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The Florida Dental Association's Official Electronic Newsletter
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
In This Issue:
- FDA Soliciting Opinions, Information about FNDC
- FDA Wants Member Feedback on Expanding Delegable Duties
- Final Reminder to Pay FDA Dues
- Ninth Annual Charity Auction and JagFest III
- Register Now for Annual Legislative Day
- Dental Hygienists May Join FDA
- Springing Forward Early May Lead to “Mini Y2K”
News Bites Archives
FDA Soliciting Opinions,
Information about FNDC
The Committee on the Florida National Dental Convention is sponsoring a short telephone survey of FDA members to find out why members attend or do not attend FNDC. A random sample of approximately 600 members will be called beginning the week of March 12.
The survey, conducted by the University of Florida Survey Research Center, will ask attendees and non-attendees where they obtain their continuing education; what factors determine whether they attend an educational meeting; and whether staff and families attend these meetings with them. The FNDC Committee will use the survey results to guide its strategic planning efforts and incorporate specific preferences of members.
If you are one of our 600 members called, please take just a few minutes to respond to this important survey.
FDA Wants Member Feedback on Expanding Delegable Duties
Be on the lookout for the Florida Dental Association’s survey on delegable duties. The FDA is seeking input from membership on duties delegated to dental team members.
The survey post card will run in the March issue of Today’s FDA, which is due out in the middle of the month. Please take just a few minutes to respond. Your input is important and appreciated.
If you have any questions or would like to submit feedback via e-mail, contact the FDA Department of Legal Affairs at ddennis@floridadental.org.
Final Reminder to Pay FDA Dues
If you have not yet invested in your FDA dues, be sure to do so by March 31 to avoid cancellation. The final round of dues notices have been sent to all dentists who have not yet made their current year’s membership investment.
For more information about FDA membership, contact the Membership and Marketing Department at (800) 877-9922, or membership@floridadental.org.
Ninth Annual Charity Auction and JagFest III
Planning has begun for the Ninth Annual Charity Auction! The 2007 event will be held on Thursday, June 15, during FNDC.
The Foundation needs your help acquiring items for bidding at the auction – weekend getaways, sporting event or other event tickets, estate jewelry, food and wine baskets – your imagination is the only boundary! Please help make this year’s event, A Night to Remember.
Tickets are available for JagFest III. A two-year lease on a 2007 Jaguar will once again be awarded to one lucky winner. (A cash alternative also is available.) Tickets are $100 each, or six for $500, and are available from FDHF board members or the Foundation office.
For more information, please contact Cheri Sutherland at 800-877-9922, or csutherland@floridadental.org.
Register Now for Annual Legislative Day
The Florida Dental Association’s 11th Annual Dentists’ Day on the Hill will be April 17 and 18, in Tallahassee.
This event provides FDA members with an opportunity to meet with their legislators about issues most important to the dental profession.
Issues for this year’s Dentists’ Day include:
· opposing the dental lab bill, HB353 (In 2006, the BOD also had voted oppose the bill. Backed by the Florida Dental Laboratory Association, the 2006 version of this bill would have required every dental laboratory to employ at least one certified dental technician by the year 2009).
· supporting an increase in Medicaid dental provider reimbursement fees;
· supporting funding for the Student Loan Repayment Program;
· opposing Medicaid managed-care dental expansion; and
· monitoring Medicaid reform.
If you have not attended a Dentists’ Day on the Hill, now is the time! Join your colleagues in delivering a unified message to the elected officials that govern this state and your profession.
For more information on Dentists’ Day on the Hill or to register, call the FDA Governmental Affairs Office at (800) 326-0051, or visit the FDA Web site at http://floridadental.org/pro/members/governmental/hill.html.
Dental Hygienists May Join FDA
Encourage your staff hygienists to join the FDA and become part of its movement to unite all licensed dental-care workers. The FDA recently mailed a marketing piece to all licensed hygienists in Florida, inviting them to join TEAM UP. TEAM UP members receive Today’s FDA, discounts to FNDC, and access to great information on the FDA Web site. Annual membership is only $45.
Springing Forward Early May Lead to “Mini Y2K”
Moving our clocks forward three weeks earlier this year might throw our electronic devices – particularly our office and home computers – into a mini spin.
More an annoyance than a disaster, older computers, PDAs and DVRs may not automatically update their times when daylight-saving time arrives on March 11, about three weeks earlier than usual.
If your dental-office computers and/or home computers are on the older side, they may not correct the time automatically.
Microsoft operating systems older than Windows XP may not recognize the new time change come March 11. For more information, customers can visit http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst.
The date change was part of the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005, designed to get Americans to reduce energy consumption. Daylight-saving time will end Nov. 4 instead of the usual last Sunday of October. According to the Energy Policy Act, Congress has the right to revert to the former daylight-saving schedule if the new method is unpopular or doesn’t prove to save energy. The Department of Energy will conduct a study on its effectiveness.