ceo-rounds-april-25-2025-this-may-invest-in-yourself-your-career-and-your-profession | CEO Rounds: April 25, 2025 - This May, Invest in Yourself, Your Career, and Your Profession | Leadership | Shared_Content/News/ceo-rounds/2025/ceo-rounds-april-25-2025-this-may-invest-in-yourself-your-career-and-your-profession | <div class="col-md-12">
<div class="col-sm-5 pull-right" style="text-align: center;"><img src="/images/Newsletters/ceo-rounds/ceo-rounds-article-graphic-2025-1290x850px.png" class="pull-right" alt="CEO Rounds graphic" /></div>
<h5>April 25, 2025</h5>
<h2>This May, Invest in Yourself, Your Career, and Your Profession</h2>
<p>Jennifer Hanscom, CEO</p>
<p>
More than ever, health care needs smart, compassionate, and innovative leaders guiding the way. With today's challenges in the house of medicine, the shifting landscape of health care, and the unpredictable fate of federal legislation impacting our work, effective physician leaders are essential if we are to navigate a healthy way forward for the profession and their patients.
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<p>
It will take bold leadership to tackle these challenges and the WSMA is here to help. Physician leadership is critical to ensuring that patient-centered care is clinician-driven. Yet those skills aren't always traditionally taught in medical schools and physicians may not always recognize that it's a skillset they need to learn. It takes leadership competencies to envision and shape the future, and those who possess the right mix of these skills will continue to be in high demand.
</p>
<p>
The WSMA is committed to helping you develop professionally in today's health care environment, whether or not you choose a leadership path.
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<p>
To that end, for some 30 years, we've been bringing members our annual <a href="[@]ldc?_zs=B3aFd1&amp;_zl=vkBBA">Leadership Development Conference</a>, held on the shores of beautiful Lake Chelan. Many WSMA leaders, chiefs of staff, and CMOs started and shaped their leadership journey at this conference. You can too!
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<p>
This year's conference will explore the themes of leading as a medical staff, being an effective advocate, leading in your organization, and leading with strength. Topics and speakers include:
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<ul>
<li>Leading Out of Burnout: Redesigning the Way You Work - Ed Walker, MD</li>
<li>Take Your Leadership to the Next Level: Applying Adaptive Leadership to Your Greatest Challenges - Kurt O'Brien</li>
<li>Wife and Death with Lady Glaucomflecken - Kristin Flanary</li>
<li>Health Policy and Economics - Jeb Shepard, WSMA Director of Policy</li>
<li>Legislative Advocacy 101 - Sean Graham, WSMA Director of Government Affairs and Rep. Mike Steele (R-Chelan)</li>
<li>Incite Curiosity, Change the Game: Preparing for a media interview or testifying in the Legislature - Mary Kay Clunies-Ross, Sunshine Communications</li>
<li>Thriving in Medicine: Implementing Wellness Best Practices in Your Organization - Alka Atal-Barrio, MD, WSMA Wellness Committee chair, and Carrie Horwitch, MD, MPH, WSMA Wellness Committee member</li>
<li>Leadership, Equity, and You - James Whitfield, co-founder of Be Culture</li>
<li>Contract Review Tips &amp; Salary Data - Kyle Claussen, Resolve CEO</li>
<li>Wealth Prescription: Smart Financial Planning for Physicians - Jim Wilson and Elizabeth Hail, Northern Capital Management</li>
</ul>
<p>
I hope you'll take this opportunity to continue investing in your leadership development with the WSMA. <a href="[@]ldc?_zs=B3aFd1&amp;_zl=vkBBA">Register today to join us in Chelan May 16-17</a>.
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<h3>The results of your advocacy</h3>
<p>
I also want to take this opportunity to say "thank you" to each of you for investing in your state professional society, the WSMA. We are grateful for your yearly investment in the association. Our work doesn't always come with instant gratification-advocacy can sometimes take years to bring change, whether in the state capital or in a court of law. But to get to that moment, it takes you-your ideas, feedback, direction, and engagement.
