by: Joan M. Grzybowski, DO
When I first assumed the role of POMA president, I was sure the duties would require my close attention and input. I was not so sure if I would be implementing a lot of change because of the vast amount of work the past presidents who had immediately preceded me (Drs. Zawisza, DiMarco, and Vermeire) had accomplished. What else could be done that was innovative? As life would have it, we are always met with unexpected challenges.
It seems the seeds these past leaders had sowed have grown into full plants and I am managing the farm by adding new varieties of product based on the needs and input of our members.
I will now try and give you a bit more detail. The quarterly Board meeting of POMA is set for February. At that meeting, we will review what we have preliminarily accomplished in our Strategic Plan regarding short term goals. We will also have some legislative training (Part 1) as an early intro lesson designed to educate and increase member interactions with legislators.
We continue to advance our legislative imprint in Harrisburg. Current political issues that affect POMA members and our citizens are being addressed by our Legislative Committee.
Our POMA scholarship recipient results should be available with some preliminary data. We plan on featuring some of these outstanding students and residents in future publications. Our bylaws will begin an overhaul, it has been a long time since they were updated. They will be reviewed with great care and detail as we head into a white-water period of change in Medicine.
I know being a physician or medical student can extract quite a toll on you. It takes long days, emotional fortitude, keen intelligence, integrity along with an understanding family and/or circle of friends giving support. To sum things up we are all working hard to make POMA a place you can use for a medical base and community support. We are striving to make your membership valuable for you and our Commonwealth. I appreciate your emails and encouragement.
“We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough.” – Helen Keller 1880-1968
by: Diana M. Ewert, MPA, CAE
Respect
“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say…” Bryant H. McGill
I’ve been writing articles for the newsletter for 19 months. I’ve received comments from time to time, but there was one particular message that stuck with me after my last article.
There are physicians and team members who have been involved with POMA for a long time. Being able to access the collective wisdom of the past is a benefit that many in my position either do away with or dismiss. That’s not how I operate. I consider it a privilege to pull from the experience and expertise of long-time leaders and staff. I solicit feedback on direction and opportunities because of the respect I have for those here before. I have pointed out – and will continue to – that POMA is extremely fortunate in its caretakers over the years.
The strategic plan the board approved requires significant and ongoing resources to implement. There are several immediate goals high in priority and must be achieved in the short-term. POMA is able to move forward with all due speed because of the skill and foresight of these committed individuals. It was their fiduciary commitment and unending desire to ensure POMA thrives, not just when they were here, but beyond their time that makes this possible. It's about the respect due to those who have made POMA what it is and see the POMA that can be. You are respected. It was not my intention to start the year by causing offense.
Thank you for the email. I listened.
Save the Date for POMA's 2019 CME Conferences!
POMA District 8 Winter Seminar · January 31-February 3 · Nemacolin Woodlands, Farmington
Register Now! Pre-registration ends January 28th. Click here to register online or download the registration form.
POMA Annual Clinical Assembly · May 1-4 · Valley Forge Convention Center, King of Prussia
Registration is OPEN!
If you have any questions, please contact Deb Cargill-Roan at (717) 939-9318 ext 170 or email [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you there!
What POMA Members Need to Know About New Facility Reporting Law
POMA staff have recently fielded questions related to Act 112 of 2018 from the membership. Act 112, the Patient Test Result Information Act was enacted on October 24, 2018. Act 112 requires a diagnostic imaging facility that has found a “significant abnormality” to share with the patient a notice that they should contact their ordering health care provider for further communication. “Significant abnormality” is defined as “a finding by diagnostic imaging service of an abnormality or anomaly which would cause a reasonably prudent person to seek additional or follow-up medical care within three months.” The Department of Health will enforce the law by making it a requirement under the facility inspection process.
POMA President, Joan Grzybowski, DO sent a letter to Dr. Rachel Levine, Secretary, Department of Health requesting more time to field questions from providers before enforcing the Act. Additionally, POMA wanted to put the Department on notice that POMA members don’t always receive the diagnostic test results in a timely manner. POMA asked the Department of Health to ensure a warm handoff from the facility to the ordering provider.
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District Dish
District 14
Technology is always changing and improving. One innovation leads to more, all in the pursuit of improving health care and decreasing pains and stresses for the patients. District 14 hosted an event to discuss these various new technologies.
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Medical Records Copying Fee 2019
Update on Pa. Act 26
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has published guidelines and fees that a health care provider or facility may charge in response to a request for production of medical charts or records. The 2019 fee amendments are effective January 1 and may be found on the Department of Health website.
READ MORE>>
Workers' Compensation Fee Update
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry has published the 2019 Workers’ Compensation Fee Schedule. Please visit the Department of Labor & Industry to learn more about the fee schedule and to download or print a copy for your office. Questions may be emailed to [email protected].
Get to Know Your Advocates!
Lorna Tabby, Past President of the Advocates of the POMA (APOMA)
Over 50 years ago, as the wife of an osteopathic physician, I felt I should support the osteopathic profession by joining groups that support the profession. I joined the Advocates for the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association at the request of another long-time member. It was the beginning of a special relationship. The women were very friendly and before long I found myself becoming increasingly active in the group. We had meetings and parties where we talked about ways to support the profession and as family members of physicians and medical students, we became a support network for each other. We also worked on ways to help the osteopathic students in whatever way we could.
