Welcome to a new week and your Monday
NCMS Morning Rounds!
Feb. 24, 2020
NCMS Legislative Update
NCMS Government Affairs staff have been traveling throughout the state meeting with NCMS members and their groups to discuss the immediate past legislative session and to hear your health policy concerns to help set our legislative priorities when the legislature reconvenes in April. If you would like to have NCMS staff visit with you and your colleagues, please contact NCMS Director of Legislative Relations Sue Ann Forrest, MPA, at [email protected] or 919-833-3836.
As much as we’d like to, we can’t meet personally with every one of our members, but we do want to hear from as many of you as possible to understand the issues of greatest importance to you. We will be sending a series of short surveys in the coming days to get your perspectives on our priority areas like access to care, public health, insurance, scope of practice and administrative simplification. Please watch for these quick surveys and complete them right away so we can most effectively advocate for NC physicians and PAs.
NCMS Government Affairs staff also is available to discuss the candidates on your ballot prior to the March 3 primary. You can download a sample ballot for your district at the state Board of Elections website.
Don’t forget to get to the polls for early voting, which continues until Feb. 29, or on Super Tuesday, March 3, to cast your vote in this important primary.
NCMS Part of Opioid Response Project
NCMS Vice President for Rural Health Systems Innovations Franklin Walker, MBA, will participate in a strategy discussion tomorrow as part of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill School of Government’s Opioid Response Project.
To achieve the collaborative, multi-faceted approach so crucial to tackling the opioid crisis in North Carolina, the UNC School of Government launched an intensive 2-year collaborative learning model providing direct support to 10 North Carolina communities working to enact an integrated and innovative policy and practice response to their local opioid crises. Learn more about the project and the 10 communities involved.
The strategy discussions to be held in Charlotte tomorrow will bring together team members from each of the communities, UNC faculty, government officials, a representative from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, which is helping to fund the project, and the NCMS’ Walker, who is the Executive Director of the NCMS Foundation’s Project Office-Based Opioid Treatment (Project OBOT). Project OBOT is aimed at increasing access to treatment and recovery support. Learn more about Project OBOT.
Help in Integrating Tobacco Cessation into Your Practice
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has created a ‘Tobacco Cessation Change Package’ to help health care professionals in a variety of settings implement systems and strategies that improve care for patients who use tobacco.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the US and is a significant driver of health care costs. Future smoking-related illnesses, deaths and costs can be prevented by helping individuals who use tobacco to quit.
The Tobacco Cessation Change Package presents a practical list of process improvements that clinicians can incorporate into their workflow as they seek to deliver optimal treatment to patients who use tobacco. Access the Tobacco Cessation Change Package.
To learn more about what is available to patients in North Carolina, explore the NC Quitline.
In the News
The History Behind Black Men’s Poor Health Outcomes and What We Can Do To Close the Gap, The Advisory Board Forum/The New York Times, 2-18-20
Learning Opportunity
Duke-UNC Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training will be offered March 16‐19, in Durham. This is fully accredited by the Council for Tobacco Treatment Training Programs and offers 27.25 hours of CME. A discount on registration is available for providers serving underserved communities. More information and registration.