"News You Can Use" <> February 4, 2016 February 5, 2016 Medicare, Public Health Zika Virus 0 CONTENTS Register Today for Our March 10 Medicare Updates 2016 Seminar / Webinar Your Member Services Quiz Zika Virus Resources Report Your Patients’ Blood Pressure Readings as Part of Love Your Heart Day on Thursday, February 11 Apply for a Meaningful Use Exception by March 15 Are You Aware of the Meaningful Use Measures Changes? Noridian Posts Updated Medicare Physician Fee Schedule AMA Publishes Guide to Physician-Focused Alternative Payment Models Help CMA Pass the 2016 Cigarette Tax Initiative by Collecting Signatures Physicians: Please Give CMA Your Feedback on Proposed Health Insurance Mergers CMA Issues Guidance for End-of-Life Option Act IMQ Surveyors Needed Read CMA’s Feb. 1 Capitol Insight on the Inner Workings of the State Legislature New CMA Member Benefit to Help Physicians Renegotiating With Payors Golfers and Tennis Players Needed! Physicians Needed to Mentor UCSD Undergraduates Help Spread the Message of Health by Making a Brief Presentation in Your Community ABOVE THE FOLD Space Limited, Lunch Provided — Register Today for Our Medicare Updates 2016 Seminar / Webinar: Thursday, March 10, 11:30am–1:00pm. Click Here for Seminar Registration • Click Here for Webinar Registration TOP YOUR MEMBER SERVICES QUIZ Member Physician Question: A local physician has recently retired, and all of her former patients are coming to me for care. I have requested copies of medical records from this physician, but she wants to charge me for producing these copies. Is this legal? Click Here for the Answer TOP MEDICAL Zika Virus Resources: Jan. 29 County HHSA Health Advisory (epidemiology, clinical findings, testing requirements, treatment, prevention, links to further information) Interim Guidelines for Pregnant Women Interim Guidelines for Evaluation and Testing of Infants CDC Zika Website WHO Emergency Committee Outcomes Summary Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Zika Website Free CDC “What Clinicians Need to Know: Zika Virus” CME Course Slide Set and Transcript Category I AMA CME Credit (follow instructions to establish account and search for “Zika” in the available courses) Physicians: Report Your Patients’ Blood Pressure Readings as Part of Love Your Heart Day on Thursday, February 11: The SDCMS Foundation is partnering with the County of San Diego HHSA to show the power of physicians. If you would like to participate, email Andrew at Andrew.Gonzalez@SDCMS.org — click here for further details and to download a tally sheet. The goal of Love Your Heart is to activate San Diegans to “know their numbers” and to take charge of their own heart health. This year’s goal: 35,000 BPs in one day countywide. TOP FEDERAL Apply for a Meaningful Use Exception by March 15: Physicians are urged to preemptively file for a 2015 hardship exception to avoid penalties in 2016. Doing so will not preclude physicians from receiving an incentive if they do meet meaningful use requirements, but applying can serve as a safety net in staving off a penalty. Click Here Are You Aware of the Meaningful Use Measures Changes? In October, CMS made significant changes in the measures to attest for Meaningful Use. The SDCMS Foundation can assist primary care and specialty care physicians with new reporting to assure you receive the maximum incentive funds. Those physicians registered for Medi-Cal (30% of practice) are eligible to receive FREE technical assistance, and very low-cost technical assistance available for Medicare providers. SDCMS members qualify for a 40% discount. For further information, email Barbara.Mandel@SDCMS.org or call (858) 300-2779. Noridian Posts Updated Medicare Physician Fee Schedule: Click here for details from CMA. Click here to see the updated fee schedule. AMA Publishes Guide to Physician-Focused Alternative Payment Models: Click here for details. Click Here to Download the Guide TOP STATE Help CMA Pass the 2016 Cigarette Tax Initiative by Collecting Signatures: CMA is collecting signatures to qualify an initiative for the November 8 ballot. The initiative — also known as the California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Tax Act of 2016 — will increase California’s cigarette tax (one of the lowest in the nation) by $2.00. To help collect signatures: Email your name and physical mailing address to SDCMS@SDCMS.org — SDCMS will mail you a petition with a return prepaid envelope. Collect the signatures of eight registered San Diego County voters. Mail your completed petition back to SDCMS in the return prepaid envelope by March 31, 2016. The initiative will help to reduce smoking, save lives, and fund critical healthcare programs in California. For more information, visit SaveLivesCalifornia.com. Physicians: Please Give CMA Your Feedback on Proposed Health Insurance Mergers: Aetna has reached a $37 billion deal to purchase Humana, and Anthem has agreed to purchase Cigna for $48.4 billion. Regulators want to know the prospective effects of these possible mergers on your practice and patient care. The survey should take about 8–9 minutes to complete. Only de-identified data will be used in our reporting. Deadline to take the survey: Friday, February 12. Click Here to Take the Survey CMA Issues Guidance for End-of-Life Option Act: On October 5, 2015, California became the fifth state in the nation to allow physicians to prescribe terminally ill patients medication to end their lives. Click here to access CMA’s ON-CALL document #3459, “The California End-of-Life Option Act.” Click here for further resources from CMA. IMQ Surveyors Needed: IMQ is looking surveyors for the Ambulatory Care, Corrections, or CME Review Programs. Click Here Read CMA’s Feb. 1 Capitol Insight on the Inner Workings of the State Legislature: Click Here TOP BENEFITS / PRACTICE MANAGEMENT New CMA Member Benefit to Help Physicians Renegotiating With Payors: To help physicians prepare to negotiate or renegotiate with payors, CMA has created this new resource, which includes step-by step instructions on how to create a thoughtful renegotiation request, as well as a sample letter — available FREE to SDCMS-CMA members. Click Here TOP LOCAL Golfers and Tennis Players Needed! Join the SDCMS Foundation for its 4th annual Aces for Health Golf and Tennis Tournament on Monday, April 18, at Lomas Santa Fe Country Club. New this year will be a round robin tennis tournament for all experience levels, and the Health Heroes awards reception. Click here for details and to sign up. Physicians Needed to Mentor UCSD Undergraduates: UC San Diego’s Health and Medical Professions Preparation Program (HMP3) is catered to undergraduates in search of career guidance under the mentoring of clinical professionals. They are seeking physicians who can offer shadowing / advising opportunities for these students. For more information, click here. Help Spread the Message of Health by Making a Brief Presentation in Your Community: Educate children, adults, seniors, and employees on how to improve their lives and take charge of their health through the Live Well San Diego Speakers Bureau. Email Andrew.Gonzalez@SDCMS.org at the SDCMS Foundation to say YES, you will volunteer just one or two times a year, quarterly, or however your schedule allows. TOP “We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know.” — W. H. Auden, Anglo-American Poet (1907–1973) Comments are closed.