President's Message
A Challenging and Rewarding Year

By Samuel Wilson, M.D.

It is the end of the year and the end of another SBCMS presidency. Although my time as president charged me to assume major responsibilities and demanded nearly all my free time, it was a very fulfilling and rewarding year, and I am grateful to have been able to serve as our Medical Society celebrated its 125-year anniversary. This responsibility gave me the opportunity to look at health care from a different vantage point and to rediscover the dynamics and rewards of service. The physicians who voluntarily serve on the SBCMS Board of Directors and our supporting staff worked with a strong sense of personal mission, consistency, courage and confidence. I shared responsibilities with physicians who combine their clinical duties with management and leadership roles. I leave with a stronger commitment to balance patient needs with quality, safety and economic responsibility.

The challenges facing us today in health care appear to have no limits: EMTALA, HIPPA, hospital overcrowding and the State's financial crisis to name a few. The solutions require the skills of well-educated physicians to apply a systems-thinking approach to the clinical, operational and financial ramifications of our decisions.

I have appreciated the opportunity to learn about and become more involved in the legislative process. On April 28 I joined 52 Inland Empire physicians and medical students in traveling to Sacramento. We met with legislators in their offices and discussed with them our positions on pending legislation that could affect our patients or our ability to provide care for them. We encountered many groups doing exactly the same thing in their own interests. It made a deep impression on all those who participated. The Medical Society will continue its focus on being an educational and career development resource for physician leaders at all levels of experience and seniority and will play a leadership role in California's health policy and management issues. Please join us and exploit this leadership opportunity.

While major issues dominated this year's political landscape, SBCMS/CMA continued to remain actively involved in health care legislation. In Sacramento, CMA's legislative advocates followed more than 400 pieces of legislation in 2003 and actively participated in over 350 bills. Significant accomplishments include:

• CMA supported Senate Bill 151, introduced by Senator John Burton. After six long years, CMA was successful in repealing triplicate prescription requirements for Schedule II drugs.
  
• Two major health insurers settled their RICO lawsuits, providing $1 billion in prospective relief for physicians nationwide during the next four years. The settlements with Aetna and CIGNA will change the way the health plans do business with physicians and will transform health care.
  
• CMA led a coalition of 80 health care groups that successfully challenged cuts to Medi-Cal, restoring $1.3 billion for health care.
  
• CMA joined with hospitals, firefighters, CalACEP, and emergency nurses as the Coalition to Preserve Emergency Care (CPEC) to launch a ballot initiative to financially stablize emergency, on-call, and trauma care. If approved in November, the initiative will give on-call physicians access to a specially earmarked fund of $75 million to $100 million a year to compensate them for treating uninsured patients. ER physicians, hospitals, community clinics, and the 911 system will also receive funding. The initiative will raise $600 million to $800 million per year by increasing an existing surcharge on phone bills.

To read more about what CMA is doing for you, go to www.cmanet.org/publicdoc.cfm/11/1.

San Bernardino County Medical Society remains viable and active. We are building a strong local physician network with the Riverside County Foundation for Medical Care. This month we relocated our headquarters and museum to the RCFMC building. Our handsome new conference room houses the medical museum and has abundant space for town hall meetings, seminars, board, and committee meetings. The Medical Society Board of Directors and staff are pleased with the beautiful administrative offices. Please stop by and visit us at 3993 Jurupa Avenue, Riverside. Note that our mailing address remains the same - SBCMS, P.O. Box 11029, San Bernardino, CA 92423-1029. Unless you visit and talk to our staff you will have no idea what resources are available here for you and your organizations.

As my term as president comes to a close, I would like to express my deep appreciation and thanks to all the dedicated staff of the San Bernardino County Medical Society, all my colleagues, the members of the SBCMS Board of Directors, and members of the Medical Society who have supported me during this challenging year.

I will continue to work on your behalf as I serve on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors as your immediate past president. Please feel free to contact me with any suggestions or questions.

Dr. Wilson's Recent Reading List:

What Matters Most: The Power of Living Your Values by Hyrum W. Smith

Choosing and Using an HMO (Bloomberg Personal Bookshelf) by Ellyn Spragins

Blind Faith: The Miraculous Journey of Lula Hardaway, Stevie Wonder's Mother by Dennis Love (Author), Stacy Brown (Author)

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