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 »
Boxer and Pan introduce vaccination legislation plans in effort to raise immunization rates U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and California State Senator Richard Pan, M.D., toured an Emeryville Head Start program last week to illustrate the reasons they have introduced vaccination bills at the national and state levels. Senator Boxer introduced the Head Start on Vaccinations Act with Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto. That bill would protect children in Head Start programs from preventable diseases by requiring that all children in Head Start programs nationwide be fully vaccinated unless they have been exempted for medical reasons. Boxer chose the Emeryville Head Start program to ... February 26, 2015 General Immunization, Public Health, State Legislation, Vaccination, Federal Legislation 0 0 Comment Read More »
Medical board commissions review of ethnic demographics of its disciplinary actions The Medical Board of California has commissioned a non-partisan, third-party review of the board’s disciplinary data by ethnic demographics to determine whether there are disparities in disciplinary actions. The data review was sparked by requests from the Golden State Medical Association (GSMA). At the February 2014 medical board meeting, Katrina Peters, M.D., current GSMA president and California Medical Association (CMA) member, testified that a number of GSMA members have expressed concerns that African-American physicians have been targeted and received discipline from the medical board in higher numbers than other ... February 26, 2015 General Legal Advocacy, Medical Board of Califonria, Disciplinary Actions, Ethnic Diversity 0 0 Comment Read More »
Physicians have until Feb. 28 to review 2013 PQRS payments and penalties The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last week that physicians who believe they received an incorrect Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) payment penalty can now use the new Look Up tool to verify information without calling the CMS Help Desk. The PQRS Look Up tool uses the same information that the CMS Help Desk accesses to verify whether a physician is subject to the 2015 PQRS payment adjustment, or if he or she should have received a 2013 PQRS incentive. To utilize the tool, physicians need to ... February 23, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare CMS, Physician Quality Reporting System, PQRS, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
Covered California rolls gain 1.4 million people; enrollment extended through end of April Covered California announced that it had 1.4 million people on its rolls and that it had extended the deadline to buy health insurance for people who say they weren't aware they would face a tax penalty. According to Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, as many as 600,000 California residents face a penalty under the Affordable Care Act for not having insurance. The extension does not exempt people from paying the 2014 tax penalty, but would help them avoid bigger penalties in 2015. On the national front, the White ... February 23, 2015 Managed Care Health Insurance Exchange, Covered California 0 0 Comment Read More »
