Council of Medical Specialty Societies CMSS Impact Report 2020-2021
A COLLECTIVE VOICE FOR COLLABORATION & ACTION
www.cmss.org
Table of Contents Letter from the CEO.......................
1
Who We Are
2 Professional Peer Groups............4 Mission and History ..................
A Unified Response to the COVID-19 Crisis...................
6 A Focus on Equity..........................8 Digital Transformation............... 10 Important Partnerships.............. 11 Continuing Professional Development.............................
12 Patients as Partners.................... 14 Driving Diagnostic Excellence..... 13 CMSS Leadership........................ 16 Get Involved with CMSS............. 17 Through CMSS, I’ve developed relationships with counterparts at other societies. CMSS Member
Letter From the CEO
Dear Colleagues, When I became CEO of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) in 2018, I believed we understood the challenges confronting the medical profession. Improving quality, equity, and education in an increasingly fragmented and wired world were challenges we knew we could tackle together. But the existential threats to medicine that emerged during the past year were ones that tested all of us. Prior to the pandemic, CMSS had focused on building new models of physician learning, developing the next generation of physician leaders, and exploring how technology could improve medicine. Based on our experiences working together on these and other important issues, we knew when the pandemic began that our community of specialty societies was more than ready to address newly emerging priorities. We could not be prouder of how our 47 member societies affirmed that now—more than ever—we must be a community that works together to address the problems facing American medicine and the health and well-being of the patients we serve. During the pandemic we have seen just how important rapid-cycle research, clinical registries, clinical guidelines, and shared learning of emerging knowledge have been in addressing the most pressing health crisis this country has faced in more than a century. But beyond research and registries, we saw physicians demonstrate incredible bravery in continuing to provide medical care to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic—at great risk to themselves and their families, and often outside of their areas of practice. Indeed, as a community of physicians, we went where we were needed most. As we addressed the unique and unprecedented challenge of the pandemic, it was clear that CMSS’s mission, vision, and priorities—education, quality, and professionalism, including equity—are absolutely critical. That these pillars remain the foundation of all of our work, despite a rapidly changing landscape, is a testament to their strength, and with patients as our true north, these priorities will continue to guide our collective voice, collaboration, and action. While events of the past year have strengthened our commitment to our priorities, they have also called on us in new ways. As a nation and as a community of physicians, we were called to respond to the systemic racism facing our country and our healthcare system. CMSS joined with colleagues across the country to voice support for efforts to drive measurable improvements in equity; to build safe, inclusive, and equitable environments; and to combat systemic racism in medicine. Recognizing we must do much more than just give voice to a commitment, CMSS is taking real steps to increase diversity and equity in medicine. This concrete action will be central to everything that we do for the profession. As our mission statement makes clear, we expect CMSS to be indispensable to specialty societies and the medical profession. That felt truer than ever during the past year, and we can attest to the fact that each specialty society in our community was likewise indispensable to CMSS, as we all worked together as a collective voice for collaboration and action.
With gratitude and appreciation,
Helen Burstin, MD, MPH, MACP Chief Executive Officer 1
Who We Are
47 SOCIETIES
❯
REPRESENTING 800,000 PHYSICIANS
The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) is a coalition of specialty societies representing more than 800,000 physicians across the house of medicine. CMSS works to catalyze improvement across specialties through convening, collaborating, and collective action.
OUR MISSION
OUR HISTORY
•
Supporting and strengthening member societies to address future challenges
Founded in 1965 as the Tri-College Council, CMSS
Catalyzing improvement through convening, collaboration, collective voice and action across specialties
for the discussion by medical specialists of
•
•
Providing a proactive platform to assess and address emerging and critical issues across specialty societies that influence the future of healthcare and the patients we serve
was created to provide an independent forum issues of national interest and mutual concern. Founding members were the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, and the American College of Surgeons. In 1967, as other specialty societies joined, CMSS adopted its current name. Today, CMSS is a coalition of 47 specialty societies representing more than 800,000 physicians across the house of medicine.
