Spring conference, May 1-3, 2015

Thursday, January 01, 2015 11:33 AM

Breaking down barriers: reunifying physicians and patients

by Kate Alfano, CMS contributing writer

Twenty-five years ago a wall in Berlin was dismantled – the culmination of grassroots political, economic and diplomatic forces that ultimately broke through, brick by brick, and reunified Germany. The wall that has grown over that same stretch of time between patients and physicians – systemic, economic, political, and cultural – is being chipped away by the determined forces of medicine.

The Colorado Medical Society will host the annual spring conference at the luxurious Sonnenalp Hotel in the heart of Vail village May 1-3, bringing together physician activists and national experts in a series of hands-on, eyes- and minds-open interactive sessions on what we are doing, have been doing, and will be doing to hammer at barriers in health care that prevent progress in quality and safety, access, efficiencies, and patient experience.

CMS will kick off the conference with a social reception Friday evening hosted by the Intermountain Medical Society. Saturday and Sunday’s programming will include a mock claims committee case presented by COPIC, a session on administrative simplification and workplace dissatisfaction, and a session on the patient experience – particularly when physicians find themselves or their loved ones as patients. Saturday evening’s fireside chat will feature an open forum on CMS governance reform, giving attendees the opportunity to explore the composition and selection of the CMS House of Delegates and the Board of Directors and shape the process as it is happening.

The purpose of the conference is to create unity among physicians, attract new faces to CMS, develop ideas to address the critical issues facing physicians, and broaden the view of attendees on relevant policy matters by bringing in outside experts. CMS encourages all members, staff and stakeholders to make plans to attend what continues to be a lively celebration of fellowship in the Colorado medical community, and a provocative discussion on the how-to’s of patient engagement and safety, improving care value and collaboration. CMS extends a particular warm invitation to physicians who have never experienced one of CMS’s spring conferences before or who haven’t attended in awhile.

Registration is free for CMS member physicians and component society staff, and will open in spring 2015. The hotel group rate at the Sonnenalp is $155 per night for a junior suite and $130 per night for a hotel room. Reservations can be made by phone through the Sonnenalp reservations department at (800) 654-8312, or online here. Be sure to mention that you are with the Colorado Medical Society to receive this group rate.

Find more information as it is available at www.cms.org/events/spring-conference.