Got MACRA? AMA, MMS, and QIN-QIO are Here to Help
AMA: New video shows physicians how to avoid Medicare payment penalties
The
AMA and the MMS are looking to help physicians avoid a negative
Medicare payment adjustment in 2019—an effort that may be particularly
relevant to physicians who have not previously participated in Medicare
reporting programs, and/or physicians in smaller practices. The AMA has
designated the week starting June 26, 2017 as Pick Your Pace Week, and will broadly disseminate simple instructions on how to report “one patient, one measure, no penalty.” The new materials, available on the AMA website, include:
- A short video: One patient, one measure, no penalty: How to avoid a Medicare payment penalty with basic reporting.
- A sample CMS-1500 claim form
- Links to quality measures on the CMS website
- A link to the CMS MIPS eligibility tool
MMS: Free personalized assistance for practice MACRA/MIPS strategies
Join us
for FREE personalized assistance in developing your strategy for MACRA
MIPS implementation in your practice. The program includes Mapping out MIPS: Keys to Success in 2017,
which outlines measure selection and reporting requirements. It is
designed for providers who are MIPS eligible and required to report for
2017 (check MIPS reporting requirements). Space is limited. Dinner is provided. The
session will be led by Yael Miller, MBA, Director of Practice Solutions
& Medical Economics at MMS, and Leila Volinsky, MHA, MSN, RN,
Program Administrator at Healthcentric Advisors. Healthcentric Advisors
is a CMS contracted organization and supports practices of all sizes in
preparing for MIPS implementation. They have been helping hundreds of
clinicians prepare for MACRA, and want to help you.
Two
sessions will be held—July 11 or July 27, 2017, 5:30-8:00 p.m.—at MMS
Headquarters, Waltham (participants need attend only one session); register here.
Your registration should include at least one clinician and one
colleague/team member responsible for reporting. Questions? Please email
Justin Sacramone at jsacramone@healthcentricadvisors.org or Yael Miller at ymiller@mms.org.
QIN-QIO: Join the QPP Open Call sessions for expert guidance
Join
the New England QIN-QIO's Quality Payment Program (QPP) team as they
review frequently asked questions about participation in the Merit-based
Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or an Alternative Payment Model (APM).
These calls will include time for open discussion and sharing about all
things QPP. The calls are open to providers, clinicians, office
managers, practice administrators, quality improvement specialists, and
anyone else who is involved in quality program reporting. Calls will be
offered bimonthly on the following dates, 11:30 a.m.—12:30 p.m.:
- Wednesday, June 21
- Wednesday, July 12
- Wednesday, July 26
- Wednesday, August 9
- Wednesday, August 30
Sign up for calls here. An email with instructions will be sent the day before the call. Questions? Contact Leila Volinsky at lvolinsky@healthcentricadvisors.org.
More News and Announcements
MassHealth ACO providers need RBPO certification: Learn the process
Find
out whether or not RBPO certification applies to you. This one-hour
webinar is designed to help carriers and provider organizations learn
the Risk-Bearing Provider Organization certification process that
relates to the development of MassHealth ACO contracts. The webinar, by
the Division of Insurance, answers these questions:
- Which entities currently have Risk Certificates?
- Do related provider organizations need to obtain a new RBPO certificate?
- What’s the process for organizations to file?
- What’s the process for the Division to review applications?
The
webinar is offered twice (covering the same material each time). To
join a meeting, use these links on the relevant day/time:
- Webinar I: Thursday, June 29, 2017 (1PM to 2PM); join the meeting
- Meeting number 622 480 549
- Meeting password YpW2mP3W
- Also dial 1-877-820-7831 and enter Participant Code 627192 to join the call that will be part of the webinar
- To join from a video system or application, dial 622480549@massdoi.my.webex.com
- Webinar II: Thursday, July 6, 2017 (1PM to 2PM); join the meeting
- Meeting number 622 364 129
- Meeting password Vm9TMf9d
- Also dial 1-877-820-7831 and enter Participant Code 627192 to join the call that will be part of the webinar
- To join from a video system or application, dial 622364129@massdoi.my.webex.com
Questions? Contact Niels Puetthoff at niels.puetthoff@state.ma.us or (617) 521-7326, or Kevin Beagan at kevin.beagan@state.ma.us or (617) 521-7323.
