Medical board approves amendment to regulation allowing PAs to conduct surgery without immediate physician supervision The Medical Board of California approved an amendment to California administrative law that would allow physicians assistants (PA) to perform surgery without the immediate physical presence of a supervising physician. Existing law permits PAs to act as first or second assistant in surgery under the supervision of a physician. In 2011, a concern was raised by a PA licensee to the Physician Assistant Board that the current regulation did not reflect current medical community standards and that the law was unclear on the degree of physician supervision required of a ... January 22, 2015 General Physician Assistants, Scope of Practice, Medical Board of California 0 0 Comment Read More »
Mark your calendars now for the 41st annual CMA Legislative Advocacy Day California Medical Association (CMA) and San Bernardino County Medical Society (SBCMS) members are invited to attend the 41st Annual Legislative Advocacy Day (formerly known as Legislative Leadership Conference) on April 14, 2015, at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento. Plan to join more than 400 physicians, medical students and CMA Alliance members who will be coming to Sacramento to lobby their legislative leaders as champions for medicine and their patients. Prior to the conference members will receive webinar training on legislation and policy affecting the practice of medicine. To view the ... January 22, 2015 General Physician Leadership, State Legislative Advocacy, Legislative Advocacy Day 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA President's Message: The coming year, and beyond Although 2014 will long be remembered as the year that all modes of practice and specialties of the House of Medicine came together in a group effort to defeat Proposition 46, it is imperative that we maintain the momentum we have gained as we confront the issues of the coming year and beyond. Following such a historic year, I would like to take a moment to reflect on what we have accomplished and what we can look forward to over the next 12 months. I have, for over three decades, been ... January 22, 2015 General President's Message 0 0 Comment Read More »
CDC encourages antiviral treatment for influenza With a poorly matched influenza vaccine and influenza activity high across much of the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is urging physicians to prescribe antiviral drugs to patients who are very ill with flu-like symptoms, particularly those over age 65 and those at high risk of complications from the virus. According to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), flu activity in California is beginning to increase. The first influenza death in the state of a person under the age of 65 for the 2014-2015 season ... January 22, 2015 General Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Flu, Influenza, Public Health, CDC 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA files brief in Medicaid case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court The California Medical Association (CMA) has filed an amicus brief in a Medicaid reimbursement case (Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center) that will go before the U.S. Supreme Court this year to determine whether Medicaid providers have a cause of action under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution to challenge a state’s compliance with Medicaid laws in setting reimbursement rates. CMA established good precedent in the Ninth Circuit appellate district on this specific question in our Medi-Cal rate cut litigation, but the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Armstrong case ... January 22, 2015 Medi-Cal Medicaid, Amicus Briefs, Legal Advocacy, Medi-Cal 0 0 Comment Read More »
Measles Health Advisory HEALTH ADVISORY – January 7, 2015 Measles has been confirmed in seven California residents in 2015 and two Utah residents; all visited Disneyland or Disney California Adventure Park between December 17th and 20th, 2014. Testing is underway on three additional California residents who also visited Disneyland during this same time period. The California confirmed cases reside in five local health jurisdictions and range in age from 8 months to 21 years. Of the seven confirmed cases, six cases were unvaccinated for measles (2 were too young to be vaccinated, and 1 had received appropriate vaccination (two doses ... January 14, 2015 General Public Health, Measles 0 0 Comment Read More »
Educational Interventions Offer an Effective Approach to Avoiding Ethical Dilemmas Physicians regularly grapple with situations that can challenge their ability to maintain an ethical healthcare practice. While many times the choices are clear, some situations require knowledge and skills to avoid problems that may lead to sanctions on a medical license or even loss of practice. Ethical dilemmas are not limited to financial matters, but can arise in communications with and supervision of employees, methods used in advertising and promotion, or in decisions about patient care. Today, medical group and medical staff leaders and attorneys are taking a proactive ... January 9, 2015 General IMQ Professionalism Program , Institute for Medical Quality (IMQ) 0 0 Comment Read More »
Verifying your patients' eligibility and benefits in 2015 may save your practice thousands of dollars With the new year soon upon us, physicians are urged to be diligent in verifying patients' eligibility and benefits to ensure that you will be paid for services rendered. The beginning of a new year means calendar year deductibles and visit frequency limitations start over. With open enrollment there may also be changes to patients’ benefit plans, or they may even be insured through a new payor. The new year also brings a host of other challenges that could affect your ability to be paid: Medicare patients ... January 6, 2015 General Practice Management, Insurance/Reimbursement 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS to hold Medicare claims for first two weeks of January Last week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it would hold claims for services paid under the 2015 Medicare physician fee schedule due to technical errors discovered after the new fee schedule was published. Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) will hold claims containing 2015 services for the first 14 calendar days of January 2015 (Thursday January 1 through Wednesday January 14) to allow time for CMS to correct the errors. The hold should have minimal impact on provider cash flow as, under current law, clean electronic claims are ... January 6, 2015 Medicare Medicare, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight: Jan. 5, 2015 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature .-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hot Button Health Care As lawmakers return to Sacramento this week, much is still to be decided about the future of health care reform. State legislators will deal with a number of hot-button issues in the first half of 2015, many of which will have dramatic impacts on California’s health care policy and potentially the future success of the Affordable Care Act. It all begins on Monday when Gov. Jerry Brown ... January 6, 2015 General CMA Capitol Insight, Health Care Reform, Advocacy, Anthony York 0 0 Comment Read More »
