MMS
News and Announcements
MMS Presents
New Video Series: Transition Your Practice to ICD-10
MMS has prepared a
seven-part video series designed to help physicians prepare their practice for
ICD-10 implementation is by October 2014. This series of short videos, The Transition to ICD-10:
Keys to Getting Your Practice on the Implementation Highway, highlights key
information and necessary steps, including proper documentation and
organizational, financial, technological and employment impacts.
AMA
Kicks Off 2013 Annual Meeting, Innovations in Medicine; MMS Members Seek
Offices
The AMA this week kicks off its 2013
Annual Meeting, titled “Innovations in Medicine.” Several MMS
leaders are seeking offices in the national organization, including MMS Past
President Lynda M. Young, M.D., a candidate for the AMA Council on Medical
Service, MMS President-elect Richard S. Pieters, M.D., a candidate for the AMA Council
on Medical Education, and MMS member Benjamin Z. Galper, M.D., a candidate for
the AMA Board of Trustees (resident/fellow position.) Elections are scheduled for Tuesday, June 18.
MMS Testifies on Bills
to Ensure Patient Protection, Prevent Inappropriate Insurance Denials
MMS
officials offered testimony this week on several bills before the Legislature’s
Financial Services Committee. The MMS
testified in support of S. 453 and H. 936, bills which would require that health insurers
defer to the medical judgment of the treating clinician unless the
“preponderance of evidence” showed that the clinician’s requested service “did
not meet the requirements for coverage based on medical necessity,
appropriateness of health care setting and level of care, or effectiveness.” Read full testimony here.
The
MMS also testified in support of H.858, which would create a new patient
protection by prohibiting those with a potential incentive, such as insurers, to
discourage patients from seeking ongoing treatment and/or end-of-life care from
contacting patients without the knowledge or presence of a treating physician. Read full testimony. The MMS also offered support for H.960 and
S.498, bills that would prevent inappropriate denials for medically necessary
services. Read full testimony.
Join the MMS on June 26 to Discuss Your Options in the Changing Practice
Environment
The
MMS is inviting physicians to convene for a dinner and discussion on the
changing practice environment in Massachusetts from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.at MMS headquarters
Hosted by MMS President Ronald W. Dunlap, the
gathering will feature two health care experts, Chris Collins, of ECG
Consulting Management, and Mark Waxman, Esq., of Foley, Lardner LLP, who will
cover such issues as the financial impact related to various ACO options, legal
considerations when contracting with an ACO, data analytics, and governance
issues related to ACOs.
The
second hour of the meeting will be dedicated to open dialogue and a Q&A
focused on physician needs and expectations in the current environment, and how
MMS can help to meet them. Dinner will be served. RSVP to Lisa Smith by email lsmith@mms.org or by calling (781) 434-7759.
Benefit Buzz: Free
Dinner Seminar June 18 in Boston with athenahealth
Join
athenaheath for a private dinner at June 18 at 6:00 p.m. at The Westin Copley
Place in Boston about thriving during health care payment reform. This event
will give tips on how to: earn additional revenue from Pay-for-Performance
incentives, achieve Stages 1 & 2 of Meaningful Use, and capture patient
payments quickly and efficiently. To attend this informative dinner, email your
name, practice and contact information to seminars@athenahealth.com. Mention your MMS
membership.
Benefit Buzz: Different
Backups for Different Kinds of Data
Free webinar at noon on
Thursday, June 20
One-size-fits
all is not the solution for online data backup and storage needs. Join
VaultLogix for Part 4 of Online Backup 101. In the webinar you
will learn about the different kinds of data, the different types of backup
solutions and how to choose the right solution for you. The first three parts
of the series are now available online here.
Education Programs and Events
Live CME Activities
2nd Annual Addiction
Medicine for All Providers Conference
Friday, June 21, and Saturday, June 22, 2013, 8:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Women’s Leadership Forum: Women in Medicine –
Competition, Collaboration, and Team Leadership
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Call for more information 800-322-2303, Ext. 7306.