Mandated reporters: The elder abuse reporting system is being centralized
The
elder abuse reporting system will be centralized to a single hotline
number starting June 30, 2017. The line is staffed 24/7 every day.
Callers will connect to one location with specially trained intake
workers in Massachusetts. While the initial intake will be centralized,
all reports will continue to be referred to local Protective Services
Agencies for screening, investigation, and service planning. The
Executive Office of Elder Affairs notes that mandated reporters will be
most impacted. Questions? Contact Alec Graham, Director of Protective
Services, at Alec.C.Graham@MassMail.State.MA.US.
- Elder abuse hotline: 1-800-922-2275
The Latest in Health Policy Advocacy
“Partial fill” legislation promotes responsible opioid prescription use
The MMS provided testimony
to the Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery in strong
support of legislation allowing the “partial fill” of opioid
prescriptions. The bill would allow patients to partially fill opioid
prescriptions at pharmacies, with the option of filling the remainder of
the prescription at a later date without additional cost to them. The
Society’s prescribing guidelines for opioids include the key
recommendation that “the starting dose should be the minimum necessary
to achieve the desired level of pain control and to avoid excessive side
effects”—a strategy designed to reduce the potential for opioid
dependence in patients and the diversion of unused drugs. The “partial
fill” approach is an important means of reducing the volume of opioids
dispensed at pharmacies in cases where the lowest effective dosage is
difficult to determine. The bill includes a requirement that pharmacists
communicate to physicians whenever a prescription is partially filled.
Supervised injection facilities work, the MMS president tells Boston
Dr. Henry Dorkin, president of the MMS, testified
at a Boston City Council hearing on the value of medically-supervised
injection facilities (SIFs) for reducing overdose fatalities and other
harms associated with illegal drug use. “We urge Massachusetts, as a
world leader in pioneering, compassionate healthcare, to establish a
state-led task force to consider piloting SIFs in the Commonwealth,” Dr.
Dorkin said. His testimony outlined the evidence that led the MMS (and,
this month, the AMA) to support the development of pilot SIFs. Such
facilities are proven to reduce overdose deaths and improve access to
drug treatment. In addition, they may ameliorate the street violence and
disease associated with unsafe injection practices, and reduce public
spending associated with drug use. In countries that have established
SIFs, concerns about negative consequences have not borne out.
Strengthening the Senate marijuana bill
The MMS
wrote to the Senate
in support of several amendments to the marijuana bill that passed this
week. The Senate bill is designed to amend the ballot initiative passed
by voters in November that legalized recreational marijuana and put in
place a framework for implementation. The amendments address:
- Child and adolescent substance use prevention and treatment
- The packaging and labeling of marijuana and marijuana products
- The advertising, marketing, and branding of marijuana and marijuana products
While the
Society continues to oppose the legalization of recreational marijuana
as a potential risk to public health, we remain engaged in discussions
with policymakers to advocate for approaches that will help mitigate
that risk. In crafting this new policy, the Medical Society identified
priorities for guiding an evidence-based approach to public health and
safety. These priorities include: preventing youth access to
marijuana, funding research on the health effects of recreational
marijuana, mitigating the risks of marijuana-impaired driving, promoting
education about the health effects of recreational marijuana, and
setting safety and quality standards for marijuana products. Read
about the Society's approach to marijuana advocacy (Vital Signs, Summer issue).
Additional Testimony
- The MMS provided testimony
in support of a bill that would allow health care facilities to
administer a scheduled psychotropic medication without prior written
informed consent in certain circumstances.
- The MMS provided testimony
in support of a bill designed to ensure that health insurers offer
patients access to evidence based non-opioid and non-pharmaceutical pain
options where appropriate.
- The MMS provided testimony
in opposition to a bill that would remove the existing statutory
framework underlying the relationship between physicians and psychiatric
nurse practitioners, and would allow psychiatric nurse mental health
clinical specialists to issue written prescriptions and order and
interpret tests.
Reminders!
Honors, accolades, appointments, publications? Share your news in Vital Signs
Vital Signs, the monthly print and online newsletter of the MMS, has two new columns—and we need you to fill them. Members on the Move lists your professional news, such as joining a new hospital, opening a practice, or a recent promotion. Honors and Accolades
is where we share your other achievements: board appointments, speaking
engagements, community outreach, or published works. We are currently
seeking submissions for the September issue of Vital Signs.
