The newly released 33rd edition of AMGA’s 2020 Medical Group Compensation and Productivity Survey shows divergent trends in compensation and productivity that may prompt closer examination of provider payment arrangements in the future.
 
The survey, conducted by AMGA Consulting, found that in 2019, overall physician compensation increased by 3.79%, but overall production remained stagnant, increasing just 0.56%. 
Overall, the compensation per wRVU ratio increased by just 2.14%, reflecting a continuing trend of disparities between annual compensation and productivity gains.
 
Primary Care Gains Higher
The 2020 Survey, available on a new online platform with user-friendly tools, allows users to easily drill down and visualize compensation, wRVUS, and compensation-to-work RVU ratios for 169 physician, advanced practice clinician, and other provider specialties.
 
Overall, 2019 increases in compensation were higher in primary care specialties when compared to medical and surgical specialties: 

 

• Primary Care Specialties: Median compensation increased by 4.46%, median productivity increased by 0.44%, and compensation per wRVU increased by 2.6%.
• Medical Specialties: Median compensation increased by 3.52%, median productivity rose 0.93%, but compensation per wRVU declined by 1.75%.
• Surgical Specialties: Median compensation increased by 4.84%, median productivity increased by 1.95%, but compensation per wRVU declined by 0.40%.

Our 2020 report of 2019 data will be the last clean database, prior to the impact of COVID-19, which will serve as a baseline to understand the impact of the pandemic on medical group performance.
Order the online survey today and equip your medical group with the best compensation data available. AMGA members and corporate partners receive a substantial discount.
 
Questions? Please contact Elizabeth Siemsen, director, AMGA Consulting, at esiemsen@amga.org or 703.838.0033 ext. 391.

Registration is now open for AMGA’s 2020 Medical Group Operations and Finance Virtual Conference taking place on Wednesday, November 11, 2020, from noon to 5 p.m. ET. Through live demos and case studies, we will share tools and best practices for optimizing medical group revenues, clinic staffing models, patient access and referral management, telehealth, and more.
 
Our speakers will enable you to "achieve resiliency through execution" of operational adjustments that effectively respond to marketplace changes. Our agenda features financial, operational, and strategic best practices to help executive decision-makers optimize their provider organizations.
 
Participation is limited to healthcare delivery organizations, with discounted registration for AMGA members. Reserve your spot by Friday, October 30, to secure early bird rates.

AMGA has released for download the Obesity Care Model (OCMC) playbook, a first-of-its-kind primer for implementing a proven program for the treatment of obesity. The OCMC Playbook provides users with knowledge and insights on population health-based approaches and strategies to treat adult patients with obesity in primary care. Information within this playbook represents evidence-based best practices from AMGA members who participated in the OCMC, and serves as an excellent starting point for those interested in developing or refining their medical group or health system’s obesity care delivery strategy.
 
The playbook is now available to view and download on AMGA’s website.

AMGA authored Diagnosing Obesity as a First Step to Weight Loss an Observational Study was published online by Obesity this month. The article describes an observational study AMGA conducted that included 688,878 adult patients at 15 AMGA member health systems with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m. The study examines the relationship between an obesity diagnosis and weight loss.
 
Obesity is a chronic disease afflicting more than 40 percent of the U.S. adult population. While the number of adults with obesity rises in the U.S., weight loss is still a challenge for most patients and health care professionals. Obesity is associated with leading causes of death such diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) considers the disease burden associated with obesity to be so high that the Hierarchical Condition Categories (HCC) weighted score for patients with severe obesity (BMI ≥ 40) is twice that of an acute myocardial infarction.
 
An obesity diagnosis is an important step toward enhancing medical care for patients with obesity.  AMGA conducted a study on obesity diagnoses and weight loss using EHR data from 15 member healthcare organizations. We found fewer than half of patients (45%) with BMI ≥30 had a diagnosis of obesity documented on either a claim or a problem list. The study, published online in Obesity/Early View, shows strong evidence that a formal diagnosis of obesity is associated with weight loss, suggesting that additional action on the part of health care professionals follows a diagnosis, such as counseling on diet and/or physical activity and referrals to supportive resources such as obesity specialists. Documentation of an obesity diagnosis may also be an important step in engaging patients in losing weight. A documented obesity diagnosis was a significant predictor of ≥5% and ≥10% of total body weight loss in 9–15 months.
 
Individuals with obesity are at high risk for severe COVID-19 symptoms and mortality. Several studies have shown people with obesity who contract coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) have worse outcomes. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) from COVID-19 is disproportionately more severe in people with obesity and obesity-related comorbidities. Obesity is also associated with a higher rate of ICU admission. One UK study found almost three-quarters (72%) of COVID-19 patients in critical care units had either overweight or obesity. Finally, compared to their normal-weight counterparts, hospitalized younger patients (<50 years of age) with severe obesity were more likely to die of COVID-19.
 
Medical documentation of obesity as a chronic disease remains low. The advent of COVID-19 and the tragic impact it is having on patients with obesity is challenging us to examine how we care for patients with obesity better to reduce their risks. There is still a general lack of awareness and recognition of obesity as a complex medical condition. Many patients, providers, and the public see obesity as a lifestyle choice and do not understand the nature of the disease nor how weight affects health. The stigma associated with “obesity” makes weight-related conversations between healthcare professionals and their patients difficult and harder to initiate.  Primary care healthcare professionals, in particular, by increasing diagnoses of obesity, can begin to initiate the conversation with patients about weight and treatment of obesity.
 
