Final Post from Your NAMSS Blog Subject Matter Expert (SME) - Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve You

Dear Medical Staff Professionals,

This will be my final post as your NAMSS Blog Subject Matter Expert. The NAMSS board made a decision recently to bring this function back in house for NAMSS social media staff to perform. I have served NAMSS in many capacities over the years but this has been the most interesting to me and I feel it has been beneficial to our members. I could not let it go by without thanking each of our members for the opportunity to serve each of you. Happy New Year!

Respectfully, Bonnie Conley

ECFMG to use World Directory of Medical Schools

Beginning in 2015, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) will replace the International Medical Education Directory (IMED) with the World Directory of Medical Schools to determine an applicant's eligibility for ECFMG certification. Please visit the ECFMG website here for more information.

New Surgeon General Confirmed by the U.S. Senate

According to a report by the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Senate voted 51-43 to confirm the appointment of Vivek Hallegere Murthy, MD, as the new Surgeon General of the United States. Dr. Murthy is "a hospitalist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School." For more information, visit the AHA's news site here.

The Changing Demographics of Medical School Student Enrollment

Students are enrolling in American medical schools in increasing numbers and come from more diverse cultural and academic/volunteer/professional backgrounds than ever before. Greater numbers of African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Native American students are enrolling according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Additionally, "Three-quarters of this year’s crop of applicants have research experience, and more than three-quarters reported volunteer community service in some kind of health care setting," according to a release by the AMA Wire.

Read more here.

Enrollment at Osteopathic Medical Colleges Continues to Rise

According to data from the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), enrollment for new students at osteopathic medical colleges rose 5.2 percent for the fall of 2014.

"Stephen C. Shannon, DO, MPH, President and CEO of AACOM, believes the expanding number of DO students and graduates underscores the relevance of osteopathic physicians to the needs of a changing healthcare landscape.

'As interest in osteopathic medicine continues to grow and transform the future of healthcare, osteopathic physicians will play an increasingly critical role in ensuring the delivery of quality patient care at a time of significant change in the U.S. health system,' said Dr. Shannon."

Read more here.

AMA Expresses Support for the FSMB Interstate Licensure Compact

At its 2014 Interim Meeting, the American Medical Association (AMA) expressed support for the FSMB Interstate Licensure Compact. AMA President Elect Steven J. Stack, MD, stated, “At least 10 state medical boards have adopted the compact, which streamlines the licensing process for physicians seeking licenses in multiple states and increases patient access to telemedicine services. We encourage more states to sign on to the compact so that we can ensure standards of care are maintained, whether treatment is provided in-person or via telemedicine.” Read the full press release from the AMA at the link below.

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/ama-wire/ama-wire/post/ama-backs-interstate-compact-streamline-medical-licensure

Video From the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB)

The link below will take you to an excellent video from the FSMB regarding their interstate licensure compact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_N7USvlZ-s&list=UUpJ20Z8SvNHR2sDWsI_oQGg

NATIONAL MEDICAL STAFF SERVICES AWARENESS WEEK NOVEMBER 2-8, 2014

In 1992, President George Bush issued a proclamation designating the first week of November as “National Medical Staff Services Awareness Week,” to acknowledge and thank medical services professionals (MSPs) for playing “an important role in our nation’s healthcare system.”

The American Medical Association-Organized Medical Staff Section also recognizes the medical services profession in a resolution that formally acknowledges “the importance and value of medical services professionals to the healthcare organization and its physician members, and recognizes their contribution and dedication in preserving quality patient care.”

When you visit a hospital, you see the doctors, the nurses, and other medical personnel. What you don’t see are the people behind the scenes who make certain the credentials of all practitioners who are caring for you are correct and have been verified.

MSPs are experts in provider credentialing and privileging, medical staff organization, accreditation and regulatory compliance, and provider relations in the diverse healthcare industry. They credential and monitor ongoing competence of the physicians and other practitioners who provide patient care services in hospitals, managed care organizations, and other healthcare settings.

MSPs are a vital part of the community’s healthcare team. They are dedicated to making certain that all patients receive care from practitioners who are properly educated, licensed, and trained in their specialty.

For more information about MSPs and the National Association Medical Staff Services (NAMSS), visit www.namss.org.

