Category: eNews

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Physicians’ Offices Preferred COVID Vaccine Sites for Unvaccinated Americans

Colleagues:

We celebrated an important milestone earlier this week when New York State reached 70 percent adult COVID-19 vaccination rate. As the news hit, I was reminded of the important work accomplished by MSSNY and my predecessor, MSSNY’s Immediate Past President Dr. Bonnie L. Litvack—who serves as a member of the Governor’s Vaccine Distribution and Implementation Task Force.

But the fight is not over. We must get as close to 100 percent vaccination as we can. And it’s now more important than ever for us—our patients’ trusted physicians—to instill confidence in the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

Just this week in my office, I was reminded of the important role physicians play in continuing to get New Yorkers vaccinated. I had three patients with three distinct barriers preventing access to the healthcare system—one with limited health literacy, one with impaired mobility, and one with substance abuse issues. In our office—a healthcare setting they trust—we were able to counsel each patient and get them all vaccinated.

In fact, results of a new national poll of more than 12,000 people conducted jointly by the African American Research Collaborative and the Commonwealth Fund show that more than half of unvaccinated Americans would prefer to get a COVID-19 vaccination at their physicians’ office.  The preference to be vaccinated in a medical office was three to five times higher among unvaccinated Americans than were other options like retail pharmacies, community health centers, public health clinics, and large public vaccination sites.

As new variants of COVID-19 continue to emerge, we need to be prepared and ready to prevent a resurgence. Let’s get as close to 100 percent vaccination as we can by instilling vaccine confidence in our patients.

We, as our patients’ trusted physicians, are uniquely qualified to accomplish this goal.

Joseph Sellers, MD, FAAP, FACP
MSSNY President.

MSSNY Press Statement in Support of US Supreme Court Decision to Uphold the ACA in California v. Texas
Statement from Joseph Sellers, MD
President, Medical Society of the State of New York

“We appreciate that the US Supreme Court has—once again—upheld the legality of the Affordable Care Act.  We hope this case once and for all stops these lawsuits which unnecessarily endanger health insurance coverage for millions of patients across New York and across the country.

“While MSSNY continues to pursue reforms to the law that would help to better ensure patients can obtain comprehensive first-dollar health insurance coverage, the ACA has importantly set the stage for millions across New York State to obtain health insurance coverage that they previously they were unable to afford.

“MSSNY looks forward to working with patient and physician groups across New York State and across the country to expand comprehensive health insurance coverage options for our patients.”

Longtime MSSNY Member Dr. Erick Eiting Receives AMA Excellence in LGBTQ Health Award
The AMA Foundation presented the Excellence in LGBTQ Health Award to Erick Eiting, MD, MPH, MMM at the 16^th Annual Excellence in Medicine Awards Ceremony on Sunday, June 13.

The award honors a physician who has demonstrated outstanding work, innovation and leadership in LGBTQ policy, advocacy, patient care, academics, workforce diversity, or health care administration.

Dr. Eiting has been a tireless advocate for the care of underserved and vulnerable populations, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community in New York City where he serves as the vice chair of operations for emergency medicine at Mount Sinai. He has also served as the vice chair for the AMA Advisory Committee on LGBTQ Issues and helped establish the LGBTQ Honor Fund at the AMA Foundation.

An active member of MSSNY, Dr. Eiting currently serves as co-chair of the Committee on Health Equity and has served on several other committees, including as a member of the Task Force on Medical Student Tuition and Debt and the Committee on Medical Education.

MSSNY Joins Legislative Champion on Telehealth in Letter Questioning Department of Financial Services (DFS) Decision to Eliminate Cost-Sharing Waiver for Patients
MSSNY and several specialty societies have joined a joint letter to the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) initiated by Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner (D- Saratoga Springs), raising concerns with DFS ending its policy adopted in March 2020 exempting patients from out-of-pocket expenses including co-pays, coinsurance, and deductibles for in-network Telehealth services. It should be noted that the latest DFS extension of emergency coverage is valid through July 4, 2021 and continues to ensure that commercial health insurers must cover audio-only Telehealth services. Assemblywoman Woerner is also the lead sponsor of legislation (A.6256/S.5505) strongly supported by MSSNY to require insurer payments for services provided using Telehealth are on par with in-office visits.

Early on in the pandemic, with the support of MSSNY and many other patient advocacy organizations, DFS and the state Department of Health (DOH), adopted critically important policies to better enable patients to obtain health care services via telemedicine, including waiving cost-sharing requirements for services delivered via telemedicine, expressly permitting coverage for health care services via audio-only, and allowing delivery of telemedicine services through basic smartphone video technologies. Medicare also followed this path, waiving the federal statute that limits Medicare coverage for Telehealth to rural areas and significantly increased the payments for video and audio-only Telehealth services.

Even as a significant portion of the population begins to be immunized against COVID19, public health experts anticipate that Covid-19 will remain a public health threat for the foreseeable future, making continued expanded patient access to Telehealth services all the more important. Therefore, MSSNY has raised concerns to DFS that it may still be premature to re-instate otherwise applicable patient cost-sharing requirements when many immuno-compromised patients still may be more comfortable receiving ongoing care where appropriate via telehealth. Moreover, MSSNY will continue to advocate for measures that remove barriers to patients receiving Telehealth services from their physicians, including fair payments for these services.

Read the new policy here.

Please Urge Governor to Veto Multiple Pro-Trial Lawyer Tactical Bills
As reported in MSSNY e-news last week, the State Legislature ended its regular 2021 Legislative Session without passing legislation (S.74-A/A.6770) strongly opposed by MSSNY and many other groups that could have prompted untenable increases in New York’s already excessive medical liability costs by greatly expanding the types of damages awardable in “Wrongful Death” actions. One recent actuarial estimate indicated that passage of legislation such as this could have required a liability premium increase of nearly 50%, which could have meant tens of thousands of dollars in new liability insurance costs for many physicians particularly in downstate New York. We thank the many physicians who took the time to send a letter or tweet reminding legislators of the devastating impact this legislation could have on patient access to care in their communities.

However, in the Session’s final days, the State Legislature did pass multiple problematic pro-trial lawyer bills that if signed could have the effect of significantly disadvantaging defendants generally in litigation in New York State, including physicians and hospitals defending against malpractice claims. These bills include:

• A2199/S473 – Expanding the time period for the imposition of New York’s excessive 9% judgment interest in cases where a plaintiff’s request for summary judgment was not initially granted, but then overturned on appeal.
• A8040/S7093 – Changing a long-standing rule that heretofore excluded a “hearsay” statement made by a defendant’s employee.
• A8041/S7052 – Imposing excessive insurance disclosure requirements on defendants during litigation.

