by: Lisa Witherite-Rieg, DO

"PRESENCE"

Presence (noun) pres·ence [ˈprezəns]: the state or fact of existing, occurring, or being present in a place or thing; the impressive manner or appearance of a person.

When I retired from active clinical practice and teaching a couple of years ago, I promised myself I would not look back. It was a huge part of my life, but I recognized I had an even bigger part of my life awaiting me and I didn’t want a rear-view mirror distorting my view as “objects may appear larger than they actually are”. Life can be funny like that, reflections of the past frequently do appear bigger than they actually were.

When I think back to where our association was a decade ago, I recall the grand celebrations with the black ties and sequined ball gowns, the 1,000 plus in-person attendees at the Annual Clinical Assemblies, the mystery of the closed-door meetings of the upper echelon of the POMA board and the dignitaries entertained at our presidential installation galas. Districts had pharmaceutical-sponsored dinner meetings, perhaps with a speaker. The POMA Foundation awarded a couple of scholarships annually, robed our medical students in white coats and presented them with stethoscopes. POMA has always had a presence. But, as we assess our association in the present, I appreciate a much different POMA.

Our members have never been more active in both CME and social interactions. POMA district activities have expanded to include community service, sporting events, tailgate parties, dinners, and wellness programs in addition to CME events. Support to our students continues with monthly calls with student leadership, educational tool scholarships, and mentoring of student leaders. We are proud two of our student members have been elected to national SOMA positions. Rebecca Wolff, OMS3 is SOMA president-elect and Cassandra Holub, OMS2 is Region 1 trustee-elect. The next generation of POMA members are certainly demonstrating their presence.

We continue to explore ways to engage our osteopathic residents. Leadership visits to residency programs, $500 grants to 31 residency programs for their wellness activities, and a designated task force to improve our outreach has allowed us to increase our resident membership over the past year. It’s a start! Being present and relevant to all of our members is our goal.

Our presence at the Capitol is a positive force. Through our advocacy and communication with our lawmakers, Senate Bill 225 (the Prior Authorization Bill) was unanimously approved and signed into law (Act 146) by Governor Wolf. POMA was there, in a big way. Our expertise and input is actively sought after by our legislature. POMA is an active contributor to the review of the Department of Health’s Crisis Standards of Care. Being present is getting noticed.

I am proud to say that our POMA Foundation has approved $130,000 in grants for the benefit of our communities, including encouraging initial osteopathic board certification of Pennsylvania family medicine residents, funding new chapters of the student charitable organization, D.O. More, and providing mobile care to our most vulnerable patients in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia through support of Penns Rock Restore, Inc. We are not only present, we are making a difference!

As we enter into the darker days of the winter months, I hope you and your families are able to enjoy this “season of light” and be truly present in the joyful moments. As the calendar changes, let’s look forward to an amazing year ahead. I can’t wait to see what more we can DO! Speaking of an amazing 2023… registration is open for District 8 Winter Conference at Seven Springs and the Annual Clinical Assembly at Kalahari…… YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUESTED!

by: Diana Ewert

Believe

I have this word in my office in red script. Believe. Its not a pithy quote. It doesn’t call you to action. It doesn’t tell you what to do or where to go or what to give. Believe. It can mean a million different things to a million different people. As we move towards the end of 2022 with 2023 on the horizon, here are a few of my thoughts to end the year.

Believe. Believe in yourselves and the osteopathic profession. There’s been challenges, there are challenges and there always will be something challenging you in the future. Believe in the good, true, empathetic care you give.
Believe. Believe in the education you receive that supports the care you give.
Believe. Believe in the osteopathic family. Have faith. It sometimes feels we are underneath a tidal wave of change that we have no control over. The osteopathic profession will never lose sight that we are a family. Grab each other’s hands and hold fast. The wave will pass, and you will rise.
Believe. Believe in each other. You are the touch points, the mentors, the seekers. You are the hands on the patients. Share your experience and expertise. Find the health in people.
Believe. Believe in your leaders. They believe in the osteopathic profession, what it means and what it represents.
Believe. Believe in your institutions. Your COMs, your programs, your organizations. You’re not in this alone.
Believe. Believe and remember why you became an osteopathic physician. Embrace it and hold on to it as much as you can.
Believe. Believe in yourself. Never doubt your skills or path. And when you do, remember what Christopher Robin told Pooh – You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.

May this holiday season help you believe in all that can be.

by: Andy Sandusky

What to Expect in the New Year??!!

Let's start with the good! POMA will be working with insurance companies to operationalize Act 146 of 2022, the insurance reforms on prior authorization and step therapy. Act 146 represents a large step of progress and a significant legislative victory for POMA’s membership and all Osteopathic physicians and their patients. The design of the new law is to alleviate the time spent on guesswork by POMA members trying to obtain coverage for the treatment for the medically necessary care Osteopathic physicians know their patients need. One of our most precious commodities is time, especially for physicians. How much would 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or 1 hour of time not doing administrative work be worth to you as an Osteopathic physician? Probably impossible to define. But if this type of time savings can be realized, the value POMA members can place on it, will also be incalculable, in a good way.

Now for the bad. Beginning in January, trial lawyers will have the unfettered charge to file medical liability lawsuits in any county as long as there is some sliver of connection to the physician. This will be an effort to find a jury that will award outsized payouts. Medical liability insurance carriers have testified they will need raise their rates in order to cover the expected higher liability costs. POMA will be considering getting politically active in the race for the State Supreme Court in the new year to change the makeup of the Court. POMA will also be seeking legislative remedies on the venue issue, but it is highly unlikely to pass in the new legislative session given the political makeup.