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About NAMSS
The National Association Medical Staff Services (NAMSS) is celebrating more than 30 years of enhancing the professional development of and recognition for professionals in the medical staff and credentialing services field. NAMSS’ vision is to advance a healthcare environment that maximizes the patient experience through the delivery of quality services. The NAMSS membership includes medical staff and credentialing services professionals from medical group practices, hospitals, managed care organizations, and CVOs. Additional information is available at www.namss.org.

Changes to U.S. Medical Licensing Examination

The U.S. Medical Licensing Examination is changing for 2014-2016. Click Here to learn more.

Maintenance of Certification for Licensure and Credentialing

From the American College of Physicians:

"As the national organization for internal medicine specialists and subspecialists, the American College of Physicians (ACP) has a stated mission “to enhance the quality and effectiveness of health care by fostering excellence and professionalism in the practice of medicine.” In supporting this mission, ACP recognizes the importance of certification and the professional responsibility of physicians for maintaining competence and for continuous professional development throughout their career.
Although ACP therefore encourages participation in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program, it also understands the limitations of applying the current MOC process as the sole criterion to identify and recognize competence and quality of care provided by internal medicine specialists and subspecialists in their highly diverse professional roles and activities. As a result, ACP does not support using participation in MOC as an absolute prerequisite for state licensure, hospital credentialing, or insurer credentialing. Instead, decisions about licensure and credentialing should be based on the physician’s performance in his or her practice setting and a broader set of criteria for assessing competence, professionalism, commitment to continuous professional development, and quality of care provided. By understanding that a wide variety of attributes contribute to a physician’s competence and quality of care, ACP stresses that the physician’s demonstrated performance for providing high quality, compassionate care and his or her commitment to continuous professional development should be the primary determinants for licensure and credentialing. Participation in MOC can be one factor providing evidence of quality and commitment to continuous professional development, but it is not the only one."

Patient Safety at the Heart of the Joint Commission's New Hospital Accreditation Chapter

The Joint Commission announces publication of the new “Patient Safety Systems” chapter in the 2015 Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals. The purpose of the chapter is to inform and educate hospital leaders about the importance and structure of an integrated patient-centered system that aims to improve quality of care and patient safety. There are no new requirements in the Patient Safety Systems chapter. Instead, the standards are culled from existing chapters including Leadership, Rights and Responsibilities of the Patient, Performance Improvement, Medication Management and Environment of Care. The standards will continue to be published in their respective chapters as well as in the Patient Safety Systems chapter. During on-site surveys, the standards will be scored in their originating chapter.
To underscore the importance of a patient-centered safety system, The Joint Commission will make this new chapter available online indefinitely for customers and non-customers alike.
“For the first time, The Joint Commission is providing a standards chapter on our website because this information is so important that we want everyone to have access to it. A solid foundation for patient safety is a safety culture. For leaders, our hope is they will study this chapter and use it as a tool to build or improve their safety culture program,” says Ana Pujols McKee, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer, The Joint Commission. “Developing a culture of safety starts at the top of the chain of command, and then works its way through the layers of management and employees to build trust which is an essential ingredient for improvement. In order for improvement to take root and spread, leaders need to be engaged and know the current state of the culture in their organization.”
The chapter is oriented to leadership because leader engagement is imperative to the trust-report-improve cycle of establishing a safety culture. The standards are intended to assist leaders in creating a culture of safety that equates to an environment where staff and leaders work together to eliminate complacency, promote collective mindfulness, treat one another with respect and learn from patient safety events.
The chapter has three guiding principles:

• Aligning existing Joint Commission standards with daily work in order to engage patients and staff throughout the health care system, at all times, on reducing harm.
• Assisting health care organizations with advancing knowledge, skills and competence of staff and patients by recommending methods that will improve quality and safety processes.
• Encouraging and recommending proactive methods and models of quality and patient safety that will increase accountability, trust and knowledge while reducing the impact of fear and blame.

The chapter is included only in the hospital accreditation manual; however, other health care settings may benefit from applying the patient safety strategies discussed in the chapter. Read the new chapter. 

Elizabeth Eaken Zhani

Media Relations Manager, The Joint Commission

"Medical Training Gets a Second Life"

A report by Health Leaders Media details how instructors at the University of Michigan School of Nursing are using an online virtual world called Second Life to help students develop communication and leadership skills. Students can log in from anywhere with an internet connection and train in scenarios they may otherwise never see in a traditional training setting. For more information, view the article HERE.