</p>
<p>
Speaking of advocacy, we are in the waning days of this year's legislative session and I'm happy to report that after two years of advocacy we have finally passed our Medicaid Access Program! That said, <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=1392&amp;Year=2025&amp;Initiative=false">House Bill 1392</a> does still require the governor's signature and final approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, but we've successfully cleared a major hurdle in this journey.
</p>
<p>
Thank you again to all our members and practice leaders who wrote op-eds and letters to editors and responded to our many calls to action and requests to testify. Your grassroots engagement mattered.
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<p>
I also want to offer a shout out and special thanks to our team in Olympia, especially Sean Graham, WSMA's director of government affairs, who worked tirelessly around the clock to develop the Medicaid Access Program and to secure legislative leaders who introduced, advocated for, and supported the bill.
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<p>
Their work, and yours, made all the difference. Thank you, one and all, for all you do!
</p>
</div> | 4/25/2025 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |
cme-webinar-advocacy-as-wellness-navigating-the-path-to-reform-and-resilience | CME Webinar: Advocacy as Wellness: Navigating the Path to Reform and Resilience | Leadership | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/2025/april-11/cme-webinar-advocacy-as-wellness-navigating-the-path-to-reform-and-resilience | <div class="col-md-12">
<div class="col-sm-5 pull-right" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Physician &amp; Practitioner Wellness Webinar Series" src="/images/Newsletters/MembershipMemo/2025/april/WSMA-Wellness-Webinar-Series-Graphic-No-Date-No-Button.png" class="pull-right" /></div>
<h5>April 11, 2025</h5>
<h2>CME Webinar: Advocacy as Wellness: Navigating the Path to Reform and Resilience </h2>
<p><em>May 12, noon-1 p.m. CME available.</em> </p>
<p>The frightening prevalence of physician suicide and physician and clinician burnout has spurred targeted interventions and reforms that seek to eliminate the systemic barriers to mental health care that physicians and practitioners face. From licensing and credentialing reforms to confidential peer support and wellness programs, from providing mental and behavioral health training and beyond, advocates are uniting behind multipronged initiatives to ensure health professionals feel secure in seeking mental health support when they need it.</p>
<p>Join us on Monday, May 12, for the next Physician and Practitioner Wellness webinar where we'll catch up on national and local reform efforts. Presenters include Washington Physicians Health Program Executive Medical Director Chris Bundy, MD, and Stef Simmons, MD, an emergency department physician and vice president of clinician engagement for Envision Healthcare's national medical group.</p>
<p>During the webinar, Dr. Simmons will dive into national targets such as licensing and credentialing reform, the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, and the new "Health Workers Have the Right, Too" mental health care initiative. Then, Dr. Bundy will shift the focus to local reform efforts, highlighting the roles of the Washington Medical Commission, the University of Washington, the Washington Practitioner Application, Physicians Insurance, and others, and discussing the path forward. </p>
<p>Dr. Simmons and Dr. Bundy will reflect on how to be successful in advocacy work: How can we navigate challenges? And how can we view advocacy itself as a form of wellness? They'll explore how engaging in advocacy promotes our own well-being and encourage participants to share their advocacy stories and discuss potential projects they'd like to start but aren't sure how to approach.</p>
<p>This interactive discussion will leave you inspired to take meaningful steps toward advocacy, wellness, and professional growth.</p>
<p>This lunchtime session is open to all. <a href="https://wsma.org/eventdetail?eventkey=WWS2024">Register online</a>. This activity has been approved for <em>AMA PRA Category 1 Credit</em>â„¢.</p>
</div> | 4/10/2025 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |
new-cme-podcast-episodes-available-on-wellness-moud | New CME Podcast Episodes Available on Wellness, MOUD | Leadership | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/2025/april-11/new-cme-podcast-episodes-available-on-wellness-moud | <div class="col-md-12">
<div class="col-sm-5 pull-right" style="text-align: center;"><img src="/images/Newsletters/MembershipMemo/2025/april/wsma-podcasts-icon-645x425px.png" class="pull-right" alt="WSMA Podcasts logo" /></div>
<h5>April 11, 2025</h5>
<h2>New CME Podcast Episodes Available on Wellness, MOUD </h2>
<p>New episodes from our Physician and Practitioner Wellness Podcast and our Better Prescribing Better Treatment Podcast are now available, accessible when and where you want (and featuring CME credit).</p>
<h3>Physician and Practitioner Wellness podcasts on staff retention, wellness programs, self-compassion, more</h3>
<p> </p>
<p>Like the <a href="[@]wsma/foundation/physician-and-practitioner-wellness/physician-and-practitioner-wellness-webinar-series/wsma/foundation/physician-and-practitioner-wellness/physician-and-practitioner-wellness-webinar-series.aspx?hkey=be048ba4-758d-472c-9168-7449f8c5728a">live webinar series</a>, the Physician and Practitioner Wellness Podcast provides discussions on topics such as creating a culture of wellness, creating effective teams, and drawing on evidence-based work on wellness. Each episode is moderated by a member of the WSMA and WSMA Foundation Wellness Committee. The podcast is free and open to all practitioner types. Access the following new podcast episodes on the <a href="[@]wsma/foundation/physician-and-practitioner-wellness/physician-and-practitioner-wellness-podcast/wsma/foundation/physician-and-practitioner-wellness/physician-and-practitioner-wellness-podcast.aspx?hkey=bc2edb3f-b410-48c8-8e36-1b9c4f24af67">WSMA website</a> or from our podcast channel, WSMA Podcasts, available through <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wsma-podcasts/id1702920307">Apple Podcasts</a> and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0PBMBLgHr6e0X3OaMjyJON?si=af140842c00c430c">Spotify</a>. Each podcast is approved for <em>AMA PRA Category 1 Creditâ„¢</em>.</p>
<ul>
<li>Episode 2: <a href="http://www.wsma.org/wsma/foundation/physician-and-practitioner-wellness/wellness-podcast-episodes/episode-2-wellness-centered-leadership.aspx">Wellness-Centered Leadership</a> - How wellness-centered leadership practiced by both physicians and practitioners can facilitate workplace culture that enables physician well-being. With Ashleigh Rodriguez, co-founder and head of innovation and strategy at Care4th.</li>
<li>Episode 3: <a href="http://www.wsma.org/wsma/foundation/physician-and-practitioner-wellness/wellness-podcast-episodes/episode-3-building-a-business-case-for-well-being.aspx">Building a Business Case for Well-Being</a> - Confluence Health's collaborative approach to investing in and delivering a clinician wellness program. With James Murray, MD, chief medical officer, and Makrina Shanbour, MD, director of provider experience.</li>
<li>Episode 4: <a href="http://www.wsma.org/wsma/foundation/physician-and-practitioner-wellness/wellness-podcast-episodes/episode-4-use-of-team-based-care.aspx">Use of Team-Based Care to Improve Clinician Professional Fulfillment</a> - The importance of interprofessional teams in ambulatory care, emphasizing patient-centered, team-based collaboration, leadership models, and best practices to enhance health care delivery and improve patient outcomes. With Carrie Horwitch, MD, vice president of the WSMA Foundation and a member of the WSMA Wellness committee.</li>
<li>Episode 5: <a href="http://www.wsma.org/wsma/foundation/physician-and-practitioner-wellness/wellness-podcast-episodes/episode-5-thriving-in-medicine.aspx">Thriving in Medicine</a> - Physician and practitioner engagement and retention issues, leadership development opportunities, professional fulfillment as a quality improvement tool, and the WSMA Foundation Wellness Committee's "Thriving in Medicine" report. With Carrie Horwitch, MD, vice president, WSMA Foundation board, and Alka Atal-Barrio, MD, national senior medical director of Optum Health and chair of the WSMA Wellness Committee.</li>
