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Legislative
Update
The
General Assembly began on Wednesday, January
13th. It has been an exciting few
weeks: former Governor Kaine gave his final
State of the Commonwealth address; Bob McDonnell
was inaugurated as Governor; 20 new Delegates and
2 new Senators were sworn in; and Governor
McDonnell appointed Dr. Bill Hazel, an AMA Board
of Trustees member as the Secretary of Health and
Human Resources.
Last
Friday was the deadline for filing of legislation
for the 2010 Session. The VSO-HNS has
reviewed and evaluated approximately 2,500 bills
for their impact on VSO members and their
patients.
HB
424 by
Delegate Patrick Hope (D, Arlington) would
remove the requirement that an audiologist to have
a license from the Board of Hearing Aid
Specialists to dispense hearing aids.
As you know, the Board of Hearing Aid Specialists
requires licenses for hearing aid dealers,
audiologists and otolaryngologists to dispense
hearing aids.
The VSO
opposes HB 424 because we feel the Board of
Hearing Aid Specialists provides a valuable
oversight for those who dispense hearing
aids. We have articulated our position to
Delegate Hope and learned that the audiologists
asked him to introduce the bill without notifying
him of the potential opposition from the physician
community or the hearing aid specialists. He
committed to working with the VSO and has
requested a meeting with interested parties to
discuss the issue. Delegate Hope assures us
that he will not move forward with any legislation
that the VSO opposes and will strike his
legislation if we cannot come to
consensus.
The VSO
has an opportunity to support another bill
introduced by Delegate Hope.
HB
1351 seeks to prohibit smoking
in any building owned or leased by the state of
Virginia or
owned or leased by any locality. This bill
will be heard by the House General Laws
Committee. Historically this is the
committee that defeated all regulation of smoking
in buildings. This is a wonderful
opportunity to build on the momentum from last
year's passage of the smoking ban in restaurants
and will protect state and local employees from
exposure to second hand smoke in their
workplace. Contact information for the House
General Laws Committee can be found
here.
HB
186 by
Delegate Joe Morrissey (D, Henrico) would ban
smoking in a car when a child under the age of
13. A subcommittee of the Militia, Police
and Public Safety killed the bill unanimously,
citing a desire to give the smoking ban in
restaurants time to take effect before banning
more behavior. Subcommittee members also
worried that banning smoking in private vehicles
would quickly lead to a ban on smoking in the
home.
Please
stay tuned to your Member Alerts for more updates
and join us on VSO White Coat Day -
February 9! Contact
Society Manager Jane Davis if you will participate
via email jdavis@ramdocs.org.
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House
General Laws
Meets
Tuesday 9AM Thursday 1/2 hr after Adjournment -
House Room C
Delegate
Room
Subcommittees
Thomas
Gear
705 3-ABC/Gaming
(Chair)
David
Albo
529
3-ABC/Gaming
Thomas
Wright
410 3-ABC/Gaming
Glenn
Oder 505 1-Housing
(Chair)
John
Cosgrove
416 1-Housing
(Chair)
4-Professions/Admin
Charles
Carrico 713
1-Housing
Edward
Scott 525
4-Professions/Admin
Sal
Iaquinto (Chair) 721
2-FOIA/Procurement
Todd
Gilbert 529
2-FOIA/Procurement
Chris
Peace
527 1-Housing
Barbara
Comstock
407
1-Housing
Richard
Anderson
406
2-FOIA/Procurement
Watkins
Abbitt
804 3-ABC/Gaming
Clarence
Phillips
802
2-FOIA/Procurement
William
Barlow 421
3-ABC/Gaming
Jeion
Ward 502
4-Professions/Admin
Rosalyn
Dance 813
1-Housing
David
Bulova 405
1-Housing
Matthew
James
814 2-FOIA/Procurement
Betty
Carr 414
4-Professions/Admin
Luke
Torian 716
4-Professions/Admin
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2010
Combined VSO/UVA Fitz-Hugh Symposium - Abstract
Deadline Extended to February 12,
2010!
