by: Gene M. Battistella, DO

I hope that you and each of your families are doing well and staying safe amongst all that is going on in our world presently. Our State, Our Nation and Our World have been affected quite dramatically by recent events of civil unrest and during these difficult times, we at the POMA acknowledge our role as healers to assist in any and every way to treat those affected, whether it be physically or emotionally and have earlier this month issued a public statement, some of which I have provided below (the entirety of the statement can be found on the POMA website and other POMA social media platforms).

“As Osteopathic Physicians, we will continue to care for our communities regardless of ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, ability or race.  POMA stands firmly against racism in any form and will continue to educate our members on unconscious bias, health care disparities and multicultural communication.  Osteopathic Medicine is built on listening, touching and the power of the body, spirit and mind to heal.  We offer our continued and unwavering commitment to all we have the privilege to care to be inclusive, compassionate, equitable and just.”

These are not just words but are the heart and foundation of our rich heritage of the POMA since its founding in 1903.  Each of us has a role as physicians, and members of society to further embrace and exemplify these ideals for the benefit of all.

Furthermore, since the emergence of the COVID pandemic and all that has been associated with it from a physical, mental, social and financial impact to our way of life, we hope that the POMA has helped with providing factual, pertinent and timely information and resources to help you, your family and your patients navigate through the endless deluge of data, not all factual, being provided by social media and other sources.  A very true statement discussed by our dedicated and resourceful POMA Staff is that “all sources are not resources.” Our COVID newsletters, presently being provided weekly on Wednesdays is presented with factual information and resources obtained from trusted and reliable sources our members deserve to better care for our patients.  These electronic newsletters will continue to be provided being mindful and nimble with changes in format, frequency and content as the ongoing circumstances with the pandemic dictate.  If any of you know of a colleague not receiving the COVID Newsletter, or any of the POMA publications including this monthly POMA Newsletter or the Under The DOme monthly newsletter on legislative and public affairs pertinent to us and our patients, please direct them to the POMA Central Office so we can provide this information to them for their benefit.

Take care, be safe and continue to “live each day as an example of what an Osteopathic Physician should be” as recited in our Osteopathic Pledge of Commitment.”

by: Diana Ewert

“Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." - Marie Curie

Osteopathic medicine is a community. How students learn to engage in the treatment of the mind, body and spirit by looking at the person as whole. Listening, with empathy, for outside influences impacting the person.  There are two pandemics we are dealing with in 2020, impacting the health and well-being of all communities. COVID-19 and racism. And both are insidious in their manifestation. “Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”  

Is the way we address them so different? People go about their daily routines not aware they could be carriers. People fail to recognize their actions will have reactions which could result in pain, injury and death to people they love and people they don’t even know. We solve these pandemics by listening, learning, and understanding the outside influences that are impacting the individual. We solve these pandemics by finding the root cause, discovering how the disease state evolves, and how it is passed along. Then we talk about solutions. It is unfathomable to expect one pandemic that has existed a matter of months, much less one that is rooted in generations, to be resolved in a matter of months. Neither pandemic is just going to go away. Communities will be addressing the repercussions of both for decades to come.

I have great passion and respect for the osteopathic profession. It goes back to my childhood. When I was about 4, my mom took me to our family physician – William Doane, DO. I kept bruising and she wanted to know why. Dr. Doane talked to me, asked a lot of questions, talked about what I did during the day with my brothers. After we finished, he looked at my mom and said, “Diana has three older brothers she wants to keep up with who play pretty hard. Her brothers probably don’t realize they play hard. So, she bruises.”  

Much like that long ago visit to Dr. Doane, the osteopathic profession has the template for addressing these two pandemics running rampant and causing pain, and injury and death in our communities. Let’s listen. Let’s look at the conditions. Let’s look at the outside impacts. Let’s change what we do and how we do it to for our communities. Then do it again, and again, and again for as long as it takes. Let’s understand more.

State False Claims Act...Fraud Fighter? or Physician Practice Destroyer?

No one, including POMA, supports fraud, waste or abuse in any form, especially in the Medicaid program, where any fraud, waste or abuse takes money away from our most vulnerable population. Legislative efforts are underway in Pennsylvania to enact a state false claims act with the intent of beefing up the Attorney General’s policing powers to go after Medicaid fraud.  However, POMA has more questions than answers about the 38-pages of legal text of the pending legislation. As drafted, only a seasoned prosecutor, plaintiff’s counsel or defense lawyer would truly understand. what the bill requires of physicians.

House Bill 2352 was moved from the committee last week and is poised for a full vote in the House chamber in the upcoming week.  POMA’s immediate concern is to protect physician practices that make honest mistakes versus those who are gaming the system with the intent to defraud.  As currently drafted, HB 2352:

• Makes physicians liable without any proof of intent to defraud the government.
• Does not draw a bright line so that a physician practice can know what it needs to do in order to decrease their exposure to potential fraud liability when billing for care they provide to Medicaid patients. 
• Permits the Attorney General look back at a physician billing records for the past 10 years to make a case. 
• Requires for each patient billing, if deemed fraud by the Attorney General, a physician will be liable for $8,000 penalty per claim. 
• Practically requires, that before you even begin the process of defending yourself, you will need to hire an attorney out of your own pocket. 
• Provides if you lose, you will be responsible not only for your own attorney fees, but the cost of the investigation and attorney fees spent by the Attorney General. 

