MSSNY eNews – June 14, 2019 – Circle of Life
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE< |
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Colleagues:
Yesterday, the New York State Legislature passed a measure that will assure that the only acceptable exception to New York’s vaccination requirements is when there are medical contraindications. Governor Andrew Cuomo has already signed this measure. The Medical Society would like to thank all the physicians who took the time to write a letter, make a phone call and take other steps to educate their legislators about the critical importance of this legislation for protecting our public health. MSSNY would also like to thank the many patient and public health advocacy organizations who also took the time to advocate to their legislators for this needed change.
Most importantly, we thank Assemblymember Jeff Dinowitz, Senator Brad Hoylman and our superior MSSNY legislative staff, especially Moe Auster and Pat Clancy, for their dogged advocacy in support of this legislation! Their steadfastness commitment to the measure and to the public health ensures that ALL of New York State children will be protected from vaccine preventable diseases.
AMA Annual Meeting
Returning from the 2019 AMA Annual House of Delegates, I got in a cab, returned home, picked up my car and drove off to the Northwell Ob-Gyn Resident Graduation Party on Long Island. En route to the affair, I checked off potential topics for this week’s epistle and it dawned on me that the graduating house staff IS the topic. They are the fledglings leaving the nest and flying toward their collective future. Yet are they truly prepared for the world of copays, deductibles, contracts, prior authorizations and medical liability?
There are those in academia who feel that there will be time enough to address these concerns. I am not one of those academics. What is often missing in medical school and postgraduate medical education is advocacy. Yet there is hope for at the AMA meeting, I encountered many medical students, residents and fellows who were eager to familiarize themselves with the issues that would either soon confront them or were engulfing them now. Full of youthful exuberance, they embrace the concerns of medicine with an enthusiastic optimism unencumbered by the vicissitudes of life. Here was the opportunity for continual dialogue, continual reality check, learning the art of negotiation and compromise. And yes, sometimes we all agreed to disagree yet continue to engage.
Sadly, I noted that several health systems in our state were not represented. This is a pity for these students and young physicians are the future. Without the opportunity for mentoring by those who have walked these paths before them, they are thus free to repeat our missteps. We are the ones who must provide the GPS for their careers.
In “The Last Samurai”, Katsumoto says to Algren: “The way of the Samurai is not necessary anymore.”
Algren replies: “Necessary? What could be more necessary?”
Similarly, in these troubled times, what could be more necessary than our Medical Society? And Advocacy is our most important product.
It’s the circle of life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
“Circle of Love,” Tim Rice, lyricist for The Lion King
Arthur Fougner, MD
MSSNY President
Comments? comments@mssny.org; @mssnytweet; @sonodoc99
Legislature & Governor Pass Bill to Assure Medical Exemptions Only For Immunization
In a significant move to change public health policy, the New York State Legislature passed a measure that would assure that the only acceptable exception to New York’s vaccination requirements is when there are medical contraindications. Governor Andrew Cuomo has already signed the bill into law. The bill is effective immediately, and contains provisions that allow a school age child, who has begun the immunization process to attend school in Fall 2019. The law becomes fully effective in June 2020. The measure, A.2371A and S.2994A, was sponsored by Assemblymember Jeffery Dinowitz and Senator Brad Hoylman. The measure, which the MSSNY strongly supported, passed the Assembly by a vote of 84-61 and the New York State Senate by 36-26. A copy of the voting record is at click here.
MSSNY led a group of specialty societies, patient and public health advocates to ensure that there was strong support for the bill and helped to activate many physicians, nurses, parents, and other public health organizations in support of the measure. MSSNY wishes to thank Assemblymember Dinowitz and Senator Hoylman for their dogged advocacy in support of this legislation and for their commitment to public health. MSSNY recognizes that it will be important to educate the public about the benefits about immunization over the next several months.
