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Executive Council
approves public health initiatives
The WCMS Executive Committee took a number of actions
Jan. 7 involving public health and health services for the under-
and uninsured, the details of which appear below. The Planning
Committee also released its recommendations for the coming year.
They also appear below.
PHA should include...
Dr. Daniel Michael, Chair of the Medical and Public
Health Issues Committee presented the following recommendations to
the Executive Council. The Council approved them.
1. In order to recruit and retain primary care physicians for
medically underserved areas, the Detroit Wayne County Public
Health Authority should provide a direct subsidy to the practices
in identified areas of need.
2. As the Authority contracts with physicians, one issue that will
dominate discussion is professional liability. To assuage that
concern, the Authority should devise alternatives to the present
tort system. This could include no-fault liability, a medical
court system or a patient compensation fund. Another option could
be the Authority's assumption of liability for the contracted
physicians and other providers.
3. To assist physicians in establishing a practice in the
Authority's designated underserved areas, provision of consulting
and other services should be offered. This might include a small
business service center that could offer financial, management,
staffing, real estate and other consulting assistance.
New Task Force
WCMS President Edward Jankowski, MD, formed the Task
Force on Recruiting Primary Care Physicians for Medically
Underserved Areas. He appointed Robert Jackson, MD, as Chair with
Terry Baul, MD, as Vice Chair.
The Task Force is expected to "look at what it would take to
get primary care doctors to practice in Detroit and Wayne County's
medically underserved areas."
The Task Force will prepare a report containing recommendations to
the Executive Council. If approved by the Executive Council, the
recommendations will be passed on to the Detroit Wayne County
Public Health Authority. Dr. Jankowski expects the process to be
complete by May.
Strategic Plan
Recommendations from the Planning Committee
The WCMS Strategic Plan for 2004 has been completed and
assignments made to the appropriate committees for implementation.
The following items are directed to the Executive Council:
Executive Council will receive recommendations on adding a member
of the public, such as a local newspaper editor, business leader,
minister or others, to the Council to provide a broader
perspective;
Council will work to become a virtual medical society with
Executive Council, Board of Trustees and Delegate Body
meetings held at various locations;
Council will work with PSG to promote sales of BCBSM and Delta
Dental insurance in Wayne County;
Council will work with MSMS to publicize the capabilities of the
Medical Advantage Group to help physicians and hospitals resolve
and/or prevent conflicts;
attempt to meet annually with representatives of the Big Three
autos and unions specifically to provide recommendations/input
into the health contract for employees that will be signed again
in four years;
continue efforts to work closely with other county medical
societies in Southeast Michigan;
WCMS will be visible on health issues by sending the President and
officers out to speak at least six times per year.
The Planning Committee recommended that the Executive Council
approve the above items for implementation during 2004-2005.
NEWSBITES
Physician licensing board finds new home
The Michigan Bureaus of Health Professions and Health
Systems have been moved from the state Department of Consumer and
Industry Services to the Michigan Department of Community Health.
The move comes as part of Executive Order 2003-18, a Dec. 7
document in which Gov. Jennifer Granholm makes a plethora of
administrative changes to the state bureaucracy. The Bureau of
Health Professions regulates health professionals who are licensed
registered or certified for 32 health care occupations, including
physicians. The Bureau of Health Systems deals primarily with
licensing of health care facilities and related issues.
MDCH educational offerings
The Michigan Department of Community Health is offering
free one-hour educational programs to county medical societies.
Topics include Pediatric Immunization, Adolescent Immunization,
Adult Immunization, Family Practice Immunization, Immunization in
the OB/GYN Practice, Varicella and Varicella Vaccine, and the
Michigan Childhood Immunization Registry (MCIR). Hot topics for
2004 are the new CDC schedules for pediatrics and adults, and
influenza. For more information, call Rebecca Blake at MSMS at
(517) 336-5729.
Dr. Jankowski helps lead Cover the Uninsured Week
WCMS President Edward Jankowski, MD, is an Honorary Co-Chair for
Cover the Uninsured Week. Program officials have announced a
schedule for this year's events and hope to repeat the success
that they had with last year's week.
Detroit has again been selected as an area of focus for the
program, which featured a coalition of more than 120 organizations
last year. A description of events appears below.
National Press Conference in Washington, DC: May 5
Kick-off Press Conferences in various communities: May 10
Mid-week Press Events
Health and Enrollment Fairs
Small Business Seminars
High School Programs
Fundraisers
Art and Entertainment Sporting Events
Editorial:
Not To The Politicians, But To The People - The Lesson Learned
From The Medicare Prescription Bill
By JOSEPH WEISS, MD
Editor
The recently passed Medicare Prescription Bill did not seek a
solution to the problem, but avoided doing just that. The problem
the politicians did not face was how to reconcile:
Cost,
Access,
and Quality
Remember that access must consider that Americans believe health
care is a right. Cost is not a matter of what we can afford, but
how we will distribute the expense. And finally, that quality must
negotiate the conflict between what the patient thinks should be
the standard of care versus what the medical community believes is
appropriate.