POMA opposes HB 2352 as it is currently drafted and is pleading with lawmakers to slow down the process and not vote on it next week. HB 2352 is supported by the trial lawyers and the Attorney General.  It is opposed by physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies.

POMAF Funds 3D Printed P100 Mask

Thanks in part to grants from the POMA Foundation and the American Osteopathic Information Association, POMA resident members James R. Latronica, DO and Steve Martin, DO have designed a 3D printed P100 respirator mask, called the Unity, and an instruction manual and video to make it. The project was initially conceived as an emergent, rapid response to the nationwide PPE shortage. View a pdf of the guide or click here watch the 30-minute video.

Drs. James Latronica and Steve Martin are residents at the Clarion (Pa.) Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program.

 POMA Dues Renewal

We all need family, especially in times like these.  POMA is your professional family and has been ceaselessly working on behalf of you and the osteopathic professional throughout the pandemic.  The impact on your professional and personal life is immeasurable.  That’s why it’s important to renew your membership today!

POMA's 2020-21 membership year begins July 1 and it's easier than ever to remain part of our osteopathic community when you Choose POMA. Call 717-939-9318 x170 or renew online today – your username is 

Thank you for all you DO and thank you for continuing to Choose POMA! 

POMA20 Certificate Update

CME certificates are now available for attendees of POMA’s 112th Annual Clinical Assembly.  Emails have been sent over the last two weeks with instructions for accessing your records.  The CME credits were also submitted to the AOA on your behalf. 

As a reminder, if you have not submitted your attestation form, please do so by July 15, 2020.

 District Dish

In early June, POMA District 5 held a first of its kind webinar for its membership.  POMA staff and its government affairs consultants provided a comprehensive update on Pennsylvania Government Affairs in the time of COVID-19.  The program objectives for POMA member participants was the following:

• Gain an understanding of the current landscape of state government under COVID-19.
• Know what advocacy issues POMA is working on that impact Osteopathic physicians and their patients.
• Understand how valuable you can be as a resource on healthcare issues with your state elected officials.

The agenda topics provided members with an in-depth analysis of the issues and power brokers on issues impacting Osteopathic physicians and their patients.  The issues covered included scope of practice, telemedicine and prior authorization reform. District member feedback was positive and POMA will look to duplicate the webinar at other district meetings.

View the
newsletter online!  

POMA continues to monitor the rapidly changing information surrounding the spread of COVID-19. Please visit www.poma.org/covid-19 for all of our updates, as well as resources we are finding to be most useful and accurate at this time.

Table of Contents...

1. President's Perspective
2. Executive Opinion
3. Policy Points
4. POMA ISMIE Affinity Program
5. POMAF Funds 3D Printed PPE Mask
6. POMA Dues Renewal
7. POMA20 Certificate Update
8. District Dish
9. SoFi
10. COVID-19 Updates
11. Under the DOme
12. Welcome New Members
13. Classified Ads Information
14. Follow POMA on Social Media
15. POMPAC
16. Upcoming CME Conferences
17. APOMA Virtual Meeting
18. Come Sail Away with APOMA

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!

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

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

PAC contributions are not tax-deductible.

Save the Date 
Upcoming CME Conferences!

POFPS Virtual CME Symposium

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the POFPS CME Symposium is transitioning this year’s in-person conference to a virtual conference and registration is OPEN.  The dates remain the same, August 7-9, and a tentative schedule is available.  Click here to register – your username is .

For more information, please visit the POFPS Symposium webpage, email [email protected] or call (717) 939-9318 x170 with any questions. 

APOMA Virtual Meeting

APOMA will hold a virtual meeting during the POFPS virtual meeting which was to take place in Hershey PA in August 2020. The exact date and time will be announced in the next newsletter. Hope to “see” you then.

Please also see our possible CME Cruise event to take place in June/July 2021. 

Come Sail Away with APOMA 

The Advocates for the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association is interested in sponsoring a 2021 CME cruise. We have lined up 4 different engaging speakers for lectures which will earn approximately a total of 20 CME credits. We have partnered up with Royal Caribbean Cruise line for this. The two possible cruises are either a 5 night Cruise to Halifax in June of 2021 or a 7 night Cruise to the Bahamas in July of 2021, both leaving out of Bayonne, New Jersey. We would love for everyone to join us!

APOMA has created a Doodle poll to gauge interest and to see which trip is preferred. Please click on this link bit.ly/APOMA_Cruise.

There will be more information available about this future opportunity, hopefully in Hershey, but otherwise through the newsletter and email. We look forward to seeing you there and for all to join the advocates on this exciting adventure which will benefit Pennsylvania's first year Osteopathic Medical Students.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact APOMA.

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