ApolloMed Partnership Continues to Flourish

This past weekend, LACMA board member Dr. Hector Flores and I presented at the ApolloMed Board of Directors annual retreat in San Diego. As many of you know, LACMA has a historic relationship with Allied Pacific IPA and Garfield Medical Center, part of the ApolloMed system. We shared the latest news on practice transformation, our innovative practice makeover program, the future of Medi-Cal funding, and examples of how we can work together to make a difference in the lives of physicians, staff, patients, and communities. 

I wanted to thank Dr. Ken Sim, chairman of ApolloMed, for his generosity and hospitality, along with ApolloMed board members and leaders such as Dr. Thomas Lam, Dr. Albert Young, Allen Hsu, Anthony Hou, Brandon Sim, Mitch Kitayama, Linda Marsh, Dr. Patrick Pham, Dr. Basil Vassantachart, and Dr. Raymond Cheung. On behalf of the entire LACMA organization, we are excited for the next phase of our relationship!

Progress with City of Hope

As our members know and the LACMA board of directors, led by Dr. Omer Deen, continue to support, growth continues to be a top priority. Without new members representing independent practices to medical groups to hospitals and health systems, LACMA, in essence, becomes stagnant. We continue to find innovative ways to retain members as our retention remains high, but we need to reach new members as often as possible. Thanks to the recent healthcare burnout symposium, we’ve renewed our conversations with physicians across multiple specialties. At the same time, discussions with City of Hope continue to evolve with the hope (pardon the pun) we can extend the partnership to support more City of Hope physicians. 

L.A. Care Health Plan Partnership 

Thanks to the joint efforts of Dr. Omer Deen and Dr. Hector Flores, and the support of L.A. Care CEO John Baackes, LACMA has completed the first membership partnership with L.A. Care. We will soon on-board over 300 physicians to join the LACMA family. We are jointly addressing burnout, gun violence as a public health crisis while sharing the innovative LACMA Solutions Portal (LSP), Practice Makeover and Wellness Roadmap to help L.A. Care contracted primary care physicians. 

Also wanted to share that L.A. Care has joined LACMA's Project See Change, which provides critical information for physicians and healthcare professionals on the subject of gun violence. One example of our innovative collaboration is the upcoming gun safety webinar hosted by L.A. Care Health Plan May 11th. In this webinar BulletPoints Project Director, Dr. Amy Barnhorst, will host a presentation called “Prioritizing Patient Safety By Reducing Firearm Injury & Death: What Clinicians Can Do.” The program will run from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm and will be worth 1.00 CME credit. Here is a flyer for more information. 

Leg Day Recap

This year’s Legislative Advocacy Day was eventful with nearly 30 physicians, residents and students from LACMA participating. The group met with 15 legislators and their staff on various healthcare-related bills such as SB 598, a bill that would streamline prior authorization and help to ease the physician burden; AB 765, a bill that safeguards physician titles, ensuring patient clarity and trust; and AB 1570, a bill that risks patient safety by allowing under trained optometrists to perform advanced eye surgeries. To learn more about LACMA’s legislative priorities, please click here. 

SAVE THE DATE | 152nd Installation of President & Officers

Please save the date for LACMA’s 152nd Installation of President and Officers set to take place on Friday, August 18th. Click here to learn more.

Sponsored Content: 

Case of the Month: Patient’s Aggressive Choice Could Remove a Diagnostic Safety Net

When reporting their findings, it is common to see consulting physicians recommend further testing. Absent such an explicit recommendation, a patient’s decision to bypass conservative measures can spell trouble for all. Read more in the following Case of the Month, published by the Cooperative of American Physicians (CAP).

When a diagnostic mammogram on a 57-year-old woman with no family history of breast cancer identified a suspicious abnormality on the left breast, the patient’s primary care physician, Dr. PC, referred her for a core biopsy. Dr. P, a pathologist, diagnosed a left breast invasive ductal carcinoma. Dr. P assigned a provision grade of “II/III” and noted that “histologic grading is provisional owing to the limited sampling inherent in needle core biopsies. This may change when the entire lesion is evaluated.” Dr. P’s report made no other references regarding further tests to confirm cancer.

Continue Reading

Interested in reading more case studies? Request your free copy of From Exam Room to Courtroom, a publication featuring ten real-life case studies of physicians who have been involved in medical malpractice legal disputes, summarized by CAP’s former General Counsel, Gordon Ownby.

As a leading provider of medical malpractice coverage in California for more than 40 years, CAP remains committed to providing physicians with secure and affordable protection and relevant practice and risk management resources, like these case studies, to help them run successful practices.

To learn more about becoming a CAP member, please call 800-356-5672 or email MD@CAPphysicians.com. Request an Instant Quote today to see how much you can save on medical malpractice coverage as a member of CAP.

Virtual Grand Rounds - After the Public Health Emergency: Post-COVID Clinical Care

The public health emergency is officially over in California, while May 11 marks the end of the federal public health emergency. How will this impact your practice and your patients? Join Erica Pan, M.D., MPH, and colleagues to hear about the state of COVID-19 in California and to learn how the end of the “emergency” changes care delivery in California and beyond.

Date: Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Location: Virtual | Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM

Register

Getting Paid: A Physician’s Guide to Taking Charge of Your Accounts Receivable

This presentation outlines the make-up of, and challenges associated with, the effective management of accounts receivable (A/R) in the physician practice. Presented by one of CMA’s experienced practice management experts, the presentation will cover areas that significantly impact a practice’s A/R and suggestions on how to address those A/R challenges.

Date: Thursday, May 18, 2023

Location: Virtual

Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM

Register

Gustavo Friederichsen

Chief Executive Officer

Los Angeles County Medical Association

“If it matters to our LACMA members, it matters to me.”