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Legislative Update
2/1/10
The
VSO-HNS top legislative priority this year is to
ensure that patient safety and consumer protection
is preserved through the dual licensure of
audiologists under the Board of Hearing Aid
Specialists and the Board of Audiology. We
continue to work with the patron, Delegate Patrick
Hope (D, Arlington) to ensure his HB 424 does not
pass in the current form.
HB 424 as currently written would
remove the requirement that an audiologist to have
a license from the Board of Hearing Aid
Specialists to dispense hearing aids. We
have spent the past few days reviewing alternate
language offered by the Speech-Hearing-Language
Association of Virginia.
The VSO-HNS maintains our position
that audiologists, like otolaryngologists, be
licensed by the Board of Hearing Aid Specialists
and that both should be exempt from an examination
requirement.
After much discussion among the VSO, the
MSV, the hearing aid specialists and the
audiologists Delegate Hope offered new language to
allow audiologists an exemption from the
examination requirement under the Board of Hearing
Aid Specialists.
HB 424 as amended will be heard on
Monday afternoon in a subcommittee of the House
Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee. We will
keep you updated on the results.
We also want to make you aware of
legislation introduced by the Virginia Council of
Nurse Practitioners that will eliminate all
requirements for physician supervision and places
their licensure and regulation under the Board of
Nursing.
This will create independent practice for
Nurse Practitioners in Virginia.
The Medical Society of Virginia and
many specialty societies oppose SB 263 (patron
Senator Mary Margaret Whipple) and we need your
help to contact members of the Senate Education
and Health subcommittee on Health Licensing. The
subcommittee will meet this Thursday afternoon
(1/4) to hear SB 263 and make a recommendation to
the full Senate Education and Health
Committee. Click here for talking
points.
Please contact the following
legislators to OPPOSE SB 263:
Senator Fred Quayle (Chesapeake,
Suffolk):
district13@senate.virginia.gov
Senator Louise Lucas
(Portsmouth): district18@senate.virginia.gov
Senator Steve Martin
(Chesterfield): district11@senate.virginia.gov
Senator George Barker
(Alexandria): district39@senate.virginia.gov
Senator Ralph Northam, MD
(Norfolk):
district06@senate.virginia.gov
Click here for Bill Tracking - 2010
Session |
VSO
Day at the Capitol - February
9
Please join the VSO for their
first VSO Day at the Capitol! We need your
participation to help in addressing 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 deadline
extended) 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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House General
Laws
Meets
Tuesday 9AM Thursday 1/2 hr after Adjournment -
House Room C
Delegate
Room
Subcommittees
Chris Jones
(Chair) 720
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)
2-FOIA/Procurement
John
Cosgrove
416 1-Housing
3-ABC/Gaming
(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
4-Professions/Admin
Chris
Peace
527 1-Housing
2-FOIA/Procurement
Barbara
Comstock
407
1-Housing
3-ABC/Gaming
Richard
Anderson
406
2-FOIA/Procurement
4-Professions/Admin
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! |
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
Society Manager
2201 West Broad Street, Suite
205 Richmond, Virginia 23220
804/622-8135 direct line
804/788-9987 fax
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