As MSSNY works together with other aligned organizations to urge the Governor to veto these bills, physicians are urged to send a letter or tweet to the Governor from here Urge Governor Cuomo to VETO Regressive Liability Bills also asking him to veto these bills.

Please Urge Governor to Sign into Law Two Bills to Assist Patients to Receive Needed Medications
Physicians are urged to contact Governor Cuomo to urge that he sign into law 2 bills that are critical to helping patients to be able to receive the medications they need as well as to ensure greater oversight over pharmacy benefit formulary development practices. A letter or tweet can be sent here: Urge Gov. Cuomo to SIGN two RX bills-Regulating PBMs and Restricting Mid-Year Formulary Changes.

The first bill (A.1396, Gottfried/S.3762, Breslin), will provide greater accountability and transparency of the practices of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). The bill was significantly revised from the version that passed the Legislature in 2019, but vetoed, to address concerns raised in your veto message. The bill would require that PBMs be licensed by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) and adhere to standards established by DFS. The bill would also provide for the disclosure of all possible revenue streams and terms and conditions that they place on their networks of pharmacies. MSSNY has supported greater oversight and regulation of PBMs as one manner to address restrictive formularies and excessive prior authorization requirements that interfere with patients obtaining needed medications.

The second bill, A.4668, People-Stokes/S.4111, Breslin, would significantly limit the ability of health insurers to move medications to higher cost-sharing tiers for their prescription drug formularies during a policy year. The bill was revised from the version that passed both chambers two years ago, but was vetoed. To address concerns raised in your veto message in 2019, the legislation would prohibit the applicability of a mid-year formulary change for those patients who were on the medication at the beginning of the policy year, or suffer from a condition for which the medication is part of a treatment regimen, for that condition. However, other mid-year formulary changes could still occur.

Several New York Congressional Members Urge Federal Surprise Bill Law Implementation to Ensured Balanced Consideration of Factors
Eleven members of New York’s Congressional delegation signed on to a letter to the Secretaries of several federal agencies urging an implementation of the No Surprises Act (NSA) that ensures “a balanced process to settle payment disputes between health plans and providers.” It was designed to push back against aggressive efforts by the insurance and business industries that want to distort the federal Independent Dispute resolution (IDR) process to resolve surprise out of network medical bills to essentially have a presumption in favor of insurer payments.

The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) is developing regulations over the next several months implementing the NSA with the law operative beginning January 1, 2022.

The letter was initiated by Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), and whose bi-partisan list of 93 signers including Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-Bronx and Manhattan), Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Long Island), Rep. Brian Higgins (D-Erie and Niagara counties), Rep. John Katko (R-Central New York), Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-Hudson Valley) Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens), Rep. Joe Morelle (D-Monroe County), Jerrold Nadler (D-Kings and Manhattan), Rep. Tom Reed (R-Western New York) and Rep. Nydia Velasquez (D-Kings, Manhattan and Queens).

The Suozzi-Wenstrup letter notes that “the No Surprises Act instructs the certified IDR entity to consider each of these listed factors, as well as any allowable information brought by either party or requested by the certified IDR entity. To match Congressional intent, your implementation of the law should ensure an IDR process that captures the unique circumstances of each billing dispute and does not cause any single piece of information to be the default one considered.”

The letter further notes that the IDR process established in the No Surprises Act prevents artificially low payment rates that would incentivize insurance companies to keep providers out of their networks. Providers and payors are able to bring relevant information with the exception of billed charges and public payor information for consideration, and the certified IDR entity shall consider:

• Median in-network rates
• Provider training and quality of outcomes
• Market share of parties
• Patient acuity or complexity of services
• Teaching status, case mix, and scope of services of the facility
• Demonstrations of previous good faith efforts to negotiate in-network rates
• Prior contract history between the two parties over the previous four years.

Both MSSNY and the AMA have submitted letters to CCIIO also urging that no one of these factors be given a priority over the other factors.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Issues Important New Information for Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Recipients
HHS held a call on Tuesday, June 16^th with health provider associations across the country to provide education for recipients of COVID-related emergency funding regarding information about new deadlines, auditing, and reporting requirements. Recipients include those who received funding from the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), among others. More than $186 billion dollars were distributed through these programs, throughout the COVID crisis, and provided relief to healthcare providers, hospitals, businesses and a range of others.

All information is available through the HHS and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) websites and includes key details like an extension for the period to complete reporting from 30 to 90 days, allowable expenditures, who is required to report, and a host of other important details. All changes supersede previous information.

To learn more, please use the following links:

Provider Reporting Portal
https://prfreporting.hrsa.gov/s/

Deadlines for Recipients
https://www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/cares-act-provider-relief-fund/reporting-auditing/index.html

Examples of Allowable Expenditures
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/allowable-expenses-one-pager.pdf

COVID-19 Vaccines: Expiration and Beyond Use Dates (BUDs)
Determining when a vaccine expires is a critical step in proper storage, handling, and reporting. The expiration date should always be checked prior to preparing or administering vaccine. Expired vaccine should NEVER be used. As additional stability data become available, the expiration dates for some products may change. Follow the instructions below to determine the expiration date of COVID-19 vaccines.

• Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine: This vaccine product has an expiration date located on the vaccine vial.
• Moderna COVID-19 vaccine: The expiration date is NOT printed on the vaccine vial or carton. To obtain the expiration date of the lot number received, providers can scan the QR code located on the vial or carton or access the manufacturer’s website directly, enter the lot number and the expiration date will be displayed.
• Janssen/Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine: The expiration date is NOT printed on the vaccine vial or carton. To determine the expiration date:

• • Scan the QR code located on the outer carton, or
  • Call 1-800-565-4008, or
  • Go to jnj/, enter the lot number and the expiration date will be displayed.

For Moderna and Janssen/J&J COVID-19 vaccines it is important to write the expiration date on the carton or vials since it is not printed.  Orders of Moderna and Janssen/J&J received in NYSIIS will contain a placeholder date of 12/31/2069.  The actual expiration date must be updated in NYSIIS and CIR as well, as part of inventory management.  Vaccines should always follow a first in, first out process in which vials that have the earliest expiration date are used first.  CDC’s https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/downloads/expiration-tracker.pdf can help providers keep track of the expiration date by lot number. Vaccine inventory should be managed using a “first in first out” tracking process to limit the potential for wastage.

