The York County Medical Society is working closely with WellSpan to obtain volunteers to help with COVID-19 vaccinations. Local physicians who are interested can sign up to be part of the Hope Squad here.

On April 13, 2021, the Pennsylvania Department of Health notified all COVID-19 vaccine providers to pause administering doses of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine until at least April 20. This comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine out of an abundance of caution, following six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving this vaccine.

Registration with the DEA is necessary for physicians and other health care practitioners to write prescriptions for controlled substances. Check out these FAQs on the process.

There has been little relief from this decades-old problem for physicians and their patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. New physician survey data from the American Medical Association is proof.

On April 7, 2021, House Bill 681 was approved by the House Health Committee. The PAMED Board will be reviewing the language of the legislation to determine if it is a bill that we can support, ensuring that the legislation considers both small independent and employed physicians.

Compliance with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) information blocking regulations started April 5, 2021.

The State Board of Medicine (Board) has extended the license renewal deadline from the previously extended deadline of March 31, 2021 to April 30, 2021. The Board states that this will be the final extension for these licensees.

Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam has signed several Executive Orders related to COVID-19 vaccine providers. PAMED has prepared this Executive Summary for our members.

There are several ways to get involved in PAMED's IMG Section. Find out how.

On March 24, 2021, legislation to address Expedited Partner Therapy (EPT), the process by which a physician will treat the partner of a patient who has contracted an STD/STI passed the Pa. Senate Health and Human Services Committee. PAMED supports this bill.

Several stakeholders, including PAMED, recently sent a letter to the Pa. legislature regarding CRNP independent practice. In the letter, the organizations share how the nurses no longer support the pilot program agreed to last legislative session and are back full force advocating for SB 25, which would grant them independent practice in Pennsylvania. PAMED vehemently opposes SB 25.

Physicians, along with their colleagues in health care, have been the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic for more than a year. Now that there are vaccines, they stand ready and willing to vaccinate the patients they’ve been caring for through this difficult time. It isn’t that easy, though. Many physicians’ offices face a slew of hurdles.

Kelli K. DeSanctis, DO, who practices as a family medicine physician at Millcreek Family Practice & Internal Medicine in Erie, has been recognized by the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) as an Everyday Hero.

Rene Rothstein Rubin, MD, FACP, a hematologist and medical oncologist at Rittenhouse Hematology in Philadelphia, has been recognized by the Pennsylvania Medical Society as an Everyday Hero.

The latest PREP Act Amendment by the United States Department of Health and Human Services expands the list of eligible practitioners to administer COVID-19 vaccinations to include: Dentists, Emergency Medical Technicians (Advanced and Intermediate EMTs), Midwives, Optometrists, Paramedics, Physician Assistants, Podiatrists, Respiratory Therapists, and Veterinarians.

This bill, which PAMED supports, addresses concerns that have prevented Pennsylvania from fully participating in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact.

This order will in essence require providers who have received first dose allocation vaccines in at least the past two weeks prior to March 16, 2021, to make every effort to schedule appointments for eligible individuals in Phase 1A who request an appointment, including individuals not in the providers’ current patient networks.

The bill aims to remedy the 2017 Pa. Supreme Court’s decision on the authority of a physician to delegate the task of obtaining a patient’s informed consent to another practitioner.

A bill to level the playing field for international medical graduates (IMGs) relative to medical licensure won committee approval in the Pa. House of Representatives on March 15, 2021.

Legislation introduced in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives would allow professional licensees to find out if an action is permissible by their state board before doing the action.