Local Organization To Hold Free Breakfast And Discussion For Health Care Providers

(York, Pa.) – Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) invites all local health care professionals to its Physician Clinician Learning Network (PCLN) breakfast on Wednesday, August 25, 2010. AF4Q is a group of South Central Pennsylvania area community leaders, consumers, physicians, nurses, employers and insurers who have come together with the common goal to improve health care quality.

The topic of this month’s PCLN breakfast is Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition. In addition to breakfast, a discussion will be lead by guest speaker, Mina Harkins from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Harkins is the Assistant Vice President of Physician Recognition Programs at the NCQA in Washington, D.C. She will discuss Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition and address questions any attendee may have.

Attendees will have the opportunity to network with other physicians and learn best practices. Also, they will participate in forums to share ideas about quality care, and work collectively with a goal to improve health care.

This will be the first of six discussions in the bimonthly series throughout the upcoming year. All physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and clinical leaders are invited to attend. Three attendees per practice may attend for free; any additional attendees are $20 each. The topics for the upcoming events are as follows (locations and times to be determined):

• October 2010- Meaningful Use - What does it mean for primary care?
• December 2010- How to “Lean” your practice and gain 30-60 extra minutes a day
• February 2011 - Improvement Collaboratives - “Why be involved in a collaborative? Local practices share their viewpoints and results”
• April 2011 - Self Management Support - It’s needed but how do I fit this into my already full day?
• June 2011 - Patient Satisfaction - “Patients see this as quality. How does it effect practice quality improvement?”

The AF4Q Physician Clinician Learning Network breakfast will be held on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 from 7:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. (registration is from 7-7:15) at the Hanover Country Club located at 200 East Water Street, Abbottstown, PA 17301. Contact Joyce Ortiz to R.S.V.P by calling 717-801-4830 or jortiz@wellspan.org by August 18.

For more information please visit www.aligning4healthpa.org or contact Christine Amy, AF4Q’s Project director, at 717-801-4823 or camy@wellspan.org, or Dr. Karen Jones, AF4Q’s Physician Champion, at kjones@wellspan.org.

About Aligning Forces for Quality – South Central Pennsylvania

Since its establishment in 1994, Healthy York County Coalition (HYCC) has worked to bring together stakeholders from across the community and to unite them in health and wellness efforts. Our Aligning Forces for Quality – South Central Pennsylvania initiative created in 2007, works to improve the care that individuals with chronic disease currently receive. For more information please visit www.aligning4healthpa.org.

About Aligning Forces for Quality

Aligning Forces for Quality, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) initiative, brings together those who get care, give care and pay for care to improve the quality of health care in entire communities. RWJF’s unprecedented commitment of resources, expertise and training is turning proven practices into real results in 15 communities, including Albuquerque, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Humboldt County (Calif.), Kansas City (Mo.), Maine, Memphis, Minnesota, Puget Sound (Wash.), South Central Pennsylvania, West Michigan, Western New York, Willamette Valley (Ore.) and Wisconsin. For more information, log onto www.rwjf.org/qualityequality.af4q.

PA Deputy Chief Disciplinary Counsel Joins the National Organization of Bar Counsel’s (NOBC) Board for a Second Term

(Harrisburg, Pa.) – The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Deputy Chief Disciplinary Counsel, Paul J. Burgoyne has been elected to serve a second term on the National Organization of Bar Counsel’s (NOBC) Board of Directors.

His second, two-year term (2010 – 2012) will include similar responsibilities as the first term, including the managing of business affairs for the organization, adopting by-laws, and conducting annual and mid-term meetings along with the other Board members. In addition, as a Board member, he may serve as a liaison to an American Bar Association’s (ABA) standing committee.

The NOBC is a non-profit organization of legal professionals whose members enforce ethics rules that regulate the professional conduct of lawyers who practice law in the United States, Canada and Australia. The NOBC seeks to advance the goals of attorney regulation by assisting each other and making contributions through the ABA and state bars, influencing rule making and speaking out on issues involving lawyer regulation and professionalism. The Board of Directors is comprised of the organization’s officers and is elected by the NOBC members present at the annual meeting.

“During my 29 years in attorney regulation, I have learned much and taken more from my colleagues in NOBC.  It is a group of talented professionals passionately dedicated to maintaining the integrity of the profession and protecting the public.  It is truly an honor to be elected to a second term as a director, and continue my service to the members,” Burgoyne said.

Since 1993, Burgoyne has served as Deputy Chief Disciplinary Counsel in Pennsylvania. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel investigates complaints against attorneys, and when appropriate, prosecutes. In his role, he has also been responsible for providing educational programs for attorneys and consumers.

Prior to his position as Deputy Chief Disciplinary Counsel, he was a staff counsel for the Philadelphia office, and later became a Counsel-in-Charge of the Philadelphia office from 1987 to 1993. He spent five years in private practice limited to criminal law, and three years at Legal Aid of Chester County in West Chester Pa., where he tried civil cases in both state and federal courts.

In addition to serving on the NOBC, Burgoyne conducts seminars and participates in panels discussing legal ethics and professional responsibility for organizations such as the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Defender Association of Philadelphia, Conference of County Bar Leaders and the National Association of Legal Secretaries.

Burgoyne received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from LaSalle University in 1970, and currently serves on the Alumni Association Board of Directors.  His Juris Doctorate degree was conferred by Rutgers University Law in Camden, New Jersey in 1973.

About the Office of Disciplinary Counsel

The Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) is part of the attorney disciplinary system in Pennsylvania.  The disciplinary system is governed by the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board Rules and Procedures, a broad set of rules by which the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania carries out its constitutional authority to regulate the practice of law in Pennsylvania.  The role of the Office of Disciplinary Counsel is to investigate complaints against attorneys, and when appropriate, prosecute. ODC also provides educational programs for attorneys and consumers.

About the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of PA

The Disciplinary Board was created by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to review conduct and assure compliance by all attorneys to the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct. The Disciplinary Board’s goals are to protect the general public, maintain a high standard of integrity in the legal profession, and safeguard the reputation of the courts of Pennsylvania. For more information about the Disciplinary Board please visit www.padb.us.

About the NOBC

The NOBC is a non-profit organization of legal professionals whose members enforce ethics rules that regulate the professional conduct of lawyers who practice law in the United States, Canada and Australia.