Events, Conferences, and Announcements for April 22

Each week the Wyoming Medical Society receives a number of webinar, CME, and other conference opportunities which we share with our members without endorsement. This week’s list includes:

Announcements

The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Labor, Health, and Human Services Committee will meet April 28-29 at Casper College. A very robust agenda includes time to discuss State-owned Healthcare facilities; Title 7 Placements; Implementation of the Gatekeeper Process, Provider reimbursement and a multi-payer claims database. Click here to see the full agenda.

There is a new PQRS Learning and Action Network starting this month through Mountain-Pacific. The purpose of this monthly meeting is to provide anyone subjected to PQRS a place to get timely updates, ask questions, and learn from each other. As the payment methods and models for eligible professionals are shifting, Mountain-Pacific Quality Health wants to provide a forum where participants can get updates in a timely fashion. The LAN will be in addition to the frequent, in-depth educational webinars provided by the Health Technology staff.

Here is a link to The Physicians Foundation’s national Survey of America’s Physicians. We currently are conducting the 2016 version of the survey and are encouraging all doctors to participate.

Publications

The American Academy of Family Physicians released its April e-newsletter, Family Practice Management. The subject matter includes tools to help with chronic care management, how to start a good workday, as well as notes on family practice compensation.

The April 14 edition of the MLN Providers e-News has been released. Among the subject matters is Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO; and the Provider Enrollment requirements for writing prescriptions for Medicare Part D drugs.

The April 21 edition of the MLN Providers e-News contains posts about How to Register for the 2016 PQRS Group Practice Reporting Option and the opportunity to check your 2015 Open Payments.

The Doctors Company published a new article called, “Don’t Let Cybercriminals hold you hostage. Medical practices and hospitals are increasingly victims of ransomware—an attack where a computer system is held hostage by cybercriminals until a ransom is paid. The article explores strategies to minimize damage in the event of a ransomware attack and prevent cybercriminals from holding your system hostage.

Webinars/Conferences

Providers’ Clinical Support System for Opioid Therapies (PCSS-O) offers a webinar at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 19 called, “Opioids for the Masses:  Social Welfare Tradeoffs in the Regulation of Narcotic Pain Medications. This webinar sheds light on the tradeoffs of public policies that reduce the supply of medical opioids by investigating their health, labor, and welfare ramifications.

Providers Clinical Support System for Medication Assisted Treatment PCSSMAT offers a webinar at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 26 called, Treatment of Prescription Opioid Dependance and Long-Term Outcomes. Dr. Roger Weiss of the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Clinical Research Program at Harvard Medical School will review the first long-term follow-up of medication-assisted treatment of patients addicted to prescription Medication.

PCSSMAT features an April 27 webinar called: Relapse-Prevention with Injection Naltrexone: Patient Selection and Treatment Initiation from 10 a.m.- noon. This course will review the naltrexone-based treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). A brief outline of treatment approach will be followed by a detailed consideration of patient selection and treatment initiation in various clinical circumstances. An example of treatment approach used by the author will be presented in detail. Finally, an algorithm of MAT selection will be presented.

PCSSMAT also offers a webinar on Tuesday, April 21 from 11 a.m. -1 p.m. called, “Goodbye Opioids, Hello Self-Management. Supporting Non-Drug Alternatives for Persistent Pain. The goal for this activity is to educate on the concept of self-management.

PCSSMAT and PCSSOT are teaming up on three webinars The first is a Prescriber Considerations when treating chronic pain webinar slated for Tuesday, April 26 at 11 a.m. It will be led by Dr. Roger Chou who is a professor in the Departments of Medicine, Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology at Oregon Health and Science University. He will examine how can clinicians more safely and effectively use opioid and non-opioid therapies for management of chronic pain.

Webinar two is titled:  “Clinical Tools for Chronic Pain Management among Individuals with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs),” and takes place at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 26. Dr. Joji Suzuki is the Director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry and Director of Addictions Education in the Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. This webinar draws on the cutting-edge best practices to identify and address risk among patients receiving treatment for chronic pain.

The third webinar is called: “Adjunct Approaches to Chronic Pain Management for Individuals with SUD,” and takes place at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 21. Dr. Stephen Wyatt is a board certified addiction psychiatrist based out of North Carolina and affiliated with Middlesex Hospital. He received his medical degree from Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and has been in practice for 36 years. This webinar will outline non-pharmacologic approaches to treating pain and how prescribers can receive additional technical assistance to increase access to these non-opioid options.

HiTECH Answers offers a webinar called Improving Results through Revenue Cycle Transparency on Wednesday, April 20 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. In this webinar, Kittie Smith of Baptist Health Medical Group will share strategies, solutions, and actionable advice on leveraging front- and back-office technology to create a more transparent revenue cycle. She’ll also discuss the results they’ve achieved-including a 2.3X increase in patient collections.