WMS Membership Update

VOTE FOR 2023-2024 WMS LEADERSHIP

The WMS Board of Trustees is comprised of a seven-member executive committee, Trustees from each of our 16 county medical societies, representatives for our PAs, medical students, residents, retired physicians, and the current WWAMI Regional Clinical Dean.

This year, the WMS Nominating Committee chaired by Past President JJ Chen, MD, is proposing to elect the current officers to a second, one-year term, made available by the WMS bylaws.

2023 - 2024 Ballot

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President - Kristopher Schamber, MD (IM) - Sheridan

Vice President - Spencer Weston, MD (FM) - Evanston

Secretary/Treasurer - Kristina Behringer, MD (FM) - Cheyenne

Open Trustee - Matt Mitchell, MD (OS) - Casper

TRUSTEES AT LARGE

Carol Fischer, MD (FM) - Cheyenne

Kevin Helling, MD (GS) - Casper

Donald Kirk, MD (FM) - Thayne

Mattson Mathey, MD (FM) - Thermopolis

VOTE NOW

Voting closes May 20, 2023

Advocacy

PRIOR AUTHORIZATION REFORM

Casper physician, general surgeon, and WMS member, Kevin Helling, MD, joined WMS lobbyist, Sheila Bush, to testify on the important topic of prior authorization reform on Friday, April 28th.

The Wyoming Hospital Association (WHA), and WMS are partnering this year to educate lawmakers about the burdens, administrative costs, and risks to patient safety and care created by abuses in the employment of prior authorization practices by Wyoming payers.

Thanks in large part to Dr. Helling's compelling testimony and personal stories related to patient care, the committee voted unanimously to convene a small working group, of which WMS will be part, to draft legislation for the 2024 legislative session.

WMS will be supporting the following priorities for inclusion in the legislation:

Establish quick response times (24 hours for urgent)
Clear definitions for transparency and predictability
Requiring that adverse determinations be made by licensed physicians in the state and of the same specialty typically manages the patient's condition
Prohibition of retroactive denials if care is preauthorized
Ensuring authorizations are valid for at least one year, regardless of dose changes, and for those with chronic conditions, that authorization sustains throughout the length of treatment
Requiring public release of insurers' prior authorization data by drug and service as it relates to approvals, denials, appeals wait times, and more
Honoring the previous plan's prior authorizations for at least 60 days for patients who change plans

The first meeting of the working group is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, May 16. If WMS members have any feedback or insights they want to make sure are included in the conversation, please reach out to Executive Director Sheila Bush at your earliest convenience.

WHITE BAGGING

Another agenda topic of interest to WMS is the growing practice of white bagging wherein insurance companies require that physician-administered drugs that would normally be compounded or mixed in-facility must be instead shipped to the facility from a contracted specialty pharmacy of the insurance company's choosing. WMS and WHA both testified in favor of legislation modeled after the state of Louisiana which places regulations around the practice to protect patient safety and access to care.

2023 WMS Annual Meeting

The WMS Annual Meeting & Specialty Society Summit will be held in Laramie, WY September 15-16. Mark your calendars!

WMS Annual Meeting Website

The TeleBehavioral Health Summit (TeleBH Summit) is a free two-day, CME-accredited virtual conference, solely focused on today’s emerging topics in digital and TeleBehavioral Health care.

Building on the Behavioral Health Institute’s TeleBehavioral Health Training series, the TeleBH Summit brings together national subject matter experts and thought leaders to address the challenges and innovations in the new digital landscape brought on by the dramatic changes caused by the COVID public health emergency (PHE), and as the PHE is lifted on May 11, 2023. Register Here