Special session on Medi-Cal financing underway in the Capitol In June, Gov. Jerry Brown convened a special legislative session on "health care financing." Specifically, legislators will be working to come up with new funding for developmental disability services, in-home supportive services and the Medi-Cal program, which is facing a shortfall of at least $1.1 billion through the loss of the managed care organization (MCO) tax. Since 2005, the state has taxed MCOs and used the money to cover the costs of provider reimbursement. However, last summer federal officials informed California that its MCO tax structure was not compliant with ... July 20, 2015 Medi-Cal Medi-Cal Cuts, State Legislative Advocacy, Medi-Cal 0 0 Comment Read More »
Package of six bills would raise smoking age, regulate e-cigarettes and fight youth smoking, among other proposals Sacramento, CA — The Save Lives California coalition praised Senate and Assembly Democrats for announcing a bold package of bills to fight the No. 1 cause of preventable death in California: tobacco use. The bills will be taken up during the second extraordinary session, called by Governor Jerry Brown to address healthcare. In a display of strong cooperation and determination, the two houses have each introduced the same six bills aimed at preventing death from tobacco-related diseases and reducing costs of smoking on California’s health system by reducing smoking and ... July 20, 2015 General Save Lives California, State Legislative Advocacy, Tobacco, Tobacco Tax, Public Health 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA member Dr. Joaquin Arambula kicks off election campaign for state Assembly Joaquin Arambula, M.D., a California Medical Association (CMA) member and emergency room physician from Fresno, kicked off his campaign to represent the 31st district in the state Assembly this Thursday. Born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley, Dr. Arambula is a product of Fresno public schools and the son of former Assemblyman Juan Arambula. Dr. Arambula practices medicine at Adventist Medical Center-Selma, where he has served in a senior position with California Emergency Physicians for the past eight years. The medical center’s emergency department has won two California Emergency Physician ... July 20, 2015 General Physician Leadership, CALPAC 0 0 Comment Read More »
Bills to expand nurse practitioners', optometrists' scope of practice stall in Assembly committee A bill that would have allowed nurse practitioners (NP) to practice independently and prescribe drugs without physician oversight is finished, at least for the year. Senate Bill 323 was voted down 8-4 on June 30 in the Assembly Business and Professions (B&P) Committee. The committee agreed to take it up again on July 14, but the bill was pulled from the hearing by its author, Senator Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa). The California Medical Association (CMA) and the California Academy of Family Physicians led the fight against SB 323. Senator Hernandez also pulled ... July 20, 2015 General Scope of Practice, Advocacy, Nurse Practitioners, Optometrists, Quality of Care 0 0 Comment Read More »
Changing locations? Remember: a change of address of record must be reported to the Medical Board of California within 30 days at http://www.mbc.ca.gov/Licensees/Address_of_Record.aspx. (Business and Professions Code Section 2021(d)) July 14, 2015 General Licensure, Medical Board of California 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA releases 2015 annotated Model Medical Staff Bylaws The California Medical Association (CMA) has released its 2015 Model Medical Staff Bylaws. These bylaws are the definitive guide for medical staffs, providing details on professional and legal structures to support effective medical staff operations and self-governance. The model bylaws are fully annotated to provide background information on critical provisions, including explanations of relevant state and federal laws, hospital accreditation standards, and other explanatory information. CMA's lawyers performed a complete evaluation of the bylaws to ensure they comport with current law and reflect CMA’s positions and policies. A number of revisions ... July 14, 2015 General Hospital Medical Staff, Medical Staff, Medical Staff Bylaws, Medical Staff Self-Governance, Bylaws 0 0 Comment Read More »
Song-Brown residency program grant cycle begins July 31 The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) will soon be accepting the next round of applications from California residency programs seeking grant funding for new or existing resident positions. The 2014-2015 California State Budget allocated $7 million to expand OSHPD's Song-Brown Program to create more residency slots in the state and to open the program to all primary care specialties (family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology and pediatrics). Thanks in large part to the advocacy of the California Medical Association, the budget also included $4 million in one-time funding ... July 14, 2015 General Residents and Fellows 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS to begin provider reimbursement for end-of-life care On July 8, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the first proposed update to the Medicare physician payment schedule since the repeal of the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula through the Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2015. One of the biggest changes in the CMS proposal is the assignment of codes to pay providers for end-of-life consultations. In addition the department would make advance care planning “an optional element” of a beneficiary's annual wellness visit. The American Medical Association (AMA) lauded ... July 14, 2015 Medicare CMS, End of Life Issures, Medicare, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
Simplification of accreditation requirements adds value for providers of CME In 2014, the Accreditation Council on Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) streamlined some of the CME accreditation requirements for hospitals and other organizations. Having encouraged these changes, the California Medical Association (CMA) and its Institute of Medical Quality (IMQ) quickly moved to adopt the ACCME revisions. IMQ also simplified the California-specific requirements for cultural and linguistic competency. In addition to the streamlined accreditation requirements, IMQ significantly expanded its outreach efforts to help CME providers understand and comply with the new accreditation criteria and policies. IMQ has also created a CME Provider ... July 14, 2015 General Hospital Accreditation, Institute for Medical Quality, CME Accreditation, IMQ 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS publishes 2014 open payment data On June 30, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the 2014 Open Payments data of financial transactions between drug and medical device makers and health care providers. The data includes information about 11.4 million financial transactions attributed to over 600,000 physicians and more than 1,100 teaching hospitals nationwide, totaling $6.49 billion. The Sunshine Act requires drug and medical device manufacturers and group purchasing organizations to report their financial interactions with licensed physicians – including consulting fees, travel reimbursements, research grants and other gifts. Last year’s inaugural launch of ... July 14, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare CMS, Physician Payments Sunshine Act, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
