Mapping the course

Thursday, November 01, 2018 12:15 PM

Fiscal year 2018-2019 operational plan approved

Each year the Colorado Medical Society Board of Directors approves an operational plan to focus the board’s work on behalf of CMS members and the medical community, as well as for non-members who also benefit from this effort. The board approved the Oct. 1, 2018 - Sept. 30, 2019 operational plan on Sept. 14.

Following guidance from CMS CEO Alfred Gilchrist on areas representing the greatest opportunities for progress in growing the organization and advocating for members, the board voted to focus resources over the next 12 months in a variety of ways that put physician wellbeing first. These issues include but are not limited to:

• Promote practical things organizations and physicians can do to ensure optimal wellbeing;
• Preserve Colorado’s medical professional liability climate;
• Reenact the body of law governing professional review and the Medical Practices Act, as well assure the operational integrity and resources for the Colorado Medical Board;
• Preserve the state-enacted insurance exchange and enhance aspects of the Medicaid expansion to make the program more attractive to physician participation;
• Encourage state investments in opioid addiction intervention, treatment and rehabilitation infrastructure;
• Explore health care price transparency;
• Collaborate with the employer community on cost mitigation strategies; and
• Address scope-of-practice issues.

In anticipation of a series of perfect storms in the 2019 Colorado General Assembly that will almost certainly stretch CMS bandwidth beyond capacity, the board has shifted financial and staff resources to extensive policy preparation and advocacy engagement. This strategy will allow CMS to achieve the goals of the operational plan while also fending off major attacks from medicine’s adversaries.

“CMS will continue to rely on carefully picked panels of subject matter physician experts to advise the board of directors and Council on Legislation,” the operational plan states. “CMS member polling continues to show significant differences among member demographic cohorts, which further corroborates the value and importance of our innovative governance model which relies on extensive grassroots interaction with both leaders and policy advisers.”

“As we have often observed in the policy development processes of CMS, there are no wrong choices – simply calculated consequences for each choice. The operational plan reflects a pragmatic, evidence-based approach to providing those policy options based on the assumptions stated [in the plan].”

The board will monitor progress on this work plan throughout the fiscal year, work with the CEO to make course corrections as needed, and provide input on tactical application as needed.