The UPSA committee members kick off the event with an inspirational and motivational talk on the necessity of restoring doctor autonomy, the need for doctors to declare their independence and what some doctors are doing about it.
How can the establishment of a direct pay medical system not only improve quality of care, but also help business expansion, promote increased wages by bringing about economic efficiency, engender a spirit of self-reliance in the American people and help defeat the culture of dependency.
Physicians need to understand fundamental facts about themselves, which will help develop a workable model to regain their central role in healthcare. My experience working in the anti-MOC movement gave me plenty of reasons to believe in a better future for medicine and provided a blueprint, which can be used effectively when confronted with a possibly insurmountable obstacle/adversary. We will review specifics about how physicians can achieve meaningful goals that lead to a path of freedom in Medicine.
There is controversy surrounding the new maintenance of certification (MOC) requirements for continued board certification. Many physicians believe recent changes by the American Board of Medical Specialties requiring physicians engage in various medical knowledge, practice-assessment, and patient-safety activities as well as recertification exams do not provide optimal use of physician’s time. Furthermore, no high quality data exist to justify these labor intensive and expensive activities. A petition to change the requirements now has >22,000 signatures but ABIM has not made meaningful changes to the 2014 MOC requirements. Many have asked about a “next step” and asked for an alternative.
An alternative now exists. The National Board of Physicians and Surgeons (NBPAS.org), an alternative Board providing continuing board certification. (See board members below). The major difference is replacing onerous computer modules and repeated exams with ACCME accredited Continuing Medical Education. It will be up to physicians the NBPAS to petition our hospitals and payers to accept this alternative, more reasonable, board certification.
The NBPAS fee is $169 for two year certification (i.e. $84.50 per year), irrespective of the number of specialty applications. This one fee covers two years and all your specialties. The fee will be adjusted up or down in future years, determined by expenses. Physicians in or within 2 years of training qualify for a reduced rate of $29 for a two year certification ($14.50/year). The application requires less than 15 minutes to complete.
To demonstrate our commitment, it would be helpful for all who support this endeavor to apply for certification.
Go to NBPAS.org to view the website, apply for certification, and leave comments.
This presentation will detail the problems with MOC and provide suggestions for local activism.
Join us for a Q&A with Kurt Eichenwald, investigative reporter for Newsweek. Eichenwald wrote an investigative series on Maintenance of Certification and the ABIM.
The importance of goal-centered messaging cannot be overstated. We must clearly and precisely define the end game, the vision we must always keep in mind. Then we must establish a viable, specific and comprehensive plan that moves us toward our goal. A discussion of such a plan follows.
Dr. Held exposes how federal law has evolved from a pledge not to interfere with the practice of medicine whatsoever to its complete takeover by government and 3rd party with the recently signed Doc Fix. I present a 12-point plan to break free and restore our autonomy and ability to practice Hippocratic medicine in the US.
With or without consent, we have entered a new era in the practice of medicine: "Health 2.0." In this talk, we will explore why we did need to move past "Health 1.0," along with the promises and dangerous pitfalls of Health 2.0. We will then introduce "Health 3.0": a reimagining of healthcare that includes the benefits of Health 1.0 and 2.0 while transcending them. The key to this integration is holding space for our Unique Selves in the sacred patient-doctor relationship.
Now that the SCOTUS ruling is known, what are the various scenarios for American medicine and the options available to physicians? This talk will examine the distortions to the system that brought us to Obamacare, what further distortions have evolved through the initial implementation of Obamacare, and the physician’s various options as we move forward to regain autonomy in the examination room, protect our privileged communications and privacy, and drive reform of the system with collaboration of separate but like-minded organizations.
Health policy education at our medical schools is inadequate and imbalanced. What little instruction students receive is biased toward increased government management and does not address the negative consequences of these policies on the doctor-patient relationship and the professional integrity of medicine. Students fail to learn about the potential for free enterprise solutions to create access to affordable medical care in an era of accelerating innovation and excellence. Dr. Haynes explains how the Benjamin Rush Institute is reaching out to medical students and how doctors can get involved.
In 2007 David Goldhill’s father died from infections acquired in a well-regarded New York hospital. The bill, for several hundred thousand dollars, was paid by Medicare. Angered, Goldhill became determined to understand how it was possible that well-trained personnel equipped with world-class technologies could be responsible for such inexcusable carelessness—and how a business that failed so miserably could still be rewarded with full payment. In his book, Catastrophic Care, Goldhill explodes the myth that Medicare and insurance coverage can make care cheaper and improve our health, and shows how efforts to reform the system, including the Affordable Care Act, will do nothing to address the waste of the health care industry. The health care industry currently costs the country nearly $2.5 trillion annually and an estimated 200,000 Americans die each year from preventable errors. Goldhill shares a completely new approach at Summit, one that will change the way you think about one of our most pressing national problems.
