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Table of Contents
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| Letter from the Editor |
March Madness is upon us, both in the basketball arena as well as in radiology! The radiology political action committee that serves our interests, RADPAC, is running a March Chapter Challenge. Those who give a minimum of $20 in March will each be counted in a state-by-state tally to determine a March winner among the ACR’s state chapters. A $500 cash prize goes to the state chapter with the most contributors, but most importantly your contributions help RADPAC achieve its vital work. RADPAC is currently the fourth largest physician-related PAC, behind the associations supporting the anesthesiologists, the orthopedists, and the dentists.  The more we can contribute to these efforts the more we can have our voice heard in Congress. As an example of what your ACR membership dollars achieved, the following are a few of the ACR’s advocacy successes this past year.
- Extending E/M increases and averting scheduled Medicare cuts for 2022
- Helped pass Protecting Medicare & American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act
- Increases Medicare conversion factor 3% for 2022
- Pushes paygo requirements to 2023
- Suspends a 2% Medicare cut
- Combined addition of $1.2 billion to the Medicare physician fee schedule over 2021-23
Consider what percentage of your practice has Medicare as a payor, and then multiply that dollar figure by 1.03 or 1.05 as a result of the percentage points saved due to advocacy efforts — that is a huge impact to all radiologists throughout the United States, and much of that success can be attributed to the hard work of the ACR and, at the state level, the FRS. While inflation over the past few years has reached almost 20%, ACR dues have been unchanged for 5 years. As such, the value for your membership has never been higher, and we hope that members have increased awareness of the legislative efforts at the state and national level being made on their behalf. If you have the opportunity to consider donating to the FRS, the ACR, and/or RADPAC, please do so and know that those dollars contribute directly to advocacy for our shared profession. Those donating at least $750 to RADPAC will be eligible for a ticket to the RADPAC gala at the ACR Annual Meeting next month — the gala will be held at the Spy Museum in DC on Tuesday April 26th. And help Florida win the March Chapter Challenge! If you are feeling competitive, here is our regional bracket and our competitors. A lot of heavy hitters in our bracket! 
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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 |
ACR 2022 Annual meeting After two years of virtual meetings, this year’s ACR annual meeting will be a hybrid meeting in Washington DC from April 24-26. However, to vote in ACR elections, in-person attendance is required. Due to Capitol Hill safety protocol, the popular Capitol Hill day has been canceled and will be rescheduled later virtually. Everyone attending the meeting is required to show proof of vaccination including booster. The FRS has various activities planned and we will let all attendees know about it, soon. In addition, there will be an FRS dinner on April 25th at Old Ebbitt Grill. This is always a great social event for FRS attendees. If you would like to attend the dinner, please let us know. FRS Annual meeting This year’s annual FRS meeting will be at Ritz Carlton, Amelia Island from July 15-17. This is a very popular venue, and in the past, has had consistently the highest attendees at this site. Registration for the meeting is now open, and we encourage you to book your hotel reservation early as our block of rooms will get sold-out quickly. Click Here
For residents and fellows, registration is free. We have also increased the funding for residents from 40 to 60 and they will receive a stipend of $200 towards hotel expenses if they are presenting a poster. The last date to submit the poster is June 17, 2022. Please see the website for more details. Click Here
Fellow of the American College of Radiology (FACR)
This is one of the highest honors for a Radiologist. The honor of Fellow of the American College of Radiology is conferred on members who have been approved both by the state chapter and the ACR and elected by the ACR Board of Chancellors. Only 15% of college members have been awarded this distinction. The 2022 FACR application cycle is open now. The last date for applying is May 31 for FRS members. We encourage qualified members to apply. If you have any questions, please reach out to us. Our fellowship committee will be happy to help you. Online application is available at Click Here. Please check eligibility.
Paid family/medical leave in radiology, interventional radiology, and radiation oncology
The resolution sponsored by AAWR (American Association for Radiologist) that the American College of Radiology (ACR) recommends that diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology, radiation oncology, and nuclear medicine practices, departments, and training programs strive to provide 12 weeks of paid family/medical leave in a 12- month period for its attending and trainee physicians as needed. Now this resolution has been supported and sponsored by the ACR Board of Chancellors, ACR Council Steering Committee, YPS, RFS, and 16 state societies. |
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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| FRBMA President’s Message |
FRBMA Winter Conference (part 2)
For this article, I am focusing on a presentation titled “Important Strategies / Issues That Merit Further Consideration”. The content of this presentation was created and presented by Lawrence Muroff M.D., FACR. Dr. Muroff, President of Imaging Consultants, Inc., has had a long and successful career providing consulting services to radiologists, hospitals and healthcare corporations. In addition to his numerous national speaking engagements each year, Dr. Muroff is a frequent speaker at the winter and summer FRS/FRBMA conferences.
