Thank you for the many good wishes and warm welcome back to the Orange County Medical Association. Can you believe it has been five years since I left as your government affairs representative?

The Orange County Medical Association is working closely with CalOptima as the organization considers two reimbursement changes for emergency physicians and hospital contracts.

It has been necessary to temporarily reduce the rate of interim reimbursement. Funds left in the pool, including the reserve amount, will first be used to raise the level of reimbursement for physicians who have received the reduced interim payment amounts.

With great pleasure and honor, I join the Orange County Medical Association leaders and members in congratulating Richard Frankenstein, MD, as he embarks on his year as president of the California Medical Association. There are few others, if any, who have served so diligently in such a broad spectrum of leadership positions.

With the support of its Executive Committee and Board of Directors, the Orange County Medical Association has been working to improve member services and operations. Periodically, every organization needs to take a fresh look at itself, and we have spent 2007 doing just that.

The May OCMA General Membership meeting will feature keynote speaker Ardis D. Hoven, MD, who is an American Medical Association Trustee and Chair of the House of Delegates Specialty Allocation TAC, for AMA.

Our annual Legislative Leadership (Lobby) Day is right around the corner! If you haven't signed up to attend on Tuesday, April 15, please consider doing so right away. This is the annual trip to Sacramento to meet with our local legislators and this year is more important than ever.