Beyond Use Dates (BUDs)

All vaccines have expiration dates, and some routinely recommended vaccines have a beyond use date (BUD), which is calculated based on the date the vial is first punctured and the storage information in the package insert.  Whenever a vial of COVID-19 vaccine is moved to storage conditions that affect BUD or a multidose vial is punctured, label the vial(s) with the beyond use date/time.  The BUD must never exceed the labeled expiration date.  Once the vaccine has reached its expiration or beyond use date/time, unused doses must be disposed of as medical waste and reported in NYSIIS as wastage or in CIR as wastage.  A summary of COVID-19 vaccine beyond use dates and resources are listed below.

• Pfizer: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Beyond-Use Date (BUD) Tracking Labels for Vaccine During Freezer or Refrigerator Storage
  • Freezer (-25° C to -15° C): Two weeks
  • Refrigerator (2° C to 8° C): 31 days
  • After Puncture: 2° C to 25° C for up to 6 hours
• Moderna: Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Beyond-Use Date (BUD) Tracking Label for Vaccine During Refrigerator Storage
  • Refrigerator (2° C to 8° C): 30 days
  • After Puncture: 2° C to 25° C for up to 12 hours
• Janssen/J&J: Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Preparation and Administration Summary
  • After Puncture: 2° C to 8° C up to 6 hours OR 9° C to 25° C for up to 2 hours

Classified Ads Available for:

Physicians’ search services • allied medical placements • locum tenens • practice valuation • practice brokerage • practice consulting • real estate

For help, information or to place your ad, call Roseann Raia at 516-488-6100 ext. 302 

For then MSSNY 2021 Ad Rate Sheet, please click here.

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79th St near Lexington / Park. 750 sq Ft beautiful, street entrance, medical office for sale with a 25 + yr internal medical practice for sale. Office is in move in condition. Physician retiring. Waiting room. Secretarial area for 3. 1 Consult room. 2 exam Rooms 2 Toilets. Please contact: 917-770-8700 / email drklein@att.net

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MSSNY Joins Forces with Other Health Organizations to Ask NY Assembly to Help Patients Struggling with Medication Costs
The following press release was issued yesterday by MSSNY and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, NAACP, NYS Bleeding Disorders Coalition, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society:

ALBANY, NY – June 8, 2021 – Health organizations have joined forces to ask the New York Assembly to pass legislation that will help patients be able to pay for the health care they need.

The bill, commonly referred to as the Copay Accumulator bill (S5299 Rivera/A1741 Gottfried), will help patients struggling to pay for their medication. While the legislation passed the Senate earlier this year, the bill has not received a vote in the Assembly.

Some patients rely on financial assistance programs, such as a copay coupon or card, to reduce the cost of their medication.  But insurers are using a new tactic – called a copay accumulator adjustment, to undermine these financial assistance programs. Copay accumulator adjustments prevent patients from using a copay card or coupon to cover their out-of-pocket expenses.  Under this practice, when a patient uses a copay coupon or card, the health plan receives the payment from the card or coupon, yet the amount of the support provided by the coupon/card does NOT count toward the patient’s maximum out of pocket limit.  This legislation would ensure such payments benefit the patient rather than the insurer’s bottom line.

“We need to put patients first.  Copay accumulators are unfair for patients,” said American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) Senior New York Government Relations Director, Julie Hart.  “It’s especially challenging for patients with high deductibles or high copayments. Ten states have now passed laws to stop insurers from using copay accumulators.  It’s time for New York to do the same and stop this misleading tactic.”

“Many of our patients rely upon needed medications to help recover from illness or to manage a life-threatening medical condition” stated Joseph Sellers, MD, President of the Medical Society of the State of New York. “With some patients facing significant out of pocket cost-sharing requirements such as high deductibles, health insurer-imposed copay Accumulators have a significant adverse effect upon patients living with chronic conditions like cancer, diabetes, and Multiple Sclerosis, just to name a few. MSSNY strongly supports legislation that would prohibit these co-pay accumulator policies and ensure that third party financial support will help patients to meet the cost of their medications.” 

“The New York State Assembly has a choice to make.  Putting patients before profits should be an easy choice.” said Lorraine Braithwaite-Harte, Health Chair, NAACP, New York State Conference.  “Copay accumulators are just another tactic to shift costs to patients.  It’s time for New York to stop this tactic and pass this bill to help keep medications affordable.”

“People with bleeding disorders already struggle to stay healthy. They shouldn’t have to struggle to pay for their medications as well when there’s help available. Accumulators will hurt people and this bill will protect people,” added Bob Graham, Director of Policy for the New York State Bleeding Disorders Coalition.

“MS is an expensive disease to live with and treat, impacting the healthcare system, health plans and of course, families affected by MS. A person with MS spends three times as much out-of-pocket than the average person in employer plans. Until we find real solutions to the challenges in our healthcare system that prevent people from affordably accessing the care and treatments they need, we cannot rip away the band-aids people have come to rely on—like copay assistance programs,” said Jennifer Muthig-Director, Advocacy & Policy National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Department of Financial Services (DFS) Eliminates Cost-Sharing Waiver in Extending Emergency Regulation on Telehealth
DFS recently issued its latest extension of the emergency regulation related to Telehealth coverage for another 30 days, through July 4, 2021. However, with greatly reduced Covid cases, the latest DFS regulation was not a straight extension of current policy as it removes the waiver exempting patients from incurring out-of-pocket expenses including co-pays, coinsurances, and deductibles for in-network Telehealth services. Importantly, however, the regulation does ensure that commercial health insurers must continue to cover for audio-only Telehealth services.

Early on in the pandemic, with the support of MSSNY and many other patient advocacy organizations, DFS and the state Department of Health (DOH), adopted critically important policies to better enable patients to obtain health care services via telemedicine, including waiving cost-sharing requirements for services delivered via telemedicine, expressly permitting coverage for health care services via audio-only, and allowing delivery of telemedicine services through basic smartphone video technologies. Medicare also followed this path, waiving the federal statute that limits Medicare coverage for Telehealth to rural areas and significantly increased the payments for video and audio-only Telehealth services.

Even as a significant portion of the population begins to be immunized against COVID19, public health experts anticipate that it will remain a public health threat for the foreseeable future, making continued access to Telehealth services critical and passage of this important legislation all the more important. Therefore, MSSNY has raised concerns to DFS that it may still be premature to re-instate otherwise applicable patient cost-sharing requirements. Moreover, MSSNY will continue to advocate for measures that remove barriers to patients receiving Telehealth services from their physicians, including fair payments for these services.

Click here to read the new policy.

Join CareClix on June 23 @ Noon for Overview of Virtual Care Management Program
MSSNY Members receive a discounted rate for implementing CareClix, a virtual telehealth platform that enables you to put your patients first.