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MEMBER SOCIETIES American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology American Academy of Dermatology American Academy of Family Physicians American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine American Academy of Neurology American Academy of Ophthalmology American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons American Academy of Pediatrics American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation American Association of Clinical Endocrinology American College of Cardiology American College of Emergency Physicians American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine American College of Physicians American College of Preventive Medicine American College of Radiology American College of Rheumatology American College of Surgeons American Epilepsy Society American Gastroenterological Association American Geriatrics Society American Medical Informatics Association American Psychiatric Association American Society of Anesthesiologists American Society of Clinical Oncology American Society for Clinical Pathology American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons
American Society of Hematology American Society of Nephrology American Society of Plastic Surgeons American Society for Radiation Oncology American Society for Reproductive Medicine American Thoracic Society American Urological Association College of American Pathologists Infectious Diseases Society of America North American Spine Society Society of Critical Care Medicine Society of General Internal Medicine Society of Gynecologic Oncology Society of Hospital Medicine Society of Interventional Radiology Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Society of Thoracic Surgeons Society for Vascular Surgery
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education American Board of Medical Specialties American Hospital Association American Osteopathic Association Association for Hospital Medical Education Association of American Medical Colleges Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates Federation of State Medical Boards National Board of Medical Examiners
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Who We Are
PROFESSIONAL PEER GROUPS
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t the heart of our efforts to connect our member societies with one another, CMSS offers a variety of Professional Peer Groups (PPGs) for collaborating, sharing best practices, discussing challenges, and engaging in collective problem-solving. Our members tell us that PPGs offer a sense of community and provide opportunities to learn from colleagues outside their own organizations.
93
%
find participation in Professional Peer Groups extremely valuable or valuable Respondents to Annual Survey
PPGs help to drive CMSS priorities and action on various topics by elevating issues to the CEO Council or the Board of Directors. They often collaborate on topics of mutual interest or concern, and they take on common problems together. Four groups, for
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example—COOs, CFOs, CIOs, and Human Resources—have collaborated frequently on workplace issues during the pandemic. The Continuing Professional Development group, meanwhile, is leading a joint research initiative focused on the impact of technological innovation and virtual learning on learner preferences in professional development settings. PPGs communicate frequently in video meetings and email groups, as well as through CMSS Connect, our online community. The groups are consistently ranked as one of the most meaningful elements of a society’s membership in CMSS. They are so popular, in fact, that we’ve formed a number of new groups in the last year to meet the evolving needs of our member societies. Professional Peer Groups are run by the committed and talented leaders at right, and each group reports back to CMSS leadership to ensure common priorities and accountability for action.
MORE THAN 1,000 ACTIVE SOCIETY STAFF PARTICIPANTS The peer group meetings remain one of the most valuable, if not the most valuable, portion of the program. - CMSS Member
CMSS Professional Peer Groups CEO Council Closed group of society CEOs
DEI: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chairs: Salandra Thomas (IDSA) and Tracy Sereiko (AAPM&R)
CFOs: Chief Financial Officers Chairs: Diane Mullis (ACR) and Vince Pistilli (SNMMI)
General Counsels Chair: Jeremy Lewin (ASA)
CIOs: Chief Information Officers Chair: Brian Harper (ACS) and Kevin Gilmartin (STS) Secretary: Olivier Petinaux (ACS)
Governance Support Chair: Donna Malert (AAOS)
Communications & Marketing Chairs: Maureen Geoghegan (ASA) and Denise Shouse (AAN) Compliance Officers Chairs: Dan Reardon (ACR) and Rebecca Spence (ASCO) COOs: Chief Operating Officers Chairs: Wayne Bylsma (ACP) and Dino Damalas (AAOS) Corporate Development and Industry Relations Chairs: Jason Keith (ASCRS) and Keith Ray (ASRM) CPD: Continuing Professional Development Chairs: Vince Loffredo (AAFP) and Alisa Nagler (ACS) Secretary: Devon Cortright (ASCP) CPG: Clinical Practice Guidelines Developers Chairs: Melanie Bird (AAFP) and Kate Carroll (ACP)
HR: Human Resources Chairs: Nicola Kennedy (ACC) and Dennis Sawyers (ASH) Membership Chair: Cory Petty (ACS) Publishing Chairs: Nina Hoffman (ASH) and Erin Landis (AGA) Quality Chairs: Matthew Popovich (ASA) and Samantha Shugarman (ACR) Secretary: Karen Johnson (AUA) Research Chair: Katie Sommers (ASPS) Simulation Chair: Randy Steadman (ASA, SCCM)
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A Unified Response to the COVID-19 Crisis
As soon as reports began emerging about a new and highly communicable virus spreading across the world and in the United States, it was apparent that medical professionals would be tested as never before.
