January 2021 Ebrief

Edition: January 2021

Table of Contents

Letter from the Editor

As we navigated the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19, the topic of how we care for ourselves and each other has never been more important. Dealing with varying level of stress, anxiety and fatigue over the last year has certainly taken a toll. As we look back on 2020, I encourage you to reflect on the challenges we faced together. As medical professionals, we continued diagnosing and treating patients with as minimal disruption as possible, putting the needs of the patient first. I am proud of the unity and support demonstrated by my colleagues and believe through this shared experience we find strength.

As we look forward to 2021 with hope, I urge all of you to take a moment for yourselves. With the start of the New Year, spend the time to “reset” and focus on your own wellness. The ACR has been a leader in wellness initiatives and has an abundance of high quality, resources readily available. To encourage our members to take advantage of these benefits, I have attached multiple links to tools the ACR has available.

The ACR has developed a Radiology Well-Being Program to help simplify and guide the process. This program provides you with tools and resources to not only assess your level of wellness but identify ways to improve and track your well-being over time. Members can access the Well-Being Index Survey to evaluate their current level of well-being and measure progress. In addition, a tool kit of resources including articles on topics such as relationship and work life balance, health behavior and emotional concerns are all available. This is a free resource for all ACR Members. To access the Radiology Well-Being Program Click Here

In addition, the ACR has provided access to Well-Being Support Guides created by fellow radiologists to address various topics related to burnout. These guides provide interactive resources with time commitment detailed and key takeaways. Topics available in the Well-Being Support Guides include; resilience, communication, self-Care, mentorship, diversity and inclusion as well as conflict resolution. Click Here

A collection of well-being resources for radiologists, started by ACR Well-Being Workgroup member Rebecca Seidel, MD, is available with multiple topics including mindfulness, well-being, fitness and sleep. Click Here

The ACR Bulletin has a special issue, Road to Wellness with personal stories of burnout and resilience. Click Here

As we look forward to the New Year and reflect on the challenges of the past, make a commitment to prioritize well-being. Please take advantage of the multitude of high-quality offerings from the ACR.

To take the best care of our patients and each other we first must take care of ourselves. Health is a state of body. Wellness is a state of being.

I wish you all a Healthy and Happy New Year!

Laura Vallow, M.D.
Secretary, FRS
Vallow.Laura@mayo.edu

Meet Your 2020 – 2021 FRS Executive Committee

President
Douglas Hornsby, MD

President-Elect
Rajendra Kedar, MD, FACR

Treasurer
Chintan Desai, MD

Secretary
Laura Vallow, MD

FRS President’s Message

Happy New Year to 2021! We were tired of 2020 and glad to see the last of it.

The ACR will be having a virtual meeting this year, May 15-19, 2021. A reminder to FRS Leadership that the ACR is conducting a poll to find out when a virtual caucus might be scheduled. Please vote and rank the caucus meetings and times that you prefer and please attend virtually.

The FRS Winter Board Meeting will also be virtual and is scheduled for January 30th. If you are interested in attending, please contact Lorraine Roger at the FRS office as space is very limited. Please mark your calendar for the meeting.

We hope that you have at least received your first vaccine injection. Please encourage your colleagues and patients to do the same for your protection and for the protection of the patients, staff, and their respective families.

An initiative for the FRS this spring might be for the continued development of the Young Physicians Section (YPS). Dr. Eber and many others have passed the torch to current YPS members including Dr Kurt Scherer. The Florida Radiological Society Resident and Fellows’ Sections, has blossomed with the help of Dr Scherer and so many of our members, present and past. Please consider the next obvious step to provide for a transition from the RFS to YPS. While this is an effort to retain our members in the initial years of their practice, I feel the FRS can offer advantages of experience and connection to radiology practices in Florida and to our out of state colleagues. I will be calling several of our members for your thoughts for development and advancement of the YPS prior to the Winter Board Meeting.

I think of the Florida Radiology Society as a living society peopled by our members from induction of the Florida Radiological Society Resident and Fellows’ Sections and continuing the Young Physicians Section to active membership of the full society and very importantly our legacy members. While we want to develop the Young Physicians Section, at the same time we must recognize our legacy members who have the institutional memory of our organization. Our long-time champions know the road we have traveled and to borrow from Bill Gates they see the road ahead.

I look forward to seeing you at the virtual Winter Board Meeting on January 30, 2021, where we will discuss these and other matters, including the Young Physicians Section and recognizing our legacy members for the good health of our society.

Thank you. Be safe and be present at the virtual Winter Board Meeting.