Read the AMGA study: Diagnosing Obesity as a First Step to Weight Loss an Observational Study.
 
Read more about AMGA’s Obesity Care Model Collaborative outcomes which inspired the study: OCMC Playbook
 
For information about other strategies to overcome and prevent obesity: Stop Obesity Alliance.
 
For more information about AMGA research projects contact: research@amga.org

AMGA, through a Medical Sponsorship from Pfizer for US Hospital Quality Improvement or Medical Projects Related to COVID-19, will conduct a retrospective data analysis to determine the impact of COVID-19 on patients with type 2 diabetes, a condition that affects about 14% of adults who receive care, putting them at risk for a range of multi-system complications. Due to the financial strains COVID-19 has placed on providers, there is concern that patients with chronic conditions will not receive the care they need to manage their health.
 
Through a partnership with Optum^®, AMGA has access to deidentified clinical data from 22 geographically diverse health care organizations caring for more than 20 million patients. These data will be accessed for this analysis with the objective of describing changes in routine clinical care for patients with chronic conditions and their providers before and during (and potentially after) the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus is on ambulatory care for patients with type 2 diabetes.
 
“COVID-19 has disrupted the usual flow of care for millions of patients with type 2 diabetes,” said John Kennedy, MD, AMGA Foundation president and AMGA chief medical officer. “These patients are at increased risk for developing severe complications from COVID-19 infection as well as diabetes, due to decreased access to diabetes education services, diabetes medications, and glucose testing supplies. Most critically, stay-at-home orders in many locations have restricted patient access to in-person care, which has forced providers to come up with innovative, alternative telehealth solutions required for monitoring of comorbidities such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and micro- or macrovascular complications.”
 
The analysis will attempt to address the following questions, among type 2 diabetes patients, as a result of COVID-19: 

1. Did care delivery patterns change in terms of visit types, volumes, and frequencies? What is the range of care delivery pattern change across and within healthcare organizations?
2. Did lab testing (e.g., HbA1c, lipids, triglycerides), urine testing, and clinical observations (e.g., blood pressure) change in terms of volumes, frequencies, and types of tests conducted, recorded, or collected? 
3. Did prescribed medications change in terms of volumes, frequencies, and types (of medication)?

 
The knowledge gained by understanding the impact and magnitude of variation across and within health care organizations, of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with type 2 diabetes can be applied to other chronic health conditions.
 

 

The 2020 AMGA Medical Group Operations and Finance Survey is almost here! The 2020 survey represents the largest number of respondents in its history, with data from more than 3,500 clinics and representing over 20,000 providers. The Operations and Finance Survey is unique in the marketplace as the only comprehensive survey delving into the financial and operational performance of large, multispecialty medical groups, with nearly 75% of the data from medical groups of more than 500 providers.
 
The all-new online platform offers flexible reporting options to customize data and graphics in an easy-to-use environment. Users can also export data for additional analysis. Included are benchmarks in the following areas:
 

• Clinic staffing by role
• Operational overhead staffing by functional area and role
• Revenue cycle metrics
• Patient access/scheduling metrics
• Telehealth services data
• Panel size information
• Financial performance from high-level summary metrics to line item detail

 
There multiple metrics in these areas with data presented per physician, per provider, or per 10,000 wRVUs, with an option to filter by system-affiliated and independent practices. The survey content has been expanded and clarified for the 2020 report, improving the scope of the benchmarks. 

AMGA members and corporate partners receive a discount on their 2020 AMGA Medical Group Operations and Finance Survey purchases. Be on the lookout for more information on how to access the survey results.

After a series of successful keynote sessions featuring nationally-recognized thought leaders sharing strategies for embracing change and thriving in a post-pandemic world, AMGA IQL Virtual: Transformation and Innovation Post COVID-19 will continue with live broadcast breakout session each Tuesday and Thursday through Oct. 29.
 
These sessions feature executives from the nation's top healthcare systems sharing knowledge and strategies. A full list of peer-to-peer breakouts, including speakers, descriptions, and learning objectives, is available here.

Missed a Session?
The content of the IQL20 Virtual event will be available on-demand through November 14, 2020. To access sessions you missed or would like to watch again, please log back into the virtual event platform.
For more information or to register, please visit amga.org/IQL20, or contact Isiah Jordan at ijordan@amga.org or 703.838.0033 ext. 322.

As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic spreads throughout the U.S., our member medical groups and health systems are working at the front lines to provide the highest quality care to their patients. As a partner with our members, AMGA has created a place where members can share best practices and access the latest, most relevant updates from federal agencies and others.
 
AMGA has worked closely with members, federal agencies, and other healthcare entities to respond to this challenge and to make sure our members have the most up-to-date information and resources. We recently launched our COVID-19 Resources page, offering frontline tactics and tools from members, the most current federal policies and guidelines, communications from the payer community, as well as additional assets from the World Health Organization and other leaders in the healthcare industry. In just a short time AMGA’s COVID-19 Resources page has become the number one result across multiple search engines for medical groups seeking COVID-related information.
 
Please visit our COVID-19 Resources page, and if you have any contributions to you would like share or want to suggest an additional topic area, please contact AMGA.

Regional/Targeted Meetings
 
Midwest Regional Meeting
AMGA's Midwest / Milwaukee Regional Meeting will be a series of virtual meetings held once a week for 4 weeks beginning Oct. 20, 2020. 