These are just two of the many issues POMA will be facing in the new year. Be on the lookout for POMA’s updated Government Affairs Platform document for the next legislative session. POMA’s Public Policy Compendium is also available and updated as positions on policy are made by POMA governing bodies. Its going to be another wild ride in the new year, but POMA will do everything it can to ensure Osteopathic physicians are well represented!

POMAF Resident & Student Scholarships

The 2023 POMAF Resident & Student Scholarship program is open and all osteopathic residents are encouraged to apply for one of the following resident scholarship opportunities:

• Spirit of Volunteerism
• Outstanding Advocacy
• Osteopathic Skills and Knowledge
• Diversity in Health Outreach

Descriptions of each scholarship, qualification criteria and application requirements are available here. Applications can be submitted online or mailed/emailed to POMA. The submission deadline is January 17, 2023.

The POMA Foundation is excited to support Pennsylvania's osteopathic residents and students! Please share this opportunity with other residents and apply for the scholarships today. We look forward to hearing from you!

Tea & Mindfulness Event - Registration Open

Take care of yourself by relaxing the body, refreshing the soul and educating the mind at a virtual Tea & Mindfulness event on Thursday, February 9th at 7:00 pm. The POMA Physician Wellness committee, with support from POMA Districts 2 & 7, organized this event just for you!

The event includes a tasting box with gourmet loose leaf teas, a mug and cookies. An experienced host will guide us through a mindful eating and drinking exercise and goal-setting meditation session. This event is live and interactive.

These events normally cost over $60 a person, but POMA has cut the cost for members to just $20 per physician or $10 for students. Spots are limited so RSVP today! The deadline is January 27!

District Dish

District 7

District 7 members journey to First Energy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio on Sunday, November 27th, to watch the Cleveland Browns sack Tom Brady and the Tampa Buccaneers in overtime 23-17. The members enjoy food, comradery and weather-protected suite seats courtesy of LECOM. There is no better way to watch live football. Be on the lookout for more upcoming district social and dinner events.

District 10

Philadelphia area POMA members gathered at the Blue Bell on Friday, November 18 for their regular meeting. The members discussed local happenings, state politics, research funding and CME opportunities. Furthermore, they talked about the plans for the POMA Clinical Assembly in 2023, the POMA Substance Use Disorder CME Series and attending a MLB National League Champions Philadelphia Phillies game. To complete the evening, the group enjoyed a presentation on orthopedic injections by Corey Keller, DO, Medical Director Temple Athletics. New events are in the works for January so watch your email for more information in the new year!

by: Joseph M.P. Zawisza, DO

What Are We DOing?

Recently, I had a patient encounter go differently than the way I wanted. The patient is fine now, and it was not the fault of myself or the patient or her parents. Rather the problem was with the physicians, and more specifically, the protocols of the health systems they work for. In short, the patient had an abnormal exam, abnormal vitals, and diagnostic studies that I had done in the office that all supported the suspected (and later confirmed) serious diagnosis and just how sick she was. It was clear to me that she needed admission to the hospital quickly. It was even clear to the physicians at the two health systems that I called to try to get her admitted that that was the level of care she needed based on the labs alone. But because they couldn’t see this information in their EMR system, they declined to admit her directly and instead directed that she should go to the local ER even though they would immediately transfer her once she was stabilized, which I had already ensured she was. The reasoning: that’s how we do things. And so, the patient sat in the local ER waiting room for nearly three hours before being seen and then quickly being transferred to a higher level of care facility. A direct admission by either of these facilities would have had her receiving care within an hour.

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Written by Samuel J. Garloff DO

We're Number (Seventy) One!

That bastion of educational knowledge, US News & World Report, has done it again! Whoo-hoo! The rankings are out! Best colleges! Best medical schools! Best legal schools! Best party schools! Best Future Farmers of America schools! Well, ok, maybe not.

Ugh. Really? I have to laugh. Hysterically. It’s time we responded with a unified “who cares”? I have a BS from a school no one ever heard of; Mansfield State College, renamed Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, renamed Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, and an MS from a school consistently ranked in the top 10 or 20 worldwide, The Johns Hopkins University, (Homewood Campus, thank you very much). The difference between the two is that no one has ever heard of lacrosse at Mansfield. Go Blue Jays! (Or not).

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View the
newsletter online!

From all of us at POMA, we wish you happiness this holiday season and throughout the coming year!

Table of Contents...

1. President's Perspective
2. Executive Opinion
3. Policy Points
4. POMA Clinical Assembly 2023 - Register Now
5. POMAF Resident & Student Scholarships 
6. Tea & Mindfulness Event
7. District Dish
8. POMA District 8 Winter Seminar - Registration Open
9. How Are You DOing?
10. Another Voice
11. Upcoming District Events
12. COVID-19 News Update
13. Welcome New Members
14. Classified Ads
15. Under the DOme
16. POMPAC
17. Follow POMA on Social Media
18. District Competition
19. Check Out the POMA DOes... Podcast
20. Facts on Vax

POMPAC is the collective
voice of the osteopathic profession in Pennsylvania.

Send your personal check to POMPAC c/o POMA, 1330 Eisenhower Blvd., Harrisburg, PA 17111, or charge your contribution to your credit card!

PAC contributions are not tax-deductible.

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Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association | 1330 Eisenhower Blvd., Harrisburg, PA 17111
(717) 939-9318 | www.poma.org