SCCMS Membership Benefits |
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LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATION The SCCMS is considered the voice of medicine in Santa Cruz County. The Medical Society ensures that the needs of physicians and their patients are represented wherever the physicians' point of view is sought by; the Board of Supervisors, Health Commission, State Legislature, Congress, or administrative branches of the local, state and federal levels of government. No other organization at the local level provides such comprehensive legislative services on behalf of all physicians. SCCMS also provides timely information on topical legislative issues to our physician members to keep them abreast of current events and their potential impact on medical practices in Santa Cruz County. In addition to representing your legislative interests and providing you with information on legislation that could affect your medical practice, SCCMS participates in an annual trip to Sacramento to meet our legislators. It is a unique educational opportunity for you or any member of the medical society to see firsthand how the legislative process works.
MICRA SAVINGS The average Santa Cruz County physician saved over $40,000 in malpractice insurance annual premiums because CMA and SCCMS actively fought to preserve MICRA legislation. Your savings alone are probably more than enough to cover your membership dues for the next thirty-four years.
ROSTER OF PHYSICIAN NPIs Beginning in 2007, the new National Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers are required for Medicare and insurance forms. Another valuable service the Medical Society offers to its members is a roster of NPI numbers for most of Santa Cruz County’s physicians and medical facilities. The list is free to SCCMS members. Non-members may purchase the roster for $30.00.
PHYSICIAN REFERRAL SERVICE The SCCMS offers a computerized referral service to the public and makes hundreds of referrals annually from a voluntary panel of member physicians based on specialty, geographic location, board certification, Medicare assignment, languages spoken, etc. This is a free public service. Due to the existence of managed care, provider panels and group practices, some might consider a referral service to be obsolete. Don’t you believe it! Membership in the medical society still denotes quality to the public. Patients still want to know, Is my doctor a member of the Santa Cruz County Medical Society?
LEGAL ASSISTANCE SCCMS offers a mechanism by which member physicians can obtain legal information. The California Medical Association publishes the California Physician's Legal Handbook (CPLH), which is the only comprehensive legal guide especially for physicians. The Medical Society is able to answer many of our members' legal questions.
ECONOMIC ADVOCACY The Santa Cruz County Medical Society is representing your financial interests to both government and commercial health plans. You deserve to be reimbursed appropriately for the medical services you provide. SCCMS is working hard to make sure you are.
THE MEDICINE CABINET The Santa Cruz County Medical Society’s newsletter,The Medicine Cabinet is a must-read for every practicing physician in Santa Cruz County.The Medicine Cabinet contains news and information on legislation, regulation, practice management, and a wide variety of other topics that affect medical practices in California.
PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SEMINARS Each year SCCMS organizes and hosts four to six lectures and workshops designed to help improve the operation of members’ offices. Examples of recently held workshops are: Billing Basics, Taking Charge: Negotiating Insurance Contracts, and Electronic Health Records. Topics for workshops are open to suggestion.
OFFICE MANAGERS NETWORK The Office Managers of members’ practices have the opportunity to network. The meeting time is the second Wednesday of each month from 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Managers from all practices are urged to attend. The attendees pick topics of expertise and educate one another. Occasionally an outside speaker comes at address a specific topic. There is always time for an open forum to ask questions and have discussion. SCCMS supplies a light breakfast for all attendees.
PHYSICIAN-PATIENT MEDIATION The SCCMS is able to serve as a mediator between patients and physicians by reviewing patient grievances and attempting to resolve them before they’ve had time to escalate into reports made to the Medical Board of California and potential lawsuits. This service is offered as a part of the SCCMS peer review program. The SCCMS Mediation Committee also reviews problems arising between physicians. According to most professional liability insurance carriers, a great number of lawsuits are due to poor communication or miscommunication between patients and their physicians. The Mediation Committee is often very successful in putting out these small fires before they become uncontrollable.
LINK FROM SCCMS' WEBSITE The Medical Society's website, www.cruzmed.org, provides free links to SCCMS members' websites. Now when consumers access the SCCMS website they will see your picture, find out where your office is located and where you went to medical school. With the simple click on a button they can be sent to your web site where they will be able to learn all about your individual medical practice.
NORCAP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND Have you ever been under investigation by the Medical Board of California and found that your professional liability insurance coverage did not protect you against the legal expenses you incurred in defending yourself? The SCCMS is a part of the Northern California Physicians Council (NORCAP), a nonprofit medical care foundation formed in response to the California malpractice crisis of 1975. The Legal Defense Program provides financial assistance to SCCMS-member physicians in the face of increased licensing board actions. The NORCAP Licensing Agency Legal Defense Program helps those SCCMS to members who are being investigated by contributing attorney fees and related costs that are eligible under the provisions of the program.
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY The SCCMS Membership Directory is often heralded as the most important benefit of membership by new members. The directory is the only pictorial, comprehensive directory of physicians in Santa Cruz County. It features photographs of our physician members, lists up to two specialties per physician, your office address(es) and telephone number(s), as well as the medical school from which you graduated and your year of graduation. Each member receives one free copy. The directory serves a dual role. It provides you with an easy reference to other physicians within the county but it has a community relations function as well. All physician services offices of the local hospitals and health services organizations receive a complimentary copy. For a nominal fee, the public may purchase directories.
