Monday Rx - March 12th, 2018 March 13, 2018 Monday RX 1041 Saving Private Practice Continues We are still analyzing the results from the second Saving Private Practice Consortium held on Saturday, March 3rd. For those who attended and braved the weather, thank you for your relentless support of organized medicine. I hope you experienced an abundance of resources and support. For those who could not attend, we will be reaching out to you in the days and weeks ahead to share the revitalized LACMA portfolio of services, products, and information. I would love to hear from attendees regarding what they liked, didn't like or things we can better in 2019. You can provide feedback here. To continue offering support for physicians in private practice, we launched Doc Matters, a live call-in program, last Friday and featured our tax and financial consultants to discuss the impacts federal tax reform has on medical practices. This Friday we will have another program on the topic of IT and how to protect your online presence. The calls are at 12:15 PST every Friday. The call-in number is 866-538-4120. Join us and see below for additional information! Healthcare Reform and the ACA I'd also like share information on healthcare reform and the Affordable Care Act, provided by Dr. Thomas Lagrelius. The Heritage Foundation paper supports the Graham – Cassidy Bill in that it "offers a starting point for policymakers seeking to address these issues, by providing a conceptual framework for empowering states to repair or ameliorate much of the market dislocation resulting from Obamacare." Read the details of the paper here. Urgent Request for Your Participation Help Stop Unfair Payment Patterns Deadline: March 16th, 2018 CMA is sponsoring legislation, AB 2674 (Aguiar-Curry), to increase penalties on DMHC regulated health plans that engage in unfair payment patterns. The bill would require DMHC to investigate provider complaints that a health plan has underpaid or failed to pay the provider as required by state law. If DMHC finds that a health plan has unlawfully underpaid a provider, AB 2674 would require a penalty amount at least equal the amount of the underpayment plus interest. To support those efforts, CMA needs your feedback on health plans that are routinely engaging in unfair payment patterns, the types of violations, and physician efforts to resolve the issues. Help STOP unfair payment patterns by taking this survey! The results of this survey will be crucial in helping us pass this legislation. It is critical that responses are received no later than Friday, March 16. Doc Matters Please join us for Doc Matters, LACMA's new effort to better inform and continuously engage our physician community. Through this weekly 30 minute call-in program, physicians can ask questions and talk to experts on a variety of issues. Friday, March 16 IT Infrastructure and Your Online Presence 12:15 PM - 12:45 PM www.uberconference.com/lacma Optional dial in number: 866-538-4120 Alternate number: 213-260-9640 Still Need to Renew Your Dues? March 1st was the drop date for members who have not yet renewed their dues for 2018. If you did not renew your membership, you will not be able to access your benefits. Renew NOW! Save the Date Los Angeles County Medical Association's Annual Installation of Officers June 21, 2018 Hotel Casa del Mar 1910 Ocean Way Santa Monica, CA 90405 R.S.V.P lisa@lacmanet.org LACBA-CAP Healthcare Law and Medicine Education Symposium March 20th, 2018 This program is designed to educate attorneys representing physicians, and enlighten physicians about what to expect from their legal counsel, when dealing with ongoing and evolving issues such as prescribing opioids and the opioid crisis, sexual harassment, and the implementation and legal implications of AB 72. For more information and to register, click here.