TAKING BACK CONTROL

Practical Strategies to Reduce the Administrative Hassles of Daily Medical Practice

Friday, June 16th | 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

In-person Event | Lafayette Library, Don Tatzin Room

3491 Mount Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, CA 94549 | Free On-site Parking

Register at bit.ly/3LOjkit

Free for members of the Bay Area Medical Societies For Physicians of All Specialties, Modes of Practice, and Career Stages

Join physician colleagues from across the Bay Area for a robust day of thought leadership and information sharing through interactive workshops and panel discussions focused on tackling the daily pain points of medical practice. This conference will equip you with practical tools and skills that you can apply immediately to your medical practice. You should leave feeling empowered with new ideas to minimize administrative burdens and restore joy to the practice of medicine.

Interactive Workshop: Managing your Inbox, Medication Management, and Other Pain Points of Practice

Expert Update: Current Advocacy Efforts to Reduce Administrative Burdens

Panel Discussion: Practical Solutions to Alleviate Daily Administrative Challenges

Paul DeChant, MD

Event Chair & Keynote Speaker, Presenting: Healthy Workplaces Equal Healthy Physicians - Making Healthy Places for Physicians to Practice

Event Topics include: Presented in with:

Continental breakfast and catered lunch will be served.

Stay after the event for a summer wine and beer reception!

Limited capacity (no-shows will be invoiced $200 post-event)

ALAMEDA-CONTRA COSTA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

ACCMA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Edmon Soliman, MD, President

Albert Brooks, MD, President Elect

Irene Lo, MD, Secretary-Treasurer

Robert Edelman, Immediate Past President

COUNCILORS

Lisa Asta, MD

Eric Cain, MD

Eric Chen, MD

Rollington Ferguson, MD

Harshkumar Gohil, MD

James Hanson, MD

Terry Hill, MD

Shakir Hyder, MD

Alexander Kao, MD

Irina Kolomey, MD

Steve Lee, MD

Terence Lin, MD

Kristin Lum, MD

Nimisha Mishra-Shukla, MD

Aileen Murphy, DO

Kiran Narsinh, MD

Ross Pirkle, MD

Stephen Post, MD

Jeffrey Poage, MD

Thomas Powers, MD

Richard Rabens, MD

Steven Rosenthal, MD

Suresh Sachdeva, MD

Jonathan Savell, MD

Sonia Sutherland, MD

Clifford Wong, MD

Sijie Zheng, MD

CMA & AMA REPRESENTATIVES

Patricia L. Austin, MD, AMA

Delegate

Mark Kogan, MD, CMA Trustee, AMA Alternate-Delegate

Suparna Dutta, MD, CMA Trustee

Katrina Peters, MD, CMA Trustee

ACCMA STAFF

Joseph Greaves, Executive Director

Griffin Rogers, Director, Napa Solano Medical Society

David Lopez, Director of Advocacy and Governance

Meghan Arthurs, Director of Community Health

Jennifer Mullins, Assoc. Director of Education & Events

Alejandra Hinojosa, Marketing & Communications Manager

Christine Maki, Administrative Assistant

Prior Authorization Bill

A CMA sponsored bill to reform the prior authorization process passed out of Senate Health Committee on April 12. Senate Bill 598, authored by Senator Nancy Skinner, would require health plans to institute a one-year “gold card” prior authorization exemption for physicians who are practicing within the plan’s criteria 90% of the time. It would also grant treating physicians the right to have their appeal of a prior authorization denial conducted by a physician in the same or similar specialty.

HHS AWARDS $147 MILLION TO END THE HIV EPIDEMIC

HHS awarded more than $147 million to 49 recipients to advance the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative, which is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing efforts to reduce the number of new HIV infections in the United States by at least 90 percent by 2030. This funding will help states and metropolitan areas with the highest levels of HIV transmission link people with HIV to essential care, support, and treatment, as well as support training and other resources for these jurisdictions. In the Bay Area, San Francisco EMA was awarded over $2.5 million and Oakland TGA was awarded $2 million.

Simplified Use Of Covid Vaccines

On April 18, the FDA amended the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 bivalent mRNA vaccines to simplify the vaccination schedule for most individuals. This action includes authorizing the current bivalent vaccines (original and omicron BA.4/BA.5 strains) to be used for all doses administered to individuals 6 months of age and older, including for an additional dose or doses for certain populations. The monovalent Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are no longer authorized for use in the United States.

Covid No Longer A Global Emergency

The World Health Organization declared the end of COVID-19 as a global health emergency, reporting that the situation has markedly improved with less mortality and increased immunity against the virus. In similar news, the CDC announced that it plans to scale back the data the agency will report about COVID-19; one of the biggest changes being that the CDC will no longer regularly track and release the new number of infections.

Mips Hardship Exception App Open

Physicians may now apply for an Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances hardship exception to avoid an up to 9% penalty in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). The penalty would apply in 2025 based on the 2023 performance period. The exception will not be automatic, and interested physicians and groups must actively request reweighting of one or more MIPS performance categories due to the COVID19 PHE. Requesting reweighting of all four MIPS performance categories will avoid a MIPS penalty in 2025. Applications can be submitted through Jan. 2, 2024.

