Welcome to your Wednesday NCMS Morning Rounds.

Oct. 14, 2020

Are You a Future Clinician Leader? Apply Now to Become One!

The NCMS and Kanof Institute for Physician Leadership (KIPL) Future Clinician Leaders College is now accepting applications for this one-year interprofessional leadership development program for emerging leaders in health care professional training within the state of North Carolina.

In partnership with the North Carolina AHEC Program lead by the Northwest AHEC, Future Clinician Leaders College participants will build strong leader identity in the interprofessional team and gain a thorough understanding of health care leadership including advocacy and driving change.

Participants will have an opportunity to interact with North Carolina health care leaders and use their leadership skills to tackle major health policy challenges facing the state through a group project spanning clinical professions as well as institutions. Previous project topics have included: the opioid epidemic, provider shortage, cost of medicine, equity and population health.

An interactive and participative approach will probe student experiences, build new perspectives and focus on each student’s individual development as a leader. The purpose is to build leadership centered on self-awareness and foster authenticity allowing each student to act in alignment with their core values as a leader, encourage and assess information from different perspectives and balance transparency. The curriculum further weaves in diversity and equity, to build leaders that confidently lead from a perspective of working with diversity as opposed to managing diversity in the workplace.

The deadline to apply to become a 2021 Future Clinician Leader is Nov. 13. If you are a medical, pharmacy, PA, nursing or other health professional student who wants to be a leader, please read our call for applications here. You may apply here. For more information, visit this website.

In-Person Voting Begins Tomorrow, Oct. 15

Polling places for early, in-person voting open tomorrow, Oct. 15 and will continue through Oct. 31. Find an early voting location near you at this link.

Remember, too, you may drop off absentee ballots at early voting sites rather than mail them in. You may not bring an absentee ballot to your regular polling place on Nov. 3, Election Day, however.

Check out our NCMS legislative blog and our quick links to voting tools and information. As you do your research on candidates on your ballot, feel free to consult NCMS Director of Legislative Relations Sue Ann Forrest, MPA, if you have questions. You may reach out to her at [email protected].

New Repayment Terms for Medicare COVID-19 Loans

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued new recoupment terms allowing those who received payments through the Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment (AAP) program one additional year to start loan payments.

CMS distributed $106 billion in APP program payments to providers and suppliers in order to alleviate the financial burden health care providers faced while experiencing cash flow issues in the early stages of combating the COVID-19 public health emergency. Under the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act, repayment will now begin one year from the issuance date of each provider or supplier’s accelerated or advance payment.

CMS also issued guidance on how to request an Extended Repayment Schedule (ERS) for those who are continuing to experience financial hardships. An ERS is a debt installment payment plan that allows you to pay debts over the course of three years, or, up to five years in the case of extreme hardship. Please contact your MAC for information on how to request an ERS. To allow even more flexibility in paying back the loans, the $175 billion issued in Provider Relief funds can be used towards repayment of these Medicare loans.

Learn more through this Fact Sheet or this FAQ document.

In the News

Dr. Fauci says US Faces ‘a Whole Lot of Trouble’ as Coronavirus Cases Rise Heading into Winter, CNBC, 10-12-20

Learning Opportunity

The North Carolina Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Society in conjunction with Novartis invites specialists to a virtual panel discussion on ‘Asthma Management in the Era of COVID-19,’ on Thursday Oct. 22 at 7 pm. The panel discussion will be moderated by Aerik Williams, MD, NCAAIS President. For a link to participate, please email [email protected].

Ongoing opportunity:

The NC Orthopaedic Association (NCOA) is offering its pre-recorded CME presentations online until Jan. 2 for viewing at your leisure. These sessions will be hosted on the SR-AHEC CME portal. Once you view the session and answer the questions you will receive your CME certificate from SR-AHEC. Register and pay fee here.

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