TIMELINE OF CMSS STATEMENTS/SIGNONS RELATING TO COVID-19 MARCH 10, 2020
MARCH 24, 2020
Letter to Ambassador Birx – Letter to Senator Further Input Durbin – Potential from CMSS and Aid for Industries 45 Specialty Affected by Societies Coronavirus
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MARCH 27, 2020
Letter to the Administration – Statement on Restrictions to Slow the COVID-19 Pandemic
APRIL 2, 2020
APRIL 9, 2020
Statement on Personal Protective Equipment
Coalition for Physician Accountability Statement on Safeguarding the Public and Healthcare Workforce During COVID-19
APRIL 10, 2020 Letter to Administrator Verma – Statement on Temporary Payment Parity for Telephone Visits
APRIL 17, 2020
MAY 7, 2020
IDSA Coalition Letter to Small Letter: Public Business Health, Medical Committee – Associations Call on Support for 501(c) Federal Authorities, (6) Specialty State and Local Society Relief in Governments to Future COVID-19 Prioritize Safety Legislation in COVID-19 Policies
MAY 19, 2020
Letter to Congress – Maintaining the Nation’s Physician Workforce during the COVID-19 Pandemic
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ith so much yet unknown, our community needed a place for support, accurate information, shared resources, and advocacy on behalf of the profession and our patients. It was also clear that the the public needed knowledgeable voices and trusted sources of information. CMSS leadership recognized how important it was that the house of medicine speak together in one clear voice during the pandemic. We made it a priority to advocate for patients and frontline healthcare professionals and to lead with science. We built on the remarkable work of our member societies, partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other national healthcare organizations, shared learnings and best practices, and created a discussion community to identify problems and work together to solve them. To amplify the collective voice of specialty societies and the profession, CMSS issued public statements and authored or signed on to letters to key authorities on topics such as access to PPE, reimbursement for telehealth services, the importance of masks, and ways to maintain the nation’s healthcare workforce (see timeline below). Many clinicians were unable to meet with patients in person, but patient care had to continue. We therefore advocated for payment parity for telemedicine and phone visits to ensure all had access to the quality care delivered by specialty society members.
JUNE 2, 2020
Joint Statement with ACEP: Supporting Clinician Health in the Post-COVID Pandemic Era
JULY 2, 2020
Statement – Respect Science, Wear Masks
SEPTEMBER 17, 2020
IDSA Coalition Letter to FDA: COVID-19 Vaccines
A snapshot of a virtual convening - CMSS leaders and invited speaker Megan Ranney, MD, MPH discuss Reflections on the Covid-19 Pandemic.
A MOVE TO VIRTUAL CONVENINGS The COVID-19 pandemic also led to drastic changes in societies’ dayto-day operations and cornerstone programs. Conferences and scientific sessions are critical for medical societies, and our members worked together to find new ways of gathering virtually and delivering effective continuing professional development for physicians. The disruption faced by specialty societies due to the COVID-19 crisis was unprecedented, and it continues to this day due to even more contagious variants of the virus. To support the community and inform advocacy and planning, CMSS continues to keep the field abreast of healthcare meeting status, travel restrictions, and opportunities for virtual and hybrid meetings and conferences.
REGISTRIES AND COVID-19 CMSS also focused our quality and registry activities on COVID-19 measurement and tracking, leading to our highly successful COVID-19 Registries webinar series. Supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the series addressed key questions related to the rapid
OCTOBER 25, 2020
Rebuttal to False Statements on Overcounting of COVID-19 Deaths
DECEMBER 1, 2020
Coalition for Physician Accountability Statement on Public Health
development, deployment, and implementation of clinical registries and clinical data repositories by specialty societies and academia to address COVID-19 and beyond (details below).
ONGOING EFFORTS AMID THE PANDEMIC As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, CMSS remains committed to supporting our societies in their work and to advocating for the profession and our patients. CMSS has also taken an active role in improving immunization rates for COVID-19, Influenza, and other routine adult vaccinations through a cooperative agreement with the CDC. See p. 11 to learn more about these ongoing efforts.
Webinar Series: Registries & COVID-19 • Accelerating Real-Time Electronic Data Capture for Tracking, Learning and Improvement • Reflecting on Our COVID-19 Failures – A New Vision for Integrated Registries • Deploying Cloud-Based Platforms and Analytic Tools to Support COVID-19 and Beyond • Prioritizing Patient Engagement and Inclusion of Patient-Generated COVID-19 Data • Using Clinical Registries to Address Disparities in COVID-19
RESTATED JULY 2021, ORIGINAL OCT. 2012
CMSS Statement on Legislative Interference
JULY 26, 2021
Joint Statement in Support of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates for All Workers in Health and Long-Term Care
AUGUST 23, 2021
Coalition Letter Regarding Masks on Public Transit
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A Focus on Equity
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s the pandemic raged on, our nation faced another crisis sparked by the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. The recognition of disparities of outcomes in COVID-19 for communities of color, and the epidemic of structural racism in American society and healthcare underlying those disparities, led CMSS members to issue statements condemning racism in healthcare and committing to using our platforms to fight racism and advance equity and inclusion in our member societies and in medicine more broadly.
