PRACTICE NEWS AND RESOURCES

Free to SJMS/CMA Members!

The Office Managers Forum empowers physicians and their medical staff with valuable tools via expert led educations sessions from industry professionals who are committed to delivering quality healthcare.

For the time being, we will be offering Zoom Meetings until we can get back to meeting in person. This monthly forum is normally held on the second Wednesday of each month. Registration is required!

If you don’t receive a monthly invitation via E-Mail, please email Jessica@sjcms.org for the Zoom call info!

December 8th, 2021: 11:00AM to 1:00PM "Medicare Changes:2022 and Beyond”

This 60-minute virtual (online) training provides your practice with updates on Policy, Payment and Quality Provisions for Medicare under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) for CY 2022 and beyond.

Subjects highlighted in this workshop:

• Telehealth during COVID- PHE • Evaluation and Management (E/M) Visits • Quality Payment Program (MACRA) Year 6 • Compliance with the MAC • Other Medicare Part B issues

Your billing staff will walk away with the resources to decrease denials and maximize reimbursement.

Cheryl Bradley is an Associate Director in CMA’s Center for Economic Services. She has over 25 years’ experience in the Medicare Program and has held a variety of responsibilities including Education and Training Specialist, Medical Review Analyst, and has worked with providers in virtually all specialties across all the CA Medicare contractors. Cheryl is a known educator speaking at conferences, state associations, and for numerous organizations. She provides problem solving assistance to CMA member physicians on a number of Medicare issues. She is great at using humor to help providers navigate this difficult healthcare program.

January 12th, 2022: 11:30AM to 1:30PM “Certified OSHA Staff Training”

Federal OSHA regulation Title 29, Part 19101030 requires that all employees who have potential for exposure to blood and bloodborne pathogens (BBP) must receive training before they begin suchg work and must be retrained annually. If the practice is organized as a PA, LLP or LLC OSHA considers doctors to be employees and they must also receive training.

A certificate of course completion will be given to each attendee. While the certificate documents safety training required by CalOSHA regulations, It must also be supported by the employer’s in-office, site- specific Exposure Control Plan.

Carrie Champness, RN, BSN Safety Compliance Specialist- Carrie has been an OSHA compliance specialist for over 35 years and provides up-to-date information about changes and practice requirements to meet all OSHA mandates.

CMA PRACTICE RESOURCES

$55,000 in Practice Support CalVaxGrant Available through December 17th

As California continues its efforts to vaccinate all eligible residents against COVID-19, the state is offering providers up to $55,000 to support vaccination efforts. To be eligible for the CalVaxGrant, organizations must: • Be one of the following types of medical provider (routine or non-routine vaccinator): • Medical practice* with no more than 200 physicians • *Medical group/private practice, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), Rural Health Clinic (RHC), community health center, migrant or refugee health center, STD/HIV clinic health center, tribal health center, Indian Health Service (IHS) or urgent care • Independent pharmacy organization • Student vaccine clinic, which includes student health centers, university

health centers and K-12 schools • Home health agency • Skilled nursing facility • Be enrolled in myCAvax • Need help with the myCAVax application? Email myCAvaxInfo@ cdph.ca.gov for one-on-one application support • Expend or plan to expend award on allowable expenses, which includes staffing and training (most common expenses), technology, infrastructure, supplies/ equipment and administrative overhead • Have not received money from the State

Innovation Fund

Ensure your practice information is up-to-date with contracted payors

Every practice understands the importance of collecting up-to-date demographic information from patients, including changes to a patient’s address, phone number, insurance, and eligibility and benefits. Ensuring that these items are up to date guarantees that the practice can quickly communicate with the patient about test results or other medical issues, as well as schedule and confirm appointments. Accurate patient insurance, eligibility and benefits information also helps to prevent unnecessary denials or delays in payment, and goes a long way toward ultimately saving time and money for the practice. It is equally important that physicians ensure their practice demographic information is up to date with any contracted payors. • Reason #1 – Up-to-date practice information such as specialty, address, tax identification number (TIN), practice name, and complete list of physicians in the practice (along with their national provider identification numbers) ensures that payments and other vital contractual notices are received by the practice. • Reason #2 – Providing updated, accurate practice information to payors ensures that your information is displayed correctly to patients looking for a physician through payors’ provider directories. It also helps

reduce the potential for delayed or denied payments. • Reason #3 – It will likely keep your practice compliant with your contracts.

Most payors have language in their contracts that requires physicians to notify the payor in writing of any changes in their practice. To ensure that your information is accurate, practices are encouraged to review their information with each contracted payor on an annual basis, at minimum. However, if a practice is moving, adding or losing providers, changing the practice name and/or TIN, closing a practice or changing specialties, it’s important to inform the payor ahead of time. Information that should be reviewed includes, but is not limited to: • Practice name • Practice TIN • Practice and physician NPIs • Specialty • Practice physical address • Practice phone number • Pay-to address • Physician or lead administrator email address (if available) • Practice fax number • Whether the practice is open/closed to new patients • Languages spoken (if published) • Products for which the practice is contracted • Providers included in the contract • Providers leaving/joining practice • Hospital privileges

The California Medical Association (CMA) has queried the major payors on their processes for updating provider demographic information and compiled their responses into a new resource for physicians, “Updating Provider Demographic Information with Payors,” which is available free to CMA members. Practices should be aware that updates to provider demographics may take up to 90 days to complete – so submitting an update to the payor as soon as information changes is extremely important.