State Says COVID-19 Deaths Underreported by Thousands

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) announced this week that as many as 4,000 COVID-19 deaths may have been underreported through the state’s reporting system. These deaths will be added to the state’s tally during the coming week. About 2,500 were included in today’s count, bringing the total number of deaths to 15,136—which is more than the entire population of several Ohio counties.

Process issues affecting the reconciliation and reporting of these deaths began in October. The largest number of deaths were from November and December. Although being reported this week, the deaths will reflect the appropriate date of death on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.

COVID-19 hospitalizations across the state have fallen sharply since mid-December. The number of patients was below 2,000 for the first time since November. 4. For comparison, in mid-December, the hospitalizations count was over 5,300. The statewide curfew was lifted as of yesterday. In other good news, the number of COVID-19 cases in Ohio nursing homes has dropped more than 77 percent since late November. Gov. Mike DeWine attributed the drop to aggressive efforts to vaccinate residents and staff in long-term care facilities.

New Group Becomes Eligible for Vaccine

Next week Ohioans with certain conditions they were born with or those who were diagnosed in childhood and carried into adulthood will be able to begin receiving COVID-19 vaccines as part of Phase IB. The conditions are listed here.

Gov. Mike DeWine has said individuals with these conditions are prioritized because they face a significantly higher risk for adverse COVID-19 outcomes.

A total of 223,025 first doses are scheduled to arrive in Ohio during the week of February 15.

In addition to the above, vaccination continues for Ohioans age 65 and older, those with severe medical conditions and developmental disabilities, school personnel, health care workers, nursing home residents and staff, and EMS responders.

The federal retail pharmacy program will soon begin allotting doses to Ohio’s more than 160 Rite Aid pharmacies. Vaccine distribution will also expand into all 194 Kroger pharmacies.

NBOME Indefinitely Postpones COMLEX-USA Level 2-PE

The NBOME Board of Directors held a special session earlier this week and has made the following decisions related to the global pandemic and COMLEX-USA:

1. The COMLEX-USA Level 2-PE is postponed indefinitely and will not resume on April 1, 2021.

2. We are deferring work on a temporary clinical skills testing site in California. 

3. For the Class of 2021 (and earlier), we are developing a temporary alternative pathway to meet the eligibility requirements for the COMLEX-USA Level 3 examination.  

a. This new pathway will allow for the verification of the competencies assessed in Level 2-PE without the need to travel to an NBOME National Center for Clinical Skills Testing.

b. We are working diligently to determine exactly what this temporary alternative pathway will look like for the Class of 2021 (and earlier) including options for those who have not yet taken Level 2-PE and others. We expect to release additional details within the next 4 weeks

4. For the Class of 2022, we are convening a Special Commission that will review the future of Level 2-PE and determine potential alternative pathways. Detailed information about alternate pathways will be available by April 30, 2021.

5. The Special Commission and its charge will be expanded to consider and identify new ways to evaluate fundamental competencies currently assessed in the Level 2-PE. This will include a full review of the COMLEX-USA program, to ensure it continues to provide a defensible pathway to osteopathic medical practice and licensure. The Special Commission will include members from across the UME-GME-Licensure continuum, including student representatives and public members/patient representatives. This work will occur in two phases:

a. PHASE 1 will address points number three and four above and will include structured feedback opportunities from all stakeholders, from students to educators to licensing authorities to professional organizations, and public members/patient representatives.

b. PHASE 2 will focus on long-term solutions to assess competencies for osteopathic medicine in the COMLEX-USA program, with an eye on our collective duty to ensure quality care for the public and our patients

For more information, see the FAQ.

Medical Board Scam

Licensees should remain aware that a scam continues to target and affect Ohio prescribers. Scammers are calling, faxing and emailing medical professionals claiming to be agents of the State Medical Board of Ohio (SMBO), DEA or FBI. These scammers claim that the professionals’ medical and drug licenses have been compromised and direct the medical provider to wire money to foreign bank accounts. Please remember, SMBO investigators, DEA agents and FBI agents will not ask for fine payment or personal/sensitive information over the phone.

When the scammers communicate via phone, they spoof the legitimate phone number for the SMBO (614-466-3934). If the Medical Board is conducting an investigation, and that individual faces action against their license, they will receive an official notice of opportunity for a hearing either via certified mail or by personal service. Further, emails originating from actual Medical Board staff end in @med.ohio.gov.

More details are on the SMBO website.

Plan to Attend the Virtual Symposium

Registration is open for the Ohio Osteopathic Virtual Symposium, the premier osteopathic conference in the state.

The three-day conference, April 23-25, offers 21 hours of Category 1-A credits and the latest in the art and science of patient care.

Topics include telemedicine, migraine update, student research, physician burnout, integrative medicine, obesity medicine, pulmonary/critical care, COVID, and more.

Remember, the State Medical Board of Ohio has only delayed enforcement of CME requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the requirements are not waived.

Your Voice Matters

The OOA House of Delegates will be held virtually on April 22. The House, the policy-making body for the osteopathic profession in Ohio, is led by Speaker David A. Bitonte, DO, and Vice Speaker Michael E. Dietz, DO.

Resolutions may be submitted directly to the OOA office or through your local district academy. The deadline to submit resolutions is March 15. Email your resolution to ctatman@OhioDO.org. See the tips for writing better resolutions here.

Attention Medical Students!

The OOA Board of Trustees is hosting another Zoom chat with students next week following the quarterly Board meeting. The small group discussions held online offer informal discussion about the OOA, the profession, and any questions students might have.

The event is Saturday, February 20 at noon. Register here.

Renew Your Membership

Thank you to those who’ve already paid their 2021-2022 dues. Invoices are being mailed, but you can also safely and conveniently renew online.

If we need to contact someone in your clinic or office directly to help with dues processing, please email Joanne Barnhart at jbarnhart@OhioDO.org.