CMSS DEI Priorities • Develop innovative programs across the full pathway to support greater engagement, inclusion, mentorship of students, residents, fellows, and physicians who are underrepresented in medicine. • Support engagement, inclusion, and mentorship of underrepresented in medicine students, residents, fellows, and physicians. • Increase diversity, inclusion, and engagement of those underrepresented in medicine, women, LGBTQ, and younger physicians into specialty society leadership. • Develop an anti-racism collaborative across societies to identify effective strategies to counter structural racism in healthcare and the medical profession.
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Specialty societies have supported critically needed dialogues, including important conversations about racism encountered by Black physicians, while considering how they as societies can actively work to remove barriers to equitable advancement in specialty-society leadership and in healthcare at large.
“ With more than 800,000 physicians across 45 specialties, the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) deplores the negative impact of racism in our nation and of racial inequities in our healthcare system…We are committed to using our platform to improve the health of every patient we serve.”
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the protests that followed, CMSS issued a definitive statement on, and commitment to, promoting equity and addressing racism in our society. This statement was also adopted by many of our member organizations:
But we recognized that statements alone are not enough. So we took action along with our medical-society partners and established measurable goals for diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism that will remain a priority for years to come.
SHARING OF BEST PRACTICES
EQUITY IN MEDICAL EDUCATION
Many of our member societies had already been leading efforts focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), while others were just beginning. We wanted to share the excellent resources that were being used by our members with a broader audience, and our DEI PPG was front and center in providing a forum for societies to learn from one another what has been successful in those efforts and what has not. The PPG includes more than 60 society DEI leaders who have been meeting monthly, working together on projects like gathering and recommending best practices in collection and use of member demographic data. Their work will be vital to the success of CMSS’s efforts and those of our members to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in healthcare.
We joined with the Organization of Program Director Associations (OPDA), a convened group of CMSS, to take a stand against inherent bias in medical education and training. OPDA’s statement and call to action, released in February 2021, read in part:
We condemn racism and discrimination, and challenge training programs and healthcare systems to evaluate their educational frameworks, policies, and hierarchy in order to improve equity for all. Excerpt from February 2021 OPDA statement.
CONVENINGS In the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2021, CMSS conducted two virtual meetings focused on equity and anti-racism—representing the start of important work that will continue to be a priority for us. The Fall 2020 Special Session on Racism in Medicine with Rhea Boyd, MD, MPH, and Patricia Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, brought together more than 200 participants representing society staff and volunteer leadership. Together we learned about the history of racism in medicine and began an important conversation about what we all must do to make change. The word cloud at right shows how individual attendees felt after the session and the motivations they shared for continuing the critical anti-racist work toward equity in medicine. The Spring 2021 CMSS Leadership Summit on Equity and Anti-Racism built on the fall session and provided actionable information and collaborative opportunities to drive sustained improvement in DEI and to confront racism in medicine. More than 350 people including representatives of physician leadership organizations for underrepresented communities like the National Medical Association (NMA), National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), National Council of Asian Pacific Islander Physicians (NCAPIP), and the Alliance for Multicultural Physicians attended.
LEARNING COMMUNITIES CMSS and our member societies continue to make equity a focus. In July 2021, CMSS established a collaborative DEI & Anti-Racism initiative for physicians and medical leadership, in partnership with ACGME Equity MattersTM. Together, we convened two Learning Communities comprised of volunteer leaders and senior staff from CMSS and ODPA member
CMSS Members Reflect Following the Session on Racism in Medicine
Word cloud from October 2020 convening on Racism and Medicine. Responses reflect individual and society motivations for continuing anti-racist work towards equity in medicine.
