Washington State Association of Neurological Surgeons
2013 Annual Meeting
Skamania Lodge at the Columbia River Gorge
Stevenson, Washington
June 7-9, 2013
Directions to Lodge
Become a Member of WSANS
Vendor Registration
2013 Annual Meeting Archive:
Agenda:
Friday June 7, 2013
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM Registration
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Dinner Buffet
John Espinola MD, MP, VP,
Medical Services and Quality, Premera Blue Cross
“Can We Make the Volume to Value Transformation in Healthcare?”
Saturday, June 8, 2013
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM Breakfast
8:00 AM Meeting
8:00 AM Welcome from President John Hsiang
WSANS Business Meeting
8:10 AM New Business, Vice President Trent Tredway
8:20 AM Membership, Secretary Farrokh Farrokhi
8:30 AM Accounting, Treasurer David Atteberry
8:45 AM – 9:15 AM Richard Wohns, MD, Esq.
“Medical Negligence”
9:15 AM – 9:45 AM Small Break
9:45 AM – 10:30 AM Farrokhi Farrokh, MD
“Lean Healthcare: What Toyota and the Institute of Medicine Have in Common”
10:30 AM – 10:45 AM Kai Johanson, MD
“The Diagnosis of Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome”
11:45 AM – 12:00 PM David Newell, MD
“The Treatment of Brain Disorders Using Ultasound”
12:00 PM Lunch with Family
Dismissed for Golf and Family Time
Regroup at 7:30 PM
7:30 PM Social Time
8:00 PM – 9:30PM Nancy L Fisher, RN, MD, MPH
Chief Medical Officer, Premera Blue Cross
7:30 PM WSANS Passing of the Presidency to the Vice President
Sunday, June 9, 2013
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM Breakfast with Family (2 Hour Breakfast)
Letter from the President:
Dear WSANS Members:
The Healthcare changes and reform in the state of Washington are happening so quickly that it is hard for the practitioners to stay completely up-to-date. Staring in 2014, the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obama Care) will go into effect. In addition, value and quality of care and not just volume will be taken into consideration for physicians’ future compensation. Furthermore, new policies and regulations on certain procedures are being generated in Olympia. What does this all mean to the Washington State neurosurgeons?
The next annual meeting of WSANS will be on June 7-9 at Skamania Lodge at the Columbia River Gorge to discuss these issues and more. We are fortunate to have Dr. John Espinola, VP of Premera Blue Cross, and Dr. Nancy Fisher, Chief Medical Officer from CMS, to join our meeting and discuss the current and new trends of the future of Physician reimbursement as well as what we can all expect from Obama Care. The changes are already here. This meeting provides the Washington State neurosurgeons an opportunity to learn from the experts and to position ourselves accordingly to cope with the constantly changing healthcare environment.
We are also glad to have Dr. Richard Wohns, MD, MBA, JD (ex-WSANS President) joining us to talk about medical negligence and liability is neurosurgical practice; A topic we all want to know more about to avoid malpractice lawsuits.
The cost to maintain a neurosurgical practice is increasing while reimbursement is decreasing. We welcome Dr. Farrokhi to share with us all information about Lean Medicine: How to decrease costs in order to increase our profit margin.
This annual meeting will be focusing on socio-economical issues, but we will still provide our members the chance to increase their knowledge in neurosurgery. Dr. Kaj Johansen, a vascular surgeon, will be talking to us about thoracic outlet syndrome. Dr. David Newell from the Swedish Neuroscience Institute will be talking to us about treatment of brain disorders using ultrasound.
The executive committee of WSANS needs a new treasurer. We are open to nomination for this position.
The WSANS is here to serve you. The program of this year annual meeting will provide a lot of important information that is going to affect our practice and bottom line. This will be the perfect occasion for us all to learn about these topics while enjoying the beautiful Columbia River Gorge for a summer weekend with your family. I look forward to seeing you there on June7-9.
Sincerely,
John Hsiang, MD, PhD
President of WSANS