There were 33 organizations that joined with the Medical Society in support of the bill:
American Academy of Pediatrics, NYS District II, Chapters 1, 2 & 3, American Nurses Association – New York (ANA-NY), Associated Medical Schools of New York, Autism Science Foundation, Citizen Committee for Children of New York, Inc., Children’s Defense Fund-New York, Erie County Department of Health, Ithaca Is Immunized, Kimberly Coffey Foundation, Nurses Who Vaccinate, March of Dimes, Meningitis B Action Project, Nurse Practitioner Association of NYS, NY American College of Emergency Physicians, the NY Chapter American College of Surgeons, NY State Society of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery, NYS Society of Orthopaedic Surgeons, NYS Psychiatric Association, NY Chapter American College of Physicians, NYS Academy of Family Physicians, NYS Association of County Health Officials (NYSACHO), NY Occupational and Environmental Medical Association (NYOEMA), NYS Society of Plastic Surgeons,NYS Neurosurgical Society, NYS Ophthalmological Society, NYS Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, NYS Public Health Association, NYS Society of Anesthesiologists, Inc., The New York State Radiological Society, Schuyler Center For Analysis and Advocacy, The Children’s Agenda, Tompkins County Department of Health and the Tompkins Board of Health. (CLANCY)
All Physicians Urged to Contact Their Legislators to Prevent Huge Increases in Liability Premiums
All physicians are urged to contact their legislators to oppose bills being aggressively pushed by trial lawyers in the Session’s final days that would drive huge increases in physicians’ and hospitals’ already outrageously high liability premiums, and make it even more difficult for physicians and hospitals to be available to deliver needed patient care. Physicians are urged to call their local legislators and send a letter clicking here: These bills include:
- 4006/A.5612, which would greatly expand the possible damages awardable in a wrongful death action. While estimates vary, one actuarial estimate indicated that passage of this legislation could further increase premiums by nearly 50%, which translates to tens of thousands of dollars in new costs for many physicians and could make it impossible for many physicians to stay in practice in New York.
- 6194/A.2370, which would limit a physician’s ability to defend themselves in liability actions by prohibiting their defense counsel from conducting an interview with the plaintiff’s treating physician.
- 6081/A.2372, which would require a non-settling co-defendant in a tort action to choose whether to reduce his/her liability exposure by the stated settlement amount or the settling tortfeasor’s equitable share prior to the first opening statement of the trial.
Medical liability payouts in New York State continue to be far out of proportion with the rest of country. A recently released report showed that New York State had far and away the highest number of cumulative medical liability payouts of any state, and that this cumulative number had increased by 11% from 2017 to 2018. Claimants in New York were awarded nearly two times more than the state with the next highest amounts, Pennsylvania, and payments in New York far exceeded states such as California and Florida. Moreover, New York had the highest per capita medical liability payment as well, averaging over $35 per New York resident, more than 20% higher than the second highest state, New Jersey.
Given the extraordinary costs of medical liability insurance that many physicians must pay, combined with the enormous changes in health care delivery and payment that is placing huge new financial pressures on physician practices and hospitals, MSSNY is urging legislators to consider long overdue needed comprehensive reforms, not stand alone pieces of legislation that will harm patient access to care. (AUSTER)
Efforts to Legalize Recreational Marijuana Continue as Legislature Nears End; Physician Action Urged
With momentum growing in the New York State Legislature to act on the commercialization of the recreational use of marijuana, physicians are urged to continue to contact their legislators to oppose legislation here A.1617B/S.1527B sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Senator Liz Krueger, was recently amended. The Assembly bill is in the Assembly Codes Committee and the Senate bill is in the Senate Finance Committee. The Medical Society of the State of New York continues to oppose the legalization of recreational/adult use marijuana and continues to work with other advocacy groups that oppose this measure. In particular, MSSNY is concerned with the adverse public health consequences that have occurred in other states that have legalized marijuana.
