Doctor Day 2023 was a success with over 300 registered physicians, residents, and medical students!

The group began their day at the beautiful Monona Terrace for a light breakfast and presentations on First Attendee Orientation, Communications/Media Training 101, Physician Wellness, and  a Legal Update. AMA President, Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, then joined as the keynote presenter. Following his presentation was a State Agency Roundtable and a Physicians Priority Issues Briefing. The group had a brief lunch and then headed down the street to the Capitol where physicians met with their legislators to discuss Doctor Day's priority issues: APRN Legislation and Extended Medicaid Coverage for New Moms. 

The group reconvened at Madison's for some appetizers and drinks and to discuss how their visits went. Everyone was in good spirits and already looking forward to the next Wisconsin Doctor Day!

WSPS is a proud supporter of Wisconsin Doctor Day, read their position paper here. 

WSPS signed onto a bill that increases critical access to essential breast cancer screenings. 

Health insurers in Wisconsin are now required to provide one annual mammographic screening to women over 50, and two screenings to women aged 45-49 who meet certain criteria, at no out-of-pocket cost to the patient. Unfortunately, the supplemental or diagnostic breast screenings across the country can range from $234 to over $1,000 in out-of-pocket costs, which imposes a major financial barrier to those who need it.

The legislation introduced today removes the cost barrier by requiring health insurance policies to cover diagnostic or supplemental breast screenings. Women with dense breast tissue may be 4-6 times more likely to get breast cancer, making the treatment critical.

Read the proposed bill and the bill introduction release. 

The Wisconsin Society of Plastic Surgeons held their second in-person conference since 2019 and had amazing attendance! The conference featured speakers from all over the world who spoke on Abdominoplasty, Tips to Developing Your Aesthetic and Reconstructive Practice, A Cirque Du Soleil Moonshot: Balancing a 100% Aesthetic Result with 0% Complication Rate!, and more. WSPS thanks our speakers: Suhail Kanchwala, MD; Lorne Rosenfield, MD, FACS; and Cemal Senyuva, MD, for sharing their expertise and giving fantastic talks to our attendees. Continue to watch your email for 2024 conference plans!

Wisconsin’s Doctor Day will take place on June 15, 2023. WI Doctor Day brings together physicians from every specialty and practice environment to meet with their legislators and advocate on health care issues affecting healthcare. The multi-specialty nature of Doctor Day makes it among the most unique advocacy events for physicians in the country.

Physicians and medical students at all stages of their careers will once again join together in Madison to take part in policy breakout sessions, hear keynote presentations and participate in a briefing on the day's priority issues. Attendees will then participate in group visits with legislators and legislative staff at the Wisconsin State Capitol. The day will conclude with a Doctor Day reception where you’ll have the chance to connect socially with both friends and peers. 

​Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or brand new to the legislative process, attending Doctor Day will provide you advocacy tools and skills to make your voice heard. Continue to watch your email for updates on registration!

Make plans to attend the WSPS 2023 Annual Conference!

The conference will again be held at the Brookfield Conference Center in Brookfield, Wisconsin from March 2-3, 2023. The event will feature presenters who will share updates in the plastic surgery field and will include interesting lectures, networking, and more! 

Register today to confirm your spot!

Following our Annual Meeting this past weekend, the WSPS is excited to welcome Dr. Harry Nayar from Aurora Health in Milwaukee, WI to the Board as a Member At Large. In addition to welcoming Dr. Harry Nayar to the Board, WSPS would like to congratulate several officials who were awarded new positions. Dr. Ahmed M. Afifi was elected as President, Dr. Mark Bosbous was elected as President Elect, Dr. Jeffery Larson was elected as Treasurer, and Dr. Erin Doren as Secretary. Dr. Richard Schaefer is now the Immediate Past President. WSPS thanks Dr. Schaefer immensely for serving his term as President and leading the Society through the unknowns that COVID brought us. 