Social Media and Medicine: The New "Instagram for Doctors"

According to the BBC, a new social media app has been developed which allows doctors to share pictures of their patients for medical and educational purposes. The app, called Figure 1, is already available in North America, Ireland and the United Kingdom and joins services like UpToDate and DynaMed in the emerging market of social media for physicians and healthcare professionals. In the article from the BBC, Dr. Josh Landy, the founder of Figure 1, is quoted as responding to patient privacy concerns by stating, "We do not possess any personal medical data at all... We are not an organization that delivers healthcare." While anyone can download the app, only physicians and other healthcare practitioners whose credentials have been verified can post photos or provide commentary on other posted photos. For a full discussion of this new app, please read the BBC article HERE.

Hospital Leaders Brief Congress on Importance of CME

From AHA and AAMC:

"At an AHA- and Association of American Medical Colleges-sponsored briefing on Tuesday, October 7, on Capitol Hill, hospital leaders shared with congressional staff the important role that Medicare funding for graduate medical education plays in helping teaching hospitals train the next generation of health care providers. “We need to train a workforce today that will meet the needs of the population of our country,” said Thomas Burke, M.D., executive vice president for the MD Anderson Cancer Network®, which is part of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Burke also is a member of the AHA Board of Trustees. Hospital leaders from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic and Oregon Health & Science University also described how direct and indirect GME payments are critical to supporting their efforts to provide highly-specialized services to patients in rural and urban communities. For more on GME and teaching hospitals, including why the AHA supports the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2013 (S. 577), read today’s AHAStat blog post."

California Ballot Measure Calls for Drug Testing for Doctors

A measure which will appear on California's ballot during this November's election - Proposition 46 - would require drug testing for doctors at random or "after a patient suffers an 'adverse event,' which encompasses a long list of complications including developing a more serious ulcer while in the hospital and death from a medication error." If passed, California would become the first state in the nation with such a drug testing policy for physicians. Read more HERE.

UPDATE: 15 States Considering Interstate Medical Licensure Compact

In response to the finalization of the Federation of State Medical Boards' (FSMB) Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, several states and large healthcare organizations, such as the American Medical Association (AMA), have expressed support and the possibility of endorsement. According to Humayan Chaudhry, DO, president and CEO of the FSMB, “many stakeholders across the spectrum [are] expressing support.” Read here for a full account of the latest developments.

This post is a follow-up to previous posts on September 9 and August 7 regarding the FSMB's proposed interstate compact. Scroll down to learn more.

Hydrocodone Combo Products Moved from Schedule III to Schedule II: What It Means For You

Beginning on October 6, 2014, hydrocodone combination products (HCPs) will be moved from Schedule III to Schedule II substances at the recommendation of the Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services. This change was included in the Federal Register as part of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s recent publication of its final rule on the matter.  Read here for important need-to-know information on what this change means for family physicians and their patients.

UPDATE: FSMB Compact Proposal Released

According to an article by ModernHealthcare.com, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has released its finalized plan for an interstate compact for physician licensure “under which physicians who are licensed in one state can use a streamlined process to be quickly licensed in another.” (Read the full article here)

This post is a follow-up to the August 7, 2014 post regarding FSMB’s initial proposal for this interstate compact. Scroll down to view the original post.

DEA to Increase Hydrocodone Combination Product Oversight

Yesterday, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced that it will enforce stronger regulations for individuals who handle hydrocodone combination products (HCPs).  This rule will shift HCPs from Schedule III to Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act -- the designation for products that are most subject to abuse and mishandling.  This rule will go into effect 45 days from DEA's official announcement.   

What Could Black Boxes in Operating Rooms Tell Us?

According to HealthData Management, some hospitals have begun to develop black box mechanisms for their operating rooms (OR) in an effort to reduce preventable errors and increase transparency.  The goal is to use black boxes to record OR procedures to help improve patient safety by identifying errors and facilitating teachable moments for all practitioners.  The black boxes models would record both video and voice, as well as other elements, such as room temperature and noise levels.

Read more about it at HealthData Management.com.

ABIM Pledges to Examine MOC Requirements

In response to physicians' collective opposition to revised Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirements, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) recently announced that it would lessen the financial and course requirements associated with the MOC process, as well as ensure that MOC requirements are clear and consistent across specialty boards.  ABIM also pledged to work closely with the American Board of Medical Specialties and specialty societies to improve the MOC process for all parties. 

Read more about ABIM's MOC initiative.