MEMBERSHIP DINNERS As a member of SCCMS, you have the opportunity to gather with your colleagues in a more social setting by attending, free of charge, three medical society sponsored dinners. The dinners, each with a keynote speaker or other entertainment, are usually held in January, June, and September.
FREE OSHA COMPLIANCE REVIEW It's good to be prepared in case your practice is Inspected be the authorities…Members of the Santa Cruz County Medical Society can take advantage of a Complimentary inspection conducted by EnviroMerica, to assure that your practice is compliant with Cal-OSHA regulations. In addition, members of the medical society that contract with Safety Compliance Services in order to make their practices compliant are eligible to receive a discount of up to 20%.
PARENT INFORMATION and REFERRAL LINE The Parent Information & Referral Center of the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital offers a toll-free information line staffed by pediatric nurses. Parents in Santa Cruz County can ask questions about everything from potty training to first aid. When parents call the line asking for a physician referral, Packard nurses refer them to the Santa Cruz County Medical Society's "Physician Connection" referral service. The Medical Society refers patients to SCCMS members exclusively. Members of the medical society benefit in two ways. First, they are likely to experience a greater number of patient referrals from the medical society. Second, trained health care professionals answer patients’ questions. This allows physicians and their staff to spend more time on direct patient care.
MEDICAL POLITICAL ACTION The California Medical Political Action Committee (CALPAC) evaluates candidates and contributes to those supportive of the policies and positions of organized medicine. The primary goal of CALPAC is to gain access to legislative leaders and policy-makers. With this access comes attention to medicine’s message. Your membership in the medical society is your link to CALPAC and all society members are encouraged to make voluntary contributions. The medical society also has an active Legislative Outreach committee which is open to all members.
REGULATORY REVIEW Through its Regulatory Review Committee, SCCMS is able to assist physicians under investigation by the Medical Board of California and other regulatory bodies by reviewing cases and making determinations regarding the standard of care. An attorney is present to protect the confidentiality of the meetings and determinations made by the committee may be used in the member physician’s defense.
CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION The Cypress Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization governed by the SCCMS in partnership with the Monterey County Medical Society, provides continuing medical education opportunities for central coast physicians. Members of the SCCMS may attend Cypress programs at a discounted rate. The Cypress Foundation is accredited by the California Medical Association as a provider of CME.
DISCOUNTED INSURANCE PRODUCTS SCCMS sponsors a wide variety of insurance products through Seabury & Smith, DBA Marsh Affinity, which afford member physicians specially discounted rates on Workers’ Compensation, long-term disability, AD&D, group universal life, dental, medical, long-term care, business overhead, and equipment protection coverage.
PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY SCCMS sponsors professional liability insurance through NORCAL Mutual Insurance Company. SCCMS also offers professional liability evaluation through its Medical Review & Advisory Committee to policyholders of NORCAL. A panel of physicians evaluates potential cases and advises physicians and NORCAL as to whether the standards of medical care have been met.
ONE-STOP INFORMATION SOURCE Have a difficult issue you’re unable to resolve? Maybe you just need an example of a confidentiality form to give your staff. Your medical society can usually help. Through your membership in SCCMS, you gain access to a wide range of professional resources. The SCCMS maintains a library of practice management information and standard medical office forms that are available to you when you need it. If we don’t have it, we will utilize the strong relationships we have developed with other county, state and national medical associations and health organizations to find the answers you need. A simple phone call to your medical society can often resolve what originally seemed to be an insurmountable problem.
TRI-COUNTY PHARMACY ALERT Administered by the Santa Cruz County Medical Society, the Tri-County Pharmacists Association has implemented a Pharmacy Alert System to notify all pharmacies in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito Counties, of fraudulent prescriptions. SCCMS members may report to the medical society, any lost, stolen or bogus prescriptions and be assured that the pharmacies will be alerted immediately.
COMMUNITY RELATIONS SCCMS members and staff work hard to enhance the public image of physicians in our community. Many members represent SCCMS on a number of community organizations and when our members and their patients need representation, we are there. Has the local newspaper called you with a question regarding a current topic of interest? Don’t know how to respond? Refer them to SCCMS. It’s easy to do and at the same time, saves you the anxiety of having to “talk to the press”. Have you learned about an important meeting at which you think the society should be represented? Again, just call us!
CLASSIFIEDADVERTISING SCCMS members are eligible to place a limited number of complimentary classified advertisements in the medical society’s quarterly publication, The Medicine Cabinet. Special discounts on display advertisements in both the newsletter and the SCCMS Membership Directory are also available to members.
MEMBER DISCOUNTS SCCMS members can save 10-15% on over 12,000 office supply products available for purchase from the Office Depot Catalog. In addition, SCCMS offers its members significant savings on admission to a number of amusement parks located in California.
FREE CME ONLINE Through a partnership with World Medical leaders, SCCMS makes available to its members unlimited continuing medical education online, at home, and free. Learn the latest information on over 120 different medical topics from world-renown experts at your convenience, 24-hours-a-day.
MAILING LABELS SCCMS can provide membership mailing labels (for approved purposes) in self-adhesive label format, sorted by specialty, zip code, year of graduation from medical school, and other parameters that you select. Many physicians new to the community utilize our mailing labels to make practice announcements. Special discounts are offered to members.
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