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06/17/2016

Letter from President Dornauer - June

Our OSOMS Annual Meeting was a great success, but we want your input on the event and our new meeting times in the spring.  Please respond to our survey so we may serve you better. Our speakers provided exciting sessions to help us in our daily practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery. The anesthesia simulation training sessions presented by Drs. James Phero, DMD and Deepak Krishnan, DDS were cutting edge. We want to preserve our autonomy in providing anesthesia services to our patients, so the SIM training serves as proof of our commitment to the pursuit of the best anesthesia care for our patients. The lectures on Dentoaveolar Surgery presented by Stuart Lieblich, DMD were practical for all of us. Thank you Dr. Krishnan for coordinating our meeting and including these timely and practical topics.

On April 2- 3, 2016, I attended the AAOMS Leadership conference with Drs. Kelly Kennedy and Fasil Quereshy. During the seminar, I felt reassured that our national organization is working hard to represent all of us. One interesting statistic from our last AAOMS survey is that 40% of our membership are solo practitioners (like me), 40% are partners in groups less than five OMFS, 10% are in groups greater than five OMFS, and 10% are full-time faculty. Our OSOMS Executive Board represents our specialty with a nice mix of all of the above. If you have any interest in how we function, please attend one of our Executive Board meetings. That is how I became involved. The next Council meeting will be held on Sunday, July 24 in Columbus.  Council meetings are open to all members.

During my year as president of our OSOMS, I want to keep our members more connected. Our website has been greatly improved through the efforts of Dr. Greg Ness and our Executive Secretary, Tracy Schiefferle. It is mobile friendly. Please refer to it. If you have a concern, please look at the list of Executive Board members. If you know one of us, contact us individually. If you have an area of interest, let us know, so we can tap your expertise or channel your enthusiasm.

We must pay attention to the political climate which is trying to reshape our careers. Fortunately, we have good counsel from Davis Owsiany, JD, our ODA Executive Director, and Nathan DeLong, Esq., our ODA legal Counsel. We may partner with the ADA on some issues, but leave ourselves room to support Oral Surgery only issues with our OSOMSPAC, now under the direction of Dr. Keith Schneider. Please review the current issues affecting our profession and our specialty.

Dental Therapists – SB 330
The Kellogg Foundation, Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio (UHCAN-Ohio) and the Dental Hygienists’ Association have been pushing for the authorization of so-called dental therapists in Ohio. This radical proposal would allow a person with only three years of post-high school training to perform irreversible surgical dental procedures including the extraction of teeth, cutting tooth structure and gums, and the administration of local anesthetic injections. The ODA opposes this proposal because it presents an unnecessary risk to the health of the State’s most vulnerable dental patients and is a diversion of scare resources that are better utilized supporting program proving to improve access to quality dental care. Such programs include Give Kids a Smile events, Dental OPTIONS and the Ohio Dentist Loan Repayment Program, which is entirely funded by licensed dentists in Ohio (dentists pay a $40 surcharge upon renewing their licenses) and incentivizes new graduates to practice in underserved areas through offering loan repayment assistance. So far, 25 dentists have committed to practicing in underserved areas under this program, but the program’s capacity recently doubled with the passage of HB 463 so there will soon be several more dentists entering underserved areas upon graduation. We have the infographics on each of ODA’s Access to Care Programs.

Non-Covered Services – HB 95
The ODA is still advocating in support of non-covered service legislation. Over the past decade or so, dental insurance plans have begun dictating fees for dental services that the insurance company does not even cover for enrollees. This practice is fundamentally unfair and unnecessarily interferes with the patient-dentist relationship. The ODA supports the effort to stop this unfair practice and is currently trying to persuade state legislators to support Ohio’s small business dental practices by passing this critical legislation. HB 95 was passed by the Ohio House of Representatives and is pending in the Ohio Senate.

Terminal Distributor of Dangerous Drugs – SB 319
Gov. John Kasich’s 2016 Mid-Biennium Review proposes several new reforms to address opiate addiction. Among such reforms includes a proposal to expand oversight by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy by requiring all dentists who possess a scheduled controlled substance within their practice to obtain a terminal distributor of dangerous drugs license through the Ohio Board of Pharmacy. The Ohio Dental Association opposes this proposal because the Ohio State Dental Board already oversees dentists’ handling of prescription drugs, including a special permitting process in order to perform conscious sedation or general anesthesia. Therefore, requiring dentists to obtain an additional license from the Ohio Board of Pharmacy would be duplicative and unnecessary. Senate Bill 319 was recently introduced by Sen. John Eklund and passed by the full Senate. The bill is now pending in the House.

Medicaid Rates – HB 64 (Passed)
New Medicaid rules went into effect on January 1, 2016. The new rules provide for a statewide fee increase on denture repairs and extractions. In addition to the statewide increase, the rules also provide for a five-percent fee increase for all procedures in 52 rural counties. Lastly, the rules provide coverage for periodontal services and relax prior authorization requirements. Overall, the ODA’s advocacy efforts added about $16.5 million to Ohio’s dental Medicaid program through fiscal years 2016-2017.

EXPANSION OF CRNA PRACTICE HB 548
Proposes to expand the scope of practice for certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) to allow them to select, order, and administer appropriate drugs so long as the selection, ordering, or administration is (1) consistent with the CRNA's education and certification and (2) within the scope of practice of the supervising dentist. The bill specifies that a CRNA's order for drugs is valid for the dispensing and administration of drugs only in the facility or other setting where anesthesia services are being provided. Current law allows CRNAs to administer anesthesia only under the supervision and in the immediate presence of a dentist who has a general anesthesia permit.   

Again, we feel we are responding to these issues in an effective manner, but the more support we have from our membership, the stronger our message.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Dornauer, MS, DDS
OSOMS President 2016-2017

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