| weekly_rounds_september_17_2021_let’s_do_our_part_to_prevent_physician_suicide | Weekly Rounds: September 17, 2021 - Let’s Do Our Part to Prevent Physician Suicide | Latest_News | Shared_Content/News/Weekly_Rounds/2021/weekly_rounds_september_17_2021_let’s_do_our_part_to_prevent_physician_suicide | <div class="col-md-12">
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<h5>September 17, 2021</h5>
<h2>Let's Do Our Part to Prevent Physician Suicide</h2>
<p>Jennifer Hanscom, Executive Director/CEO</p>
<p>
As the pandemic grinds along month after month, we're all well aware that what was once an acute, emergent disaster has evolved to a long-haul, chronic event. No wonder we're hearing more about how exhausted, frustrated, and burned-out health care workers are. It's a sprint that's turned into marathon after marathon, and sustaining the pace is impacting your health, your heart, and your well-being.
</p>
<p>
Today is National Physician Suicide Awareness Day. #NPSADay is both a reminder and a call to action intended to help us all do our part to prevent physician suicide. We all have a role to play, individually and through health organizations, health systems, hospitals, medical societies, and practices. It’s time we get comfortable discussing mental health concerns and provide safe spaces whereby our family, friends, and colleagues can say “I’m struggling†before it becomes a crisis. Let’s take time to talk and to act so physicians’ struggles don’t become mental health emergencies.
</p>
<p>
One way to do that is to engage with others who are working on this. The Physicians Foundation, Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, and #FirstRespondersFirst have united to equip you to help prevent physician suicide through <a href="https://npsaday.org/">Vital Signs: The Campaign to Prevent Physician Suicide</a>.
</p>
<p>
Vital Signs curates six actions anyone can take to help physicians in distress seek mental health care, ultimately helping prevent suicide:
</p>
<ul>
<li>Learn the Vital Signs.</li>
<li>Share suicide prevention resources.</li>
<li>Prepare before a moment of crisis.</li>
<li>Check in with a physician.</li>
<li>Understand structural barriers.</li>
<li>Create a culture of well-being.</li>
</ul>
<p>
Being intentionally attentive as the pandemic wears on is critically important. A recent survey by the Physicians Foundation shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic, more than six in 10 physicians (61%) <a href="https://physiciansfoundation.org/physician-and-patient-surveys/the-physicians-foundation-2021-physician-survey/">reported</a> they experienced feelings of burnout. When left untreated, burnout can cause more cases of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use, and lead to suicidal thoughts for physicians, directly impacting physician suicide rates.
</p>
<p>
The WSMA is committed to raising awareness of the physician suicide epidemic and galvanizing physicians, colleagues, and loved ones to create a culture of well-being that prioritizes reducing burnout, safeguarding job satisfaction, and viewing seeking mental health services as a sign of strength.
</p>
<p>
We are fortunate in Washington state to have physician leaders committed to addressing burnout. The Medical Officer Collaborative, co-sponsored by the WSMA and the Washington State Hospital Association, has a call to action to reduce administrative burden and promote evidence-based interventions to address the drivers of burnout. Senior physician leaders from around the state will convene on Nov. 30 for a workshop on engaging, retaining, and sustaining the health care workforce with <a href="https://www.care4th.com/dave-logan-bio">Dave Logan</a> and <a href="https://www.care4th.com/ashleigh-rogriguez-bio">Ashleigh Rodriguez</a>, co-founders of Care4th. Their work focuses on addressing organizational drivers of burnout.
</p>
<p>
In the meantime, I hope you’ll join the #NPSADay effort. Visit the <a href="https://npsaday.org/">campaign website</a> to learn more about ways to take action and use #NPSADay on social media to spread the word.