There are always some great takeaways from Dr. Muroff’s presentations. I feel his presentation helps groups understand the pitfalls that can occur and how planning can prepare practices to better address unexpected negative outcomes.
Dr. Muroff states that we are several years into the most recent phase of corporatization radiology. Radiology residents, fellows and early career radiologists (ECR’s) are very aware of this dynamic. Dr. Muroff noted a survey that he co-authored with Dr. Daniel Ortiz. The survey was designed to assess the perception ECRs have of corporate radiology. The motivation for performing this survey came from presentations by private equity representatives that surprisingly stated millennial physicians prefer an employee model over a private practice model. Dr. Muroff provided the results of this 2019 survey at the conference which showed 85% of those surveyed are aware of corporatization of radiology, 83% prefer to join a non-corporate private practice, 79% want to be involved in the leadership or business, and 72% worried about their practice or future practice being acquired by national entities.
Dr. Muroff made a few observations where corporatization of radiology stands now and how corporatization may challenge radiology groups in the future:
National radiology is still a small percentage but growing.
- A tipping point could occur.
- Once past the tipping point there would be restricted opportunities for young radiologists which could negatively impact the quality of the candidates entering radiology specialty.
- This could create a shift from owners (private practice) to shift workers similar to what’s happened in other specialties, particularly ER physicians.
My take away from this part of the presentation is that if the radiology group follows the corporatization of radiology trends then this data can be used for planning purposes. Approaching the “tipping point” would increase the risk that the tipping point will occur. As a risk increases in likelihood, the need to plan for that outcome also increases. The group therefore needs an internal mechanic to assess risks and scenario plans to mitigate and prepare for negative outcomes.
Dr. Muroff discussed the elements of scenario planning. His recommendation is that groups dedicate physician resources to the ongoing planning process. In addition, Dr. Muroff recommended owners/Board members meet twice a year to review their strategies, assess future risks, and evaluate the group’s readiness in the event potential risks end up being realized.
Potential risks can be the loss of business or market share, negative reimbursement changes, unexpected leadership turnover, etc. Any of these risk scenarios can occur and the probability of them happening can also increase or decrease. For example, there could be legislation pending, the group’s president approaching retirement or a venture capital supported entity taking over a competing group in your market. All of these things can change the risk profile of your group. Having a planning structure in place can make the group much more able to proactively address negative outcomes that are increasing in probability.
Dr. Muroff stated that loss of revenue is one of the biggest risks groups face and diversification is a way to reduce the impact of revenue loss. But Dr. Muroff pointed out that you should first make sure you are optimizing your revenues from the traditional sources. Here are some of his ideas on where you can look for maximizing your group’s performance:
- Billing
- Collecting
- Coding
- Work Capture
- Practice efficiencies
- Managed Care/Utilization Management
An audit technique that Dr. Muroff recommends is the poor man’s audit. Simply have five radiologists select five cases each from the studies they are reading each day. Collect these cases for one week (125 total). Hold these studies for six months and then send them to the practice administrator and ask that administrator to audit the billing results for each collected case. What does the audit reveal? Was the procedure properly captured? Was it coded properly? Did the billing company maximize reimbursement? Did you get paid the correct amount?
When the group is ready to look at diversification, Dr. Muroff has numerous business ideas that groups can consider to diversify their income stream. Here are three that he discussed that I felt might be more widely applicable to most groups:
- Specialty reads
- Expand groups’ current call coverage resources and provide them on a local,
- statewide or national basis
- Medical Legal consultation
- There is plenty of competition in specialty reads and night hawks; but, if you provide a high quality product and start out locally, you could build your reputation and further expand.
Dr. Muroff also discussed the medical legal opportunity. He feels there is significant demand for this service if you know how to do it correctly. The demand comes mostly from these areas:
- Expert interpretations or testimony in accident disputes
- Malpractice litigation
- Medical board expert/reviewer
His suggestion is that a full FTE could generate about seven figures in annual revenue. According to Dr. Muroff, the hesitancy from groups doing this is the concern that they will have to be deposed or testify in court. Dr. Muroff gave the following statistics: Depositions occur in about 1 in 50 cases and trial testimony is required 1 in every 250-300 cases.
