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Edition: November 2021
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Table of Contents
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| Letter from the Editor |
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On November 4th, the ACR held a town hall to release the results of a survey performed to understand member perspectives on midlevel practitioners (so-called NPRPs, Non-Physician Radiology Providers), which includes Nurse Practitioners (NPs), Physician Assistants (PAs), and Registered Radiology Assistants (RRAs or just RAs). The Human Resources Commission of the ACR designed the survey instrument and it was sent out for data collection from September 14-30. The survey sought to both understand how midlevels are used in practices and also to gauge member opinion on MARCA, a bill proposed to allow radiologists to bill for work performed by RAs under direct supervision (“on site”) rather than the current, more stringent, requirement of personal supervision (“at the elbow”). RAs would not have an NPI and would have to bill incident to a radiologist. The ACR remains opposed to preliminary or final interpretation of studies by any NPRP, and continues to address this in its Scope of Practice efforts. Please see this link for more information on MARCA: Click Here and this link for more information on Scope of Practice: Click Here. Approximately 16% responded to the ACR’s NPRP survey, comprising 4207 individual members, which was significantly higher than the usual ACR survey response rate (8-9%). The survey respondents (“unweighted distribution” column below) were skewed to include more-than-expected numbers of members aged 35-44 and fewer-than-expected numbers of members older than 55. Age groups 25-34 and 45-54 were similar to what would be expected based on ACR member age distributions. Respondent demographics: average age 47 years, average time in practice 15 years, 70% male. 
If you would like access to the full Powerpoint presentation with all the data, it is available here: Click Here. A recording of the town hall will also soon be available on the ACR’s website, and I will send out that link to FRS membership as soon as it is available. Survey takeaways can be summarized as follows.
- Most respondents were familiar with NPRPs (59%), especially IR physicians (81%). Approximately 20% had currently or previously worked with an RA, whereas that number was much higher for NPs (33%) and PAs (66%).
- Most use some kind of NPRP in their practice (57%). Respondents using an NPRP were more likely to belong to the following kind of practice: IR, academia, Northeast region, national group.
- Members feel that use of NPRPs should be a practice-level decision and also that NPRPs are a threat to the quality of patient care.
- Younger cohorts (RFS and YPS) were significantly more likely to oppose having any NPRPs in the practice of radiology
- Most respondents were neutral about current scope of NPRPs but concerned about the future scope of NPRPs
- With regard to the MARCA, respondents who were at least somewhat familiar with MARCA significantly opposed the legislation by a 3:1 ratio. Data does not include respondents who reported they were not familiar with MARCA.
The ACR is currently neutral toward MARCA (Please see Click Here) pending final decision by the Council at the ACR annual meeting in April. The BOC and CSC expect resolutions to Council on the subject. At the ACR town hall, some advice was lent regarding next steps. First, ACR’s stance on MARCA should be decided by Council in April, and instead referring this issue back to the BOC or CSC may not be fruitful. Second, for the ACR to oppose the legislation, that generally entails active opposition, e.g., directing lobbyists to oppose the legislation and actively spending member resources to that effect. The decision to actively support or oppose the legislation, vis a vis the current stance of neutrality, may require more “activation energy” to accomplish at Council as either active position will entail use of more ACR resources. Lastly, collaboration/cosponsorship is encouraged among those planning resolutions on the subject so that there are not numerous slightly different resolutions submitted on MARCA to Council next year. Resolutions are due 1/24/22.
Thank you — the ACR and its leadership understands this is a sensitive topic that has touched a nerve among membership, and it is actively seeking transparency and communication with members. Beyond this discussion on MARCA, the ACR does have an ongoing NPRP Task Force chaired by Tim Swan, MD, FACR– the majority of the task force belongs to either the RFS or YPS cohort of members.
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Juan Batlle, MD
Secretary, FRS
juancarlos98@gmail.com |
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| Meet Your 2021 – 2022 FRS Executive Committee |
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President
Rajendra Kedar, MD, FACR |
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President Elect
Chintan Desai, MD, FACR
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Treasurer
Laura Vallow, MD |
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Secretary
Juan Batlle, MD |
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| FRS President’s Message |
Paid family/medical leave resolution 2022 Paid family/medical leave is a rapidly growing trend in businesses across the country, allowing people to be with their families when they are needed most. Among developed countries, the United States lags behind in providing paid leave for working parents with new children. Based on a report from the International Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2017) that reviewed public policies for families and children in their 36 member countries, the United States was the only country to offer no national statutory entitlement to paid maternity leave. Medicine is even further behind compared with other industries in the USA. In our specialty, according to the 2016 ACR Commission on Human Resources Workforce Survey, the average number of paid weeks of leave to care for a newborn or adopted child was 8.8 for women and 4 for men (1). Currently, AAWR (American Association for Women in Radiology) and SCARD (Society of Chairs of Academic Radiology Departments) are proposing a resolution of paid family/medical leave of 12 weeks, to be submitted for consideration to the ACR in February 2022 for voting at the May 2022 Annual Meeting. Some of the reasons for the Florida Radiological Society to support this resolution would be: The ACR’s commitment “to the radiologist’s well-being as an integral part of high quality and safe patient care and the health of our members”; To recruit and retain the best and the brightest, improving productivity and competitiveness, for our specialty and family; and leave based upon the scientific evidence of benefits for parents and infants. The ABR is also changing its policy and would allow up to a 4-month leave of absence, in addition to standard vacation and meeting time, during the first 3 years of radiology residency. Before we consider sponsoring this resolution (Utah and Kentucky are currently sponsoring), I would like to invite comments from membership either supporting or against the resolution and the reasoning behind it so that our chapter can take action. Some of the relevant reading material links are below. Please send your comments to lroger@flrad.org
- Arleo EK, Parikh J, Wolfman D, Gridley D, Bender C, Bluth E. Utilization of the Family and Medical Leave Act in radiology practices according to the 2016 ACR Commission on Human Resources Workforce Survey. J Am Coll Radiol 2016;13(12 Pt A):1440-6.
