MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Education for a New Era

DURING the past year, I’ve heard from members and nonmembers of the Chicago Medical Society. A constant theme is the changing practice environment. It’s not enough to be an exceptional and dedicated physician. Today’s practitioner navigates legislative, administrative and regulatory issues, and an uncertain health insurance market. Not surprisingly, many of my colleagues say they want help.

As the educational needs of physicians evolve, your Chicago Medical Society has taken note. And we are proud to announce that on June 8-9, the Chicago Medical Society and the American Bar Association’s Health Law Section will co-host the 70th Annual Conference at the InterContinental Hotel in Chicago.

Unlike years past, the 2017 program merges our Midwest Clinical Conference with the ABA’s Health Law Section event to focus on emerging issues in healthcare.

Instead of clinical sessions, classes and workshops will review the evolving professional and practice environment. Our goal is to help physicians thrive in a challenging and changing healthcare system, not just survive. We’ve all heard a lot about the coming era of value-based care that will replace fee-for-service medicine. But in the minds of many physicians, these terms remain abstract. The conference will make sense of “The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015” (MACRA), as well as the alphabet soup of the Quality Payment Program, including MIPS and Advanced APMs, and the impact on physician reimbursement. You’ll also hear about healthcare legislative reform activity in Washington from two influential U.S. Senators.

This departure from traditional medical education reflects the changing times. Nonetheless, education remains a strong foundational pillar of the Chicago Medical Society. Our CMS-ABA partnership allows us to offer highly focused content from the physician perspective that most of us cannot easily access elsewhere. Physicians who attend the two full days may earn up to 15 CME credits.

Whatever your practice setting and career stage, you’ll benefit from interactive workshops on topics like employment contracting, contract renegotiation and optimizing compensation. Again, presented from the physician perspective, speakers will discuss how practitioners can respond to today’s aggressive hospital systems, lower reimbursement and consolidation in payer markets.

Sessions and panels are designed to guide you through the legal and regulatory maze, providing in-depth information and resources. Attorneys practicing in every aspect of medical practice will be there to answer your questions.

You’ll have opportunities to network with physician colleagues and health law attorneys. A golf competition on Saturday pitting doctors against lawyers concludes the conference.

And let me finish by saying that our success at navigating the healthcare system, not to mention sustaining a viable practice, is strongly linked to our professional satisfaction. The 70th Annual Conference is one more benefit of membership in the Chicago Medical Society.

Clarence W. Brown, Jr., MD
President, Chicago Medical Society