Editorial

After over a decade of advocacy, the City of Worcester is the first in the Commonwealth to receive the green light for an overdose prevention center (OPC), a critical step towards addressing the opioid crisis.

I remember my first time at the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) House of Delegates (HOD) as a newly minted attending physician. This assembly is the decision-making core of the MMS and serves as a conduit for healthcare advocacy between the organization and grassroots physicians. As I immersed myself in the proceedings, I couldn’t help but wish I had been involved sooner, perhaps as a trainee or even a medical student. It dawned on me that the frustrations we often vented in the physicians’ lounge were, in fact, actionable, and this was the arena for effecting change. At the start of the session, I felt challenged by the parliamentary procedure and the legalese. But, by the end of the day, that feeling was replaced by a profound sense of belonging, recognizing the importance of a physician’s role in healthcare reform through active participation in policymaking.

As an organization, the MMS is actively promoting several grassroots campaigns to enhance healthcare delivery. By advocating for digital equity and payment parity in telehealth, our goal is to secure its longterm viability and make it accessible to all. We further seek to reduce the administrative burdens associated with prior authorizations, improving patient access to care and allowing physicians to focus on what they are trained to do – practice medicine. Addressing Medicare payment cuts is another crucial campaign; we are pushing for both short- and longterm payment reforms to support and sustain the physicians and patients relying on the Medicare program.

In this comprehensive issue of Worcester Medicine, we cover all the burning topics in healthcare advocacy. We also bring to you an exclusive interview with Dr. Lynda Young, chair of the UMass Memorial Medical Group Board, in which she shares her personal journey in healthcare reform.

After over a decade of advocacy, the City of Worcester is the first in the Commonwealth to receive the green light for an overdose prevention center (OPC), a critical step towards addressing the opioid crisis. Dr. Matilde Castiel, Commissioner of the Worcester Department of Health & Human Services and a staunch advocate for this initiative, shares her own experiences with our readers. Leda Anderson and Casey Rojas of the MMS emphasize the power of the physician advocate in implementing OPCs, in addition to the abovementioned campaigns. Dr. Patrick Lowe, chair of the Resident and Fellows Section of the MMS, takes us through the life of the OPC bill “from a student proposal to a board of health endorsement.”

Physicians wield influence both inside and outside hospital walls, driving change effectively. A prime example is the evolution of the concept of Hospitalat-Home, a powerful catalyst reshaping healthcare delivery. Dr. Shiv Sutaria, associate medical director of the Hospital at Home program at UMass Memorial Medical Center, gives firsthand insight into its development, and how it promotes patient-centric care and access. But while physicians continue advocating for their patients, they are also increasingly advocating for themselves and their peers. Resident and physician unions are gaining traction nationwide. Dr. Jasmin Zvornicanin, resident at UMass Chan Medical School, gives his perspective as a union delegate.

At the same time, healthcare reform encompasses more than just doctors and patients; it spans the entire medical landscape. Dinesh Yogaratnam and Valerie Coppenrath, associate professors of pharmacy practice at the MCPHS School of Pharmacy, analyze the Inflation Reduction Act’s influence on drug prices in this issue. Besides the escalating healthcare costs, staffing shortages have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. William Marr and Ellen Burgess, both registered nurses and current doctorate students at UMass Medical School, shed light on this dark reality of our health systems.

This year, I had the privilege of representing my district and state at both the State House and Capitol Hill as a physician. It highlighted the impact of the two letters appended to our names in guiding reform. Lawmakers heed our counsel, recognizing the weight of our expertise. Our capacity to enact change, especially through the framework of organized medicine, stands as an undeniable force in advancing healthcare.