FRS & FRBMA E Brief

  Greetings {TITLE} {LAST_NAME},

May 2012

Letter from the FRS President and Editor
The 2012 American College of Radiology’s Annual Meeting & Chapter Leadership Conference took place April 21-25 in Washington, DC. The purpose of this national meeting was to focus its members on Radiology’s business, policymaking, advocacy, collaborative practice guidelines and technical standards. Among the 339 chapter and subspecialty societies present, 26 Florida radiologists and 11 radiology residents represented the Florida Radiological Society.

Florida was strikingly visible throughout the meeting, and member highlights included a Gold Medal recipient, five new Fellows of the American College of Radiology (FACR), the Keynote Speaker, a new member of the Board of Chancellors, and Excellence in Membership Award for our chapter. Dr. Rick Morin from Mayo Clinic was awarded ACR’s highest honor, the Gold Medal, for his lifelong contribution to the field of Radiology and Medical Physics at the Annual ACR Convocation Ceremony. Congratulations to five Florida Radiological Society members who became Fellows of the American College of Radiology – Drs. Joe Cernigliaro, Stuart Kaplan, Michael Katz, Gerry May and Hector Robles. Dr. Larry Muroff was chosen as this year’s Keynote Speaker for the Special Session on Economics, and gave an excellent presentation on several practical solutions to some of the challenges faced by radiology as a result of Medicare and private payer policies. Dr. Phil Cook was victorious in winning a 3-year term on the Board of Chancellors among a pool of highly qualified candidates, and followed his past election to the Council Steering Committee. Furthermore, Dr. Laura Bancroft served on the Credentialing Committee and our Florida Chapter was awarded with Excellence in Membership, under the guidance of Drs. Jesse Davila and Manny Rose.

The Florida Chapter had another strong showing of support on Capitol Hill by FRS and FRBMA leadership, multiple radiologists and radiology residents. The Florida Radiological Society met with the offices of Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, and Congressional members Kathy Castor, Ander Crenshaw, Theodore Deutch, John Mica, Ileana Ros, Dan Webster and Bill Young. We focused our lobbying efforts on support of Bill 3269 “The Diagnostic Imaging Services Access Protection Act” and HR 4165/S 2265 the “Virtual Screening for Colorectal Cancer Act.” We urged those members of Congress (who have not already done so) to cosponsor H.R. 3269, which would block efforts by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) through the 2012 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule to apply a Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction (MPPR) to the professional component of select advanced diagnostic imaging services performed by the same physician, for the same patient, irrespective of the date of service or practice setting. We urged our politicians to prevent cuts to our professional component unless the reduction is based on the data, analysis, and conclusions of a transparent study completed by an expert panel of physician members from a national medical specialty society experienced in the field of diagnostic imaging services. H.R. 3269 mandates the completion of such a study prior to imposing a future MPPR. Any attempts to apply an MPPR to the professional component of select advanced diagnostic imaging services must recognize that comprehensive data compiled and published by the ACR indicates that professional component efficiencies vary across modalities and range from a minimum of 2.96% for CT to a maximum of 5.45% for Ultrasound.

Lori A. Deitte, M.D., FACR
President, Florida Radiological Society
deittl@radiology.ufl.edu

Laura Bancroft, M.D.
Secretary, Florida Radiological Society
Laura.Bancroft.MD@flhosp.org

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FRBMA President’s Message
Annual Meeting and Chapter Leadership Conference (AMCLC) re-cap.

This past week I attended the 89th AMCLC in Washington, D.C.

Hot Topics included, Best Practice Guidelines, Radiation Safety, CTC coverage, and last but not least HR 3269 and S. 2347.

Best Practice Guidelines is a White Paper which was created in a joint effort by American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) to curb the restrictive, burdensome obstacle which both the patient and the Imaging Community endures on a day to day basis from the Radiology Business Managers (RBMs). The Paper addresses the problems and steerage of care some patients ultimately endure. “The ACR and the RBMA believe that alternative processes, including order entry decision support and referring physician education, can provide a similar or greater economic and quality impact without the administrative complexities and economic burdens created by many of the RBMPs in place today.”

