Ebrief

December Ebrief 2019

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Lorraine Roger

On December 12, 2019

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Edition: December 2019

Table of Contents

Letter from the Editor

Hope everyone enjoyed spending time with their loved ones for the Thanksgiving Holidays. For those who worked through the holidays, I hope you had some free time to relax with your family and friends as well.

Below is an interesting technology that allows automatization in tumor mapping for treatment planning.

InnerEye is a research project that uses state-of-the-art machine learning technology to build innovative tools for the automatic, quantitative analysis of three-dimensional radiological images. Project InnerEye develops machine learning techniques for the automatic delineation of tumors as well as healthy anatomy in 3D radiological images.

InnerEye technology may enable the following:

Extraction of targeted radiomics measurements for quantitative radiology
Efficient contouring for radiotherapy planning
Precise surgery planning and navigation.

In practice, Project InnerEye turns multi-dimensional radiological images into measuring devices.

For Radiation Oncology Colleagues, Microsoft offers a software called InnerEye, which it claims can visually identify and display possible tumors.

A software tool that Radiologist can use in the near future. Now machines can detect intracranial hemorrhages in a CT scan. Deep learning algorithms for detection of critical findings in head CT scans: a retrospective study; The Lancet, published October 11, 2018. This technology can detect intracranial bleeds, fractures, strokes, and more prioritize those studies in the PACs worklist and even prepopulate the radiology report with the findings detected by AI software embedded into the DICOM viewer.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31645-3/fulltext#seccestitle10

For another year of cuts, please see the 2020 Fee Schedule update. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently released the final Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2020, which will take effect on Jan. 1. One aspect of the now finalized rule has drawn fire from the American College of Radiology, which estimated that changes could cut radiology payment by $450 million in one year alone, and $5.6 billion over the next decade.
https://www.acr.org/-/media/ACR/NOINDEX/Advocacy/2020-MPFS-PR-Detailed-Summary_final.pdf?la=en

Chintan Desai, MD
Secretary, Florida Radiological Society
desai@desairadiology.com

Meet Your 2019 – 2020 FRS Executive Committee

President
Patricia Mergo, MD, FACR

President-Elect
Douglas Hornsby, MD

Treasurer
Rajendra Kedar, MD, FACR

FRS President’s Message

We have reached the milestone of December, marking the end of 2019 and a time for reflection and preparation for the new year. This new year is special, it is 2020, and we are planning for our annual meeting entitled “2020 Vision: Surviving and Thriving”. I am currently at the RSNA annual meeting in Chicago and would have to say that the future of our specialty is looking bright, and that we are aiming for more than just surviving, we need to thrive! The two broad subjects that are dominating at RSNA this year are Artificial Intelligence (AI) and burnout. Interestingly, it is becoming increasingly clear to me that we need AI to make our jobs more focused to connecting to people instead of patterns. AI is great at pattern recognition, better in fact than we are, but lacking completely in the human interaction component. A major factor in combating burnout is providing emotional support and a sense of appreciation for those in the work force. AI cannot provide that, but we can.

I attended a session entitled “Getting Stuff Done: A Mindful Approach to Personal Productivity” by Matthew Morgan, MD and Puneet Bhargava, MD. In this session Dr. Bhargava reminded us that we need to reflect on “The One Thing” that we can do, that by doing it, everything else in our lives will become easier or perhaps unnecessary. I challenge each and every one of us to close your eyes, as we did in the session, and envision “The One Thing” that you can do to make your life easier in all aspects. As I closed my eyes in the darkness of the room to the audience, speaker and ambience, I admittedly drew a complete blank. The blankness was telling in itself. It’s not that I needed to think harder to come up with something, it’s just that I needed to be still and focus on the moment and filter out all the distractions. In filtering out these distractions, we can become more in tune with the needs of our patients, our co-workers, our staff and our families. Just being “in tune” with those around us is a recipe for combating the forces that drive us towards burnout. This is how I plan to prepare for 2020 Vision and I challenge you to do the same!

All the best wishes in this holiday season!

Patricia Mergo, MD, FACR
President, Florida Radiological Society
Mergo.Patricia@mayo.edu

Secretary
Chintan Desai, MD

Past President
Steven DePrima, MD, FACR

Legal Counsel
Michael M. Raskin, M.D., J.D., FACR

FRBMA President’s Message

The FRBMA is hosting its Annual Winter Retreat at the Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine on January 30th – 31st, 2020. Radiology administrators are constantly challenged by a myriad of issues and educational opportunities are paramount to keeping them up-to-date and relevant. The industry is currently facing implementation changes to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) as it enters its fourth year as well as the operational complexities of the Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) and Clinical Decision Support (CDS) legislation. Consolidation and the perceived expectation that groups need to grow larger in order to protect market share means radiology business managers must be prepared to analyze the pro and cons of a group merger or acquisition as they help assess their groups’ future viability.

