What is the Washoe County Medical Society?

The Washoe County Medical Society is a non-profit entity incorporated in the state of Nevada. The Washoe County Medical Society is commonly referred to as “WCMS”.

The Washoe County Medical Society serves as a primary source of health related information, we seek to educate our members and the citizens of Northern Nevada. We strive to maintain the highest standard of ethics and medical care throughout our community.

As a professional organization, we shall nurture these goals by cooperating with the American Medical Association, the Nevada State Medical Association, and other County Medical Societies and Alliances in the state of Nevada.

Organizations

Member Spotlight WCMS Salutes Members’ Achievements

Geriatric Specialty Care Home-Based Medical Care Practice Receives National Recognition

Washoe County Medical Society salutes Reno-based Geriatric Specialty Care (GSC) for being ranked nationally in the top 2% of Home Based Medical Care (HBMC) practices. The ranking comes from a review of Medicare claims in 2013-14 by the American Academy of Home Care Medicine (AAHCM), the Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI) and Westat, an independent research services organization.

“We are proud of being ranked among the top 2% nationwide,” said Steven Phillips, MD, “But more important, by seeing patients where they live, we get a better picture of their situations, which results in a more robust care plan for chronic illness management. In addition, our care model is saving an average of $10,000 a year per patient.”

The Geriatric Specialty Care HBMC practice was among the top 10 of the 330 HBMC programs nationwide with more than 100 house call patients in 2014 for overall patient care and potential savings to the Medicare and Medicaid program (CMS).

The claims review analyzed fee-for-service Medicare claims that included patient demographics, medical conditions, a frailty index that assesses one’s ability to perform daily activities (dressing, grooming, bathing, eating and toileting), risk adjustment scores, along with other benchmarks to characterize patient complexity. In addition, utilization of emergency department, acute inpatient hospital and home health care services, along with claims-based quality measures used for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and the Independence at Home (IAH) demonstration were used to characterize practice performance.

Geriatric Specialty Care HBMC, established in 2001, serves more than 1,100 Medicare beneficiaries in Gardnerville, Carson City, Reno, Sparks, Fallon, Fernley and Elko. Patients residing in private homes, assisted living and group care settings are seen onsite by clinicians. In addition, patients, families and caregivers have direct access to a comprehensive care coordination team that includes nurses, medical assistants and other support staff. GSC employs cloud-based electronic medical record technology, telehealth, chronic care management, transitional care and community-based programs to serve their patients, families and caregivers.

The Geriatric Specialty Care team includes Washoe County Medical Society (WCMS) members: Reed Dopf, MD, WCMS president; Carl Heard, MD; Steven Phillips, MD, and Steven Rubin, MD.