MSSNY eNews: Discount Perks for Members
 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Thomas J. Madejski, MD MSSNY President MSSNY eNews July 27, 2018 Volume 20 Number 27 |
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Dear Colleagues:
Hopefully, when you receive this week’s Enews, I’ll be on a golf course in Vermont. I share that information not to highlight my hopefully improving golf swing, but to remind our MSSNY members and each one of us that in order to take good care of our patients we need to take good care of ourselves. Some of MSSNY’s most important work over the last few years has been on promoting and maintaining physician health. We’ve developed a number of resources for members individually and for our organizational partners to promote physician health
Our Committee on Physician Wellness and Resilience continues its excellent work to provide new tools and outreach to our members including a Speakers Bureau to help improve the practice environment and reduce factors that can lead to poor health and affect the care of our patients. (See article below.)
Each of us is responsible to our patients, and that implies a responsibility to improve and maintain our health personally. I encourage you to reconnect with your personal physician to reassess, maintain and improve your health. Find some time (after discussion with your physician) to exercise on a regular basis, improve your diet if necessary, and spend time with your loved ones. Seek some joy outside of the satisfaction that helping your patients through their challenges provides to you.
Trying to implement your plan can be a challenge. I’m combining my golf with some MSSNY activities, friend and family visits and our first MSSNY Day at the Races at Saratoga Springs tomorrow. I’m looking forward to a great time with MSSNYPAC members and other friends and expect a splendid time to be had by all!
Memento Vivere!
Please send your thoughts to comments@mssny.org.
Thomas J. Madejski, MD
MSSNY President
| eNews |
| MEMBER BENEFIT |
Join MSSNY’s Member Perks Program and Enjoy $4,500 in Savings!
MSSNY is pleased to announce our newest member benefit! Our new Abenity App provides members with exclusive perks and over $4,500 in savings on everything from restaurants, City Pass, AMC movie tickets, theme parks, hotels, car rentals, mortgage savings, auto care and much more!
Popular Features Include:
- Nearby Offers: Use our show and save mobile coupons to quickly access savings on the go.
- eTickets On Demand: Save up to 40% with no hidden fees.
- Showtimes: Find movies, watch trailers, and save up to 40% at a theater near you.
- Monthly Giveaways: Win cash, movie tickets, electronics and more with our monthly contests.
And, with over 302,000 available discounts across 10,000 cities in the United States and Canada, you’ll never be far from savings!
REGISTER & LOG IN
Click on the following link: http://mssny.abenity.com and then create a unique username and password
New Pricing for Zoc Doc
Several MSSNY physician members have expressed concerns with the new pricing rules announced by Zoc Doc for their marketing and scheduling services. MSSNY is currently exploring the situation with our General Counsel, Garfunkel Wild and will keep members apprised in the coming weeks.
| DOH |
NYC Health Department Re-Opening Electronic Death Registry in October
The NYC Health Department will again attempt to roll out an electronic death registration program that was plagued with glitches in October – and critics say the timing is problematic.
The $5.8 million “eVital” system launched in October of 2017 using facial recognition software so funeral directors and doctors could log in using cellphone selfies. But some morticians and doctors could not access the system, forcing the agency to pull it within days of launching.
Because burials and cremations require a signed death certificate, funeral home directors had to scramble to pick up certificates in person at hospitals and doctors’ offices. Then they had to deliver them to the Health Department’s Burial Desk to obtain the burial permit.
Some families waited days to bury loved ones – a disaster for the Jewish and Muslim communities whose customs require burials “as soon as possible,” according to Noor Rabah, president of the Muslim Funeral Services.
When eVital is re-launched on Oct. 1, there will be a 48-hour window between the time the existing “Electronic Vital Events Registration System” is taken down and the eVital system goes up – meaning morticians and doctors will be forced to use the same manual process that delayed burials in the fall. (NY Post July 22)
| WORKERS COMP |
Workers’ Compensation Changes
We seem to be on a roll. Last week, we informed you about significant changes being proposed by CMS for the physician fee schedule. This week I am happy to report that the NYS Workers’ Compensation Board has listened to us and is intent on reducing physician burden and enticing more participation in its program.
