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LACMA Executive Committee Retreat, Manifest MedEX HIE, Food Pharmacies, and Save the Dates.

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LACMA's 2020 Vision

An exciting week for LACMA as the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors met January 10-11 to create a strategic proposal with plans, priorities, and mechanisms (i.e. “Balanced Scorecard”) to review results and share outcomes with the organization. We discussed the value proposition, physician wellness, and membership experience. Going forward we will proceed with a transparent process to guide the organization and achieve historically positive results.


Stay tuned for more details!

 

 

 

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HIE in 2020

LACMA has responded to a Request for Proposals to work with Manifest MedEX in recruiting ambulatory practices to participate in their Health Information Exchange. This is a great opportunity for LACMA to support the ambulatory practices we work with to improve care for their patients and reduce costs for their practices. The MX HIE is no cost to Los Angeles County medical groups and practices and helps them save time, improve communication, identify high risk patients, and reduce readmissions. LACMA will be able to generate significant non dues revenue as a result of this engagement. Subcontractors will receive payment for each eligible medical group or practice recruited. LACMA submitted a Letter of Intent in late 2019 and deadline for submission is Jan 17th.

 

Are Food Pharmacies Trend or Unsustainable?

Since 2018, La Clínica has been running “food pharmacies” to help patients obtain fresh, locally sourced produce. The food pharmacy program is part of ALL IN Alameda County, the county’s multipronged initiative to end poverty, launched in 2014 by County Supervisor Wilma Chan. “Unfolding in the backyard of the local food movement, these pharmacies are part of a new push to bring produce into primary care,” Erica Hellerstein wrote in CalMatters. “The goal is to stave off poor health outcomes and reduce nutrition-related diseases like diabetes and hypertension.”

I share this for a reason: Some of our very own medical students and residents have shared that they face food insecurity. According to the Urban Institute and the Alameda County Community Food Bank, approximately 20% of households in Alameda County are food insecure. Nationally, 39% of families frequently or occasionally experience stress over meeting their food needs, according to a social needs survey conducted by Kaiser Permanente. As part of our Docs4LA initiative, we will support organizations that address this issue, particularly as it impacts the physicians of the future.

 

 

CaltHealthCares Leads the Way

Apply for CalHealthCares loan repayment program starting January 13, 2020!

The 2020 application cycle for the CalHealthCares loan repayment program is approaching! CalHealthCares will award $340 million in loan repayments to recently graduated physicians and dentists over the next five years to encourage and incentivize providers to provide care to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has contracted with Physicians for a Healthy California (PHC) to administer this program.
 
CalHealthCares has approximately $58.6 million for physicians and $10.7 million for dentists for this application cycle for loan repayments of up to $300,000 in exchange for a five-year service obligation. Qualifying dentists can also apply for a practice support grant in exchange for a 10-year service obligation. Please visit their website to view the updated versions of the following documents:

Application Checklist

Employment Verification

How To Calculate Your Patient Caseload

Business Plan Guidelines

Physician Frequently Asked Questions

Scoring Matrix

Instructions on How to Obtain Total Payoff Balance

Applications will be accepted from January 13 to February 7, 2020. They are conducting several webinars so applicants may receive detailed information and receive a response to their individual questions on the spot. 

January 15, 2020; 10-11 am

January 21, 2020; 12-1 pm

January 27, 2020; 5:30-6:30 pm

February 4, 2020; 3:30-4:30 pm

Interested physicians and dentists can visit the link below for more information.

CalHealthCares
 

CMA is hosting two upcoming webinars on January 30, 2020!

CMA's first webinar speaks on AB 5, “The ABCs of AB 5: Classifying Health Care Workers in California’s Gig Economy.” The webinar will discuss recent changes to CA law (AB 5) governing the independent contractor vs. employee distinction, provide physicians who are employers, employees and independent contractors, with a basic understanding of how California classifies various health care workers, what business and workers can do to protect their rights, risks of misclassification and what’s next for AB 5.

Additionally, CMA is hosting, “CMS Medicare Updates for 2020” on February 12. This webinar, presented by Dr. Ashby Wolfe, CMS Chief Medical Officer Region IX, will provide an update on the 2020 Medicare physician fee schedule, discuss the Quality Payment Program and E/M documentation changes, among a few other topics.

Click the corresponding links above to register for reach webinar.

 
#MondayMotivation



“There is immense power when a group of people with similar interests gets together to work toward the same goals.”
Idowu Koyenikan


Gustavo Friederichsen
Chief Executive Officer
Los Angeles County Medical Association
“If it matters to our LACMA members, it matters to me.”