"News You Can Use" <> November 6, 2013 November 6, 2013 Covered California, Medi-Cal, MICRA Covered California, Medi-Cal, MICRA 0 CONTENTS: Please complete SDCMS’s 2013 San Diego County Physician Workforce and Compensation Survey — 5 Minutes Tops! The Trial Lawyer Campaign to Smash the MICRA Cap Is Underway San Diego alone is almost up to $1 million in contributions! Well done to all our medical staffs! The Top Doctors Black-tie Gala on November 9 Possible Scam Warning Last Chance to Sign up for SDCMS’s Advocacy Training on November 16 Pertussis Cases Increasing in San Diego County CDC Report: Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013 Covered California Still Working out Kinks in Provider Directories How Will Covered California Impact My Practice? First of the Increased Medi-Cal Fee-for-service Primary Care Payments to Go out This Week Court Limits Application of Statutory Damages Under the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) Physicians Should Begin Seeing New School Immunization Exemption Forms in the Near Future DHCS Webinars on What Physicians Need to Know About the Coordinated Care Initiative CMA Seeks Sunshine Act Exemptions for Peer-reviewed Medical Journals and Textbooks VHA Proposes Independent Status for All Advanced Practice RNs Ask Your SDCMS Physician Advocate, Marisol Gonzalez! CMA Practice Resources: November 2013 Young Physicians: Win $5,000! Two-minute Risk Management Videos From TDC 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? Are You Interested in Serving on SDCMS’ Board of Directors? Please Take the 2013 SDCMS Medical Office Salary Survey! Will You Let a Pre-med Student Shadow You? ABOVE THE FOLD Executive Director Comment: Please complete SDCMS’s 2013 San Diego County Physician Workforce and Compensation Survey — 5 Minutes Tops! Click Here The Trial Lawyer Campaign to Smash the MICRA Cap Is Underway: Expect to see signature gatherers for the initiative at your local grocery stores: MICRA Background Information MICRA One-Pager Executive Director Comment: San Diego Alone Is Almost up to $1 Million in Contributions to Defend MICRA! Well Done to All Our Medical Staffs! Alvarado: $10,000 Grossmont: $33,000 Palomar: $33,000 Paradise Valley: $10,000 Pomerado: $33,000 Rady Children’s: $33,000 San Diego Imaging: $12,000 San Diego Pathologists Medical Group: $10,000 Scripps Mercy Chula Vista: $33,000 Scripps Encinitas: $10,000 Scripps Memorial: $33,000 Sharp Chula Vista: $10,000 Sharp Coronado: $20,000 Sharp Memorial: $33,000 Tri-City: $5,000 The California Hospital Association matches hospital medical staff contributions 2:1! In other words, medical staffs have raised $888,000, plus the $22,000 from San Diego Imaging and San Diego Pathologists Medical Group, or almost $1 million for San Diego! Executive Director Note: Great party, great people, great venue! The Top Doctors Black-tie Gala on November 9. Click Here for Tickets Possible Scam Warning: An SDCMS member physician received a “bill” with an invoice from “MedicineContact.com” — Medicine Internet Services LLC — with a Venice, Florida address. The $89 bill was to post the physician’s internet profile for 15 months. The return address was a P.O. box in the Czech Republic, and the postmark was in Czech! Last Chance to Sign up for SDCMS’s Advocacy Training on November 16: Email Gehring@SDCMS.org if interested. MEDICAL Pertussis Cases Increasing in San Diego County: Click Here CDC Report: Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013 — Additional resources: Get Smart About Antibiotics Week: Nov. 18–24, 2013 CMA Foundation’s Alliance Working for Antibiotic Resistance Education (AWARE) Website & Toolkit STATE Executive Director Comment: Covered California Still Working out Kinks in Provider Directories: While you (maybe) can get the info as to whether you are a Covered California (aka, the health insurance exchange for California) provider, right now it’s bloody hard. As soon as we have a master list, we will get it to you ASAP. If you find that you are being identified as contracted with an exchange plan but did not intend to do so, contact the appropriate provider relations representative at the health plan and CMA’s Center for Economic Services at economicservices@cmanet.org or at (800) 786-4262. How Will Covered California Impact My Practice? The impact on physician practices will vary greatly depending on the mix of patients in your practice and the extent to which you contract with Covered California plans. Millions of previously uninsured Californians will now be eligible for health insurance through Covered California and Medi-Cal. Your patients with employer-sponsored coverage are not likely to see significant changes in their coverage. Small and medium-sized physician practices with 50 employees or fewer are also eligible to participate in the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). For more information, visit www.coveredCA.com. In addition, watch for information