The politicians failed to address any of these concerns in a
rational manner. The medical community cannot provide the answers
as we serve the needs of people but do not decide their health
benefits.
The answers to cost, access, and quality must come from the people
affected by the decisions made in these areas. In the case of
Medicare, this means the elderly must decide by their voices and
their votes.
Physicians can bring science and technology, sympathy and sense to
those decisions. But ultimately, the appropriate Medicare Bill
must come not from physicians or politicians, but from the people.
SAVE THE DATE
Twelfth Annual
Francis P. Rhoades, MD
Memorial Lecture
Detroit Yacht Club
6 p.m. - Friday, April 2, 2004
“The Detroit Health
Care Crisis”
Janet Olszewski, Director
Michigan Department of Community Health
Responders:
Dean John Crissman, MD
WSU School of Medicine
Michael Duggan
President Detroit Medical Center
Michigan Medical Group managers to meet in Mount Pleasant
During the past year, the County Medical Societies (CMS)
have been working with Michigan Medical Group Management
Association (MMGMA) regarding areas of common interest. One of
those areas involves enhancing the effective and efficient
management of the medical group.
MMGMA is pleased to announce its upcoming spring meeting to be
held on Thursday, March 25, and Friday, March 26, 2004, at the
Soaring Eagle Resort in Mount Pleasant. National and regional
speakers have been scheduled to discuss diverse management topics
including:
Strategic Financial Planning
Effective and Legal Interviewing
Cyberslacking and other Employment Sins of the 21st Century
HIPAA Security Regulations
Membership in MMGMA is very inexpensive at just $75 per year, and
new members mentioning that they were referred through CMS will
receive a discount off of the first year's dues. Attendance at the
meetings is generally much less expensive than many national
and/or privately sponsored meetings and attendees have indicated
that these meetings are an excellent experience with many
opportunities for learning and networking.
Information on membership in MMGMA and on registering your manager
for the Mount Pleasant meeting can both be obtained by contacting:
Bonnie Cochran - Membership Chair; e-mail: bacochran@earthlink.net;
phone: 957-4090 or Sherry Barnhart - Executive Secretary; e-mail: sbarnhart@msms.org;
phone: (517) 336-5786.
What has the AMA done for you lateley?
By CATHY O. BLIGHT, MD
Special to DMN
During the Interim Meeting in December, the AMA celebrated
Congress's recent history-making approval of the Medicare
prescription drug bill. This bill, which has been signed into law
by the president, will protect access to care for America's senior
citizens by stopping Medicare cuts to physicians for the next two
years. In fact, it will provide a 1.5 percent increase in payments
in 2004 and 2005. Achieving this goal shows the power of the AMA,
the Michigan State Medical Society and other state, specialty and
county societies working together to protect physicians and
patients.
The AMA House of Delegates also took the following actions at the
meeting:
Supported the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program as a model
for restructuring Medicare.
Supported the shifting of funding for Medicare from the current
tax-financed, pay-as-you-go system to one of mandatory
individually owned private saving.
Called for a study of the merits of a cap on medical student
tuition.
Reaffirmed policy providing the AMA Board of Trustees with
flexibility to work with members of Congress and other
professional societies in seeking proven medical liability reforms
at the federal level.
For more information about the meeting and your Michigan leaders,
visit:
www.msms.org/msmsto/aboutmsms/delegation
OBITUARIES
Edward L. Quinn, MD
WCMS member Edward L. Quinn, MD, passed away December 22,
2003. He was born August 27, 1917.
Dr. Quinn, who lived in Birmingham, was husband of Nelden B.
Quinn; father of Patricia (Dennis) Ritchie, Jane (Dale) Paccamonti
and and Michael L. Quinn; grandfather of Kelly, Kirsten, Sara,
David, Sam and Hannah; two great granddaughters, Cameron and
Hayden.
Memorial tributes may be made to the First United Methodist
Church, 1589 W. Maple, Birmingham or to Henry Ford Health System,
c/o Edward L. Quinn Infectious Disease Fund, Office of
Philanthropy, One Ford Place, Suite 5A, Detroit, MI 48202.
William Noshay, MD
William Noshay, MD, died November 25, 2003. He was born
October 3, 1915 in Buffalo. Dr. Noshay began working at Henry Ford
Hospital in Detroit at about the time of the 1967 riots, braving
exposure to gunfire to serve his patients.
Dr. Noshay worked at Henry Ford his entire career. He was the
first chief of neurology at the hospital. Although he could have
made more money in private practice, he chose to stay at the
hospital where he felt he could help more people, his daughter,
Marge Noshay-Bevers, told the Detroit News.
During World War II, Dr. Noshay was a Naval doctor assigned to the
US Marine Corps. He was stationed in Okinawa.
Dr. Noshay earned his medical degree from the University of
Buffalo in 1940 and his a degree in neurology from the University
of Michigan in 1949.
Survivors include two daughters, Marge Noshay-Bevers and Bets
Leadbetter; a son, Dave; and eight grandchildren.
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