Another important area Dr Muroff discussed is succession planning. It is his recommendation that the group president should serve in that position as long as he/she can adequately meet the needs of that position. If you change regularly then hospital administrators that don’t like the current president may just slow walk all business issues until the new president takes over. The negative of having a long-term president is the group may find itself in a position that no one has the experience to take over once the president does step down. Not having a successor can be devastating to a group and ultimately lead to destabilization of the business. Unfortunately, the need for a replacement can be unexpected and sudden. Dr. Muroff recommends the ongoing mentorship and leadership training for one or more potential successors.
That’s a brief summary of just some of the takeaways from his presentation. If you see him on the event agenda at a future FRBMA meeting, I suggest you make a special effort to attend. Dr. Muroff has an overwhelming wealth of knowledge that he is willing to share.
I personally am very thankful that Dr. Muroff spoke at our winter conference. |
John Detelich, CPA, MBA, CEO
President, FRBMA
jdetelich@radassociates.com |
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| Legislative Update |
At this writing, there are nine days left in the legislative session. The budget is being negotiated through the budget conference process. Yesterday was the last day for a bill to be heard in a legislative committee in the Senate which made for a very long day in Senate Rules Committee, the last stop for many bills. From here on, unless rules are waived, both bodies will be on their respective floors as there are no more committee meetings.
SB 7014 which extends protections from Covid 19 liability lawsuits for nursing homes, doctors, and hospitals through June 1, 2023 has passed and has been signed into law by the Governor.
Dr. Joseph Ladapo has been confirmed as Florida’s Secretary of Health by the Florida Senate.
The budget negotiations are going well, and I anticipate the budget bill to be placed on the members desk on Tuesday to start the constitutionally mandated 72-hour requirement.
Several of the Health Care bills which we have no issue with, for example Telehealth, are still in play and I will report on those once the Session is over.
I anticipate the Session ends on time, sine die, March 11th.
Thanks to all for their help and support. |
Thanks, and stay well.
Alison Dudley, FRS Lobbyist
AlisonDudley@dudleyandassociates.com |
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| 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 2022 Annual Meeting in Amelia Island, Florida, July 15-17, 2022 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 16, 2022 in order to be considered for this award.
Thank you,
Jeffrey Stone, M.D., FACR
President, FRS Educational Foundation |
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| 2022 Annual Meeting of the FRS & FRBMA |
Please join the Florida Radiological Society and the Florida Radiology Business Management Association for the 2022 Annual Meeting at The Ritz-Carlton Amelia in Amelia Island, Florida July 15-17, 2022. The meeting will focus on “The Evolution of Radiology: Then, Now, and the Future” and will feature lectures by faculty who are leaders in the practice of radiology. We look forward to seeing you in July.
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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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Available Positions
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| FRS Member In Focus |
Dr. Angela Williams earned a medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina. She completed her radiology residency at the University of South Florida. Following her residency, she earned board certification in diagnostic radiology. She completed a musculoskeletal imaging fellowship at the University of South Florida followed by a fellowship in Breast Imaging at Moffitt Cancer Center.
As a breast imaging specialist, Dr. Williams has been serving Moffitt Cancer Center for thirteen years in the department of Diagnostic Imaging & Interventional Radiology specializing in mammography, ultrasound, MRI, biopsies, needle localizations, along with resident, fellow, and medical student education. She has extensive experience providing services for cancer, focusing on invasive breast carcinomas, ductal carcinoma in situ, atypia, and benign breast disorders.
Dr. Williams is active in subspecialty societies: American Association for Women Radiologists (AAWR), Society of Breast Imaging (SBI), and the Moffitt Cancer Center’s Faculty Diversity in Oncology Program (FDOP). In the scientific community, Dr. Williams has been active in research, and co-authoring the following articles: “Breast Density: Imaging Management of a Controversial Breast Cancer Risk Factor” and “The Preparation of 2-[4,5-Dihydro-3-Aryl-5-Isoxazolyl] phenols from C(a) O-Dilithiooximes and Lithiated Hydroxyaryl Aldehydes”. Internationally, she has given lectures on procedures and breast cancer screening to audiences in Italy and the Bahamas. She is an active member of her Tampa community participating in and contributing to events for Miles for Moffitt, Susan G Komen, Metropolitan Ministries, and the Spring of Tampa Bay.
During her career, Dr. Williams has been fortunate to witness the advancement of breast imaging technologies from the use of screen/film mammography to the emergence of breast tomosynthesis. With the ability to utilize multiple modalities and an attention to detail, her goals are to teach, diagnose breast cancer early, and provide compassionate patient care. |
To promote Diversity, inclusion, and representation, we will feature one FRS member in the “Member in Focus” column in the monthly Ebrief.
Please let us know if you know of someone for this column.
Raj Kedar, MD, FACR
President, FRS |
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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: Drs. Battle, Cernigliaro, Desai, and 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
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| 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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