Doug Hornsby, MD
President, FRS
doughornsby@msn.com

Past President
Patricia Mergo, MD, FACR

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

FRBMA President’s Message

The Consolidated Appropriations Act and Vaccination, Lessons Learned

This month’s article will discuss (1) The Consolidated Appropriations Act and (2) Vaccination, Lessons Learned

The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA)

The CAA is a massive piece of legislation of 5,593 pages. I want to touch on just two of the Sections. The first is the impact the CAA has on the PPP loan and the second is the extension of the paid sick and family leave. Click Here to review the complete 5,593 pages of the CAA:

Division N of the CAA, which starts on page 1924, has the Additional Corona Virus Response and Relief components of the CAA. I have also pointed out the specific page numbers below that will correspond to the Section I’m discussing.

Section 276. CAA has made some important changes to tax accounting for the PPP loan. The article I wrote last month related to the tax accounting on the PPP loan is already out of date. Section 276, which starts on page 2004, reverses the IRS previous position that expenses paid by the PPP loan would result in no deduction on your tax return. The CAA states that (1) “for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 – no amount shall be included in gross income of the eligible recipient by reason of forgiveness of indebtedness” and (2) “no deduction shall be denied, no tax attribute shall be reduced, and no basis increase shall be denied.” These are only excerpts and you should read this section in its entirety but I interpret this to mean that from a tax perspective the loan forgiveness is not taxable and you would take a normal deduction for the expenses you incurred that were paid with the PPP loan. This change will have a significant benefit to all businesses that received a PPP loan. The effect of this change gives the loan similar attributes to a capital infusion to each business. If you’re an S-Corp you can decided to leave some portion of the loan in your business without the negative tax implications you would normally have. This will strengthen your balance sheet and provide some needed cushion for what may still be a number of months of business uncertainty.

Section 286, which starts on page 2033, extends the credits for paid sick and family leave to March 31, 2021. This program was slated to end of December 31, 2020. However, the extension appears to be at the option of the employer. In the opening description of the CAA it states the payments for paid sick and family leave are extended to March 31, 2021 when (1) “which are required to be paid by reason of the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act” or (2) “which would be required to be paid if such Act were applied”. The “if such Act were applied” appears to give the employer the option. Employer could elect to end the program on December 31, 2020 or extend the program to March 31, 2021. This is something each group should discuss. Although the benefits are effectively paid for via tax credits given to the employer, employees are more likely to miss work if they can do so while still being paid. Although this has been an important benefit for most of our employees the ability for us as an employer to ensure it was used as intended was very difficult. This is not an easy decision for employers but I appreciate that we at least have the option to discuss.

Vaccinations, Lessons Learned

We received our doses December 23 and honestly, we were not prepared. There were two ways that our Company could participate in the vaccination program and we were prepared for only one of them. The easiest, and the one we were prepared for, was to work with our local Medical Society where our employees would sign up for vaccinations on the designated days they were offered. This was simple but not very convenient. The designated days were only Saturdays and the number of appointments were limited. It would have taken several weeks before all our employees could to be accommodated.

The second method was to receive the doses directly and immunize the employees our self. We had not considered this an option but once it was offered there were a few steps we had to take which created about a ten-day delay in starting our immunization. If you plan to go down this path and you have not yet started to plan, here are the things you can do to prepare.

First you have to register with Florida Shots. This must be done by one of your providers or one of your nurses. Florida shots will require that you track who is getting the vaccination. It takes about 3 days to get set up in Florida Shots.

Second, if you do not currently provide immunizations then you need to register and be approved by the state to do so. The form you need is available on Florida Shots. This form must be signed by your Medical Director and CEO. This will take about 3-4 days to get approved once you submitted the application.

Third, your clinical employee that will be administering the vaccinations will have watch several video tutorials on the vaccination protocols.

Fourth, organize a schedule to administer the vaccines. We are doing this in hourly groups of ten. Each vile has ten doses and you must the ability observe the patients for between for 15 to 30 minutes depending on their previous history of reactions.

Finally prepare your employees. We found that employees are very nervous about being vaccinated. The more you can do to educate them on this the better chance you will have of getting a high level of compliance. We have decided not to require employees to get vaccinated.

Hopefully this helps with your planning.

John Detelich, CPA, MBA, CEO
President, FRBMA
jdetelich@radassociates.com

Legislative Update

January is before us and here is to hoping 2021 is a better year!

The Legislature will begin meeting January 11th with committee meetings in the House and the Senate. Both legislative bodies sent out guidelines as to how meetings will be held.

In summary:

House
Condensing meeting schedule by splitting committee blocks in two and implementing an alternating meeting schedule.

