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NHMA NET MAY 2009

Submitted by Elena Rios MD on Fri, 06/05/2009 - 13:12

 

 
National Hispanic Medical Association NHMA Net News                May 2009
 
Washington, DC Update
 
Health Care Reform 2009: Senate plans to introduce bill late May; Congress plans to introduce bill in August. Watch for NHMA Advocacy Push to promote Hispanic health through the summer and fall on our website Legislative Alerts, after the bills are introduced. (www.nhmamd.org)
 
Up to this point, NHMA president, with staff and partner organizations, has met with nearly all key Senate and Congressional offices leading the health care reform policy development effort, and inviting Hispanic Coalition members to provide input on Hispanic health concerns a special Capitol Hill Day, May 5th . NHMA Board will be providing a set of priorities to legislative staff this summer, based on the input from members and colleagues through the “NHMA Forum Discussion on Health Care Reform,” that will be launched by mid-May.
 
President Obama and White House leaders started the spring with the White House Health Care Reform Summit that NHMA participated in with 170 Congressional and private sector leaders that demonstrated the inclusiveness of this effort to develop health care reform policy this year. See the White House website for the report.
 
NHMA was invited back to the White House Meeting with Medicine in late March - medical association leaders and medical school deans. Several physicians supported incentives and guidelines for primary care and prevention as well as workforce reform. Rios called for workforce reform, due to diversity of the population of patients, must include in addition to diversity of students, training of all students and providers - cultural competence, language and Hispanic physician leadership development.
 
In mid March, NHMA and 200 other stakeholders were informed that Senator Kennedy had appointed Senator Dodd – coordinator and the following to head up key sections of the legislative development: Senator Harkin – prevention; Senator Mikulski – quality and Senator Bingaman – health care delivery and workforce. 
 
Since mid March, NHMA staff have met with staff in the Senate and the Congress who are listening to ideas and concepts for the health care legislation for health care reform. Our message has been general concepts from our 2008 Summits – to recommend affordable universal insurance with comprehensive benefits and increased eligibility including family plans, include Hispanic targeted enrollment, educational programs for health insurance; media campaigns, cultural competence and language training and services for prevention programs; incentives, loan repayments, reimbursements for primary care and safety net providers, health workforce diversity and Hispanic leadership development for institutions and HHS. 
 
NHMA will be sending its announcement to its members and networks in mid May on the “NHMA Forum Discussion on Health Care Reform” coordinated through its new portal, www.HispanicHealth.info for all physicians and providers interested in putting forth strategies for health care reform that will improve Hispanic health care. The four discussion areas are – Access to Affordable Insurance; Prevention; Primary Care; and Medical Education Reform. NHMA consultant, Emilio Morante, is coordinating the discussion along with NHHF staff David Caicedo at the NHHF office at the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, NYU. We plan to gather your input over 2-3 weeks and provide a written summary to Congress and the White House.
 
In January, NHMA coordinated the Obama-Biden Community Health Discussion from over 50 NHMA members for the White House. NHMA also presented the NHMA and US Department of Health and Human Services Hispanics and Health Disparities Leadership Summit Recommendations from 2008 to the Transition Team Hispanic Health Care Meeting in December, participated in the Transition Minority Health Care Meeting in January..
 
 
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Health Care Reform Roundtable, May 5, 2009 CHC Chair, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and CHC Health Task Force Chair, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal Allard held the second CHC roundtable that brought together about 30 organizations including NHMA. The  groups were assigned to 3 teams – Access, Health Disparities and Workforce for a Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services. The teams are being led by NCLR, APHA Latino Caucus, and NHMA and will write a draft of the CHC White Paper to be presented to Congress and the White House next month. 
 
Policy Update – Details now being developed for Health Care Reform policy
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus puts forward three options for the public plan option May 12th and said he opposes a repeal of the exclusion for taxes on employers, but wants to consider capping the amount of employee health benefits eligible for it.
 
HHS Sets Up New Office of Health Care Reform
Of note, Caya Lewis from Senator Kennedy moves to HHS as do several Obama campaigners. Unfortunately, there were no Hispanics appointed in this office at this launch of the new effort.
 
Supreme Court could see a Hispanic Justice
Justice David H. Souter's departure from the Supreme Court last week allows President Barack Obama to make another historic move by appointing the first Hispanic to the nation's highest court.
Since New York Federal Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor's name surfaced as a prime contender for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court, she has become the object of much criticism and praise in part because of her appeal to two of President Obama's key consistencies: women and Latinos.
 
White House Holds Spanish-Language Town Hall Meeting on H1NI Virus - May 8, 2009 President Barack Obama appeared in a town hall-style meeting at the White House co-sponsored by Univision. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis hosted the event and was joined by other officials to speak about the government's efforts to control the H1N1 virus.
 