</p>
</div> | 9/17/2021 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |
| act_today_to_prevent_looming_medicare_cuts | Act Today to Prevent Looming Medicare Cuts | Latest_News | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/2021/September_10/act_today_to_prevent_looming_medicare_cuts | <div class="col-md-12">
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<h5>September 10, 2021</h5>
<h2>Act Today to Prevent Looming Medicare Cuts</h2>
<p>Congressional Reps. Ami Bera, MD (D-CA), and Larry Bucshon, MD (R-IN), recently circulated a <a href="https://physiciansgrassrootsnetwork.org/sites/default/files/2021-08/bera-bucshon-medicare-sign-on.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">"Dear Colleague" letter</a> highlighting the financial uncertainty within the Medicare payment system and the dangers facing the physician community if Congress fails to enact legislation to address these problems. We need you to ask your representative to sign on today.</p>
<p>In what amounts to a "perfect storm" of payment cuts going into effect on Jan. 1, physician practices face the following stack of Medicare financial hits:</p>
<ul>
<li>Expiration of the current reprieve from the repeatedly extended 2% sequester stemming from the Budget Control Act of 2011. Congress originally scheduled this policy to sunset in 2021 but it will now continue into 2030.</li>
<li>Imposition of a 4% Statutory PAYGO sequester resulting from passage of the American Rescue Plan Act. Should lawmakers fail to act, it will mark the first time that Congress has failed to waive Statutory PAYGO.</li>
<li>Expiration of the congressionally enacted 3.75% temporary increase in the Medicare physician fee schedule conversion factor to avoid payment cuts associated with budget neutrality adjustments tied to PFS policy changes.</li>
<li>A statutory freeze in annual Medicare PFS updates under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) that is scheduled to last until 2026, when updates resume at a rate of 0.25% a year indefinitely, a figure well below the rate of medical or consumer price index inflation.</li>
</ul>
<p>This would result in a combined 9.75% payment cut on Jan. 1. And all of this comes at a time when physician practices are still recovering from the emotional and financial impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency. It's time to give our nation's physicians the peace of mind they deserve as they continue to fight on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic without having to worry if their practices will survive these potentially catastrophic cuts.</p>
<p>A strong collection of bipartisan cosigners will help demonstrate to House and Senate leadership that this confluence of payment cuts needs to be addressed via legislation before the end of 2021. <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/k8hT3wVFbl3YEs8JheVslg__;!!AI0rnoUB!tsKa7jV3FhEFiG-xeB8t7q_p36o6QP5c3c29iCSwa_wFDpnskdVJQc0U_HI5EFw25iI$">Please contact your representative today</a> and urge them to show their support by signing on to Reps. Bera and Bucshon's Dear Colleague letter.</p>
</div> | 9/10/2021 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |
| department_of_health_updates_faqs_for_health_care_vaccine_mandate | Department of Health Updates FAQs for Health Care Vaccine Mandate | Latest_News | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/2021/September_10/department_of_health_updates_faqs_for_health_care_vaccine_mandate | <div class="col-md-12">
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<h5>September 10, 2021</h5>
<h2>Department of Health Updates FAQs for Health Care Vaccine Mandate</h2>
<p>Practices, clinics, and other health care settings across Washington are working under pressure to meet the new state deadline of Oct. 18 for health care providers and other workers in private health care and long-term care settings to be fully vaccinated.</p>
<h3>What's new this week</h3>
<p>The Washington State Department of Health this week released an updated <a href="https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/1600/coronavirus/505-160-VaccinationRequirementFAQs.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">FAQ and guidance document to help health care employees and employers move into compliance with this directive</a>. Be sure to familiarize yourself with this content. If you still don't see the answers to your questions, let us know: Email <a href="mailto:policy@wsma.org">policy@wsma.org</a>.</p>
<p>If you haven't yet done so, watch the vaccine mandate webinar Q&amp;A hosted by the WSMA and employment attorneys from Montgomery Purdue PLLC. The recorded webinar and sample clinic policy and exemption forms prepared by the attorneys for use by WSMA members and their clinics are available on the WSMA website. Visit <a href="[@]WSMA/Resources/COVID-19/Implementing_the_COVID_19_Vaccine_Mandate_at_Your_Practice/Implementing_the_COVID_19_Vaccine_Mandate_at_Your_Practice.aspx">Implementing the COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate at Your Practice</a> (sign-in required) for more information on these resources.</p>
</div> | 9/10/2021 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |