Significant discounts are available for physicians in their first four years of practice, ranging from 20-80 percent off regular dues. Dues for retirees, students, and residents are $0.
Click here to view the discounts. This application will suffice for both the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) and the Sangamon County Medical Society (SCMS). Membership dues for SCMS are listed in this document.
Group discounts are available for 10 or more physicians. Please contact us at 726-5106 or ISMS at 800-782-4767 for discount information.
Membership in the American Medical Association (AMA) is optional, however we strongly encourage you to join. AMA dues are $420 per year, and discounts are also available for those in their first four years of practice. The chart referenced above also contains AMA dues information. Click here to join the American Medical Association.
The Sangamon County Medical Society (SCMS) highly values and thereby invests in the future of organized medicine by providing free membership for Residents and Students in both the County and Illinois State Medical Societies (ISMS) throughout the duration of your training at SIU School of Medicine.
Residents and Students, contact SCMS and learn about the array of member benefits, including a 50 percent discount on EPOCRATES® products, student loan consolidation programs, numerous publications, and free checking at Illinois National Bank. Don't miss out on these terrific savings!
For membership benefits, dues information and to pay on-line, contact SCMS.
Renew Your Membership Today!
Sangamon County Medical Society Members,
IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY RENEWED YOUR MEMBERSHIP, PLEASE RENEW TODAY!
Renew online, or call the Division of Membership at 800-782-4767 ext. 1900.
Highlights of Prior SCMS Activities
• Social Reception with members of the General Assembly
• Opportunities to shadow a Legislator for the day
• Medical Students Legislative Day with ISMS
• Working with U.S. Attorney's Office on the heroin and opioid crisis
• Medical Resource Guide
• ISMS House of Delegates hosted in Oakbrook
• Women in Medicine: Work-Life Balance
• Joint Meeting with Sangamon County Bar Association and G.V. Black Dental Society: The Heroin and Opioid Crisis in our Community
• Staff are actively involved in several community programs on behalf of our members
• Membership Discount Card
• Patient Referral Services
• Alonzo H. Kenniebrew, MD Scholarship Fund
• Harmon Scholarship Fund
• Susan G. Komen-Memorial Affiliate Grant
• Welcome New Medical Students Dinner
• Community Health Committee
• Quarterly E-News
• Regular blast emails regarding community, state, and federal topics
Questions/Feedback: Call Ozma Rahman, Interim Executive Director, at (217) 726-5106
Sangamon County Medical Society Cares About Its Members
Balancing one's professional and personal life can be difficult, especially for the caring professional. Stress, frustration, compassion fatigue, and feelings of anger can lead to professional and personal derailment.
Don't let these weigh you down.
Call SCMS today!
We would be happy to connect you with a colleague willing to offer support through constructive conversation.
Please note that your privacy is of the upmost importance. Confidentiality will be respected at all times.
Don't struggle alone. Give us a call at 726-5106 or email: ozma@scmsdocs.org
Save Big with ISMS Benefit Partners
Take advantage of ISMS' prescreened vendors, offering practice-based benefits at discounts otherwise unavailable to Illinois physicians.
Sangamon County Medical Society endorses the following:
• ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company is the state's largest medical liability insurer and the only one which has provided continuous coverage for all physician specialties in Illinois for the past 28 years. ISMIE's goal is to insure you with the best coverage at the most affordable price. They offer a complete line of insurance products designed to protect physicians and their practices from the risk exposures that exist in the medical environment.
ISMIE's new Risk Rewards program offers expert knowledge and practical advice to physicians and will help you fight the high cost of medical liability insurance while improving patient care. These activities will help reduce your practice risk, while saving you money. Policyholders who complete one of their Risk Rewards activities earn discounts on their premiums — up to a maximum savings of 15% each year. In most cases, you can also earn Category 1 CME credits. To learn more about ISMIE and/or their Managing Risk initiative, call 800-782-4767, ext. 1627 or log on to www.ismie.com.