Southern Regional Meeting/Dallas
AMGA's Southern / Dallas Regional Meeting will be a series of virtual meetings held once a week for 4 weeks beginning Oct. 20, 2020.
 
Northeast Regional Meeting
AMGA's Northeast / Philadelphia Regional Meeting will be a series of virtual meetings held once a week for 4 weeks beginning Oct. 23, 2020.
 
Southern Regional Meeting/Nashville
AMGA's Southern / Nashville Regional Meeting will be a series of virtual meetings held once a week for 4 weeks beginning Oct. 23, 2020.
 
Northwest Regional Meeting/Seattle
AMGA's Northwest / Seattle Regional Meeting will be a series of virtual meetings held once a week for 4 weeks beginning Oct. 23, 2020.
 
Southern Regional Meeting/Georgia
AMGA's Southern / Georgia Regional Meeting will be a series of virtual meetings held once a week for 4 weeks beginning Oct. 23, 2020.
 
Midwest Regional Meeting/Minneapolis
AMGA's Midwest / Minneapolis Regional Meeting will be a series of virtual meetings held once a week for 4 weeks beginning on Oct. 28, 2020.
 
AMGA 2020 Medical Group Operations and Finance Virtual Conference
Nov. 11, 2020


Non-AMGA Meetings of Interest
 
Value Summit 2020
Nov. 13, 2020
Presented by Ochsner Health System with support from AMGA, this three-hour virtual event will bring together healthcare industry decision makers representing the nation’s leading health systems and payer organizations to explore ideas and share best practices around value-based quality care. As part of the session, AMGA President and CEO Jerry Penso will moderate a fireside chat, entitled “The Future of Value.” To register or for more information, visit valuesummit.org.
 
Webinars

2020 Medical Group Operations and Finance Survey Results
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, at 2 p.m. ET
Rose Wagner, RN, MHS, Chief Operating Officer, and Kelsi O’Brien, MHSA, Director, AMGA Consulting
This webinar will highlight results of the 2020 AMGA Medical Group Operations and Finance Survey from leading analysts with AMGA Consulting. Attendees will hear the latest benchmarks and key trends for medical group operational and financial performance. The 2020 survey results represent details from more than 20,000 providers and 3,500 clinics, with metrics including expenses, staffing, access, revenue cycles, and more.
 
Are You IN or OUT? Outpatient Management of Low-Risk PE (LRPE) Patients
Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, at 2 p.m. ET
Rachel P. Rosovsky, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital; Daren M. Beam, MD, MS, Indiana University; and Dan Troha, MD, Atrium Health
Pulmonary embolisms (PEs) are a major health concern in the United States. There are approximately 900,000 venous thromboembolism (VTE) events occurring in the US annually, with PEs representing an economic burden of more than $8.5 billion dollars. This webinar will discuss the prevalence of pulmonary embolism in the US, examples of low-risk PE protocols/algorithms, an overview of scoring tools for risk stratification of patients, and potential barriers to outpatient protocol development.
 
Creating a Virtual Care Strategy that Scales: How Esse Health Supports Medicare Advantage Patients with Deviceless Remote Patient Monitoring
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, at 2 p.m. ET
Erin Stamm, Chief Operations Officer, and Carla Beckerle, DNP, APRN-BC, Vice President of Clinical Programs, Esse Health; and Blake Marggraff, CEO and Co-founder, CareSignal
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, many provider organizations are pursuing telehealth and remote patient monitoring technologies to engage patients in the home, but device-based remote patient monitoring can be difficult to scale due to high cost and limited accessibility. During this webinar learn how one St. Louis-based independent medical group, Esse Health, prioritized a scalable approach using deviceless remote patient monitoring for Medicare patients with chronic conditions, including heart failure, diabetes, and COPD. Learn how Esse's care management team used the technology to provide proactive care to over 1,000 Medicare Advantage patients with rising health risks. Speakers will share the positive impact on clinical and financial outcomes, including a 46% drop in heart failure ED visits and a $250 per member per month (PMPM) savings—a 19% reduction in global costs. 
 
Point of Care Support: Decisions for Better Workflow and Planning
Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020, at 2 p.m. ET
Kimberly Hansen, Director of Point of Care Solutions, UnitedHealthcare
In order to make effective point-of-care decisions, providers, patients, payers, and other service providers must have complete and accurate information that is readily accessible. This Point of Care Solutions session will show how UnitedHealthcare is creating a system for the care provider community that will facilitate seamless and more intelligent interactions. Point of Care Assist encompasses a portfolio of services designed to streamline daily workflow, improve patient care, and reduce physician burnout. Attendees will learn how this solution can be directly within their electronic medical record.
 
Improving Clinical and Economic Outcomes with Nutrition Care: Real World Evidence from US Hospitals and Primary Care Clinics
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020, at 2 p.m. ET
Kirk Kerr, Ph.D., Senior Manager, Global Health Economics & Outcomes Research, Abbott Nutrition; Suela Sulo, Ph.D., Director, Global Health Economics & Outcomes Research, Abbott Nutrition
Value-based healthcare encourages primary care providers to refocus on the fundamentals of good health, with diet and lifestyle at the forefront. Nutritional interventions, including the use of oral nutritional supplements and/or meal replacements, is a low-cost, low-risk solution clinically proven to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs, yet is rarely incorporated into patient-centered care to achieve these goals. This webinar will demonstrate how a large hospital system and a primary care practice adopted a nutrition quality improvement program consisting of early identification of nutrition risk, intervention and education to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

In early October, AMGA launched AMGA Executive Recruitment, a personalized service dedicated to finding experienced professionals for critical medical group roles, including CEO, CFO, COO, CMO, CHRO, CIO, and Vice President-level positions. Finding talented individuals to fill leadership positions can be challenge, but AMGA’s executive recruiters have both executive recruitment and group practice leadership experience, offering medical groups several advantages.
 