Radiation Safety”: The” American College of Radiology (ACR)” is urging patients and providers to visit “Radiology Safety”. The effort encourages Patients to keep a record of their X-ray history and what questions they should ask their physician before undergoing a scan: 

  • Why do I need this exam?
  • How will having this exam improve my health care?
  • Are there alternatives that do not use radiation which are equally as good?
  • Is this facility ACR accredited
  • Is my child receiving a “kid-size” radiation dose (for pediatric exams)?

Radiologists are one of the few health care providers in the medical community which are promoting efficiencies in healthcare. In addition ACR is encouraging members of the Imaging Community to become members of the Image Gently and Image Wisely campaigns.

On Capitol Hill day which was at the conclusion of the conference we went to the hill and met with Susie Ahn who is Senator Bill Nelson’s (D) Health Counsel and Sally Canfield who is Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy for Senator Marco Rubio.

The Florida Radiologists who represented the Florida Radiological Society lobbied on two issues:

Computerized Tomography Colonoscopy (CTC): This effort was driven by the lack of colorectal cancer screening in the much needed screening population of Medicare enrollees. Currently the “screening rates for colorectal cancer are just below 60%”. There are several factors of the poor screening rates, but with CTC being less invasive, and not requiring anesthesiology as well as being equally effective; “adding Medicare coverage of CTC could prevent unnecessary deaths”. The one page brief we handed the Members of Congress stated, if Medicare were to cover CTC screening as an option then CTC “would potentially close or eliminate the gap in colorectal cancer screening between whites and minority populations by providing a vital screening option that is less invasive.”

House Rule (HR) 3269 now has a Senate Bill S. 2347 which is gathering support, “This legislation prevents CMS from implementing this reduction until an expert panel convened by the Institute of Medicine conducts a study of professional component efficiencies.”

It was a blessing to work side by side with the radiologist and to participate in such a joint effort. We are a good team, and we will continue to advance our profession as we work together to a common goals of service and safety.

Sincerely serving,
Davis W. Graham
President, FRBMA
dgraham@manateediagnostic.com

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Legislative Update
The Governor has had a very busy month. He recently appointed University of South Florida faculty member John H. Armstrong as state surgeon general and secretary of the Department of Health. Armstrong, a surgeon who served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps for 17 years, is an associate professor and chief medical officer of the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation. He will start as surgeon general May 23.

Also, the Governor has signed the following bills of interest into law:

  • HB 309 by Representative Oliva relating to radiological personnel into law. This was a bill desired by the Department of Health and supported by the FRS.
  • HB 1263 by Representative Hudson, the Department of Health reorganization bill into law. This bill rewrites the Department’s mission, the role of the State Surgeon General, and called for improvements in the Division of Medical Quality Assurance, which oversees licensing and regulation of health professionals.
  • HB 5001 the 2012-2013 budget of the State of Florida was signed into law on April 17th. The state’s budget was a total of 29.9 billion dollars and he vetoed 142.7 million. 38.2 million of the vetoed money was to be spent on health and human services programs.
  • The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the latest Senate maps on April 27th so now all interested candidates know their districts.

Federal, State, and Local candidate qualifying is June 4th and closes June 8th at noon. Once qualifying closes we will know where everyone is running.

Please be prepared for a very busy election season. The Florida Primary is August 14, 2012 and the General Election is November 6, 2012.

Best to all,
Alison Dudley
FRS Lobbyist
alisondudley@dudleyandassociates.com

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Foundation President’s Message
Since the FRS was founded, a major mission of the FRS has been to educate its members, the public and the medical community. In addition, it has also encouraged Radiologist in training to attend and participate with our society in a meaningful manner.

The sad fact is that nothing in life is really free. These goals as laudable as they are require adequate funding to be successful. As we all know from our own residencies, radiology residents are not always able to attend and participate due to time and financial constraints.