A huge benefit to being an Advocate is the lifelong bonds we form with other families who are in similar positions and want to help promote the profession. I always enjoy spending time with the other osteopathic families I’ve met through my involvement at the national osteopathic conventions held across the country.
I have participated on several committees with the national organization, the AAOA. One of my roles was to secure gifts of appreciation to incoming and outgoing presidents. This was a natural position for me as I ran a small gift business and truly enjoyed it.
I have served as Director, Recording Secretary, and most recently, as President of APOMA. I have stayed involved in APOMA not just because my husband is a DO, or because of the relationships I have built, but because my son has also followed in my husband’s footsteps as a graduate of PCOM. I also introduced my daughter to the Advocates. She has served as APOMA president and now sits on the AAOA Board of Directors.
We are an osteopathic family through and through.
What Do You DO?
The POMA Newsletter is adding a new feature section starting in February. In the second edition of each monthly newsletter, we will be featuring a Pennsylvania DO, student, or resident and highlighting what they do outside the profession. So, if you or someone you know is doing something extraordinary, out of the box, or just straight up awesome outside of their professional work, we want to know about it.
You can contact Jason Leeper at [email protected] to give him details. The first story will be published in the February 22 issue of our newsletter. We look forward to hearing about what else you all DO!
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View the newsletter online!
Table of Contents...
- President's Perspective
- Executive Opinion
- Save the Date for POMA's 2019 CME Conferences
- POMA ISMIE Affinity Program
- Policy Points
- District Dish
- Medical Records Copying Fee 2019
- Workers' Compensation Fee Update
- Get to Know Your Advocates
- What Do You DO?
- POMA Communications Survey
- Former Nurses Needed
- Upcoming District Events
- Upcoming PGYP Meetings
- Classified Advertisements
- POMPAC
- OMM in Seriously Ill Patients
- Call for Clinical Writing Submissions
POMA Communications Survey
POMA is always looking for ways to improve communication with our members. In order to determine the best way to reach you, we would appreciate if you could take a few minutes to complete the following survey. This short survey is designed to let us know what methods of communicating work best for POMA's five generations of members.
Please take 5 minutes to complete this survey.
Former Nurses Needed!
Were you a nurse or nurse practitioner before you became a physician? If so, we need you!
Click here to send us an email and let us know.
Upcoming District Events
District 4 Saturday, February 23 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM 3rd Annual Mid-Winter Symposium Courtyard Scranton Wilkes-Barre Scranton, PA
District 4 Saturday, March 16 7:05 PM A Night of Hockey Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza Wilkes-Barre, PA
District 5 Thursday, February 21 6:30 PM The First Post Restaurant York, PA
Districts 9 & 12 Saturday, February 2 12:30 PM Nemacolin Woodlands Resort Farmington, PA
District 11 Wednesday, February 20 6:30 PM Oak Hill Inn Orwigsburg, PA
District 11 Saturday, March 30 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM Spring Schuylkill CME Event Lehigh Valley Hospital Pottsville, PA
Upcoming PGYP Meetings
Location TBD
Interested in joining us for the PGYP Meetings?
Contact Tammy Keller at [email protected] or (717) 939-9318 ext. 130 to RSVP.
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
Please address all correspondence for POMA Box Letters to: c/o POMA, 1330 Eisenhower Boulevard, Harrisburg, PA 17111-2395.
PHYSICIANS WANTED:
ATTENTION DOs! MD AT HOME, Inc., is in need of a part-time doctor (great for retired doctors) one to two days a week making home visits to the elderly and the disabled that are homebound. Chauffeured by a medical assistant in a company vehicle to scheduled appointments. Email [email protected] for more information.
OPPORTUNITY — PHYSICIAN POSITIONS AVAILABLE: Media and Lancaster. Flexible hours, private practice, 3-4 hour shifts, no on-call, malpractice insurance needed. For more information, please contact us at [email protected] or call 610-566-8885
PRACTICES WANTED: Retiring physicians, part-time or full-time practices, call 215-669-4001.
CLASSIFIED AD RATES — Per insertion —
Member Ads*: $10 for the first 20 words, $.25 for each additional word. $2 each for special services: box letter, all caps or all bold type, boxing an ad in.
Non-member Ads: (Payment must be received in advance.) $50 for the first 20 words, .50 each additional word. $5 for each special service (listed above).
*Please Note: Member ad rate to be used only by POMA members and only for their medicine- or practice-related ads. Charges for other types of members’ ads will be calculated using the non-member ad rate.
POMA does not take a position of endorsing any organizations, individuals or services whose classified advertisements appear in this publication. The POMA Newsletter reserves the right to select and edit all advertisements submitted.
Follow POMA on social media for all the latest news!
IS The Collective Voice of the Osteopathic Profession
Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Political Action Committee
Send your personal check today to POMPAC in care of the Central Office, 1330 Eisenhower Boulevard, Harrisburg, PA 17111-2395, or charge your contribution to your VISA or MasterCard! PAC contributions are not tax-deductible.
Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine in Seriously Ill Patients
Dear Physicians,
Please participate in a 5 minute research study called "Use of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) in Seriously Ill Patients". This study is designed to identify and quantify trends in physician use of OMM. To participate in this survey, click the link below.
Survey link
Call for Clinical Writing Submissions
The 45th Annual POMA Clinical Writing Contest is NOW OPEN! Winners will be announced during the 2019 POMA Clinical Assembly, May 1-4 in King of Prussia.
The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2019. Click here for contest rules/regulations and to access the online submission form.
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