• Experience: AMGA Executive Recruitment staff have run large medical groups, consulted with healthcare organizations across the country, and know key attributes needed for individuals to be successful.
• Strong Networks and Connections: AMGA Executive Recruitment senior staff have years of direct industry experience and networking with AMGA members across the country. By partnering solely with medical groups, AMGA’s recruiters can find candidates with specific experience for particular leadership roles.
• Personalized Service. With medical groups as their only clients, AMGA’s recruiters are able to invest time upfront to learn about an organization's needs and develop a customized recruitment plan.
• Diverse Candidate Pool. AMGA Executive Recruitment is committed to working diligently to provide clients with a diverse slate of candidates. Recruiters support a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion as they work to identity qualified candidates.

 
AMGA Executive Recruitment follows a proven four-phase process to help clients fill positions with talented executives. The team handles everything from posting the positions, networking, screening, interviewing, and conducting reference and background checks, to scheduling interviews with the steering committee and negotiating the offer. 
 
Visit amgaexecutiverecruitment.com to learn more about how we can help your organizations. Special discounts are available for AMGA members. If you have questions for our experts, please reach out directly to Fred Horton at 913.544.5560 or fhorton@amgaexecutiverecruitment.com, or Rose Wagner at 913.660.8234 or rwagner@amgaexecutiverecruitment.com.

On Nov. 5, we’re celebrating our fifth and final National Day of Action. This year, we’re encouraging diabetes teams to come together to watch a special T2G highlights video and celebrate their accomplishments throughout the campaign. We provide all the supporting materials in our downloadable T2G Talk & Taste kit, which can be tailored to both virtual and in-person events.
 
If you’re a T2G participant, there’s still time to make plans to join us! RSVP with your name, organization name, and T2G Talk & Taste event information. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating this year!
 
Link: Deadline Extended! Complete the T2G Survey by October 23.
There is still time to share your thoughts with us in the final T2G fall survey! The average response time is only two minutes and your feedback is invaluable to our team. Survey responses will allow us to:
 

• Determine which planks were most adopted by campaign participants
• Assess which campaign resources participants found the most valuable
• Evaluate which campaign benefits resonated the most across diverse medical groups and health systems
• Gauge the impact of COVID-19 on campaign participation
• Measure interest in potential topics for the next campaign

 
Help us glean what worked best from this campaign so we can incorporate lessons learned into the next one! Participate before the survey closes on Oct. 23.
 
Take the survey!
 
 
Please note that this survey is intended to collect feedback from T2G campaign participants only. If you are a sponsor, partner, or other campaign stakeholder, we welcome your feedback, but kindly ask you to provide it via email.

COVID-19 has strained American health care like nothing before, but it has also yielded opportunities for positive change. AMGA Foundation, along with the providers and health systems that participate in our initiatives, will use our proven collaborative model to accelerate this change by identifying and amplifying best practices for chronic care delivery in a post-COVID world.
 
As we move toward a post-COVID environment, AMGA Foundation is interested in how the pandemic impacts care for patients with cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions, as well as how we can incorporate a possible vaccine into existing care paths for these patients. We anticipate that our initiatives will expand to disseminate best practices in the areas of telemedicine, ensuring that patients at highest risk for health disparities and complications from infection receive the appropriate vaccinations, and even treating the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection in patients with chronic conditions.
 
If you depend on AMGA Foundation to elevate best practices for the most pressing American healthcare issues, please consider showing your support by making a contribution of $100 today. Thank you for all you are already doing to ensure that we recover from this pandemic. AMGA is so proud of the heroism of our members.
 
Donate today.

Do you want to share innovative initiatives and strategies that are enabling your group to deliver high performance health? Publicize your group’s successes in Group Practice Journal (GPJ). Submit a story to GPJ to reach more than 75,000 healthcare leaders at medical groups and health systems throughout the nation.
 
For over 60 years AMGA’s flagship publication GPJ has focused on the socioeconomic, political, business, operational, and legal aspects of medical care provided by medical groups and other organized systems of care, with articles covering issues and trends regarding legislation, management, medical liability, marketing, physician recruitment, compensation and productivity, legal aspects of delivery systems, tax/financial issues, quality management and outcomes, population health, benchmarking and data analysis, recruitment and retention, communication, integration and care coordination, and value-based care.
 
With our readers hungry for practical information from their peers that they can apply to their own organizations—information that can potentially help them compete successfully in the business of healthcare delivery, AMGA is always in need of newsworthy features and commentary from our members best thought leaders.
 
If interested in contributing to the Group Practice Journal, please submit queries, outlines, drafts, or completed manuscripts to Editor-in-Chief Tom Flatt at tflatt@amga.org. For full details about submitting, including editorial guidelines and an editorial calendar with submission deadlines, visit amga.org/gpj.

