Happy Friday! Here’s your

NCMS Morning Rounds.

  July 10, 2020

Due to some unfortunate technical difficulties with our email platform earlier this week, you probably received multiple copies of the newsletter in your email. We sincerely apologize for this incident! 

Making Sure Physician Voices Are Heard

The NCMS’ national partner, The Physicians Foundation, is asking you to take less than five minutes to complete a 10-question survey on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting physicians and your patients. The results of this nationwide survey of over 700,000 physicians will be shared with policy makers, legislators, the public and the media. Your participation is important.

By completing the quick survey you’ll also be entered into a drawing for one of four $500 Amazon gift cards.

TAKE THE SURVEY NOW.

The North Carolina-specific results will be shared in your NCMS Morning Rounds. Thank you for your participation.

Don’t Forego Leadership Development Due to Pandemic

Thoughtful physician and PA leaders are essential now more than ever and the NCMS Foundation’s Kanof Institute for Physician Leadership (KIPL) has responded by adapting its programs to be valuable learning experiences even when held virtually.

If you’re unsure about the future and accessing these highly acclaimed programs, don’t worry. Our staff experts have rethought the format for the 2021 Leadership College and Health Care Leadership and Management (HCLM) programs to employ innovative and effective virtual educational techniques. You will gain everything you would have if these programs were held in person, even if you are participating from the comfort of your home or office.

Applications are now being accepted for both Leadership College and HCLM for the classes of 2021. Learn more about all that KIPL offers. Apply now for Leadership College and HCLM.

State Offers Communications Tools to Prevent and Protect

To help you get the word out to patients and your community about how to prevent and protect against the coronavirus, the NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has compiled a set of easily accessible communications resources on this webpage.

The materials include graphics and links to information for social media posts and downloadable flyers to distribute to patients. The messages include the importance of wearing a face covering, when to be tested, contact tracing and how to find a nearby testing site.

Using these tools is just another way to spread the public health messages to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Access the resources.

In the News

As COVID Testing Soars, Wait Times for Results Jump to a Week – or More, Kaiser Health News, 7-9-20

Learning Opportunity

DON’T MISS today’s Kanof Institute for Physician Leadership Power Hour from 1 to 2 p.m. will continue our ongoing discussion around racism in the United States and what we can do as individuals and as a health care community to address racial injustice and health inequities. Join your colleagues and our guests, who are focused on change at all levels to address health inequities and disparities, as we grapple with these issues. Register here.

Another learning opportunity: a webinar focused on ‘Racial Disparities in Accessing Evidence-Based OUD Treatment and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic’ will be offered next Thursday, July 16 at 3 p.m.

COVID-19 pandemic and recent events have magnified the existing racial and ethnic disparities in our health care systems, including in opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. While our understanding of and ability to treat OUD has progressed over the past decade, the benefits of this shift have not been made equally available to all who need it. Black Americans are much less likely than their white counterparts to receive treatment for their opioid use disorder, even though both groups are affected at similar rates, and in 2016, fatal opioid overdoses among Black Americans were nearly double that of the general population. The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to further exacerbate these disparities.

Learn more and register.

If you have policies you’d like your NCMS Board of Directors to consider, please complete the Board input form here. Thanks for reading!