CMS rule reduces Meaningful Use burdens; CMA advocates for more change On June 15, the California Medical Association (CMA) submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on proposed rules modifying Stage 1 and Stage 2 Meaningful Use criteria of the federal electronic health records (EHR) incentive programs. Under the federal EHR incentive programs, qualifying Medicare and Medi-Cal providers are eligible to receive incentive payments for adopting and demonstrating “Meaningful Use” of certified health information technology. The proposed rule aligns Stage 1 and Stage 2 Meaningful Use objectives and measures for 2015 through 2017 with proposed Stage 3 ... June 26, 2015 Managed Care, Medi-Cal, Medicare CMS, EHR, Electronic Health Record, HIT, Meaningful Use 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS announces transition of single sign-on IACS system The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) established the Individuals Authorized Access to the CMS Computer Services (IACS) as a means to provide a single user ID for business partners to access multiple CMS applications. For physician offices, this consists primarily of the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS)/eRx Physician Quality Reporting System and E-Prescribing Incentive Programs. CMS has announced that, on July 13, 2015, authorized users of the IACS system will be transitioned to the existing Enterprise Identity Management (EIDM) system. The EIDM system will allow a single ... June 26, 2015 General CMS, PQRS, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
DHCS extends meaningful use attestation deadlines for 2014 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule on September 4, 2014, that revised the meaningful use timeline. Under the rule, eligible professionals can use 2011 Edition certified EHR technology (CEHRT) or a combination of 2011 and 2014 Edition CEHRT for the 2014 EHR reporting period to demonstrate meaningful use. Eligible professionals who were scheduled to begin stage 2 in 2014 will not be required to begin stage 2 until 2015, if they could not fully implement 2014 Edition CEHRT due to delays in availability ... June 5, 2015 General, Medi-Cal EHR, Electronic Health Record, Meaningful Use, Medi-Cal, CMS 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS to issue new Medicaid managed care rules for comment For the first time since 2002, the Obama administration has announced that it will propose new federal regulations for Medicaid managed care. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is slated to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking sometime in 2015. Industry stakeholders have already submitted input and recommendations to CMS to consider in the final drafting of the new rules. Indications from those who have already commented on agency drafts are that the new rules will address rate setting, stronger beneficiary protections and easing beneficiary transitions between Medicaid ... May 26, 2015 Managed Care, Medi-Cal CMS, Long Term Care, Medi-Cal, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
Open Payments database now available for physician review The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments database, based on 2013 data, is available to physicians for their review of payments made to them by drug and medical device companies. The review period opened on April 6, 2015, and will be open until at least May 21. The Open Payments database is a part of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, a provision of the Affordable Care Act. The California Medical Association (CMA) recommends that physicians review their data for accuracy as it will be published on ... April 29, 2015 Medicare CMS, Physician Payments Sunshine Act, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA submits letter to CMS requesting assessment of Medi-Cal rates Last week, the California Medical Association (CMA), along with 17 stakeholder organizations, submitted comments to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), requesting that an independent assessment of Medi-Cal rates be required as part of the state’s next Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is in the last year of its current Section 1115 waiver, which was approved by the federal government so it could expand Medi-Cal coverage in accordance with the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The waiver allowed the state to ... April 1, 2015 Medi-Cal CMS, Medi-Cal, Regulatory Advocacy, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS prepares to make 21% Medicare rate cut should Congress fail to act before April 1 With an April 1 deadline looming, Congress has a week left to stop the 21 percent sustainable growth rate (SGR) cuts to the Medicare reimbursement rate. While Congress works to pass bills H.R. 2 and S. 810 to permanently end the SGR and implement new Medicare funding models, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that without Congressional action, the 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule is scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2015. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) have negotiated ... March 26, 2015 Medicare CMS, Legislative Advoacy, SGR, Sustainable Growth Rate, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
Physician groups urge CMS to create contingency plans for ICD-10 transition The California Medical Association (CMA), American Medical Association (AMA), and 98 other state and specialty societies urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to put contingency plans in place for the October transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 to avoid possible failures that could result in significant disruptions for physicians and Medicare patients. Now that CMS and the chairmen of the three Congressional health committees have announced they will not support a further delay in the implementation of ICD-10, organized medicine has turned its attention to CMS to ... March 9, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare CMS, ICD-10, ICD-9, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS extends PQRS reporting deadline for some reporting methods The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the submission deadlines for two Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) reporting methods from February 28 to March 20 at 8 p.m., EST. The two affected reporting methods are: Direct electronic health record (EHR) submission or submission via a vendor using certified EHR technology Qualified clinical data registry (using the QRDA III format) reporting for PQRS and the clinical quality measure component of meaningful use for the EHR Incentive Program Submission timeframes for other PQRS reporting ... March 9, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare EHR, Physician Quality Reporting System, PQRS, CMS, Meaningful Use 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 »
