President’s Column
Harald Lausen, DO, MA, FACOFP, FAAFP
Greetings from the leadership of the Illinois Osteopathic Medical Society (IOMS). The first three months of this year have been very busy and quite controversial. As we look ahead at the rest of this year, it is clear that our legislative activism will be of the utmost importance. Our hope is that IOMS members will see current events as a critical reason to become active in and supportive of our organization.
Advocacy. IOMS is sponsoring three lobby days during the spring Session of the Illinois Legislature. Another will be scheduled next fall during the veto session, which will be scheduled for after the November General Election. Lobby days have already occurred in February and March under the leadership of our President-elect and Legislative Chair, Gerald McClallan, DO and our dedicated lobbyist Betsy Mitchell, MPA. As you know, the Illinois Supreme Court repealed the non-economic damages caps for malpractice awards in February of this year. Illinois physicians had enjoyed several years with tort reform and a decrease in malpractice cases filed and stabilization of physician liability insurance (PLI) rates. Unfortunately, the repeal of this legislation included additional aspects of tort reform other than damage caps which were a part of this “all or nothing” bill. IOMS has aligned with the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) and the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians (IAFP) to lobby for the reenactment of some of these components such as medical expert specialty and practice requirements through new legislation. It has become quite clear that after malpractice damage caps have been overturned for the third time in Illinois, we will need to pursue tort reform through other methods such as medical courts or a state constitutional amendment.
May 21st I attended the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine Graduation Banquet on behalf of IOMS, where it was my honor to present graduate Jennie Kwon, DO with the prestigious Illinois Osteopathic Medical Society annual Student of the Year Award.
Please review the legislative reports from our Legislative Chair and our Lobbyist within this newsletter. Consider participating in our upcoming lobby day. Remember to contact your local legislator and express your concern about patient access to care. Every state contiguous to Illinois has a friendlier malpractice environment than what we currently have in Illinois. It is guaranteed that we will again experience a malpractice crisis in Illinois and lose physicians who will move their medical practice to any of the states around us. Additionally, the Illinois Medical Practice Act is due to “sunset” at the end of 2010. The amount of new proposed legislation has been abnormally large this year. We continually monitor for issues regarding the expansion of practice rights for allied healthcare professionals and potentially threatening policy for patient safety. In December 2008, the Illinois Medical Practice Act almost lapsed without extension. Such an event would limit the ability of physician to provide medical care secondary to licensing and credentialing criteria. When considering these two issues, remember to ask your legislator "Who will take care of the patients in Illinois and will our citizens have adequate and timely access to quality medical care"?
The AOA again sponsored DO Day on the Hill in Washington D.C. on April 29, 2010. Please join IOMS leadership, physician members, and resident / student members in representing our profession each year. Health Care Reform legislation was passed in a simple up / down vote through a reconciliation provision. Many of the legislative issues such as a permanent SGR payment fix, revision of graduate medical education caps, and national tort reform were removed during the United States Senate negotiation process. Please join your Osteopathic colleagues in speaking with your Washington D.C. Congressmen and Senators to express our concerns regarding the content or lack of content within the current Health Care Reform package.
The AOA House of Delegates will be held again in Chicago during July of this year. Our delegation co-chairs, Teresa Hubka, DO and Earle Pescatore, Jr., DO will again be selecting and leading our IOMS representatives. This year will be very special as IOMS joins with the Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association (AOMA) in celebrating the installation of Karen Nichols, DO as the next President of the AOA. Dr. Nichols is the Dean of Midwestern University / Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine (MWU / CCOM) and a proud member of both AOMA and IOMS.
Education. IOMS is proud to again offer over 50 hours of high quality category 1-A AOA CME this year. Through collaboration with other organizations we are able to provide all of the CME necessary for Osteopathic physicians to meet both the AOA and Illinois requirements. IOMS and MWU / CCOM offered 15 hours of credit at the CME in the City program held at the AOA building in Chicago on April 26th and 27th. The program theme was Preventive Medicine. IOMS will join with the Illinois chapter of the ACOFP to offer an anticipated 15 hours of CME at the Summer Primary Care CME program. This program’s theme is Cardiovascular Review and will be held on August 14th – 15th in Fairview Heights, Illinois. Finally, we will again offer an anticipated 30 hours of CME at the IOMS Winter Program and Scientific Seminar to be held December 2nd – 5th in Lombard, Illinois. The program format will again offer grouped topics of various themes. Please review the report by our Education Chair and IOMS Treasurer Isaac Kirstein, DO for additional information.
Membership. Our focus on membership recruitment continues under the leadership of our Membership Chair, Laura Rosch, DO. It is our hope that recent events will stress the importance of having a professional organization that represents your practice rights. IOMS is the only professional organization that truly represents all Osteopathic Physicians in Illinois. We invite you to become active and join one of our many committees. It has been my personal goal to dramatically increase resident and student participation on IOMS committees. Through our relationships with MWU / CCOM and residency program directors, we continue to recruit our learners to become more active within their state osteopathic society. Please contact us by phone or through our website at www.IOMS.org for further information. Member participation on committees, boards, and bureaus of IOMS and other external organizations are listed within this newsletter. AOA Bureau and Committee appointments were included in the Fall issue (available online).
Operations. As for all organizations, IOMS is challenged with the realities of the current economy. Through actions of the board and recommendations by our then-Treasurer and current Vice President, Richard Feely, DO we have been able to maintain our financial reserves through modification of our investment portfolio. We have also engaged in strict financial management to ensure a balanced budget without restricting any significant membership services. IOMS leadership will continue to closely monitor the economic environment and our operational activities to maintain organizational viability and quality member services. As one of my Presidential goals, your IOMS leadership will meet later this year to engage in strategic planning for short-term and long-term operational outcomes. Additionally, I will ask the board to consider the establishment of a "Legacy Fund" that will allow members to provide financial support for IOMS through personal donations and estate planning. The fund would be accessed for limited uses that will be defined and communicated to the membership prior to initiation.
Comments. It has been my honor and privilege to serve as your President over the last four months. I look forward to the planned events and likely challenges of the remaining term. If you have any comments, concerns, or suggestions, please feel free to contact me at IOMS@IOMS.org.
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