Join CareClix for a brief overview of the platform followed by a Q&A session with CareClix’s CEO to answer any questions.

Details:

Date: June 23rd, 2021
Time: 12 pm EST
Where: mssny.zoom.us/j/96348830789?pwd=bUxVTjQxMGR0S3RTQm55YlQvQnpRUT09
Presenter: Dr. John Korangy, MD, MPH, CEO of CareClix

CareClix’s all-in-one platform lets you deliver an exceptional patient experience that’s convenient for your patients and efficient for you. Allow patients – new and old – to chat straight from your website or mobile app. Increase appointment bookings and capture patient demand 24/7.

Key features that will be demonstrated in the webinar:

• Messaging
• Scheduling
• Appointments
• Provider Dashboard
• Virtual Waiting Room
• 3^rdParty Invite
• Account Settings
• Setting Up Clinic
• Setting up Fee and Specialties

Dr. Sellers’ Interview with Empire State Weekly on Vaccine Confidence
MSSNY president Dr. Sellers discussed the important role of physicians in instilling vaccine confidence in patients, encouraged parents to vaccinate younger children as they are able, and drove home the point by saying he would make sure his grandchildren get vaccinated when their age group is offered access. Link to full interview.

Summer is Almost Here! Sign Your Children Up for MSSNY’s Virtual Volunteer Homework Assistance
Now is a great time to get your young children ready for the next school year. MSSNY’s Virtual Volunteer Homework Assistance program can keep your kids up to date with their coursework, as well as provide a friendly mentor.

MSSNY’s Women Physicians Committee has homework assistants who can virtually help your school age children maintain their skills over the summer. This is a MSSNY members only program, and our homework assistants are MSSNY members’ children who have volunteered (i.e. not professionals tutors and not vetted). MSSNY is not responsible for scholastic outcomes.

Contact sbennett@mssny.org and tell us in which subject(s) your child is in need of support. We will match your child with a helper, and you can then make the arrangements that work best for all.                                                    

White House Virtual Town Hall: Primary Care Providers, Health Systems, and the Next Phase of the Vaccination Rollout
The Biden Administration has worked closely with U.S. provider associations, health systems, and state and local health departments to expand the role of primary care providers as COVID-19 vaccinators and as vaccine ambassadors.

The White House Virtual Town Hall event on Friday, June 11 is an opportunity for the Administration to thank primary care providers and health systems for their service to their patients, state, and country throughout the COVID-19 response and vaccine rollout. It will focus on the importance of primary care providers and health systems in further expanding efforts to administer vaccination programs and educate their patients on the vaccine, as well as the tools the federal government is providing to support them. It will also touch on how state and local health departments can help enable vaccinations at primary care provider offices.

The event will feature five conversations with primary care providers, health system leaders, and state health officials on innovative approaches they are taking to patient outreach and implementing vaccination program at primary care provider offices. Each conversation will be chaired by a different public health leader from the Biden Administration: Dr. Fauci, Dr. Walensky, Dr. Murthy, Dr. Nunez-Smith, and Dr. Choucair.

Date: Friday, June 11
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST

Please click the following link during the event to attend:
https://youtu.be/t6gIClSru8E

A recording will also be available at this link after the event.

Deadline Approaching to Comment on the ABMS Draft Standards for Continuing Certification
The deadline to comment on the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) “Draft Standards for Continuing Certification – Call for Comments” is approaching. Opened on Tuesday, April 20, the 80-day period to obtain input and feedback from all stakeholders who possess, use, or rely upon board certification will close on Thursday, July 8, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. CT. Feedback received during the open Call for Comments will guide and inform the development of the final Draft Standards for Continuing Certification (“Draft Standards”), which will be considered by the ABMS Board of Directors in October 2021.

The new Draft Standards reflect foundational changes to the manner in which ABMS and its Member Boards deliver on their mission, bringing value to both the profession and the public at large. They were developed after a year of deliberation with key stakeholders in response to the recommendations of the Continuing Board Certification: Vision for the Future Commission as well as of the wider stakeholder community.

Structured to support and provide diplomates with the tools they need to stay current in medical knowledge; the Draft Standards prepare them to address emerging medical and public health issues; and help them identify and address opportunities for practice improvement within the systems in which they work, in a way that enhances relevance and reduces burden. The Draft Standards also address the needs of patients, families, and communities by assuring that board certified diplomates maintain the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver the quality specialty care upon which they rely.

To review and comment on the Draft Standards, visit the Draft Standards for Continuing Certification section on the ABMS Website by 11:59 p.m. CT on Thursday, July 8, 2021. Please feel free to share the “Draft Standards for Continuing Certification – Call for Comments” with your colleagues and others who may have an interest in them and encourage them to share their feedback to ensure that all stakeholder perspectives are considered in the finalization of the standards that will guide the specialty care practice of the future. 

Our Profession Needs Our Protection
Physicians commit their lives to healing and helping patients. Preserving the profession of medicine now and into the future is a critical ongoing effort. Assuring patients’ access to needed care and protecting physicians require vigilance and thoughtful strategic action. MSSNYPAC support has helped to secure many victories amidst an unending onslaught of well-funded interest groups attempting to increase their power at the expense of physicians and to the detriment of patient care. The ability to continue to advance and defend physician perspectives and to advocate for our patients requires all NY’s physicians and allies to invest in MSSNYPAC.

Please join MSSNYPAC today. Your contribution works to reduce and eliminate prior authorization hassles and administrative burdens; push back against health insurers and managed care company abuses; reduce frivolous lawsuits, liability costs and continuous attempts to expand liability; and preserve physician-led, team-based healthcare while protecting patients from inappropriate scope expansion. Working together, through MSSNYPAC, we can strengthen the physicians’ voice at the discussion table when healthcare policy is being formed. Join online www.mssnypac.org/contribute or by phone/text 914-933-7722.

Updated COVID-19 Guidance for Hospital Visitation and Non-Hospital Employed Patient Support
In response to the reduced prevalence of COVID-19 in New York State, hospitals must have visitation policies for patients that allow and encourage visitors and patient support persons to spend appropriate amounts of time with patients. This updated guidance supersedes all previous guidance documents on hospital visitation during COVID-19.

Join NYS Department of Health Thursday, June 10^th at 1 – 2 PM for COVID-19 Update
NYS DOH will cover the following topics in this webinar: Vaccine, Data, and Excelsior Pass for Healthcare Providers.
To accommodate the large number of participants, the webinar will stream via YouTube Live (and available for viewing immediately thereafter) on the NYSDOH COVID website for providers.
Audio number and code: 844-512-2950 Access code 3946289#

Classified Ads Available for:

Physicians’ search services • allied medical placements • locum tenens • practice valuation • practice brokerage • practice consulting • real estate

For help, information or to place your ad, call Roseann Raia at 516-488-6100 ext. 302 

For the MSSNY 2021 Ad Rate Sheet, please click here.

