New leadership at Orange County Medical Society attracts members, redefines value of organization to community physicians

Earlier this year, to breathe life into the medical society, the Orange County Medical Society (OCMS) hired Fraser Cobbe, president of Cobbe Consulting & Management, an award-winning association management firm focusing on specialty societies, and executive director of the Florida Orthopaedic Society.

“I was very attracted to this role because of the proud tradition of the Orange County Medical Society, and I was very interested in getting involved with leading and building the community physician organization,” said Cobbe, OCMS executive director. “When you walk into our building, you can’t deny the medical society’s rich history. To see the original minutes from the first meeting, and the legacy of physician leadership, the impact has been huge.”

A Florida State University (FSU) political science graduate, Cobbe interned for the Florida Medical Association’s political action committee, headed the Manatee County Medical Society more than a decade ago, and also represents Bones Society of Florida, Florida Orthopaedic Risk Purchasing Group, Florida Society of Nephrology, and the South Carolina Orthopaedic Association.

Cobbe’s forte: Diving into the economic side of physician practices, advancing medical education and lobbying for legislative advocacy.

“The real trick to having successful medical societies is finding real value to members,” he said, noting that of approximately 3,500 licensed physicians in Orange County, OCMS membership is roughly 500. “We’ve got a great opportunity to build membership in Orange County and reconnect with many members.”

Another major challenge that medical societies face: membership in general for organized medicine has dropped in part because of the dynamics of consolidation, as hospitals and health systems have gobbled up physician practices.

“Many of the resources that independent physicians needed are often available through the organizations that acquired them,” Cobbe pointed out. “We must redefine our mission and reorganize benefits to better define our value to physicians,” he said, noting an environmental scan of member needs is being analyzed by the Orlando-based staff he brought to the OCMS: Tania Jones, COO and practice management consultant; Lencie Gradishar, operations manager; and Diane Berg, communications specialist.

“Since membership is competitive, we have to find our niche of unique value as a county medical society,” he said. “Just one example, county medical societies are uniquely positioned to unite physicians within a community and provide them the platform to collaborate and coordinate care and interact with each other in an effective way to keep them profitable and sustainable as they deal with marketplace changes.”

At the board level, OCMS leaders have discussed various industry challenges to address, such as the growing gap between medical graduates and residency slots. The OCMS Board includes two key community leaders: Deborah German, MD, vice president for medical affairs and founding dean of the University of Central Florida School of Medicine, and Michael Muszynski, MD, dean of the Orlando regional campus for the FSU College of Medicine.

“The issues facing medicine and the ability of physicians to deliver quality care to our patients is of great interest to me,” said German. “I’m pleased to serve on the Orange County Medical Society Board. The young doctors we train today will inherit the world of practice we leave behind.” 

Up next: strategic planning sessions for OCMS board members.

“We’re reaching out to the various players that make up the medical infrastructure in Orange County, including FSU and UCF, to see how collectively we improve the practice environment and expand opportunities for medical graduates because once medical graduates of Florida schools leave the state to take residency slots elsewhere, it’s difficult to get them back,” he said. “We’re also seeking an audience with the health systems to chat about ways we can more effectively work together to help address our individual missions. That’ll be a continual work in progress.”

Cobbe is also focusing on outside events, such as quarterly conferences with payors and members, and networking events linking medical students and residents with society members.

Another priority agenda item: providing physician leadership development programming and training for society members. Earlier this year, to encourage activism throughout their careers, Cobbe took a few medical students as alternate delegates to the annual FMA meeting to shadow OCMS leaders as resolutions were adopted. A medical student serves on the board every year, Cobbe noted.

“Orlando’s such a huge center for legislative leadership,” he said. “We need to focus on developing physician leaders to represent our community.”

An important program that Cobbe says the community has well in hand involves primary and specialty services for indigent care in Orange County. At Manatee County Medical Society, he initiated and secured county funding for the specialty care program for the community, which has grown tremendously.

“The parallel to Orange County is it has one of the best-run, most comprehensive safety net programs for communities around the country, Special Care Central Florida and the PCAN Network,” he said. “Since my brief time of working with them, there appears to be a well-coordinated, efficient network of community players and stakeholders who meet monthly through this network to discuss the utilization of their limited resources. Everything appears to run like a well-oiled machine. We certainly have our challenges as the need is significant but they’ve brought everyone to the table and everyone seems to be playing from the same game sheet in Orange County. It’s something the community can be very proud of.”

On May 26, 1908, a small group of physicians from Orlando and Sanford met in the home of John S. McEwan, MD, to establish the Orange County Medical Society (OCMS). As part of the initial work, the medical society board passed a fee bill that included, among other interesting tidbits, rates of $2 to $5 for house visits in the city, with a premium rate of $3 to $10 for house calls between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am. Advice? Anywhere from a buck to $10.

In 1926, to better serve its members as Central Florida experienced significant growth, OCMS spun off Seminole County Medical Society as an independent society.

Save-the-Dates

On Thursday, Nov. 13, the Orange County Medical Society (OCMS) will host a fireside networking event from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at Dubsdread Golf Course in Orlando. Melanie Brown-Woofter, director of community relations for the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), will lead a discussion about transforming Florida’s Medicaid Program, Medicaid expansion debate, health plan accountability, and prompt payment protections for physicians.

On Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015, the OCMS will host its annual meeting at the Grand Bohemian Hotel Orlando, beginning at noon. Maria Noll, MD, president of the Florida Medical Association, will present the keynote address.