The 2010
combined Virginia Society of Otolaryngology - Head
and Neck Surgery Annual Meeting and University of
Virginia Fitz-Hugh Symposium is to be held April
22 - 24, 2010 at the Charlottesville Omni,
Charlottesville,
Virginia.
Please join us for an outstanding educational
program. This year's theme,
"Office-based Otolaryngology: What You Need to
Know," will highlight office-based laryngology
with Dr. Peak Woo of New York, allegery and
rhinology with Dr. Bradley Marple of Texas, and
office-based facial plastic surgery with Dr. Tom
Wang of Oregon. If you have ever
thought of starting an allergy practice in
your Otolaryngology office, or tried basic facial
plastic surgical procedures, now is the time to
come and learn from the experts. This CME
approved event will also serve as an
opportunity to meet with other Otolaryngologists
from around the state, and provide an update on
legislative and practice issues that affect all of
us.
We invite
all members to submit abstracts to be considered
for inclusion in the scientific program.
Abstracts for papers for the 2010 program must be
submitted February 12,
2010. Please include the
following information: Title, Author(s),
name of Presenter, Presentation Format, and
contact information of the person submitting the
abstract and of the presenter. Abstracts
should be no longer than 250 words and should
include the following sections: Objectives,
Materials and Methods, Results, and
Conclusions.
All
abstracts must be submitted electronically
to Jane Davis, Society Manager at
jdavis@ramdocs.org. You will
receive confirmation of receipt of your abstract
after it is submitted. If you do not receive
a confirmation within 24 hours, please contact Ms.
Davis via email or by phone at
804/622-8135.
We ask
the academic Department Chairs to encourage their
residents to participate in the meeting and to
submit abstracts by the February 12th
deadline. An abstract may be accepted for
inclusion in the scientific program as either an
oral or poster presentation. Two resident
awards will be given out based on oral
presentations and one award will be given out
based on the poster
presentation.
We have
reserved a block of rooms for meeting attendees,
which will expire on April 8, 2010. To
ensure that you get the room that best
accommodates your needs, please call the Omni at
434/971-5500. Be sure to ask for the
VSO/Fitz-Hugh discounted room
rate!
Don't
miss out on a
round of golf at the Keswick Country
Club on Saturday afternoon. The Keswick Country
Club is a 5 star exclusive resort with an
extremely exclusive private golf course.
Registration
is limited to the first 24 members to sign up, so
hurry and submit your meeting registration!
There will also be a Welcome Reception
on Thursday for guests getting in early. More
details to follow...
Mark
your calendars for April 22-24, 2010 to join
fellow otolaryngologists for a superb educational
program. Please visit our
website www.vso-hns.org to register and
get updates on the combined
conference!
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VSO Day at
the Capitol - February
9
The
Virginia General Assembly will convene its 2010
Session on Wednesday, January 13. A number
of important and controversial matters affecting
the delivery of health care in the Commonwealth
are expected to be considered by
legislators.
Please
join the VSO in addressing these and other
important issues affecting our
specialty:
- Protecting physician
Medicaid payments from cuts to balance the state
budget shortfall;
- Protecting services
under Medicaid and FAMIS;
- Opposing
the Virginia Trial Lawyer's attempts to
challenge and take down the physician
malpractice cap on damages;
- Aggressive attempts by
non-physicians to practice
medicine;
- Physician
workforce shortages and specialty
shortages;
- Regulation of new
health professions;
- And many,
many others.
The
leadership of the Society believes that it is
essential for the Society to participate in
legislative discussions involving health care
delivery in Virginia.
VSO members are invited to gather in
Richmond on
Tuesday,
February 9, 2010, for a "Day
at the Capitol." Please make plans to attend
so that you may visit with your Delegate and
Senator and with other members of the General
Assembly committees that will consider critical
health care legislation.
This
year is an especially important year for advocacy;
with a new Governor and 20 new members of the
House of Delegates VSO members are needed to
educate these new legislators. Many of these
new members -- and the veteran legislators --
do not understand our specialty and why access is
critical. A high turnout will help
legislators "put a face" with the VSO and
impress them with our commitment to providing
responsible health care
delivery.
