Bill to eliminate the use of tobacco products at California baseball venues introduced in Assembly A bill (AB 768) that would eliminate the use of all tobacco products – including smokeless tobacco – at all baseball venues in California in an effort to protect the health of players and to set an effective example for children was introduced Tuesday by Assemblymember Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond). A similar local measure was also introduced in San Francisco by Supervisor Mark Farrell. Public health advocates, including the California Medical Association (CMA) and youth baseball players, joined Assemblymember Thurmond and Supervisor Farrell at the respective announcements in Sacramento and San ... March 9, 2015 General State LEgislation, Tobacco, California Legislature 0 0 Comment Read More »
Medi-Cal deactivates some physicians in error On February 7, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) performed a periodic review of activity and deactivated all providers that had not billed Medi-Cal for 12 consecutive months. All deactivated providers were notified by letter of the deactivation of their record. On February 17, however, DHCS found that a small subgroup of providers, those with multiple locations under the same National Provider Identifier (NPI), were incorrectly deactivated due to a system error. Physicians who received a deactivation letter and believe they were deactivated in error should contact DHCS at ... March 9, 2015 Medi-Cal Medi-Cal Provider Enrollment, Medi-Cal 0 0 Comment Read More »
Online tool that gives consumers average costs for over 70 medical procedures now live A new online tool that gives consumers an idea of the cost for several health care procedures went live last week. Launched by the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization, Guroo.com shows average amounts paid for over 70 common care episodes in most states, including much of California. Using data supplied by Aetna, Assurant Health, Humana and UnitedHealthcare, the website pulls cost information from the medical claims of more than 40 million U.S. residents. According to HCCI, the prices are averages of the total payments to ... March 2, 2015 General Insurance, United Healthcare, Aetna 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA leaders converge on Capitol Hill to advocate for Medicare fix This week, 25 California Medical Association (CMA) physician leaders were in Washington, D.C., as part of the American Medical Association’s Legislative Week to urge Congress to enact the bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would repeal the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) and institute a new payment system. The group also asked Congress to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, formerly known as Healthy Families, which is set to expire September 2015. Medicare SGR Last year, both houses of Congress were very close to a permanent repeal of the badly broken SGR ... March 2, 2015 Medicare Federal Legislation, Medicare, SGR, Advocacy, Sustainable Growth Rate 0 0 Comment Read More »
Join CMA March 26 for Legislative Advocacy Day Lobbying 101 webinar Participants in the California Medical Association's (CMA) 2015 Annual Legislative Advocacy Day, scheduled for Tuesday, April 14, are invited to attend a special Lobbying 101 webinar to review CMA’s list of sponsored bills to be lobbied and to learn effective advocacy tips. CMA’s Center for Government Relations will host the webinar on March 26 from 6-7 p.m. Legislative Advocacy Day will be held at the Sheraton Grand, located at 1230 J St., Sacramento. If you have not registered, contact Lucy Garcia at 909-273-6000 or lgarcia@sbcms.org. Click here to view the ... March 2, 2015 General State Legislative Advocacy, Website, Legislative Advocacy 0 0 Comment Read More »
Interest in becoming an expert reviewer? The Medical Board of California established the Expert Reviewer Program in July 1994 as an impartial and professional means by which to support the investigation and enforcement functions of the Board. Experts assist the Board by providing reviews and opinions on Board cases and conducting professional competency exams, physical exams and psychiatric exams. The Board is currently looking specifically for experts in dermatology, neurological surgery, pain medicine, pathology, spine surgery and transplant surgery. For more information regarding compensation and how to apply, please visit: http://www.mbc.ca.gov/Enforcement/Expert_Reviewer/.. March 2, 2015 General Expert Reviewer, Medical Board of California 0 0 Comment Read More »
Medical consultants needed Are you interested in being an integral part of the Medical Board of California enforcement process? Do you have the ability to conduct interviews, exercise sound judgement in reviewing conflicting medical reports and preparing opinions, analyzing problems and taking appropriate action? This is an excellent opportunity to help your community and obtain valuable experience. The Department of Consumer Affairs, Division of Investigation, Health Quality Investigations Unit is seeking well-qualified individuals to be Medical Consultants. Interested individuals must submit an application for examination; see link for additional information and instructions ... March 2, 2015 General , Medical Board of California, Medical Consultants 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS extends meaningful use EHR attestation deadline to March 20 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the deadline for physicians to attest to meaningful use for the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program 2014 reporting year. While the original deadline was February 28, physicians now have until 11:59 p.m., EST, on March 20, 2015, to attest. CMS extended the deadline to allow providers extra time to submit their meaningful use data, but urges providers to begin attesting for 2014 as soon as they can. This extension also allows eligible professionals, who have not already used their ... March 2, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare EHR, Meaningful Use, Medi-Cal, Medicare, PQRS, CMS 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Foundation releases adult vaccine schedule To help physicians answer questions posed by the recent measles outbreak in California and to educate adult patients about their vaccination needs, the California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation has release an adult vaccine schedule that physicians can hand out during patient visits. Many adults may be skipping vaccinations for a variety of conditions, leaving them susceptible to disease. For example, the tetanus vaccine can prevent a deadly bacterial toxin. While adults should get a booster every 10 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported last week that ... February 26, 2015 General Immunization, Public Health, Vaccination, CMA Foundation 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS to conduct ICD-10 claims testing for physicians in March and June On October 1, 2015, the ICD-9 code sets used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures will be replaced by ICD-10 code sets. To help physicians prepare for this transition, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will be conducting two national testing weeks, from March 2-6 and June 1-5. 2015. These testing weeks will give trading partners access to the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MAC) and Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) for testing with real-time help desk support. While participants will not be able to conduct true end-to-end testing at ... February 26, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare CMS, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ICD-10 0 0 Comment Read More »