Content

 AMGA is concerned that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed CY 2021 Physician Fee Schedule rule would inadvertently exacerbate the financial situation facing our membership that is a result of the ongoing novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. While appreciative of the effort to increase support for primary care services, the Physician Fee Schedule’s budget neutrality requirements effectively shift funds from one specialty to another, potentially undermining the team-based approach to care that is the hallmark of the group practice model.
 
“More than anything right now, our members need certainty,” said AMGA President and CEO Jerry Penso, MD, MBA. “CMS’ plan unfortunately would add yet another change into a system that is dealing with an upheaval in how care is provided. From canceled elective procedures to a rapid shift to telehealth, group practices are working to not only get their bearings and recognize what care delivery models are most effective for treating patients during this pandemic, but also to understand what practice patterns will be like after COVID-19. Changes to code values just add more uncertainty.”
 
In their comments to CMS, AMGA specifically recommends that the agency not move forward with its proposal to revalue a number of office and outpatient evaluation and management (E/M) visits. The reduction in the conversion factor needed to maintain budget neutrality represents a significant decrease in support for Medicare providers and would decrease payments for a number of providers.  
 
AMGA also is opposed to CMS’ proposals for the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), such as a proposed reduction in the number of quality measures that accountable care organizations (ACOs) will report and the elimination of the pay-for-reporting year for ACOs in their initial contract. CMS also would revise the quality performance standard so it creates an “all-or-nothing” ability for an ACO to earn shared savings. AMGA opposes these changes, which increase the influence of any one measure on an ACO’s ability to earn shared savings. These significant proposals come shortly after CMS finalized a new structure to the ACO program in 2018.
 
“Our members understand that CMS is going to make technical adjustments to the ACO program during a contract period,” Penso said. “This rule goes beyond that and would significantly alter the program not even two years after CMS finalized a major overhaul of the MSSP.”  
 
The letter is available on the AMGA website.

AMGA is seeking 15-20 member medical groups and health systems to participate in our Osteoporosis Best Practices Learning Collaborative. This 12-month program will prepare your organization to enhance the care it delivers to patients with osteoporosis.
 
This initiative is designed to provide a platform for participating organizations to improve both clinical and economic outcomes for this patient population through the development and implementation of quality improvement projects, best practice sharing, and peer learning. Participants in this one-year collaborative will learn ways to improve assessment, timely diagnosis, evaluation, and how to best integrate clinical practice treatments at their organizations.
 
Members must apply no later than 5:30 p.m. PT on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020.
 
More information about the collaborative is available here.
 
Questions? Please contact Senait Temesgen at stemesgen@amga.org or at 703.838.0033

In a new program to bring more valuable content to our members, industry sponsors have contributed innovative content available on our website:
 

• Change Healthcare: An Analytics-Driven Approach to Denial Management - The Denial Prevention Challenge
• Med Tech Solutions: Providers Don’t Go Into Medicine to Practice IT

 
Be sure to check out these exciting new white papers on the latest trends in medical practice.

AMGA Executive Corporate Partner AbbVie has announced it has entered into a global collaboration agreement with I-Mab on the development and commercialization of I-Mab’s highly differentiated immune-oncology therapy lemzoparlimab. AbbVie has also announced that its company Allergan Aesthetics has launched a long-term, educational initiative with Skinbetter Science called DREAM, Driving Racial Equity in Aesthetic Medicine, furthering the principles of racial diversity, inclusion, respect and understanding in the fields of dermatology and plastic surgery.

AMGA Premier Corporate Partner Amgen has announced a global antibody manufacturing collaboration with AMGA Executive Corporate Partner Lily USA, LLC to significantly increase the supply capacity available for Lilly's potential COVID-19 therapies. Lilly is currently studying several potential neutralizing antibodies for the prevention and/or treatment of COVID-19 as either monotherapy or in combination. Through this collaboration, the two companies will have the ability to quickly scale up production and serve many more patients around the world should one or more of Lilly's antibody therapies prove successful in clinical testing and receive regulatory approval.

AMGA Executive Corporate Partner Boehringer Ingelheim has announced a collaboration with Click Therapeutics for the development and commercialization of a prescription-based digital therapeutic that will utilize cognitive and neurobehavioral mechanisms delivered through Click’s proprietary engagement platform with the goal of reducing cognitive deficits and impaired social functioning in patients with schizophrenia. 

Cayuga Health has announced that it has added a new LINAC – medical linear accelerator – machine to treat cancer by using high energy radiation to conform to a tumor’s shape while protecting surrounding normal tissue. The new LINAC will help make sure that every patient receives the same services.

El Camino Health has partnered with four North Santa Clara County school districts to provide teachers and staff with no-cost COVID-19 testing to help prepare for the safe reopening of schools and in-person learning. Testing is offered through a partnership with El Camino Health and El Camino Healthcare district.
AMGA Executive Corporate Partner Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, PC has announced the “relaunch” of its consulting arm, Hall Render Advisory Services – which delivers focused consulting services for the healthcare industry – with a new website, hallrenderAS.com.

AMGA Executive Corporate Partner Humana has announced an expansion of its value-based program portfolio with the creation of two national programs for members of select Humana Medicare Advantage plans: Humana’s Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) Episode-Based Model and Humana’s Total Shoulder Specialist Rewards Program. The CABG bundled payment initiative is designed to provide coordinated care for members of certain Humana plans undergoing heart bypass surgery. The orthopedic payment program provides clinicians data and analytics, and offers the opportunity for additional payment for achievement of two program goals. One is to realize better health outcomes. The other is to lower costs derived from site of care selection, which incentivizes independent surgeons to perform shoulder replacement procedures at ambulatory surgical centers (ASC) when clinically appropriate.