Additionally, the measure changes the medical use of marijuana and takes the program out of the Department of Health and under the Office of Cannabis. The measure eliminates “serious condition” and eliminates the list of conditions for certifying patients. It also would allow any “practitioner” who is authorized to prescribe controlled substances with the state to certify a patient for marijuana. Training requirements for the medical components under the bill have been reduced to two hours. The measure would also authorize “smoking” as a modality of treatment in the medical component and for recreational use. (CLANCY,AUSTER)
Opioid Measures Moving in Both Houses
There are several measures that relate to opioid prescribing that are moving forward in the New York State Legislature that would have an impact on prescribing practices for physicians. The bills are listed below:
- 8256/S.5867A, sponsored by Assemblymember Richard Gottfried and Senator Gustavo Rivera, has moved from the Assembly Health Committee to the Assembly Rules Committee. This legislation would amend the public health law to require health practitioners before prescribing an opioid medication to consider discussing with the patient and refer or prescribe alternative services such as chiropractic, massage therapy or behavioral therapy. The Medical Society is concerned that this legislation will create confusing requirements for prescribers that will simply deter more physicians from prescribing pain medications for those patients that truly need them. The Medical Society of the State of New York is opposed to this measure.
- 5603/S.5150, sponsored by Assemblymember Edward Braunstein and Senator Peter Harckham, has moved to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee and is pending in the Senate Health Committee. This legislation would amend the public health law to require require that prescribers, who prescribe opioids for the first time, also co-prescribe an opioid antagonist with the prescription. MSSNY is concerned that this legislation could potentially create fear within patients that they would be stigmatized as drug addicts. This fear may very well carry over to the patient’s use of opioids in general – leading those patients to suffer intense pain because of the fear of “addiction”.
- 7285A/S. 4277A, sponsored by Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal and Senator Peter Harckham, has passed the Senate and is pending in the Assembly Health Committee. This legislation would amend the public health law to require health practitioners who prescribe an opioid or other Schedule II Controlled Substance to discuss with the patient the risks of being prescribed a CSII drug. The measure ignores the principle of informed consent—which essentially means that if a patient needs treatment, the physician gives the patient the information to make an informed decision. This process of understanding the risks and benefits of treatment is known as informed consent. Additionally, this is duplicative of requirements that currently exist under the ISTOP law, whereby, after the physician prescribes the medication, the pharmacist is required to again inform the patient about the risks of taking a controlled substance.
Physicians are urged to call their member of the New York State Assembly and Senate and to urge them to vote no on these measures. (CLANCY, AUSTER)
Physician Advocacy Needed to Support Important Health Insurance Reforms
With just one week left until the scheduled end of 2019’s legislative session it is vital to continue advocating for legislation to assure patients are more able to receive the timely quality care and medications they need. Physicians may advocate via clicking the links below or calling their legislator’s office. You can call the switchboard and ask to be directed to their office (Senate 518-455-2800, Assembly 518-455-4100). Find your legislator here.
Mid-year formulary changes – Surprisingly, current law does not restrict insurance companies from making substantial changes to their formularies mid-year. This is an egregious practice when you consider the fact that your patients choose insurance plans based on the coverage presented to them – and they generally are not able to switch plans mid-year. Senator Breslin and Assemblymember Peoples-Stokes have introduced legislation (S.2849/A.2969) that would prevent mid-year formulary changes so that patients do not experience removal of a drug or changes in tiering when there is no similarly effective option. This bill is on the verge of becoming law as it is on the floor calendar in both houses. However it is being fiercely opposed by health insurers. Please urge your Assemblymember and Senator to join on as a co-sponsor and support the bill here.
Network due process – There is currently a glaring loophole in New York’s laws that allow insurance companies to terminate physicians by non-renewal without cause or recourse. While they are required to notify physicians when contracts are terminated and physicians are then afforded the opportunity for a hearing, these protections don’t extend to non-renewal. Senator Rivera and Assemblymember Lavine’s bill (S.3463/A.2835) would provide physicians with proper due process upon non-renewal and would enhance the current hearing process by allowing the subject of the hearing (the physician) to choose one of the three members of the panel. The bill is on the floor of both Houses.
