MMS NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Con artists targeting physicians: What to watch out for
Con
artists have been targeting physicians in New Jersey, and potentially
other states, requesting confidential information including DEA and
social security numbers and credit card data. Physicians have received
questionnaires and mailings purporting to be from the New Jersey
Division of Consumer Affairs. In Kansas a
physician reported a caller who falsely claimed to be from the DEA
requesting confidential information. These scams could expose physicians
to financial fraud and facilitate illegal drug trafficking. If you have
received such a questionnaire, do not respond. If you have any doubts
regarding the authenticity of any document received from a state agency,
contact your state professional board and/or consumer affairs division.
Always safeguard your personal and professional data. Always verify the need and authority of unusual requests for information.
Benefit Buzz: Get your free NEJM Journal Watch
MMS membership now includes complimentary subscriptions to NEJM Journal Watch Online (which otherwise costs $129 a year), in addition to the New England Journal of Medicine (which otherwise costs $189 a year). NEJM Journal Watch Online delivers
information about current research, medical news, drug information,
public health alerts, and guidelines across 12 specialties and 19 topic
areas. A team of physician editors surveys 250 medical journals, selects
the most important research and guidelines, and distills them into
focused summaries. Subscribers receive updates that frame findings in a
clinical context, providing perspective on how current research applies
to the everyday practice of medicine. Activate your Journal Watch subscription or call MMS Customer Service at (800) 843-6356.
Reminders: Stuff you should click on
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
New interoperability mandate (and webinar): Does it affect your practice? — TUESDAY
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.
Benefit Buzz: Open Enrollment for Legal Advisory Plan
This
valuable members-only benefit, Legal Advisory Plan (LAP), provides
enrolled members with legal assistance in the event of a Board of
Registration in Medicine investigation. Don't miss your opportunity to
take advantage of it. Renew or enroll in the LAP for January 2018
– January 2019 for $70 a year* — a fraction of standard legal fees; more information. *Additional discount for groups of five or more. Questions? Email lap@massmed.org, or call (781) 434-7311.
Medical students can benefit from your valuable medical expertise
Volunteer
as a physician facilitator at Boston University School of Medicine
Integrated Problems course. Your medical experience and expertise will
be invaluable in developing the medical students’ clinical reasoning
skills in small group problem-based learning sessions. Join us for lunch
to learn more on June 7, 2018; information and registration. If you can only call-in for the presentation, email ckoh@mms.org.
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.
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.
Featured online CME courses
Basic Introduction to Stark Law — NEW
The Promises and Pitfalls of Transforming Health through Technology and Information (6 Modules) — NEW
Find additional risk management online CME activities.
This week in health care
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stories may be fully accessible only to subscribers of those
publications.)
Neighborhood Health Plan to encourage prescribing of anti-addiction medication
Neighborhood
said it will reimburse physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician
assistants in its network for up to $500 for the training professionals
must undergo before they can prescribe buprenorphine, which is best known by the brand name Suboxone.
House passes life science bill
The
bill (H 4501) provides about $463 million in new capital authorizations
for the state Life Sciences Capital Fund, with an emphasis on capital
grants to increase diversity and opportunity
in the Massachusetts life sciences and biotech industries, and extends
for another decade a life sciences tax incentive program currently
scheduled to expire at the end of 2018.
Mass. man sentenced after buying guns, explosives to kill former AG
A Massachusetts man who bought guns and explosives
with the intent to kill three people -- former Massachusetts Attorney
General Martha Coakley, a federal judge and his ex-wife -- has been
sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.
State's biggest health insurance firms blame Obamacare tax for Q1 losses
All three insurers said the resumption of the Affordable Care Act tax
was the primary reason for the losses. The tax, which pays for the
Affordable Care Act, was suspended for a year by Congress in December
2015. Insurers must report the full year of the tax in the first
quarter.
What consumers need to know about the state's new health care website
CompareCare
contains information about the cost of roughly 300 common medical
services and procedures, including office visits, X-rays, MRIs,
colonoscopies, and mammograms. In some cases, the costs vary widely from one facility to another.
Teen seeing difference after landmark Mass. Eye and Ear gene surgery
A
13-year-old patient at Massachusetts Eye and Ear with hereditary vision
loss became the first-ever recipient of a gene therapy to prevent blindness — and two months later, he can already see the whiteboard in math class and play nighttime sports with his friends.
Hospitals branch out in the suburbs with more urgent care centers
For
many people looking for non-emergency medical treatment, choices are as
close as their local shopping center. Hospitals and other health care
providers are striving to bring medical care nearer to where people live, with less cost and wait.
