IMQ offers customized peer review to assist medical staffs Did you know that the Institute for Medical Quality (IMQ), a subsidiary of the California Medical Association (CMA), offers peer review consultations? IMQ currently offers two types of consultations—a clinical case review or a comprehensive evaluation of a physician’s practice. In both cases, IMQ's physician reviewers are in active practice in the clinical specialty or sub-specialty of the case selected for peer review. These services are customized for each medical staff, group or clinic, with fees based on the scope of services provided. Upon completion, the reviewers create a report detailing ... August 8, 2016 General IMQ, Institute for Medical Quality, Peer Review, Hospital Medical Staff, Medical Staff 0 0 Comment Read More »
August is National Immunization Awareness Month; talk to your patients about the importance of vaccination August marks National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), a national effort to promote vaccinations and protect children and adults from serious, and sometimes deadly, preventable diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), immunizations are one of the top 10 public health accomplishments of the 20th century. Among children born between 1994-2013, vaccination will prevent an estimated 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths over the course of their lifetimes. As part of this important effort, the California Medical Association (CMA) and its county medical societies ... August 8, 2016 General Public Health, Vaccinations, Immunizations 0 0 Comment Read More »
California Medical Association promotes child and adult vaccinations during National Immunization Awareness Month August marks National Immunization Awareness Month, a national effort to promote vaccinations to protect children and adults from serious, and sometimes deadly, preventable diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), immunizations are one of the top 10 public health accomplishments of the 20th century. Among children born during 1994-2013, vaccination will prevent an estimated 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths over the course of their lifetimes. In response, CMA President Steve Larson, M.D., MPH, issued the following statement: “By protecting your loved ones, we ... August 8, 2016 General Immunization, Practice Resources, Public Health, Vaccination, I Heart Immunity 0 0 Comment Read More »
Prepare for Zika transmission in the U.S. with August 10 webinar The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Medical Association (AMA) are hosting an important one-hour webinar next week focused on transmission of the Zika virus in the United States. The webinar will be next Wednesday, August 10, 2016, at 4 p.m. PT. All interested parties are invited to participate in this free webinar. CDC Medical Epidemiologist Susan Hills will present an update on the epidemiological and clinical aspects of the current outbreak. CDC Medical Officer Kiran Perkins, M.D., MPH, will present on the implications for pregnant ... August 5, 2016 General Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health, Webinars, Zika Virus, CDC 0 0 Comment Read More »
Inland Empire surgeon elected president of California Medical Board Dev GnanaDev, M.D., was elected president of the Medical Board of California at the board's quarterly meeting Friday in San Francisco. Dr. GnanaDev has been a member of the medical board since 2011, and was reappointed to a second term by Gov. Jerry Brown in June 2015. He previously served as the medical board’s vice president. Dr. GnanaDev, who was president of the California Medical Association (CMA) from 2008 to 2009, is a trauma surgeon and chairman of the Department of Surgery at San Bernardino's county hospital, Arrowhead Regional Medical ... August 5, 2016 General Physician Leadership, Medical Board of California 0 0 Comment Read More »
Yes on 56/Save Lives California message training webinar now available on-demand A recording of the California Medical Association’s (CMA) recently held webinar – Yes on 56/Save Lives California: Message Training – is now available to download in CMA’s online resource library. The webinar is available free to members only. Nearly 17,000 California kids get hooked on smoking every year, and about one-third of them will eventually die from tobacco-related illnesses. CMA and the Save Lives California coalition is helping to reverse this trend through the California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Tax Act of 2016 (also known as Proposition 56), a ... August 5, 2016 CMA, General Prop. 56 (tobacco tax), Save Lives California, Tobacco Tax, Webinars, Political Advocacy 0 0 Comment Read More »
CDC urges aggressive screening of pregnant women for Zika The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is urging physicians to be more aggressive in screening pregnant women for the Zika virus. The new guidance comes amid growing concerns about Zika, which, if contracted by pregnant women, can result in severe birth defects — including microcephaly, which stunts children’s brain development. It has also been implicated in miscarriages and diseases like Guillain-Barre, a neurological disorder that causes temporary paralysis. The CDC update recommends that all pregnant women in the United States and its territories should be “assessed for possible ... August 5, 2016 General Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health, Zika Virus, CDC, Infectious Diseases 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Foundation releases PSAs to raise awareness about important adult immunizations The California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation has released public service announcements (PSA), in English and Spanish, to raise awareness about the importance of adult immunizations. The Foundation suggests that physicians turn their attention to adults, who haven’t been as diligent about getting their own shots. Vaccines are important at all ages. While there has been a lot of focus on unvaccinated children, physicians must not lose sight of the vaccines that are important at every age and stage in life. Millions of Californians are newly covered under the Affordable Care Act ... August 5, 2016 General I Heart Immunity, Immunization, Public Health, Vaccination, CMA Foundation (CMAF) 0 0 Comment Read More »
Provider participation in Medi-Cal does not keep pace with growth of enrollment New 2015 data shows that the percentage of physicians participating in Medi-Cal has declined since 2013, while during the same period, Medi-Cal enrollment increased by 39 percent. The numbers show that provider participation in Medi-Cal has not kept pace with the growth in enrollment, and raise serious concerns about whether the numbers of physicians participating in Medi-Cal can meet the increased demand. A California Healthcare Foundation survey of California physicians shows that Medi-Cal participation declined from 69 percent in 2013 to 63 percent in 2015. The numbers of specialty care ... August 5, 2016 Medi-Cal Prop. 55, Prop. 56 (tobacco tax), Tobacco Tax, Medi-Cal, Political Advocacy 0 0 Comment Read More »
HHS begins second phase of HIPAA audits The second phase of audits for compliance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations is underway. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) selected a total of 167 health plans, health care providers and health care clearinghouses to be audited. Selected physician practices would have received an email from OCR on July 11. The email may be incorrectly classified as spam, so check your spam and junk folders to make sure you didn't miss it. The 2016 phase 2 HIPAA audit program ... August 5, 2016 General HIPAA, HIPAA Privacy Rule, Audits 0 0 Comment Read More »
