OOA Joins National Effort

The OOA has been invited to participate in a national effort to address the alarming increase of syphilis and congenital syphilis, reduce their rates, promote health equity, and share resources with affected communities. In Ohio, syphilis rates rose 82% from 2016 to 2021. Using 2022 data, the CDC ranked Ohio 18th in number of primary and secondary syphilis cases and 21st in congenital syphilis cases.

OOA President Douglas W. Harley, DO, will serve on the National Syphilis and Congenital Syphilis Syndemic “Community of Practice” Task Force, which will center around discussion and information sharing regarding best practices and innovative approaches in primary care.

The Community of Practice sessions will be held monthly and are organized by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Beware of Fake Email from Medical Board

The State Medical Board of Ohio (SMBO) issued a warning this week advising licensees to be aware of spam email spoofing SMBO. Spoofing is when someone disguises an email address, sender name, phone number, or website URL—often just by changing one letter, symbol, or number—to convince you that you are interacting with a trusted source.

Scammers sent an email to a licensee under the pretense that they are a legitimate SMBO agency. The email listed is not a valid SMBO address. Please do not click on any emails or download any documents you do not recognize.

If you are contacted by a scammer, report the incident to your local law enforcement and the Ohio Attorney General by filing a complaint online at ohioprotects.org or by calling 800-282-0515.

OOA Files Joint Reply in Court Case

Advocacy to protect Ohio DOs and the practice of osteopathic medicine is at the core of OOA’s mission. That advocacy occurs at each branch of state government: executive, legislative, and judicial. By filing amicus curiae, or friend of the court briefs, the OOA can present arguments and relevant data to aid the court’s decision-making process in cases important to physicians and patient care.

As previously reported, the OOA joined with other medical associations to file an amicus brief, August 6, in Lewis v. MedCentral Health System. The case would negatively impact physicians by extending and broadening the scope of liability exposure. The brief argues the Fifth District Appellate Court erred when it reversed the decision of the trial court to grant a motion to dismiss. 

The OOA along with the Ohio State Medical Association, Ohio Hospital Association, and American Medical Association filed a reply brief this week, September 25, in response to specific assertions from the appellee and her friends brief.

More information is on the OOA website here.

ICD Updates Take Effect Next Week

Each year on October 1, changes to the ICD-10-CM code book become effective. For fiscal year 2025, this includes 252 new codes, 36 code deletions, and 13 code revisions.

New codes are created to recognize new conditions, to facilitate greater specificity in existing categories, or to create new categories. Code deletions primarily occur to facilitate expansion in their related categories, while code revisions occur to add clarity or to make technical corrections.

The AOA has the 2025 updates here and will offer an on-demand webinar here later next week. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting here.