2024 A YEAR OF GRATITUDE
JEFF WILLIAMS Executive Vice President & CEO
Reflecting on 2024 and looking to the future, I offer my sincere appreciation to the LSMS staff for their hard work and unwavering devotion; the members of the House of Delegates for their time and collective wisdom; the Board of Governors for their expertise and direction; and to every physician, resident, fellow, and medical student, because without each of you, we would not be the trusted advocate for patients and physicians in Louisiana. I want to personally thank Dr. Richard Paddock, the 143rd President of the Society for his tireless dedication and perseverance on behalf of the LSMS. Together, we navigated challenging landscapes and achieved significant milestones like spearheading the effort to stop the Blue Cross Blue Shield acquisition by Elevance Health (formerly Anthem). Had this deal been allowed to occur, it would have negatively impacted the health care landscape across the state for generations. This effort was spearheaded by the Medical Society and without our tireless dedication to physicians and their patients would have been a reality today. Kudos to all involved as it was truly a team effort. We had another successful legislative session highlighted by the passage of ACT 273, which will ultimately prohibit employers from enforcing non-compete clauses. Beginning January 1, 2025, all in-place non-compete agreements will terminate after three years for primary care physicians defined as general family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, general obstetrics or general gynecology and after five years for all other specialties. You can review the entire 2024 Legislative Review here . In August, Dr. Roderick V. Clark was installed as the 144th President of the LSMS. Dr. Clark made history as being the first LSMS President to be sworn into office outside of Louisiana. The 2024 House of Delegates was relocated from Baton Rouge to San Destin, FL where it was also reimagined into a family friendly, fun, educational outing where we also conducted the business of the House of Delegates. We’ll be returning to San Destin in 2025 on July 31st so mark your calendars. After the fun subsided,
Dr. Clark hit the ground running with a strategic planning retreat but unfortunately Hurricane Francine had other ideas. However, the retreat was ultimately held in November and several new initiatives are under review. Hopefully, some of them will be a part of the 2025 year in review. I want to thank our key partners as without them we could not do what we do. First, I want to thank LAMMICO who is the endorsed medical malpractice provider of the LSMS and someone who we work with very closely on many different issues. Special thanks to Dr. Michael Conerly (CEO) and Dr. Jeff White (Board Chair). I would also like to recognize Ken Ross and Eric Maxwell of Eagle Capital in Mandeville as the financial stewards of the society’s assets; Advantage Physicians Healthcare Trust, who is our preferred provider of health insurance; the KONZA National Network who is our partner in the only physician-led Health Information Exchange in the state dba HealthSYNC; Katie Paganuzzi of Honey Creative who manages our social media channels and content; and Kevin Rainwater with Blue Chip Wealth Advisors who oversees our multiple employer retirement plan(s). All these people have helped open new doors and opportunities to the LSMS that weren’t there before and it’s been a game changer for sure. If you’re interested in learning more about any of our partners and the services they provide to LSMS members, please contact me directly at jeff@lsms.org or 225-763-2315. Lastly, I want to thank all the spouses, significant others, children, employers, partners, etc. who allow the staff and physician volunteers to participate in all our meetings, Zooms, emails, texts, and other time commitments where we take them away from you. A lot of it is after hours and on weekends, so thank you! As we enter 2025, I know the right people are on-board and that we’re headed in the right direction. As such, I’m optimistic as to where the year takes us. Either way, look for bigger and better things this year from the Louisiana State Medical Society.
WHAT A YEAR! LSMS ACCOMPLISHMENTS UNDER RICHARD PADDOCK, MD
z Prioritized Artificial Intelligence (AI) issues related to the House of Medicine. HCR 66 (2024) provides for an established joint legislative committee to study regulations regarding AI. Specifically stating that health and welfare policy is implicated in the potential for artificial intelligence to be used for purposes of diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions and in the determination of health insurance coverage decisions and requests the Joint Legislative Committee on Technology and Cybersecurity to study and make recommendations to the legislature. z Successful efforts in opposition to the Blue Cross Blue Shield proposed acquisition by Elevance. After doing our due diligence, the Louisiana State Medical Society was the first organized physician group to come out publicly in opposition to this proposal. z The passage of ACT 273, the non-compete legislation. For many years it has been a top priority of the LSMS to limit the use of non-compete clauses within physician contracts.
We have heard countless complaints of physician members who were “trapped” by their employers with no end in sight. This legislation, which was effective on January 1, 2025, will prohibit enforcement of a non-compete clause upon a primary care physician after 3 years of employment and after 5 years of employment for all other physicians. This is a huge step in the right direction. z Advantage Physicians Healthcare Trust has grown to over $2 million in annual premium income and is covering over 350 lives. Average premium savings for enrolled groups is between 15% and 20% compared to comparable BCBS of Louisiana plans. z The Board focused on working within the regulatory community to 1) address corporate practice of medicine issues, 2) tighten rules and penalties for the unauthorized practice of medicine and truth in advertising, and 3) create a review board to monitor and manage scope/consistency issues.
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LSMS: YEAR IN REVIEW | 2024
LSMS: YEAR IN REVIEW | 2024
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