Caring for the Caregivers IX: How do we Reduce Physician Stress and
Burnout?
Thursday, October 3, 2013, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
CME Accreditation Orientation
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Call for more information: 800-322-2303, Ext. 7306.
Managing Workplace Conflict
Thursday, October 17, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and
Friday, October 18, 2013, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The above activities have been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
Save the Date
Principles of Palliative Care and Persistent Pain
Management: Tools to Integrate Into Your Practice
Friday, September 27, 2013
Online CME Activities
* Also available in print. Call (800) 322-2303, ext. 7306.
For additional risk management online CME activities, visit www.massmed.org/cme.
This Week in Health Care
Supreme Court Sides with Doctors Against Insurer's Pay Practices
A decision issued Monday by the U. S. Supreme Court
will allow individual physicians to come together as a group to fight unfair
business practices of large health insurance companies. The ruling in Sutter
v. Oxford Health Plans, a dispute between the East Coast insurer
and New Jersey pediatrician John Sutter, MD, that dates back to 2003, means
that thousands of physicians will be able to use class arbitration against an
insurer that has underpaid them for more than a decade.
Supreme
Court Rules Human Genes Cannot
Be Patented
In a landmark decision seen as a win for
researchers and patients, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided this week
that human genes cannot be patented because allowing such patents impedes
research and harms patients’ rights.
McLean Hospital Wins Approval for $12.5 Million Expansion
McLean Hospital won state approval this week for a $12.5 million, 31-bed expansion of its Belmont
campus.
Harvard Pilgrim's Policy on Compounded Drugs Draws
Ire
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care said it will no longer cover compounded drugs, because of safety and cost
concerns.
Officials Press Morton Hospital to Reconsider Closing Pediatric Unit
Morton Hospital's pediatric unit, slated to close next month, provides critical
access to health care for children in the Taunton region, according to a strongly worded state finding meant to pressure
the hospital to reconsider.
Heavy Rains Could Lead to Mosquito Population Explosion
The latest round of heavy rain has western Mass. health
officials worried about a spike locally in the mosquito population, increasing the threat of West Nile virus and the more severe
mosquito-transmitted Eastern Equine Encephalitis.
Southborough Board of Health Chief, Residents Discuss Gun Control
Dr. Louis Fazen III, a local pediatrician and chairman of the town Board of Health, moderated the discussion about treating gun violence from a public health
perspective.
Changes to Mass. Death
Certificates Are Coming
The
Massachusetts Registry
of Vital Records and Statistics (RVRS) will soon begin transitioning the
current paper death certificate process to an electronic death registration
system, commonly known as an EDRS. The EDRS will implement new federal
guidelines and standards to:
- Save
time and effort with online cause-of-death entry and certification
- Enable
a paperless workflow, with the option to certify records by fax
- Improve
accuracy of death certificates through instant edits and online help
- Significantly
improve timeliness of data available for surveillance and research from
months to days
- Prevent
fraud through secure user authentication, immediate validation of social
security numbers, birth/death matching, and prevention of loss and forgery
of paper certificates.
Last
year, the RVRS successfully launched the first phase of the EDRS pilot,
enabling funeral directors, medical examiners, physicians and burial agents to
complete a death record electronically. By 2014, medical certifiers will
electronically certify the cause of death directly in the system or by a fax
attestation process. Physicians with questions about the EDRA may
e-mail the VIP Project Team at vipprojectteam@massmail.state.ma.us.
CDC Issues New
Guidance for H7N9 Testing
The CDC has released an updated health advisory on the avian influenza A (H7N9) virus situation with new recommendations on whom should be tested for H7N9
in the U.S. The CDC now recommends that only
patients with an appropriate exposure history and severe respiratory illness
requiring hospitalization be tested; and only confirmed and probable cases of
human infection with H7N9 be reported to CDC. Read the
full advisory here. For updates on vaccinations subscribe to www.immunize.org.
