CMA Q4 council reports now available for comment The California Medical Association (CMA) has posted its fourth-quarter council reports online, part of the year-round (quarterly) policy-making process instituted at the close of the 2015 CMA House of Delegates. In August 2016, the fourth-quarter resolutions were opened for online testimony. At the close of the comment period, the testimony received was used to inform CMA's various councils, which then met and developed recommendations that will go before the Board of Trustees in October. These council reports are now available online and open for further comment and discussion until October 10, ... September 22, 2016 CMA House of Delegates 0 0 Comment Read More »
Learn patient communication skills for the End of Life Option Act On October 13, 2016, the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC) is hosting a one-day interactive workshop, “California End of Life Option Act: Key Concepts and Skills for Providers.” The workshop will take place at the San Diego County Medical Society (5575 Ruffin Road, Suite 250) from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Workshop attendees will have the chance to review key aspects of the law and learn how it could impact providers and organizations. Attendees will also have the opportunity to practice conversation skills for engaging patients to ... September 22, 2016 General Physician Aid in Dying, End of Life Issues 0 0 Comment Read More »
Encourage your patients to participate in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day Oct. 22 On this day, hundreds of locations throughout California will be accepting and properly disposing of unused prescription drugs, including controlled substances. Proper disposal of unused prescription drugs helps prevent diversion and misuse associated with these medications. This one-day event will provide patients with free, anonymous collection of unwanted and expired medicines. During the most recent Take Back Day in April 2016, more unused prescription drugs were turned in than on any of the previous take back events since the program began in 2010. California collected more than any other state ... September 22, 2016 General Prescription Drugs 0 0 Comment Read More »
Have you received a request to confirm provider directory information from BetterDoctor? The California Medical Association (CMA) has received an increasing number of inquiries over the past few weeks from practices concerned about the validity of requests for information from a company called BetterDoctor. SB 137, the new provider directory accuracy law, took effect July 1. The new law requires payors to ensure that their physician directories are accurate and up-to-date. BetterDoctor is a vendor working on behalf of 10 plans on a pilot project to ensure the accuracy of their physician directories, as required under the new law. Practices are encouraged ... September 22, 2016 Managed Care Health Insurance Exchange, Provider Directories, Provider Directory Accuracy Law, Exchange Plans 0 0 Comment Read More »
Webinar to provide overview of CHPI Physician Quality Rating Program With the California Healthcare Performance Information System (CHPI) publishing clinical quality ratings for approximately 13,000 California physicians later this year, physicians will soon begin receiving notices advising of their quality scores, along with information on how to access the review and corrections portal to confirm or correct their data. Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH) senior managers Emily London and Pete Sikora will present a webinar overview of the CHPI quality rating project, along with step-by-step instructions on how physicians can review their data for accuracy before the quality ... September 13, 2016 General CHPI, Quality Reporting 0 0 Comment Read More »
New CMA resource clarifies prohibitions on balance billing Medi-Medi patients The California Medical Association (CMA) often receives questions from physician members regarding the ability to collect the 20 percent that Medicare does not cover when the physician is not a Medi-Cal provider, but provides services to Medi-Medi (Medicare/Medi-Cal) patients. Both state and federal laws provide broad protections to such individuals and prohibit billing a Medi-Cal patient in most circumstances. Running afoul of these laws can put you at risk of a CMS audit and sanctions. CMA has created a new resource on this topic, “Ask the Expert: Billing Medi-Medi Patients,” ... September 13, 2016 Medi-Cal, Medicare Balance Billing, Medi-Cal, Medicare 0 0 Comment Read More »
IMQ offers FREE CME for online course on child abuse and neglect In an effort to prevent more childhood trauma, the Institute for Medical Quality (IMQ), a subsidiary of the California Medical Association, is offering a free online course to help physicians, nurses and mental health providers recognize and report child abuse and neglect. This interactive course, approved for 1.25 continuing medical education (CME) credits, was produced by the Child Abuse Prevention center in Sacramento, an international training, education, research and resource center dedicated to protecting children and building healthy families. The course is especially helpful for learning how to handle questionable ... September 13, 2016 General CME, Child Abuse, Continuing Medical Education, IMQ, Institute for Medical Quality 0 0 Comment Read More »
Prescription drug safety during Pain Awareness Month The California Medical Association (CMA) is raising awareness on the issue of pain and its proper management this September in recognition of National Pain Awareness Month. Chronic pain — i.e. pain that persists for a protracted period of time — impacts approximately 100 million adults in America and costs the country up to $635 billion annually in lost productivity and treatment, according to a 2011 Institute of Medicine report. CMA has developed and compiled resources to help further inform physicians and educate the public on the impacts of pain, as ... September 13, 2016 General Drub Prescribing, Opioids, Pain Medicine, Public Health 0 0 Comment Read More »
CPPPH offers two workshops on physician well-being in October California Public Protection & Physician Health (CPPPH) is hosting workshops next month in both northern and southern California for medical staffs and groups interested in physician well-being. The workshop, "Effective Functioning of Well-Being Committees for Medical Staffs and Medical Groups," will be offered October 15 in Los Angeles and October 22 in Oakland. This workshop is designed for physician health and well-being committee members, medical staff services professionals, medical staff leadership teams and others interested in improving physician well-being on an individual and organizational level. Physicians attending can receive 7.0 AMA ... September 13, 2016 General Physician Well-Being, Physician Wellness 0 0 Comment Read More »
United Healthcare fails to provide proper notification on rollout of clinical data submission protocol The California Medical Association (CMA) is concerned that United Healthcare (UHC) failed to properly notify physicians before implementation of its Clinical Data Submission Protocol. Although California law (California Insurance Code §10133.65 and Health & Safety Code §1375.7) requires payors to provide contracted physicians with the 45 business days’ advance notice of any material contracting changes, UHC's only notification to physicians about this new protocol was in its Network Bulletin. First introduced in 2015, the program originally targeted only Medicare benefit plans and required physicians to submit all laboratory test ... September 13, 2016 Managed Care, Medicare United Healthcare, Medicare 0 0 Comment Read More »
