12/20/2021
Member Q&A with Jeffrey R. Leipzig, MD
OSMA Thought Leadership
OSMA member leaders work tirelessly on behalf of our members to ensure OSMA is meeting the needs of physicians and responding to the ever-changing healthcare landscape.
Jeffrey R. Leipzig, MD, FAAAAI, FACAAI
- District 1 Member, Butler County
- Allergy/Immunology
- Member Since 1998
- @DrJeffLeipzig
Q: Tell us about your medical career. What is your role and where are you currently practicing?
A: I started solo Allergy/Immunology practice in 1998 and continued until 2018, when joined a large single specialty allergy group practice, Family Allergy and Asthma. I currently serve locations in Mason, Fairfield Township and Oxford, Ohio. As part of my commitment to my profession, I have served on several medical societies and nonprofit boards.
Q: How long have you been a member of OSMA? What are the different ways you have been involved in the organization over the years?
A: I have been an OSMA member since 1998. I started at the county level with Butler County Medical Society as a member, officer, president. Then I became an alternate and finally a delegate to the OSMA. I currently serve on the OSMA FTLS legislative task force working closely with our OSMA regulatory affairs and governmental relations advocacy teams. We monitor the state and, when needed, voice change in regulation or legislation that mirrors OSMA policy.
Q: What do you see as some of the biggest issues facing healthcare in the coming year? How can OSMA work to address these issues?
A: Surprise billing, legislation dictating vaccine protocol, and threats to scope of practice are all current issues facing physicians in the state of Ohio.
Deeper issues include polarization in politics, healthcare systems without physician direction, and insurance companies that monopolize regions of the state. The greatest challenge is unifying physicians’ voices for our profession and for the protection of our patients. Threats to the practice of medicine will always be with us in an ever-changing healthcare landscape.
OSMA Policy D passed in 1932 states:
“The OSMA re-emphasizes and re-endorses the established and fundamentally-sound policies of medical organization of Ohio toward all legislation affecting public health, scientific medicine and medical practice, namely:
The medical profession of Ohio is opposed to the enactment of any legislation which would be detrimental to the health of the citizens of the State or which would hinder or prevent effective public health administration.
The medical profession of Ohio condemns and opposes those proposals which would interfere with the advancement of scientific medicine; lower the high standards surrounding medical practice in Ohio, and jeopardize the health and welfare of the people by extending legal privileges to unqualified, incompetent and untrained individuals.
All OSMA members should take an active, personal interest in molding public opinion in accordance with the foregoing principles, and aid in selecting for public office - national, state and local - persons who can be depended upon to protect and further the best interests of the public generally, and who will look to the medical profession for counsel and advice on those matters pertaining to public health, medical practice and scientific medicine.”
The OSMA is advocating with physicians to affect change and protect our profession.
Q: What are some of the ways in which OSMA has supported your medical practice?
A: OSMA has played an integral role in my professional physician development. As I began my solo practice in Allergy/Immunology, OSMA was able to share practical advice on how to set up a solo practice, helped with group health insurance plan for my practice, helped navigate with health insurance companies that limited a new physician to existing panels. OSMA was always helpful and gave legal advice when practice questions arose.
Specifically in my specialty, the OSMA played a primary role in helping Ohio physicians change state regulations for compounding of medications and advocating through legislation for access to critical lifesaving epinephrine for patients. At a time in healthcare consolidation and more employed physicians, the OSMA is a trusted physician voice.
Q: How can Ohio physicians get involved in OSMA and get the most out of their membership?
A: Follow us on social media at Facebook (Ohio State Medical Association) and Twitter (@OhioMedicine)! Comment on social media and our website when you have concerns. Come to local, district and state meetings.
Every year at the OSMA annual meeting we recite the Hippocratic Oath understanding the sanctity of the physician patient relationship. As physicians we may not agree on everything; however, by unifying our voices we can affect significant change for our profession and our patients.
If you’d like to get in touch with OSMA leadership or learn more about Council, please email council@osma.org.