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Our Collective Voice Can Make a Crucial Difference

Colleagues:

As the end of the legislative session in Albany approaches next week, it’s more important than ever for physicians to be ready to take action through MSSNY’s Grassroots Advocacy Center. Our collective voice—the physicians of New York state—can make the crucial difference in influencing legislation that will impact physicians and our patients every day.

As we all know, anything can happen at the end of session. There are dozens of bills that MSSNY is closely following at the moment—some we support, but many more would make it much harder for physicians to deliver care to their patients. Bills that we thought were long dead could come back to life at any moment. Take liability issues, for example, which tend to appear at the end of session.

S.74-A/A.6770 would greatly expand the possible damages awardable in wrongful death actions, which, in turn, would increase already outrageously high liability insurance premiums. The bill has moved through various Committees in the Assembly and Senate. A recent actuarial estimate indicates that passage of this legislation could require a liability premium increase of nearly 50%, translating to tens of thousands of dollars in new costs for many physician practices. You can send a letter and/or tweet in opposition here.

This is just one of numerous bills where MSSNY is advocating for physicians and patients. Let’s all stand united and speak with one voice this week. Look for email alerts, tweets, and texts from MSSNY—and check our Grassroots Advocacy Center often.

MSSNY will keep you informed on the status of important legislative movement as we head into this critical final week.

Joseph Sellers, MD, FAAP, FACP
MSSNY President

MSSNY Weekly Podcast:
Legislative Concerns for NY Physicians as Session Comes to an End

MSSNY & Patient Advocates Team Up to Pass Legislation S5299 (Rivera)/A1741 (Gottfried) to Prevent Harmful & Unfair Copay Accumulator Policies
As the Legislature enters the final week of the 2021 Legislative Session, physicians are urged to contact their Assemblymembers (End the Use of Copay Accumulators by Health Insurers) to request that they support legislation (A.1741, Gottfried) before the full Assembly that would ensure that third party financial assistance programs can count towards patient deductible and other health insurer-imposed cost-sharing requirements.  The same-as bill (S.5299, Rivera) has passed the Senate.

Despite New York State’s strong record in providing affordable access to health insurance, many New Yorkers still struggle to pay for their prescription drugs and for those battling chronic illnesses like cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and others, the burden is often overwhelming. To help with high out-of-pocket costs, there are a range of copay assistance, discount, and coupon programs, that help patients pay for their medications. However, patients must also contend with what insurers refer to as “cost utilization tools”, which are used by health plans to curb spending on the more expensive drugs. These include prior authorization, step therapy and a more recent one known as “Copay Accumulators”, which prevents patients from using a copay card, or coupon, to cover their out-of-pocket expenses.

Copay Accumulators are particularly unfair to patients as any payment from a copay coupon or card goes directly to the health plan, but the amount of the support provided by the coupon/card does not count towards the patient’s maximum out of pocket limit. This unreasonable practice can be especially challenging for patients that have health insurance plans with high deductibles or high copayment requirements.

To end this policy, MSSNY together with several other patient advocacy organizations such as the American Cancer Society, New York State Bleeding Disorders Coalition and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is pushing for passage of S5299 (Rivera)/A1741 (Gottfried). Please contact your state Assemblymember and urge them to support immediate passage of this important bill.             (CARY)

Legislature Passes Multiple Health Insurer Reform Measures
The Senate and Assembly have passed multiple measures in the last few weeks to address concerns of patient and their health care providers in their dealings with health insurance plans.

Legislation (A.4668, People-Stokes/S.4111, Breslin) has passed the Assembly and Senate which would significantly limit the ability of health insurers to move medications to higher cost-sharing tiers for their prescription drug formularies during a policy year.   The legislation has been revised from the version that passed both Houses 2 years ago, but vetoed by the Governor, to address concerns that had been raised in the veto message. In particular, the legislation now would prohibit the applicability of a mid-year formulary change to a patient who was on the medication at the beginning of the policy year, or suffers from a condition for which the medication is part of a treatment regimen for that condition.  Other mid-year formulary changes could still occur.

Legislation (A.1677, Gottfried/S.2008, Jackson) has also passed the Assembly and Senate that would require health insurers to, within the time frames set forth under the Prompt Payment law, conspicuously state in large point type whether a claim or a bill has been partially approved or entirely denied.    (AUSTER)

Please Urge Your Legislators to Reject Legislation That Would Drive Huge New Increases in Medical Liability Insurance
As we enter the final week of the 2021 Legislative Session. physicians are urged to continue to contact their legislators to request them to reject extraordinarily ill-timed legislation that could prompt untenable increases in New York’s already excessive medical liability costs by greatly expanding the types of damages awardable in wrongful death actions   A letter and/or tweet can be sent from here: Reject Expansion of Recoverable Damages in Wrongful Death Actions.

This week the Assembly legislation (A.6770) advanced from the Codes Committee to the Rules Committee and the Senate legislation (S.74-A) has advanced from the Senate Judiciary Committee to the Senate Finance Committee.  It could be reported to the floor and voted on at any time, so your contacts are essential!

Please remind your legislators of the severe adverse impact to patient care availability in their communities this legislation would cause, given that New York physicians and hospitals already face the highest medical liability costs in the country, by far. One recent actuarial estimate indicated that passage of legislation such as this could require a liability premium increase of nearly 50%, which translates to tens of thousands of dollars in new costs for many physicians who are already paying tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in their insurance costs, which could make it impossible for many physicians to stay in practice.

Under ordinary circumstances, these kinds of increases would be unsustainable and could have hugely negative consequences on patient access to care at community hospitals and physician offices.  However, with so many physician practices only beginning to recover from the huge drop in patient visits and revenue during the height of the pandemic, legislation to impose such premium increases would be unconscionable.

Please urge your legislators to reject this short-sighted proposal as well as highlighting the need for comprehensive medical liability reform instead: Reject Expansion of Recoverable Damages in Wrongful Death Actions   (AUSTER)                                                              
             

Legislation to Require Consolidated Hospital/Physician Billing Significantly Revised
Legislation (A.3470-B/S.2521-B) which would have among many other components required hospitals and hospital-based physicians to submit consolidated bills has been significantly revised to delete this very concerning provision.  This is a significant development, as MSSNY together with several other specialty societies had raised significant concerns to the Senate and Assembly that this joint billing requirement would have put non-employed physicians at the mercy of the hospitals where they practice since the legislation does not specify how payments to hospitals from this “single bill” would then be distributed to these physicians.  MSSNY thanks the sponsors of this legislation for recognizing the concerns of the many physicians who took the time to send a letter or tweet regarding this far-reaching proposal. 