societies. Thirty-eight societies and program director associations are participating in the inaugural 18-month engagement cycle of continuous learning and process improvement that supports DEI and anti-racism. The program offers a phased curriculum, tools, and skills training which provide lessons to help drive implementation of innovative interventions, practices, policies, and data strategies that support DEI and anti-racism. Participation includes viewing of over 30 educational modules, monthly learning community sessions with expert faculty and guided facilitators, and development of a capstone project which will drive policy and practice changes. Margot Savoy, MD, MPH, FAAFP, SVP of Education at the American Academy of Family Physicians and an Equity Matters learning community participant noted that the sessions “give people some common ground to start from, that they are all starting in a similar space,
having the same kind of challenges, and not really realizing it.” Clifford Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, CEO, American Society of Clinical Oncology, stated about the program: “What has been truly reassuring and comforting... is that the temperature [on these issues] feels much lower -- it feels depoliticized and more manageable. I’m certain this is the best way to do this work productively and collaboratively.” CMSS and the ACGME are committed to sharing learnings from this program with the broader medical community.
I love the way the groups got organized, where you can have intimate conversations with people who come from similar disciplines or similar experiences in their training as you. Margot Savoy, MD, MPH, FAAFP, SVP of Education at the American Academy of Family Physicians and an Equity Matters learning community participant.
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Digital Transformation
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s a leading voice in clinically meaningful measures, CMSS has highlighted the importance of those measures that demonstrate real value for clinicians, patients, health systems, employers, and health plans, with a special focus on digital measurement across payment programs. Specialty societies know that transformation in medicine must include the active engagement and insights of those practicing on the front lines. In the digital arena, each specialty’s unique knowledge and experience must guide the development of new technologies and novel approaches to measurement and care delivery in order to ensure that patient care always remains the first priority. Our member societies have expressed the need for more education and assistance on measurement-science issues, including measure testing, risk adjustment, attribution, and patientreported outcome (PRO) measurement. In response, CMSS convened the Measurement Science Advisory Committee (MSAC), which provides expertise and input on education and materials in measurement science (including digital quality) for member organizations, including
guidance related to measure testing, risk adjustment, attribution, electronic clinical quality measures, and PRO measurement.
A SHIFT TO VIRTUAL When the COVID-19 crisis began, CMSS rapidly responded by pivoting to a virtual edition of our annual meeting, focused on the unique challenges facing care delivery and medical education during the pandemic. The meeting brought together 300 specialty-society leaders and others for COVID-19 and Beyond: Digital Transformation of Healthcare, Research, and Education, which focused on the real-world impact COVID-19 was having on medicine. Topics included implementation and adoption of, and payment for, telemedicine; remote patient monitoring; electronic tools to support practice transformation; interoperability; cloud-based computing; digital research tools; patient privacy; research dissemination and implementation; virtual learning platforms; procedural-based education; online networking; and social media. The conference reached a wide audience on social media, generating 1,000 tweets with the #DigitalMed2020 hashtag and creating more than 40 million impressions.
Thought leaders engage during the meeting and on Twitter during the CMSS Digital Transformation Summit
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COVID-19 REGISTRIES The pandemic put the measurement community to the test, with new COVID-19 registries developed and deployed at a record pace. CMSS provided key input and insight to ensure that the registries added value and understanding rather than extra work for already overburdened physicians. With funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, CMSS developed a webinar series to address key questions related to the new COVID-19-focused clinical registries and clinical repositories developed by specialty societies and academia.
Other CMSS Measurement Accomplishments • Acquired the National Quality Registry Network (NQRN) • Launched new CMSS Measurement Science Advisory Committee (MSAC) • Co-chairing new Digital Measurement Workgroup for the Core Quality Measures Collaborative (CQMC) with AHIP, CMS, and NQF • CMSS CEO co-leading #TelemedNow Twitter Chats
Important Partnerships Bringing together organizations that are committed to improving healthcare is fundamental to the CMSS mission. Over the past year we have strengthened or developed new partnerships to address pressing problems for the field.
THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION As COVID-19 vaccines became available for use in the United States, CMSS and the CDC convened listening sessions with physician leaders. These sessions provided insights on the challenges and opportunities facing vaccination efforts for various groups, especially for those with high-risk medical conditions cared for by specialists. The relationship between our member societies, CMSS, and the CDC has been extremely effective in promoting access to vaccines for the patient community. As a result of our work with the CDC, and thanks to partnerships we established during the pandemic, CMSS was recently awarded a cooperative agreement with the CDC to increase COVID-19, influenza, and routine vaccinations in adults, especially high-risk adults with chronic medical conditions. This five-year cooperative agreement includes $22 million in funding in the first year (with an estimated $55.5 million over five years) to support increased COVID-19, influenza, and routine vaccinations in high-risk adults with chronic medical conditions.
