Congress approves $6.3 billion medical innovation legislation After several years of hearings and negotiations, Congress has passed a $6.3 billion medical innovation package intended to accelerate the discovery, development and delivery of new therapies, including $1 billion to help states address the opioid epidemic. It also provides important electronic health record (EHR) reforms for physicians and for the first time will penalize vendors for failing to have interoperable systems. The bill (HR 6), known as the "21st Century Cures Act," is intended to bridge the gap between medical science and legislative action and regulations that slow ... December 14, 2016 General Federal Legislative Advocacy, Federal Legislation 0 0 Comment Read More »
U.S. divided about what should be done with ACA A Kaiser Family Foundation poll has found that Americans are divided on the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The survey found that 26 percent of the country wants to repeal the entire law. Meanwhile, 30 percent want to expand the law, 19 percent want to keep it as-is and 17 percent want to scale it back. The poll found that Republican respondents were more likely to want to scale back the law, rather than fully repealing it. Among the 26 percent of Americans who want to see the ... December 14, 2016 General, Managed Care Affordable Care Act, ACA 0 0 Comment Read More »
Webinar: Preventing physician burnout The Physician’s Foundation biennial Survey of America’s Physicians has consistently shown the professional morale of physicians as problematic, with a majority of physicians in 2016 describing their feelings about the current state of the medical profession as somewhat or very negative. The California Medical Association (CMA) will host its first webinar of 2017, "Preventing Burnout: Individual and Organizational Intervention,” on Wednesday, January 11, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m., to help physicians recognize and respond to burnout. The webinar is free to members and their staff. Our presenter, Karen Miotto, M.D., ... December 14, 2016 CMA, General Physician Burnout, Physician Well-Being, Physician Wellness, Webinars 0 0 Comment Read More »
Tip: Don't lose revenue by not working denials It’s no secret that claim rejections and denials can result in a significant amount of lost revenue. Consider this – a practice submitting 80 claims a day at an average reimbursement rate of $100 per claim should expect to receive $8,000 in daily revenue. If 10 percent of those claims were rejected or denied (eight claims per day at $100 per claim equals $800 per day), and the practice only appealed one out of every 10 rejections or denials ($720 per day loss), the practice could expect to lose ... December 13, 2016 General, Managed Care, Medi-Cal, Medicare Denials, Reimbursement, Tip of the Month 0 0 Comment Read More »
Orthopedic surgeon named new head of HHS Rep. Tom Price, M.D. (R-Ga.) was chosen by President-Elect Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). A six-term Congressman and former Georgia state Senator, Dr. Price was an orthopedic surgeon for 20 years before he went into politics and is the third generation of physicians in his family. Dr. Price would be the first physician to serve as the nation’s top health official since President George H.W. Bush appointed Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., in 1989 and only the third doctor to serve as secretary ... December 13, 2016 General Federal Legislative Advocacy 0 0 Comment Read More »
Talk to your patients about the flu shot With flu activity increasing and people planning gatherings for the holidays, now is the perfect time to talk to your patients about getting their flu shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older get a flu vaccine every year. This season, however, CDC recommends only the flu shot (not the nasal spray vaccine). While seasonal flu activity varies, flu activity usually peaks between December and February, though activity can last as late as May. As long as flu activity is ... December 13, 2016 General Immunization, Influenza, Public Health, Vaccination, Flu 0 0 Comment Read More »
U.S. Rep. Becerra to replace Harris as California Attorney General In what is looked on as a stunning political move, California Governor Jerry Brown has selected longtime U.S. Representative Xavier Becerra to replace Kamala Harris as the state's Attorney General. Becerra has a lengthy political resume, having served one term in the state Assembly and 23 years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing a district northeast of downtown Los Angeles. He served in House leadership as chair of the House Democratic Caucus and was on the powerful Ways and Means Committee. He was also a leader in the ... December 13, 2016 General California Attorney General, California Legislature 0 0 Comment Read More »
California medical students elected to AMA offices Two California Medical Association (CMA) medical students were elected to American Medical Association (AMA) offices at the interim meeting held in November in Florida. Karthik Sarma, an M.D./Ph.D. student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA was elected to the AMA Board of Trustees as the AMA Medical Student Section (MSS) representative. Helene Nepomuceno, a second-year medical student at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, was named chair-elect of the AMA MSS. Sarma has been a member of the California delegation to the AMA for the past ... December 13, 2016 General American Medical Association, Medical Students, Physician Leadership 0 0 Comment Read More »
Deadline extended to dispute 2015 PQRS and QRUR findings The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released data that indicates which physicians will be subject to the 2017 payment penalties associated with the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and Value-Based Payment Modifier (VM) programs. Today, CMS announced that physicians who have concerns about the findings in their report(s) have until December 7 to file for an informal review of their data. The penalties in question stem from policies in effect prior to the enactment of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). Failure to successfully ... December 6, 2016 General, Medicare Medicare, PQRS, Value-Based Payment Modifier 0 0 Comment Read More »
Physician corps loan repayment program accepting applications Applications are now being accepted for the next cycle of the Steven M. Thompson Loan Repayment Program. Award recipients will receive up to $105,000 to repay educational loans in exchange for a three-year service commitment in a medically underserved area of the state. The program was created in 2002 through legislation sponsored by the California Medical Association. This year's application cycle begins on December 1, 2016, and continues through February 29, 2017, a month later than usual. According to the Health Professions Education Foundation, the deadline has been extended to ... December 6, 2016 General Medical School Debt, Medical School Loans, Steven M. Thompson Loan Repayment 0 0 Comment Read More »