Intermountain Healthcare has announced it is transitioning to saliva-based COVID-19 testing at its community testing sites throughout Utah for patients ages six and older in an effort to make the testing process more comfortable and streamlined for patients. This method of sample collection requires 3 mL of saliva (not sputum or mucus). Children ages five and younger, as well as those who cannot produce enough saliva, will still be tested by nasopharyngeal swab. This new process should be much more comfortable for patients and enable the collection of samples from more patients at one time while continuing to maintain high-quality testing. Intermountain Healthcare has also announced that its researchers have developed a new clinical tool to accurately identify and diagnose COVID-19 patients who are at high risk of developing a serious inflammatory condition that can damage the lungs and other organs. The new tool is a diagnostic clinical score that is used to determine whether patients with the virus are at increased risk of developing the condition, known as hyperinflammatory syndrome, also sometimes referred to as a “cytokine storm.” With the new scoring diagnostic criteria, clinicians can now identify patients early and ideally prescribe treatments before the condition progresses and causes patients to deteriorate to critical levels.

AMGA Chairman’s Circle Member Jassen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that the launch of its large-scale, pivotal, multi-country Phase 3 trial for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The initiation of the trial follows positive interim results from the company’s Phase 1/2a clinical study, which demonstrated that the safety profile and immunogenicity after a single vaccination were supportive of further development. 

AMGA Executive Corporate Partner The Joint Commission has announced it has been selected to provide laboratory accreditation program services for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

AMGA Premier Corporate Partner MagMutual has announced it has entered into a relationship with the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. to offer liability coverage.

AMGA Chairman’s Circle Member Merck & Co., Inc. has announced new two oncology collaborations with Seattle Genetics, Inc. The companies will globally develop and commercialize Seattle Genetics’ ladiratuzumab vedotin, an investigational antibody-drug conjugate which is currently in phase 2 clinical trials for breast cancer and other solid tumors. Separately Seattle Genetics has granted Merck an exclusive license to commercialize Tukysa, a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor for the treatment of HER2-positive cancers.

Michigan Medicine has announced that new grants totaling more than $15 million will amplify the University of Michigan’s ability to conduct research on aging and to help identify and address issues facing older adults today and into the future. U-M is now home to six aging research centers funded by the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. Earlier this year, the aging centers launched the UMAging Initiative to coordinate activities and encourage collaborations.
AMGA Premier Corporate Partner NextGen Healthcare has announced the availability of a new behavioral health suite physician practices, community health clinics, behavioral health centers and public health departments that offer targeted case management, crisis intervention, residential substance use disorder services, psychiatric rehabilitation, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics support and more.

AMGA Premier Corporate Partner Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation has announced a new collaboration with the African Union (AU) – through the Africa Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP) – to facilitate the supply of medicines from the Novartis Pandemic Response Portfolio to the AU members states and Caricom countries. The AMSP portal is an online marketplace that enables the supply of COVID-19-related critical medical equipment to Africa. The collaboration aims to help alleviate supply and logistical constraints by ensuring efficient and rapid access to the Pandemic Portfolio medicines to African and Caricom governments.

AMGA Chairman’s Circle Member Novo Nordisk has announced a partnership with the American College of Cardiology to launch Transforming Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (TRANSFORM CVRiD), a new two-year health care quality initiative to promote cardiovascular risk reduction and care for people with type 2 diabetes.

AMGA Chairman’s Circle Member Pfizer and BioNTech SE have announced that they have submitted an amended protocol to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expand the enrollment of their Phase 3 pivotal COVID-19 vaccine trial up to approximately 44,000 participants which also allows for the enrollment of new populations. The proposed expansion would allow the companies to further increase trial population diversity, providing additional safety and efficacy data.

St. Elizabeth Healthcare has commemorated the opening of its new 250,000-square-foot Cancer Center that will meet the needs of patients in both the region and nation. With the ability to treat nearly 500 patients in a day, St. Elizabeth's six-story facility will lead the way in providing personalized care and treatment in the region.

AMGA Chairman’s Circle Members Merck & Co., Inc., Pfizer, and Sanofi have announced that they have joined six other prominent biopharmaceutical companies pledging a commitment to patient safety and efficacy while developing vaccines for COVID-19. According to the pledge, “We, the undersigned biopharmaceutical companies, want to make clear our on-going commitment to developing and testing potential vaccines for COVID-19 in accordance with high ethical standards and sound scientific principles. The safety and efficacy of vaccines, including any potential vaccine for COVID-19, is reviewed and determined by expert regulatory agencies around the world, such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA has established clear guidance for the development of COVID-19 vaccines and clear criteria for their potential authorization or approval in the US. FDA’s guidance and criteria are based on the scientific and medical principles necessary to clearly demonstrate the safety and efficacy of potential COVID-19 vaccines. More specifically, the agency requires that scientific evidence for regulatory approval must come from large, high quality clinical trials that are randomized and observer-blinded, with an expectation of appropriately designed studies with significant numbers of participants across diverse populations.”