The WSPS held their Annual Conference last weekend on March 18 at the Brookfield Conference Center in Brookfield, WI. Dr. Schaefer planned an excellent agenda that was packed with experts located throughout the United States. Dr. Anu Antony was a fantastic keynote speaker who shared her expertise on Pre-Pectoral Reconstruction, Hot Topics in Cosmetic Breast Surgery, and Aesthetic Refinements. Drs. Ahmed M. Afifi, Erin Doren, David Janssen, and Mark Bosbous were also able to join us and share their knowledge on Raising the Bar in Aesthetic Breast Surgery, Autologous Reconstruction, Brascore, and Dual Pane Reconstruction, respectively. A great lineup of speakers made the conference a success. Thank you to all of our presenters, attendees and exhibitors who were able to join us- finally in person! 

The State of Wisconsin’s Medical Examining Board (MEB) at its most recent monthly meeting advanced a proposed administrative rule that will extend for another biennium the requirement that most physicians obtain two credits of continuing education related to opioid prescribing. The requirement applies to physicians who hold a Drug Enforcement Administration registration number, with the two credits being part of the 30 credits required each biennium. Courses must be approved by the MEB in order to satisfy the subject matter requirement.

The Wisconsin Medical Society (Society) spoke in favor of the rule at the MEB public hearing March 17, noting how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated opioid abuse across the county. The Society also expressed appreciation that the rule widens the scope of qualifying coursework beyond opioid prescribing to include “other controlled substances.” This will allow physicians who hold a DEA number but may not prescribe opioids to access coursework more relevant to their practice.

The MEB also began to discuss whether to add a provision to the “unprofessional conduct” section of the MEB’s administrative code (MED 10) that could require physicians to offer patients a chaperone for certain sensitive physical exams. The idea comes from a January 2020 ACOG Community Opinion paper recommending that a chaperone be present for all breast, genital and rectal examinations. While the MEB discussed the issue only generally during its meeting March 17, it will review potential language at its April meeting.

Contact Society Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer Mark Grapentine, JD for more information.

Join your colleagues (virtually) for Doctor Day on May 5, 2021 to fight for your patients, profession and sound health care policy. Doctor Day 2021 will include morning breakout sessions on health equity, public health and the latest legal issues facing physicians so you can customize the day to your interests. Organizers are once again lining up presentations from premier experts and policymakers. The schedule features three breakout sessions:

Health Equity
What are we doing to achieve long-lasting and equitable health outcomes for ALL Wisconsinites? The State of Wisconsin has an overall health disparities grade of “D” according to a recent University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute Health of Wisconsin Report Card. The Report Card notes that while Wisconsin's grade for overall health has remained the same since 2007, the health disparities grade has worsened since 2010. What are we doing to change this?

Public Health
Join us for an outbreak session on local public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. City of Milwaukee Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson will provide an overview of the challenges and successes Wisconsin's local public health departments faced throughout the last 12 months. As fellow frontline workers, local public health officers have experienced this crisis through the lens of both health care and governmental response to public health crises. 

Legal Update
The always popular and pertinent legal update will explore the latest “hot topics” physicians need to know about. Axley attorneys Guy DuBeau and Aneet Kaur will walk us through the landscape of litigation trends, scope of practice developments and more.

To learn more about this virtual day of advocacy, go to widoctorday.org to register (it’s free) and see the day’s agenda.

Wisconsin’s Doctor Day brings together physicians from every specialty and practice environment to meet with their legislators and advocate on health care issues affecting healthcare. The multi-specialty nature of Doctor Day makes it among the most unique advocacy events for physicians in the country.

Physicians and medical students at all stages of their careers will join together in Madison to take part in policy breakout sessions, hear keynote presentations and participate in a briefing on the day's priority issues. Attendees will then participate in group visits with legislators and legislative staff at the Wisconsin State Capitol. The day will conclude with a Doctor Day reception where you’ll have the chance to connect socially with your friends and peers. 

​Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or brand new to the legislative process, attending Doctor Day will provide you advocacy tools and skills to make your voices heard. Sign up today and join colleagues from all across Wisconsin at the Capitol on May 5^th.