Register TODAY! KMA Virtual Annual Meeting Begins With COVID-19 Update Aug. 4
KMA members are encouraged to register for the 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting, as events kick off next week with a number of dynamic speakers scheduled throughout the month.
Infectious disease specialist and assistant professor for UofL Health, Mark Burns, M.D., will kick off the meeting’s education sessions with a webinar on Aug. 4 at 12 p.m. ET discussing
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Kentucky’s current COVID-19 status and vaccine acceptance rate. The session will be moderated by KMA Budget Committee Chair and former Kentucky Department for Public Health Infectious Disease Branch Manager David Bensema, M.D., MBA, FACP.
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Making All Copays Count Will Help Kentuckians Afford Their Medications and Increase Adherence
Kentuckians are facing rising out-of-pocket costs for the medications they need. A recent study published in JAMA Network Open found that among commercially insured patients who paid a drug deductible or coinsurance, median out-of-pocket spending for 79 brand-name drugs increased 15 percent between January 2015 and December 2017. As a result, patients are increasingly turning to copay assistance programs and manufacturer coupons to help cover their out-of-pocket prescription costs. In response, some insurance companies are refusing to count payments made by copay assistance programs toward the patients’ deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums through a practice known as “copay accumulator adjustments” or “copay accumulator programs.”
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OSHA Releases New COVID-19 Rules for Healthcare Industry |
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) with the stated goal of protecting healthcare workers who come into regular contact with COVID-19. The ETS applies only to healthcare employers and includes any setting where an employee is providing healthcare services or support, such as hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and also includes emergency responders and home healthcare workers. The rule, which has an effective date of June 21, 2021, also applies to non-hospital ambulatory care settings, such as physician offices, unless an exemption applies. OSHA has developed a flowchart to help employers determine if the ETS is applicable in their workplace.
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Kentucky Board of Licensure and Certification Seeking Dietitians and Nutritionists
The Kentucky Board of Licensure and Certification for Dietitians and Nutritionist has an expired term that needs to be filled. Interested applicants should complete an application and submit it to Donna Irvin at irvin@kyma.org by August 6.
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Kentucky Department for Public Health Updated Guidance on Addressing COVID-19 Testing Modalities
The Kentucky Department for Public Health has issued two updated guidance documents addressing COVID-19 available testing modalities. The first document, COVID Clinician Case Reporting Guidance 6-22-2021, delineates the case reporting process, which is the responsibility of the healthcare provider/healthcare facility. The second document, COVID Lab Reporting Guidance 6-22-21, delineates the laboratory result reporting process, which is primarily targeted toward laboratories, but which may be the responsibility of the healthcare provider when a clinician is involved in processing COVID-19 test results that are not submitted through a laboratory.
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Kentucky Hospital Association COVID-19 Dashboard
The latest update of the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) COVID-19 Dashboard is now available here. The dashboard is an effort to provide current information about hospitalizations and ICU bed usage rates due to the novel Coronavirus.
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Bowles Retires from Medicine
KMA member James Bowles, M.D., former chair and longtime member of the Committee on Physical Education and Medical Aspects of Sports, has retired from practicing medicine. He was a Family Medicine Physician at
Baptist Health Urgent Care in Madisonville.
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Grider Featured in MD-Update magazine
KMA member Ann Grider, M.D., OB-GYN at Women First of Louisville, was featured in MD-Update magazine. Grider says women have more choices for vaginal birth after cesarean.
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9300 Shelbyville Road Suite 850
Louisville, Kentucky 40222
502.426.6200
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Kentucky Health eNews is sponsored by:
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The exclusively endorsed medical malpractice insurer of the KMA |
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