News

The California Senate is set to vote on the bill that would grant full practice authority to nurse practitioners (NP's). AB 890 (Wood) would remove critical patient protections by allowing NP's to practice without physician supervision. The bill will be heard on the Senate Floor as soon as today! Physicians are urged to contact their legislators NOW and ask them to protect patient safety and vote NO on AB 890.

Visit the LACMA web site here

We are targeting:

• Assemblymember Richard Bloom, @AsmRichardBloom
• Assemblymember Ed Chau, @AsmEdChau
• Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, @AsmJesseGabriel
• Assemblymember Chris Holden, @ChrisHoldenNews
• Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, @Asm_Nazarian
• Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell, @AsmPatODonnell

LACMA has launched a new Health Equity Council, which includes Dr. Diana Shiba, Dr. Sion Roy, Dr. Jerry Abraham, Dr. C. Freeman, Dr. Hector Flores, Dr. William King, Dr. Valencia Walker, Dr. Resa Caivano, and Dr. Troy Elander. The council has already engaged in purposeful dialogue around the negative impact that systemic and structural racism has had on the socioeconomic and health disparities here in Los Angeles County, and what LACMA can do to bring positive, actionable change to health care delivery in the county.
 

In a recent article in Modern Healthcare Magazine, Dr. Chris Colbert shared perspective on the training he received 15 years ago and doesn’t recall health equity ever being acknowledged or discussed.
 

“There was just African American residency (training) and the thought that this wasn’t right,” said Colbert, who is African American and serves as assistant emergency medicine residency director and director of health disparities at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. “But we didn’t feel like we were in a place where we could say that out loud.”
 

Through LACMA’s Health Equity Council and soon to launch “Race Against Time” zoom series, the perpetuation of explicit and implicit biases, that often serve to reinforce racist and culturally insensitive stereotypes, will be discussed - and include topics that highlight examples of racial and ethnic health disparities. For example, data from the Joint Commission has shown that non-Caucasian patients receive on-average fewer cardiovascular interventions and fewer kidney transplants, and African-American men are also less likely to receive chemotherapy and radiation therapy for prostate cancer.
 

Dr. Diana Shiba and I wrote to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas to recognize him for his leadership on declaring racism a public health issue. See the letter here:

In part, “The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the grave social, economic, and health inequities that are disproportionately impacting racial and ethnic minority groups. Data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on August 17th, has shown that of those who have died from COVID-19, with information about race and ethnicity available for 4,960 people (99 percent of the cases reported by the department), 50% of deaths have occurred among Latino/Latinx residents. Recent data has also shown that for every 100,000 Latino/Latinx residents in L.A. County, more than 700 have been infected with the coronavirus, and for every 100,000 Black residents, nearly 400 have been infected, according to self-adjusted analysis by county officials. By contrast, for every 100,000 white residents, more than 300 have been infected with the virus, and for every 100,000 Asian American residents, about 250 have been infected.”
 

This is exciting and impactful work that LACMA will be embarking upon. If you would like to share your stories, your insights and perspectives on this issue, I would like to hear from you!

The reopening of California and Los Angeles is on everyone’s minds these days: Will businesses open? If so all? Some? How will that impact consumers looking at their healthcare options? The “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” outlines a tiered framework to get Californians back to work safely. The framework lays out the measures that each county must meet, based on indicators that capture disease burden, testing, and health equity. A county may be more restrictive than this framework. This framework also notes signals of concern, including impacted healthcare capacity that may lead towards a dimming intervention. This framework replaces the current County Data Monitoring metrics. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be an evolving situation and new evidence and understanding emerges, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) will continue to reassess metric thresholds.
 

Weekly assessments to move counties between tiers begin September 8 and will occur every Tuesday after that. Counties must stay in a tier for 21 days before becoming eligible to move to the next tier. After 21 days, if they have met the metrics for the next tier for two straight weeks, they then can advance to the next tier. Counties can only move one tier at a time.

Individual counties can still make decisions to apply more stringent standards than those called for by the state’s tiers. The state is also maintaining an “emergency brake” for factors like hospitalizations and ICU capacity. The specifics of how the “emergency brake” process will work were not detailed. California also released a new search tool at www.covid19.ca.gov that details each county’s tier and shows the specific restrictions/modifications in place for each business/activity sector within that tier. Governor Gavin Newsom also mentioned there would be additional metrics related to a county’s commitment to health equity. The health equity measures are still to be developed.

• As a result of this activity, participants should be able to:
• Discuss and disseminate information on the importance of masking to patients and communities
• Utilize behavior change strategies to encourage patients' adoption of best practices for face coverings
• Choose the appropriate tests for patients and interpret test results based on the current state of COVID-19
• Make test recommendations based on test shortage issues and state testing priorities
• Recommend protective equipment to use in clinical settings and community settings

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the California Medical Association (CMA) and California Health and Human Services Agency. CMA is accredited by ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The California Medical Association designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Moderator:

• Kimberly Newell Green, M.D., Immediate Past President, San Francisco Marin Medical Society; Associate Clinical Professor, University of California, San Francisco

LACMA members now have access to the following member perks. 

Due to ongoing COVID-19 changes, please contact an establishment for their latest hours of operations.