"News You Can Use" <> December 2, 2014 December 2, 2014 CMA, HOD House of Delegates 0 CONTENTS Free Dinner for Any and All Solo and Small-group Physicians The SDCMS Nominating Committee Is Creating the Slate for the 2015 SDCMS Board of Directors Your SDCMS Member Services Quiz Don’t Have a Clue About Leadership and Need to Learn Quickly? We’re Devoting the Feb. 2015 Issue of San Diego Physician to Solo / Small-group Physician Issues Got a “Is There a Doctor in the House?” or “Most Peculiar Patient Request” Story to Share? Family Medicine / General Internal Medicine Physicians Needed UCSD PACE Program Is Recruiting Practicing Physicians Above Age 50 Can You Help Spread the Message of Health by Making a Brief Presentation in Your Community? Free EHR Training From Alliant University Supreme Court to Hear ACA Subsidy Case Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) Continuing to Require Physicians to Revalidate Their Medicare Enrollments United Issues New Premium Designation Physician Results Blue Shield Announces Changes to 2015 Exchange / Mirror Products Having Problems With the New Prescription Drug Prior Authorization Form? New Prescription Drug Prior Authorization Form Resources CMA Needs Your Feedback on How Worker’s Comp Reform Is Working CMA Joins Coalition Seeking to Increase Tobacco Tax by $2 by the End of 2016 DMHC Audit Finds Anthem, Blue Shield Covered California Directories Misleading and in Violation of State Law Duals Project Sees Additional Setbacks Medical Board Revises Guidelines on Controlled Substances for Pain Follow SDCMS’ Twitter Feed and Get a Treasure Trove of Healthcare News Delivered Daily to Your Smartphone Is Your Office Manager / Practice Administrator Using SDCMS’ Online Forum? Covered California Enrollment Information and Deadlines Covered California Physician Resources ABOVE THE FOLD Free Dinner for Any and All Solo and Small-group Physicians (SSGP): Put on by the SSGP Forum of the CMA House of Delegates. Thursday, December 4 at 6:30pm downtown. Click Here for Further Details The SDCMS Nominating Committee Is Creating the Slate for the 2015 SDCMS Board of Directors: If you are interested in serving, please contact Tom Gehring, CEO, at Gehring@SDCMS.org or at (619) 206-8282, or the Nominating Committee chair, Dr. Bob Peters, at r.petersmd@gmail.com. Click here to view the roles and responsibilities of the directors. TOP YOUR MEMBERS SERVICES QUIZ Question: I am looking into medical record retention periods for our practice. I am specifically looking for the retention periods for cytology and skin tissue slides. Where can I find this information? Click Here for the Answer TOP LOCAL Don’t Have a Clue About Leadership and Need to Learn Quickly? SDCMS Members: Attend SDCMS' Leader’s Toolkit seminar on March 14–15. For details or to reserve your spot, email me at Gehring@SDCMS.org. Filling up fast, only 5 more seats left. We’re Devoting the Feb. 2015 Issue of San Diego Physician to Solo / Small-group Physician Issues: SDCMS member physicians can email your article ideas to Editor@SDCMS.org. Got a “Is There a Doctor in the House?” or “Most Peculiar Patient Request” Story to Share? Email them to Editor@SDCMS.org for possible publication in an upcoming issue of San Diego Physician. Family Medicine / General Internal Medicine Physicians Needed to serve as role models and teachers to UCSD first- and second-year medical students in their Ambulatory Care Apprenticeship Program. Click Here for Details UCSD PACE Program Is Recruiting Practicing Physicians Above Age 50 for a Compensated PACE Aging Physician Assessment (PAPA) Pilot Study: Contact Patricia Reid, MPH, at (619) 471-0569, or click here. 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 community members 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. Free EHR Training From Alliant University: Through a federal grant, Alliant University now offers a free (no cost) EHR training and certification course for medical staff who are under-employed or working fewer than 32 hours per week. Candidates will get all training material electronically on a laptop that they can keep on completion of the program. It is good incentive for employees to get trained on EHR/EMR systems and get certification in healthcare information technology. Training cost otherwise would be $5,000 for certification. For more information, visit www.alliant.edu/asm or contact Ash Mehta at (858) 304-1500 or at amehta@patientclick.com. TOP FEDERAL Supreme Court to Hear ACA Subsidy Case: In Nov. the U.S. Supreme Court unexpectedly said it would hear King v. Burwell — a case that questions whether premium subsidies can be provided under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to individuals purchasing health insurance coverage on exchanges run by the federal government. The lawsuit has the potential to affect 36 states that use the federal healthcare exchange, but would not change the subsidies in states like California that run their own exchanges. Arguments at the high court in King v. Burwell are likely in March, with a decision expected before July. Click Here for Details Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) Continuing to Require Physicians to Revalidate Their Medicare Enrollments: Revalidation notices have been sent out and will continue to be sent out until March 23, 2015. Click Here for Further Information TOP STATE United Issues New Premium Designation Physician Results: To be released publicly on January 1, 2015. For more information about the Premium Designation program, visit the United Healthcare website at www.unitedhealthcareonline.com. Click Here for Details Blue Shield Announces Changes to 2015 Exchange / Mirror Products: Contact Blue Shield Provider Information and Enrollment at (800) 258-3091. Click Here for Details Having Problems With the New Prescription Drug Prior Authorization Form? A new law (SB 866) recently took effect that streamlines and standardizes the prior authorization process for prescription drugs for most patients with PPO products. CMA is interested in hearing from practices that have experienced difficulties with the new form. Contact CMA at (916) 551-2061 or at economicservices@cmanet.org. New Prescription Drug Prior Authorization Form Resources: SDCMS members may click here for great resource on the new form. This document is available free to members. Click Here for Details CMA Needs Your Feedback on How Worker’s Comp Reform Is Working: Click Here to Take the Survey CMA Joins Coalition Seeking to Increase Tobacco Tax by $2 by the End of 2016: Click Here for Details DMHC Audit Finds Anthem, Blue Shield Covered California Directories Misleading and in Violation of State Law: DMHC found that more than 25% of listed physicians were not taking these patients or they were no longer at the location listed by the companies. Click Here for Details Duals Project Sees Additional Setbacks: Click Here for Details Medical Board Revises Guidelines on Controlled Substances for Pain: Click Here for Details TOP BENEFITS / PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Follow SDCMS’ Twitter Feed and Get a Treasure Trove of Healthcare News Delivered Daily to Your Smartphone: Click Here Is Your Office Manager / Practice Administrator Using SDCMS’ Online Forum? Click Here to Join TOP COVERED CALIFORNIA Enrollment Information and Deadlines: Open enrollment for new coverage or change in plan runs Nov. 15, 2014, to Feb. 15, 2015. Current enrollees will be automatically reenrolled in their plans (even if there has been a change in the premium rate) if they are making no changes (either tier level or plan). Current enrollees who do want to make changes to their plans must do so by December 15, 2014, for the newly updated coverage to go into effect on January 1, 2015. Medi-Cal enrollees don’t need to renew until they hear from Medi-Cal about next steps. Physician Resources: Understanding the Grace Period Plan Names, ID Card, and Provider Directory Reference Guide Insurance Company Network Contacts Know Your Participation Status FAQs for Patients in English and Spanish TOP “Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted.” — Garrison Keillor, Author, Storyteller, Humorist, and Radio Personality (born 1942) Comments are closed.