The Massachusetts Medical Society and Hopkinton Community Access Media (HCAM-TV) have announced a new partnership to bring health and medical information to the patient population in Massachusetts through programming for public access television stations in communities across the state.

MMS and HCAM-TV are producing a new, monthly, 30-minute talk show called “Physician Focus with the Massachusetts Medical Society.” Featuring physician members of the Medical Society and other noted health care providers as guests, “Physician Focus” is designed to provide useful information on a wide range of important health and medical topics in an easy-to-understand, conversational format.

The commercial-free program is being produced through the courtesy of Hopkinton Community Access Television and its station manager, Jim Cozzens. The Medical Society, which develops topics and secures guests for the program, is distributing the show as a public service to public access stations across the state. Currently, 15 such stations have expressed interest in broadcasting the program, spanning the state from the Berkshires to Cape Cod to Cape Ann.

“This kind of collaboration,” said Alan C. Woodward, M.D., president of the Massachusetts Medical Society and Chief of Emergency Services at Emerson Hospital in Concord, “is really at the heart of the Society’s mission: to enhance the physician-patient relationship and to advocate for the shared interests of our patients and our physicians. We are grateful indeed to Mr. Cozzens and HCAM-TV for this wonderful opportunity, and we hope to reach many more communities in the months ahead.”

Cozzens, an experienced television professional and station manager for HCAM-TV, is enthusiastic about the program. "People watch community access stations because the programming is relevant to their lives, and they get a local perspective that can't be found on broadcast networks. I am excited to be involved in the production of this quality program which disseminates important medical information to our viewers. I hope that our viewers will email us and let us know what they think of the show, and suggest topics they might like to see covered."

Hopkinton resident Bruce Karlin, M.D., a practicing internist in Worcester, is the program host. Cozzens and Karlin created a health program for the Worcester District Medical Society that continues to be produced at WCCA-TV 13 in Worcester.

The aim of the show is clear, says Dr. Karlin. “We take a health care topic of wide interest and discuss it in detail in layman’s language,” he says. “The Massachusetts Medical Society has members with expertise on many topics, and we want to share that information to help patients throughout the Commonwealth improve their health care.”

The first television program, titled “Geriatric Medicine and the Older Driver,” and focusing on the health care needs of senior and elderly patients and the topic of the older driver, has been distributed for December viewing. Upcoming shows will take a look at health literacy, end-of-life care issues, diabetes, osteoporosis, emergency access and care, noise and hearing loss.

The television program is the latest part of a larger public information and media outreach program conducted by the MMS Communication and Public Health Departments. Begun in August of 2003 with print media, it now includes radio, television, and internet.

The Physician Focus series has examined such subjects as men’s health, women and heart disease, hearing loss, choosing a physician, sexually transmitted disease, emergency medicine, the older driver, and concussions, among others.

The Massachusetts Medical Society, with more than 18,300 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The Society publishes The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the world’s leading medical journals; the Journal Watch family of professional newsletters covering 11 specialties; and AIDS Clinical Care. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education for health care professionals throughout Massachusetts, conducting a variety of medical education programs for physicians and health care professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. For more information, visit www.massmed.org

HCAM-TV (Hopkinton Community Access Media) was founded April 1, 2004 by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Hopkinton as a nonprofit corporation to manage local access to cable broadcast facilities. For information on volunteering, management and programming, visit http://www.hcamtv.org.