The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board (Board) will replace the current Board treatment forms: Doctor’s Initial Report (Form C-4), Doctor’s Progress Report (Form C-4.2), Occupational/Physical Therapist’s Report (Form OT/PT-4), Psychologist’s Report (Form PS-4), and Ancillary Medical Report (Form C-AMR) with the CMS-1500 to help reduce paperwork and lower provider administrative burdens. This initiative will leverage providers’ current medical billing software and medical records while promoting a more efficient workers’ compensation system.
Beginning January 1, 2019, physicians may voluntarily transmit CMS-1500 medical bills (and required medical narratives, and/or attachments as applicable) through an approved XML Submission Partner (“clearinghouse”) to workers’ compensation insurers/payers. Guidance on required medical narratives and attachments is available on the Board’s website. If a CMS-1500 is submitted without the detailed narrative report or office note, it is not a valid bill submission. A listing of approved clearinghouses for the CMS-1500 will be posted on the XML Forms Submission section of the Board’s website after each entity successfully completes testing and executes an XML Submission Partner agreement with the Board.
Workers’ compensation insurers/payers will accept CMS-1500 medical billing files from clearinghouses and electronically return acknowledgments of receipt of CMS-1500 files. Such acknowledgements (including receipt date) will be forwarded from the clearinghouses back to providers and the Board.
The Board will receive CMS-1500 files, narrative attachments and acknowledgements of receipt from clearinghouses in a designated XML format. The CMS-1500 forms and narrative attachments will be combined and displayed in the applicable claimants WCB case folders.
MSSNY’s Committee on Worker’s Compensation and No-Fault Insurance has been asking the Board to make these accommodations for several years. Using the CMS 1500 is anticipated to be less cumbersome than the former C4 Forms and filing electronically should help to alleviate many of the filing difficulties resulting from the limitations and hassles of paper claims.
For more information on this matter, please click here.
560-Member Med Group Expands Risk-Based Contracts– Aetna, Anthem, WellCare
CareMount Medical Group, a 560-physician group in Chappaqua, N.Y., inked risk-based agreements with three Medicare Advantage health insurers: Aetna, Anthem and WellCare.
“By partnering with these top plans, we are focusing on the importance of preventive and value-based care for our senior patients,” said Scott D. Hayworth, MD, president and CEO of CareMount Medical. CareMount, one of the largest independent multispecialty medical groups in New York State, joined CMS’ Next Generation ACO model under its managed care subsidiary, CareMount ACO, in April. CareMount currently serves about 40,000 Medicare Advantage members under advanced-risk based contracts. (Becker’s Hospital Review, July20)
News from MSSNY’s Committee on Physician Wellness and Resilience:
MSSNY Speakers Available to Address Groups Regarding Physician Burnout
The MSSNY Committee on Physician Wellness and Resilience offers resources to help address the increasingly serious challenge posed by stress and burnout in the medical profession. The Committee’s Speakers Bureau is pleased to offer presentations on the causes, effects and treatment of physician burnout. These were developed for three different audiences to provide insight and effective approaches that can be taken to address the problem.
If interested in scheduling a presentation for your medical staff, group practice, county medical society, residency program, or other meeting, please contact sbennett@mssny.org to make arrangements.
Please specify which kind of presentation you are seeking:
- One geared for individual physicians, on ways to reduce stress
- One for health system administrators, on actions that can be taken to reduce institutional stressors
- One for other stakeholders, such as health insurers, malpractice carriers, etc.
The committee plans to enlist other MSSNY members to add to the ranks of possible presenters on this topic. We are grateful to have heard from a number of volunteers already. Plans are now being prepared to familiarize volunteers with our presentations, and committee representatives will be following up with all volunteers soon.