In its place the legislation would now require notice to patients prior to hospitals, health systems and health care providers charging patients for so-called “facility fees”, including whether the patient’s health coverage will cover the facility fee (the bill specifically articulates that a “facility fee” is distinct from a “professional fee” a physician would ordinarily charge).

However, of concern with this new proposed language is a provision that would require a health care provider who enters into “a business relationship with a hospital or health system that will result in the provider’s patients being subject to facility fees”, to notify its patients of the change and that facility fees will now be applicable to services received from the health care provider. MSSNY has urged the sponsors that this required notice should be placed on the hospital or health system charging the facility fee, not the physician providing the service, as the facility fee is for the benefit of the health system.  (AUSTER)

Opioid Measures Moving in the NYS Legislature
The New York State Senate passed several bills this week with the goal of addressing or reducing opioid abuse.  Some of these measures are supported by MSSNY, but MSSNY has raised strong concerns with others.

• 649/A.2030, which requires the Medicaid program to cover whichever medication assisted therapy (MAT) medication is most beneficial to the patient without prior authorization, has passed the NY Senate and Assembly. Similar requirements exist for commercial health insurance plans. The Medical Society of the State of New York supported this measure.

• 2966-A/A.336-A, which requires co-prescribing of naloxone in certain instances has passed the NY Senate and Assembly. This bill requires physicians and providers, for the first opioid prescription of each year to a patient receiving 90 MME or more, to also co-prescribe an opioid antagonist with the prescription.   Importantly, the bill was amended prior to passage to increase the threshold from 50 MME to 90 MME, to be applicable to a far smaller cohort of patients who are more at risk for overdose.    However, MSSNY has raised concerns that this even more limited proposed co-prescribing requirement could cause some patients taking these medications to address their chronic pain to inappropriately feel stigmatized as a “drug addict”.  Moreover, many physicians are already co-prescribing an opioid antagonist to certain patients based upon the physician’s clinical judgment of the risks the patient may face.  Furthermore, with New York’s mandatory e-prescribing law, the co-prescription will automatically go to the pharmacy and essentially remove the choice of the patient to have the co-prescription filled, as would be the case if such prescriptions were still on paper.  Certainly, such a mandate could result in significant new cost-sharing responsibilities for patients and may result in a windfall for those manufacturers of the drug.

• 4640/A.273, has passed the NY Senate and is before the full Assembly. This measure requires that physicians and other prescribers before prescribing an opioid medication to a patient for neuromuscular pain to consider, discuss with the patient and refer or prescribe alternative services such as chiropractic, massage therapy or behavioral therapy. It would not apply in situations where the patient is in hospice, is being treated for cancer, recovering from surgery, or a medical emergency. MSSNY has raised concerns that this legislation is repetitive of existing state law that requires physicians and other prescribers to use the CDC Guideline for Chronic Pain when assessing patients for opioid use.  These guidelines already direct prescribers to discuss benefits and risks and the availability of non-opioid therapies with the patient.   MSSNY has raised concerns that, by listing of so many possible alternatives in the legislation, it could potentially create significant new documentation requirements to demonstrate that a physician has considered each of the enumerated suggested alternatives in the legislation to prove compliance with the legislation.  By creating these additional unnecessary administrative burdens, it would further disincentivize physicians from prescribing needed pain control patients to those who truly need them.   (CLANCY)               

Please Urge Your Legislators to Protect Physician-Led Team Care
Legislation (S.3056-A) remains before the full Senate strongly opposed by MSSNY that could jeopardize patient safety and lead to uncoordinated, siloed care by eliminating any statutory requirements for nurse practitioners to maintain collaborative arrangements with a physician practicing in the same specialty. The legislation would also eliminate the requirement for a newly practicing nurse practitioner to maintain a written collaborative agreement with a physician.  MSSNY has joined with a dozen other specialty societies in a letter to Senators raising strong objections to this bill.

Physicians can send a letter urging legislators to oppose this legislation from here: Protect Physician-Led Team Care for Patients.  Please let your legislators know that NPs are an essential component of our healthcare delivery system but maintaining ongoing team-based care in collaboration with a physician is essential for ensuring patients receive the highest quality care. Instead of removing these requirements, MSSNY has argued that the standards for physician-NP collaboration should be strengthened to help better recognize and treat potentially complex cases.

Same-as legislation (A.1535-A) is in the Higher Education Committee.  During the recently concluded State Budget, there was a provision enacted that extended for another year – until June 30, 2022 – the existing law that permits nurse practitioners with more than 3,600 hours of experience to practice without a written collaborative agreement provided they maintain evidence of “collaborative relationships” with a physician in the same specialty practiced by the NP.          (AUSTER)   

Legislation to Allow Pharmacists to Provide All ACIP-Approved Immunizations Passes NYS Legislature
Legislation (S.4807A, Stavisky/ A. 6476A, Hyndman) that would allow pharmacists to administer immunizations that have been recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has passed the New York State Legislature.  While we appreciate the increasing role that pharmacists can play in broadening patients’ ability to receive necessary protective vaccines, MSSNY has raised concerns that not only would it greatly expand the number of vaccines that pharmacists would be allowed to administer to adults it would also remove the discretion of the State Legislature in the future to add or subtract vaccinations to the list of those that can be administered by a pharmacist.

It should be noted that the legislation was amended prior to passage to require the Commissioners of Health and Education to approve additional immunizations that may be recommended by the ACIP in the future to ensure they may be safely administered by a pharmacist.  MSSNY also raised concerns regarding pharmacists’ lack of reporting of these immunizations to the patient’s physicians or to the NYSIIS database.           (CLANCY) 

AMA Responds to AAPA’s Proposed Name Change of Physician Assistants
In response to the announcement by the AAPA that they voted to change the professional title from “Physician Assistants” to “Physician Associates”, American Medical Association (AMA) President Dr. Sue Bailey issued the following statement raising concerns about the possibility of public confusion:

“AAPA’s recent move to change the title ‘physician assistant’ to ‘physician associate’ will only serve to further confuse patients about who is providing their care, especially since AAPA sought a different title change in recent years, preferring to only use the term ‘PA’. Given the existing difficulty many patients experience in identifying who is or is not a physician, it is important to provide patients with more transparency and clarity in who is providing their care, not more confusion. Yet, AAPA’s effort to change the title of physician assistants to rebrand their profession will undoubtedly confuse patients and is clearly an attempt to advance their pursuit toward independent practice. We believe this latest effort is incompatible with state laws and are prepared to work with interested state and specialty medical societies to address any efforts to implement this title change in state or federal policy. 