Developing and maintaining productive relationships with a hospital’s “C suite” is arguably more important than ever and positioning radiology groups as hospital partners becomes a higher priority in a value-based payment environment. And while no one has a crystal ball, it is always important to be aware of what the future might hold with respect to the health care delivery system and more specifically, radiology.

The FRBMA Board has assembled an impressive group of speakers for its Winter Retreat including Larry Muroff, MD, who will deliver a lecture on 18 important clauses in hospital contracts; Steve Miles, MD, who will speak to the importance of practice alignment; Ron Howrigon, a nationally known speaker who will share educated insights about the future of healthcare and how best to prepare; and Stuart Charlson, who will provide attendees with an update on human resources changes that are occurring.

There will also be some familiar RBMA and FRBMA faces at the podium, including Bob Still, RBMA Executive Director, who will share the RBMA’s priorities in 2020; Jeff Younger, who will focus on practice consolidation in specifically in Florida; and Barbara Rubel, who will discuss the nuts and bolts of preparing for AUC and CDS implementation.

This best, one-day value in the country will provide valuable information for physicians, as well, through the discussions about hospital contracts, developing and maintaining productive relationships with hospital administrators, and the Florida presence of national consolidators. And there is more! The national RBMA has developed an outreach for young professionals (YP) across the radiology business landscape and is developing a program to bring YP-specific gatherings to local chapter meetings. RBMA will be piloting this program at the FRBMA Winter Retreat on Thursday, January 30th following the Welcome Reception which is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The FRBMA looks forward to this event and is pleased to have been chosen for the launch of the YP program.

To quote Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” And while the FRBMA might not be changing the world at its January meeting, it is certainly providing valuable education through an impressive slate of speakers. Registration is now open at https://www.flrad.org/2020-frbma-retreat/ and both FRBMA and FRS members are invited.

Barbara Rubel, MBA, FRBMA
President, FRBMA
brubel@msnllc.com

Legislative Update

The Legislature will have one more set of committee meetings before the January session begins.

Chair Renner filed HB 707 which is a bill related to occupations and regulations which sunsets licensure across a very wide cross section of licenses including all medical doctors, rad techs, rad assts, specialty techs. Please click on link to see all that are included in the bill:
https://www.flrad.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Licensure-statutes-affected-by-HB-707.pdf

The sunset would apply to us effective July 1, 2022. This bill was filed on November 19th going into the Thanksgiving holiday; so, not much is known yet on how this will unfold. Chair Renner will be the next Speaker after Speaker designee Sprowls and this is a bill that will be considered. There would be a systematic review by the Legislature of each program to determine if the program is to expire, be modified, or provide other appropriate actions before the program would sunset.

Should be an interesting session!

Please feel free to send any questions to me at AlisonDudley@dudleyandassociates.com.

Thanks,
Alison Dudley, FRS Lobbyist
AlisonDudley@dudleyandassociates.com

Job Board
	Available Positions Board Certified Radiologist

Job Posting Opportunities

Florida Radiological Society is pleased to introduce the opportunity for interested parties to advertise for potential jobs in our monthly FRS Ebrief bulletin.

Advertisement pricing is as follows:

Ebrief Job Posting pricing:
3 months ($100 monthly)
6 months ($90 monthly)
12 months ($80 monthly)

Please contact Lorraine Roger, our Society Administrator for further information on how to advertise in our monthly publication.

ph (813) 806-1070
fx (813) 806-1071
email lroger@flrad.org

We feel that this will provide a valuable service to both our members and our Florida community of Radiology.

Thank you for your interest!
Patricia Mergo, MD
President, FRS

SUBMIT AN ARTICLE

Become a PAC Member Today

Attention FRBMA Members! Please support the cause. We encourage you to be PAC members and supporters; you do not have to belong to the FRS. Donations can be made online through our PAC website www.FLRADPAC.org.

We would like to recognize the following contributor(s) to the FRS PAC in November: Dr. Banks.

It is critical that we support both our Florida PAC and RADPAC in order to bolster our voice in Tallahassee and Washington, respectively. Please join FRS lobbyist Alison Dudley in her special appeal for all Florida radiologists to become Florida PAC members. If you would like to help FRS defend radiology against untoward legislation and introduce bills that have a positive impact on our practices, we need your financial support to re-elect our friends in the state House and Senate. The FRS can also show you simplified ways on how to sign up your radiology group. Contact Lorraine Roger at lroger@flrad.org or contact Alison Dudley at alisondudley@dudleyandassociates.com for more information.

Telephone (813) 806-1070 • Fax (813) 806-1071
5620 W. Sligh Avenue • Tampa, Florida 33634

The E-Brief is an exclusive member benefit of Florida Radiological Society, delivering monthly member, chapter and industry news. Please do not reply to this automatic e-mail. For comments or questions about the E-Brief, please contact lroger@flrad.org.

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