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  • March 16, 2023 2:40 PM | Anonymous

    The ACS Committee on Medical Student Education is hosting a free webinar, “What to Expect Now That You’ve Matched,” Wednesday, March 29, 7:00–8:00 pm CT, to mark this momentous occasion. The webinar will feature a panel of residents:

    • Nikhil Bellamkonda, MD | University of Utah | Otolaryngology 
    • Ryoko Hamaguchi, MD | Mass General Brigham | Plastic surgery
    • Jacob Mago, MD | Albany Medical College | General surgery
    • Paulina Villanueva, MD | The Ohio State University | Vascular surgery
    • Midori White, MD | The Johns Hopkins Hospital | General surgery

    Attendees will be able to submit questions ahead of time when they register, as well as submit questions to the panelists during the live session.

    For those unable to attend, a recording of this webinar will be posted on the National Professional Development Seminars for Medical Students webpage. 

    Register in advance to participate. Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email containing the information necessary to join the webinar.

    For more information, contact Cassie Buchignani at cbuchignani@facs.org.

  • March 16, 2023 2:32 PM | Anonymous

    The ACS SSR™ is an online quality improvement tool and software application database that allows surgeons to track their cases and outcomes in an easy-to-use manner from their computer or mobile devices (iOS and Android). When performance can be tracked, outcomes can be improved. Clinically relevant data collection informs meaningful data review with several analytics and report functions being available in realtime. A new feature is the SSR Practice Improvement Initiative you can enroll in under SSR, Form Management, Clinician Form, Preferences, check PII.

    For ACS members, the SSR is free of charge (discount will be applied after ACS login); for non-members the annual subscription fee is $299.00.

    • Improve your practice and participate in the SSR Practice Improvement Initiative.
    • Use case logging for the individual surgeon.
    • Easily record cases and outcomes within a matter of minutes entering key clinical data variables.
    • Improve your practice using benchmark and real-time online reports.
    • Delegate account access and create custom fields.

    Visit the ACS website or more information about the Surgeon Specific Registry or e-mail SSR@facs.org.

  • March 05, 2023 2:31 PM | Anonymous

    The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has announced the availability of the Nizar N. Oweida, MD, FACS, Scholarships for surgeons who serve small communities. This program provides up to three awards of $5,000 each to subsidize the participation of a Fellow or Associate Fellow serving a small community. Awardees will either attend Clinical Congress or may propose a plan for additional training or research appropriate to a rural surgeon.

     Eligibility

    The Oweida Scholarships are available to an ACS member in any surgical specialty who meets the following requirements:

    • Is a Fellow or Associate Fellow under age 55 on the date the application is filed
    • Serves a small town or rural community in the U.S. or Canada

    The deadline to apply is April 15, 2023.

    Learn more

  • January 12, 2023 12:00 PM | Anonymous

    The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is pleased to offer a limited number of scholarships to Resident members of the American College of Surgeons who are interested in attending the upcoming Leadership and Advocacy Summit, taking place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington DC, April 15-18, 2023.

    This annual Summit is a dual meeting that offers volunteer leaders and advocates specialized educational sessions focused on effective surgeon leadership,interactive advocacy training and coordinated visits to Congressional offices.

    This scholarship award will cover up to $500.00 in housing and transportation costs. This may also include your registration fees, but it may NOT cover food/beverage charges as all meals are provided at the conference.Note: you must be aU.S.Resident member in good standing with ACS to be eligible for one of these scholarships.

    As in previous years, scholarships will not be distributed on a “first come, first serve” basis. Rather, scholarships will be awarded to a broad representation of all facets of ACS Resident members. Special consideration will be given to first time attendees of the Leadership & Advocacy Summit, as well as candidates in the senior years of their residency programs.

    There will also be an expectation that scholarship recipients must stay for all programming on Sunday, April16th and Monday, April 17th, with preference given to those planning to stay through the Congressional Lobby Day on Tuesday, April18th.


    In years past, there were over 75 Resident scholarship award winners join us in Washington, DC to make their voices heard for surgery! So,if you are interested in applying, don’t delay! Please email D’Arcey Johnson (DJohnson@facs.org) before Monday, January 23, and include the following information:

    Your name

    Your contact information(address, email, phone no., cell no.)

    Your institution and year of residency

    A brief summary (no longer than one page) explaining why this opportunity interests you,what you hope to gain from it, and how you plan to utilize the knowledge you obtain.

    Your proposed travel dates

    Scholarship winners will be announced on/before Monday,January 30,2023, in order to give you ample time to register and make travel arrangements.

    For more information on the conference, including registration info (registration open slate January) and hotel information, visit: https://www.facs.org/advocacy/participate/summit.

    If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact D’Arcey at djohnson@facs.org.


  • January 11, 2023 12:56 PM | Anonymous

    On January 10th, Governor Hochul gave her one-hour long State of the State Address to a full Assembly Chamber.

    The 275-page book can be found here outlining 147 distinct proposals. The Governor made a commitment not to raise income taxes in 2023 and is looking to stem the exodus of NY residents. 