2008 National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Reports
For the sixth year in a row, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has produced the National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) and the National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR). These reports measure trends in effectiveness of care, patient safety, timeliness of care, patient centeredness, and efficiency of care. The reports present, in chart form, the latest available findings on quality of and access to health care. The National Healthcare Disparities Report summarizes health care quality and access among various racial, ethnic, and income groups and other priority populations, such as children and older adults.
 
NHMA and NHHF Programs Update
 
NHMA and NHHF Boards of Directors
 
Welcome to new Board of Directors Members – Dr. Joan Reed from Harvard Medical School, Dr. Richard Zapanta from Monterey Park, California, Dr. Luis Aguilar from Tucson, Arizona and Dr. Onelia Lage from the University of Miami Medical School. On the Foundation of NHMA, we welcome new board members – Dr. Ana Maria Lopez from University of Arizona Medical School and Dr. Miguel Sanchez from NYU Medical School and Arisa Cunningham, Vice President for Global Affairs, Johnson & Johnson, Chair of our Corporate Advisory Committee. They join a stellar team of other leaders on our NHMA and NHHF Boards to advance NHMA forward. 
 
Annual Conference  - “Building a Health Care Workforce for the Hispanic Community” Transcripts being reviewed for recommendations to be sent to White House and Congress now. Thanks to all the speakers and poster participants. We had a very successful meeting in Brookly, New York with many new faces and organizations focused on learning about improving health care delivery to Hispanic patients! Please send Elena Rios any ideas for next conference in March, 2010 in Washington, DC. Board will decide on Theme at their June-July Board meeting.
 
Advocacy
NHMA Meeting with new HRSA Administrator
Ciro Sumaya, MD, Chairman, NHMA Board of Directors and Elena Rios, MD, NHMA President & CEO meet with Mary Wakefield, PhD, RN, HRSA Administrator on supporting the agency which supports critical programs such as Clinics, HIV AIDS, Maternal and Child Health, and Health Professions programs. In addition, they discussed how NHMA can help HRSA develop leadership training and appointments of Hispanics to the leadership of the agency for the Obama Administration. Others in the meeting included the Deputy Administrator, Marcia Brand and Director of the Office of Minority Health at HRSA, Dr. Tanya Raggio Pagan Ash.
 
NHMA is planning its next Congressional Briefing on Comparative Effectiveness Research and Health Disparities being planned with the Tricaucus members, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal Allard, Congresswoman Donna Christiansen, Congressman Mike Honda
 
 
Redes en Accion
NHMA working with Senator Kennedy Office and major coalition on new Cancer Bill – for colon cancer. NHMA also working to see chronic disease prevention and access for Hispanics with cancer in the health care reform bill.
 
Health Communications Project and the NHMA Portal
NHMA staff is updating the portal with information on obesity and diabetes for use by providers and patients. NHMA portal also includes a calendar, news, research sections and a forum for discussions online to help with advocacy and sharing of information among the NHMA physicians and colleagues.
 
Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation awards grant to NHMA to convene a Summit on Increasing Diversity for Title VII Reauthorization at the New York Academy of Medicine this summer
 
The Medical Representatives Certification Commission (MRCC), an independent, not-for-profit, 501(c)3 organization, announced today that it has been established to improve patient outcomes through voluntary, nationwide examination and certification of medical representatives. The MRCC, guided by a national board of commissioners, will establish and maintain the standards of professional competency and ethical conduct for medical representatives through in‐depth job analysis and research, the definition of certification criteria, and the identification of continuing education and re‐certification requirements necessary to maintain certification.
 
The MRCC will establish nationwide professional competency standards in key knowledge areas considered vital to the critical information exchange between clinicians and medical representatives- any representative of a pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device or diagnostic manufacturer who communicates with healthcare professionals about the use of their products in patient care.
 
 
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
Congratulations to Olveen Carrasquillo, MD for becoming Director, Division of General Internal Medicine with the University of Miami
 
Congratulations to Onelia Lage, MD for becoming the Vice Chair, Florida Medical Board
 
Please let us know of your accomplishments to share to our networks!
 
 
Chicago and Baltimore/Washington D.C.-Home Physicians is an innovative multi-specialty practice focused on housecalls to the elderly homebound. We are looking for BE/BC primary care physicians to join our team of over 30 medical staff. Our business model allows you to practice medicine without the headaches of hospital rounds, exhausting call schedules, or the stress of running your own practice. Home Physicians is a leader and innovator in housecalls visiting over 250 patients per day, and utilizing an EMR system. We offer excellent compensation with productivity bonuses, comprehensive malpractice insurance with tail coverage, and company cars for patient visits. For more info please contact Scott Schneider at 773-342-4201 or send CV to sschneider@homephysicians.com www.homephysicians.com 
 
 
PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING NHMA at www.nhmamd.org – we are nominating members to the Obama Administration and to national health care advisory commissions, media requests and other opportunities!!