PHP and Addiction Resources
The MSDC Physician Health Program is a private, confidential, non-disciplinary program that works to advocate for the health and well-being of all physicians in the metropolitan Washington, DC, area and to safeguard the public.
The Program
is HIPAA compliant and protects the confidentiality of participant records as set forth under DC and Federal law. The program is administered by the Medical Society of DC and is separate from the DC Board of Medicine.
Learn more about this program at our Healthy Physician Foundation page
Support Your Colleagues
Do you want to help support your fellow physicians going through their own struggles? The Healthy Physician Foundation supports the PHP and our efforts to supports physicians in need. Your generous gift allows MSDC to continue this important program and extend our reach to all physicians.
DC Releases Post-COVID Healthcare Report
Last weekend, the District government released a new report with "lessons learned" from the COVID pandemic.
Entitled "District of Columbia Department of Health COVID-19 Pandemic Health and Healthcare Recovery Report", the report has two halves. The first details the District's response to the pandemic and outlines how the District government acted to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on health, the economy, and society.
The second half contains recommendations going forward, and this is the focus of the report. This section breaks into five components:
- Health Planning
- Public Health and Healthcare Workforce
- Health Information Technology
- Health Care Facilities
- Community Health Services
Each component has an analysis and listed recommendations for the Council and District government to consider. You can read the entire report here, but below are a few items of interests to the physician community:
- Explore regional licensure reciprocity to allow local healthcare professionals to more easily practice in the District
- Examine whether new licensure categories are needed to reflect new modules of care
- Explore whether "certain procedures" that "traditionally require specific oversight" should be "re-examined" for more flexible supervision options.
- Assess and potentially redefine training or supervision levels with "an emphasis of supervision truly required for safe patient care".
- Push for common telehealth scopes of practice across state lines
- Provide consumers with instruments and training for telehealth monitoring
What is not in this report?
- Resources to address healthcare provider burnout and behavioral health interventions
- Re-examining the impact of the District's medical malpractice laws and how they may harm medical care.
- Invest in local medical education and how to retain students from local medical schools and allied health schools
Leave a comment