News from ACOI

Antimicrobial resistance is a global crisis. Without action by Congress to incentivize the development of new antibiotics, the pipeline will fail & people will die from once treatable infections. Congress must pass the PASTEUR Act this year.

ACOI announces the results of the first national election of officers for the Student Osteopathic Internal Medicine Association (SOIMA). From colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs) spanning from Arizona to Virgina, students were chosen in the October 2022 elections to serve in the Association’s leadership roles.

On November 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), issued the CY2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule. As expected, physicians will receive a 4.6 percent cut to the conversion factor — the basic starting point for calculating physician payments — unless Congress intervenes. The cut is a product of the expiration of the 3 percent supplemental increase to PFS payments for CY 2022 provided by Congress and budget neutrality adjustments triggered by coding changes for evaluation and management visits.

The ACOI announces the appointment of Joanne Kaiser-Smith, DO, FACOI, as President for 2022-2023. Dr. Kaiser-Smith will serve as ACOI’s President for a one-year term after a decade of service to the ACOI Board of Directors. She has been an ACOI member for over 35 years and earned the distinction of Fellow (FACOI) in 1994.

ACOI Sends Letters to the Hill in Support of the PASTEUR Act (House) (Senate

Driven by his passion to ensure osteopathic physicians were well represented whenever decisions about the future of medicine were being made, David. F. Hitzeman, DO, MACOI, the 2022 winner of the ACOI's Distinguished Service Award has never shied away from immersing himself in tackling the big issues of the day.

ACOI is thrilled to bring POCUS to our Annual Convention for the first time at #ACOI2022, October 19-22 in Baltimore. You are invited to participate in this unique opportunity to learn more about this must-have technology. Choose one of our special in-person Point-of- Care Ultrasound (POCUS) sessions while earning CME credits and MOC points.

Each year, nominations detailing our members’ accomplishments and activities deserving consideration are accepted by the ACOI and selections are made by the ACOI Honors and Awards committee based on specific criteria for each award. This year three award winners will be honored at #ACOI2022 during the Annual Fellows Convocation.  

#ACOI2022 is a hybrid conference. We will be offering a live in-person convention with a virtual component for those who can’t get away but are still looking for outstanding CME.  Ask any past attendee and they will tell you that a hallmark of the Annual Conventions has always been a consistent emphasis on quality. Check out some of these session highlights.

While you're at #ACOI2022, there’s so much to see and do in Baltimore. Take a look at the list we've curated for you to explore Charm City—if you know you know.

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of walking into the hall at the Annual Convention and seeing the familiar faces, engaging in the lively sessions, and enjoying the excitement of connecting with new internists and subspecialists who are coming to experience the conference for the first time. Robert Hasty, DO, FACOI characterized it best when he said that the Annual Convention is a "magical experience.” Check out all the ways to reconnect. 

ACOI member, Nathan P. Samsa, DO, FACOI, felt overwhelmed by pressures and expectations brought on by the pandemic that neither his community, nor the U.S. as a whole, could have foreseen. He was the only physician at his hospital who was managing the patients on ventilators and oxygen in the COVID ward. He acutely felt the health emergency as did many rural communities where approximately 6.6 million COVID-19 cases and more than 175,00 COVID-19 related deaths (as of June, 2022) have been recorded according to the USA Facts and Centers for Disease Central and Prevention.