TOMMORROW: Help Shape ArMA’s Advocacy Agenda at Our Annual Advocacy Town Hall!
Join us virtually tomorrow from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and help shape ArMA’s 2021 advocacy agenda at the State Capitol! Share your healthcare-related policy concerns with us as we approach the 2021 Legislative Session — your input is more critical than ever, and this is a chance to give us your thoughts as we develop our policy and advocacy priorities.
This year’s Advocacy Town Hall will cover topics such as future scope of practice challenges, insurance issues, the impact of COVID-19, and more. No matter what your specialty is, we want to hear from YOU! Please RSVP today by clicking here.
We look forward to hearing from you at the Advocacy Town Hall. If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to reach out to Meghan McCabe at mmccabe@azmed.org or Jon Amores at jamores@azmed.org. Thank you for your continued engagement and commitment to improving healthcare in Arizona.
Read MoreElection Day Is Coming Fast—Join the VotER Project Today and Get Out the Vote!
We have less than two weeks until the voter registration deadline. Over 700 clinicians in Arizona are already using VotER to help folks register to vote. Take 30 seconds and download your own Democracy, STAT Toolbox right now to join them and help your patients, colleagues, and loved ones get ready for the election.
“VotER is a nonpartisan project led by physicians, for physicians. When we interact with patients, we have a unique opportunity to also strengthen the democratic process and improve the healthcare system, simply by registering people to vote. I encourage all physicians to use VotER – it’s easy and it makes a difference.”
—Dr. Ricardo Correa, ArMA Board of Directors
Read MoreTOMORROW: Join Us and Senator Kate Brophy McGee for an ArMPAC Virtual Fundraising Event!
Arizona’s physician community is at a crossroads. To meet this moment, Thursday night’s event was organized to support all of ArMPAC’s endorsed candidates in the upcoming November election. Your donations will go directly to helping these pro-healthcare candidates win critical seats in the Legislature this fall. The stakes are tremendously high as we approach the 2021 legislative session, and much is at stake. We need your help! Click here to watch Senator Brophy McGee’s invitation to physicians to participate in tomorrow night’s event.
Click here to purchase access to the virtual fundraising event, slated to take place tomorrow night from 6:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. AZ physicians must help the best candidates to protect both their profession and their patients. Let’s make it happen!
Read MoreVaccine Trials Ramp up in Arizona and Across the Country
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt life across the United States, multiple potential vaccines are being developed and tested—some right here in Arizona!
The phase 3 trial of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine took a major step this week as participants began to receive the second of two doses. Phase 3 of clinical testing also began this week for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine while Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla announced that results from his company’s phase 3 trial could come back as soon as October.
“We expect by the end of October, we should have enough to say whether the product works or not,” he said. U.S. health officials have previously said results from late-stage vaccine trials could come in November or sooner.
In July, the U.S. government announced it would pay Pfizer and BioNTech $1.95 billion to produce and deliver 100 million doses of their vaccine if it proves safe and effective. The deal was signed as part of Operation Warp Speed, the official White House effort to accelerate the development and production of vaccines and treatments to fight COVID-19.
For more detailed information on the latest news regarding vaccines in Arizona, you can view the latest edition of Arizona Vaccine News from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Read MoreSurgeons – Voice Your Opposition to Proposed CMS Cuts!
The proposed CME Fee Schedule for 2021 will result in significant cuts to physician payment for most surgical services delivered to Medicare patients.
As proposed, general surgery would experience a 7% cut to Medicare payments, while nearly all surgical specialties will face additional reductions, including cardiac surgery 9%, thoracic surgery 8%, vascular surgery and neurosurgery 7%, and ophthalmology 6%.
The American College of Surgeons has created an online petition for surgeons to contact members of Congress and register their opposition to the proposed cuts. If you would like to add your voice to the effort, click here.
Join your colleagues and let’s keep the pressure on.
Read MoreHelp Your Patients Register to Vote!
A new tool, created by a team of physicians in partnership with voter registration activists, is available to help physicians get their patients registered to vote. As described by its creators, VotER was developed in response to the healthcare inequities that stem from a democratic process where 51 million citizens are not registered to vote.
VotER developed a platform where patients can register to vote on their phones. Click here to take a look. The platform independently walks patients through the steps to check their registration status or register to vote while physicians can continue on to their next patient.
VotER has free badgebackers, lanyards, and posters as part of their Healthy Democracy Kit, available to all interested healthcare workers who access their platform. You can pre-order now on their website at vot-er.org/kit.
Read MoreAMA Releases Detailed Summary of 2021 CMS Proposed Fee Schedule
On August 4, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule for the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program. Comments are due to CMS no later than October 5, 2020. The American Medical Association (AMA) has provided a new, more complete summary of the proposed rule, which you can click here to view in its entirety.
Among other concerns, the proposed rule seeks an almost 11% reduction from the CY 2020 Medicare conversion factor, and a 10% reduction in the anesthesia conversion factor.
Any individuals wishing to provide comments before the October 5, 2020 deadline can do so by clicking here.
Read MoreCity of Phoenix Deploys COVID-19 Testing Van to Underserved Neighborhoods
Phoenix is partnering with Vincere Cancer Center to offer free COVID-19 testing to city residents in traditionally underserved communities. Testing is being conducted out of a mobile van—the first of its kind in Arizona. Vincere trains its medical staff to provide both viral and antibody tests for the virus. The more common viral tests take several days to return results while antibody tests typically present results within a quick 15 minutes.
The van began operations on Tuesday parked inside the U-Haul parking lot located near Central Avenue and Thomas Road. Testing hours are from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., five days a week, except for Wednesdays and Sundays.
Vincere Cancer Center’s Dr. Vershalee Shukla says that a peripheral focus of the van’s operations will be to support Phoenix small businesses. She says the van plans on parking itself in the parking lots of small businesses throughout the city in the next few weeks.
Click here for more on this story.
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