News from ACOI

April 22, 2025, marks the 55th year of Earth Day, a movement that started as a protest against pollution and has grown into a monumental global demand to fight climate change and environmental decline.  

Almost fifteen years ago, the first reports of an unusual form of chronic kidney disease (CKD) emerged from the lowlands of Central America.(1,2) A tiny band of astute internists practicing in rural clinics in Nicaragua and El Salvador noticed over a period of years an epidemic-scale increase in the prevalence of CKD among the agricultural workers in their communities. The condition was both irreversible and progressive in a region poorly able to support the needs of the growing numbers of people with End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD).

The 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule released a new complexity add-on HCPCS code. Although this code has similarities to the G2211 complexity add on code, it has significant restrictions on who can submit claims for its use. The new code, G0545, is a code that is for use by “a physician with specialized training in infectious diseases.”

Read the latest from ACOI members who have received awards, promotions, and other recognitions.

Friday, March 21, 2025, marked the biggest-ever Match Day in the National Resident Matching Program’s® (NRMP) history. Osteopathic medical students were a major part of that: According to AACOM, the residency match rate for graduating seniors at osteopathic medical schools reached its own all-time high of 92.6% – with a record 8,392 DO seniors in the US participating, a 4.5% increase from 2024. NRMP also reported that there were 1,882 DO matches in internal medicine. This was a marked increase from 2024, which saw 1,783 DO internal medicine matches.

Sometimes, it takes a breadth of knowledge to find focused, specific direction. That's been the experience Seger Morris, DO, MBA, FACOI, has had in his career, and something he’s sought to pass along to others. The Director of Health Policy Programs and Regional Assistant Dean at William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine is a third generation DO, and the 15th DO in his family. Yet his professional life has been defined by versatility from the very beginning: Dr. Morris actually started out with a degree in investment finance and spent the first years of his career in business consulting and management.

ACOI Asks Administration to Rescind NIH Policy; Congress Passes CR without Physician Pay Cut Relief; MIPS Data Submission Deadline Extended and New Hardship Exception; Telehealth Flexibilities Extended

Student Doctor Daidone was nominated because she is an altruistic, motivated, and authentic self-starter. She has always put her best foot forward to assist people, both inside and outside the hospital.

It’s almost time for the 2025 Spring Meetings, and ACOI is making these virtual sessions an even better deal for members with the Spring Meetings Bundle.

There are moments in life when we are given the opportunities to learn, reflect, and grow. These opportunities can find themselves in places of patient care, friends, colleagues, family, and loved ones.

I'm a member of the ACOFP/ACOI Opioid Education Task Force, which supports the production of the "De-stress Pain Management" curriculum on opioid education, currently being expanded for 2025. As I reviewed the past educational materials, I came across a presentation that moved me deeply and compelled me to share my thoughts with a wider audience.

As osteopathic medical students everywhere gear up for Match Week, a few of them are in unique situations. One of those is couples match, which Emily Ranta (OMS IV, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine – Carolinas), President of the Student Osteopathic Internal Medicine Association (SOIMA), is participating in with her husband, Josh Ranta (OMS IV, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine – Carolinas).