By Varun Choudhary, MD, MA, DFAPA
Chief Medical Officer
Talkspace
Glen Allen, VA
The Medical Society of Virginia held their 2023 annual conference at The Main/Hilton Hotel in Norfolk October 13-15. It was a very successful meeting and had the highest number of medical students & residents in attendance of any MSV conference. While the weather was not optimal (it rained all day Saturday leading to the cancellation of water-based activities) the mood and atmosphere was festive, nonetheless.
The conference kicked off with a presentation from Secretary of Health, John Littel, who outlined Governor Youngkin’s priorities for 2024. There was a heavy emphasis on mental health, with funding and resources dedicated to improving the system. Secretary Littel noted initiatives that had already been instituted, such as the higher Medicaid reimbursement rates for behavior health professionals, but also others that would help the behavioral health delivery system, such as prior authorization reform and single credentialing for all of the Medicaid managed care organizations.
MSV hosted a farewell reception for the outgoing president, Dr. Harry Gewanter and held an inaugural ceremony to welcome the new president, Dr. Alice Coombs, the current chair of Anesthesiology at VCU Health. Dr. Coombs was noted to be the first woman to serve as president of two state medical societies (Medical Society of Virginia in 2023 & Massachusetts Medical Society in 2010). The MSV Foundation held their Physician’s Gala on Saturday night with the theme; the Golden Age of Hollywood. They celebrated the salute to service award winners and hosted a lively and elegant party.
Not all of the meeting was fun and games, as the House of Delegates worked on important resolutions submitted for 2023. Several referendums were passed, including “Advancing Health Equity Through Implicit Bias and Health Literacy Education Within Virginia’s Academic Medical Centers.” Another significant resolution that passed was “Increased Oversight of Medicare Advantage Plans.”
One major highlight of the conference was the CME educational series on Artificial Intelligence in medicine. This was a 3-part session presented and moderated by guest speaker Tayab Waseem MD, PhD. The first occurred Friday and was titled Using AI to Break Down Silos in Healthcare and involved sharing best practices in data collection and analysis in identifying new tests and treatments in the healthcare setting. The sessions held Saturday were a panel discussion on AI Integration Within the Practice of Healthcare, followed by Unlocking Healthcare Potential with Generative AI, and explained the use of AI to assist with risk mitigation and management, as well as exploring the future of generative AI in healthcare.
The MSV conference in 2024 will be held in the same city and venue, so mark your calendars for another Norfolk weekend adventure!