<li>Episode 6: <a href="http://www.wsma.org/wsma/foundation/physician-and-practitioner-wellness/wellness-podcast-episodes/episode-6-fierce-self-compassion-and-boundaries.aspx">Fierce Self-Compassion and Boundaries</a> - Self-compassion, the challenges of boundary setting, and strategies for practicing self-compassion and setting or adjusting boundaries effectively. With Nina Willow, MD, a seasoned family physician with 28 years of experience: 18 in high-acuity urgent care and 10 in community medicine for immigrant and refugee populations.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Better Prescribing, Better Treatment podcasts on OUD treatment via telemedicine, in schools, with first-responders, more </h3>
<p>Better Prescribing, Better Treatment is WSMA's physician-led, peer-to-peer, non-punitive initiative aimed at encouraging safe prescribing of opioids, benzodiazepines, sedatives, and treatment of opioid use disorder. To complement the program's peer reporting and best practices, Nathan Schlicher, MD, JD, hosts a podcast featuring conversations with guest physician leaders from across specialties and systems on how we reduce the dependence on opioids for pain management where appropriate, help those suffering with chronic conditions safely, and help those with addiction.</p>
<p>The following new episodes are available on the <a href="[@]wsma/resources/better-prescribing-better-treatment/better-prescribing-better-treatment-podcast.aspx">WSMA website</a> or from our podcast channel, WSMA Podcasts, available through <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wsma-podcasts/id1702920307">Apple Podcasts</a> and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0PBMBLgHr6e0X3OaMjyJON?si=af140842c00c430c">Spotify</a>. Each podcast is approved for <em>AMA PRA Category 1 Creditâ„¢</em>.</p>
<ul>
<li>Episode 19: <a href="http://www.wsma.org/wsma/resources/better-prescribing-better-treatment/podcast-episodes/bpbt-episode-19-telemedicine-and-treatment-prescribing.aspx">Telemedicine and Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder</a> - The benefits of prescribing buprenorphine via telehealth and what Washington state is doing around virtual care and treatment of opioid use disorder. With Jessica Schlicher, MD, MBA, chief medical officer for virtual care and digital health at Providence.</li>
<li>Episode 20: <a href="http://www.wsma.org/wsma/resources/better-prescribing-better-treatment/podcast-episodes/bpbt-episode-20-schools-and-treatment-of-opioid-use-disorder.aspx">Schools and Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder</a> - Current school-based efforts in education, prevention, and treatment of opioid use disorders, and strategies to support youth, collaborate with families, and strengthen community partnerships for effective interventions. With Becky Maffei, school counselor at Peninsula School District in Gig Harbor.</li>
<li>Episode 21: <a href="http://www.wsma.org/wsma/resources/better-prescribing-better-treatment/podcast-episodes/bpbt-episode-21-regulation-and-legislative-update.aspx">Regulation and Legislative Update</a> - The state's approach to addressing the opioid epidemic, settlements underway, and what to look for in the 2025 legislative session. With the WSMA's Sean Graham and Jeb Shepard.</li>
<li>Episode 22: <a href="http://www.wsma.org/wsma/resources/better-prescribing-better-treatment/podcast-episodes/bpbt-episode-22-first-responders-and-the-opioid-crisis.aspx">First Responders and the Opioid Crisis</a> - The role of first responders in the opioid epidemic, and what can be done to improve access to OUD treatment. With Mike Dumas, division chief of EMS, Gig Harbor Fire &amp; Medic One.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Now available: Coaching services on improving opioid prescribing and treatment protocols in clinics </h3>
<p>The WSMA is pleased to offer coaching services on improving opioid prescribing and treatment protocols in clinics. Examples of past projects include developing an opioid curriculum for a residency program and updating clinic opioid prescribing policies. As part of WSMA's current grant funding for the Better Prescribing, Better Treatment program, we are excited to offer a stipend for clinics that engage with us. You will also get consulting time with the program's chief clinical officer, Nathan Schlicher, MD, JD. Contact Monica Salgaonkar at <a href="mailto:monica@wsma.org">monica@wsma.org</a> for more information.</p>
</div> | 4/10/2025 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |