MSDC Continues to fight the "Clawback" of 20% of Medicaid Payments Made to Physicians in 2011

     In a transmittal dated February 2, 2012, the Department of Health Care Finance announced its intent to implement a 20% rate reduction effective March 1, 2012.  All Medicaid claims submitted on or after that date are being processed with a Medicaid fee schedule paying 80% of the Medicare rate.  This is consistent with the FY 2011 Budget Act passed by the Council in spring of 2010. The Medicaid payment reduction contained in that budget was strongly opposed by the Medical Society at the time, citing its effect of placing our City's most vulnerable citizens at greater risk of losing access to much-needed medical care.

     However, the DC Department of Health Care Finance also plans to implement a physician payment recovery program affecting all physicians who have accepted Medicaid payments from January 1, 2011 through February 29, 2012.  This "Medicaid Clawback" program requires physicians to refund the DC Medicaid program 20% of all payments received during that time frame, and represents a terrible threat to Medicaid's relationship with District physicians that puts DC patients' access to health care in jeopardy.

     While the DC Council approved the Medicaid rate change, it did not approve this Medicaid Clawback program. If a private health insurance plan attempted such a recoupment program, they would be in violation of current District law addressing health insurance plans.  Currently, MSDC is exploring all options to prevent the implementation of the Medicaid Clawback program, and continues to work with the Department of Health Care Finance and CMS to address the issue.  Additionally, we have been in constant communication with several coalition partners, including the AMA, DCHA, GW MFA and MedStar Health, to engage the proper regulatory and legislative authorities in an effort to stop the clawback effort and avoid the negative consequences that would occur for the District's Medicaid patients.

     For a copy of the February 2nd transmittal, click here.

 

MSDC and AMA push for delay in multiple CMS program deadlines

    The AMA and MSDC have sent a letter to CMS voicing concerns about the simultaneous implementation of multiple programs such as: the value-based modifier, eRx penalties, PQRS and EHR incentive program, along with the transition to ICD-10, which will create extraordinary financial and administrative burden as well as mass confusion for physicians.  We urge CMS to revise their implementation timeline of all new programs to a scale manageable by practicing physicians, who are responsible for their patients and their livelihood on a daily basis.

     To read the letter, please click here.

     MSDC and EHR & Practice Management Consultants, Inc.(www.ehrpmc.com) are sponsoring informative sessions that address the challenges in selecting, contract negotiation, avoiding data breach and implementing a successful EHR to reach meaningful use.  Additional Topics will include the use of social media and website design. 

 

April 11 Webinar

Social Media & Website Design to Increase Revenue, Thought Leadership and Develop Relationships Among Existing & Future Patients

Location: Web Meeting via Go To Meeting

Time: 12pm - 1pm EST

 

Speaker: Vanessa Bisceglie MBA, B.S.

RSVP: Contact Chris Lee at lee@msdc.org by 4:30pm tomorrow.

 

Athenahealth presents Meaningful Use Stage 2

     A free webinar providing insights and expertise on just-announced Stage 2 measures 

 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 3:15 PM Eastern Time 

     If you successfully attested for Stage 1 of CMS' Meaningful Use program, and received your incentive payment, congratulations. Now, it gets tougher. 
     That's why our experts are ready to break down the just-announced proposed Stage 2 measures and discuss ways you can take next steps toward another sizable incentive check. 
     Join us for this webinar, where we'll discuss:

• The details of Stage 2 measures and how we'll help you meet them
• Guidance on sending feedback to CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for HIT
• Details on the EHR certification criteria
• athenahealth's viewpoints on the Stage 2 delay and other policy implications

     Register today to join us. And get ahead for Stage 2 Meaningful Use.

New Evaluation Toolkit: Patient and Provider Perspectives about Routine HIV Screening in Health Care Settings

Understanding patient and provider perspectives is an integral component of evaluating clinical programs to improve clinical services. The purpose of this evaluation toolkit is to offer a package of evaluation materials that can be used to determine the effect of expanded HIV screening activities has on patient attitudes about, and their acceptance of, HIV testing.

 

Updated Slide Set: Mortality Slide Series   The slides in this series analyze trends in rates and distributions of death in the United States, focusing on deaths due to HIV disease (disease directly or indirectly attributed to HIV, including AIDS). They are based on data compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics from death certificates of US residents in the 50 states and the District of Columbia for the years 1987-2008 (2008 being the latest year for which data are available).

 

Updated Slide Set: HIV Surveillance by Race/Ethnicity (through 2010)
Slides on HIV infection surveillance by race/ethnicity have been updated with information from the 2010 HIV surveillance report.

 

Updated Slide Set: HIV Surveillance - Epidemiology of HIV Infection (through 2010)
Slides based on epidemiology of HIV infection have been updated with information from the 2010 HIV surveillance report.

Hear what doctors have to say about:

• Cardiac Health in the District of Columbia
• Technology's role in Preventive Care Services
• Quality Improvement and Engagement of Patient and families

Time: 9:00 am-12:30 pm

Location: Howard University Hospital

 

Featured Speaker:

Janet S. Wright, MD, FACC,

Executive Director, Million Hearts

 

Guest Speakers:

Bryan H. Curry, MD, Assistant Director, Echocardiography Lab and Nuclear Cardiology,    Howard University Hospital  

Debra White-Coleman, MD, Interim Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine and Director of Continuing Medical Education, Howard University Hospital

 

To register, contact: Caron Craig at IHPC@Dfmc.org or 888-301-7894

     Atlantic Health Partners offers MSDC members the overall best purchasing terms for Sanofi's Fluzone, Merck's Afluria, and MedImmune's Flumist.  As the leading vaccine buying group in the country, Atlantic can assist your practice with reserving flu doses for the upcoming flu season, including Sanofi's High-Dose and Intradermal Fluzone.

     Furthermore, Atlantic provides our members with the lowest costs for the complete spectrum of Sanofi and Merck vaccines.  Thousands of physicians nationwide have seen how Atlantic can improve the financial and operational practice performance of providing immunizations to your patients.

      In addition Atlantic offers a unique program that enables physicians to provide vaccines like Zostavax to Medicare Part D patients with fair and timely reimbursement.

 

     We encourage you to contact Atlantic to determine how their program can be of benefit to your practice.  You can reach Jeff or Cindy at 1-800-741-2044 or at info@atlantichealthpartners.com