It is our shared responsibility to ensure that Paxlovid and other COVID-19 treatments are offered to all patients eligible to receive them. Any patient 12 years or older who tests positive for COVID-19 should be evaluated and prescribed Paxlovid or other treatment, as appropriate.

Click here to read the full statement.

Dear MAPA Members,

The CARES Act initially suspended Federal student loan payments until September 30th; however, this relief has been extended to December 31st. It’s important that you understand this relief policy and assess your private and/or Federal student loans while keeping in mind key repayment considerations. To ensure you know your options, Citizens invites you to attend a live webinar which will highlight repayment strategies and the potential impact on your cash flow, along with details about the Federal student loan payment relief extension. Who is this session best for? Anyone who is paying back their own student loan debt or a family member’s. Would you like to learn more? Sign up now.  If you choose to refinance with a Citizens Bank Education Refinance Loan, you could get a $500 Amazon.com Gift Card* in addition to up to a $1,000† credit toward your loan. This limited-time offer is available until December 31, 2020. For more details and to apply, contact info@mass-pa.com for link to apply and more details.

*Restrictions apply: see amazon/gc-legal for complete terms and conditions. The borrower and cosigner (if applicable) must submit a completed application, including authorizing us to review the credit request for an Education Refinance Loan. To qualify for this offer: 1) You must apply through the link in this email or call 1-888-411-2389 and mention this offer and 2) Be approved to refinance a minimum amount of $40,000 in student loans. The $500 Amazon.com Gift card will be delivered to the borrower via email within 90 days of the loan disbursement date. A valid email must be provided to receive gift card. Limit one gift card per borrower. Citizens Bank reserves the right to modify the terms of this offer at any point in the future for new applications. Offer only valid from September 7, 2020 through December 31, 2020. Gift card amount may be reported to the IRS.

We know that caring for patients with chronic pain and/or SUD is complicated and time-consuming.  As you know, MCSTAP provides real-time expert peer-to-peer phone support for safe prescribing and managing patient care, as well as appropriate referrals.  MCSTAP’s physician consultants, who practice in health care systems around the state, have extensive academic and clinical expertise in safe prescribing and managing care for patients with chronic pain and/or SUD, as well as experience in primary care. In addition, the Grayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center provides medical leadership of the program. 

Free to all Massachusetts providers and funded by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, it supports the care of adults with chronic pain and/or SUD, regardless of insurance coverage.

MMS and MCSTAP recently produced a short informational video about MCSTAP for providers, featuring comments from MMS president Maryanne Bombaugh, MD, MSc, MBA, FACOG, and Christopher Shanahan, MD, MPH, FACP, the MCSTAP medical director. 

You can view the video here.

This peer-to-peer support is a welcome, necessary and, we believe a potentially impactful tool that many providers have been missing. We encourage you to please share this video with your networks through any communications channels you deem appropriate. 

Here is a sample message that you would be welcome to cut and paste:

Website, Facebook, Instagram, newsletters, e-bulletins, e-mail blasts, etc.

“Caring for patients with chronic pain and/or SUD can be complicated.  MCSTAP is a no-cost resource that provides you with real-time expert support when you need it.  The Massachusetts Medical Society strongly supports MCSTAP and encourages Massachusetts providers to make use of these services.  Click here to view a short message from MMS president Dr. Maryanne Bombaugh and MCSTAP medical director Dr. Christopher Shanahan.”

Twitter: 

Caring for patients w/ #ChronicPain and/or #SUD can be complicated. @MCSTAP_Consult is a no-cost resource that provides real-time expert support for MA #healthcare providers. Watch this video w/ @MCBombaughMD of @MassMedical & @chshanahan to learn more http://bit.ly/2IyBRhk

MCSTAP is committed to helping providers increase their capacity for, and comfort in, using evidence-based practices to care for patients with chronic pain and/or SUD. Providers can reach MCSTAP at 1-833-PAIN-SUD (1-833-724-6783), Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by e-mail at MCSTAP@beaconhealthoptions.com.  You can learn more at www.mcstap.com.  