American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), American Geriatrics Society (AGS), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Society of Nephrology (ASN), and the American Thoracic Society (ATS), to implement targeted immunization and quality improvement strategies and activities which will support increased vaccination of high-risk patients. We look forward to sharing more on this important initiative in the coming years.
ACGME EQUITY MATTERS TM CMSS joined with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to launch ACGME Equity Matters™, a program aimed at driving measurable improvements in equity by increasing physician workforce diversity and creating clinical and learning environments that are safe, inclusive, and equitable. CMSS launched two 18-month
learning communities in July 2021 in which 27 member societies and 11 OPDA program director associations share opportunities and challenges as they begin the hard work of improving DEI in medicine. Learn more about this program on page 9.
THE ORGANIZATION OF PROGRAM DIRECTOR ASSOCIATIONS (OPDA) OPDA , a convened group of CMSS, is dedicated to promoting the role of the residency program director and program director societies in achieving excellence in graduate medical education. The group is composed of liaison representatives from 30 program director associations who work together to improve the quality of resident education and to address timely GME issues.
During this project, CMSS will work collectively with a strong consortium of subspecialty partners, including American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE), American College of Cardiology (ACC), Equity Matters Learning Community participants
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Continuing Professional Development
C
MSS continues to be recognized as an essential organization for leadership development in research, medical education, and clinical practice.
transforming, since hands-on, in-person learning was no longer possible.
UNDERSTANDING LEARNER PREFERENCES CMSS’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Professional Peer Group members recognized the need to shift tactics in response to the global pandemic. CMSS worked closely with our member societies to pivot to virtual meetings to meet the educational needs of our community. We also realized, early in the pandemic, that traditional approaches to medical education more broadly needed
continuing professional development, are delivered?
The CPD PPG and our member societies leveraged the changing circumstances with innovative educational activities—adjusting formats, timing, and content to meet the needs of learners—and in doing so raised crucial questions:
CMSS is leading a first-of-its-kind collaborative research effort to answer these and other questions that remain after the significant changes to medical education brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• What impact did this disruptive innovation have on our learners and the future design of medical education?
CMSS is the one organization that consistently provides connections and content applicable to current day challenges.
• How might teaching and learning in the era of COVID-19 affect best practices, foster additional educational approaches, and even transform the way medical education, and especially
CMSS Member
Driving Change in Learner Engagement: DRIVING CHANGE IN LEARNER ENGAGEMENT: A Transformation of Continuing Development (CPD) A TRANSFORMATION OF CONTINUINGProfessional PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD) BACKGROUND INFORMATION
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
global pandemic
how did learners’ cpd engagement before and during the pandemic change?
disruptive innovation
driving
cpd pivot
ANTICIPATED METHOLODGY
EXPECTED TIMELINE
mixed methods study
multi-phase 2 year project
- electronic surveys - facilitated focus groups
how do these findings further advance innovation in educational design and programming of future cpd activities?
1.
representative learners from participating cmss organizations
biostatistician
MONTHS 1 to 6 - launch learner survey - focus group questions
12 to 18
trained qualitative researcher(s)
Visual abstract for the CMSS Continuing Professional Development research study
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aid in quality improvement and outcomes
subjects:
2.
what has been the impact of activity innovations on learner preferences for participating in future cpd activities?
advance design & programming
co-pi’s meet monthly
cpd professionals in cmss organizations
- compile results - present findings - publication
POTENTIAL IMPACT
- refine plan - baseline data - develop learner survey
6 to 12
enhance technology
- conduct focus groups - analyze data
18 to 24
ultimately better patient outcomes
Driving Diagnostic Excellence CMSS has embarked on two initiatives in 2021 which will drive and promote diagnostic excellence. CMSS and our specialty societies are well positioned to drive a greater focus on diagnostic excellence and share effective strategies to improve diagnostic excellence to their physician members.
NAM SCHOLARS IN DIAGNOSTIC EXCELLENCE In early 2021, in partnership with the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and with support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, CMSS launched the NAM Scholars in Diagnostic Excellence, a one-year, parttime remote experience to enhance ten carefully selected scholars’ knowledge and skills in diagnostic quality and safety and to accelerate their career development. Each scholar receives a stipend of $35,000 that can be used as salary offset, for specific research efforts related to diagnostic excellence, or to support other program-related activities. The program also provides each scholar with an additional $5,000 to cover program-related domestic travel expenses. The program received more than 50 applications representing the specialties of internal medicine, pediatrics, radiology, pathology, emergency medicine, infectious diseases, critical care, and obstetrics. Given the depth and breadth of CMSS’s membership, this new scholars program
presents an important opportunity to offer strategies to address diagnostic excellence across the full house of medicine.