Updated Payor Profiles For 2023

CMA’s Center for Economic Services has published updated profiles on each of the major payors in California including Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Cigna, Health Net, UnitedHealthcare, Medi-Cal and Medicare (Noridian). Each profile includes key information on health plan market penetration; a description of the plan’s dispute resolution process; and the name and contact numbers for medical directors, provider relations, and other key contacts. Visit cmadocs.org/practice-management#payor-profiles.

Nominate A Deserving Colleague

The Dr. J Elliott Royer Award program provides recognition to persons who practice medicine in Alameda, Contra Costa, or San Francisco counties and have made significant contributions to the advancement of neurology. The award alternates each year between the specialties of Neurology and Psychiatry. This year, two recipients will be selected for this cash award of $30,000, one to an academic neurologist and the other to a community-based practitioner. The committee will accept no more than three letters - one nominating and two supporting. The nomination must be accompanied by a curriculum vitae. Please submit nominations no later than June 2 as one complete PDF to: stephanie.belger@ucsf.edu.

Prior Authorization For Gastroenterology Services

UnitedHealthcare (UHC) recently announced it will begin requiring prior authorization (PA) for certain gastroenterology endoscopy services for commercial plan members effective June 1, 2023. The following procedures are included in the new PA requirements: esophagogastroduodenoscopies, capsule endoscopies, diagnostic colonoscopies, surveillance colonoscopies. Screening colonoscopy procedures are not included in this new PA requirement.

Bill To Protect Ca Physicians Mailing Abortion Medication

Doctors in California who mail abortion pills to people in other states would be protected from prosecution under a new bill, SB 345, announced Friday in the state Legislature. The bill would not let CA extradite doctors who are facing charges in another state for providing abortion medication. It would also shield doctors from having to pay fines and it would let CA doctors sue anyone who tries to stop them from providing abortions.

Vaccine For Rsv Receives Approval

Federal regulators gave the green light to the first-ever vaccine to prevent the respiratory disease RSV on Wednesday, a major breakthrough that’s been decades in the making. The FDA approved Arexvy, developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), to prevent lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV in adults aged 60 and older. The FDA is also considering Pfizer’s maternal RSV vaccine, intended to be given to pregnant individuals to help protect infant’s against RSV.

Apm Incentive Payment Extended Through 2023

In December 2022, Congress enacted provisions of the Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 that extended the availability of an APM Incentive Payment, allowing eligible APM participants for the 2023 performance period to receive a 3.5% APM Incentive Payment in the 2025 payment year. For the 2023 performance period and the associated 2025 payment year, the APM incentive payment will decrease from 5.0% to 3.5% of the participant’s estimated aggregate payments for covered professional services in the performance year. If you meet the requirements to be a QP in the 2023 performance period, you will not need to do anything to receive your payment in 2025, unless CMS is unable to verify your Medicare billing information.

Medicare Reimbursements

As you may know, physicians are the only providers whose Medicare payments do not automatically receive an annual inflationary update. As a result, Medicare physician payments have lagged 26% behind the rate of inflation growth since 2001. During this current period of record inflation and coming on the heels of a highly disruptive pandemic, this statutory flaw often amplifies the impact of other payment policy changes like “budget neutrality” adjustments, performance incentives, and so forth. Please take a moment and contact your legislators and urge them to help fix the flawed Medicare physician payment system by supporting H.R. 2474 today. Visit bit.ly/42v7VJc to send them a quick message.

LOOKING FOR SUPPORT?

ACCMA offers sponsored psychotherapy to all members, including residents. Physicians can meet with a therapist for up to four sessions at no charge to you. Visit ACCMA.org/Mental-Health-Clinicians for a list of vetted therapists, give them a call, and let them know you would like to take advantage of ACCMA Sponsored Psychotherapy sessions. Members of the ACCMA Advisory Committee on Physician Wellbeing are also available to provide immediate peer support at no cost. Peer support can encompass moral and emotional support to physicians who are experiencing stress related to medical malpractice lawsuits or a medical board investigation, as well as support in relation to physician burnout. Call us or send an email to wellbeing@accma.org to request this confidential service.

CMS TO ROLLOUT PECOS 2.0 THIS SUMMER

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will roll out an update to the Provider Enrollment Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) in the summer of 2023. PECOS is Medicare’s online system allowing users to securely submit and manage Medicare enrollment information. Some of the updated features for PECOS 2.0 include: one application can create multiple enrollments, streamlined data entry, tailored application process, ability to manage group members more efficiently, revalidation reminders, rapid application reviews, and real-time status tracking. While there will be many changes in the new system release, login information will remain the same and all current PECOS enrollment records will transition into PECOS 2.0.

Training For Prescribing Controlled Substances

Physicians are reminded that effective June 27, 2023, prescribers applying for a new U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) registration or renewing their DEA registration must attest to having met the new training requirements for DEA-registered prescribers of controlled substances. A new law requires all prescribers of schedule II – V controlled substances to meet a one-time eight-hour training requirement on identifying, treating, and managing patients with opioid or other substance use disorders. Read more on page 18.