We are in awe of the hard work that you do each and every day.  To celebrate PA week this year, we have requested the attached proclamation from Charles Baker, the Governor of Massachusetts.  Feel free to print and present at your places of work.  Thank you PAs for all that you do. Click Here to view the proclamation!

HAPPY PA WEEK!

Joshua Merson, MS, MS-HPED, PA-C
MAPA President, 2019-2020

In citing undersupply of doctors, don’t overlook physician assistants

Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier’s Feb. 26 op-ed ”How can we remedy the shortage of health providers?” appropriately highlights the need for increased access to health care providers in the Commonwealth. However, while pointing to a growing shortage of accessible providers, he fails to recognize one important group of health professionals that is currently addressing this very issue: physician assistants. The more than 123,000 PAs currently practicing across – the country­ more than 3,600 of them in Massachusetts – are trained, qualified medical providers, and serve 8 million patients across the country each week.

TIA PHILLIPS
President 
Massachusetts Association of Physician Assistants Boston

Download full Boston Globe article here (PDF)

Psychological Health Webinar Details
Dec. 14, 2017
1-2:30 p.m. (ET)

2017 VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder: A Revised Framework to Assess and Treat Patients.

Since the 2010 release of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD) clinical practice guideline for the management of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a growing body of research has expanded the general knowledge and understanding of PTSD and other stress related disorders. Improved recognition of the complexities of acute stress reaction (ASR), acute stress disorder (ASD), and PTSD has led to the adoption of new and/or refined strategies to manage and treat patients with these conditions. A revised VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder was released in June 2017 to provide health care providers with a framework to evaluate, treat, and manage the needs and preferences of patients with PTSD and ASD. The new guideline incorporates current diagnostics as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (2013) and evidence-informed recommendations from the VA/DoD Management of PTSD Work Group.

This presentation will briefly review the purpose of the clinical practice guideline and discuss its key recommendations. In addition, the presentation will focus on the importance of patient-centered treatment planning and shared decision-making; the provision of trauma-informed psychotherapy, and over-arching pharmacology treatment recommendations. The presentation will conclude by identifying new clinical support tools available for providers, patients, and family members to help attendees implement these evidence-informed recommendations in their practice.

At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to:

• Explain who participates in the development of a VA/DoD clinical practice guideline
• Determine key recommendations from the 2017 VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder
• Identify first-line PTSD treatment recommendations
• Examine clinical support tools that align with the clinical practice guideline that are available for providers, patients, and family members

Presenters:

David Riggs, Ph.D.
Professor/Chair, Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology Executive Director, Center for Deployment Psychology Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Bethesda, Maryland

Paula Schnurr, Ph.D.
Executive Director of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder White River Junction, Vermont Professor of Psychiatry Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth Hanover, New Hampshire

Corinne K.B. Devlin MSN, RN, FNP-BC
Chief, Evidence Based Practice
U.S. Army Medical Command
Clinical Performance Assurance Directorate (CPAD) Office of Evidence Based Practice Fort Sam Houston, Texas

Moderator:

Holly N. O’Reilly, Ph.D.
Senior Clinical Psychologist, Evidence Based Practice Psychological Health Center of Excellence (PHCoE) Silver Spring, Maryland

Continuing Education

This continuing education activity is provided through collaboration between the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Education and Training Directorate (J7) and Professional Education Services Group (PESG). You must register by 3 p.m. (ET) Dec. 14, 2017, to qualify for the receipt of continuing education credit.

The awarding of continuing education credit is limited in scope to health care providers who actively provide psychological health and traumatic brain injury care to U.S. active-duty service members, reservists, National Guardsmen, military veterans and their families.

Registration

Please note, registration is required for each webinar regardless if the participant has an existing PESG account. Upon completion of registration, a confirmation email will be sent providing webinar event details.

Once registered, you may use Adobe Connect to attend the webinar. If you have questions or need assistance, please email the webinar team.