TJC Amends Standards in Response to May 2014 CMS Rule

The Joint Commission (TJC) announced that it has revised its hospital and critical-access hospital standards to align with CMS's May 2014 conditions of participation rule.  According to its website, TJC standards "clarify the requirements of a practitioner not appointed to the medical staff who is ordering outpatient services, governing body consultation with the medical staff, and medical staff structure for multihospital systems."

Learn more about CMS's final rule and TJC's revised standards for hospitals and critical-access hospitals. 

Fast Track For Primary Care Docs At One Calif. University

From Kaiser Health News:

Some doctors in the state of California will soon be able to practice after three years of medical school instead of the traditional four. The American Medical Association is providing seed money for the effort in the form of a $1 million, five-year grant to the University of California at Davis.

Read more online: http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/index.php/2014/08/fast-track-for-primary-care-docs-at-one-calif-university/

FSMB Compact Could Ease Multistate Licensing

FSMB Compact Could Ease Multistate Licensing

Ken Terry
 

August 05, 2014

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has unveiled a draft interstate compact for physician licensure that, it said, should make it easier to practice telemedicine across the country. The compact, which the FSMB expects to finalize in the next month or two, offers a "streamlined alternative pathway" for physicians who want to practice in multiple states, according to a federation news release.

Under current state medical board policies, physicians must be licensed in the state where a patient is located to diagnose or treat that patient, a stance that the FSMB recently reaffirmed in its model policy for telemedicine. As a result, physicians who consult remotely with patients in other states must be licensed in those states. That can create barriers to telehealth consultations, especially for on-call physicians who are not licensed in every state where patients may contact them online.

The FSMB's interstate compact would allow physicians to apply once and receive licensure in all states that are party to the compact.

Once the compact is finalized, individual medical boards can decide whether to endorse it and submit it to their state legislatures for approval. Three state boards, including the Texas and Oklahoma medical boards and the Washington State osteopathic medical board, have already approved the compact in principle, said Humayan J. Chaudhry, DO, president and chief executive officer of the FSMB.

"Many other boards have it on their agenda and are waiting for the final language before they can present it to their legislatures," he told Medscape Medical News, adding that 15 states are expected to approve the compact in the near term.

According to Chaudhry, a house of delegates representing the FSMB's 70 member boards asked the federation to study the concept of an interstate compact. What motivated the boards, he said, was the need to address the nation's growing physician shortage, to ease patient access issues related to the Affordable Care Act, and to facilitate telemedicine in both rural and more populated areas.

In addition, he said, the interstate compact could help physicians get licenses in metropolitan regions that cross state boundaries. He cited the situation of Washington, DC, physicians, many of whom have had to obtain separate licenses in Maryland and Virginia to treat their patients.

The draft interstate compact specifies that, to be eligible for multistate licensure, physicians must have passed the US Medical Licensing Examination or the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination, must be board-certified, must have clean records, and must have been in practice for at least 3 years. Because they must also complete a residency program, the latter requirement might be dropped in the final version, Chaudhry said.

A "Baby Step"

Jonathan Linkous, president and chief executive officer of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), told Medscape Medical News that the draft interstate compact falls far short of what is needed to promote telemedicine. "The federation is taking a step. But it's a baby step, and what we need is a giant leap."

The key area where the interstate compact falls short, he said, is that it would create a "clearinghouse," rather than reciprocity among states. Physicians would be able to apply for licensure to multiple states through a single entity but would still have to pay license fees to each state and would have to "follow every state's unique and peculiar rules regarding how you practice medicine."

There are some large differences in those rules, he noted. For example, 24 states allow physicians to prescribe medications in telehealth encounters with patients. The rest require prior patient visits, a presenter in the same room as the patient, or a live follow-up visit.

State license fees are also substantial, Linkous pointed out. The ATA performed an analysis in 26 states and found that for the fifth of physicians who had licenses in multiple states, license-related fees cost them about $300 million a year. He granted, however, that those costs might be reduced if physicians filled out a single application and did not have to provide original documents to each medical board.

The ATA does not favor national licensure of physicians. What it wants is reciprocity among all states, similar to the way they treat driver's licenses today. If a physician is licensed in one state, he or she should be able to practice in any state, Linkous said.

Medscape Medical News © 2014  WebMD, LL

Data Bank to Reduce Query Fees

From The Data Bank: Effective October 1, 2014, the new fee to query the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) will be $3.00 for both Continuous and One-Time Queries and $5.00 for Self-Queries. All other aspects of querying will remain the same.

