It is an honor to serve as the next President of the Florida Society of Pathologists. I would like to thank our outgoing President, Dr. Antonio Martinez for his outstanding leadership and service to the FSP Board and the entire membership over the past two years. I look forward to serving alongside the new slate of Executive Committee Members and furthering our mission to provide valuable educational and networking opportunities and advocacy support for our members.
We just concluded another outstanding conference on February 22-24 in Orlando, Florida where we saw over 230 of our colleagues join together to hear practical yet updated pathology topics from some of the brightest minds in our field. Educational topics spanned urology, dermatopathology, breast pathology, hematopathology, physician wellness, digital pathology and more. For the first time ever, attendees were given the opportunity to select from concurrent breakout sessions to choose a specialty read slide session of their choice. For a full rundown of the conference and to see event pictures be sure to check out the FSP website here.
Our society is an active group and an area of focus for my Presidency will be membership growth and more specifically how we can engage our younger members and keep them involved in the FSP. Just recently the FSP Nominating Committee developed a new Resident and Fellow Committee for this very purpose. The committee will be tasked with developing activities and resources that are relevant and purposeful to pathologists in training and will work closely with the other FSP committees including the membership, communications and education committees to help develop resources for our younger members. For anyone interested in being a part of the committee please visit the website here for more information and to nominate yourself or a colleague.
One of the most valuable membership benefits the FSP offers its Florida pathologist members is our advocacy efforts. Under the guidance of our experienced and knowledgeable lobbyist, Amy Young, with Ballard Partners, who has been on our team for over 35 years, we always have an ear to the ground on the legislative activities in Tallahassee. As of this writing, we are tracking two bills of particular interest: 1) HB 3117, Medical Services and Insurance: Requires DOH to adopt statewide fee schedules for services, supplies, and care provided in hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers; provides requirements for diagnostic testing and treatment plans; provides requirements for specified licensed medical professionals for diagnostic testing and treatment plans; provides additional grounds for disciplinary actions in health professions & occupations; revises medical benefits requirements under PIP coverage; and, 2) HB 999: Medical Billing: Provides personal property exemptions from legal process for medical debts; requires licensed facility to provide cost estimate to patient within specified timeframe; prohibits facility from charging patient amount exceeding cost estimate by set threshold; requires facility to provide patient written explanation of excess charges; requires facility to establish appeal process to allow patients to dispute charges; prohibits facility from engaging in certain collection activities.
I am looking forward to seeing many of you at our next FSP conference taking place on July 13-14 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the oceanfront Ritz Carlton Hotel for what promises to be another exceptional educational gathering. Registration is now available on the FSP website here and I encourage you to book your hotel room early before the discounted room block sells out, as it does every year. You can book your hotel room through the easily accessible online booking site here.
Lastly, this is an important year to support and attend the CAP19 Meeting as the meeting will be held in our own “backyard”. I myself will be planning to attend the meeting taking place on September 21-25 in Orlando, Florida along with several of your FSP Board Members. We hope our members will join us there too!
I look forward to a successful two years as your President!
Morton H. Levitt, MD
FSP President
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