The Southern California Physician, February, 2002

Medical Society News & Information

In Memory of Honey Jordan
It is with extreme sadness that SBCMS learned of the tragic loss of Mrs. Hannah "Honey" Jordan, wife of Dr. Kenneth Jordan. Mrs. Jordan was president of the SBCMS Alliance 1996-1998. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Jordan and his family.

Memorial Services were held Friday, January 4, 2002 at Riverside Temple Beth El. Mrs. Jordan's family have requested that memorial donations be made to the Maxine McAllister Scholarship Fund and sent to SBCMS, 952 S. Mt. Vernon Avenue, Suite C, Colton, CA 92324.

Board Briefs
November 26, 2001

Mr. Kenneth J. Smole, Vice President of NORCAL Mutual Insurance Company, made a presentation to the Board of Directors and announced that the premium rate for San Bernardino County will increase 19.8 percent for 2002. The rates are higher in Southern California; however, SBCMS members will pay lower rates than physicians in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The overall effect for California is a 5 percent increase in rates.

Mr. Smole discussed the history of NORCAL's relationship with SBCMS and the endorsement agreement signed by NORCAL and SBCMS on April 1, 1999. The number of NORCAL-insured physicians in San Bernardino County has increased from 151 to 305 since the endorsement.

The main reason behind the increase in NORCAL's rates in San Bernardino and Riverside counties is that the Southern California counties have higher loss ratios than the state average. 2001 claims in particular show an increase in the severity of awarded damages, and 2002 actuarial trends forecast another increase. San Bernardino County's 19.8 percent rate increase for 2002 is an indication of how much more significant the losses are in the Inland Empire.

Mr. Smole said that the key to lowering malpractice rate premiums lies in lowering the loss ratio. The predominance of large verdicts in this area is troubling and a major concern is the unpredictability of the juror pool. Mr. Smole said there is no easy fix, "We have to have fewer cases, we have to have more defensible cases, and we have to go to juries less often."

He said that the World Trade Center situation will be the largest catastrophic loss in insurance history - the greatest property loss in history, the greatest Workers Compensation loss in history, the greatest aircraft liability loss in history, and the greatest business interruption loss in history. It will cause the failure of some reinsurance. It will have an effect on the collectability of current reinsurance and will definitely have an effect on the price and availability of future insurance.

Dr. Ronald Bangasser introduced Ms. Julia Slininger, Quality Improvement Manager for CMRI, who described CMRI's state and national healthcare improvement campaign. She proposed that SBCMS participate as CMRI's Partner in Quality. Following discussion, Board members agreed to join CMRI in its Quality Improvement Partnership and explore the possibility of obtaining compensation for SBCMS staff time.

Public Health Officer Thomas J. Prendergast, M.D. reported that the Public Health Department has nearly 150 specimens in their lab that look like anthrax but are negative. A specimen from a Kaiser patient who had a skin lesion was transported to Public Health because Kaiser refused to culture it, and police found some powder in a vial that turned out to be loaded with gram positive spores but it wasn't anthrax. He also announced that physicians should have received their orders of the influenza vaccine.

IEHP Associate Medical Director Dr. Dennis de Leon reported that IEHP membership is 219,742, of which 200,269 are enrolled in Medi-Cal and 19,473 are enrolled in Healthy Families. Due to recent budget problems at the state level, the program to enroll adults in Healthy Families will be put on hold or scaled back. The auto assignment percentage was approximately 22 percent in October.

Dr. Gnanadev referenced a letter sent to specialists from IEHP informing them that any claims for services provided by the Western Alliance Physicians Association (WAPA) before August 2001 will have to go to bankruptcy court. He said that it is the Medical Society's duty to support the physicians who signed with Tower and WAPA because IEHP stood behind them and IEHP has the responsibility to pay the claims prior to August 1. Board members agreed to send a letter to IEHP stating SBCMS' significant concern, ask IEHP to reconsider and pay for the services already provided for IEHP patients based on WAPA and Tower contracts, and offer the physicians a power of attorney to take over these claims.

Dr. Ronald Bangasser reported that over 600 physicians attended the CMA Leadership Academy in La Quinta. The 2002 CMA Leadership Academy will be held again in La Quinta. Dr. Bangasser also reminded Board members that the AMA House of Delegates will meet December 2, 2001 in San Francisco.

Dr. Bangasser announced that IWIN is developing a physician and a public response to the issue of bioterrorism and chemical terrorism. He encouraged Board members to take with them the documents, "Assessing Flu-Like Illness," and the "Assessment Questionnaire for Respiratory Illness," and to review the information on the November 28, 29 and 30 Biological and Chemical Warfare and Terrorism Live Satellite Broadcast. This information and more has been posted on the Medical Society's web site, www.sbcms.org. SBCMS has been invited to a meeting on November 30 of the Terrorism Early Warning Group (TEWG), a Riverside County-San Bernardino County bioterrorism group. Dr. Randolph will attend and report back information to the Board. Dr. Randolph also suggested that SBCMS should be represented at any local Congressional forums to communicate the Society's knowledge of which response systems are working or not working. Ms. Stratton said that Congressman Joe Baca will host a forum on December 10 and she will talk with Dr. Randolph about sending a representative.

Dr. Shankar encouraged Board members to write to their U.S. Senators to bring an awareness of physicians' concern about the 5.4% Medicare physician rate reduction. Staff will send a Fax alert tomorrow to SBCMS members and nonmembers.

Arrowhead Medical Management Services (AMMS) accepted SBCMS' lease proposal that would allow them to take the SBCMS administrative offices (2,810 sq. ft.) on December 14, 2001. Dr. Shankar said that it was a hard decision to make and it brought hardship to the staff who will move the Medical Society offices to the smaller Suite E in the building, but next year SBCMS will be in a better financial situation as a result of the additional revenue. Ms. Stratton said that the offices will close to relocate on November 27 and 28.

Board members agreed that SBCMS will contribute $500 to Dr. Rebecca Patchin's campaign for CMA Vice Speaker and they will also encourage the District II Delegation members to contribute.

Dr. Shankar encouraged Board members to attend their medical staff meetings at least once a month and request time on the agenda to discuss the concerns and issues of organized medicine.

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