Latest updates on ACP's priorities, initiatives
ACP Spotlight offers readers a look at ACP's current top priorities and initiatives, as well as highlights from our e-newsletter, ACP Internist Weekly.
National Internal Medicine Day celebrated Oct. 28
ACP has officially established National Internal Medicine Day on the National Day Calendar. This day, which will be celebrated annually on Oct. 28, recognizes internal medicine specialists and subspecialists united by a commitment to excellence who make a difference in the lives of their patients every day.
ACP encouraged internists to celebrate National Internal Medicine Day by:
- using the official hashtags #NationalInternalMedicineDay and #IMproud in social media posts,
- joining a #NIMdayChat Twitter chat on Oct. 28,
- visiting ACP's celebration day page
- following ACP on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and liking and sharing posts and submitting an entry to ACP's I.M. Proud contest.
ACP announces new Masters and awardees for 2019-2020
The Board of Regents recently approved the 2019-2020 ACP Masters and national award winners. The new Masters and award winners will be honored during the Convocation ceremony at Internal Medicine Meeting 2020 in April in Los Angeles.
ACP commends CMS for proposed Physician Fee Schedule
ACP applauds the proposed changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) for 2020, released by CMS in July, for recognizing the value of cognitive services in providing quality patient care.
ACP's comments to regulators were part of a letter submitted to CMS Administrator Seema Verma. ACP is pleased that CMS has been supportive of ACP's recommendations, particularly surrounding improved reimbursement and documentation changes for evaluation and management (E/M) services. ACP also laid out recommendations to improve the proposed Quality Payment Program (QPP) changes for 2020.
ACP is further encouraged by the many positive improvements to the PFS and has offered additional recommendations for consideration, as well as recommendations related to the QPP.
ACP members get seamless access to the latest release of DynaMed
Seamless access for ACP members is a new feature of the completely redesigned DynaMed clinical decision support tool.
DynaMed is a benefit of ACP membership that ensures confidence in clinical decision making. A rigorous editorial process uses a seven-step, evidence-based methodology and includes systematic literature surveillance. DynaMed content, updated daily, complements and clarifies the evidence and includes clearly defined recommendations along with thousands of graphics and images.
This major new release combines a user-friendly experience with practice-changing updates and content relevant specifically to each user's expertise. DynaMed also features continuous tracking of usage for CME credits and MOC points, as well as a mobile app for on-the-go access.
New collection of point-of-care ultrasound modules available
ACP's Online Learning Center now features a collection of new, interactive multimedia point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) learning modules. The modules are free to ACP members, and offer CME, cover the following:
- Obtaining Adequate Clinical Images for Interpretation
- Lung Ultrasound
- Deep Venous Thrombosis
- Urinary System
- Abdominal Free Fluid
- Focused Cardiac Imaging.
ICYMI: Highlights from ACP Internist Weekly
Published studies may exaggerate the effect of burnout on quality of patient care. A systematic review found that among 114 unique burnout-quality combinations, 58 indicated that burnout was related to poor quality of care, six indicated that burnout was related to high quality of care, and 50 showed no significant effect. An editorial stated that considering the limitations of the literature, “we conclude that higher burnout is associated with lower quality, but we are left without clear answers about of the magnitude or clinical significance of the relationship.” The systematic review and editorial were published Oct. 8 by Annals of Internal Medicine and summarized in the Oct. 8 ACP Internist Weekly.
American Thoracic Society/Infectious Diseases Society of America release clinical practice guideline on community-acquired pneumonia. The previous 2007 guideline on this topic strongly recommended macrolide monotherapy for healthy outpatients without comorbidities or risk factors for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In contrast, the 2019 guideline conditionally recommends macrolide monotherapy for outpatients only if local pneumococcal resistance to macrolides is below 25%. The guideline, which includes many other recommendations, was published in the Oct. 1 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and summarized in the Oct. 8 ACP Internist Weekly.
ACP Internist Weekly is an e-newsletter published on Tuesdays and available online. Subscribe online.