Collective negotiations – Negotiating patient care terms with insurance companies is extremely difficult given many insurers’ overwhelming market share, so we strongly support legislation introduced by Senator Rivera and Assemblymember Gottfried (S.3462/A.2393) that would allow independently physicians to collectively negotiate with insurance companies in certain situations. The bill has been reported out of the Assembly Health Committee and awaits a vote in Ways & Means. Its Senate companion is currently in in the Senate Health Committee. Please urge your Assemblymember and Senator to join on as a co-sponsor and support the bill http://tiny.cc/mssnycollectivenegotation (AVELLA/AUSTER)
Physician Advocacy Urged to Prevent Congressional Attempts to Undermine New York “Surprise Bill” Law
With several US House and Senate leaders releasing proposals to address the issue of “surprise” out of network medical bills faced by patients, physicians are urged to send a letter (please click here) urging their member of Congress to fight for a law that is consistent with New York’s approach. Physician advocacy is essential due to a multitude of proposals before Congress that could seriously undermine New York’s proven model and further diminish the ability of physicians to fairly negotiate patient care terms with market dominant health insurers.
Specifically, MSSNY and other physician advocacy organizations have praised a proposal advanced by Representative Joe Morelle (D-Rochester) together with Representative Dr. Phil Roe (R-TN) and Dr. Raul Ruiz (D-CA), that seeks to mirror New York’s law, which uses a “baseball arbitration” Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) system to determine payment for out of network medical care, and uses charge data collected by an independent database as a leading benchmark to guide the IDR. MSSNY Board of Trustees member Dr. Andrew Kleinman also recently participated in a meeting with the House Doctors Caucus to educate legislators about New York’s approach.
However, several other proposals have been advanced that would require an insurer determined in-network based default rate for out of network surprise medical bills. This would give enormous new powers to already market dominant insurers, and fails to recognize the insurance industry’s fault in creating this problem due to their narrow networks. MSSNY has written to New York’s Congressional delegation praising the approach set forth by Representatives Morelle, Roe and Ruiz, and raising strong concerns with other proposals.
Specifically, New York’s letter raised concerns with the insurance industry’s own notorious history in establishing benchmarks for out of network payment, and the history of then-Attorney General Cuomo’s investigation which found that by using a flawed and conflicted database to determine reimbursement rates for out-of-network care, insurers were increasing profits at the expense of patients and physicians. Moreover, it was noted that New York’s law struck a tenuous balance among various health care stakeholders that protected patients from surprise medical bills and assured that hospital emergency departments had access to needed on-call specialty care.
MSSNY has been working with several other state medical associations and national specialty societies in its advocacy to Congress. Please see here for a short “Fact Sheet” developed by the Physicians Advocacy Institute that sets forth key principles for Congress to consider in this debate: Fact Sheet (AUSTER)
Workers Compensation Board Adopts Regulations to Implement Prescription Medication Formulary
The New York Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) recently announced it had adopted regulations to implement a prescription drug formulary for injured workers’ medication needs. To read the final adopted regulation, formulary and summary documents, click here.
Comprehensive Workers Compensation reform legislation enacted by the State Legislature in 2017 directed the WCB to develop and implement a formulary. The proposed regulation and formulary (Formulary) sets forth a listing of medications that may be prescribed for injured worker patient care needs without prior authorization during the first 30 days after the worker’s injury (Phase A), as well as a listing of medications that may be prescribed and dispensed, up to a 90- day supply, without obtaining Prior Authorization after 30 days following an accident or injury (Phase B).
The regulation also notes that drugs listed as “Perioperative Formulary drugs” may be prescribed without Prior Authorization when prescribed four days before and four days after the patient goes into the hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office for surgery; with the day of surgery being day zero. When prior authorization is needed for certain medications, the proposed rules require the carrier, employer, or PBM to approve, partially approve or deny a PA request within 4 calendar days of submission by the physician or other care provider.
