OSTEOFACTS | OOA Member Looks at Humor in Medicine

January 20, 2023

	Laughter is the Best Medicine You won’t want to miss the next Mindfulness Monday, February 13, when Edward E. Hosbach II, DO, discusses Humor In Medicine. He’ll follow that with a bit of his own stand-up comedy. Dr. Hosbach, a family physician from Coldwater, serves on the OOA Executive Committee as Treasurer. Mindfulness Mondays is a free online program exclusively for OOA members to focus on acts of self-care. There is no CME offered. Sessions are held at 7pm on the second Monday of the month via Zoom. Register here for Humor In Medicine on February 13.
	Who Represents You? Do You Know Them? As the new Ohio General Assembly begins, it’s a good time to check on your state legislators. Do you know who they are? Find your state senator and state representative on the OOA website. You can even send a short message wishing them luck for the 135th General Assembly and offering yourself and the OOA as a resource. If you have a relationship with your State Representative or State Senator, please let us know. Simply reply to this email with the lawmaker’s name and how you know them. These community connections often mean the difference between success or failure on an issue. If you’re interested in getting involved with health policy, now is the time! We’re continually seeking physicians with special knowledge, experience, or interest regarding insurance, Medicaid, scope of practice, reimbursement, rural health, and pharmacology among other topics. Your participation could include testimony at the Statehouse, interested party meetings, legislation review, or media engagement. Register your interest here to be a Special Advocate.
	Nominations are Open OOA awards recognize individuals who have made a significant contribution to the osteopathic profession and/or their communities. Please take a few minutes to consider nominating yourself or a colleague for an OOA award. The Distinguished Service Award is the OOA’s highest honor. Recipients are recognized for their outstanding accomplishments in personal, scientific, and professional affairs, especially in service to the osteopathic profession in Ohio. The nominee must be a long-standing member of their local academy, the OOA and the AOA and not currently serving as an elected officer/trustee of the OOA. The Meritorious Service Award is given to an individual who is not an osteopathic physician in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in scientific, philanthropic, or other fields of public service. The M. Bridget Wagner, DO, Humanitarian Award recognizes an osteopathic physician or individual associated with the osteopathic profession for acts of philanthropy and service to mankind. The Trustees Award is presented from time to time for dedicated service to the OOA. Read more about the awards and submit your nomination here. Photo: At the 2022 Symposium, OOA President Henry Wehrum, DO (right) presented the Distinguished Service Award to Geri Urse, DO.
	Help Advance Your Profession Your membership makes our work possible! Since the OOA’s founding in 1898, the top priority has remained constant: advocate for Ohio DOs and promote the distinctive practice of osteopathic medicine. Our organization is strong because of our members. Together, we can advance the osteopathic profession, the role of physicians as the leader of the health care team, and so much more. Dues invoices for 2023-2024 will be mailed soon, but you can conveniently renew online now! If you’d like us to contact someone in your office directly to help with dues processing, please email Joanne Barnhart at jbarnhart@OhioDO.org.
	The VOC Is Next Month! The VOC (Virtual Osteopathic Conference) is a live online conference, February 17-19. There are three educational tracks: Family Medicine (24 credits), Internal Medicine (16 credits), and Emergency Medicine (8 credits). You will be able to attend a maximum of 24 credits during the virtual live dates, but register for all 48 and view the remaining lectures on-demand after the event. The VOC faculty will be online during their pre-recorded session and will answer questions in real time throughout the entire presentation. In the on-demand format, attendees will see all comments made during the live presentation and will be able to email questions to content experts. This offers the maximum flexibility in what CME you take and when you take it. OOA members enjoy a discount on registration. Register today!
	Abstracts Due January 31 Abstracts are being accepted for the Research and Scholarly Activity Competition at the Ohio Osteopathic Symposium. The event will have both virtual and in-person components with cash prizes in three categories: Biomedical/Clinical Research; Social/Behavioral Medicine/Medical Education; and Case Reports. Virtual research presentations will take place in March and the poster session will occur in-person at the Symposium on Saturday, April 22. The guidelines, abstract submission form, and other information are here. The deadline is January 31. Be sure to register for the Symposium! It’s April 20-23 at the Columbus Hilton or attend virtually from your home or office. As always, your OOA membership gets you a discount on registration!
	Congress Eliminates Buprenorphine X-Waiver Requirement Just before the new year, Congress eliminated the DATA-Waiver Program with the signing of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. The elimination is intended to increase access to buprenorphine for those in need. In a letter to prescribers, the DEA said registrants should be aware of the following: A DATA-Waiver registration is no longer required to treat patients with buprenorphine for opioid use disorder. Going forward, all prescriptions for buprenorphine only require a standard DEA registration number. The previously used DATA-Waiver registration numbers are no longer needed for any prescription. There are no longer any limits or patient caps on the number of patients a prescriber may treat for opioid use disorder with buprenorphine. The Act does not impact existing state laws or regulations that may be applicable. Separately, the Act also introduced new training requirements for all prescribers. These requirements will not go into effect until June 21, 2023.
	Options for Loan Repayment Applications are open for two Ohio Department of Health loan repayment programs. Both offer payments up to $25,000 annually and have a February 15 deadline. In exchange for help with medical school loans, physicians in the Ohio Physician Loan Repayment Program commit to practice for at least two years in underserved communities. Physicians applying to OPLRP must either be in current practice or in the final year of residency or fellowship training at the time of application. If applicants have existing obligations to a government or other entity, the obligations must be met prior to beginning a loan repayment contract. The following primary care specialties are eligible: Family Practice General Internal Medicine Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Obstetrics and Gynecology General Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine Geriatrics Psychiatry (General, Child and Adolescent, Geriatric) The Ohio Substance Use Disorder Professional Loan Repayment Program aims to increase access to SUD treatment for underserved communities and populations. In exchange for loan repayment assistance, providers commit to practice for two years at an eligible site in a Health Professional Shortage Area, as well as in other high-burdened SUD areas of the state; accept Medicare and Medicaid; and see clients regardless of ability to pay. Full-time and part-time practice options are allowable, with a minimum of 50% of direct client care hours required to be spent providing SUD treatment. Get the application and more details from both programs here.
	COVID Weekly Report Ohio had a sharp drop in new COVID-19 cases over the past seven days per the Ohio Department of Health report yesterday. There were 7,961 cases compared to 10,188 last week. It is the first time since April 15, 2022, that the state has seen less than 8,000 new cases. ODH reported 434 hospitalizations—a decrease from last week’s 646 and 709 the week prior. However, deaths increased slightly, 110 died from the virus compared to 106 last week. According to the latest CDC map, only one Ohio county, Lawrence, has high COVID community levels. The majority of counties are green and yellow for low and medium levels.