Save the Date! GSACS 2021 Annual Meeting
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Mark your calendars and set aside the dates – August 13 - 15, 2021.
We have the cure for your ZOOM fatigue – a weekend at the beautiful King and Prince Beach Resort in St. Simons Island, GA. The GSACS Program Committee is hard at work on an amazing agenda and the venue has something for everyone in the family!
Stay tuned for registration but for now, block the time and make your hotel reservations.
We can’t wait to actually SEE you!
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Call for Abstracts Is OPEN!
Georgia Society of the American College of Surgeons and Georgia Committee on Trauma
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SUBMISSION ELIGIBILITY
- All residents and research trainees enrolled in general surgery or surgical specialty residency training or fellows-in-training programs in Georgia.
- Medical students enrolled in a medical school in Georgia – with an interest in surgery.
- The entry should represent original work done by the authors.
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
- Submit abstract using the online submission form by July 9, 2021 at 5:00 pm ET.
- Online submissions only.
- Upload graph or charts as directed on the abstract submission form.
- When you enter your abstract, you will be asked to complete these sections:
- Abstracts: Background, Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusion
- Case Reports: Introduction/Objective, Case Presentation, Discussion and Conclusion
PAPER COMPETITION
- Trauma – Only submissions directly related to trauma surgery will be considered. Submissions related to acute care surgery and/or emergency general surgery should be submitted in the General/Specialty Surgery Competition. Only resident and fellows-in-training submissions are eligible to advance to the COT Region IV competition.
- General/Specialty Surgery – The topics have been expanded to include general and specialty surgery.
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Leadership & Advocacy Summit 2021
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The ACS 2021 Leadership & Advocacy Summit will be held virtually, May 15–17, as follows:
- Leadership Summit—
Saturday, May 15
- Advocacy Summit—
Sunday, May 16 & Monday, May 17
The Summit is a dual meeting offering comprehensive and specialized sessions to provide ACS members, leaders, and advocates with topics focused on effective surgeon leadership, as well as interactive advocacy training with coordinated virtual visits to Congressional offices.
Register Today
Leadership Summit
The Leadership Summit will offer compelling speakers addressing key topics in surgical leadership. Featured topics will include:
- Implementing impactful ideas in care delivery
- Empowering early-career surgeons to reach their full potential
- Improving patient outcomes and fostering innovation through team diversity
- Helping your team manage moral injury through COVID-19 and beyond
- Stumbling into authentic leadership
- Cultivating high-performing teams
- ACS Chapter success stories
The virtual Leadership Summit is open to all ACS members and non-members, both in the United States and internationally.
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* Times indicated are Central Daylight Time (CDT) in the United States.
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ACS Division Showcase – Visit virtual exhibit booths to learn more about various ACS Divisions. Exhibit booths will also be staffed during the Leadership Summit Program.
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Leadership Summit Program
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A full Leadership Summit agenda with session titles and speakers will be posted shortly.
The Leadership Summit is designated for 4 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
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Advocacy Summit
The Advocacy Summit will highlight legislative priorities the College is pursuing on your behalf, and will assist ACS members to develop their advocacy skills, learn about legislative and health policy priorities, and participate in virtual advocacy meetings with members of Congress and their staffs.
The virtual Advocacy Summit Program on Sunday, May 16, is open to all ACS members and non-members in the United States. The content is not applicable to international registrants. Only active ACS members and Chapter Administrators in the United States are eligible to attend the virtual congressional visits on Monday, May 17.
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* Times indicated are Central Daylight Time (CDT) in the United States.
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Advocacy Summit Program content accessible to all registrants
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ACS Division Showcase – Visit virtual exhibit booths to learn more about various ACS Divisions. Exhibit booths will also be staffed during the Advocacy Summit.
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Virtual Congressional Visits
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A full Advocacy Summit agenda will be posted shortly.
No CME credits will be offered for the Advocacy Summit.
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Contact
For information on the Leadership Summit, please contact Brian Frankel at bfrankel@facs.org or 312-202-5361.
For information on the Advocacy Summit, please contact Maggie Draughn at mdraughn@facs.org or 202-534-0192.
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ACS Quality Meeting Call for Abstracts Now Open
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Submit Abstracts by April 30
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has issued a call for abstracts to be presented at the 2021 ACS Quality and Safety Conference, July 12–16. The submission deadline is April 30.
Individuals at participating sites are encouraged to submit a 250-word abstract for poster presentation. The abstract should relate to surgical quality improvement initiatives including the development, implementation, or validation of best practices. We are also interested in operational best practices relating to workflows around collecting data and reporting. Abstracts should utilize data from one or more of the following ACS Quality Programs.
Please note: Abstracts that have been submitted or recently presented at other meetings are eligible for presentation at the ACS Quality and Safety Conference. In the view of the ACS, previous presentation of a paper does not prohibit the presentation or publication of the material at the Quality and Safety Conference.
We welcome submissions from the following categories:
- Bariatric
- Cancer
- Collaboratives
- Education
- Efficiency and Value
- Geriatrics
- Pediatrics
- PROs/Patient Centeredness
- Trauma/Acute Care
- Surgical Potpourri
- Healthcare Informatics for Quality
- Health Equity/Access
If you have an idea, start reaching out to your colleagues today. Get your team together to plan your projects now.
Submit an Abstract
For questions, contact us at acsqsconference@facs.org or 312-202-5319.
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MACs Temporarily Hold Medicare Payments Pending Extension of Sequestration Moratorium
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced on March 30 that certain Medicare claims will be subject to a temporary hold in anticipation of  Congressional action, expected by mid-April, to extend the suspension of the 2 percent sequester on Medicare payments. The agency instructed its Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to hold all claims with dates of service on or after April 1, stating that such efforts will minimize the volume of claims MACs must reprocess if Congress extends the suspension through the end of 2021.
Medicare sequestration has been used as a mechanism to reduce program spending growth by making across-the-board cuts to all Medicare physician payments since 2013. Congress first paused the Medicare sequester at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to support physicians struggling with reductions in patient volume and revenue as a result of measures aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19. This moratorium was originally slated to expire on April 1.
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FCC Establishes New Criteria for COVID-19 Telehealth Program
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The Federal Communications Commission is preparing to begin accepting applications for funds under a program designed to provide health care organizations with financial assistance to purchase the technologies needed to furnish telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under last year's Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Congress authorized $200 million for the FCC to develop the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, and later added an additional $249.95 million to support the program as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.
As directed by Congress in January, the FCC updated its processes for awarding COVID-19 Telehealth Program funding. Under these new processes, the FCC will consider whether the applicant is in an area with a physician shortage, a low-income area, and/or an area hard-hit by the pandemic. In addition, the FCC intends that at least one organization in each state will receive funding from the program and will also award funding in two phases to give applicants an opportunity to provide the FCC with supplemental information if they are denied funding during the first phase.
The ACS will alert Fellows when the COVID-19 Telehealth Program is open to physician and facility applicants. Contact Lauren Foe, Senior Associate for Regulatory Affairs, at lfoe@facs.org with telehealth-related questions.
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Did You Forget? 2021 GSACS Dues
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The COVID-19 pandemic upset many routines, and perhaps paying your 2021 Georgia Society of the American College of Surgeons dues slipped your mind. Not to worry! You can do it now online. Click on the button below and use your ACS ID number to pay your dues for 2021.
Thank you!
Pay Your Dues & Renew Your Membership
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Send your news items to Kathy Browning (gasacs@gmail.com)
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Do you participate in #SurgTweeting? Don’t forget to follow GSACS on Twitter at @GaSACS. Follow and mention us in your tweets! We will retweet! We are also on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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