The regulation also sets forth that new prescriptions must be prescribed pursuant to the Formulary within 6 months of the effective date of the Formulary (December 2019), and that refills and renewals must be prescribed pursuant to the
Formulary within 12 months of the effective date of the Formulary (June 2020). (AUSTER)
Please Complete NYeC Survey to Gauge Physician Hassles with EHR Implementation and Use
MSSNY, in conjunction with other physician associations, has been working with the New York e-Health Collaborative (NYeC) on ways to reduce the hassles associated with the implementation and use of electric health record (EHR) systems. To that end, they have developed a survey for physicians to complete gauging the challenges of EHR use, including connecting to and using medical information from your local Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) to enhance patient care delivery.
Please take just a few minutes to complete the survey here. (AUSTER)
| pschuh@mssny.org | mauster@mssny.org | pclancy@mssny.org | mavella@mssny.org |
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Zocdoc Update
Recently, MSSNY expressed concerns with Zocdoc based on physicians expressing discontent with the verbiage of “Dr. XXX has no appointments on Zocdoc right now.” The site then lists other {Specialists} nearby. Many physicians viewed this as Zocdoc steering patients away from their practice to practices that have an agreement with Zocdoc. We asked Zocdoc to reconsider their language.
In an effort of cooperation and in an attempt to address our stated concerns, Zocdoc advised that they are going to adjust the language on these pages as a show of good faith to MSSNY and its members. Zocdoc asked their Product team to update the language to read as follows: “Dr. [NAME] does not participate in Zocdoc to offer online booking at this time.” This should resolve our specific concern and MSSNY is appreciative of Zocdoc’s consideration.
Our State Fair is a Great State Fair…Don’t Miss It!
Once again the Onondaga County Medical Society will staff the Medical Society of the State of New York/New York State Society of Anesthesiologists booth at the state fair. Medical Society physician members are encouraged to volunteer to work the booth during a time slot. This is a great opportunity to perform public health outreach, and to promote your practice or organization at the NYS Fair, free of charge. Those who work at the booth will receive free admission tickets and free parking (on a limited basis). Feel free to bring handouts about your practice or other timely medical information to share with fairgoers. Please let us know if you have any ideas for exhibits, testing, etc., that you feel will be informative and help advance a positive image of the medical profession.
Contact us for available time slots remaining for the 13-day fair, which runs from Wednesday, August 21 – Monday, September 2, 2019 (Labor Day). You can work as little as two hours or the entire day if you’d like. We need only one physician-member group per time slot. This is being updated daily. Time availability is on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact Patty Corasaniti at (315) 424-8118, or send email to corasaniti@oncms.org for more information.
Major City Physician Group Calls for Two-Year Extension of DSRIP Money
Dr. Ramon Tallaj, chairman of Somos Community Care, said Tuesday that the Cuomo administration should work to secure federal funding to continue the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program. The DSRIP program provided $7.4 billion for health care providers across the state to implement projects that would lower unnecessary trips to the hospital by 25% over five years. The program is set to end by April.
“We need to extend this for two more years. We have to find together a way to do that,” Tallaj said Tuesday after speaking at a conference hosted by Somos at the New York Academy of Medicine in Manhattan. “We need to be sure the Medicaid money is available to the state to do this transformation.”
Somos Community Care is a network of more than 2,500 physicians who care for more than 700,000 patients in New York City. It is one of 25 Performing Provider Systems, or groups of medical providers that have collaborated on projects to keep patients healthy and out of the hospital. Those projects include increasing care management and integrating medical and behavioral health care.
The money for DSRIP came from an amendment to New York’s 1115 waiver through which the federal government provided New York more than $8 billion. That allowed the state to reinvest some of the $17 billion it had saved through initiatives developed by its Medicaid Redesign Team. To secure additional funding, the state will need to a new amendment to its 1115 waiver, a labor-intensive process that will test New York’s ability to work with the Trump administration. But New York could renew some money from its DSRIP program. Certain parts of DSRIP, known as the state supplemental programs, are distributed through Medicaid managed-care plans and represented more than $1.5 billion in the first five years of the program. The state could allocate a continuation of that money in the next state budget.