    The Governor's Health Care proposals are focused in several key areas:

    • Commission on Future of Health Care
    • Health care transformation funding and funding for technology
    • CON Reform
    • Expanding health care coverage
    • Workforce Issues: Reforming traveling nurse agency practices including registration and reporting key data
    • Curbing Tobacco Use

    The next step will be for her to deliver the  Executive Budget Presentation. 

    Reports indicate this will occur on February 1st.


  • January 06, 2023 12:48 PM | Anonymous

    January 4th was the opening day of the 2023 legislative session. While leadership in both the Senate and Assembly remained the same with Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins voted as the Senate Majority Leader and Democratic Assemblyman Carl Heastie voted as Speaker of the Assembly, there were notable changes in several important committees:

    • Assemblymember Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale) is the new chair of the Assembly Health Committee, replacing Richard Gottfried who retired.

    • Assemblymember Pat Fahy (D-Albany) is the new chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, replacing Assemblymember Deborah Glick who has become chair of Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee.

    • Assemblymember David Weprin (D-Queens) is the new chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee, replacing Kevin Cahill who lost re-election.

    The Assembly Majority Leadership and Committee Chairs can be found HERE.

    The Senate Majority Leadership can be found HERE and Committee Chairs found HERE

    To see when the legislature is in session, you can view the calendar online: https://nyassembly.gov/leg/calendar/

  • December 03, 2022 9:24 AM | Anonymous

    At the conclusion of the NYS legislative session, the Senate and Assembly (S74a/A6770) passed the “Grieving Families Act” or the Wrongful Death Legislative Liability Expansion. 

    If enacted, the Grieving Families Act will:

    • Make it much easier to file wrongful death lawsuits by nearly doubling the statute of limitations and expanding the criteria for who can file wrongful death lawsuits.
    • Leave the decision regarding awards to the jury, without a cap on what can be awarded.
    • Result in substantial increases to medical malpractice premiums (and all other insurance premiums, as well).
    This bill, anticipated to be addressed before the end of the year by the Governor, will have a substantial and negative impact on patients and healthcare professionals in New York State. If enacted, surgeons could see a projected 40% increase in medical liability premiums.

    Contrary to other states that have enacted such laws, this bill does not provide for a cap on the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits. Importantly, this legislation would apply to not only healthcare but to cases across all sectors of the economy and on local governments and municipalities.

    What’s Needed: A Veto and More Clarification

    • The Bill language is too vague about who’s eligible to recover damages and the types of damages recoverable.
    • The Bill also lacks important damages caps adopted by other states with similar laws.
    • Governor Hochul’s veto offers the Legislature the opportunity to clarify ambiguous elements in the Bill and bring NY into alignment with other states that have applied necessary and reasonable restrictions to similar legislation.
    • We need every surgeon to act through the Surgeons Voice and urge  Governor Hochul to veto the Wrongful Death Bill (S74A).  You can also call the Governor’s Office at (518) 474-8390

    What the Bill Does

    S.74A/A.6770 would amend the estates, powers and trusts law, to expand the damages available in wrongful death cases to include:

    • Compensation for grief or anguish,
    • The loss of love and companionship,
    • Loss of services and support and
    • The loss of nurture and guidance. 

    The legislation also expands with no limit the universe of individuals who may recover damages to include the undefined and unclear term “Close Family Members”.

    The legislation nearly doubles the statute of limitations for wrongful death actions from 2 years to 3.5 years.

    It should be noted that in the instance negligence results in death, current law does allow for the decedent’s estate to bring a lawsuit to recover economic damages and non-economic damages, suffered by the decedent before he or she died. Current law also allows family members of the decedent to bring a separate lawsuit to recover from the wrongdoer the family’s economic loss.

  • October 28, 2022 12:25 PM | Anonymous

    The New York State Department of Health has extended its completion deadline for the cultural competency CME requirements to November 1, 2022 for physicians and other network providers of Medicaid Managed Care plans. The requirement stems from the Mainstream Medicaid Managed Care, HIV Special Needs Plans, and Health and Recovery Plans Model Contract Section 15.10(c) requires that the MMCP “...ensure the cultural competence of its provider network by requiring Participating Providers to certify, on an annual basis, completion of State-approved cultural competence training curriculum, including training on the use of interpreters, for all Participating Providers’ staff who have regular and substantial contact with Enrollees.”

    DOH’s notification indicates the requirement can be fulfilled through courses offered by US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Minority Health, Think Cultural Health. Only 1 of the 3 courses is necessary to fulfil the requirement.

    Attached is a previously published DOH letter to Health Plan Administrators with more details about the requirements. 


  • September 15, 2022 6:17 AM | Anonymous

    Approximately 50 organizations came together this weekend at ACS headquarters in Chicago to develop recommendations addressing firearm violence in the US. The summit builds on the work stemming from the inaugural Medical Summit on Firearm Injury Prevention in 2019.