Our
preliminary plan is to meet in Richmond at
7:30
a.m. on February
9th at the Commonwealth Park
Suites Hotel, 901 Bank
Street (Corner of Bank
& Ninth Streets), for a brief organizational
session by our lobbyist Karin Addison and the
Medical Society of Virginia's staff before going
over to the General
Assembly
Building.
Jane Davis, Society Manager will try, to the
greatest extent possible, to set up appointments
with your legislators, although that might not be
possible in every case. Even without
appointments, it is usually possible for
constituents to meet with legislators in their
offices when they are not in committee meetings or
at floor sessions.
Please
try to make some time to join us at the "VSO Day
at the Capitol" - Tuesday, February 9,
2010. Let me know your
availability by returning the registration form
(Click
here for
registration form) and we'll do our best to make
the most productive use of your time that
day. If you cannot attend in person, we
encourage all VSO members to have a vocal presence
during the 2010 Session and contact your
legislator. Please look for legislative
updates in your Member Alerts and for updated
information from AAO go
to http://www.entnet.org/Practice/members/stateAdvocacy.cfm
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Statewide
Network Provider List for Virginia Special
Olympics
Dear
Healthcare Providers:
We are
revising the statewide provider network to be
given to Special Olympic Athletes who do not pass
their hearing screening. The Healthy Hearing
Screening Program was implemented as part of the
Virginia Special Olympics in June 2004 and is a
part of the overall Healthy Athletes
Program®. Healthy Hearing screening consists
not only of a screening of hearing acuity, but of
overall hearing health through the use of
otoscopy, OAE, immittance, and behavioral
measures. Last June we screened 155 athletes and
referred 23 for follow-up care. While
screening procedures have been established and
verified in several state and world games,
information on follow-up care is currently lacking
and in need of revision.
Athletes
who do not pass the Healthy Hearing screening are
given a report card suggesting the need for
follow-up care. We feel that follow-up care
is enhanced when we provide a list of
professionals in their area who welcome patients
with special needs.
We would
like to invite you to have your practice included
in our statewide provider network. By
agreeing to have your name and practice placed on
this list you are under no commitment to provide
special treatment or discounts to these
individuals. You are simply agreeing to
welcome the athletes as new patients into your
practice.
By
supplying these Special Olympic Athletes with
service providers in their part of the state we
can help to ensure that they are receiving the
important hearing health care that they need and
deserve. Please copy and
paste the completed Statewide Provider Network
form found below indicating your willingness to be
a part of the provider network and reply to
conradsa@jmu.edu.
In addition, the Special Olympics offers a way for
your practice to be included in an online
directory where athletes and their families can
easily search for a nearby provider. The online
Provider Directory gives athletes another
convenient option for selecting a provider upon
referral following their Healthy Hearing
screening. We encourage you to register your
practice through the following website:
http://soi-prod4.specialolympics.org/healthyathletes/login.asp.
Registration is fast, easy, and will be a
convenient resource for participants.
We thank
you for your cooperation and look forward to your
reply.
Sincerely,
Sara
Conrad,
B.S.
Brenda M. Ryals,
JMU
Au.D.
Student
JMU Professor/
Virginia
Special Olympics
Healthy
Hearing Coordinator
_________________________________
Statewide
Provider Network
Form
By providing
the following information, you are welcoming
Special Olympics Athletes to your practice. You
are under no commitment to provide special
treatment or discounts to these individuals.
Athletes who are referred for follow-up care at
the Healthy Hearing screening will be given a list
of providers in their area so that they are easily
able to seek appropriate care for their hearing
health needs. Thank you so much for your
cooperation.
Provider
Name(s):
Name of
Practice:
Address:
Phone
Number:
E-mail
Address:
Region:
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Virginia
Society of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck
Surgery
Jane B. Davis
2201 West
Broad Street, Suite
205
Richmond,
Virginia
23220
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