Read more online. 

From H&HN Daily: Concerns Raised Over IOM's Report on GME

Hospitals & Healthcare Networks Daily: An influential IOM panel recommended a monumental shift in how graduate medical education is governed and financed. Teaching hospital officials worry the proposed changes would negatively impact patient care and physician training.

Read the entire article here: http://www.hhnmag.com/display/HHN-news-article.dhtml?dcrPath=/templatedata/HF_Common/NewsArticle/data/HHN/Daily/2014/Jul/073014-weinstock-IOM-recommends-changes-to-GME&utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HHN

Weinstock, Matthew. "Concerns Raised Over IOM's Report on GME." H&HN Daily 30 July 2014: n. pag. Web.

The D.O. Is In Now: Osteopathic Schools Turn Out Nearly a Third of All Med School Grads

From the New York Times - July 29, 2014

Getting into osteopathic school is still excruciatingly tough. Last fall, more than 144,000 students applied for some 6,400 spots. Touro this year received 6,000 applications for 270 first-year seats for the Manhattan school and a new campus opening this summer in Middletown, N.Y. (The average M.C.A.T. score for students entering this fall was just a point below the M.D. average.)

The boom in osteopathy is striking. In 1980, there were just 14 schools across the country and 4,940 students. Now there are 30 schools, including state universities in New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and Michigan, offering instruction at 40 different locations to more than 23,000 students. Today, osteopathic schools turn out 28 percent of the nation’s medical school graduates.

Read the full article at the New York Times website

Berger, Joseph. "The D.O. Is In Now: Osteopathic Schools Turn Out Nearly a Third of All Med School Grads." The New York Times 29 July 2014 Published: Web. 29 July 2014.

Interstate Medical Licensure: Major Reform of Licensing to Encourage Medical Practice in Multiple States

From the Journal of the American Medical Association - July 28, 2014

The Interstate Medical Licensure Compact is a streamlined process that would allow physicians to rapidly become licensed to practice medicine in multiple states. If the compact were to be approved by state legislators and incorporated into the laws of most, if not all, states, it could catalyze many substantial changes in medical practice. 

Read more at JAMA

Corresponding Author: Robert Steinbrook, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, 333 Cedar St, I-456 SHM, PO Box 208008, New Haven, CT 06520 (robert.steinbrook@yale.edu).

Published Online: July 28, 2014. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.9809.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: The author has completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported.

AOA House of Delegates Approves Single GME

The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) House of Delegates recently voted to approve the AOA Board of Trustees' decision to implement a single accreditation system for graduate medical education.  This movement stems from an agreement that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine reached earlier this year to collaborate to create a single GME accreditation program.  The new accreditation system will be fully implemented in July 2020. 

Read more about the new accreditation policy at osteopathic.org.

U.S. Supreme Court to Determine States' Authority to Set Scope of Practice

In early October, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear North Caroline Board of Dental Examiners v. the Federal Trade Commission to determine scope of practice regulation. The case stems from the North Carolina Dental Board's policy that prohibits non-licensed dentists from administering teeth-whitening treatments.  This issue came to light when the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners issued cease and desist letters to spas, mall kiosks, and other pedestrian locations that began to offer teeth-whitening services. 

State medical and dental boards in all 50 states currently regulate scope of practice.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asserts that this facilitates monopolies and inhibits competitive pricing in many cases.  Medical and dental groups argue that the FTC doesn't have the authority to oversee state practice and that patient safety is a critical component to any medical or dental care.  Scope of practice is, thus, a critical component to ensuring that those administering such treatments are qualified, competent, and certified.   

What do you think? Does a federal agency have the right to interfere with state law? Should state medical and dental boards oversee scope of practice?

Read more about this case at scotusblog.com. 

Kentucky Law Allows Certain Nurse Practitioners to Prescibe Medications

Advanced Practice Registered Nurses practicing in Kentucky who have completed a designated four-year collaboration agreement with a physician will now be able to prescribe certain medications without a physician's supervision. This movement stems from the ongoing national discussion regarding nurse practitioner scope of practice. 

Read more about Kentucky's law from Kaiser Health News.

AOA's Single GME Accreditation System Gains Momentum

According to the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), over 40 state, specialty, and national associations have formally declared support for a single General Medical Education accreditation system.  This extensive effort continues to be a professional collaboration that includes developing standards, establishing processes for education programs, and securing appointments to committees involved in planning and executing this initiative.  The AOA House of Delegates will further discuss this issue during its meeting in July. 