We look forward to working with such an impressive cohort of extraordinary scholars, and my hope is that their work to improve diagnostic quality and safety will have profound effects not only on the way our health care system operates but also on the lives of patients.
Cornelius A. James, MD
With multiple effector arms to provide support to their members, including education through conferences and accredited CME, and scholarship through research, registries, clinical guidelines, and peer-reviewed journals, specialty societies are well positioned to drive a greater focus on diagnostic excellence and share effective strategies to improve diagnostic excellence to their physician members.
Victor J. Dzau, president of the National Academy of Medicine
PROMOTING DIAGNOSTIC EXCELLENCE ACROSS THE HOUSE OF MEDICINE
In addition to the selection and provision of grants to individual societies, CMSS will serve as a coordinating center to monitor and promote cross-specialty learning, improvement, collaboration, and identification of best practices in diagnostic excellence that can be shared with the broader medical community.
In November 2021, The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation awarded CMSS a new grant to promote diagnostic excellence across the house of medicine. This two-year grant award includes $1.25 million in funding to develop, launch, and monitor a competitive grant program for up to 10 medical specialty societies to support the development
Jonathan Baghdadi, MD, PhD
Traber D. Giardina, PhD, MSW
of resources and programs focused on diagnostic excellence. Given the depth and breadth of CMSS’s membership, CMSS can be a powerful lever to engage specialty societies to develop targeted resources in diagnostic excellence, while identifying and disseminating best practices across the house of medicine.
Jessica Keim-Malpass, PhD, RN
Mei-Sing Ong, PhD
Komal Bajaj, MD, MS-HPEd
Efrén J. Flores, MD
Jorge Rodriguez, MD
Linda Geng, MD, PhD
Lekshmi Santhosh, MD, MAEd
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Patients as Partners
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MSS and our member societies share a commitment to serving patients as our top priority. At CMSS, we work to actively incorporate the patient voice across all our activities, including in our meetings and educational offerings, in our research efforts, and in our Board leadership. CMSS has received two important Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Engagement Awards, which seek to increase the role of the patient in the traditional medical research enterprise. The first award, received in 2018, funded a CMSS project focused on engaging patients in clinical registries, while the second, received this year, will support a new partnership with the Patient-Led Research Collaborative (PLRC).
PATIENT ENGAGEMENT IN CLINICAL REGISTRIES (2018–2020) While specialty societies have used clinical data registries to measure outcomes, improve the care of their patients, and address research questions, few have incorporated the patient voice into their registries. In response, CMSS developed two new resources in support of specialty society/patient organization collaboration on registry development. The CMSS Primer for Specialty Societies and Organizations Developing and Advancing Clinical Data Registries was designed for specialty societies, offering specific strategies and methods for developing and implementing patient-centric approaches to registry development. A companion primer, How Patient Organizations and Medical Societies Can Enhance Patient Engagement in 14
Clinical Registries and Research, was developed in partnership with the National Health Council (NHC), an organization focused on providing a united voice for the 160 million people in the U.S. living with chronic diseases and disabilities and their family caregivers. This resource, released in March 2020, helps patient organizations learn about the many aspects of registries sponsored by
The webinar and primers provide invaluable information for medical specialty societies and for patient organizations, highlighting critical first steps in moving beyond token patient participation on advisory panels and committees to truly meaningful patient engagement. Helen Burtstin, CMSS, CEO
specialty societies, makes the case for the vital importance of patientengagement in registry development, and offers ideas about how patient organizations can get involved in registry development. The project concluded with a webinar highlighting best practices and learnings from CMSS member societies who are engaging patients in their registries and research efforts.
PATIENT-LED RESEARCH INTEGRATION & PARTNERSHIP (2021–2023) With the second award from PCORI, CMSS began an ongoing partnership with the Patient-Led Research Collaborative for Long COVID, known as PLRC, to develop new models for patient-led and patient-centered outcomes research and to build bridges between the patient and clinical communities. PLRC, a self-organized group of Long COVID patients, was established to drive research to capture and share a bigger picture of the experiences of patients suffering from COVID-19 with prolonged symptoms using a datadriven approach.