AMGA Executive Corporate Partner Guidehouse has announced Cherish Smith, an associate director in Guidehouse’s Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure segment has been named to the Energy News Network’s 2020 40 Under 40 List, a list that highlights emerging energy leaders and innovators by U.S. region. Guidehouse has also announced it has earned the 2021 Military Friendly Employer designation by VIQTORY. It is the second consecutive year Guidehouse has earned this prestigious recognition. Guidehouse has also announced it has been named to Zpryme’s inaugural list of Utility Industry Spotlight Award Winners. The awards highlight companies and individuals advancing sustainability, electrification, customer advocacy, and clean energy innovation. Guidehouse has additionally been recognized nationally as a 2020 Great Place to Work-Certified Company. Great Place to Work(R) is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue and increased innovation. Finally Guidehouse partner and financial services segment leader Ellen Zimiles has been included in Crain’s New York Business’ 2020 list of Notable Women in Accounting & Consulting. This award promotes women leaders at the heart of the New York metro area.

Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH)–Cedar Crest has been recognized on Newsweek’s inaugural list of Best Physical Rehabilitation Centers 2020. Newsweek and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry-ranking provider, established this prestigious award.

PeaceHealth’s Peace Island Medical Center in Friday Harbor, WA, has been named a 2020 Guardian of Excellence and 2020 Pinnacle of Excellence Award winner by Press Ganey. Presented annually, the awards honor health care facilities who consistently achieved performance in the top five percent in patient experience of Press Ganey client health care facilities nationwide.

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) has been named a Cardiac Center of Excellence by independent patient safety and health quality accreditor DNV GL Healthcare. The certification recognizes OHSU’s leadership, processes and standards for cardiac health care related to chest pain, heart failure and ventricular assist device heart pumps. The honor recognizes hospitals that take all necessary steps to deliver safe, effective and excellent cardiovascular care.

AMGA Executive Corporate Partner Sheppard Mullin has announced it has been named by Working Mother magazine to its 13th annual “Best Law Firms for Women” list, which recognizes firms that employ best practices in retaining and promoting women lawyers. This is Sheppard Mullin’s third year-in-a-row to appear on the list and the firm was among 60 firms to be recognized.

AMGA Premier Corporate Partner Sunovion has announced that the company’s support program, Sunovion Answers, has been named a J.D. Power 2020 Certified Customer Service Program. Sunovion Answers has been recognized for the third time under the J.D. Power Certified Customer Service Program for providing “an outstanding customer service experience” for phone support.

Adventist Health has announced the appointment of three new leadership positions: Joyce Newmyer was named chief culture officer, Alex Bryan was named chief mission officer, and Jason Wells was named chief consumer and innovation officer. Adventist Health also announced the hiring of podiatrist Juan C. Martinez, DPM, to its medical office in Hanford.

Allina Health has announced that Lisa Shannon has assumed the role of president and chief operating officer. In her new role, Shannon will expand her scope by leading strategy and business development for the health care system, in addition to her existing oversight responsibility for Allina Health’s hospitals, primary and specialty care divisions, and information services as chief operating officer.

AMGA Executive Corporate Partner Ankura has announced that John Levitske, a senior managing director, has been appointed as member to the Standing Committee on Audit of the American Bar Association.

Billings Clinic has welcomed Toni Green-Cheatwood, DO, MBA, FACOS, as its new chief medical officer.
AMGA Executive Corporate Partner Guidehouse has announced that S. Allison Carter, director at Guidehouse in Washington, DC, has been invited by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology to chair the panel of judges for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest honor for organizational innovation and performance excellence.

AMGA Executive Corporate Partner Humana has announced that Raquel Bono, MD, has been elected as a member of the company’s board of directors. A board-certified trauma surgeon and retired Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy Medical Corps, Dr. Bono served as the chief executive officer and director for the Defense Health Agency, the joint, integrated combat support agency that enables all branches of the U.S. military medical services to provide health care to combatant commands.

AMGA Premier Corporate Partner Indivior has announced its Board Chair Howard Pien has resigned from his position. The Board has commenced the process to identify a successor. Daniel Tassé, who was appointed as Interim Chair during Pien’s previous medical leave, will continue to act as Interim Chair.

AMGA Executive Corporate Partner Lilly USA, LLC has announced that Patrik Jonsson, senior vice president and president of Lilly Bio-Medicines, has been named to the new role of senior vice president, president of Lilly USA, and chief customer officer. In a related move, Ilya Yuffa, currently vice president of U.S. Diabetes, has been promoted to senior vice president and will succeed Jonsson as senior vice president and president of Lilly Bio-Medicines.

Piedmont Healthcare has announced that David E. Kandzari, MD, most recently director of interventional cardiology at Piedmont Heart Institute (PHI), has been named chief of Piedmont Heart and the Cardiovascular Service Line. In addition to his new role, Kandzari will continue to serve as the chief scientific officer for Piedmont Healthcare. Kandzari is involved in numerous clinical trials and will continue to see patients in addition to his new administrative role.

St. Luke’s has welcomed Nancy O'Donnell, MD, and her practice to St. Luke’s University Health Network. Additionally St. Luke’s Hospital has named Shane Cerone as the healthcare network’s new president and chief executive officer. Cerone comes to St. Luke’s with more than 25 years of executive leadership experience, most recently serving as the chief executive officer and founder of Health Market Solutions, a healthcare consulting practice that works with hospitals, health systems, and medical groups.
AMGA Executive Corporate Partner WittKieffer has announced the promotion of Natalie Derry to managing partner and practice leader, education, for its international operations.

