Advocacy Successes
Physician Advocacy Successes
Good health policy is made with physicians in the discussion.
MSDC, working with its members, partners, and other organizations, has won major policy victories to help its members practice medicine. Below is a sampling of those victories. Do you want to be a vital part of the next policy victory helping improve the health of the District? Contact us today.
Opioid Policy
- MSDC was added to the opioid fund oversight panel by the Council in its legislation authorizing the oversight body
Scope of Practice
- MSDC supported legislation to ban the sale of flavored electronic smoking devices and restrict the sale of electronic smoking devices.
- Working with a coalition, MSDC added funding to the DC budget to support the hiring of more license specialists to help with the delay in processing medical licenses.
Women's Health
- B24-143, to regulate certified midwives, passed the Council with MSDC's support
Health Equity
- Mayor Muriel Bowser signs into law the Electronic Medical Order for Scope of Treatment Registry Amendment Act of 2019. The eMOST Registry Amendment Act permits the creation of an electronic database of advanced directive wishes for District residents that can be tied into the health information exchange.
- Mayor Bowser signs into law the School Sunscreen Safety Temporary Amendment Act of 2019. The bill permits students to bring and apply sunscreen during the 2019-2020 school year.
- MSDC comments on the importance of funding United Medical Center (UMC) and health facilities in Wards 7 and 8 in the mayor's budget. Those comments are used almost verbatim in CM Trayon White's comments advocating for funding of United Medical Center.
Scope of Practice
- DC Health publishes draft regulations removing the 3 mandatory CME hours for HIV/AIDS awareness and replaces them with a requirement to fulfill 10% of mandatory CME hours with a topic from a public health priority list. DC Health then waived the requirement for 2020.
- The Strengthening Reproductive Health Protections Act of 2020 is signed into law with MSDC support. The bill prohibits government interference in reproductive decisions between a patient and doctor, and prohibits employers from penalizing physicians for practicing reproductive medicine outside of their work hours.
- The Mayor's Commission on Healthcare Systems Transformation releases its final recommendations. One recommendation is for the District to explore options to make providing health care more affordable, including financial relief for higher malpractice insurance rates.
- The Council removes "telephone" from the list of prohibited types of telemedicine to allow physicians and other providers to be reimbursed for telephone telemedicine appointments after MSDC and health community advocacy.
- MSDC worked with the Council to modify onerous language in the Health Care Reporting Amendment Act that potentially would have penalized physicians from seeking help for substance abuse or addiction issues.
Opioid/Drug Policy
- The Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF) waives prior authorization for key medication assisted treatments (MAT) treating substance use disorder patients in Medicaid.
- The Mayor signed into law The Access to Biosimilars Amendment Act of 2019, a top MSDC priority as it would help prescribers to prescribe more cost-effective drugs for patients.
Behavioral Health
- The Behavioral Health Parity Act of 2017, a major priority for MSDC and DCPA, officially becomes law. The legislation requires all health benefit plans offered by an insurance carrier to meet the federal requirements of the Wellstone/Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.
Health Equity
- The District Council passes B22-1001, The Health Insurance Marketplace Improvement Amendment Act of 2018. The bill prohibits the sale of Short Term, Limited Duration health plans and Association Health Plans (AHPs) in the DC Health Benefits Exchange.
Scope of Practice
- DC joins 28 other states in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact with B22-177 becoming law. The IMLC is designed to ease physician licensure in multiple states.
Women's Health
- The Maternal Mortality Review Committee is established by law. The Committee is responsible for finding solutions to maternal health crisis in the District. District physicians are an important part of this vital committee.
- B22-106, The Defending Access to Women's Health Care Services Amendment Act, becomes law. The act requires insurers to cover health care services like breast cancer screening and STI screenings without cost-sharing.
Opioid Policy
- Right before the Council adjourned for the session, it passed B21-32, the Specialty Drug Copayment Limitation Act. The bill limits cost shifting by payers for prescription drugs.
Behavioral Health
- B21-0007 passes the Council. The Behavioral Health Coordination of Care Amendment Act of 2016 permitted the disclosing of mental health information between a mental health facility and the health professional caring for the patient.
Women's Health
- MSDC was proud to have worked on B21-20. The law requires payers to cover up to 12 months of prescription contraception, advancing women's health and equality.
Physician Foundation Survey: The State of Physician Wellbeing Remains Low
The Physicians Foundation released part two of its 2022 Survey of America’s Physicians, aimed at understanding the state of physicians’ wellbeing and assessing solutions to address it. With National Physician Suicide Awareness Day just days away, on September 17, the results are concerning. There is a persistent decrease in overall physician wellbeing that is made worse by structural barriers and stigma in the physician community.
More than two years into pandemic and amid draining workplace challenges, the state of physician wellbeing remains low.
- Six in 10 physicians often have feelings of burnout, compared to four in 10 before the pandemic in 2018.
- One-third have felt hopeless or that they have no purpose.
- Half report withdrawing from family/friends/co-workers.
- More than one-third of physicians have checked in with a colleague who they suspected was experiencing mental health distress.
Physicians feel disconnected from the resources and people they should be able to rely on. Regrettably, significantly fewer physicians rate their colleagues, medical practices and hospital/health system as helpful to their mental health and wellbeing than they did a year ago. Half of physicians or more shared that their workplace rarely or never takes action on eight of the 12 evidence-based wellbeing actions identified to support physicians. These barriers and lack of support can and have led to tragic outcomes. More than half of physicians know of a physician who has ever considered, attempted or died by suicide.
Physicians need and deserve better. The survey identified what supports their mental health and wellbeing most.
- More than eight in 10 physicians shared their family and friends as most helpful to their mental health and wellbeing
- A higher proportion of black physicians than white and Hispanic physicians rated their family (92% vs. 85% and 87%, respectively) as very or somewhat helpful in the past year
- Confidential therapy, counseling or support phone lines were rated as the most helpful resource among physicians who had experience with it, followed by peer-to-peer support groups.
- 65% found confidential therapy, counseling or support phone lines to be helpful.
- 57% found peer-to-peer support groups to be helpful.
Clearly, physicians desire social connection and, at times, professional counseling to support their wellbeing. The Healthy Physician Foundation offers confidential counseling and career coaching at no cost to its members, plus a suite of online easily accessible resources. To facilitate critical social bonds, MSDC offers physician communities centered on common interests and goals, as well as an array of physician-oriented events. The Physicians Foundation lists “checking in with a physician” as one of six action steps to support wellbeing.
The study identified solutions to address physician wellbeing that are important to heed. Physicians in the survey highlighted the need to reduce low-level work and increase physician leadership.
- 89% found removing low-value work, including reducing EHR clicks and minimizing inbox notifications, helpful.
- 87% found giving physicians more flexibility and autonomy to adjust quality and patient experience goals helpful.
- 85% found eliminating insurance approvals such as pre-authorization helpful.
It is important to remedy the stigma, structural barriers, and excessive low-level work which exacerbate burnout. Physicians need and deserve better when it comes to their wellbeing and mental health. See healthyphysician.org for resources and ideas to heal our nation’s healers.