 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Daniel Singer, MD
The OSRS leadership has been redoubling our efforts to be more responsive to our membership. We of course realize that time is the most valuable commodity for the radiologists of Ohio. All of us have seen our workloads increase while at the same time it has been more difficult to recruit new radiologists into our practices. To be successful we will need your input. Thanks to electronic communication it has been easier to disperse information . Regionally our local societies have seen a rebirth. In Northwest Ohio our local society has seen a doubling in the number of radiologists attending our meetings. The discussions of local issues at the regional level allows the state chapter leadership to concentrate our resources where it will benefit the greatest number of radiologists in our state. This information is also passed on to the ACR to benefit the national membership in addition to those of us in Ohio. The state leadership depends on your input to your local councilor. The most important aspect of a councilor’s position is to listen to your concerns and then forward it to the state chapter and if necessary to the national leadership of the ACR. There are ample opportunities to participate in the state chapter. At present we find that both councilor and alternate positions are open for the Dayton Region. There is also a need for radiologists to work with the Medicare CAC Committee to review payments for the many new and complex procedures being performed by radiologists throughout the state.
To better meet the needs of our membership the annual meeting format has been completely overhauled. Rather than another attempt at an academic meeting in the spring, the meeting focus will change to one devoted to political and economic issues. It has become apparent that a state academic meeting could not compete with those offered at the top ski resorts in the west or the Florida sunshine. There are many economic and political issues confronting our members in Ohio and although many are national problems there are those peculiar to Ohio. To accommodate the busy schedules of Ohio radiologists the meeting will be shortened to one day from 10am to 5pm on Saturday April 28, 2001. The location will be the Beachwood Hilton in the metro Cleveland area. This will allow any radiologist from all parts of Ohio to make this a one day trip if desired. National ACR speakers will address key issues, including manpower needs, service standards, and the direction of national healthcare. In this state many of us have been battling with our hospitals over contracts. This issue will be addressed by an Ohio attorney specializing in this arena. These are a sampling of these issues that are important to all of us but are difficult to face alone in practice. This meeting will provide ample opportunity to learn by sharing our experiences with others throughout the state with each lecturer devoting much time for open discussion.
Harvey Neimen, ACR Chair Board of Chancellors, was very accurate with his prediction of a tight presidential race. Writing this portion of this letter one week after the election I cannot confirm who is the next U.S. President. No matter what the outcome we as radiologists must gain access to our representatives. Many of you have been involved in the political process offering support to those candidates supporting the positions of radiologists and our patients. For those of us without the time or the close relationship to these politicians RADPAC and ORSPAC contributions provide the needed access to these political circles. RADPAC is off to a strong start with over $300,000 already raised. This money is used to support those elected officials who have the potential to advance the interest of radiology regardless of party affiliation. Those of us in the field have an obligation to let our national organization recognize those politicians who have helped advance those issues important to radiology. Your regional ACR councilor serves as the conduit to the RADPAC advisory council. This identification process is just as important as your financial commitment to our radiology PACs.
ORSPAC, our radiology PAC for state issues is off to slow start this year in raising funds. Contributions received through November 15, 2000 for this year are $9,291. This is unfortunate since resources are badly needed to ward off many threats to radiology such as the push by nurse practitioners to set up imaging facilities and to interpret these studies. Funding is also needed to support legislation to help radiologists with prompt pay and to deal with large insurance companies on an equal footing. Although are funds have been limited our political strength has been enhanced thanks to the keen insight of our representative to our state government, Victor Goodman. Victor identified 20 legislators as candidates to support OSRS issues and all 20 won their election races. All candidates that received ORSPAC contributions won election except for one. This is a phenomenal record of accomplishment! Victor is building our political base it is now up to us to support this with contributions to ORSPAC. Please consider ORSPAC and RADPAC for contributions this holiday season.
Daniel Singer
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