November News...
CME Update
RIAAP CME November 13-14
... just a month away. There is still room to sign up, because you don't want to miss it. We have the best lecturers from New England coming to speak on the best topics related to Mental Health for children. You don't want to miss it.
Obesity lecture
Sponsored by the HEAL Coalition. 7pm lecture about resources in RI for obesity care. Save the Date - more details to follow shortly.
ACP Patient Centered Medical Home Summit
Pediatric SIMS for Office Emergencies
December 10, 2009 and May 13, 2010 - this is a great opportunity for hands on practice. PALS certification also available. For more information, please contact Jennifer Taveira 444-6237 or www.rihsimctr.org. Please let her know if you have any specific ideas for future programs.
Next RIAAP Board MeetingNovember 18 in the Hasbro Collis conference room, 6pm-8:30pm. We are very excited to have General Treasurer and possible gubneratorial candidate Frank Caprio as our guest. Please attend this meeting to share in the lively discussions about children's healthcare in this state.
RIAAP Golf Tournament
Although we were rained out in August, we had a very successful tournament in September. Thanks to everyone who contributed to raffle tickets, to golfing and to sponsorships. We were able to raise meaningful funds that have been distributed to the TALC program, Palliative Care program, Tomorrow Fund and RIAAP initiatives. Great thanks to Greg Lockhart and Frank Donahue who did a great job keeping us focused and organized! We had so much fun that we are going to do it again. A Save-the-Date for 2010 will come out once the new date is confirmed.
Set Sail for Tomorrow Annual Fantasy BallThe annual dinner/dance fundraiser for the Tomorrow Fund will be Nov 14, 2009, 6:30pm-12:30am at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet. The cost is $150 per person. Contact 444-8811 for more information.
Healthy People 2010 grant With all the H1N1 stuff, we have been a little slower than we had hoped to be in sending out the Survey Monkey to all Rhode Island pediatricians. With this survey we hope to learn about vaccine delivery practices in your offices. Right now we are all too busy living our vaccine delivery systems. But please know that we hope to get this survey out to the membership within the next month or so. If you would like to know more about this study, or be involved in it, please contact myself or Pat Flanagan.
Awards
Dr. I.J. Brenda Anosike received the honorable national AAP Anne E. Dyson Child Advocacy Award for her project titled "Young Leaders of Medicine Mentoring Program." at the recent AAP National meeting in DC. RIAAP is very proud of Dr. Anosike's tremendous accomplishments. Please congratulate her the next time that you see her.
Dr. Edwin Forman received the prestigious RI Medical Society Rakatansky Award at the Annual Dinner last month.
Dr. Christine Baron and Dr. Pamela Highare doing neat things with the national AAP. Ask them the next time you see them! (Did you see Christine on the front page of AAP News recently?)
WIC changes
As of Oct 1, the WIC package has changed. To learn more, see http://www.health.ri.gov.family/wic/ComingSoonHealthyChoices.pdf
AAP electionsThe national elections for AAP officers are done. However there was a tie between Dr. Carole Jenny and Dr. Peter Rappo for the position of District 1 Vice Chair. The recount vote is occuring on line with ID specific Survey Monkey links. Please contact national AAP (or me) if you have not yet received your link, as voting closes early November. Only a paltry 20% of AAP members voted in this election. These elections are important, so please take the time to vote. If you need more information about the candidates, please feel free to contact either myself, Pat Flanagan, or the candidates themselves.
Pediatric DOs in RI? National AAP has started a provisional DO section. If this is your training, please contact either myself or national AAP for more information about this section. Other Sections - There is so much happening in the AAP. It is hard to take it all in. If you are interested in breastfeeding, join that section. Media? join that section. Information Technology? join the section. The business of pediatrics? join that section. You get the point. There are a lot of sections with a lot of great people and great information - they are just waiting for your membership. Please contact me if you need more information about how to do this.
Healthcare ReformIt is very clear from many presentations at the National AAP convention this weekend in DC that our AAP leaders and lobbyists are EVERYWHERE working on healthcare reform for children. The tag lines - children should be better off in healthcare reform, they should not be left on the cutting room floor, we need to secure coverage for the "-entals" - mental, dental and developmental. Please free to share your ideas and concerns with our national elected leaders as they do listen to us. Sarah Bagley (resident) and Jacques Benun have taken a very close interest in this, so contact them if you want more information. For this week, the big key is to call our Senators to ask them to pass S.1776 which would forever repeal the SGR formula that currently mandates annual Medicare cuts (remember, for most of us, our payments are based on the Medicare numbers, so this applies to pediatric care too).
What you can do to helpThe telephone is the best tool right now. Call 800 833-6354 and urge Senators Reed and Whitehouse (or Senators Dodd and Lieberman, or Kerry and Kirk, if you live in CT or MA) to support S. 1776, which would eliminate Medicare payment cuts.
(800 833-6354 gives you the “AMA Grassroots Hotline.” It moves you quickly through a simple menu, asking you to key in your 5-digit postal zip code and making it simple, quick and easy to leave messages for your Senators (also for your Congressional Representative and for the White House); it also offers you access to briefings on the latest developments and issues in Washington.
While the U.S. Senators from all six New England states, particularly including Rhode Island Senators Reed and Whitehouse, tend to support medicine strongly on the SGR question, it is still important to affirm and reinforce the issue with them right now. We want them and their staffs to have reason to say, “We are hearing from our constituents, especially physicians, on this!”
Food Allergy Initiativethey are looking for children to become active in advocating for food allergy research. No cost. Interested? Contact Cara Cromwell at cara.cromwell@cox.net or 396-9560.
Office Credit CardsIn a recent competitive bid, national AAP has chosen to use 1st Healthcare Payment Systems for its credit card services. Not only does First Healthcare promise that you will save money every time your office processes a credit card, First Healthcare will donate 10% of its money for AAP accounts back to the AAP. Therefore, if you are looking for a change in your office credit card system, please contact 1st Healthcare at 877-726-7017.
There is so much happening for children in RI, that I am sure I have forgotten something or someone, but this was a good attempt to catch all of us up. I look forward to seeing all of you at the Tristate CME on November 13th, and at our board meeting on November 18th.
Regards
- Beth |