13 Feb ORS Acheivements

1. Successfully lobbied Ohio Medicaid and most insurers to pay for Breast Tomosynthysis and have sponsored legislation to mandate coverage.
2. When Ohio Medicaid was revised by Governor Kasich we negotiated favorable terms for radiology that avoided most of the cuts experienced by other providers.
3. In the recent Breast Density Legislation, we Influenced the bill language and composed the wording of the patient notification letters even though we opposed the legislation as an intrusion on medical practice. We made the bill as innocuous as possible and excluded it from being the basis of any malpractice action.
4. Successfully supporting and maintaining the Ohio Department of Health’s education and training standards for all applications of therapeutic radiation. (Same as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission standard.)   Dermatology was asking for a dispensation from the rules so they could use their own in office equipment to employ therapeutic amounts of ionizing radiation to treat patients with skin cancer without obtaining the requisite training, and had garnered some political support to allow this.
5. Radiology Assistant Legislation defining practice guidelines and disallowing independent practice. This in response to a legislative proposal to recognize Radiology Assistants as independent practitioners.
6. Telemedicine Legislation requiring an Ohio Medical License for out of state practitioners providing services to patients located in Ohio.   (Several legislators consistently referred to this bill which affects all Ohio Medicine as the “Radiology Bill”)
7. Legislation requiring that hospitals billing globally for screening mammograms must actually pay the agreed payment to the radiologist. Bill also separately required additional payment for digital mammography and CAD.
8. Regular interaction with State Agencies, OSMA and Medicare and “ad hoc” with legislators and other organizations.
9. Legislation allowing patient self- referral for Screening Mammograms at a time when Ohio law required physician referral for all ionizing radiation. This included Ohio adopting the ACR’s MQSA standards well before they were a Federal requirement.
10. Legislation creating training standards and requiring the licensing of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine technologists and assisting the Ohio Department of Health in writing and maintaining the resultant rules.