these recipients and express our appreciation for their many years of dedicated service.
Submit a Resolution Today
We encourage the members of the Dauphin County Medical Society to submit a resolution for the Pennsylvania Medical Society's House of Delegates meeting, scheduled for October 23-24, 2010.
A resolution is the vehicle that conveys to the House of Delegates a proposal from an individual, a component or specialty society, or a section on a particular subject. In order for the DCMS delegation to have time to review submissions, please submit your resolutions no later than Monday, August 23. To save time, please email your resolutions to our office at dauphincms@pamedsoc.org. All resolutions accepted as business of the House will be considered at open hearings of reference committees, which will be held at staggered intervals on Saturday, October 23. Voting on the resolutions will occur on Sunday, October 24.
|
|
DCMS will be hosting an CME Seminar on Saturday, September 11, at the Wildwood Conference Center at HACC in Harrisburg. Just in time for your license renewal, this course is designed to meet patient safety requirements! Topics will include trendy diet plans, adult eating disorders, weight loss surgery, exercise, pharmacologic weight management, and pregnancy in the obese patient. Don't miss this opportunity to learn how to handle this pervasive issue in your daily practice.
If you have any questions please contact Lauren Ramsey, DCMS Meeting Manager, at (717) 558-7841 or lramsey@pamedsoc.org.
Physicians can be a part of a grassroots campaign to avert drastic Medicare payment cuts, and preserve patient access to medical care, by participating in a petition drive.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society is joining a number of other state medical associations in circulating online and printed petitions to be signed by patients, physicians, and medical practice staff. A downloadable petition can be found here. Also available is a flyer describing the problem. Fax completed petitions to (717) 558-7869.
Patients should be directed to the online petition at www.ipetitions.com. Please encourage your patients to go online to complete the petition rather asking them to sign a paper version in the office because that could be a HIPAA violation.
Congress is once again working on a temporary solution to the sustainable growth rate (SGR) Medicare payment formula. A threatened 21.3 percent cut in physician reimbursement is repeatedly delayed, but a permanent solution is needed.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society and 40 state county medical societies have sent a letter to Pennsylvania's US senators and represenatives urging them to support a permanent fix.
The results of a Medicare payment cut could be disastrous in Pennsylvania where 18 percent of the population is on Medicare and another 160,000 people are on TRICARE.
Additional information is available on both the AMA and PAMED websites.
The Dauphin County Medical Society Alliance (DCMSA) held its 7th annual fashion show, “Spring into Fashion,” on April 13 at the West Shore Country Club. Even in these difficult times, the event was a huge success. This is our largest fundraiser and it makes it possible for the Alliance to donate $10,000 in grants to local organizations. A few of the grants given this year included the AMES Fund, the Community Check-up Center, Shalom House, and the Interfaith Shelter. Thank you to all the DCMS and DCMSA members and spouses that contributed to this important fundraiser by attending or giving a donation.
In coordination with Doctor’s Day, the Alliance awarded certificates and tickets to the State Museum of Pennsylvania and planetarium to over 90 area 4th grade students who have excelled in science. Eighth grade science award students were recognized in May at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center with talks by various medical professionals and a visit to the Life Lion.
We have continued our affiliation with the Lincoln Elementary School, coordinating with the Penn State nursing program and a certified holistic health counselor to present information to parents and children about healthy eating. Members of the Alliance provided a healthy meal and items for a raffle to help families get started on making the changes that were discussed.
In May, the DCMSA installed our new executive officers who started their duties in June. I want to welcome Barb McGrath as our new president. DCMSA encourages PAMED spouses to become members. We are currently sending out dues forms. If interested, please contact Kendra Yodfat at kyodfat@yahoo.com.
It has been a privilege to be the president over this past year and to work with members of both the DCMS and DCMSA.
From April 9-16, 2010, the World Surgical Foundation (WSF) sent a small contingent to the Adventist Hospital in Carrefour, Haiti.
The volunteers included Doctors George Faries and John Reidell, general surgeons, John Frankeny, orthopedic surgeon, Todd Scheaffer, anesthesiologist, and RNs, Pam Harding and Beverly Frankeny. Photo video journalist Sandra Valle and Ossian Or from Double O Media and volunteer Francine Henderson also accompanied the group. They performed 34 major surgical procedures and 11 minor procedures along with some consultations.
The devastation in Haiti is indescribable and sad. If anyone wants to join the WSF Haiti team, they can go to the website www.worldsurgicalfoundation.org, or call 717-232-1404. WSF is planning to send another team in September 2010 and plans to send more teams over the next two years.
How do I know if a CME activity is patient safety or risk management?
The following list of topics satisfy the patient safety/risk management requirement:
•Improving medical records and record keeping
•Reducing medical errors
•Professional conduct and ethics
•Improving communication among physicians and with other health care personnel
•Communication between physicians and patients
•Preventive medicine education
•Health care quality improvement
As long as the CME activity falls within these topics, a physician can count it toward the patient safety/risk management requirement. The course does not have to state, and very likely may not, that it is a patient safety or risk management course.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society CME certificates reflect the number of AMA PRA Category 1 credits that have been earned; and if the topic meets one of the subjects above, the physician can then claim it towards their patient safety requirements.