Read more about the initiative's progress at AOA.org

ACGME Voices Concern over Missouri's Assistant Physician Law

In an attempt to address the state's ongoing physician-shortage problems, Missouri Governor, Jay Nixon, recently signed into law a provision that would allow medical school graduates who haven't completed residency to practice in primary care settings. 

The law stipulates that these graduates, deemed assistant physicians, undergo a 30-day supervision period with a collaborating physician. Once completed, assistant physicians could begin seeing patients within 50 miles of the supervising physician. 

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's CEO, Dr. Thomas Nasca, voiced concern that without residency experience, assistant physicians may not be able to provide the level of care necessary to independently medically manage patients.

Read more about it in a HealthLeaders Media interview with Dr. Nasca. 

FSMB Continues Work on Medical Licensure Compact

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) has begun work on the third draft of its medical licensure compact.  The compact will enable physicians who practice in multiple states to obtain licensure more efficiently in states participating in the compact.  This will prove particularly helpful for physicians who provide telemedicine services across multiple states.

The compact is gaining momentum, and in early 2014, 16 U.S. senators signed a letter supporting FSMB's initiative.  NAMSS continues to watch these developments and looks forward to continuing to work with FSMB and other industry partners to continue to advance the credentialing and licensing processes.

Read more about FSMB's Medical Licensure Compact here and here.

Physician Recertification Requirements Unpopular

Physician recertification continues to be a contentious topic as more and more physicians are voicing their concerns with the newly revised board-recertification requirements. Many physicians and physician groups state that the cost, time, and overall hassle associated with meeting these requirements takes physicians away from their patients.

Read more about recertification woes at HealthLeaders Media. 

Employed-Physician Model Continues to Grow

According to the 2014 Merritt Hawkins Survey, 90 percent of new physician jobs are employment-based.  The growing emphasis on team-based care, market-sharing opportunities, and the evolving healthcare delivery and payment systems are the driving forces behind this trend. 

Read more about it from HealthLeaders Media.

TJC Revises Hospital and Critical Access Hospital Measures

The Joint Commission (TJC) revised several components of its Hospital and Critical Access Hospital standards to align with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) measures.  TJC implemented these changes based on CMS feedback on TJC's application to renew its deeming authority status.

These revisions will take effect on July 2, 2014.  Read more about these revisions from TJC.

CMS approved TJC's request for continued deeming authority status on June 27, 2014. 

AOA Prioritizes Graduate Medical Education in Strategic Plan

The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) recently identified graduate medical education (GME) as one of five areas of strategic focus for the next three years.

The AOA seeks to grow its education programs by 30 percent with the goal to create a single GME accreditation system.  For the next few years, the AOA will embark on several initiatives to reach this goal, including increasing collaboration with partners and stakeholders as well as enhancing federal advocacy efforts. 

Read more about the AOA's GME initiative and its Strategic Plan.

Remembering Lynn Buchanan

Our profession has lost one of its finest this week.  NAMSS Past President, Lynn L. Buchanan, CPMSM, CPCS lost her courageous and hard-fought battle with cancer on Saturday, June 21, surrounded by family. 

Lynn served as NAMSS' President in 1998 and 1999. She will be sorely missed by all of us who personally knew her -- and those who didn't have benefited from her many years' dedication to her profession and the association as a leader, educator, consultant, and fun-loving individual.  She continued to work despite her illness and never failed in her positive outlook.  

We extend our sincere thoughts and prayers to her family and friends.  You may send your condolences to the Stewart Family Funeral Home or to her family:

The Buchanan's

120 Tierra Verde
Marble Falls, TX 78654 

Rest in Peace, Lynn.

NCQA Launches Study to Best Evaluate ACO Performance

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is teaming up with 20 healthcare organizations to develop mechanisms to effectively measure ACO quality, performance, and delivery.  NCQA expects to release a report on this assessment in the fall of 2014.

Read more about it from NCQA.

How Important are Background Checks?

The recent discovery of a licensed Maryland physician's sexual assault history sheds light on the role that background checks play in the credentialing process -- and how they're not mandatory in every state.

Read more about this case in The Baltimore Sun.

CPEP Discusses Risk Factors for Unsafe Physician Practice

The Center for Personalized Education for Physicians (CPEP) recently released a study that identified risk factors associated with poor physician performance.  By identifying these indicators, CPEP hopes to bring light to this topic in an effort to initiate proactive measures that address these risks and improve delivery, performance, and safety.