on an SDCMS / SDCMS Foundation seminar and webinar to be offered on Wednesday, November 20, from 11:30am to 1:00pm. First of the Increased Medi-Cal Fee-for-service Primary Care Payments to Go out This Week: CMS has approved California’s proposed implementation plan for the primary care rate increases called for under the Affordable Care Act. The increases are retroactive to January 1, 2013. Click here for details. Have You Attested Yet? In September, DHCS estimated that less than half of eligible providers had attested. Visit the Medi-Cal ACA Program Page on the Medi-Cal website for more information or to submit a self-attestation form. Court Limits Application of Statutory Damages Under the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA): Click Here for Details Physicians Should Begin Seeing New School Immunization Exemption Forms in the Near Future: Click Here for Details DHCS Webinars on What Physicians Need to Know About the Coordinated Care Initiative: November 18, 1:00pm–2:00pm: Click Here December 10, 1:00pm–2:00pm: Click Here FEDERAL CMA Seeks Sunshine Act Exemptions for Peer-reviewed Medical Journals and Textbooks: Click here to read the letter. Click Here for Details VHA Proposes Independent Status for All Advanced Practice RNs: CMA, AMA, and others have sent a joint letter to the Veterans Health Administration opposing its move to let its 3,600 advanced practice registered nurses work independently, even in states that require physician oversight of these clinicians. Click here to read the letter. Click Here for Details BENEFITS / PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Ask Your SDCMS Physician Advocate, Marisol Gonzalez! Question: I have an existing business associate agreement with my billing company. I was told that because of the HIPAA Omnibus Rule, I would need to update this agreement. True or False? Answer: Yes. Physician practices must review and update business associate agreements to comply with the new HIPAA regulations. Business associate agreements that were already in place prior to the September 23 compliance date have until September 22, 2014, to update those existing agreements. If you have any questions about the business associate agreement, please contact SDCMS’s physician advocate, Marisol Gonzalez, at (858) 300-2783 or at MGonzalez@SDCMS.org. CMA Practice Resources: November 2013: UMVS Provides Clarification on Immunization and Injectable Billing Issue Blue Shield Fee Schedule Changes Take Effect December 1 Did You Know? Medicare Fee Schedule Update What Is the BlueCard Program? Phase Two of Medi-Cal’s Rural Expansion Began November 1 Are You Ready for the New CMS 1500 Claim Form? Are Your Business Associate Agreements Up-to-date? Anthem Blue Cross Moving Some Inquiry Functions to Availity Web Portal Online Payment Portals: Physicians Beware Are You Signed up for Medi-Cal’s Subscription Service? United Healthcare Requiring Alternative Codes for Drug Screening Anthem Blue Cross Reimbursement Policy Updates Effective November 1 The Coding Corner: Coding and Billing Maternity Care When a Patient Changes Insurance New CMA Member Benefit: Prescriber’s Letter Young Physicians: Win $5,000! The Doctors Company Foundation’s Patient Safety Award — Share your personal essay on how a patient safety event impacted your learning and growth. $5,000 awards. Deadline February 3, 2014. Click Here Two-minute Risk Management Videos From TDC: Top Four Electronic Health Record Risk Factors How to Avoid Medical Billing and Coding Problems How to Protect Electronically Stored Health Care Information 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 LOCAL Are You Interested in Serving on SDCMS’ Board of Directors? If you wish to be considered for nomination, or if you have any questions about service on the board, please email Gehring@SDCMS.org. For the 2014 election of directors, the following positions are open or have incumbents: East County Geographic Director (1 position, 1 incumbent) Kearny Mesa Geographic Directors (2 positions, 2 incumbents) La Jolla Geographic Director (1 position, 0 incumbents) Kearny Mesa Geographic Alternate Director (1 position, 1 incumbent) La Jolla Geographic Alternate Director (1 position, 1 incumbent) At-large Directors (4 positions, 1 incumbent) At-large Alternate Directors (3 positions, 2 incumbents) Practice Managers / Office Managers: Please Take the 2013 SDCMS Medical Office Salary Survey! Takes 5 minutes. It’s anonymous. Anyone who completes the survey may receive a copy of the results. Click Here to Take the Survey Now — Thank You! Will You Let a Pre-med Student Shadow You? The Student-Physician Shadowing Program at SDSU is looking for physicians who will allow pre-medical students the opportunity to shadow them. For more information, contact Dunia Anwar at sdsu.peeradvisors@gmail.com. “There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.” — Maya Angelou, American Author and Poet (1928 – ) Comments are closed.