The Benefits of Membership in the CMA and SBCMS
Benefit Links:
 | Legislative Advocacy - issues that affect you and your patients |
| The Southern California Physician - SBCMS' Publication |
| Community Services provided by your dues dollar |
| CME Calendar |
| Other Benefits - insurance, practice management consultation, contract negotiation, etc. |
List
of Benefits
Practice Resource Guide: A 23-page guide to assist physicians in their efforts to establish and maintain a medical pratice in San Bernardino County. A valuable resource guide for all your needs including information on business license, fictitious names, NPI, OSHA and CLIA information; Health Plans and Provider Networks, PPO, EPO and WCO organizations; and hospitals in San Bernardino County. You will need Adobe Acrobat to open this file.
Legislative Advocacy
We are proud of our reputation as a lobbying powerhouse. Our political successes are among the most distinguished in California. We are overwhelmingly successful in winning lawmaking battles and equally effective in changing and blocking contentious legislation that could adversely impact physicians and their patients.
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Managed Care Reform – Doctors must be allowed to take care of
patients. We expose unfair medical practices, regulatory issues, inadequate compensation
and other initiatives that compromise the doctor-patient relationship. |
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Actuarially Sound Capitation Rates – We work to insure that capitation
rates are based on actuarially sound data, rather than on what the market will
bear, and to allow physicians to be compensated at a rate that assures quality
and continuity of care. |
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MICRA– Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act - We helped establish and continually protect this landmark tort reform, which keeps professional liability premiums affordable for California physicians. |
Legislative Leadership
CMA’s Annual Legislative Leadership Day. Meet at State Capitol with legislators. Provides unique opportunity to see how the legislative process works.
Economic Advocacy
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Medical Groups/IPAs Insolvency/Bankruptcy Assistance |
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Reimbursement HotLine (1-888-401-5911) for direct assistance with reimbursement problems and/or to report concerns and trends that physicians are observing in reimbursement for their services. |
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Contract Analysis – CMA attorneys provide detailed analysis of your contracts including managed care, hospital based, recruitment, employment, and independent contractor contracts as well as billing service agreements. |
Legal Advocacy
We hold health plans responsible for unpaid claims to physicians who have provided medically necessary care.
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CMA Class-Action RICO Lawsuit vs. For-Profit Health Plans – CMA
filed a class-action lawsuit against California’s three major for-profit health
plans. The lawsuit is about preserving the viability of California health care
delivery system where the legislature, the courts, state regulators, and the market
have failed to address critical issues. The lawsuit seeks to use RICO statues
based on the notion that these plans willfully underfunded the health care they
pledged to purchasers and to patients. |
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CMA On-Call a 24-hour information and internet service with 200+ medical-legal summaries and related practice advisories fax service: (800) 592-4CMA or www.cmanet.org. |
Promotion & Representation of all Members
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Eight Mode of Practice Forums representing Solo/Small Group,
Medium-size, Large and Very Large Groups, Administrative Medicine, Academic Practice,
Hospital-Based Practice, and Government-Employed. |
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Representation for Women, Ethnic, Young Physicians, House Officers, Medical Specialties, Hospital Medical Staffs and Medical Students. |
Publications
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Monthly Southern California Physician magazine |
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Quarterly California Physician |
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Annual Directory of Members |
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California Physician’s Legal Handbook |
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CMA Alert, concise legislative and legal update, sent weekly via e-mail. |
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Inland Empire Medicine, a bi-monthly fax with local, state and national updates. |
Services available with CMA
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Protection of MICRA (Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act) |
Defeated legislation that would raise the cap on non-economic damages in malpractice suits. California physicians save an average across most specialties of almost $30,000 per year in malpractice premiums compared to other states.
| Powerful physician and patient advocacy with the courts, legislature, HMOs, HCFA |
Achieved Medi-Cal increase averaging 16.7% (largest in 15 years); proposed 20% increase for 2001-2002. Significantly involved in Medical Board initiatives, extending health care coverage to uninsured Californians, patient safety, improving access and standards of care for children, stabilizing emergency services, “making managed care work” through dispute resolution, & more.
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Practice management assistance, contract analysis, economic advocacy, legal information, seminars |
CMA On-Call -- free to members from CMA’s Web site; California Physician Legal Handbook; reimbursement and billing assistance; Act Smart -- model compliance program to avoid fraud and abuse and get prompt payment (CD-ROM $49.50 to members, bound copy $200 to non-members)
| CMA Foundation |
Leads in community health initiatives, physician education, quality of care research
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Institute for Medical Quality |
Ensures medically meaningful accreditation and peer review
News affecting the practice of medicine in California CMA Alert (weekly newsletter with breaking news!), monthly Southern California Physician magazine, Quarterly California Physician magazine, Western Journal of Medicine, www.cmanet.org, & www.sbcms.org.
Group buying & discount programs Health insurance, retirement planning, credit cards, magazine scripts & more
World Wide Web Services
CMA www.cmanet.org and SBCMS www.sbcms.org have web sites with areas for both physicians and the public.
Educational Programs
| CMA’s Annual Leadership Academy |
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Practice Management Seminars |
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Medical Office Manager Forums |
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Town Hall Meetings on current legislation, regulation & medical policy issues |
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CMA’s Continuing Medical Education Accreditation |
Business/Personal Insurance
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Physicians’ Family Healthcare with Dental Option |
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Dental Insurance |
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Long Term Disability |
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Group Universal Life Insurance |
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Accidental Death & Dismemberment |
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Long Term Care |
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Workers’ Compensation |
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Physician-owned professional liability insurance |
Member Services and Sponsored Programs
We want to help you define a better path to success – both in and out of the office. As a SBCMS member, we invite you to take advantage of these discounted services and SBCMS-endorsed businesses to meet your unique needs.
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Office Depot Discount Program – 5-10% savings on over 370 of the most popular and frequently purchased office supplies. Call the Medical Society for details. |
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Shred-it – Discounts offered to members through Shred-it (909) 272-4708 |
Related Links
| How Do I Join? |
| How to Contact SBCMS |