If you would be interested in having one or more of our prepared presentations to your group or institution, and haven’t volunteered already, please contact sbennett@mssny.org, and we’ll include you as part of our Speaker’s Bureau on Physician Wellness and Resilience.
| SYMPOSIUMS/CONFERENCES |
Garfunkel Wild ASC Symposium on Nov 2; MSSNY Members Receive $65 Discount
November 2, 2018 is Garfunkel Wild’s 5th Annual NY Metro ASC Symposium at the Marriott Marquis (Manhattan). Please find the agenda for the day and additional information by clicking here.
MSSNY members will be entitled to a $65 discount.
NYSSPA 2018 CME Conference in Albany
The New York State Society of Physicians Assistants are holding their 2018 Conference on Thursday, October 4 through Sunday, October 7 at the Hilton Albany. For more information, go here.
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FDA Approves First Treatment for Smallpox
On June 13, U.S. regulators approved the first treatment for smallpox although it was eradicated worldwide by 1980 after a huge vaccination campaign. People born since then haven’t been vaccinated, and small samples of the smallpox virus were saved for research purposes, leaving the possibility it could be used as a biological weapon.
Maker SIGA Technologies of New York has already delivered 2 million treatments that will be stockpiled by the government, which partially paid for the development of the drug, called TPOXX.
To test the drug’s effectiveness, monkeys and rabbits were infected with a similar virus and then given the drug. More than 90 percent survived, the company said. Vaccination can be used to prevent infection but it must be done within five days of exposure to the virus, well before symptoms appear. The drug is a capsule, taken twice daily for 14 days. “This new treatment affords us an additional option should smallpox ever be used as a bioweapon,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb, head of the Food and Drug Administration, said in a statement.
| MEDICARE |
In Case You Missed It – Recording of Panel Discussion on E/M Coding Reform
In case you missed it last week, see below for a link to the webcast of the panel discussion on Evaluation & Management Coding:
- Title: CMS Panel Discussion on E/M Coding Reform
Link: https://youtu.be/W2QBTQNxfSY
New Medicare Cards Coming to New York Throughout August
This week and throughout August, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be automatically mailing new Medicare cards to more than 3.5 million people with Medicare in New York State.
Key features of the new card and rollout process:
- Social Security Numbers have been replaced with new unique identifying numbers.
- Social Security numbers are no longer on the new Medicare, helping protect people with Medicare from identity theft and CMS fight fraud.
- The new Medicare card is free. Avoid scammers by knowing that CMS will not call people with Medicare asking for any personal information, your Social Security Number, bank information, or to pay for the new Medicare card.
- People with Medicare can sign up for email notifications on when the new cards will be mailed to their area by going to www.medicare.gov/newcard.
- There are no changes to Medicare benefits. Once you receive your New Medicare card, you should destroy your old Medicare card by shredding or cutting it up with scissors.
New Medicare card fact sheets, graphics, b-roll, images and other resources can be accessed here.
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Chief of Medical Services
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Possession of a license and current registration to practice medicine in New York State, plus six years of experience in the practice of medicine, two years of which must be in an administrative or supervisory capacity. Appointee must be eligible for and maintain eligibility for full and unconditional participation in Medicaid and Medicare programs. Appropriate certification by an American Medical Specialty Board and one year of post certification experience in that specialty can be substituted for four years of general experience.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: Board certification in Geriatric Medicine and/or Certification as a Medical Director (AMDA), and experience in a long-term care facility.
RESPONSIBILITIES: Serve as Medical Director of a 242-bed skilled nursing facility for veterans and their dependents. Provide medical leadership and oversight ensuring the delivery of quality health care services while also ensuring compliance with clinical, statutory and regulatory standards.Send resume to: NYS Veterans Home, Attn: Human Resources, 4207 State Highway 220, Oxford, NY 13830
The New York State Veterans Home at Oxford is a 242-bed skilled nursing facility operated by the NYS Department of Health located in Chenango County. It is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
CALL FOR RATES & INFO. CHRISTINA SOUTHARD: 516-488-6100 ext. 355