With an eye toward bolstering physicians' influence in state healthcare policy, the Los Angeles County Medical Association's Public Policy Education Fund hosted an April 11 legislative workshop to prepare county medical students for this year's Legislative Leadership Day. Approximately 27 students were expected to attend the event in Sacramento, at which they will lobby California legislators on hot issues, such as healthcare access and scope of practice.

The Los Angeles County Medical Association and the California Medical Association will host two workshops in mid-July for physician members and office staffers who want guidance in dealing with third-party payer contracts and in improving billing and collections procedures.

In an effort to reach out to California community organizations, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America hosted an April 18 reception at the Los Angeles County Medical Association's headquarters. The event featured Billy Tauzin, the former U.S. representative from Louisiana who serves as president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based organization.

The Los Angeles County Medical Association's annual Legislative Reception had a strong showing this year, drawing about 100 attendees to eat, drink and talk politics at the Sacramento Sheraton Grand Hotel.

Held on April 23, the day before the California Medical Association's Legislative Leadership Day, the reception created an informal, convivial setting for seasoned physician-lobbyists and first-timers alike, who compared notes and got acquainted with Los Angeles County lawmakers.

The crowd welcomed at least five state legislators, including Assemblyman Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park), Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-Pasadena), Assemblyman Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), Sen. Gilbert Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-San Fernando Valley).

The California Medical Association's 33rd Annual Legislative Leadership Day drew physicians from all over the state to discuss health reform and the push for laws that doctors and patients like. Learn about the lobbying visits and read more on the high-stakes, practice-altering changes to come.

Three developments at the state and federal level since March are moving electronic health records closer to becoming a reality for all practices.

Scores of organizations, including the CMA, have come together this year with the hope of amplifying their voices in the debate.

San Bernardino pediatrician Marti Baum, MD, is happiest helping the underserved and paving the way for the next generation of socially minded physicians.

California Assemblyman Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park) visited the Los Angeles County Medical Association's headquarters for a May 16 fundraiser held in his honor by the political action committees of LACMA, the California Medical Association and seven other physician organizations.

Meeting for the third time in 10 years, the Women's Health Policy Summit assembled fresh approaches to 10 areas of health disparity among women that will help guide policy at the local, county and state levels.

Kevin de Leon, a first-term Democratic assemblyman from Los Angeles, had a chance to hear physicians' concerns at an April 26 fundraiser at the Los Angeles County Medical Association's downtown headquarters.

Responding to the multiple dueling reform plans facing the California Legislature, the Los Angeles County Medical Association convened a task force to spell out what the association considers the most important elements of any reform.

Avoiding common mistakes and taking proactive steps can keep you from getting sued.

In June, the California Medical Association and hundreds of politically active California physicians forced Blue Cross to postpone its planned June 1 fee schedule changes until Aug. 6, because the company did not provide 45 days' notice. Due to the hail of phone calls doctors directed at the California Department of Managed Health Care, which oversees Blue Cross, the insurer did finally inform physicians of the upcoming schedule changes.

At the state and national level, Medicare problems are crystallizing, but change at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is not easy.

Ernest Levister Jr., MD * Hector Flores, MD * John Gordon Harold, MD * Kenneth Lam, MD * David Rickles, MD * Quynh Kieu, MD

To officially commence the presidency of David Aizuss, MD, the Los Angeles County Medical Association held a June 20 installation banquet at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles attended by about 50 association members and their families.

Jonathan Fielding, MD, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, met with members of LACMA District 1 at the association's headquarters on June 21 to call for more joint activities.

Doctors realize that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but getting patients that ounce can be tons of trouble. Standing in the way are structural problems, payment problems and sometimes even the patients themselves. However, the fact remains that diseases such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension are partly preventable, and California's healthcare reformers have high hopes they can help.

In a move tagged by the California Medical Association as "the cause of extreme concern to California's physician community," the California Department of Managed Health Care delayed from July 19 to Aug. 7 a public hearing examining the business activities of Blue Cross of California since it was acquired.

The Physician Quality Reporting Initiative pays bonuses while helping the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plan for a larger and more permanent system.

Thomas Horowitz, DO * Stanley Galant, MD * Jack Moore, MD * William Wesley Fields, MD * Greg Super, MD

The Los Angeles County Medical Association's summer election has given the group a new secretary, George Ma, MD. Dr. Ma is clear about his aims: easing the financial strain on primary care physicians and increasing membership among minority and younger doctors.

In July, the Los Angeles County Medical Association joined a new project designed to raise high school graduation rates by making education more relevant and more interesting to students. Led by ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career, the initiative has participation from the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the Alliance for a Better Community, Apple Inc. and 10 other groups.

Aiming to influence how members of the U.S. Congress will vote on legislation affecting Medicare payments to physicians, Los Angeles County Medical Association members met with a congressman and staff members from three other legislators' offices as part of an effort led by the California Medical Association.

Three professionals in the business deliver six nuggets of billing wisdom.

A bill that would halt Medicare's planned 10 percent reduction in reimbursement to doctors and extend the State Children's Health Insurance Program passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Aug. 1 and awaits a Senate vote. President George Bush has promised a veto. The bill would also compel the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to re-evaluate region-based reimbursement adjustments related to the program's geographic practice cost index.

South Los Angeles' Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital lost $200 million in annual federal funding in mid-August after it failed an inspection by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The hospital will close all inpatient services as soon as possible.

LACMA and CMA decry the damaging cuts to physician reimbursement. Top exec defends the rates.

Wally Ghurabi, MD * Richard Haskell, MD * Steven Ross, MD * Richard Frankenstein, MD * John Patrick Johnson, MD

A creative side has propelled Los Angeles surgeon and researcher Hillel Laks, MD, to the heights of cardiothoracic surgery.

