Physicians: Review Your Data Before it Becomes Available to the Public Review and dispute for the June 30, 2016, Open Payments data publication opened on Friday, April 1, 2016, and will last for 45 days. CMS will publish the 2015 payment data and updates to the 2013 and 2014 data on June 30, 2016. In order for any disputes to be addressed before the June 30 publication, physicians and teaching hospitals must initiate their disputes during the 45-day review period, and industry must resolve the dispute before the publication deadline. Review and dispute is voluntary but strongly ... April 27, 2016 Sunshine Act Open Payments, Sunshine Act 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight With Anthony York: April 26, 2016 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. The Legislative Scramble Last week was a frantic one inside the Capitol as lawmakers faced a key deadline to pass bills out of policy committee. Measures that did not receive committee approval last week were shelved for the year. A number of major proposals lived to fight another day, but many efforts were left on the prominent pile of abandoned bill ideas that accumulates each and every year. Among those bills ... April 26, 2016 CMA, Legislation Capitol Insight 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight With Anthony York: April 11, 2016 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. A Higher Wage (and Higher Tobacco Tax?) Gov. Jerry Brown continued to make history when he signed a $15/hour minimum wage into law. The governor, whose administration had publicly opposed calls for a higher wage, couched the increase in moral terms at a Los Angeles signing ceremony. What’s notable is that the higher wage will take effect statewide. Others had thought that more economically depressed areas of the state might ... April 12, 2016 Legislation Capitol Insight 0 0 Comment Read More »
Workshop for Physician Health Committees in San Diego County CALIFORNIA PUBLIC PROTECTION & PHYSICIAN HEALTH, INC. Coordinating Physician Health Activities in California Click Here to Download a Flyer for Distribution Title: Workshop for Physician Health Committees in San Diego County When: Saturday, May 7, 2016, 9:00am–12pm Where: San Diego County Medical Society Foundation, 5575 Ruffin Road, Suite 250, San Diego, CA 92123 Program: 8:30am Registration Opens • Continental Breakfast 9:00am Welcome 9:15am Introductions Around the Table 9:30am Confidentiality and Reporting Requirements for Wellbeing Committees, Medical Staffs, and Peer Review Bodies — Richard D. Barton, Esq., Shelley Carder, Esq., and ... April 6, 2016 Physician Wellbeing CPPPH, Physician Health Committee 0 0 Comment Read More »
April 30 Is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Saturday, April 30, is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, a day during which hundreds of locations throughout California will be accepting and properly disposing of unused prescription drugs, including controlled substances. Proper disposal of unused prescription drugs helps prevent diversion and misuse associated with these medications. This one-day event will provide patients with free, anonymous collection of unwanted and expired medicines. During previous Take Back events over the past five years, 5.5 million pounds — more than 2,750 tons — of drugs were collected nationwide. In addition to providing a ... April 5, 2016 Public Health Prescription Medications 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight With Anthony York: March 28, 2016 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. Making the Ballot A deal was reached among Democratic leaders in Sacramento late last week on a plan to bring California’s minimum wage to $15 per hour — the highest in the nation and double the national minimum. The deal comes after years of wrestling in the legislature, and a statewide push that began years ago with a handful of public sector unions in Los Angeles. The accord avoids a fight ... March 28, 2016 CMA, Legislation Capitol Insight 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight With Anthony York: February 29, 2016 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. Rollercoaster of a Week It was a rollercoaster week for Gov. Jerry Brown and his effort to reform the state’s criminal justice system. A judge in Sacramento last week ruled the governor’s initiative violated a new state law regarding amendments to ballot measure proposals. By the end of the week, the state Supreme Court had stayed the ruling, allowing the measure to begin gathering signatures for the November ballot, but ... March 1, 2016 CMA Capitol Insight 0 0 Comment Read More »
Medicare EHR Incentive Program Hardship Application Deadline Now July 1 The Medicare EHR Incentive Program Hardship Application Deadline Is Now July 1, 2016 Today (Friday, February 26, 2016), CMS is extending the application deadline for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program hardship exception process that reduces burden on clinicians, hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs). The new deadline for Eligible Professionals, Eligible Hospitals, and Critical Access Hospitals is July 1, 2016. CMS is extending the deadline so providers have sufficient time to submit their applications to avoid adjustments to their Medicare payments in 2017. In January, CMS posted new, streamlined hardship exception ... February 26, 2016 EHR, Medicare EHR, Hardship Exception, Incentive Program 0 0 Comment Read More »
REMINDER: Deadline to Register for CURES is July 1, 2016 REMINDER: Deadline to register for CURES is July 1, 2016 Under California law, all individuals practicing in California who possess both a state regulatory board license authorized to prescribe, dispense, furnish, or order controlled substances and a Drug Enforcement Administration Controlled Substance Registration Certificate (DEA Certificate) must register to use the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) by July 1, 2016. CMA has compiled a list of educational materials that serve to familiarize physicians with the registration process and key features of the newly upgraded system, CURES 2.0 — ... February 17, 2016 CURES CURES 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight With Anthony York: February 17, 2016 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. Whirlwinds of Change The California Coastal Commission ousted executive director Charles Lester last week, setting off a political firestorm that reached all the way to the governor’s office. Lester’s critics on the commission characterized the issue as one of management, claiming they had tried for years to get him to be more responsive to commissioners and others with business before the commission. Lester’s backers took the effort to oust him ... February 17, 2016 CMA, Legislation Capitol Insight 0 0 Comment Read More »