• Physicians' Benefits Trust (PBT) offers comprehensive and cost-efficient insurance plans, including health, life, dental, and long term disability that meet the specialized needs of physicians, your families and staff. Their programs can be customized to suit your individual needs and the needs of your group practice. PBT is governed by a Board of Trustees comprised mostly of Illinois physicians. Its plans are cost-efficient, features-rich and fee-for-service. For more information, call Teresa Neufeld, Account Executive, at 800-323-2106, ext. 34364 or visit www.pbt-ins.com.
• R.T. Nelson & Associates has over 20 years of experience meeting the insurance needs of physicians, medical groups and medical societies across the U.S. If you have any questions or would like the "Peace of Mind" knowing that you have the best available coverage at the right premium, please take advantage of the complimentary insurance consultations offered to all members. For further information, please contact Jim or Todd Nelson at 800-621-5898 or via email at wtnelson@rtnelson.com or visit www.wecoverdocs.com.
• Organized Medicine - SCMS is your local liaison to ISMS & AMA. We work closely with them to advance physician and patient issues.
• Candidates Forum - provides an opportunity to meet with national, state, judicial and local candidates and to hear their voices on issues of concern.
• Committees - encourages members to participate in and promote SCMS activities:
Bylaws
Community Health
Education/Program
Governmental Affairs
Long Range Planning
Membership
Nominating
Peer Review
• General Membership Meetings - combines two meetings with hospital staff meetings, and presents programs and speakers in March, September and November.
• Legislative Advocacy - keeps members informed of medical-political issues affecting the practice of medicine. SCMS supports candidates in harmony with the medical profession. Members are often called upon to provide testimony at the Statehouse and participate in press conferences. Please be sure we have your email address so we can send you timely and prompt legislative alerts. Note: once the Spring session ends at the Statehouse, SCMS will be working with ISMS lobbyists to devise an effective legislative alert system for use this coming Fall.
• Media Resource - serves as a local resource to the media with physician contacts and recognition, information verification and story support.
• Networking - SCMS collaborates on a regular basis with civic, governmental, health and hospital organizations, along with businesses and health-related agencies.
• Political Action Committee: IMPAC - is the separate, voluntary, non-partisan, not-for-profit committee of the Illinois State Medical Society that is comprised of physicians and their spouses who support candidates who share the views of the medical profession. IMPAC gives you the opportunity to enhance your participation in Illinois ' political process. They need your support, especially at the $500 level, during this crucial election year. Join the IMPAC $500 Club online.
• Public Service Projects via the Community Health Giving Circle
• Residents & Medical Students - SCMS provides complimentary County & State Medical Society membership dues and discounts for various social and educational activities.
Meaningful action to change the practice climate in Illinois is initiated at the grassroots level.
ISMS & SCMS advance your profession and provide you with a unified voice.
Eleven (11) Reasons You Should Belong to SCMS & ISMS:
1. Strength in Numbers. They are the only organizations that represent the vast majority of physicians in Illinois and in Sangamon County. The Sangamon County Medical Society is now the second largest county medical society in the state of Illinois.
2. Influence Laws & Regulations. Your demanding schedule won't allow you to monitor key legislative and regulatory changes that affect your bottom line? No problem. The Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) is the largest professional association in Illinois representing the interests of physicians and their patients to the Illinois General Assembly, the courts, and the US Congress. ISMS work hard to protect you and your patients, and let you know when to take action.
3. Community & Public Health Advocacy. The Sangamon County Medical Society (SCMS) is one of the most active county medical societies in Illinois. We advocate on behalf of member physicians and their patients on several community and public health initiatives, including:
Improving access to quality care, particularly for the uninsured and underinsured.
Mini internships that allow community educators and/or leaders to personally follow a physician's routine and educating the community.
