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FCEP Councilor Pos

Interested members wishing to be considered as an FCEP Councilor for the ACEP Council are encouraged to submit letter (email) of interest.

Per FCEP Bylaws:

Candidates must meet the following criteria:

1. Member of Chapter for at least two years prior to nomination.
2. Active involvement in Chapter as evidenced by committee membership and/or attendance at the meetings of the Board of Directors.
3. Plans to attend Councilor meetings for two-year term.

Councilors will be elected for two-year term with term beginning immediately upon election.

Should a Councilor resign or be elected to office that is a designated Councilor, then the remaining Councilors will elect an Alternate Councilor to fill the unexpired term. If there are no Alternate Councilors available to be seated, then the Executive Committee shall have the right to name Alternate Councilors to be seated or designated as Councilors.

Please email bbrunner@fcep.org no later than March 28, 2014.More

Telemedicine Proposal

Telemedicine proposal has connection problems

For the second consecutive week, the Senate Health Policy Committee delayed voting on a telemedicine proposal.

Chairman Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, said on February 18, 2014, that a last-minute amendment prompted the delay on SPB 7028. More

Senate Panel Passes Fetal Injury Plan

Senate panel passes fetal injury plan after hearing Remee Jo Lee


The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a proposal, 6-2, on February 18, 2014, making it a felony to kill an "unborn child." The bill removes the word "quick," which is the point when a fetus can survive outside the womb.

At the meeting, Remee Jo Lee, the woman whose ex-boyfriend tricked her into taking pills that caused her miscarriage, tearfully pleaded with lawmakers to approve a bill that would create new penalties. Senator Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, the sponsor of SB 162, said the bill "protects all unborn children." More

Recreational Marijuana Bill

Recreational marijuana bill to be filed


Representative Randolph Bracy, D-Orlando, said on February 19, 2014, that he intends to propose legalize recreational use of marijuana in Florida.

"I'm not under the illusion that this would pass," Bracy said. "But it's more to get a start to the conversation, and maybe get it down the line."

His plan is making both proponents and opponents of medical marijuana nervous because it could reinforce an argument that its legalization is a gateway to recreational use.

A November 2013 Quinnipiac University poll said that Florida voters supported medical marijuana 82-16 percent, but voters were divided on recreational use. More

Nurse Authority Bill

Nurse authority bill passes Select Committee


The House Select Committee on Health Care Workforce Innovation passed a proposal on February 18, 2014, to give nurse practitioners more authority.

While only two members voted no on SCHW 14-01, several said that their support was tentative; they wanted to see further discussion and changes.

Part of the plan eliminates a requirement for Independent Advance Practice Registered Nurses (IAPRN) or those with post-college education, to contract with and pay a "supervising" physician.

Representative Cary Pigman, R-Sebring, an emergency room doctor and point person on the committee bill, described how he could officially "supervise" a nurse practitioner in Okeechobee while he was at the podium in Tallahassee, and would be paid. Nurses and doctors continue to fight over the extent to which the bill increases medical authority, or scope of practice, for nurses.

The Florida Medical Association released a statewide poll on February 17, 2014, stating 61 percent opposed a proposal to allow nurses to treat patients without the supervision of a physician.

"Further, when asked about a proposal to allow nurses and other healthcare workers who are not physicians to prescribe narcotics including painkillers, 79 percent of respondents opposed ..." reads the news release. More

New Headquarters

FCEP President, Dr. Mike Lozano, Jr., and FEMF President, Dr. Cliff Findeiss Closed on the Bank Loan on February 19.

The new Headquarters will soon be breaking ground!

Stay tuned for Headquarters updates!

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The Gravity of Gravity

The Gravity of Gravity — Senior Falls Prevention online education course is now available

The Emergency Medicine Learning and Resource Center (EMLRC) is proud to provide this online educational portal (EMLRC Online) for the Emergency Medical Services Community.

This 6-Hour course discusses and demonstrates statistics, in-home hazards, risk factors, management of fall victims, model fall prevention programs and a case review.

To learn more about the course and to register, please visit www.emlrconline.org/seniorfalls.html

This course is made possible by an educational grant from The Winter Park Health Foundation.

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Follow @FCEP

Follow @FCEP and @FCEPprez on Twitter

FCEP has been working to grow our social media reach using popular channels; one of those is Twitter, twitter.com/fcep.

We intend to use Twitter as a means of communication; most tweets will be done in conjunction with the latest news regarding FCEP's legislative hot topics and to let you know of any changes happening around here.