Docs 4 Patient Care was created in an attempt to organize doctors and galvanize them to fight for their profession and for their patients. It has evolved into a Foundation with the intent of educating other physicians and patients, law makers, policy makers, and the business community about common sense solutions to health care issues.
This presentation will describe, with the aid of powerpoint slides, how physicians have evolved into overmanaged assembly line workers, and then present a strategy to slow this trend by unionizing. It will briefly cover historical events and laws that have led to this current state of affairs.
Two acclaimed leaders in patient advocacy discuss what some groups are doing to advocate for patients and how clinicians can benefit from these outcomes. Featuring Twila Brase, RN, PhD, named by Modern Healthcare magazine #75 on the “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare” and her organization: Citizen’s Council for Health Freedom along with Gina Melink, MD, a clinical oncologist in rural Ohio and winner of Ohio’s Patient Advocate of the Year by the Ohio Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy.
Population based healthcare is counterintuitive to our patients’ need to control their lives and to own their personal space. Market based health care is all about informed choices and owning those decisions. The physician’s opportunity to take back our profession is rooted in giving control to our patients to once again own their lives.
Parth Desai, second-year medical student at Mercer University and CEO of ICD-10 Charts, speaks on the evolution of medical coding in America: from the roots of the ICD coding system as a highly beneficial public health and epidemiological tool, to its current role in systematically curtailing physician reimbursements. Parth will analyze years of ICD-10 related mis-information to the public, and the repercussions that numerous ICD-10 delays have had in paradoxically hindering ICD-10 readiness in our country. Using his vast experience in developing innovative healthcare IT tools for his father's Internal Medicine practice, Parth will propose solutions to the various shortcomings in healthcare technology today. Parth will also discuss the dream of his company ICD10Charts.com, in providing completely free, state-of-the-art ICD-10 training and implementation resources, created solely for the welfare of hard-working physicians in America. Click here to learn more about Parth.
Everything in your perceived reality is the outgrowth of a seed of thought in your consciousness. Awaken to your own power to plant new seeds and cultivate a new reality in your life. Lisa will be demonstrating the power of our thoughts to shape our reality via a live conversation with a physician, using real-life situations to illustrate principles of consciousness, creativity, and imagination.
Dr. Craviotto defines the doctor patient relationship, summarizes the threats to that relationship in our current health care environment and offers solutions going forward.
Dr. Craig M. Wax presents Restoring #HealthFreedom: The Problem & Solutions. He will review the role of physician as responsible caregiver and the influence of government and third parties over the last century. This will include, but not limited to, the patient-physician relationship under siege, government legislation, employer sponsored heath insurance, health information technology HIT/EHR electronic health records, hospital health systems, personal privacy concerns and much more. Dr. Wax concludes with solution actions for you to take now to restore your #HealthFreedom.
(Disclaimer: Please be aware that this note was produced with a combination of voice recognition technology, steadfast typing and templates. It may contain grammatical and typographical errors, as well as pure inaccuracies. Dictated not read for expediency. Have a nice day!)
Mr. Norbeck laments that the state of too many medical practices in the U.S. today is running about two plagues behind Biblical Egypt. He will briefly describe the egregious events leading to these sad circumstances and will suggest ways in which physicians may be able to regain some of that lost clout.
The president of the Texas Medical Association (TMA), the country’s largest state medical society, will discuss the role of organized medicine in lobbying at the nation’s Capitol. Dr. Garcia, who earned his advocacy spurs while still in medical school, will explain how TMA – alone and in collaboration with other societies – lobbies Congress and the Administration with the goal of preserving physician autonomy and the sacred patient-physician relationship. He will discuss the role of the Coalition of State Medical Societies, various ad hoc alliances, and the American Medical Association.
The economic and professional dysfunction of America's health care economy has developed as a result of policy decisions made over the last seven decades. These decisions are often driven by political ideology and expediency over rational economic and ethical principles. This discussion will outline the origins of our system problems and outline strategies which align the profession of medicine with the rapidly changing and dynamic health care economy.
Learn how doctors acquire organizing skills through Physicians Organizing Committee to save hospitals, curb insurance company excesses and engage community support to win uncompromising fights for the ethics of the medical profession. POC has facilitated physicians winning victories for patient care while organizing to effect long-term policy change.