    Learn more

  • September 06, 2022 3:36 PM | Anonymous

    David L. Feldman, MD, MBA, FACS, Chief Medical Officer, The Doctors Company and TDC Group

    Despite more than 20 years of focus on patient safety, many hospitals and healthcare professionals still struggle to create an environment that engenders patient safety and reduces harm. Many medical professionals encounter a confusing array of programs and tools that are touted as necessary, such as team training, simulation, root cause analyses, and efforts to promote a just culture. They struggle with deciding where to focus and whether to recruit support from senior leadership or buy-in from other clinicians. At TDC Group, we believe there are four elements to creating a culture of safety, and everything begins with mutual respect. We then focus on optimizing how people, teams, and systems function, understanding how people think to keep them engaged during training, and finally, being sure that all providers are viewed through a just-culture lens. To help us explore each of these areas, I asked four experts for their stories from the trenches for the TDC Group Leading Voices in Healthcare podcast series. Each of these longtime patient safety leaders has deep experience in organizational change.

    Building Mutual Respect in a Culture of Safety

    When I interviewed Michael Brodman, MD, Professor and Chair Emeritus in the Raquel and Jaime Gilinski Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science at the Icahn School of Medicine and Senior Vice President for Professional Excellence, Mount Sinai Health System, New York, NY, he described some of the wakeup calls that showed him the connection between mutual respect and patient safety. One happened years ago: “We did a survey on the labor floor. And this was shocking: 75 percent of the nurses said that if they saw a doctor doing something wrong, they wouldn’t say something,” because “they were afraid that somebody would yell at them or they’d get fired.” But after five-plus years of work on the institution’s culture, that figure had dropped to between 10 and 15 percent: “Basically, the point was, the nurses felt comfortable working on the floor.” Dr. Brodman says that when the labor floor team “created a just, level playing field, morale went up, and not surprisingly, adverse outcomes went down.”

    To hear more of the story behind the creation of the Mount Sinai Code of Professionalism, listen to my conversation with Dr. Brodman.

    High-Performance Teams—Crucial for a Culture of Safety

    Once upon a time, Michael Leitman, MD, Professor of Surgery and Medical Education and Dean for Graduate Medical Education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, traveled with his team into the then-unknown world of TeamSTEPPS® training when they decamped from Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York to Virginia for a week.

    Dr. Leitman told me some of what he’s learned about high-performance teams over his years as a surgeon, as an institutional leader, and as a medical educator. His experiences highlight the value of performing a readiness assessment prior to training, the struggle to overcome team member skepticism, and the value of reaching medical professionals early in their careers. He thinks that residents need to understand that "essential to patient safety is teamwork and interprofessional performance. It’s just part of the way we practice caring in hospitals—with the complexity of healthcare being what it is, that is just essential.”

    To continue your journey with your own high-performance team, listen to my conversation with Dr. Leitman.

    To Build a Culture of Safety, Use Human Factors Engineering

    Amish Aghera, MD, emergency medicine physician and the Director for the Center for Clinical Simulation and Safety and the Simulation Fellowship at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, had what he described as “an existential moment” when testing revealed that medical residents were retaining a lower proportion of his training content than he’d hoped. He thought, “Am I just bad at this thing? Are our residents bad? And you know, the truth was neither. It just has to do with how we think as human beings.” From there, seeking training methods “to keep people engaged,” Dr. Aghera honed his skills in simulation training, and then in human factors engineering, which creates physical workspaces and workflows to support clinical decision making, teamwork, and patient safety. Dr. Aghera describes a variety of potential system interventions that institutions can consider, from the very low-tech to the innovative high-tech.

    Dr. Aghera also addressed the necessity of considering large-scale organizational factors to make change: “Who are the people who are going to get things moving at a higher administrative level . . . and who are you going to work with? Who’s that working coalition, so to speak?” To learn more about simulation training, human factors engineering, and organizational change, listen to my interview with Dr. Aghera.

    Just Culture Enables a Culture of Safety

    Elizabeth Duthie, RN, PhD, told me, “I always like to tell clinicians who are joining us that we expect that despite their best well-intentioned efforts, that errors are going to occur. Because that’s what happens to humans.” Dr. Duthie, Director of Patient Safety at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, discusses how important a just culture is to creating a culture of safety. “If something bad happens, we want to learn from it,” she says—and in the absence of a just culture, many risks and near-misses go unreported. Dr. Duthie emphasizes that clinicians and staff need to experience psychological safety to report, and also to see the benefits of reporting risks. This includes knowing they can count on reliable follow-up: “When they put in an event report and it goes into a black hole and they never hear back from it, it says to them, ‘What I have to say doesn’t matter.’”

    While just culture has always been critical to safety culture, many are particularly aware of this need today, given the recent criminal conviction of a former nurse for a medical error, which Dr. Duthie and I discussed. To learn more about the journey to a just culture, listen to my interview with Dr. Duthie.

    The guidelines suggested here are not rules, do not constitute legal advice, and do not ensure a successful outcome. The ultimate decision regarding the appropriateness of any treatment must be made by each healthcare provider considering the circumstances of the individual situation and in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which the care is rendered.

     

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