E-Newsletter

Send us an email at NYCU@SDCMS.org to sign up for our bi-weekly e-newsletter!

"News You Can Use" <> May 13, 2015



CONTENTS

ABOVE THE FOLD

Executive Director Commentary: ICD-10, if you don’t prepare for it, could have a major disruption on your cash flow in October. Please, please take the time to prepare now. Here is how your Medical Society is helping members to avoid “October OMG” moments …

Is Your Office Working on ICD-10 Compliance?

  • Click here for a number of SDCMS members-only resources. Email Membership@SDCMS.org for login assistance. 
  • Click here for information on SDCMS’s June 25–26 ICD-10-CM Code Set Boot Camp (8:00am–5:00pm each day) — $399 for SDCMS members and staff (a $200 discount!).
  • Click here for a number of CMA members-only resources, including its ICD-10 Transition Guide for Physicians.

October 1 is closer than you think!!!

Members & Office Staff: Do You Know How to Effectively Discipline Your Staff? Have you ever had to terminate an employee and didn’t know if you were doing it correctly? Be sure to attend our May 21 members-only “Guidance to Effective Disciplinary and Termination Practices” webinar from 11:30am to 1:30pm to get some tips from a human resources lawyer. Click Here

June 6 Members-only Workshop on Financial & Legal Life Skills: Email Gehring@SDCMS.org for information or to RSVP.

It’s Free & It’s Fun! All Physicians: Mingle, Socialize, and Network With Your Fellow Docs on Friday, July 10, 5:30–8:00pm Near Sharp Grossmont Hospital: RSVPs required as space is limited — click here to RSVP. We hope to see you there!

TOP

YOUR MEMBER SERVICES QUIZ

Question: I’ve finally been through the credentialing process to become a contracted TRICARE provider. Reading through the participation agreement, I noticed that I cannot be opted out of the Medicare fee-for-service program while participating in TRICARE. Is this true? Click Here for the Answer

TOP

FEDERAL

Summary and Timeline of HR 2, the “Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015” or “MACRA”: This bipartisan legislation:

  • Permanently repeals the SGR formula;
  • Stabilizes Medicare payments for physician services with positive updates from July 1, 2015, through the end of 2019, and again in 2026 and beyond;
  • Replaces Medicare’s multiple quality reporting programs with a new single Merit-based Incentive Payment System “MIPS” program that makes it easier for physicians to earn rewards for providing high-quality, high-value healthcare;
  • Supports and rewards physicians for participating in new payment and delivery models to improve the efficiency of care;
  • Preserves fee-for-service as an option;
  • Preserves the current 10-day and 90-day global periods for over 4,000 surgical service codes that Medicare had planned to unbundle.

Click here for a detailed MACRA summary. Click here for a MACRA timeline.

Physicians Have Until May 20 to Voluntarily Review Data Reported by Drug and Medical Device Makers About Them, and, if necessary, dispute payments before the data is made public on June 30. Click Here

TOP

STATE

CMA-sponsored Bills Continue to Move Through the Calif. Legislature:

  • Vaccine Bill Gains More Supporters, Soars Through Senate Judiciary Committee: Click Here
  • Bill Calling for Higher Tobacco Tax Blows Through Senate Health Committee: Click Here
  • Second Bill to Increase Medi-Cal Rates Advances Through First Committee: Click Here

Two Tobacco Tax Initiatives Proposed for California: The initiative summaries, one including e-cigarettes, were filed on May 4 with the state Attorney General’s Office. The filing is by the group Save Lives California Coalition, which includes CMA. Click Here

Board of Pharmacy Approves Regulations Allowing Pharmacists to Furnish Naloxone: Click Here

TOP

BENEFITS / PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

May 2015 Issue of CMA Practice Resources (CPR) (Click Here):

  • Anthem Blue Cross Announces Changes to Reimbursement Policies and Claims Software: Click Here
  • United Healthcare to Alter Premium Designation Criteria: Click Here
  • Survey: Is Your Practice Ready for ICD-10? Click Here
  • Ask the Expert: If Medicare Pays for a Procedure, Does a Medicare Advantage Plan Also Have to Pay? Click Here
  • United Healthcare to Deactivate Inactive Physician TINs as Part of Provider Directory Cleanup: Click Here
  • The Coding Corner: Joint Aspiration / Injection Coding: Click Here

Members: Click Here to Watch Previously Recorded SDCMS Seminars, Including:

  • How to Hire the Right Fit for Your Practice (2015.04.02)
  • HIPAA & EHRs: What Every Practice Must Know (2015.03.04)
  • Medicare Updates and Changes for 2015 (2015.01.29)
  • Covered California: What Your Healthcare Team Needs to Know (2014.11.13)
  • Payor Denials & Appeals: Effective Management and Best Outcomes (2014.10.09)

Email Membership@SDCMS.org for assistance in logging in.

Risk Management Videos From The Doctors Company: A Physician’s Reputation: Online and Off & Physician Branding on Social Media

TOP

LOCAL

Can You Help Spread the Message of Health by Making a Brief Presentation in Your Community? The SDCMS Foundation is partnering with the County of San Diego to educate children, adults, seniors, and employees on how to improve their lives and take charge of their health by launching a Live Well Physicians’ Speakers Bureau. Contact Barbara.Mandel@SDCMS.org to say YES, you will volunteer just one or two times a year, quarterly, or however your schedule allows.

TOP

“As there is a use in medicine for poisons, so the world cannot move without rogues.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Essayist, Lecturer, and Poet (1803–1882)



Comments are closed.