Please include your full name and title, medical school with graduation
year, residency institution, hospital affiliation, recent update, and a
high-resolution headshot. Send submissions to vitalsigns@mms.org by July 10, 2017 (for the September issue).
Educational programs and events
Unless otherwise noted, all events are held at the MMS Headquarters, 860 Winter St., Waltham, MA. View our full calendar of upcoming live CME activities.
Norfolk County Safe Prescribing and Dispensing Conferences
Thursday, September 14, 2017, 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Randolph, MA
Open to all Norfolk County registered prescribers and pharmacists
The above activity has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
Featured Online CME Activities – Risk Management Credit
The above activities have been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
See our full listing of risk management online CME activities.
This week in health care
Sign up for daily roundups of health news affecting Massachusetts.
Mass. Senate passes marijuana bill
Taking a far lighter hand
to the law than did the House, the Senate retained the underlying law's
stipulation that voters hold the power to ban pot shops in their city
or town. The House hands the power to local officials. Under both
versions, using, possessing, and growing limited amounts of pot will
still be legal. Both also combine oversight of the recreational and
medical marijuana sectors.
The House-Senate marijuana showdown is finally official
The Senate voted 30 to five to keep the 12 percent tax rate for retail marijuana
outlined in the Question 4 ballot question approved by voters last
November. The House's bill ups the tax to 28 percent and allows
municipal legislatures to bar pot shops from opening in their city or
town. The House also altered how the new Cannabis Control Commission
would be structured and the process for issuing licences for
cultivators, manufacturers and retailers.
Girl's intense medical journey intersected with Mayor Walsh's
If the mayor of Boston has become something of a hero
for Kyla Smith-Howell, he is in competition for that title with Dr.
Scott Elisofon, the medical director of the liver transplant program at
Children's.
Gift certificates for guns Saturday at Worcester church
Along
with this program, the Massachusetts Medical Society and Attorney
General Maura Healey have issued a set of information for physicians
about how and why to talk to patients about gun ownership and responsibility.
Fentanyl 'game changer' in public-health opioid battle
Botticelli,
now executive director of the Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine at
Boston Medical Center, told the Massachusetts Health Council that the
time it takes to die of a fentanyl overdose is "dramatically shortened" from other opioid overdoses and fentanyl users are more likely to consume the drug alone.
Lawmakers want more money for local hospitals
Some lawmakers say current funding isn't enough. They're pitching a plan to boost the community hospital trust fund by charging large physician groups, such as Burlington-based Atrius Health, a $20 million annual assessment.
Doctors write fewer prescriptions after sunshine laws reveal drug company payments
Comparing Massachusetts physicians' prescriptions
with the prescriptions written by physicians in the control group(s),
they found a 48-59 percent decrease for name-brand statins, a 46-54
percent decrease for branded antidepressants and a 40-45 percent
decrease for branded antipsychotics.
Former Macy's Home, Sports Authority sites are new home to Reliant Medical
Reliant Medical Group
is planning to open a new doctor's office in a mall, where it is
consolidating its Millbury and Auburn offices into a former Macy's Home
store in the Auburn Mall.
Rep. Keating authors Lyme disease legislation
Last week, Congressional Rep. Keating authored the Tick-Borne Disease Prevention Act,
which will direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
to publish two sets of materials specific to Lyme disease and tick-borne
illnesses
Massachusetts saw highest rates of opioid-related hospitalizations in 2014
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's statistical brief,
which looked at the latest available data from 44 states on inpatient
stays and 30 states on emergency department visits, found that Massachusetts was the only one that consistently saw high rates of opioid-related hospitalizations, regardless of a patient's gender or age.
Amid opioid crisis, a drug company's strategy in Massachusetts
A review of state campaign contributions by WGBH News found that Alkermes has donated
to dozens of Massachusetts political campaigns – including that of
Governor Charlie Baker, House Speaker Bob DeLeo and Senate President
Stan Rosenberg.
Harsh reception for supervised drug injection in Boston
Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) issued a report in April that endorsed SIF pilots. But doctors were criticized several times during the city council hearing for taking that position. City officials expressed concerns.
Teladoc acquiring Boston medical consultation firm in $440M deal
The
New York-based telehealth provider (NYSE: TDOC) provides care to
patients virtually. The company said it will utilize Best Doctors, a
medical consultation company that often contracts with large employers,
to broaden its platform and increase its analytical capabilities,
offering patients a virtual, patient-centric way to resolve health care issues.
