Upcoming Events
| "The Flexner Report at 100"
Health Group Forum
July 6
Cosmos Club
2121 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
4:30pm - 6:15pm
Cost: $13.50
Attendees must RSVP by June 28th to Chris Lee at lee@msdc.org
ProAssurance Loss Prevention Seminars**
Click to Register
July 29
American College of Cardiology
2400 N. St. NW
Washington, DC
5:30pm - 8pm
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"On the Waterfront"
Annual Meeting
and Social | Wednesday
October 20, 2010
6:00pm-9:00pm
Phillips Restaurant
900 Water Street, SW
Registration:
$60/members; $105/members/spouse;
$50/students/residents;
$80/non-members
RSVP by October 15 to Barbara Allen at allen@msdc.org
(202) 355-9403
On-site Registration will increase in cost by $20 for each category
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2009-2010 Board of Directors
| Stuart F. Seides, MD
At-Large; Chair of the Board
Peter E. Lavine, MD
President; AMA Alternate Delegate
Frederick C. Finelli, MD
President-Elect
Joseph Gutierrez, MD
Treasurer; AMA Delegation Chair
Robert W. Keisling, MD
At-Large; Secretary
Carlos A. Silva, MD
AMA Delegate
Laura L. Tosi, MD
At-Large; AMA Alternate Delegate
James C. Cobey, MD
At-Large
Julian R. Craig, MD
At-Large
John W. Larsen, MD
At-Large
Joan B. Loveland, MD
At-Large
Richard McCarthy, MD
At-Large
Reginald Robinson,MD
At-Large
K. Edward Shanbacker
Executive Vice President
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Contact the MSDC Office
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1115 30th Street, NW
Suite 100
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 466-1800 (phone)
(202) 452-1542 (fax)
info@msdc.org
www.msdc.org
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Forward Me!
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MSDC Signs Unified Statement Condemning Congress' Neglect of Permanently Fixing Medicare Payment
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On Tuesday, June 15th, MSDC signed a unified statement
of State and Specialty Delegations to the AMA House
of Delegates that condemns the neglectful inaction of Congress to permanently fix the Medicare reimbursement formula.
By failing to find a solution to the Medicare formula, physicians are left with a 21 percent payment cut in reimbursement for treating Medicare patients. These cuts will also extend to TRICARE patients, which leaves both our nation's seniors and veterans in jeopardy of losing access to their physician.
To read the full statement, please click here. |
21% Medicare Payment Cuts to be Processed Beginning Friday, June 18th
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 Medicare contractors have been instructed to hold claims for services provided in June for an additional three business days. This means that carriers begin processing claims with the 21% cut on Friday, June 18th. CMS acknowledges that the additional delay could pose cash flow problems for some physicians.
If Congress fails to act before Friday, then carriers will start processing June claims at the reduced rates and, whenever Congress does act, these claims will need to be reprocessed and retroactively adjusted. To avoid the hassle of reprocessing, practices that can afford it may wish to hold claims themselves until after the issue is resolved. There is only one truly good option and that is for Congress to repeal the formula that produces these cuts.
Congress
needs to hear from you! Call your representative and senators today
using the AMA's toll-free grassroots hotline at (800) 833-6354 and then
send an email using the form found here. Urge them to end their
mismanagement of these important health care programs, and honor their
commitment to military families and older Americans
For more information and to view the AMA's medicare document, please click here.
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MSDC Urges Congress To Protect Patients and Physicians
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MSDC, the AMA and several specialty
societies have signed-on to a
letter supporting the "Healthcare Truth and Transparency Act of 2010"
(H.R. 5295). HR 5295 is an important step toward ensuring that patients have
accurate information regarding the education, training and qualifications of
individuals providing their health care services. The key elements of HR 5295
are: - The Healthcare Truth and
Transparency Act would make it unlawful for any health care professional to make
deceptive statements or engage in behavior that misleads patients in
advertising and marketing efforts about their level of training; and
- Directs the
Federal Trade Commission, to pay particular attention to false and misleading advertising among
all health care providers.
To view a copy of the bill, please click here. |
DC Department of Health Care Finance Corrects Payment Error in Medicaid Program, Sends Payments June 14th
|  Regretfully, the
Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) did not process the
Medicaid payments in a timely manner, provider payments (both checks and
electronic funds transfers) will have been sent on Monday, June 14th, rather
than on Friday, June 11th.