Absent better studies, long-haulers did their own. By surveying their own community, members of the Patient-Led Research Collaborative produced what remains the most comprehensive analysis of long COVID, and one of the few to consider the arc of symptoms over time. – The Atlantic
CMSS first met PLRC leaders at one of our COVID-19 Webinars. Their innovative work and unique organizational structure impressed us as a model for driving patient leadership in research. PLRC’s team of researchers, all with intimate knowledge of COVID-19, represent a variety of relevant fields— participatory design, neuroscience, public policy, data collection and analysis, human-centered design, and health activism—and they set the standard for how patient-led networks of those experiencing Long COVID could frame important research questions for the field. In the PLRC model, patients are not merely research contributors but are leaders of survey and research design.
How do we support this group and enable them to be successful and how do we let others look at the group as an exemplar of what can be achieved? Harlan Krumholz, MD, SM, Yale School of Medicine, Advisory Committee Member
Ultimately, CMSS’s collaboration with PLRC will demonstrate how specialty societies, research institutions, and other traditional biomedical research teams can build the infrastructure for patientled participatory comparative effectiveness research. We will work together to explore how we can take what we learned from this model and lead efforts to:
• increase research capacity in the patient community; • d rive institutional support for patient-led research efforts; and • b uild bridges to the medical research community to support patient-led research design.
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CMSS Leadership
2020-2021 BOARD LEADERSHIP OFFICERS PRESIDENT Darilyn V. Moyer, MD, FACP, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Physicians PRESIDENT-ELECT Martha L. Liggett, Esq., Executive Director of the American Society of Hematology PAST PRESIDENT Tod Ibrahim, MLA, Executive Vice President of the American Society of Nephrology
“
Organizations of all sizes and experience come to CMSS gatherings, which allows for learning and growth.
“
– Member Survey Response
SECRETARY William T. Thorwarth Jr., MD, FACR, Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Radiology TREASURER Thomas E. Stautzenbach, MBA, MA, CAE, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
AT-LARGE MEMBERS Donna R. Cryer, JD, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Liver Institute Dina L. Michels, JD, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal and Personnel Officer at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Maureen G. Phipps, MD, MPH, Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Sue Sedory, MA, CAE, Executive Director of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Patricia L. Turner, MD, FACS, Executive Director, American College of Surgeons Helen Burstin, MD, MPH, MACP, Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (ex officio)
STAFF Helen Burstin, MD, MPH, MACP, Chief Executive Officer Darlene Wyatt, Executive Coordinator Julia Peterson, CAE, Operations Manager Sarah Imhoff, MPA, Senior Program Director Deidra Eberle, CMP, DES, Meetings Coordinator Judy Hambrick, Exhibits & Sponsorship Coordinator Elizabeth O’Keefe, Administrator, Membership and Convened Groups Joan Williams, Program Administrator Danielle Taylor, MHA, Program Administrator Heidi Bossley, MSN, MBA, Consultant Damon Marquis, MA, MS, FACEHP, Consultant Suzanne Pope, MBA, Consultant
Get Involved with CMSS We would love to engage with you and discuss how we can work together as a collective voice for collaboration and action. Visit our website (www.cmss.org) and follow us on Twitter (@CMSSMed) and LinkedIn for up-to-date information on everything happening with CMSS. If your society is interested in Membership with CMSS, visit www.cmss.org/membership/ to review member benefits and eligibility. To discuss membership or other opportunities for collaboration, please contact Julia Peterson, CMSS Operations Manager, at jpeterson@cmss.org.
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS INDUSTRY PARTNERS IQVIA Healthcare Solutions Madgex, A Wiley Brand FIGmd, an MRO Company ArborMetrix
CMSS would like to
Apervita
thank the following
Phairify
companies for their
Armus
support in 2020
Indico Solutions
and 2021.
M2S
FUNDERS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
COLLABORATING PARTNERS Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Health Information and Management Systems Society National Academy of Medicine
CMSS gratefully acknowledges funding from and collaboration with the following partners in support of our strategic initiatives and new priorities.
National Health Council Patient-Led Research Collaborative Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine THRUUE
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Our Members Speak Up CMSS has been even more valuable this year due to COVID matters. The sharing of insights has been extremely valuable.
CMSS is very good at bringing the medical groups together and dealing with common issues and concerns, as well as to reducing duplicative efforts and building strength in numbers.
Equity needs to always be at the forefront of all we do.
Discussions that should be had in the halls of hospitals, in the C-Suite and in med schools were held at the CMSS Leadership Summit.
