Phase 1B Vaccinations Announced

As COVID-19 vaccinations are underway for Phase 1A, Gov. Mike DeWine announced this week that Phase 1B distribution includes Ohioans age 65 and older; those living with severe congenital, developmental, or early-onset medical disorders; and adults working in Ohio schools. He said these groups were chosen with two goals: to save lives and for schools to be fully open by March 1. The logistics and timeframe for Phase 1B are still developing.

Ohioans age 65+ make up 86.8% of COVID-19 deaths in the state.

About 180 hospitals and local health departments received the first shipments of the Moderna vaccine this week. Physicians who are not employed by a hospital may contact their local health department to ask about coordinating vaccination for themselves and eligible staff when available. According to the vaccination dashboard 11,700 have received their first shot as of this morning.

There are now over 1,100 providers enrolled in the vaccination program, including 217 hospitals, 357 pharmacies, and 114 FQHCs among others. As vaccines continue to come to Ohio, Cardinal Health will provide same-day delivery services. Once the vaccine is widely available, this partnership will allow Ohio to ship the vaccine to approximately 350 locations across the state.  

Ohio Reaches Grim Milestone

On Saturday, Ohio surpassed 8,000 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths. There was some good news though this week: Ohio avoided a Thanksgiving surge. At a briefing on Monday, Gov. Mike DeWine said data shows Ohioans greatly reduced their travel and contacts with others over Thanksgiving.

There are now two new maps from the Ohio Department of Health to track the spread. One measures cases per capita over time. The time-lapse map is based on the list of high incidence counties and indicates the levels of spread from week to week. The other shows each Hospital Preparedness Region and what percent of the overall ICU patient population are COVID patients. At the beginning of August, it was about 12% statewide, or 1 in 8 patients in the ICU was a COVID patient. Currently, we are at 31%.

Both maps will be updated weekly on Thursdays at coronavirus.ohio.gov.

#ThisIsOurShot

As the public health saying goes, vaccines don’t save lives, vaccinations do.

Since physicians are among the most trusted voices when it comes to information about COVID-19, you play an important role to combat vaccine hesitancy. Leading by example is one way. Send us your vaccination photo and we’ll share it on OOA social media accounts. Email your picture to cmarkino@OhioDO.org.

Help us educate Ohioans about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Medical Marijuana News, CTR On-Demand Course

The State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy recently released patient and caregiver statistics for the Medical Marijuana Control Program. The numbers for the month of November include:

• 204,114 recommendations
• 154,376 registered patients, including 10,598 with veteran status and 832 patients with a terminal diagnosis
• 131,398 unique patients who purchased medical marijuana (as reported to OARRS by licensed dispensaries)

The State Medical Board of Ohio recently approved 14 new certificate to recommend (CTR) applications, bringing the total number of active certified physicians to 672.

To apply for a CTR application, physicians must complete a two-hour certified course—which the OOA offers online. OOA members receive a discounted registration fee of $175. Upon registering, you will receive an automated receipt and email with a link to the video program to view at your convenience. 

Ohio has 52 operational dispensaries where a patient with a recommendation may purchase their medical marijuana product.

The submission period for petitions to add a qualifying medical condition to the Medical Marijuana Control Program ends December 31. Petitions can be filed electronically through the state's website.

For more information, see the latest Ohio CTR Physicians newsletter.

DeWine Signs Health Bills

Gov. Mike DeWine signed two health care bills into law this week, both of which become effective March 20, 2021:

• HB 412 creates the Rare Disease Advisory Council. The bill-signing is available to view online.
• SB 252 prohibits the use of “fail first” drug coverage policies for stage four advanced metastatic cancer patients.

The OOA supported both measures.

In other legislative news, the Senate adjourned Tuesday, likely its last session day of the year, without overriding DeWine’s veto of SB 311. That bill, vetoed on September 24, curbs gubernatorial authority to issue quarantines and stay at home orders.

Senators gave final approval to HB 388 surprise medical billing,that creates a multi-step process for negotiating out-of-network payments. The medical profession, insurance industry, and lawmakers have been working on the issue for more than a year.

Congress included balance billing protections in the coronavirus relief package passed this week. Thirty-two states have enacted legislation addressing the issue.

New Effort to Keep PBMs Accountable

The OOA joined a new campaign to address the state’s drug pricing process. The PBM Accountability Project of Ohio aims to improve understanding of the pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) process for determining the cost of medicines and identify solutions to help redirect savings to patients, employee health plans, and state taxpayers.

The campaign will educate lawmakers and stakeholders about the impact of rising out-of-pocket costs to patients and serve as a platform to discuss effective solutions to redirect the PBMs prescription drug savings.

Other members include the Academy of Medicine of Cleveland and Northern Ohio, Charitable Healthcare Network of Ohio, Easterseals of Central and Southeast Ohio, Mental Health America of Ohio, National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio, Ohio Bleeding Disorders Council, Ohio Hematology Oncology Society, Ohio Pharmacists Association, Ohio Psychological Association, Ohio Sickle Cell and Health Association, and the Ohio State Grange.

To learn more, visit pbmaccountabilityoh.org.

ODM Seeks Physicians for New Credentialing Committee

The Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) is establishing a centralized credentialing program that will launch in early 2021. For Medicaid providers, this will significantly reduce the administrative burden of the current process where they must credential separately for each managed care organization (MCO) in order to be a contracted network provider. Once ODM launches the centralized credentialing initiative, all providers will come through ODM for credentialing and will not be engaging in separate processes with each MCO.

At this time ODM is identifying individual health care providers to serve on the Credentialing Committee. They are specifically looking for a general surgeon, psychiatrist, substance use disorder practitioner, and pain management physician. Requirements and required submission materials are here.

If interested, contact Executive Director Matt Harney at mattharney@OhioDO.org.

Make Your Year-End Donation

As you prepare your end-of-year giving, don’t forget the Ohio Osteopathic Foundation, the OOA’s charitable arm.

Since its founding in 1963, the OOF has served the profession in many ways: scholarships and student support, educational activities, leadership development in health policy, public awareness, osteopathic research and education. These initiatives require considerable resources and we cannot do this work without your support!

Make your tax-deductible donation online. The CARES Act provides an additional deduction of up to $300 for donations to a charitable organization. To receive it, make your donation by December 31 and file the standard deduction on your 2020 taxes. No contribution is too great or small!

Volunteer and DO Your Part

There are several ways to become involved with the OOA. These are a few of the short and long-term opportunities related to education. Sign up at the OOA website.

Education Committee. Help develop continuing medical education programs for your fellow physicians. The OOA strives to deliver well-constructed education programs that offer clinically relevant, innovative, and timely information that physicians can immediately put to use in their practice.

CME Presenter. Your patient-centered expertise underscores the osteopathic approach to wellness. Share your knowledge with your peers. Register your interest in serving as a lecturer at a CME seminar.

CME Questionnaire. Take a few minutes to tell us about emerging medical topics and issues you’d like to learn more about. What patient ailments do you see most often that could be addressed through educational programming? What treatment modalities would you like to have covered at a CME event?

Call for Abstracts

Abstracts for the 2021 Ohio Osteopathic Symposium Virtual Research Competition are now being accepted.

The annual contest will be structured very differently from prior competitions so please review the guidelines and process carefully prior to submitting an abstract. For example, there is only one category: biomedical/clinical research. There’s still a cash prize for the top three projects.

The deadline is January 31.