The Michigan State
Medical Society
Cheryl Gibson-Fountain, MD
Member, Board of Directors
Michigan State Medical Society
Overview
• Legislative Advocacy/Need for Physician Involvement
• MSMS Strategic Goals/Future of Medicine
• Payer Advocacy
• Educational Opportunities
• Opportunities for Physician Involvement
Legislative Advocacy
• Protecting and strengthening tort reform
• MSMS helped pass legislation in both the
Michigan House and Senate that will do the
following
– Better define “economic” damages
– Close loophole that allows attorneys to double the
statute of limitations
– Close other legal loopholes that are being
exploited by trial lawyers
– Put patients first, not their lawyer
Legislative Advocacy Continued
•
Auto No-Fault
– Preserve Michigan’s model auto no-fault system
– Proposed changes would cost Beaumont hospital 27 million in first year
alone
•
Scope of Practice
– Education, not legislation should dictate scope of practice
– Nurse practitioners, physical therapists and other non-physicians are
constantly pushing to expand their scope through legislative action
•
IPAB Repeal
– Work on the federal level to repeal Independent Payment Advisory
Board, make sure that un-elected bureaucrats are not making health
care decisions
Physician Involvement Is No Longer Optional
•
148 members of the Michigan Legislature
– Only one physician
• Senator Roger Kahn, MD (R-Saginaw)
•
Other key lawmakers
– Chair of Senate Health Policy Committee-Jim Marleau (R-Lake Orion)
– Chair of House Health Policy-Gail Haines (R-Lake Angelus)
•
Legislation is being introduced everyday that impacts all manner of
what you do and will be able to do going forward
•
Develop relationships with your lawmakers, donate to their campaign,
become a resource for them
MSMS Strategic Goals/Future of Medicine
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Viability of Primary Care
Quality & Safety
Medicaid
Health Care Resources Stewardship
Child Obesity
Payer Advocacy
• MSMS meets monthly with payers to bring
issues forward and work towards a more
transparent payment system
– Focus on PGIP and other pay for performance
models
– Expansion of PGIP to specialties that can’t
currently participate
Educational Opportunities
• MSMS offers CME and other educational
opportunities for physicians state wide
– Annual Scientific Meeting in Troy
– Yearly Conference on Bioethics
– Sports Medicine
– Physician Leadership Training
– Customizable Training
Opportunities for Physician Involvement
• Examples of MSMS Standing Committees
– Bioethics
– Health Care Quality Efficiency and Economics
– Third Party Payer
– Public Health
– HIT
– Legislation and Regulation
• Doctor of the Day Program
– Come to the Capitol and be a lobbyist for a day
Your Membership Matters
• MSMS is the strongest voice that Michigan
physicians have and we need every
physician to participate
– Your membership gives you access to weekly
communications, members only section of
www.msms.org, Michigan Medicine
Magazine, and a host of other information
outlets.
• You can join online at www.joinmsms.org
Questions?
• Thank you for your membership and thank
you for what you do every day for your
patients.