Read more about it from CPEP. 

AMA Adopts New Telemedicine Policy

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently adopted a telemedicine policy that encourages physicians to establish legitimate in-person relationships, that may include in-person consultation, before implementing and pursuing a treatment plan via telemedicine.  AMA's policy also recommends that a physician delivering care via telemedicine be licensed in the state in which the patient receives the treatment. 

Read more about AMA's telemedicine policy here.

Five Essential Physician-Leadership Skills

Hospitals & Health Networks (H&HN Daily) published a list of leadership skills that are essential for effective physicians in today's healthcare environment. 

Check it out at H&HN Daily.

What do you think? What makes a good physician leader? How critical is it that physicians have these skills?

The Evolving Hospital Model

As healthcare continues to evolve, so too must hospitals.  We see this happening little by little at our own facilities everyday -- but the hospital of tomorrow may look quite different.

HealthLeaders Media provides an interesting look into tomorrow's hospital in its May 2014 issue of HealthLeaders.

FSMB Issues Report on U.S. Medical Regulatory Trends and Actions

Check it out at fsmb.org.

USMLE 2014-2015 Changes in a Convenient Chart

The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) has developed a quick summary of the examination changes that will take place in the next few years.

Check it out at USMLE.

Movements to Revise Nurse Practitioner Supervision Laws on the Rise

Here's an article about the movement in Texas to enable nurse practitioners to treat patients without physician supervision.  What do you think?

Read the full article on the Texas effort from Kaiser Health News and the Texas Tribune.

Check out FSMB's State-Specific Requirements for Initial Medical Licensure

Here's another great resource from FSMB that lists the minimum postgraduate training requirements, the maximum licensing examination attempts, and the time limits for completing licensing examination that each state requires for initial medical licensure. 

Check it out here.

A Message from the NAMSS Conference Chair -- Susan DuBois, CPMSM, CPCS

You probably noticed that registration for the 38^th Annual NAMSS Conference is open.  I hope you are planning to join me and hundreds of your friends and colleagues in New Orleans October 4-8! 

The Conference Committee, along with many others, have been planning what promises to be one of the best Annual Conferences in NAMSS’ history.  We have selected a wide variety of topics and presenters, some old friends and some new friends, that we can’t wait to hear from.  

In addition to the Annual Conference, we will be offering several pre-conference sessions on Saturday and Sunday, October 4 and 5, including Credentialing 101; CPCS and CPMSM Prep Courses and Becoming Your Own Advocate (held only on Sunday).  We’ve programmed many networking opportunities including a Roundtable Breakfast Networking Session; Becoming a Volunteer: An Introduction to Volunteering with NAMSS; and the Regional Roundtable Breakfast Session, formerly known as the Regional Luncheon Roundtable.   

There is no additional fee to attend any of these events, whereas in the past, you had to purchase a ticket to attend.  The Hilton New Orleans Riverside is a large beautiful hotel within walking distance of French Quarter, incredible restaurants, shopping, and just about anything else you might want to experience in New Orleans.  Many more details about the conference and online registration are available at NAMSS.org.  

Please share your favorite NAMSS Conference memories, the things you are looking forward to doing while in New Orleans and recommendations for your colleagues regarding places to eat and things to do while in New Orleans.  I’m excited for this year’s Annual Conference and hope to see you in October.   

Best wishes!  Susan     

CPEP and The Physician Reentry into the Workforce Project Release Physician Reentry Roadmap

"The Center for Personalized Education for Physicians (CPEP) and The Physician Reentry into the Workforce Project have collaborated to develop the 'Roadmap to Reentry.'  This comprehensive, 37-page booklet provides a wealth of useful material.  This endeavor was funded by the Colorado Trust’s Convening for Colorado program."

More information can be found physician-reentry.org.

CMS Issues Final Rule on Medicare CoPs

On May 7, CMS issued a final rule on certain Medicare CoPs as well as regulations pertaining to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) deemed "unnecessary, obsolete or excessively burdensome on hospitals and other health care providers."  CMS estimates that this rule will save $660 million each year.  

In April 2013, NAMSS provided comment to many provisions in this final rule, including dietitian privileging, medical staff membership, hospital governing bodies, and hospital outpatient orders. 

This final rule becomes effective 60 days after the date of its publication in the Federal Register on May 12, 2014.