Please call the DCMS office at (717) 558-7849 with any questions regarding our CME courses.
On Wednesday, April 21, WITF partnered with Capital BlueCross and hosted a special town hall meeting-style Smart Talk Health Care Forum in Harrisburg. James Goodyear, MD, President of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, participated as an expert commentor. He and the other panel members discussed the major components of health care legislation, the financial and quality of care implications, the timeline for implementation, and the overall long-term impact on the public. Dr. Goodyear reported that this event went very well. DCMS hopes that there will be more events like this as the health care reform legislation emerges.
We urge you to make a tax-free contribution to the Scott A. Gunder, MD, DCMS Scholarship Fund -- a charitable program near and dear to us. We need to raise funds in order to allow us to continue with our current award amount and also have the fund be self perpetuating.
The Gunder Fund currently awards a $1,500 scholarship to a 2nd-year medical student at the Penn State College of Medicine.
In 2000, DCMS established the Gunder scholarship in conjunction with The Foundation of the Pennsylvania Medical Society to honor the memory of DCMS President Scott A. Gunder, MD. Dr. Gunder was a Harrisburg gastroenterologist and a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey.
Please help us reach our goal!
The Foundation, which administers the Gunder scholarship, provides philanthropic opportunities for physicians and others to support programs that benefit the commonwealth’s medical community. For more information about the annual Gunder scholarship,including how to apply,visit http://www.foundationpamedsoc.org/SFS/Scholarships/Gunder.aspx. Donations to the Gunder scholarship can be made online by going to The Foundation of the Pennsylvania Medical Society website and designate your gift to the Gunder Scholarship Fund. Or you can mail your check payable to The Foundation of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, Attention Student Financial Services, 777 East Park Drive, Harrisburg, PA 17111. Please write “DCMS/Gunder” on the memo line of the check so that it is credited properly.
Active Members
Kathryn A. Bonnett, MD, Dermatology
Crumay Parnes Associates
Pamela L. Brian, MD, Diagnostic Radiology
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Robert A. Gabbay, MD, Diabetes
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Kara Garcia, MD, Pediatrics
Tan and Garcia Pediatrics PC
Sandeep Mehrok, MD, Internal Medicine
Pinnacle Health Internal Medicine Associates
Muhammad Azim Qureshi, MD, Pediatrics
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
George O. Rosenwasser, MD, Ophthalmology
Central Penn Eye Institute
Christopher Lowry Schaiberger, MD, Neurological Surgery
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Lisa S. Tkatch, MD, Infectious Diseases
Kantor-Tkatch Associates
Resident Members
Natalie Dubchak, MD
Leonardo Anthony Geraci, DO
Tristram G. Horton, MD
Marek Kurowski, MD
Scott Max Sorenson, MD
Student Members
Aaron R. Baker
Trey C. Banbizzle
Zainul Shoyeb Hasanali
Sameer J. Khan
Ammon Jean Larsen
Joshua Kyle Naporn
Sheryl Purrier
Thomas David Rodgers, Jr.
Pamela Sue Wager
David Michael Yearsley
Board of Governors Meetings
September 1, December 1
6:15 PM at Society headquarters
Executive Committee (Officers)
July 7, August 4, October 6, November 3
6:30 PM at Society headquarters
DCMS Fall CME Program, The Skinny on Diets
September 11, 2010
Harrisburg Area Community College Wildwood Conference Center
PA Medical Society Annual Business Meeting - House of Delegates
October 23-24, 2010
Hershey Lodge
How to Reach Us
777 East Park Drive, PO Box 8820, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8820
Phone: (717) 558-7849 Fax: (717) 558-7841
Michele Gaiski, Executive Director
Kristi Spargo, Staff Editor and Assistant Executive
Lauren Ramsey, Meeting Manager
Tabitha Black, Administrative Secretary
Submission of Newsletter Articles
The Reporter accepts unsolicited newsletter articles, however, there is no guarantee that they will be published. All submissions are subject to review. Articles should be of interest/pertain to physicians, their practice, and health care in the Dauphin County/Capital Region. Local, state, and national perspectives are welcome. Submissions that are self-promotional or commercial in nature will not be accepted. Send your articles to the Society at Dauphincms@pamedsoc.org or fax to (717) 558-7841.
The opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Society.
Publication of advertising does not imply endorsement of the products advertised or the statements contained in such advertising by the Dauphin County Medical Society Reporter or the Dauphin County Medical Society.
Mission
The Dauphin County Medical Society, founded in 1866, seeks to serve its members, the medical community, and the citizens of Dauphin and surrounding Counties. The Society's mission includes: upholding the ethics and dignity of the medical profession, elevating and maintaining the highest standards of healthcare, promoting and disseminating medical information to members as well as the public, and promoting collegial relations among its members.
Visit our website today @ www.DauphinCMS.org.
To opt out of future electronic (email and fax) communications, please write to dauphincms@pamedsoc.org with the word UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER in the subject or call (717) 558-7849.
|
|
