Ohio Discontinues Use of COVID Heat Map

Yesterday, Ohio Department of Health Director Stephanie McCloud announced the cancellation, effective immediately, of the Ohio Public Health Advisory System, the color-coded statewide alert system. The map was launched in July 2020 to assess the degree of COVID-19 spread by county and provide data to help guide individuals, businesses, schools, communities, local governments, and others in their response and actions during the pandemic.

McCloud said as cases decline and vaccinations increase, this data is no longer the best measure of Ohio’s current status. ODH will continue to share COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths, current trends, key metrics, and vaccination data daily at www.coronavirus.ohio.gov.

The last county map showing the incidence levels was published on May 20.

Additionally, most restrictions will lift statewide in Ohio, including capacity limits and masking, on June 2.

Vaccine Rates Jump, Cases Continue to Drop

A chance to win a $1 million prize has helped boost Ohio’s COVID-19 vaccination rate by 45%, Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday. The state continues to see increased uptake of the vaccine following the announcement of the Ohio Vax-a-Million promotion. From May 14 through May 19 as compared to May 7 through May 12, vaccinations in Ohio increased 94 percent among those 16 and 17 years old, 46 percent among those 18 and 19 years old, and 55 percent among those between 20 and 49 years old.

As of Monday, 2,758,470 Ohioans had registered for the $1 million Vax-a-Million drawing and 104,386 young Ohioans registered for the scholarship drawings. Ohio’s first Vax-a-Million drawing was held this week, on Wednesday.

As of the morning, 44.9% of Ohioans have started the vaccination process. Delaware County continues to have the highest percentage of vaccinated residents at 58.33% and Holmes County the lowest at 14.62%.

DeWine called on managed care companies to continue efforts to increase vaccine uptake among Ohio Medicaid beneficiaries. Currently, the vaccine uptake among Medicaid beneficiaries is 22 percent as compared to a 45 percent uptake among Ohioans overall. He initially challenged managed care plans to implement new efforts earlier this month, and since then, new efforts include:

• Partnering with pharmacies and providing incentives, such as gift cards, to those on Medicaid who are vaccinated at a pharmacy.
• Incentivizing pharmacists to counsel those picking up prescriptions about vaccinations.
• Working with local health departments, community providers, and faith-based initiatives to help spread the word about vaccination events to those on Medicaid.
• Providing staff to help run vaccination events when needed and providing transportation to make sure people can get to and from the vaccination locations.
• Tailoring strategies to meet people where they are, such as identifying individuals who can’t leave their homes and working with providers to go to these locations to administer vaccinations.
• Working with providers to help them create vaccine opportunities outside of normal business hours.

The Ohio Department of Medicaid is hosting a virtual roundtable to discuss collaborative efforts to increase vaccination rates for people covered by Medicaid. The one-hour event is June 2 at 5:00 pm. Physicians or practice managers interested in participating should contact OOA Executive Director Matt Harney at mattharney@OhioDO.org.

At his briefing on Monday, DeWine also clarified information about isolation and quarantine in regard to schools.

New daily COVID-19 cases in the state continued under 1,000 this week, with the Ohio Department of Health reporting 732 new cases and 111 additional hospitalizations. The update brings the cumulative totals to 1,100,312 coronavirus cases with 59,012 cumulative hospitalizations and 19,753 deaths.

Ohio’s COVID-19 case rate this week is at 82.3 cases per 100,000 people. Last week the reported incidence rate was 97.1 per 100,000 people, down from 119.9 the week prior. The CDC threshold for high incidence is 100 cases per 100,000 people.

State Transitions Vaccine Ordering to Providers

As COVID-19 vaccine is now widely available, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is transitioning the responsibility of ordering vaccine to individual providers. Local health departments, hospitals, federally qualified health centers, and pediatricians have made this transition. Effective Monday, June 7, all enrolled COVID-19 vaccine providers will be required to directly order COVID-19 vaccine doses each week using the Vaccine Ordering Management System (VOMS). This includes first and second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna products, as well as the single-dose Johnson & Johnson (Janssen vaccine).

Minimum order quantities:

• Pfizer two-dose vaccine: 1,170 doses (available in increments of 1,170) shipped from Pfizer. 30 doses (available in increments of 30 up to 360 doses) repackaged and shipped from the Ohio Department of Health Receipt, Store, and Stage (RSS) warehouse.
  • Coming soon Pfizer also will begin to offer shipment of 450-dose packages of its vaccine the week of May 31.
• Moderna two-dose vaccine: 100 doses (available in increments of 100) shipped from McKesson.
• Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine: 100 doses (available in increments of 100) shipped from McKesson.

As this weekly responsibility shifts, ODH is offering training and step-by-step guidance on the process, deadlines, and expectations. Training will be held June 2, June 3, or June 4. See the ODH memo for details.

At the White House-sponsored webinar yesterday, National Vaccinations Coordinator for the White House COVID-19 Response Team Bechara Choucair, MD, US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD, and Gov. Mike DeWine discussed the critical role primary care providers play in the vaccination effort.

OOA Seeks Physician Volunteer for End-of-Life Issues

The Ohio State Bar Association is convening a group of physicians, attorneys, and others to review Ohio’s Advance Directives forms. Recent changes in the law will require that these forms be updated and OSBA is beginning to plan for that.

Cleanne Cass, DO, of Dayton, has been the OOA point person on end-of-life issues for many years and worked on the original committee to produce the advance directives documents. She will continue that role but the OOA is looking for an additional member to work with her.

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

Wellness Coalition Releases New Videos

The Ohio Physician Wellness Coalition (OPWC), which represents Ohio physicians and hospitals and focuses on addressing physician burnout, launched brand new videos in its wellness video series. 

The five new videos include:

• Time Management by Jordan Allison, PsyD 
• Addiction by Nelson Heise 
• Boundaries by Dr. Doug Beech 
• Vulnerability by Nelson Heise 
• Benefits of Counseling & Therapeutic Support by Nelson Heise 

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased burnout among physicians at alarming rates!  Be sure to take care of yourself and get support for your well-being. View the videos and find other resources on the OPWC website.

State Trauma Committee Seeks Nominations

The Trauma Committee of the State Board of Emergency Medical, Fire, and Transportation Services (EMFTS) is seeking nominations for seat #6 and seat #22.

Seat #6 is designated for a physician who is certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation or American Osteopathic Board of Rehabilitation Medicine and actively provides rehabilitative care to trauma victims.

Seat #22 is designated as a representative of a hospital that is not a trauma center and actively provides emergency care to trauma patients. The nominees shall be a hospital administrator, physician, nurse or other clinical professional.

The Trauma Committee was created to advise and assist the EMFTS in all matters regarding trauma care and the Ohio Trauma System. Its membership is spelled out in Revised Code. Of note, the Director shall not appoint to the committee more than one member who is employed by or practices at the same hospital, health system, or emergency medical services organization.

The Committee generally meets every other month. Candidates should submit a CV to OOA Executive Director Matt Harney at mattharney@OhioDO.org.

Take a Quick Survey about Noncompete Agreements

A bill being considered at the Statehouse—SB 150—would ban noncompete agreements for Ohio physicians as a condition of employment. The bill would also allow current or prospective physician employees to sue an employer that violates this prohibition.

We’d like to better understand how pervasive these agreements are. Help inform our work with this short survey. Owners of physician groups, hospital administrators, and employed physicians are invited to complete the survey. It’ll only take 30 seconds, so jump right in!