Physicians wanting to speak directly to a Blue Cross of California medical director are welcome to call a dedicated phone number--818/234-5072--newly set up for the purpose, says Jeff Kamil, MD, the company's vice president and senior medical director.

The Los Angeles County Medical Association and an evolving list of about 10 partner groups are working to find alternative primary- and specialty-care options for South Los Angeles residents, whose limited access to healthcare was further stressed by the August closure of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital.

Seven resolutions adopted at an Aug. 22 meeting will guide the Los Angeles County Medical Association delegates attending this month's California Medical Association House of Delegates meeting, which will set the statewide organization's agenda for 2008.

Experts and physician users offer advice on better electronic health records system selection, implementation and operation. Learn more about the costs and the process of going paperless.

The California Medical Association may have scored a major victory this year against insurers and health plans thanks to the efforts of Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate).

Despite physician opposition, rules to prohibit balance billing were revived on both the legislative and regulatory fronts.

California Medical Association remains opposed to tax on doctors, while hospital group accepts 4-percent fee.

Roger Ohanesian, MD * Richard Declusin, MD * Michelle Laba, MD * Janis Neuman, MD * Arthur Calick, MD

After three years as the vice president of government relations at the Los Angeles County Medical Association, David Pruitt has taken over as the executive director of the California Medical Association Political Action Committee, where he will directly influence the CMA's interactions with the state Legislature.

To keep physician employers within the law, Stacy Rochelle, California Employer Association Southern California regional director, explained upcoming labor law changes and offered hiring tips at a Sept. 25 seminar at the Los Angeles County Medical Association headquarters.

Despite fundamental misunderstandings about its practice and goals, palliative care is expanding across the nation at a rapid pace. Practitioners say that's because society and the healthcare industry traditionally overlook--or want to ignore--the most difficult stages of life.

With Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez' AB 8 off the table after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Oct.12 veto, the debate among lawmakers and constituents now centers on the merits of the governor's new plan introduced Oct. 9. Physicians will be pleased that the new version lacks the 2-percent doctor's revenue tax that the California Medical Association fought all year.

President George W. Bush's congressional opponents failed to override his veto of a bill expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and now the face-off starts again.

As the 2007 regular legislative session closed, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed and vetoed a raft of bills reaching him from the state's legislative branch. Here is a look at how healthcare bills supported or opposed by the California Medical Association did this year, according to the association's government relations department.

Margaret Beed, MD * Guillermo Valenzuela, MD * Beth Karlan, MD * George Sarka, MD * Richard E. Anderson, MD * Mitchell S. Karlan

After a circuitous path, Charles McElwee, MD, settled in Southern California to become a leader and a steadfast advocate for physicians' causes.

On Nov. 5, Luis Ayala became the Los Angeles County Medical Association's new director of government relations, filling the position left vacant when David Pruitt accepted a job as executive director of the California Medical Association Political Action Committee. In his new LACMA post, Ayala will be at the forefront of the association's advocacy efforts.

Here are five tips from experts on finding a reliable professional financial planner.

In October and November, the California Department of Managed Health Care held hearings in Burbank, Sacramento and San Diego to learn how physicians, health plans, consumers and others view its proposed rules on balance billing. As expected, doctors did not approve.

The topics tackled and resolutions adopted by the California Medical Association House of Delegates in October displayed some of the new aggressiveness that the association has been developing, especially within the past year.

Horacio Rodiles, MD * J. Brennan Cassidy, MD * Marcy Zwelling-Aamot, MD * Neil Barth, MD

In the aftermath of October's fires, physicians, hospitals and public health agencies are taking the opportunity to bolster disaster response skills, in the unfortunate event that an emergency strikes the region again.

Doctors at nine private hospitals affected by the closure of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital can take advantage of a new reimbursement program from the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, according to Carol Meyer, the agency's director of governmental affairs.

The Los Angeles County Medical Association sponsored two Obesity Prevention Champion Training Sessions held by the California Medical Association Foundation on Nov. 1 at LACMA's downtown headquarters and Nov. 3 at Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center in Glendale.

Local physicians donate their medical expertise in humanitarian missions abroad, serving those in need and rejuvenating themselves in the process.

Striving until the last moment to make a deal on California healthcare reform this year, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) suggested that they might release details of a bipartisan plan in mid-December, according to the California Medical Association, which has maintained close contact with both sides.

Organized medicine lobbies for a permanent fix, while asking for an interim block to the cuts.

Gerald Murphy, MD * Richard Frankenstein, MD * Amber Sabbatini * David Schechter, MD

Los Angeles gastroenterologist Ethelred Carter, MD, maintains strong ties to his Jamaican alma mater by sponsoring college educations for kids without another way up.

Continuing medical education requirements are not so hard to fulfill, according to several sources interviewed for this article. Doctors can usually meet them by attending events sponsored by their hospitals or their specialty societies.

If healthcare reform bill ABX1 1 passes the Senate and the governor's desk as it stands, it will lack several components that physicians loathed in its predecessors, and it will contain some positives. But a new healthcare plan will face daunting state budget troubles and a possible legal challenge.

With its mid-December passage of the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, Congress temporarily prevented Medicare's strategic growth rate formula from cutting 2008 physician reimbursement rates, while it maintained support for the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

If enacted, Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts will result in 10-percent Medi-Cal reimbursement reductions for  fee-for-service and managed care doctors.

Robin Cole, MD * David Keschner, MD, JD * K. Kevin Khajavi, MD * Robert McCoy, MD * Suvesh Chandiok, MD * Thomas LaGrelius, MD