Not all leaders in the health care industry think that DSRIP 2.0 is the answer to funding future collaboration among providers and social service organizations. (Crain’s Health Pulse)
The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) is involved in emergency preparedness planning in case of the event of a pain clinic closure or other emergency within New York City. Pain clinic closures in other parts of New York State have led to serious public health consequences. It is essential to have contingency plans in place in NYC to avoid abrupt interruption of treatment for patients with chronic pain, some of whom receive opioid therapy, and to assure continuity of care. Physician response to this survey will inform DOHMH’s work and optimize all available resources to protect the health of New Yorkers.
AMA Meeting Highlights
- AMA And Single-Payer
The AMA remained opposed Tuesday to proposals for the U.S. to establish a single-payer health care system. At its annual House of Delegates meeting, it voted 53% to 47% against adopting an amendment to remove its formal opposition. The vote follows days of debate between leadership and a group of medical students.
- AMA: Mature Minors Should Be Able to Provide Informed Consent for Vaccinations
Members voted to express support for “state policies that would allow minors to override their parent’s objections to vaccinations.” AMA board member S. Bobby Mukkamala, M.D., said in a news release, “The prevalence of unvaccinated pediatric patients is troubling to physicians. Many children go unvaccinated as anti-vaccine related messages and advertisements target parents with misinformation. Allowing mature minors to provide informed consent to vaccinations will ensure these patients can access this type of preventive care.”
- AMA Delegates Vote In Favor of Ethics Council Report On Aid-In-Dying, Physician-Assisted Suicide
Members approved “a report from the AMA’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA), which was issued in response to resolutions at the 2016 and 2017 annual meetings that asked the council to ‘study the issue of aid-in-dying with consideration of data collected from the states that currently authorize aid-in-dying, and input from some of the physicians who have provided medical aid-in-dying to qualified patients.’” In the report, “the council had noted that arguments for and against participating in aid-in-dying or physician-assisted suicide were ‘fundamentally unchanged’ since the council’s earlier report on the issue in 1991.” The report also said, “In the council’s view, despite its negative connotations, the term ‘physician-assisted suicide’ describes the practice with the greatest precision.”
Dr. Underwood, Urologist from Buffalo, Elected to AMA Board of Trustees
Willie Underwood, III, M.D., M.Sc., M.P.H., a urologist based in Buffalo was elected to the AMA’s to its Board of Trustees. Dr. Underwood has been an active leader in organized medicine for many years; he has chaired the AMA Council on Legislation and the AMA Resident and Fellow Section, served as president of the Erie County New York Medical Society, and he is an AMA Delegate from the American Urological Association (AUA).
Dr. Underwood is a board-certified urologic surgeon specializing in prostate cancer who has been practicing in the state of New York for the past 11 years. He oversees research focusing on methods to improve early detection and treatment of prostate cancer. In all his advocacy work he is proudest of getting prostate cancer early detection legislation successfully passed in Michigan and Maryland. Dr. Underwood earned his M.D. and M.Sc. from SUNY Upstate Medical University and his M.P.H. from the University of Michigan.
Physician Wellness Committee: 2016 Survey Has Sparked More Attention
Michael Privitera MD, Co-Chair of MSSNY’s Committee for Physician Wellness and Resilience, announced that another publication has come out of the MSSNY Burnout survey we did in the fall of 2016 in collaboration with Federation of State Medical Boards. “Physician Burnout and Mental Health Care Barriers when Reporting on Applications” has been accepted in Journal of Legal Medicine. It expounds upon how asking physicians questions on their state license applications and renewals about previous mental health care is such a large deterrent for physicians getting the care they need and how this backfires in efforts to protect the public.
