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The Florida Dental Association's Official Electronic Newsletter
Monday, June 5, 2006
In This Issue:
- FNDC2006 Is Next Week!
- FDA, Legislators to Host Idea-raiser at FNDC
- FDA President Asks for End to Medicaid Pilot Project
- Project: Dentists Care Seeking Volunteers
- U.S. Mumps Outbreak Reported
- Hurricane Season is Here
News Bites Archives
FNDC2006 Is Next Week!
FNDC2006 is just around the corner, and registrations are booming. This year promises an extraordinary blend of family fun, camaraderie, outstanding educational sessions and a remarkable array of exhibits.
Although advance registration has closed, you still can register for FNDC sessions and events onsite. Spaces still are open for some courses and workshops, and most special events.
Golf enthusiasts are encouraged to register for the improved FNDC2006 Golf Tournament on Saturday, June 17. Golfers will receive free transportation from Gaylord Palms to Eagle Creek Golf Club, an extraordinary 18-hole, 7,198-yard, par 73 championship course designed by world-renowned golf-course architects Ron Garl and Howard Swan.
Participants will be served complimentary breakfast and lunch and can enter a hole-in-one contest to win a two-year lease on a Jaguar X-type.
And, don’t forget to register for the energizing Miami Sound Machine concert on Friday, June 16. Get on your feet for a night of fun and dancing with hits like Conga, 1-2-3, and Rhythm is Gonna Get You.
See you there, June 15-17, at the fabulous Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center! For complete information, please click here.
FDA, Legislators to Host Idea-raiser at FNDC
On Wednesday, June 14, at 9 a.m., Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, and Rep. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, will co-host a Legislative Idea-Raiser concerning dental issues.
The event, held in conjunction with the Florida National Dental Convention, will be held in the Destin 1 room at the Gaylord Palms Resort. For those of you interested in providing an idea on any topic, Rep. Hays will host another Idea-raiser on Friday, June 16, from 1 to 3 p.m. in room Emerald 7.
FDA President Asks for End to Medicaid Pilot Project
Dr. Alan Friedel, FDA President, sent a letter dated May 19 to Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Alan Levine, asking the agency to consider halting the Medicaid Pilot project.
To date, a report on the project’s progress, which was expected in May, has not been released. AHCA contracted with the University of Florida to produce the report. Furthermore, media reports have portrayed the attempt to provide much-needed dental services to eligible Miami-Dade Medicaid recipients as a failing one.
To read the letter in its entirety, please click here.
Project: Dentists Care Seeking Volunteers
The long-awaited reorganization of Project: Dentists Care (PDC) is under way. Dentists are being recruited to provide needed dental care to underserved people in their local areas. Project: Dentists Care coordinators will manage the effort at local levels.
PDC coordinators will match volunteers with needy patients to provide a variety of dental services. Data on pro bono and reduced-fee care collected from each component/affiliate dental association will become part of the FDA’s vital statistics. This information will demonstrate dentistry’s effectiveness in meeting the critical need for dental care in Florida’s communities.
PDC volunteers can receive sovereign immunity and up to five hours of CE credit per biennium for pro bono care. Interested dentists should submit their contact information and indicate their availability for service now by filling out a PDC Volunteer Participation Form. Forms can be obtained by clicking here, or by contacting Mary Lyons, Dental Health Program Specialist, at (800) 877-9922, Ext.180, or mlyons@floridadental.org.
Completed forms will be routed to the appropriate PDC coordinator.
Prospective PDC volunteers also may ask questions and sign up at the Florida National Dental Convention PDC Booth – part of the FDA’s “island booth” located in the exhibit hall.
U.S. Mumps Outbreak Reported
The United States Department of Health and Human Services Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released information about almost 2,600 (as of May 2) new mumps cases reported in several states including: Iowa, Minn., S.D., Wis., Neb., Ill., Kan., Miss., Mo. and Pa.
The CDC’s report summarizes preliminary reported data and provides recommendations to prevent and control mumps during an outbreak.
For more mumps information appropriate for you or your patients, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nip/diseases/mumps/default.htm.
Hurricane Season is Here
June 1 marked the official beginning of the Atlantic Hurricane Season.
The Florida Department of Health welcomes volunteer efforts, but stresses the importance of understanding the process by which private sector volunteers are engaged in disaster preparedness and recovery efforts.
A disaster is a local event. Local volunteer networks are called on before volunteers outside those networks are summoned. As private sector volunteers, dentists will be more likely to be called to participate in a response if registered with a local organization or association. Florida Emergency Health Volunteer Registry (FEHVR) volunteers will be called upon when local and regional resources are exhausted.
There are several ways to become involved:
1. Contact and join your area’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). Information can be found at www.medicalreservecorps.gov.
2. Contact and join your area’s American Red Cross. Information can be found at www.redcross.org.
3. Register at the Florida Department of Health’s Florida Emergency Health Volunteer Registry (FEHVR), at www.disasterhelp.net/medical.
If you have previously registered at www.disasterhelp.net/medical, please update your information.
4. Contact your local County Health Department (CHD) to ask how you may assist the CHD in the event of a disaster. Visit www.doh.state.fl.us/chdsitelist.htm to find the CHD nearest to you.
5. Visit the National Incident Management System’s (NIMS’) Web site and take the Incident Command Structure 100 (ICS) course online to learn about the command structure in place during a disaster. The address is http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is100.asp (for course information, scroll to the bottom of the page).
6. Become aware of and involved in other volunteer opportunities in your local area.
In coming weeks, more information will be posted on the FDA’s Web site about these and other ways you can involve yourself in local disaster preparedness and recovery efforts.
Don’t forget that the Florida Dental Health Foundation has a wide array of disaster prevention and recovery resources tailored and available to FDA members. Members can visit the FDHF Hurricane Preparedness and Recovery for Dentists at http://www.floridadental.org/foundation/disaster.html.
Members also can read Five Steps to Disaster Preparedness, available at http://www.floridadental.org/foundation/disaster.html#Prepare.
The May issue of Today’s FDA featured Hurricane Season Draws Near – Prepare Now, Not Later, which contains helpful hints, and hurricane stories from doctors affected in 2004 and 2005.
Please take some time as soon as possible to develop plans for your home and office in the event of a disaster – you’ll be glad you did if and when wicked weather strikes.