Wow! How did it get to be August already?!

We hope you’ve been busy, healthy, and having fun this summer.  We’ve been busy as well…

In response to member requests for more social activities, NCMS put three additional social activities into play: our New Member Welcome/Meet and Greet in April was well attended (and enjoyed!), as was our lunch at the Anheuser-Busch Biergarten on July 15.  Please save the date for our next social event on Sept. 30, at the Wagner-Gillespie ranch, for a fun family day!  We’re combining social and fundraising for SOCI at the ranch, to help fund support systems to help providers work with patients to define their advanced directives…worthy cause, provider resources, and family fun… all in one day!!  JOIN US!!

Did you see that NCMS is now the 3rd largest component medical society in Colorado? We’re excited! And we’re committed to working more for you — our members, and helping in ways that matter, such as:

• Your new physician directories, for which Maria and Kate and Heidi worked diligently and intensely to assure that the information is accurate and in your offices; we hope you find this useful!
• We had a huge response to our survey on burnout (a much higher percentage than CMS had); 69% of our members who responded identified at least moderate burnout symptoms…that’s HUGELY CONCERNING! We recognize that the biggest issues are the administrative and regulatory burdens, which are complex and multifactorial; we will be working with CMS on legislative work to address these, and developing strategies to collaborate with our hospital systems to enhance resources and services to diminish stressors and increase provider job satisfaction.
• The opioid epidemic continues to rage; if you can’t attend the Region VIII opioid summit in Denver Aug. 15-16, we will do our best to summarize recommendations and resources for you. In addition, we are working with CMS to explore options to facilitate physician prescribing for suboxone and methadone.
• Medicaid reimbursement has been compromised by the IT server, with an increasing number of unpaid claims; we will be moving forward with CMS to push for improved payment, and potential restitution vs. a class-action lawsuit. We’ll let you know more as we get more accurate info.
• We’re working to engage the Banner Health system to support employed physicians’ membership as well, so that we can be a major resource to many more of our colleagues in northern Colorado.

Let us know how we can help YOU!! Call (970) 829-7860 or email nocomedsoc@gmail.com.

Have a great late summer!  See you at the Gillepsie-Wagner ranch on 9/30! And don’t forget the Annual CMS meeting in Breckenridge 9/15-17.