MMS NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Individual Claims Consultation: Are you having problems getting paid?
Looking
for an efficient way to resolve unpaid insurance claims? The MMS is
hosting three Individual Claims Consultation days this summer and fall.
These are opportunities for you and/or your practice colleague to meet
with representatives from insurance companies to troubleshoot specific
claims. The events will be held in Holyoke (July 25), Waltham (Aug 16),
and Lakeville (Sept 20); information and registration.
Member verdict “I
had a significant claims concern. Being able to speak person-to-person
to a representative was so much better than being on hold on the phone. I
would recommend that members take advantage of this useful service that
the MMS supplies.” — Laura L. McCann, MD, president, Charles River
District Medical Society
Nominations for MMS-OMSS FY19 Elections: DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MONDAY
The
MMS Organized Medical Staff Section (MMS-OMSS) is seeking nominations
for members to serve on its Executive Committee (EC) for fiscal years
2019–21. The OMSS addresses the relationships among physicians, their
medical staffs, and their institutions’ administration through MMS and
AMA governance and education. The three-year term of office begins
immediately after the Section elections at the MMS OMSS Annual Meeting
held on Thursday, May 17, at MMS Headquarters, Waltham; members are
invited. The nomination deadline has been extended to Monday, May 14; information and nomination form. If you have questions or would like to attend the meeting as a guest, please contact Steve Phelan at sphelan@mms.org or (781) 434-7320.
May Vital Signs: Ethical issues in everyday practice
What’s
the best way to handle a medical injury dispute? How can you remove a
patient from your panel or support an impaired colleague? Is it OK to
hug a patient? The May issue of Vital Signs
explores some of the bioethical issues that arise in everyday clinical
practice, as well as the processes that determine public health policy
and standards of care.
The Summer issue of Vital Signs, which mails in late June, will focus on how the environment affects the health of your patients.
MACRMI forum: Resolve injury disputes constructively — NEXT TUESDAY
Join
your colleagues to learn more about the value and implementation of a
collaborative approach to resolving medical injury disputes. This free
forum presents the Communication, Apology, and Resolution (CARe) model
— an alternative to the traditional adversarial approach — which is
supported by positive outcomes data. The forum is hosted by
the Massachusetts Alliance for Communication and Resolution following
Medical Injury (MACRMI) on Tuesday, May 15, at MMS Headquarters,
Waltham; information and registration. Read about the goals and benefits of the CARe model and watch a two-minute interview with Alan C. Woodward, MD, co-chair of MACRMI and past president of the MMS.
New interoperability mandate (and webinar): Does it affect your practice?
This
summer, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services
(EOHHS) will implement the attestation process for a 2012 legislative
mandate regarding the interoperability of electronic health records
(EHRs). Practices affected by this mandate will be required to attest by
July 1st, 2018; information.
The EOHHS will be conducting a webinar to review the regulatory requirements and the attestation process on Tuesday, May 22, 12:00–1:00 p.m; registration.
Check your 2018 MIPS eligibility online
Physician practices/groups may now log into the CMS QPP website to check their 2018 eligibility for Medicare’s Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). After groups log in,
they will be able to click to a details screen and see the eligibility
status of every clinician in the group (based on their National Provider
Identifier or NPI) to find out whether they need to participate during
the 2018 performance year for MIPS. CMS will not be sending out letters
to advise physicians of their eligibility status this year, so checking
the QPP participation status look-up tool is the only way to determine
or verify eligibility status. Eligibility rules in 2018 are different to
2017; your status this year may have changed. Exempt individual
clinicians still need to report if their group is eligible and chooses
to report as a group. Here's the log-in again.
What's up at the State House
MMS comments on the revised CARE Act
Dr. Alain A. Chaoui, president of the MMS, issued comments
on the revised CARE Act aimed at addressing the opioid crisis in
Massachusetts. The Society welcomes language on streamlining the process
for accessing naloxone statewide, supported the partial-full provision,
and commends the House for proposing a novel program to support
prescribers of medication treatment, Dr. Chaoui said. He expressed
concern about proposed electronic prescribing guidelines, the 72-hour
involuntary commitment of patients with substance use disorder, and the
lack of action on improving medication treatment for inmates.
MMS urges Senate to pass tobacco age bill
The Society urged the state Senate to pass a bill raising the legal age for buying tobacco and e-cigarettes to 21 years. In a statement,
Alain A. Chaoui, MD, president of the MMS, said that delaying access to
tobacco and e-ciogarettes could reduce addiction rates and improve
health across the lifespan. The bill has already passed in the House.
Educational programs and events
View our full calendar of upcoming live CME activities. Unless otherwise noted, all events are held at MMS Headquarters, 860 Winter St., Waltham, MA.
Live CME events
Directors of Medical Education Conference — Leading and Designing for Change
Thursday, May 17, 2018, 9:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
Featured online CME courses
Basic Introduction to Stark Law —
NEW
Find additional risk management online CME activities.
This week in health care
Sign up
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stories may be fully accessible only to subscribers of those
publications.)
State shuts down nursing program
In
the middle of National Nurses week, nursing students at Quincy College
are facing a major setback. The State Board of Registration in Nursing
(BORN) withdrew the approval for the nursing program at Quincy College.
Boston-area doctors seek more women in orthopedics
The Harvard Combined Orthopedic Program will host the BONES Initiative this Saturday — a free training event where female med students in New England can learn to suture, splint, and fix fractures.
Experts puzzle over Partners-Harvard Pilgrim merger talks
A
merger, which would create a formidable new health care company, could
result in higher costs for consumers and reduced competition, several
industry experts said, ensuring tough scrutiny from state regulators who are focused on containing the growth in medical spending.
Mass. ranked No. 2 for best health care in the nation
According
to the results, which studied each state from 2013 to 2016, Hawaii
ranked as America's top state for health care services. Massachusetts,
Minnesota, Vermont, and Utah followed in the rankings. Connecticut,
Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine all were ranked among the top 20.
Self-induced abortions shouldn't be a crime, Mass. Medical Society says
The
25,000-member medical society passed a resolution saying it would
advocate against "any legislative efforts or laws in Massachusetts or
federally to criminalize self-induced abortion."
Elliott Management makes $6.4B bid to acquire athenahealth
Elliott, a New York City-based fund manager,
wrote in a seven-page harshly-worded letter to shareholders Monday that
it was seeking to acquire the company on an "expedited basis," saying
that they may be able to improve the proposed price with additional
diligence.
'Deaths of despair' on the rise across state
A new health scorecard shows that Massachusetts has a high rate of what researchers call "deaths of despair" from suicide or alcohol and drug use.
Mass. patients use more expensive imaging services, more often
Medicare spent $762.1 million on imaging services,
or $892 per beneficiary, in Massachusetts in 2015 — the fourth-highest
spending in the US, and 14 percent higher than the average state.
