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CMO Notes

Matthew Miller, MD
Chief Medical Officer, WCHN

I really didn’t think things could get much busier or more complicated but I was wrong. To demonstrate - here are some highlights in this new issue of DOC-Line

  • John Murphy gives us an update on the hard work towards the Danbury Hospital/Norwalk Hospital merger. John describes why it makes sense and what steps we’re taking right now. It’s really kind of exciting.
  • Governor’s new budget: As I’m sure you have heard, the Governor’s budget has passed reducing the income of hospitals across the state by over $500 million over two years, beginning July 1st of this year. The impact on WCHN is more than $30 million which represents more than 6% of our annual budget. There are no easy ways to find the money to address that reduction, as has been discussed before. Please see Dr. Murphy’s announcement to our Network employees about this budget and how we will need to meet the challenge.
  • Our two Medical Staff presidents, Bill Begg and John Mullen, tell us about the hard work on merging our Medical Staffs into one. They give us other local news, too.
  • The conversion from ICD 9 to ICD 10 looms over all of us. Read how WCHN is providing an education program so that individual practices and departments within Western Connecticut Health Network DO NOT NEED to research, purchase or develop their own training or education modules.
  • Bob Langley, our PHO director, provides some valuable information and links to help us all prepare for the Accountable Care Act (Obamacare) being implemented this year and next.
  • The PHO continues to blossom and we want you all to see it as a potentially valuable vehicle for you and your practice, not just for potential contracting as an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) but for other support and education as well.
  • Some patients are saying that their office visit seems more about the computer than about them. Integrating the EMR and the visit is a challenge for doctors. In the Vox Medicus section of this edition Martha Moulton and Ken Pelligrino give us their take and advice.

Have a good summer. We’ll get another edition out later in the season.