Ebrief

July Ebrief 2020

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Lorraine Roger

On July 9, 2020

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Edition: July 2020

Table of Contents

Letter from the Editor

When we thought we were now entering a new normal, Florida became the new epicenter for Covid-19. Our hospital systems are near capacity, as I write this e-brief. Everyone should be taking all the precautions to minimize the spread and again use ACR resources if you need guidelines on how to operate your radiology departments or offices.
ACR Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources

Additionally, CMS has released new guidelines:
Re-Opening America: What Patients Should Know AboutSeeking Healthcare

The 2019 ACR commission on Human Resources Workforce Survey shows that Radiologists as a Corporate Employee trend is relatively flat from 2012 to 2019. The majority of Radiologists surveyed are part of the Private Practice at 49%.
https://www.jacr.org/article/S1546-1440(20)30037-5/fulltext

Medicare and Medicaid Programs: CY 2020 Hospital Outpatient PPS Policy Changes and Payment Rates and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Policy Changes and Payment Rates. Price Transparency Requirements for Hospitals To Make Standard Charges Public

Beginning in 2021, hospitals will be required to post both payer-specific negotiated charges and discounted cash prices in a machine-readable file. Hospitals will also have to publicly post these charges in an easily accessible manner for 300 “shoppable” services.

It will be interesting to see how this will impact consumer/patient behavior. Who knows, this list may eventually make it to shopping services like Amazon and other similar retailers.

This is my last E-brief and I would like to leave you with one quote that pertains to all of us:

“Life is C (Choice) between B (Birth) and D (Death).” As French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once said, we get to make numerous choices during our lifetime; For us as Radiologists we have to choose between B (Being involved in our organizations) OR D (Do nothing). Making the right choices will keep us united and have our voices heard.

Thank you and Stay Healthy.

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

Secretary
Chintan Desai, MD

FRS President’s Message

This is the time when we would all be making our final plans to arrive together for our annual FRS meeting which unfortunately is cancelled for the safety and well-being of all. The title of the meeting was “2020: Surviving and Thriving”. In looking back over the first half of 2020, much of the year has been solely about survival. Thriving has not yet entered into 2020, but there is always hope for that.

When I assumed the role of FRS president, like everyone else, I had no idea what 2020 would bring. I am by nature an optimist, and I had high hopes for 2020. I began in January with an e-brief talking about 2020, with a statement that sounds now completely absurd: “While no year passes without distress and shortcomings, 2020 ought to live up to its hype and be the near perfect year”. Guess what, 2020 was not listening. Instead, the level of distress is beyond what we could comprehend. At present, there is no vision for the light at the end of the tunnel. We are stuck in the middle, trying to search for the glimmer of light. Through it all we have learned a few things that will help us get to the “thriving” part of the equation. These things are simple but important, and they differ a bit for each person. In the middle here, continued due diligence and attention to detail and solidification of our purpose will get us to the thriving part. Keeping focus on what we do for our patients, our families and each other is what gets us there. None of it is written in print or in the media. It is written inside each of us. It is the good news that leads us to thrive.

Past President
Steven DePrima, MD, FACR

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

This is my last e-brief as your FRS president. We will convene virtually for an FRS business meeting on July 18th. Following the business meeting, Dr. Douglas Hornsby will assume the role of president. I would like to take this time to thank you all for the opportunity to serve the FRS as president. Together we are continuing to move forward and it has been an honor to be a part of leadership in this great organization. Even though 2020 was not what was anticipated, I wouldn’t trade this year as your FRS president. I would sign up again in a heartbeat and I would want to be there in this year of angst and anguish. I would still be an optimist and a seeker of light, looking forward to replacing angst and anguish with assurance and amity. I thank you for being there with us! Welcome to our new fantastic leaders for 2020-2021. Let’s keep searching for the light!

I would like to end my year as president leaving with the words of a poem that I wrote many years ago.

Heart’s Truth

On journey bound
For heart’s content
What inner truth unfolds

For grasp and clench
Of vast unknown
Not task for one
‘Tis task for all
In inner peace achieved

Not through labor
Or lust for life
But for search inside
And quest to find

Without such guidance
From the heart
Without such love surround
The soul so bright and true that shines
Shall whither on with time

Thank you!

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

FRBMA President’s Message

Arguably, one of the best guides for leaders is Robert Fulghum’s All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. In writing my final article as FRBMA President, I would like to quote Fulgham’s wise words:

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten[1]. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school. These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all – the whole world – had cookies and milk at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

It has been a privilege and an honor to serve and I am forever grateful from the bottom of my heart.

Reference
[1] Fulghum, R., “All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten,” Villard Books, New York, 1990, pages 6-7.

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

Legislative Update

July is here and we are continuing to deal with the new normal of life in a world with the Coronavirus. It continues to change how we work and live. In the political world it means candidates are trying to figure out how to safely get their message out to voters. A recent fundraiser I attended was held at an open-air restaurant and most folks were wearing masks including yours truly. Many events have been canceled. Many have limits on who can attend. Zoom interviews are the new normal.

I highly recommend requesting a vote by mail ballot for the upcoming August 18th Primary. Having a vote by mail ballot does not mean you have to use it, it just ensures you can vote, it does not preclude you from voting live if you prefer.

In the legislative arena, the Governor signed into law the 92.2-billion-dollar budget on June 29th. The budget will go into effect on July 1. He cut a record $1 billion from the budget, the largest veto in Florida’s history.

If anyone has questions about who the FRS is supporting on the state level this election cycle, do not hesitate to ask me. I can be reached at alisondudley@dudleyandassociates.com.

Thanks and please stay safe and well,

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

SUBMIT AN ARTICLE

Job Board
	Available Positions Lake Medical Imaging

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

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.

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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