“We remain strongly committed to supporting physician-led health care teams that use the unique knowledge and valuable contributions of all health care professionals to enhance patient outcomes. It is also what patients want, which is why clarity in health care titles is so important. That is why the AMA has advocated in support of truth in advertising laws and stands in strong opposition to AAPA’s title change.”

It should be noted that this announcement by AAPA does not affect existing state laws. For example, in New York State, the professional title of “physician assistant” is defined under Article 131-B of the Education Law, requiring an act of the Legislature to change it.    (AUSTER)

MSSNY Announces New Podcast Episodes on COVID Pandemic
MSSNY has recently published five new podcasts related to the COVID pandemic.

Newly added: COVID-19 & the Mental Health of Children and Teens is the latest podcast related to the COVID pandemic.  This podcast offers insight on the mental health effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on children and teens via a discussion with child and adolescent psychiatrist, Dr. Linda Chokroverty. Click here to listen.

Additional COVID-related podcasts include:

COVID-19 & Mental Health of Physicians provides listeners with insight from Dr. Craig Katz, vice-chair of MSSNY’s Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster/Terrorism Response, on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the physician community.  Click here to listen.

Mental Health of Patients & COVID-19 offers a discussion with Dr. Craig Katz on the mental health impact the COVID pandemic has had on patients.  Click here to listen.

How to Talk to Patients About Vaccine Hesitancy includes a discussion on the history of vaccine hesitancy and offers sage advice from Dr. William Valenti to listeners on talking to vaccine hesitant patients.  Listen to this podcast by clicking here.

A Discussion on COVID Vaccine for Patients is MSSNY President, Dr. Bonnie Litvack, President-elect, Dr. Joseph Sellers and Dr. William Valenti, Chair of MSSNY’s Committee on Infectious Diseases discussing vaccines currently available for COVID-19. This podcast answers many questions patients may have about the vaccines.  Tell your patients to click here to listen.

Click here to select from all 100+ of MSSNY’s podcasts.  (HOFFMAN)

MSSNY Medical Matters Program on Long COVID
Registration now open
Medical Matters: The Lingering Pandemic: Long COVID Symptoms & Treatments
Date: June 16, 2021 @ 7:30 am 

A growing number of COVID survivors are experiencing a multitude of ongoing effects for months after initial recovery.  Learn more about Long COVID and how to recognize and treat it by registering for Medical Matters: The Lingering Pandemic: Long COVID Symptoms & Treatments.  This webinar will take place on Wednesday, June 16^th at 7:30am.  William Valenti, MD, chair of MSSNY’s Infectious Diseases Committee, will serve as faculty for this program.  Click here to register for this webinar.

Educational objectives

• Recognize the symptoms associated with long COVID
• Identify referral options to treat long COVID
• Examine CDC guidelines for caring for patients with long COVID symptoms

The Medical Society of the State of New York is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Medical Society of the State of New York designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.             (HOFFMAN)

Dr. Sellers’ Interview on Vaccine Confidence to Air Statewide this Weekend
MSSNY President Dr Sellers’ interview with Empire State Weekly will air this weekend on television stations around the state, including NYC, Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Elmira, Syracuse, Binghamton, Watertown, Utica and Plattsburgh. Dr. Sellers discussed the important role of physicians in instilling vaccine confidence in patients, encouraged parents to vaccinate younger children as they are able, and drove home the point by saying he would make sure his grandchildren get vaccinated when their age group is offered access.

Empire State Weekly will air on the following stations around the state this weekend:

WYSR SYRACUSE – Saturday @ 6:00 AM
WIVB BUFFALO Sunday @5:30 AM
WROC ROCHESTER Sunday @6:30 AM
WETM ELMIRA Sunday @7:00 AM
WPIX NEW YORK CITY Sunday @7:30 AM
WIVT BINGHAMTON Sunday @10:30 AM
WWTI WATERTOWN Sunday @10:30 AM
WPNY UTICA Sunday @10:30 AM
WTEN ALBANY Sunday @11:00 AM
WFFF PLATTSBURGH Sunday @11:00 PM

June 3^rd Council Meeting Notes
The MSSNY Council met on Thursday, June 3 and approved the resolutions listed below. Additionally, Council approved changing the name of the MSSNY Health Care Disparities Committee to the Committee on Health Equity.

70.930-Automated Pharmacy Refills without Patient Authorization

The Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) will support legislation and/or regulation that would limit automated medication refills by requiring that the patient request the medication prior to transmittal of the request to the prescribing providers electronic system. MSSNY will advocate pharmacists be required to review the appropriateness and validity of medication refill requests prior to transmitting the refill request to the prescribing providers electronic system.

MSSNY will support legislation to reduce unnecessary and redundant pharmacy refill requests and provide payment to the physician for pharmacy generated refill requests that occur outside the time of a patient encounter. (HOD 2020-107 and 2020-114, referred to Council, adopted 6/3/21) 

155.990-Role of Private Equity in Medicine and Acquisition of Medical Practices

MSSNY will continue to work with the American Medical Association (AMA) to help educate physicians regarding the risks and considerations associated with practice affiliation with corporate or private equity investment, consistent with materials developed by the AMA to educate physicians for that purpose.

MSSNY will continue to strongly advocate for protections against corporate interference in physician decision-making which affects the care and treatment of patients and will advocate to protect continuity of care for patients which includes access to care by their physicians in the event of contract transitions, bankruptcy, or other adverse events that may arise from practice affiliation with corporate or private equity investment. (HOD 2020-100 and 2020-105, referred to Council, adopted 6/3/21) 

160.962-Continued Grandfather Status for Taking Board Exams

The duly licensed physician should be the only requirement for practice of medicine and the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) should keep the promise of their “grandfather” clause.  MSSNY’s position is that there should be more than one pathway to participation in insurance companies, hospital privileges and other organizations (eg, ambulatory surgery centers) and encourages the ABMS to work with other societies to find what pathways ensure physician competency and pursuit of lifelong learning.  (HOD 2019-214; reaffirmed HOD 2020-67 by Council 6/3/21)

235.981-Continuing Certification as a Condition of Employment or Reimbursement

The Medical Society of the State of New York will continue to work with the American Medical Association, state medical associations, and specialty societies to advocate for ensurance that requirements for maintaining board certification are not excessive in scope and are rationally related to ensuring ongoing physician competency in that specialty. (HOD 2020-67, referred to Council, substitute adopted 6/3/21) 

235.986-Maintenance of Certification as Restraint of Trade

The Medical Society of the State of New York will seek legislation to prohibit board certification requirements for hospital medical staff privileges, insurer contracts and state licensure.  (HOD 2016-214; reaffirmed HOD 2020-67 by Council 6/3/21)

260.887-COVID Crisis in India

MSSNY in conjunction with our AMA will urge the US government to provide all possible assistance including surplus vaccines and vaccines that have not had Emergency Use Authorization to the citizens of India and other countries in similar situations in a humanitarian crisis.