It seems as though every year the FRS board along with the FRMBA scrambles to enlist individual and corporate support for these goals.

With regard to funding, as an incentive, the idea was promoted by members of the FRS board to create a tax deductable FRS Educational Foundation which would at the least provide a tax deductable means of supporting these goals. That brings me to this announcement, which I am happy to convey, that within the last quarter of 2011, the FRS has created The FRS Educational Foundation which was incorporated with this mission statement.

“The FRS Educational Foundation is an organization that shall be operated exclusively for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes that comply with the Articles of Incorporation. The Foundation’s proposed activities will include: providing educational scholarships and grants to individuals for the purpose of paying their tuition and related educational expenses, educating the public and medical community of advances in radiology science and medicine through sponsoring distinguished speakers and funding radiology research, and the general promotion and advancement of the medical practice and science of radiology.”

Our founding board members are:

FRS Educational Foundation Executive Board
President- Richard Benator, M.D., FACR

Vice President- Phil Cook, M.D., FACR
Secretary- Gregg Baran, M.D., FACR
Treasurer- Doug Hornsby, M.D.

Public FRS Educational Foundation Board Members
Davis Graham
Jeff Younger, MHA, FACHE

Scholarship & Grant Committee
Dan Singer, M.D., FACR
Jeff Younger, MHA, FACHE
Todd Kumm, M.D.

Our FRS Foundation is now open for business and we respectfully ask that you consider a donation to this fund. You may make a donation directly from this link https://www.flrad.org/frs-foundation/. Should you have a question or comment, please do not hesitate to contact us. You are encouraged to talk with us directly or by calling 813-806-1070 and our FRS liaison will forward your message to us.

I look forward to seeing your name or corporation on our donor’s list.

Richard Benator, M.D., FACR
Foundation President

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2012 AMCLC – “Best R/F Section Award”
Beginning in 2010, the ACR-RFS began honoring state RFS chapters for their contributions to the College. Each year, two awards are given at the AMCLC. One is given to honor the first new state RFS chapter formed that year and the second is given for the most outstanding state chapter. This second award can be given to recognize many types of accomplishments, including community outreach, leadership excellence, or as in the case of this year’s awardee, outstanding commitment to the future of Radiology. At this year’s AMCLC, the outstanding RFS chapter award was given to the Florida RFS to honor their unified commitment to RADPAC.

As you may know, the Florida members in training were challenged by one of their own to increase their RADPAC contributions. As a result, 20% of residents and fellows contributed monthly to RADPAC for an entire year. The ACR-RFS executive committee is proud to honor their dedication, by awarding this year’s outstanding RFS chapter award to the Florida RFS.

Wendy Ellis, M.D.
ACR-RFS Immediate Past Chair

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2012 Annual Meeting of the FRS & FRBMA
Please join the Florida Radiological Society and the Florida Radiology Business Management Association for the 2012 Annual Meeting at The Ritz-Carlton Sarasota, FL July 20-22, 2012. The meeting will focus on “Strategies for Success in Times of Transition” and will feature lectures by faculty who are leaders in the practice of radiology. Please click here for further information. We look forward to seeing you in Sarasota!

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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.

We would like to recognize the following contributors to the FRS PAC in April: Drs, Anderson, Bajayo, L. Bancroft, J Bancroft, Bhatia, Carr, Carroll, Cavallaro, Diaz, Donatelli, Durden, Francavilla, Greditzer, Harris, Houston, Kainz, Kaji, Keller, Killius, Levine, Liu, McMullen, Middlebrooks, Parikh, N. Patel, R. Patel, S. Patel, Scales, Scherer, Schwartzberg, Sonntag, Vasher, Vihlen, Weyn and Yates.

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 as a whole. Contact Lorraine Roger at lroger@flrad.org or contact Alison Dudley at alisondudley@dudleyandassociates.com for more information.

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2012 Annual Meeting of the FRS & FRBMA
 
 
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