CMA, AMA and others urge CMS to delay new rules authorizing multi-hospital systems to establish system-wide medical staffs The California Medical Association (CMA), the American Medical Association and dozens of other state and specialty medical associations have asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to delay for one year new Medicare rules that would allow multi-hospital systems to establish system-wide medical staffs. CMA commented extensively on this and prior iterations of this rulemaking expressing serious concerns about the proposed amendments to the CoPs and their impact on medical staff self-governance. CMA believes that medical staff self-governance is a vital part of a carefully crafted system designed ... July 15, 2014 General Medicare, Organized Medical Staff, CMS, Hospital Medical Staff 0 0 Comment Read More »
Change in mailing address for Medi-Cal TAR submissions Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2014, all paper treatment authorization requests (TAR) currently being mailed to the Los Angeles Field Office and the Northern and Southern Pharmacy Sections should be mailed to the following address: West Sacramento TAR Processing Center 820 Stillwater Road West Sacramento, CA 95605-1630 Updated provider manual sections will be published in a future Medi-Cal Update. July 15, 2014 General Treatment Authorization Request, Insurance/Reimbursement, Medi-Cal, TAR 0 0 Comment Read More »
FAQ: Do service dogs have to be accommodated in a physician's office? Physicians are asked to accommodate service dogs in their offices with increasing frequency. The law generally requires a place of public accommodation, like a physician's office, to permit service dogs where customers would normally be allowed so long as providing the accommodation is reasonable and necessary. However, what constitutes a service dog is not always obvious as many people also have companion animals or emotional support animals they wish to bring. The law does not require companion animals to be accommodated in the same way as service animals. To help ... July 15, 2014 General ADA/Discrimination, Disabilities, Access to Care, Legal Issues 0 0 Comment Read More »
DEA makes tramadol a Schedule IV drug Effective August 18, 2014, tramadol will be classified as a Schedule IV drug, according to a rule recently published by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The drug had been a non-controlled substance under federal law for almost 20 years. According to the DEA, the abuse of tramadol products has increased over the last several years, with it being used as a substitute for other opioids such as hydrocodone. Tramadol is a centrally acting synthetic opioid analgesic used in the management of moderate to moderately severe pain in adults. Tramadol ... July 15, 2014 General Drug Prescribing, Prescription Drugs, Drug Dispensing, Quality of Care 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA files brief with California Supreme Court in MICRA constitutionality case The California Medical Association (CMA), along with the California Dental Association and the California Hospital Association filed an amicus brief with the California Supreme Court urging the common sense application of our state’s landmark Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), which allows non-economic damage awards up to $250,000 and unlimited economic damage awards for all past and future medical costs, lost wages and earning capacity. This case is just the latest in many legal challenges to MICRA that have been funded by trial lawyer groups from across the country. In ... July 15, 2014 General Legal Advocacy, MICRA, Professional Liability, Amicus Briefs 0 0 Comment Read More »
IMQ Expands Peer Review Services Does your medical staff need help with peer review? The Institute for Medical Quality is expanding its services to include Clinical Case Review of individual cases and Judicial Review services in addition to our existing Comprehensive Peer Review services. Through off-site patient chart review, an IMQ Clinical Case Review consultation provides an objective evaluation of the clinical practice of one or more physician members of a hospital medical staff, physician group, or ambulatory care practice through peer review of selected cases. IMQ's involvement is especially helpful when an organization will ... July 7, 2014 General IMQ, Peer Review Services, Institute for Medical Quality 0 0 Comment Read More »
MICRA lawsuit measure assigned proposition number The unprecedentedly broad and diverse coalition working to defeat the trial lawyers’ MICRA lawsuit measure is now officially the “No On 46” campaign, following the assignment of proposition numbers to qualified ballot measures by the Secretary of State’s Office on Monday. If approved by voters, Proposition 46 would increase health costs, reduce access to care and threaten patient privacy, all to make it easier and more profitable for lawyers to sue doctors and hospitals. In addition to increasing the overall number of medical lawsuits and the cost of health care ... July 3, 2014 General Professional Liability, MICRA 0 0 Comment Read More »
Despite CMA concerns, United moves forward with Premium Designation program Sidestepping concerns voiced by the California Medical Association (CMA), United Healthcare is proceeding with the rollout of its "Premium Designation" physician performance program in California. Physicians who wish to request a reconsideration of their Premium Designation status before the results are displayed publicly in the insurers’ network directory on August 6, must do so no later than July 16. CMA had urged United Healthcare to delay implementation for a minimum of six months to allow time for the insurer to address deficiencies with the program and to allow physicians the ... July 1, 2014 Managed Care Managed Care, United Healthcare, Insurance/Reimbursement 0 0 Comment Read More »
Special discount for CMA members - AAPC Regional Conference in Anaheim California Medical Association (CMA) members can save $130 on a conference registration and hotel package for AAPC's Regional Conference at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, September 18-20, 2014. CMA members and their staff pay just $795 for conference registration plus two nights at the Disneyland Hotel—the lowest price AAPC is offering anywhere! The conference includes more than 50 educational sessions, covering hot topics in coding, auditing, practice management, compliance and electronic health records. There are tracks in ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, medical auditing and practice management. You can earn up to 19 ... July 1, 2014 General ICD-10, Conferences 0 0 Comment Read More »
California family leave program to expand effective July 1 Beginning on July 1, California's paid family leave (PFL) program will be expanded to provide benefits to workers who take time off of work to care for a seriously ill parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild or sibling. This change was prompted by the passage of Senate Bill 770, which was signed into law by Governor Brown on September 24, 2013. Currently, PFL is only available to workers who take time off of work to care for a seriously ill child, parent, spouse or registered domestic partner, or to bond with a minor ... July 1, 2014 General Paid Family Leave (PFL), CMA On-Call, State Disability Insurance (SDI) 0 0 Comment Read More »