Dr. Privitera stated, “I am particularly pleased about taking these issues seriously on a national level. There is the terrible perfect storm of an endless list of increasing expectations on physicians and medical students without any single agency overseeing the total expectations of the job. This scenario is then mixed with a culture of silence and endurance prevalent in medical culture that makes them less likely to be aware of how impossible the job has become. It’s not a fair fight like other challenges in which they have prevailed, so it is important to try to recognize this and reach out to get help.”
| CMS |
NGS Medicare Part B Claims Update
Top Reasons for Returning Claims
- Item 1a Insured ID Number – blank or not valid format
- Item 21 Diagnosis – No diagnosis code report
- Item 24b Place of Service – No place of service reported
- Item 32 – Service Facility location – Blank
- Item 33a Missing NPI – missing or invalid format reported
| JK Timeliness | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May |
| JK Claims | 977 | 829 | 814 | 2,681 | 1,627 |
MIPS 2019: Not Too Late to Avert Future Medicare Pay Penalties
MIPS-eligible physicians who don’t report data may be subject to a 7% Medicare pay penalty in 2021. AMA resources offer help to avoid that outcome
Eligible physicians who fail to report data under Medicare’s 2019 Quality Payment Program (QPP) will be subject to a 7% penalty in 2021. That penalty will rise to 9% the following year.
To avoid such penalties, physicians need to score a minimum of 30 points in this year’s iteration of the QPP’s Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). The AMA’s expert resources outline what’s new this year under MIPS and how you can avoid potential future pay cuts.
The AMA offers extensive resources to help physicians understand MIPS, including:
Those physicians seeking a positive payment adjustment to their Medicare rates (potentially up to 7%) should have already started collecting data for the MIPS Quality performance category as of Jan. 1. Physicians, however, looking to avoid penalties and receive a neutral Medicare pay adjustment can still do so by collecting 90 days’ worth of data relevant to the MIPS Promoting Interoperability (PI) and Improvement Activities (IA) categories. The latest date to begin collecting data is Oct. 1.
Join CMS for a Public Webinar on Quality Measurement
CMS is pleased to invite the public to attend its upcoming webinar titled Measuring Quality to Improve Quality: Strengths and Challenges of Clinical Quality Measurement. The webinar will provide an engaging and informative overview of key concepts that go into its quality measures. Additionally, the presentation will review current CMS quality measures, explain how they are used, and how they fit into CMS’s quality goals, including the Meaningful Measures initiative. The webinar will be offered twice in June, on Tuesday, June 25th, from 2:00-3:00pm EST (Register here) and Thursday, June 27th, from 2:00-3:00pm EST (Register here). Please register in advance if you can attend as space will be limited. We request that you please only register for events you plan to attend. We hope you can join us and look forward to your questions! For questions, please contact MMSSupport@battelle.org.
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Multi-Specialty Medical Office Looking To Bring On More Doctors
New York Medicine Doctors Center is a multi-specialty Medical Agency networking some of the best medical professionals and specialists in the New York Tri-State area. Our offices currently serve both Manhattan and Queens, providing a variety of advanced technological on site testing, imaging, and services for the most rapid results.
We are actively looking to bring on board an array of Doctors specializing in Primary Care, Gynecology, Gastroenterology, ENT, Urology, Podiatry, and Dermatology.
As we continue to broaden our medical services in both locations, we also provide individualized on-boarding contracts with health benefits, tailored in-house marketing and advertising, practice management assistance, and in house team of administration dedicated in serving any and all concerns whether it be credentialing or equipment related tasks.
If you are interested in joining our growing network, please do not hesitate to contact us
at 718-360-9550 or 212-931-8533. Our direct email is drshusterman@gmail.com
Primary Contact: Oksana
Nurse, RN Utilization Review Full-Time-Westbury, NY (In-office position only)
Excellent opportunity for a RN who is seeking a position performing utilization review. We require 1-2 years recent experience in hospital and/or insurer utilization review and experience using Interqual criteria and/or MCG Guidelines. Data entry/PC skills a plus. Benefits include 401(k), paid vacation and holidays. Send resume and salary requirements to: Empire State Medical Scientific and Educational Foundation, Inc. Human Resource Department e-mail: chunt@mssny.org Fax: (1-516) 833-4760 Equal Oppty Employer M/F
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