- Paid Parental Leave in Radiology: The Time Is Now—Challenges, Strategies, and the Business Case for Implementation. Elizabeth Kagan Arleo, MD Journal of the American College of Radiology Volume 16 n Number 3 March 2019 https://www.jacr.org/article/S1546-1440(18)31419-4/fulltext
- The ABR Diagnostic Radiology Core Examination: Change in Policy Regarding Timing for Eligibility to Take the Examination Journal of the American College of Radiology. Volume 16 n Number 3 n March 2019 Click Here
- Paid family/medical leave: That’s great – What’s next? Click Here
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Very Respectfully,
Raj Kedar, MD, FACR
President, Florida Radiological Society
Professor of Radiology, University of South Florida – Morsani College of Medicine
Director- Body Imaging Education and Fellowship
Chief -Dept of Radiology, Tampa General Hospital |
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Past President
Douglas Hornsby, MD
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Legal Counsel
Michael M. Raskin, M.D., J.D., FACR |
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| FRBMA President’s Message |
I am making a personal appeal to all FRBMA members asking that they make concerted effort to attend the FRBMA Winter retreat. The meeting is on Friday, January 28, 2022, and is centrally located in Orlando at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. Most members are within 4 hours of the meeting location and can easily attend this meeting with one overnight. You can arrive Thursday night and be home late Friday. I know that weekends are precious family time and attending this meeting minimally interferes with family time. Better yet, for those that want to bring the family, you can add an extra night and enjoy the Disney parks. We have guaranteed a limited number of rooms that are available on Friday at the same discounted conference rates. So make this a family a trip but be sure to book early.
There is much to like about this meeting. This has always been one of my favorite radiology business meetings because it offers such great value in a very compact timeframe. If you have not previously been to this meeting, it is very different from the FRBMA/FRS annual meeting held in July. This meeting is only FRBMA attendees and it attracts about thirty to fifty attendees. The small scale of this meeting provides a more personal and intimate interaction with your peers. It will feel more casual because it really is more casual.
Despite the small scale, the retreat does not skimp on content and speakers. We have several terrific local speakers that have previously presented at our annual meetings. This includes Dr. Raj Kadar, President of FRS, Dr. Stephen Miles, Sr. VP and Chief Quality Officer Halifax Health, Barbara Rubel, Executive Vice President MSN and Jeff Younger, CEO Preferred Radiology Alliance. The topics will be excellent and include Surprise Billing, Radiology Consolidation and Hospital Administration update.
We are also bringing in three out of town speakers. Stuart Charlson, President of ConsultStu, an HR consulting firm that services small to medium sized businesses. Mr. Charlson started his career as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor and has held several other prestigious positions. He is well qualified to provide us an update on employment law and regulations. Dr. Lawrence Muroff, CEO and President at Imaging Consultants Inc., will give us his perspective what Radiology 2022 might bring, and finally Rebecca Spangler, Director of Government Affairs at the ACR, will give us and ACR update.
Alpha II and Advocate have paired up to sponsor a 7 – 8 AM breakfast and Preferred Radiology Alliance will be sponsoring lunch. I really appreciate their assistance in helping to fund this program. At the end of the meeting, Barbara Rubel and I will wrap things up with a roundtable discussion on anything the attendees wish to discuss.
If you have any questions or need a meeting brochure please feel free to contact me at jdetelich@radassociates.com. I look forward to seeing you in Orlando. |
John Detelich, CPA, MBA, CEO
President, FRBMA
jdetelich@radassociates.com |
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| Legislative Update |
November has roared in with some nice cooler weather, which is greatly appreciated, as I make the trek to the Capitol. Committee weeks are well underway and health care related bills are starting to hit the system.
In the Senate Health Policy Committee several bills were heard. Chair Diaz, passed his SB 312 that the FMA supports which would allow reimbursement for Telehealth “Audio Only” visits and allow for prescribing of schedule 3, 4, and 5 drugs. This was allowed under the Governor’s executive order during Covid. Also relating to Telehealth, Sen Brodeur’s bill, SB 330, passed allows for asynchronous communication to be reimbursed under Medicaid.
The extender bills are beginning to be filed and I anticipate the ophthalmologist vs optometrist surgery battle to be back as well as the anesthesiology turf war. More extender bills ahead to be certain.
The Governor has called a special session for the week of November 15-19 to beef up protections for workers whose employers institute vaccine mandates. The Governor called the special session in response to the Biden announcement of a vaccine mandate for private companies with more than 100 employees.
Some of the special session issues are as follows:
- Increasing protections to not allow employer-based discrimination tied to vaccine status
- Making those fired over noncompliance with a vaccine mandate have access to unemployment assistance
- Funding to investigate complaints related to Covid-19 vaccination mandates, such as those imposed by the federal government
- Creating a public records exemption blocking release of records related to those investigations
- Repealing the 2002 law that gave state health officer power to order vaccinations
- Addressing school mask mandates
Reapportionment is well underway and we anticipate the first maps to be rolled out soon. At that time, incumbents will know if their district includes another incumbent and political life in the Capitol will become very interesting.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. |
Thanks, and stay well.
Alison Dudley, FRS Lobbyist
AlisonDudley@dudleyandassociates.com |
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| 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.
Phone: (813) 806-1070
Fax: (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.
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Thank you for your interest!
Patricia Mergo, MD |
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| 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: Dr. Mergo
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. |
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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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