MSSNY in conjunction with our AMA will advocate for all possible assistance in the COVID-19 crisis through the World Medical Association (WMA) and World Health Organization (WHO) for government and the citizens of India and other countries in similar situations.

MSSNY in conjunction with our AMA recognizes the extraordinary efforts of many dedicated physicians and ethnic organizations assisting in the COVID-19 humanitarian crisis. (Adopted Council 6/3/21) 

285.986-Racism and Intersectionality in Medicine

MSSNY affirms that racism is a public health crisis.

MSSNY will evaluate its mission statement to be clear that it supports equity in all aspects of its work.

MSSNY will systematically evaluate its policies and procedures to be clear that it supports equity in all aspects of its work, in both existing and in future policies and procedures, and that record of this process be visible to all members.

MSSNY encourages all county societies to affirm that racism is a public health crisis.

MSSNY will work with all county medical societies to ensure that their mission statements are inclusive of the needs of underrepresented minority patients and physicians.

MSSNY encourages all county societies to systematically evaluate their policies and procedures to be clear that they support equity in all aspects of their work, in both existing and in future policies and procedures, and that records of this process be visible to all members.

MSSNY will work collaboratively with all county medical societies to develop a strategic plan to improve recruitment, retention, support, and mentoring of members who are Black and Latinx, people of color (POC), indigenous people, Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), people with disabilities and/or sexual and gender minorities.

MSSNY will work with medical schools in New York to ensure that underrepresented minority students are successfully recruited and supported to reinforce the pipeline of physicians and physician leaders to be representative of the population we serve.

MSSNY will seek that all medical schools in New York will utilize appropriate culturally relevant curricula that does not propagate race-based medicine, understanding that race is a social construct and not a biological one.

MSSNY, through its Committee on Health Equity will seek to:

• Increase awareness of how discrimination based on factors such as racism, classism, cisgenderism, heterosexism, ableism, patriarchy, and xenophobia contributes to both societal and health inequities and to ensure that all New Yorkers receive the best care possible and can achieve the best health possible;
• Work with the AMA, specialty societies, Albany leadership, community groups, and other stakeholders to eliminate inequities, particularly those inequities that adversely impact the health and well-being and access to and quality of care for persons who are from historically disadvantaged populations;
• Prevent and manage diseases that are prevalent in historically disinvested populations burdened with the worse disease outcomes, including diabetes, hypertension, and cancer, through educational programming for physicians and other stakeholders;
• Reverse the troubling increases in race/ethnic-based health inequities such as maternal mortality; and
• Promote expanded funding for programs that attract a more diversified physician workforce, increasing the number of minority faculty including Black, Latinx, Native American, female, LGBTQ faculty, and faculty with disabilities teaching in medical schools and expanding medical school pipeline programs in rural and urban areas to address the shortage of physicians in medically underserved areas of New York

MSSNY will request that all New York medical specialty organizations, medical schools, non-physician healthcare organizations and hospitals adopt similar resolutions.

MSSNY stands firmly against harassment and violence against any group based on their identity, such as the recent attacks on the Asian community. (Adopted, Council 6/3/21) 

312.966-Ensuring Affordability and Equity in COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters

MSSNY supports the public purchase and cost-free distribution of COVID-19 booster vaccine doses.  (Adopted Council 6/3/21)

JAMA and JAMA Network Journals Establish Priorities to Promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
The editors of JAMA and the JAMA Network journals have issued an editorial that outlines ongoing and new editorial priorities and key approaches for the JAMA family of journals to strive for and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. The editors reaffirmed their commitment to improving equity and have developed 14 editorial priorities to serve as a foundation to support a comprehensive, meaningful, and sustainable strategy to achieve these goals.

According to the editors, “There is no greater calling for JAMA and the JAMA Network journals, and for all medical publications, than advancing the science and art of medicine and the betterment of public health. Today, and for the future, these goals will be accomplished by championing diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of clinical care, biomedical research, health policy and society.”

Join CareClix on June 23 @ Noon for Overview of Virtual Care Management Program
MSSNY Members receive a discounted rate for implementing CareClix, a virtual telehealth platform that enables you to put your patients first.

Join CareClix for a brief overview of the platform followed by a Q&A session with CareClix’s CEO to answer any questions.

Details:

Date: June 23rd, 2021
Time: 12 pm EST
Where: mssny.zoom.us/j/96348830789?pwd=bUxVTjQxMGR0S3RTQm55YlQvQnpRUT09
Presenter: Dr. John Korangy, MD, MPH, CEO of CareClix

CareClix’s all-in-one platform lets you deliver an exceptional patient experience that’s convenient for your patients and efficient for you. Allow patients – new and old – to chat straight from your website or mobile app. Increase appointment bookings and capture patient demand 24/7.

Key features that will be demonstrated in the webinar:

• • Messaging
  • Scheduling
  • Appointments
  • Provider Dashboard
  • Virtual Waiting Room
  • 3^rd Party Invite
  • Account Settings
  • Setting Up Clinic
  • Setting up Fee and Specialties

NYS Legislators Seek Campaign Support from MSSNYPAC
Your local Senator and Assemblymember seek financial support from MSSNYPAC throughout the year. Our ability to respond affirmatively to their requests with campaign contributions and physician attendance at their events affords physicians and policymakers the opportunity to develop strong rapport.  These strengthened relationships are critical when healthcare policy is being formed. For physicians to be at the discussion table, we must invest in a strong, well-funded MSSNYPAC.  We ask all physicians and our allies to make a contribution to MSSNYPAC online www.mssnypac.org/contribute or by phone/text 914-933-7722.

Classified Ads Available for:

Physicians’ search services • allied medical placements • locum tenens • practice valuation • practice brokerage • practice consulting • real estate

For help, information or to place your ad, call Roseann Raia at 516-488-6100 ext. 302 

For the MSSNY 2021 Ad Rate Sheet, please click here.