Keeping You Connected

The SBCMS keeps you up to date on the latest news,
policy developments, and events

SBCMS News/Media

rss

MIPS group reporting registration period ends June 30

Physician groups planning to use the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) web interface or the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) patient satisfaction survey data to satisfy requirements of the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) must register by June 30, 2017. Please note that registration is only required if a group chooses to submit data using one of these two mechanisms. Groups do not need to register if they plan to submit MIPS data through other submission methods, such as a qualified registry, qualified clinical ...

CMA's Health Law Library updated with 2017 content

CMA On-Call, the California Medical Association (CMA) online health law library, has been updated with 2017 content. One of CMA's most valuable member benefits, On-Call contains nearly 5,000 pages of up-to-date legal information on a variety of subjects of everyday importance to practicing physicians. The searchable online library contains all the information available in the California Physician's Legal Handbook (CPLH), an annual publication from CMA's Center for Legal Affairs. New documents for 2017 include: Promoting Quality of Life for Older Patients (#3504) MACRA Overview ...

Free CME: Diabetes prevention webinar

Diabetes remains one of California’s fastest-growing and costliest diseases, and the burden is only expected to accelerate in the coming years. An estimated 2.5 million California adults have been diagnosed with diabetes, while 13 million – nearly half of the state’s adult population – have prediabetes, increasing their risk of developing diabetes over the next few years. Prediabetes is a condition in which blood glucose or hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Among prediabetes patients, up ...

Dr. Abraham Verghese to speak at Western Health Care Leadership Academy

With a dramatic shake-up happening in Washington, D.C., the Western Health Care Leadership Academy is the right place and time for physician leaders who want to stay on top of policy and political changes to shape the future of health care. Register today and join us in San Diego for the West Coast's premier health care leadership conference! Featuring Abraham Verghese, M.D. We are pleased to announce our featured speaker Abraham Verghese, M.D., MACP, physician, professor at Stanford School of Medicine and best-selling author of "Cutting for Stone." Modern medicine is ...

Webinar: Preventing physician burnout

The Physician’s Foundation biennial Survey of America’s Physicians has consistently shown the professional morale of physicians as problematic, with a majority of physicians in 2016 describing their feelings about the current state of the medical profession as somewhat or very negative. The California Medical Association (CMA) will host its first webinar of 2017, "Preventing Burnout: Individual and Organizational Intervention,” on Wednesday, January 11, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m., to help physicians recognize and respond to burnout. The webinar is free to members and their staff. Our presenter, Karen Miotto, M.D., ...

Court hears oral arguments in Oregon prescription drug monitoring database case

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments earlier this month in a patient privacy case involving law enforcement access to Oregon’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). The California Medical Association (CMA) joined the American Medical Association and other western state medical associations in 2015 to file an amicus brief with the appeals court challenging the authority of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to obtain patients' private prescription records without a court order. In this case, the DEA sought patient-specific information from Oregon’s PDMP through the use of ...

Call for nominations: CMA Diversity and Inclusion TAC

The California Medical Association (CMA) is currently seeking physician members to serve on the newly formed Diversity and Inclusion Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). CMA's committees and councils provide key input to the Board of Trustees to guide the association as it sets new policies. The deadline to submit an application or nomination for the Diversity and Inclusion TAC is Monday December 12, 2016.   The purpose of this TAC is to assist CMA in implementing the 2016-2017 CMA Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, developed in response to House of Delegates resolution 302-14. ...

Q1 resolutions now accepting testimony

As part of its policy-making process, the California Medical Association (CMA) allows members to submit resolutions for debate and discussion throughout the year. These resolutions will be considered by the standing Councils and Subcommittees, and will be presented to the Board of Trustees for consideration to be adopted as policy for the association. There are now nine new resolutions online for consideration in the first quarter of 2017. They are posted at www.cmanet.org/hod and will be available for testimony until December 9, 2016. After testimony closes, the resolutions and all the ...

CMA Foundation joins international effort to bring awareness to appropriate use of antibiotics

The California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation this week joins hundreds of organizations across the globe including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in raising awareness about appropriate antibiotic use in honor of “Get Smart About Antibiotics Week.” Educating physicians and patients about appropriate use of antibiotics has been a priority of the CMA Foundation for the past 15 years, through its Alliance Working for Antibiotic Resistance Education (AWARE) project. The AWARE project was formed in 2001 when the CMA Foundation, together with the California State Parent Teacher Association, ...

Members: Is your health insurance open enrollment coming up soon?

Open enrollment time is right around the corner. Are your rates going up? Want to shop around? The California Medical Association (CMA) sponsored health insurance program with Mercer can help. Whether you are an individual policyholder or a member of a group health plan, CMA members have access to best-in-class insurance programs for individuals and small groups through Mercer. The open enrollment period for individual and family plans starts on November 1, 2016. Many practices have open enrollment periods for small groups on December 1 or January 1. Whether you ...