Connect with FCEP:          
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Save the date!
FCEP

March 4, 2014	First day of Legislative Session
March 10-12, 2014	Emergency Medicine Days
March 11, 2014	FCEP Board of Directors Meeting
April 8, 2014	FCEP Board Conference Call
May 7, 2014	FCEP Committee Meeting
May 8, 2014	FCEP Board Meeting at FCEP
May 18-21, 2014	ACEP Leadership and Advocacy Conference
June 10, 2014	FCEP Board Conference Call
June 16, 2014	FCEP Board Conference Call
July 17-20, 2014	ClinCon
Aug. 7-10, 2014	Symposium by the Sea
Aug. 7, 2014	FCEP Board of Directors Meeting

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Symposium

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ClinCon

SAVE THE DATE!
July 17-20, 2014

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Saint Luke's

Saint Luke's Health System is sponsoring their 7th Annual Forensic Investigations Conference, May 14-16, in Kansas City, MO! ACEP is trying to improve the availability of specific medical-forensic content for ACEP members (sexual assault, domestic violence, elderly and child abuse), as well as our forensic colleagues in nursing, criminal justice and advocacy. Last year we had over 480 participants who came to KC for forensic education, fun and great BBQ!

ACEP will offer a specific Pre-Conference, an "Advanced Sexual Assault Medical-Forensic Course for Physicians," on May 12 & 13. This ACEP Category I CME approved course has been well received by physicians, residents and program directors across the country and it concentrates not only on up-to date necessary clinical forensic skills, but important sexual assault program medical director, court room and legal issues. This intense 2-day presentation is taught by physician colleagues with over 50 years of experience in these medical-forensic areas.

Please click on the below link to access the full conference brochure details and registration.

www.saintlukeshealthsystem.org/forensic

Florida Health Department celebrating 125 years
TCPalm
The Florida Department of Health is turning 125 years old this year. The agency will celebrate with events around the state all year. The first event kicked off in Key West earlier this month where State Surgeon General and Secretary of Health Dr. John Armstrong laid a wreath at the grave of the first state public health officer, Dr. Joseph Yates Porter. The state Legislature created the State Board of Health in 1889 in response to a yellow fever epidemic in Jacksonville. Yellow fever was eradicated in 1905 in Florida.More

'Largest ever' trial of adult stem cells in heart attack patients begins
Medical News Today
A total of 3,000 patients will be involved in the trial to test whether life can be prolonged by administering stem cells from the patient's own bone marrow. The stem cells are injected into the patient's heart within 5 days of suffering a heart attack. The doctors behind the study hope that this could increase heart attack patients' survival rates by 25 percent.More

Florida Blue CEO: Single-payer is wrong for future of healthcare
Sunshine State News
Florida Blue's size and market strength — it was formerly known as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida — is undisputed. It's the state's largest health insurer offering plans in all 67 Florida counties. In 47 counties, it's the only health insurance provider. But under a single-payer system, in which the government pays for all healthcare costs, the private insurance giant essentially would be relegated to a government contractor. Many other private insurers wouldn’t be so lucky.More

A push for less testing in emergency rooms
The Wall Street Journal
Under pressure to rein in healthcare costs, some physician groups and hospitals are turning to an area that has so far received little attention: cutting down on what many say is excessive diagnostic testing in the emergency room. Studies have shown that the use of advanced imaging techniques and the costs associated with them have grown rapidly in emergency rooms since the 1990s, partly because of the widespread availability of the technology and an emphasis on getting patients out of the emergency room quickly.More

Senate President: No on nurses' bill
Health News Florida
Don Gaetz, president of the Florida Senate, could present a formidable obstacle to passage of a bill that would increase the powers and independence of nurse practitioners. Gaetz opposes a House bill that would give advanced-practice nurses more authority, including prescribing of controlled substances. The bill would also set up a pathway to independent practice, not supervised by physicians.More

Study: 5 unnecessary procedures in emergency care
Nurse
A top-five list of emergency medicine procedures that are of low value and could help control costs if providers do not order them was developed as part of a published study. The cost of medical care in the U.S. is growing at an unsustainable rate and the tests, treatments and hospitalizations that come from emergency department care are expensive, researchers noted in background information for the study, which was published Feb. 17 on the website of JAMA Internal Medicine.More

Flu hitting young people harder this year
CNN
The flu is hitting younger people harder this season than in years past, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported. People between the ages of 18 and 64 represent 61 percent of all influenza-related hospitalizations recorded during the current flu season — a significant increase compared with previous years when this age group represented about 35 percent of cases. More flu deaths than usual have also occurred in people under 65. Adults between 25 and 64 account for more than half of flu deaths this season, according to the CDC, compared with less than a quarter last year.More