One-hour breaks between committees to sanitize meeting rooms, etc.
House will limit meetings to Webster Hall, Morris Hall, Reed Hall, and Sumner Hall and will live stream all via The Florida Channel
Seating limited to first come, first saved basis; more details will be available on the House website the week of January 4th
House visitors are required to wear masks and socially distance, although House members are encouraged to use conference calls or virtual meetings
COVID-19 testing available to House members and staff

Senate

Committee blocks are reduced with no more than three at one time
Senate will use same COVID-19 testing procedures as used for the Organizational Session
Stakeholder participation during specific committees will be remotely from the Leon County Civic Center
In person committee viewing will be limited to presenters
For the month of January, Senators are asked to avoid in person meeting and utilize virtual technology.

Speaker Sprowls made his committee assignments and announced the members and how he has structured the committees and what they will oversee.

Health & Human Services Committee will be Chaired by Rep Colleen Burton and Rep Mike Grant will be Vice Chair. The Committee will consider and examines issues related to health care provider regulation, health insurance regulation, and public health. This policy area also includes the extent and manner in which government provides a safety net for low‐income or otherwise vulnerable Floridians.

The Finance & Facilities Subcommittee will be Chaired by Rep Clay Yarborough and Rep Mike Caruso is the Vice Chair. This committee will consider issues related to access and affordability of health care. These issues include price transparency, regulation of health facilities, and the operation of the state’s Medicaid program for low‐income Floridians. The subcommittee also addresses health insurance and the state employee group health plan.

The Professions & Public Health Subcommittee will be Chaired by Rep Will Robinson and the Vice Chair is Javier Fernandez Barquín. This committee addresses public health issues such as communicable diseases, opioid misuse, and the regulation of medical marijuana. The subcommittee also considers matters related to regulations of health professionals.

The Insurance & Banking Subcommittee is Chaired by Rep Nick DiCeglie and the Vice Chair is Rep Brett Hage. It considers matters related to insurance companies and agents doing business in life, health, property, casualty (including auto and workers’ compensation), and title insurance, among numerous other insurance products; insurance fraud; financial enterprises and individuals, such as, state‐chartered banks, state‐chartered credit unions, trust companies, mortgage loan originators, mortgage brokers and lenders, securities industry participants, consumer finance companies, money transmitters, foreign currency exchangers, and payday lenders; the state fire marshal; and funeral, cemetery, and consumer services.

Bills are being filed and members are getting ready for the upcoming session. Access to the Capitol is going to be very limited. It will be a very interesting session.

I wish all a happy and healthy 2021!

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

SUBMIT AN ARTICLE

Martin Northup Resident Leadership Award

H. Martin Northup Resident Leadership Award – A scholarship opportunity for Florida Diagnostic Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Medical Physicist 2nd year Residents or graduate students.

Martin Northup was very committed to radiology resident education and advancement. To eternally honor and remember him, the board of the FRS Foundation has established a special award bearing his name, the “H Martin Northup Resident Leadership Award.” Each year, this award will be given to a 2nd year Florida radiology resident who will be a 3rd year at the time of the fellowship to support the cost of accommodations for attending the FRS annual summer meeting. The resident will have an officer mentor and will attend all functions including the board meeting. The goal is to develop future leaders in Radiology and develop promising residents to assume greater roles in the society, such as President of the Resident and Fellow’s Section. The award recipient will be chosen for the 2021 Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, July 16-18, 2021 by the Scholarships and Grants committee based on a competitive application process.

Please click here to download an application. Return your completed application to lroger@edusymp.com by May 15, 2021 in order to be considered for this award.

Jeffrey Stone, M.D., FACR
President, FRS Educational Foundation

FRS Educational Foundation

Qualified Charitable Contributions

As fall approaches, keep in mind the FRS foundation still values and relies on your charitable support of Florida’s Radiology and Radiation Oncology residents as part of our ongoing educational mission. As many of you may be aware, the CARES Act was passed by Congress in response to the pandemic and waives the required minimum distributions (RMDs) for all types of retirement plans for 2020.

Many of our members have previously used Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) as a means to donate to the FRS Foundation and this remains an option for 2020 despite the waiver for RMD and still holds tax advantages even if one takes a standard deduction. The QCD allows IRA owners over age 70 ½ to directly transfer up to $100,000 annually from an IRA to a qualified charity tax free, is excluded from income and allows you to get a tax break even if you are claiming the standard deduction. Individual circumstances may obviously vary and we advise you check with your accountant to explore individual benefits of using a QCD for your charitable contribution.

We hope that you will consider the benefits of a QCD and help the FRS Foundation continue to grow and prosper through your generous contributions.

Jeffrey Stone, M.D., FACR
President, FRS Educational Foundation

2021 Annual Meeting of the FRS & FRBMA

Please join the Florida Radiological Society and the Florida Radiology Business Management Association for the 2021 Annual Meeting at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes, July 16-18, 2021. The meeting will focus on “Excelling in an Everchanging Paradigm” and will feature lectures by faculty who are leaders in the practice of radiology. We look forward to seeing you in Orlando, Florida.

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, FACR

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. Thank you for your donation.

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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