Support the Profession and Enhance Your Wine Skills

The Ohio Osteopathic Foundation (OOF) cordially invites you to an exciting evening of osteopathic fellowship and wonderful wine during its inaugural virtual wine tasting! 

The grapes may be old, but DOs of any age can enjoy this event! We hope you’ll join us May 13!

Registrants can select three wines from Debonne Vineyards in northeastern Ohio. Registrants will receive full bottles, so be sure to include your household in the experience. Wine options include:

• 2019 Unoaked Chardonnay
• 2019 Riesling Reserve
• 2019 Riesling Ice Wine
• 2017 Rose of Pinot Noir
• 2019 Cabernet Franc

Registration for the virtual wine tasting experience is $100 with proceeds benefiting the osteopathic family through the OOF.

Registration and more details are here.

Please note: Orders will be shipped approximately two weeks in advance of the event via UPS. Recipients must be present to accept the wine shipment. 

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A bill in the state legislature would require e-prescribing for all Schedule II drugs except in certain emergency situations. Sponsors of the bill say the legislation, HB 193, is meant to address the ongoing concerns of the state’s opioid crisis by reducing situations where individuals try to obtain Schedule II drugs from pharmacies with stolen or fraudulent prescriptions. 

Please answer the four-question survey to let us know if this bill would impact your practice.

Governor, Legislators Collide Over Health Order Bill

As expected, Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed SB 22 on Tuesday, saying the bill “jeopardizes the safety of every Ohioan.” Also as expected, the Ohio legislature voted to override the veto the next day to allow them to rescind health orders. Over the last year DeWine and Republican leaders in the Ohio General Assembly have clashed over state health orders issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

DeWine’s five-page veto message can be read here.

SB 22 limits a state of emergency to 90 days, gives lawmakers authority to cancel any health orders that last longer than 30 days, requires the governor’s office to renew them in 60-day intervals, and creates a legislative panel to oversee the process.

The OOA urged opposition to the bill earlier this month when state legislators debated it during committee meetings and encouraged further discussion regarding the delicate balance between public health officials and the legislature in times of emergency. The OOA also lent support for DeWine’s veto, joining five other health/medical associations in an open letter. It reads in part:

Our state is making meaningful progress daily as we proceed with the rollout of vaccinations, but the pandemic is not over yet. Vigilance and careful steps are key in the path to Ohio’s pandemic recovery, and the medical community is seriously concerned about the implications SB 22 would have upon the health and safety of Ohioans. Thirty other organizations also voiced support for the veto.

The override passed both chambers on mostly a party line vote, 23-10 in the Senate and 62-35 in the House. With the override, the bill is now set to take effect in 90 days, though legal challenges are expected.

Legislative Update

HB 41 received sponsor testimony in the Senate Health Committee this week after receiving 93-1 approval by the House of Representatives earlier this month. The bill exempts certain mental health care providers’ residential and familial information from disclosure under the Public Records Law. 

HB 120 was passed by the House of Representatives yesterday. The bill permits compassionate care visits in long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 state of emergency, establishes criteria for those visits, and declares an emergency which would make it effective immediately if the Governor signs it. The bill now moves to the Ohio Senate for consideration.

At the federal level, the OOA joined 40+ organizations to send a letter to Congressional leaders to express strong support for the passage of the bipartisan Medicare Sequester COVID Moratorium Act (HR 315), to avert the 2% mandatory sequestration cuts to physician payments during the public health emergency. The letter also asks that Congress act to ensure that any Medicare cuts relating to statutory ‘Pay-As-You-Go’ (PAYGO) requirements be prevented.

Congress temporarily suspended the 2 percent sequestration cut to Medicare payment at the end of 2020. However, absent further action, these cuts to physician payment are scheduled to resume after March 31.

Vaccine Update

Currently, Ohioans age 40 or older are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Eligibility will drop to anyone age 16 and up beginning Monday. With parental or legal guardian consent, individuals ages 16 and 17 will be eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine, which is the only COVID-19 vaccine currently authorized for use with people under age 18.

The state is expected to receive 571,460 doses of all three vaccines next week—which would be the highest amount to date.

As of this afternoon, 15.09% of Ohioans have completed their vaccine. 

As of Wednesday, more than 46,000 people have been vaccinated at the state-federal mass vaccination clinic at Cleveland State University. Next week will be the final segment of first dose vaccines. Second doses will begin there April 6.

Next week, Ohio will open 11 stationary mass vaccination sites and four mobile clinics that will travel throughout specific regions of the state. The stationary mass vaccination sites will be held at:

• Knights of Columbus, Lima
• Lucas County Rec Center, Maumee
• Dayton-Montgomery County Convention Center, Dayton
• Celeste Center, Columbus
• Summit County Fairgrounds, Akron
• The site of the former Dillard’s at Southern Park Mall, Youngstown
• Cintas Center, Cincinnati
• Wilmington Airpark, Wilmington
• Adena Medical Education Center, Chillicothe
• Wayne Street Medical Campus, Marietta
• Colony Square Mall, Zanesville

Additionally, an Ohio Northern University mobile clinic will start next week and travel between Wyandot, Marion, Union, Logan, Crawford and Hardin counties. The Ohio University Mobile Clinic will travel between Lawrence, Meigs, Vinton, Washington, Morgan and Perry counties. 

