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NC Medical Society Foundation
222 North Person Street
PO Box 27167
Raleigh, NC 27611
1 919 833 3836
1 800 722 1350 (NC only)
1 919 833 2023 FAX
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A publication of the NCMS Foundation Spring 2007, Volume 1, Issue 1
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Introducing Community Connections, The New Quarterly E-Newsletter of the NCMS Foundation  | | Justine Strand |
I am very excited to share with you our new e-newsletter, which will include stories of how the Foundation is helping to increase access to quality health care for North Carolinians. We at the Foundation get to hear these stories every day, from the patient who is so thankful to finally have a doctor in his or her area to the physician who helps a legislator truly understand the importance of a health related issue. These stories will continue to increase as the Foundation continues to grow, thanks to the support of our donors.
In the last year, the Foundation saw tremendous growth. The Community Practitioner Program (CPP) has grown by leaps and bounds thanks to a 5-year, $10 million grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation. This support, along with other generous donations to the CPP Endowment Fund, is helping to lead the way in securing the CPP's future. Our newest program, PractEssentials, is entering its second year with a new look, name, and lineup of beneficial programs for practice management. Finally, the Leadership College is continuing to see great success for the four classes of physician leaders it has graduated thus far, as you will see in this and future newsletters.
We hope you will enjoy learning more about the foundation and how your support helps to make a difference in the lives of North Carolinians.
Justine Strand, MPH, PA-C
President, NCMS Foundation
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A Voice for Change: Leadership College Scholar Addresses Quality of CareAfter completing a year of intensive leadership training in 2003 as a part of the first Leadership College class, Ed Ermini, MD realized how important his voice is in creating change for medicine. No longer does he see himself as just a physician; he also sees himself as an agent for change.
The NCMS Leadership College prepared him to take an active role in meeting the challenges existing in health care. Since its inception in 2002, the Leadership College has trained 66 physicians and physician assistants to speak on behalf of patients and the medical profession in North Carolina. Scholars learn about their own personal leadership style and how to communicate with others, including legislators and other key stakeholders related to health care. Many scholars have taken what they have learned and are now serving as leaders in their county or specialty medical societies, in addition to serving on NCMS committees, boards, and task forces.
 | | Ed Ermini, MD, chats with NCMS staff member Allison Clipp during a Legislative Advocacy Day |
As a result of this program, Dr. Ermini has become increasingly involved with the NC Medical Society. He has served on numerous committees and has established relationships with local and statewide leaders. "The leadership college introduced me to politics, and gave me the training I needed to understand how our leaders do their job, and more importantly how to approach them to deliver a message," said Dr. Ermini. "I now feel comfortable making contact with them on my own, and making myself available to them as a resource." In addition to his active role in advocacy, he is also working with other medical leaders to create a disaster information system and a software program to address medication safety.
Dr. Ermini is just one example of how Leadership College Alumni are using their leadership skills to shape the future of medicine. If you know of someone who would be a good candidate for the Leadership College, you may nominate them by visiting our website and downloading a form (PDF file). The deadline to submit nominations for the 2008 Class is June 15, 2007. Please visit the Leadership College section of our website to learn more about the program, see how alumni are becoming involved, or to nominate someone for the 2008 Class.
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What do Fresh Flowers and Health Care Access Have in Common?Liz Riley, PA-C is one of those lucky ladies who gets fresh flowers every month and they are probably not from who you are guessing. The wife of a nearby retired farmer insisted that her husband go see Ms. Riley because his "heartburn" was not going away. Ms. Riley felt his description was much more suspicious of heart disease and, luckily, an EKG provided in the office confirmed that he was suffering from a heart attack at that very moment. EMS was called and he was taken from the office directly to the hospital where he had bypass surgery. Ms. Riley's flowers are given by her grateful patient who feels she saved his life.
Physicians and physician assistants save lives every day, so what's so unique about this story? Liz Riley might not have been in Roxboro at all if it were not for the assistance she receives from the Foundation's Community Practitioner Program and its companion program PractEssentials.
The Community Practitioner Program (CPP) assists rural, economically distressed and medically underserved communities and populations across North Carolina by improving access to health care. Initiated in 1989, CPP partners with local communities and government agencies to assist in the recruitment and retention of talented primary health care providers who live and practice medicine in high- need areas of the state. Building upon funding from a one-time $4.5 million grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, CPP provides financial assistance in the form of educational debt relief to physicians, physician assistants and family nurse practitioners in return for five years of service in a qualified community. By paying up to half of their burdensome educational debt, the CPP enables health care professionals to practice primary care medicine in the areas of the state that need them most, rather than choose more lucrative practices in urban areas to pay off medical school debt. CPP continues today, thanks in large part to a 5-year, $10 million grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation.
 | | Liz Riley, PA-C (right), pictured with Maggie Sauer, Community Practitioner Program Director |
Roxboro is one of North Carolina's communities in crisis where there seems to be a detrimental cycle of physicians and other providers in and out of the community. "In the past 18 months alone, Roxboro has lost five primary care physicians and a prominent OB-GYN," Riley said. "This revolving door pattern has been disconcerting to patients, and I was determined that they not lose another health care service." Her concern about the drain of health care providers from Person County lead her and another Community Practitioner participant, Lisa Shock PA-C, to buy the medical practice where they work. They recruited a physician to help keep the practice running. "Support from the Community Practitioner Program provided me the peace of mind and financial stability, knowing that a large portion of my educational loans are taken care of, that I needed to take on the challenge of buying and running the practice," said Riley.