New Members

Groups of 51-150 FTE Physicians

• Buffalo Medical Group, P.C. – Williamsville, New York

 
Renewals
AMGA would like to thank the following groups who have renewed their membership this month and for continuing to help us make multispecialty medical groups and other organized systems of care the preferred delivery system for coordinated, patient-centered, efficient, quality medical care in America.
 
Groups of 3-50 FTE Physicians

• Doctor’s Medical Center, Inc. – North Miami, Florida
• Maui Medical Group, Inc. – Wailuku, Hawaii
• Portland IPA – Portland, Oregon*

 
Groups of 51-150 FTE Physicians

• Gateway Medical Associates, P.C. – Exton, Pennsylvania
• Great River Health Systems – West Burlington, Iowa
• OU Physician – Tulsa – Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Pediatric Associates – Plantation, Florida
• Premier Medical Associates, P.C. – Monroeville, Pennsylvania
• Shannon Health System – San Angelo, Texas
• St. Clair Medical Services – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• West Tennessee Healthcare – Jackson, Tennessee

 
Groups of 151-500 FTE Physicians

• AtlantiCare Physician Group – Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey
• Bassett Healthcare – Cooperstown, New York
• Baystate Medical Practices Inc. – Springfield, Massachusetts
• EvergreenHealth Medical Group – Kirkland, Washington
• Excela Health Medical Group – Greensburg, Pennsylvania
• Heritage Provider Network – San Bernardino, California
• Kettering Physician Network – Miamisburg, Ohio
• McLaren Medical Group – Grand Blanc, Michigan
• Prevea Health – Green Bay, Wisconsin
• Renown Medical Group – Reno, Nevada
• Samaritan Medical Group – Albany, Oregon
• Saint Luke’s Physicians Group – Kansas City, Missouri
• St. Elizabeth Physicians  – Erlanger, Kentucky
• Tower Health Medical Group – Reading, Pennsylvania

 
Groups of 501-1,000 FTE Physicians

• Ascension Medical Group – Wisconsin – Glendale, Wisconsin
• DuPage Medical Group – Downers Grove, Illinois
• OhioHealth – Columbia, Ohio
• Oregon Health & Science University, School of Medicine – Portland, Oregon
• University Physicians of University of Missouri – Columbia, Missouri

 
Groups of 1501-2,000 FTE Physicians

• Emory Clinic – Atlanta, Georgia

 
Premier Corporate Partners

• AbbVie – North Chicago, Illinois
• Indivior – North Chesterfield, Virginia
• Merck & Co., Inc. – West Point, Pennsylvania
• NextGen Healthcare – Irvine, California
• Sanofi US – Bridgewater, New Jersey
• Solutionreach – Lehi, Utah
• Takeda Pharmaceuticals, U.S.A Inc. – Lexington, Massachusetts

 
Executive Corporate Partners

• Grant Cooper – Saint Louis, Missouri
• The Joint Commission – Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois
• Premier, Inc. – Charlotte, North Carolina

 
* Denotes IPA conversion
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For more information on AMGA Membership, please contact Bill Baron at 703.838.0033 ext. 336 or mailto:wbaron@amga.org.
 
New Council Members
 
CAO/COO Council

• Brett Kim - Vice President of Operations, OhioHealth; Columbus. Ohio
• Cory Tabachow, FACHE - Vice President, Medical Group, NorthShore University HealthSystem; Evanston, Illinois

CEO Council

• James Butler, MHA - CEO, Valley Medical Group; Paramus, New Jersey
• Zach Keeling - CEO, Medical Associates Clinic Health Plans; Dubuque, Iowa

CFO Council

• John Piszker - Vice President, Medical Groups and Provider Services, Finance, Trinity Health Physician Network; Livonia, Michigan
• Betsy Suydam - CFO, Vancouver Clinic, Inc.; Vancouver, Washington

CIO/CMIO Council

• Nick George- Director, Information Technology, IHA; Ann Arbor, Michigan

CMO Council

• Scott Clemens, MD - CMO, New West Physicians, P.C.; Golden, Colorado
• Grant Greenberg, MD - Chair, Family Medicine, Lehigh Valley Physician Group; Allentown, Pennsylvania
• Kevin Hartman - CMO, Medical Group, Bon Secours Mercy Health; Cincinnati, Ohio
• Justin Mazzillo, MD - Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group; Rochester, New York

Council of Attorneys

• Terry Fry, JD - General Counsel, University of Alabama Health Services Foundation; Birmingham, Alabama
• Craig Sieverding - Chief Legal Officer, The Iowa Clinic, P.C.; West Des Moines, Iowa

Emerging Leaders Council

• Kristen Rogers - Chief Strategy Officer, Quincy Medical Group; Quincy, Illinois

Quality Council

• Edwin Carmack, MD - Medical Director of Quality, Confluence Health; Wenatchee, Washington
• Trung Dang, MD - Medical Director, Quality and Population Health, Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group, Inc.; San Diego, California
• Margaret Mikula, MD - Vice President and Chief Quality Officer, Samaritan Health Services; Albany, Oregon
• Robyne Thibodeau - Director, Clinical Services, Edinger Medical Group, Inc.; Fountain Valley, California

Women in Leadership Council

• Kristen Rogers - Chief Strategy Officer, Quincy Medical Group; Quincy, Illinois

For more information on AMGA Leadership Councils, visit www.amga.org or contact Joe DeLisle, 703.838.0033, ext. 355.