During its October 26 meeting, the MSMS Board of Directors not only took action on a host of issues from MSMS Committees and House of Delegates resolutions, but it also continued to update the MSMS Future of Medicine strategic priorities. These priorities include: 1) Ensure the Viability of Primary Care; 2) Quality & Safety; 3) Health Care Resource Stewardship; 4) Child Obesity; and 5) Medicaid.
Michigan Primary Care Transformation Project Update – The Board heard an update about the Michigan Primary Care Transformation Project (MiPCT), which is the name of Michigan’s initiative that was selected as part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Multi-Payer Advanced Primary Care Demonstration. This is the federal demonstration project that partners Medicare with Medicaid and private insurers on initiatives around the patient centered medical home (PCMH) concept. Currently, there is quite a bit of activity around MiPCT that involves finalizing contracts, participants (payers, POs/PHOs, and practices), implementation plans, and metrics before various deadlines. While the demonstration was originally scheduled to begin on October 1, the state was granted a three-month extension to January 1, 2012. For more information, contact Stacey Hettiger at MSMS at 517-336-5766 or shettiger@msms.org.
Beaumont Health System to De-Participate with Blue Care Network - The Board heard a presentation from Betty S. Chu, MD, Medical Staff President of Beaumont Hospital, Troy, and Michael Herbert, Senior Vice President and Executive Director of Beaumont Physician Partners. They announced that Beaumont Health System has notified Blue Care Network of its intent to de-participate effective January 12, 2012. Beaumont stated that their reimbursement rates from BCN are lower than other area hospitals. The two parties are continuing to negotiate a contract prior to the January 12 deadline. Beaumont is interested in some sort of value-based gain-sharing and other incentive programs and has requested arbitration to assist in resolving the conflict. For more information, contact Rebecca Blake at MSMS at 517-336-5729 or rblake@msms.org.
Michigan Health Marketplace – The Board approved a recommendation from the MSMS Committee on State Legislation & Regulations that MSMS support Senate Bill 693 introduced by Sen. Jim Marleau (R-Lake Orion), Chair of the Senate Health Policy Committee, which would establish a framework for creating the Health Insurance Exchanges required under the Affordable Care Act. Some advantages of adopting state-level exchanges include having state oversight as opposed to federal oversight, and having the ability to leverage federal dollars to help implement the exchange. The exchange would be known as the Michigan Health Marketplace. For more information, contact Colin Ford at MSMS at 517-336-5737 or cford@msms.org.
Nursing Scope of Practice - The Board approved a recommendation from the MSMS Committee on State Legislation & Regulations that MSMS oppose House Bill 4774 introduced by Rep. Lesia Liss (D-Warren), which aims to expand the scope of practice for advance practice nurses by making them independent of physician supervision for diagnosis and prescriptive privileges without requiring the requisite education. For more information, contact Colin Ford at MSMS at 517-336-5737 or cford@msms.org.
Due Process Standards for Institutional Ethics Committees in Michigan - The Board approved a recommendation from the MSMS Committee on Bioethics that MSMS recommend that Institutional Ethics Committees in the state of Michigan facilitate due process into their deliberations concerning patient care questions by including the patient or a patient advocate unrelated to the patient, hospital, and physician(s). For more information, contact Brenda Marenich at MSMS at 517-336-7580 or bmarenich@msms.org.
Legal Counsel Report - MSMS legal counsel updated the Board about several cases of interest to medicine about these topics: discovery of peer review materials; expert witness qualification; notice of intent; non-economic damages cap; federal health care reform litigation; and more. Read the entire report [pdf]>>
For more information about MSMS leadership, contact MSMS Executive Director Julie L. Novak at 517-336-5735 or jnovak@msms.org.