Running a practice is no easy venture. The Foundation's new PractEssentials program worked with Ms. Riley and her staff to assess current operations and evaluate where the practice could improve office efficiencies and financial performance. By implementing best practice adjustments in scheduling, front office operations and staff training, the practice is better able to handle increased patient flow, reduce claim denials and improve patient satisfaction.
PractEssentials, begun in February 2006, is a practice management resource program developed by the Foundation, primarily for the CPP program participants, but available to all North Carolina physicians. Practice assessments are available, in addition to seminars and LunchTime Lessons, an on-line bookstore, and a plethora of other services, which are listed in the Practice Management Resource Center. [Note: If you are not an NCMS member, you may access this site by creating a Practice Manager's online account here.] PractEssentials is made possible through grant support provided by Physicians' Foundation for Health Systems Excellence.
With the Foundation's Community Practitioner Program and PractEssentials by her side, Ms. Riley plans to get many more bouquets of fresh flowers from grateful patients who now have access to health care right in their hometown. She hopes to stay in Roxboro for a long, long time. If you would like more information about how you can help your community through these programs, please contact Maggie Sauer, with the Community Practitioner Program, and Joe LaBella, with PractEssentials, at 919-833-3836.
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This Month's "PractEssentials Pearl"In each issue of Community Connections, we will bring you a "PractEssentials Pearl," an audio file that can go directly to your computer for transfer to an MP3 player, iPod or other audio player software. These podcasts offer monthly pearls of wisdom on up-to-date practice management issues important to physicians across the state. You may also find other podcasts at www.ncmedsoc.org. "PractEssentials Pearls" are just one of the many technologically-advanced practice management resources available from PractEssentials.
 | PractEssentials Pearl of the Month |
| Listen to the latest Podcast from May 2007
Scarlette Gardner, Assistant General Counsel for the NCMS, discusses employee, employer, insurance carrier, and medical provider basic responsibilities under the Workers Compensation Act (4 min. 10 sec.) |
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From Simple to Planned: The NCMS Foundation Gives You Options to Improve North Carolina through PhilanthropyPart 1 - Cash is King
An outright cash gift remains one the easiest ways to give to the North Carolina Medical Society Foundation. What you may not know is that the Foundation offers several ways to make a cash gift:
- Make a cash gift on-line using your credit card and our secure website at www.ncmsfoundation.org. You can even make a gift in honor or memory of someone special.
- Set up an automatic debit plan using Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). No stamps to buy or checks to write -- the NCMS Foundation handles all of the details. Simply specify an amount to be debited from your checking or savings account on a monthly basis. To take advantage of EFT, fill out the EFT Registration Form (PDF file).
- Mail a check to the NCMS Foundation, PO Box 27167, Raleigh, NC 27611 or call 800-722-1350 to make a credit card gift by phone.
Cash gifts can be unrestricted or designated to any one of our programs mentioned in this edition of Community Connections. Be sure to indicate your designation on the memo line of your check.
Remember that cash gifts can lower your tax bill. The current law allows deductions of up to 50% of an individual's adjusted gross income to a public charity, with excess deductions carried forward and deducted over the next five years, if needed, to fully use the deduction.
Your cash contributions are the heart and soul of your NCMS Foundation. Consider a cash gift today!
Check out our next edition of Community Connections for "Part 2 - Stock is Smart."
Excerpted from Wachovia Trust, Nonprofit and Philanthropic Services, White Paper Series, November 2006
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SSSHHH! We're Keeping Our Best Kept Secret Under Cover a Little Longer... The NCMS Foundation is quietly raising millions of dollars for North Carolina's underserved.
The NCMS Foundation is in the midst of the most ambitious fundraising effort in the history of the North Carolina Medical Society to secure the future of our Community Practitioner Program. In 2006 we began the quiet phase of a capital campaign to raise $20 million dollars to improve access to quality health care for North Carolina's underinsured and underserved. Through the generosity of several NC foundations, corporations, medical society leaders and individual philanthropists, we have raised just over $15 million of our goal.
Get ready... we're involving all members and friends of the NCMS. While the NCMS Foundation Board of Trustees, NCMSF Campaign Cabinet, NCMS Board of Directors and other leaders have been heavily involved in achieving our success to date, we are almost ready to roll out this campaign to the general membership and other friends of the NCMS. Be on the look out for additional information coming your way this summer. |
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©2006 North Carolina Medical Society Foundation. All rights reserved.
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