Coordinating health care related articles from member physicians, residents and medical students through the State Journal Register's Behealthyspringfield.com
4. Access to Timely Information & Resources. ISMS & SCMS provide solutions for your practice. From authoritative publications and dynamic Web sites — www.isms.org and www.scmsdocs.org — to formal education CME credits, practice management seminars, and vendor exhibitions, we offer a wide array of services to help you with your practice:
Credentialing
HIPAA
Credit card services
Coding
Drug reference services
Licensure
Medical legal library
Small business loans
Student loan consolidation
Physician referral service
Revalidation of internet based PECOS records
5. SCMS Members Earn CME Credits Through SIU School of Medicine. Certified Medical Education activities are planned and implemented in accordance with the Essentials and Standards of the ACCME through the joint sponsorship of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and the Sangamon County Medical Society. SIU School of Medicine is accredited by ACCME to sponsor CME activities for physicians. There is no charge to members for these CME activities. Visit our CME Resource Section for program information, free online CME credits, and Physician Licensure information for the State of Illinois.
6. SCMS Provides Community Physician Referral Service. This service for patients and healthcare providers offers referrals to primary care physicians and specialists who are members of SCMS.
7. Assistance with Marketplace & Regulatory Challenges. Through its Division of Member Advocacy, ISMS offers direct assistance to members who experience difficulties or hassles with the policies or procedures of various government agencies and third party payors including Medicaid, Medicare, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, HMOs, PPOs, IPAs, etc. Call 1-800-782-4767 for more information.
8. Dynamic & Effective Communications. ISMS is the authoritative source for Illinois physicians who want the latest news on practice, patient, and advocacy issues and the state of organized medicine through their publications.
ISMS Publications:
Weekly Rounds
ISMS Medicine EXPRESS
Medical News Wire
District V Quarterly Check-up
ISMS RFS Rounds
Off the Charts (a special e-newsletter for the Practice Managers of ISMS members)
SCMS Publications:
Sangamon Medical News provides information, important updates, and news of value to Medical Society members. A printed version is published quarterly during the year for SCMS members and distributed to over 1,000 physician, resident and student members in Sangamon County. Sangamon County news can also be viewed online.
9. Access to Insurance Experts. CMS's endorsed insurance broker, R.T. Nelson & Associates, has over 20+ years of experience meeting the insurance needs of physicians, medical groups and medical societies across the U.S. For the best available coverage at the right premium, including quotes on ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company and Physicians' Benefits Trust coverage, please take advantage of the complimentary insurance consultations offered to SCMS members. Contact Jim or Todd Nelson at 1-800-621-5898, via email at wtnelson@rtnelson.com or visit www.wecoverdocs.com
10. Practice Managers Group. Regular Practice Managers meetings and luncheons giving managers valuable information to support the management of the physicians practice, sharing ideas with other practice manager staff and gaining insight into the challenges of this industry. Personal attention to your concerns. Many members have years of experience as practice managers and some have only months. Members are available to answer your questions or to listen to your concerns.
11. Leadership Opportunities. Learn leadership skills, show your dedication through action, and shape medical and public health policies in Illinois and Sangamon County by volunteering to:
Testify before a House or Senate Committee hearing at the State Capitol
Meet with legislators
Testify before the Springfield City Council or Sangamon County Board
Serve on SCMS's Board of Directors or a Committee
Serve on an ISMS Council or Committee
Become a Delegate to ISMS' annual House of Delegates
Draft resolutions for consideration by ISMS House of Delegates
Membership is an investment in your future.
All physicians benefit; all should be members!
The Raymond E. Hoffmann, M.D., Medical Benevolence Fund, Inc., provides temporary financial support to ISMS member physicians or their dependents during times of hardship. You may submit an application to the Benevolence Fund in complete confidence. The fund is not a loan. It is an ISMS financial gift to you... or a friend.
To inquire about or apply for the Benevolence Fund, you may: phone 800.782.4767, e-mail Cheryl L. Koos at koos@isms.org, or apply online by visiting www.isms.org, then click on "For Physicians." Either submit your application online or mail to:
Raymond E. Hoffmann, M.D. Medical Benevolence Fund, Inc.
Attn: Cheryl L. Koos
Illinois State Medical Society
20 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 700
Chicago, IL 60602
All inquiries or applications are held in strictest confidence.