DHCF apologizes
for any inconvenience this may cause our providers. If you have any
questions or concerns about the change in payment date, please contact
the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at (202) 727-2476. For other
questions contact ACS Provider Inquiry at (202) 906-8319 (inside DC
metro area) or (866) 752-9231 (outside DC metro area). Furthermore, you
can email Laurie Rowe, Manager, Office of Provider Services at Laurie.Rowe@dc.gov
General Medicaid Billing Tips
The Department of Health Care Finance has outlined 11 simple tips to keep in mind when treating Medicaid patients. The range from how soon to file reimbursement appeals to how to handle Medicare/Medicaid crossover claims. Click here for more information. |
The Summer Vaccine Purchasing Season is Approaching - How can MSDC Partnerships Save Your Practice Money
|  The Medical Society of the District of Columbia has a strong
partner in helping thousands of Physicians save precious dollars and advocate
on your behalf with payers and manufacturers.
Atlantic, a physician vaccine buying group, works directly
with Sanofi Pasteur and Merck and has obtained the most favorable pricing and
purchasing terms for a wide variety of pediatric, adolescent, adult, flu, and
travel vaccines. Members of the Atlantic
program make purchases directly from Sanofi and Merck (as many of you do now)
but typically receive better pricing and purchasing terms. In addition, participation is voluntary and
there is no cost to enroll in the Atlantic program.
Atlantic works with 7,000 physicians, including many here in
the D.C. metro area, and your colleagues report strong satisfaction with the
program, most notably for the savings, ability to make smaller purchases,
customer support, and how easy it was to enroll.
Jeff Winokur and Cindy Berenson are the primary
contact persons at Atlantic, (www.atlantichealthpartners.com)
and we encourage you to contact them at 800-741-2044 or at info@atlantichealthpartners.com for more information and details about how
your practice can benefit from participation.
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From ProAssurance: Tracking & Follow-Up of Test Results
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What You Don't Know Can
Hurt You
The
Problem
Cases
involving tracking and follow-up errors continue to be difficult to defend.
Why? Because unlike cases involving honest differences (or even mistakes) in
medical judgement, or human error in performing technical procedures, there is
less room for reasonable minds to differ when cases boil down to simple
tracking and follow-up failures.
Think
about it in these terms-would you rather be the defendant physician in a case
alleging you failed to order a test that may or may not have been indicated, or
the defendant in a case alleging you failed to follow-up on test results you
ordered, and the results indicated treatment was needed? The former is almost
always defensible; the latter is far more difficult to defend. Jurors often
conclude that if a physician thought a test was important enough to order, the
physician should have followed-up to determine if the test was performed, the
results were received, and appropriate care was provided.
Contributing to the difficulty in defending these
cases is that tracking and follow-up cases with missed test results often
involve particularly adverse outcomes (e.g., delayed diagnoses of cancer
resulting in lost opportunities for life-saving treatment).
To read further on how these situations can be avoided and resolved, click here. |
Join 2,000 of Your Fellow Society Members for MSDC's Annual Meeting and Social
|  This year's Annual Meeting and Social is sure to be the "Deadliest Catch." We've been greenhorns too long - it's time to head to the docks and waterfront!
Join your colleagues at the flagship Phillip's Restaurant on October 20, 2010 from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. Overlooking the Washington
Channel off the Potomac River, the spectacular dinner features over 30
fresh seafood selections caught daily, as well as regional Chesapeake and Atlantic
specialty dishes, custom-order stations and non-seafood options for our land-lubbers.
Registrations are being accepted. Just contact Barbara Allen at (202) 355-9403 or allen@msdc.org to join the crew. Registration is $60 for members, $105 for members and spouses, $50 for students/residents, and $80 for non-members. Hurry and register soon - if you don't make the Captain's Log before Sail Date, registration at the door will increase to $80 for members and $100 for non-members, with no member/spouse or student/resident ticket available. |
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This is Your Time to Lead Your Society
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The
Leadership Development/ Nominating
Committee will meet soon to develop a slate of candidates for Society
officers. The election by mail ballot will occur in the
fall. Offices on the ballot will be as
follows: - President-Elect
(1) 1
year term
- Director, At Large (3) 2
year terms
- AMA Delegate (1) 2
year term
- AMA Alternate Delegate (1) 2
year term
All you need to do to be
considered by the Leadership Development/Nominating Committee or to
recommend a
colleague is to complete this form and return it to us with a
C.V. and
that's it! If you have any questions or need additional
information, please contact Peter
Lavine, MD, President at (202) 223-8600,
Barbara Allen, Staff Liaison at (202) 355-9403
or allen@msdc.org, or Ed Shanbacker, Executive Vice President, at (202) 355-9401 or shanbacker@msdc.org. |
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