At his COVID-19 briefing yesterday, Gov. Mike DeWine called out the nursing homes and assisted living facilities that he said have not indicated their willingness to participate in the Vaccine Maintenance Program or how they would make vaccinations available to their residents and staff. The program is to ensure new residents and employees, and established residents and employees who previously decided not to receive a vaccine, can still choose to receive one. 

ODH has updated orders related to assisted living facilities and nursing homes. The general visitation requirements remain the same, including the requirement that visitors schedule appointments in advance, are screened at the door, and wear masks. Changes to the orders include:

• Ohio is requiring that visitation be permitted whenever safety protocols can be met. Previously, visitation was permitted, not required.
• Vaccinated residents may have physical touch with their visitor while wearing a mask.
• Visits may occur in a resident’s private room, as opposed to the previous requirement of a separate visitation area.
• 30 minutes should serve as the minimum amount of time for a visit. Previously, 30 minutes was the maximum time to visit.
• The order expands the circumstances in which compassionate care visits should be granted.

In addition, the order requires nursing home and assisted living facilities to test vaccinated staff once per week and unvaccinated staff twice per week. The previous order made no distinction between vaccinated or unvaccinated staff.

Case Rate Increases after Weeks of Decline

After consistent decline, Ohio’s COVID-19 case rate increased slightly to 146.9 cases per 100,000 yesterday. It is the first increase since mid-January.

Gov. Mike DeWine said this week’s case rate is still very high. “It’s certainly a lot lower than it was in December when we were hitting our peak,” he said. “We just have to continue to work on this. And again, it’s the defense—wearing a mask and it’s the offense—vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate.”

DeWine previously announced statewide health orders will be lifted when the case rate is sustained at 50 cases per 100,000. The health orders include mask mandates and limits on the number of people in restaurants and entertainment venues.

Ohio was last below 50 cases per 100,000 at the end of June, climbing to a summer high of 114 per 100,000 the third week of July. The rate increased as high as 845.5 per 100,000 in mid-December, before beginning to drop sharply.

Cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, also known as the UK variant, is now in 29 Ohio counties. As of Monday there were 173 variant cases. Two weeks ago the total variant count was 32 cases.

This week’s Public Health Advisory System shows declining rates of COVID-19 exposure and spread in ten counties. Six counties dropped from Alert Level 3 to Alert Level 2: Brown, Columbiana, Coshocton, Fulton, Lawrence, and Logan. Two counties, Holmes and Van Wert, dropped to Alert Level 1. 

SMBO News

Last year, the State Medical Board of Ohio suspended enforcement of continuing medical education requirements for licenses that were due to expire before March 1, 2021. While enforcement was suspended, the legal requirement to complete the required CME still existed. The board-ordered suspension of enforcement has now expired and licensees are now subject to audit for compliance with continuing education requirements.

If you’re looking for on-demand courses, check out www.docme.org for hundreds of programs. OOA members receive a discount on lectures produced by the OOA. Use the discount code OOAFamily for 35% off the list price! 

SMBO is currently seeking subject matter experts in family medicine, internal medicine and pain management. The board contracts with qualified medical experts for quality of care reviews. Potential experts should have a clinical practice within Ohio and be board-certified for a minimum of five years. If interested, contact donald.davis@med.ohio.gov and send your CV.

Physicians who have licenses set to expire during the COVID-19 state of emergency (March 9, 2020 – April 1, 2021) now have until July 1, 2021, to renew their license. Currently, there are 1,159 DOs that had their licenses extended to July 1 that need to renew. Whether you renew now or at a later date, your next license renewal date will not change.

ICYMI...
Tell Us Where You Matched

Congratulations to all who matched last week. Be sure to let us know where you're headed! Use this form to update the OOA with your training institution and specialty.

A total of 6,327 osteopathic medical students and 270 past DO graduates matched into postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) residency positions through the 2021 National Resident Matching Program Match. That is a net increase of 359 DO students from the prior year.

Of the expanded applicant pool, a total of 89.1% of the 7,101 (a 7.9% increase from last year) DO students matched into residency programs in 39 specialties, which represents a modest increase in specialty areas, compared to last year's first combined Match.

Final placement numbers, including residencies secured through the NRMP’s Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP), will not be available until May, but the percentage of secured residencies is expected to align with the 99% rate reported in 2020.

The specialty breakdown is consistent with the osteopathic profession’s historic emphasis on careers in primary care, with 55.8% choosing family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and combined primary care residencies.