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The Chairman's Message
Fall 2001
Dear Colleagues,
Again, the Florida Obstetric and Gynecologic Society, with the Florida Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, outdid themselves at our annual meeting, held at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, July 27-29. FOGS President Karen Harris, M.D., put on an outstanding meeting and scientific program. Drs. Harrell and Delke gave our compulsory lectures on domestic violence/HIV, followed by an excellent set of six resident paper presentations selected out of 16 submitted for review. This is a tremendous contribution by the next generation of caregivers. Florida Section ACOG gave a total of $1,500 for the two second-place and three third-place papers, and Wyeth-Ayerst gave $1,000 for the first place paper.
The scientific program was well received, with presentations by Drs. Ratts, Hill, Repke and Kaunitz on Saturday, and Drs. Repke, Penalver, Ratts and Kaunitz on Sunday. There was a side trip to Sea World on Saturday and a children's party on Saturday night during the president's dinner so parents could have a relaxed evening out.
The Florida Section of ACOG held its annual meeting with reviews from 11 regions from throughout the state. There is a consensus that managed care, while still very present, may be becoming more hospitable as large physician groups are becoming more organized. The slate of new officers submitted for placement on the ballot from Florida are Paul Gluck, M.D., chairman; Ed Carney, M.D., vice chairman; and Jay Trabin, M.D., secretary-treasurer. They will take office in October 2002 for a three-year term.
The "Depression in Women" campaign is going strong, and we are applying for a grant from ACOG to join with the Florida Department of Health to possibly extend this information into all of the state's public health departments. We also will be collecting some data from around the state to see if our program has changed how you approach and treat this problem in your individual practices. If we ask for a response, please reply. We again will apply for the national Wyeth-Ayerst best state section project in ACOG.
The state of Florida has a new CME requirement for Florida physicians to complete a two-hour course on "Prevention of Medical Errors." This is for the licensure term that begins on February 1, 2001. Fortunately for us, our own Paul Gluck, M.D., vice chairman, is traveling around the U.S., giving lectures on prevention of medical errors and has just released a publication from ACOG on this topic. Dr. Gluck has said he will be glad to present this CME course to us in the future, so stay tuned.
The Legislative Committee (B.L. Stalnaker, M.D., and Amy Young) had another good year in that they stopped an attempt to repeal direct access to OB/GYNs and kept the restricted scope of practice for certified and lay midwives. But we again lost our equity in contraceptive coverage; however, we will continue to return to this issue until it passes. Other issues of interest to medicine were:
- Passage of "all products clauses," which allow you to participate only in the plans you want to be in; and
- Passage of "adverse determination," which says the physicians who review your cases must be licensed in the state of Florida, thus being accountable to the Florida Board of Medicine.
The Florida Section of ACOG will give $5,000 to sponsor the FOGS Legislative Days in Tallahassee. This will offset expenses so our members can meet with their representatives in Tallahassee to go over local OB/GYN concerns.
We have had another great year, thanks in large part to Karen Harris, M.D., and her committee with FOGS. Let's all get behind our incoming President Gary DeVane, M.D., and continue with our momentum.