The official e-newsletter of the Maricopa County Medical Society  

Volume 8 |May 15, 2014 

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In This Issue
From the Executive Director
Phoenix VA's New Interim Director
CMS Accepting Suggestions for PQRS Measures
Five Ways to Improve Your Website
Review of the New Medicare PPS for Federally Qualified Health Centers - Registration Now Open
People on the Move at the UA College of Medicine - Phoenix
CMS Issues Proposed Hospital Inpatient Payment Regulation
Could Alcohol Be Causing Your Irregular Heartbeat?
Employers Eye Moving Sickest Workers to Insurance Exchanges
Paradise Valley Doctor Implanting New Device to Help Restore Hearing
Interactive Tool Allows Easier Access to Physician Data
Spotlight Your Practice
Critical Care Neurology, NeuroTerrorism & Disaster Symposium
MEDICAL SPACE AVAILABLE

Scottsdale Medical Building

Medical space available in this beautifully landscaped medical building. Excellent patient flow and ample parking. Just minutes from Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center. Contact Marina Hammersmith, CCIM, 602.954.8414 at Ensemble Real Estate Solutions.

 


Mountain Vista Medical Center Offering Discounted Breast Cancer Screening in May
Breast Cancer Screening available for $75 in May.

Call 1.877.924.9355 for more information or to make an appointment for a digital mammogram.

PHOENIX & GLENDALE OFFICE SPACE FOR LEASE  

Available Immediately

 

Great medical office for lease in the Bethany Home and 16th Street area. Easy access on and off the 51 freeway.

 

Phoenix office has 8 furnished exam rooms and procedure room, a spacious lobby, covered parking and ample patient parking.

 

Glendale office has multiple furnished exams rooms in a great complex, located at the 101 & 51st Ave.

 

Lease one or both if you want to diversify. Great rates and perks!

 

For more information please respond via e-mail to cynthia@mccolon.com 

MEDICAL OFFICE BUILDING AVAILABLE FOR LEASE 

$12.00/SF. Just north of Downtown Phoenix, walking distance to Phoenix Light Rail.  

 

Includes 7 plumbed and 7 non-plumbed office/exam rooms, kitchen, break room, and reception area. Suites ranging from 2,000 - 7,500 SF. Please call 602.319.1326  

University of Arizona   Cancer Center - Phoenix "Topped Off"

A construction milestone has been reached at the new University of Arizona Cancer Center at Dignity Health's St. Joseph's outpatient facility in downtown Phoenix as the final beam was set atop the building on May 6.

 

The 220,000 SF, 5-story, $100 million facility will offer comprehensive cancer services, including specialized cancer clinics, infusion, radiation oncology, diagnostic imaging, endoscopic and interventional radiology, patient wellness and support services, a prevention center, clinical lab space and other related support spaces.

 

Read more >> 

OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE TEMPE-MESA AREA
Medical Office Suites for lease in beautiful garden office complex. 1200 or 1800 sq. ft. includes covered doctor parking. Excellent location with easy access to 101 & 60 freeways & close to Desert Samaritan & Tempe St. Luke's Hospitals.

Best rates in area.
Call 602.625.6298.
HELP WANTED
MD to work as a Medical Director for a methadone treatment center in Phoenix.
 
10 hours a week and absolutely no paperwork!
 
Primary function to evaluate and prescribe methadone treatment for clients.
 
$50k per year; 2 weeks paid vacation.
 
Contact Don Birchfield at 623.297.4665 or donbirchfield@hotmail.com
University of Arizona   College of Medicine - Phoenix Holds Fourth Graduation

A new group of 37 University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix medical students were officially conferred with their medical degrees at ceremonies Monday in the fourth graduation for the downtown Phoenix medical school.

  

The UA College of Medicine - Phoenix has graduated 151 physicians in four years. The school opened in 2007 in what was the largest city in the nation without an allopathic (MD-granting) medical school.  Read more >>
From the Executive Director: From Sausage to Empowerment. And Beyond.
Jay Conyers, PhD Executive Director

By the time you receive this issue in your inbox, the sun will have set on the 51st Arizona Legislature, with the session adjourning sine die on April 24 well past the stroke of midnight. Having spent my previous three years in Washington, DC, where the legislative machinery is far more complex, I was curious to see how policy making was done here in Arizona. Many a congressman love to quote the colorful Otto von Bismarck, who once famously summed up the legislative process by saying, "If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made." Truth be told, sausage making is no different here in Arizona. Read more >> 

Phoenix VA's New Interim Director
An interim director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System appointed by the Department of Veterans Affairs assumed his new duties on Monday.

 

Director Sharon Helman has been placed on administrative leave amid investigations into extreme wait times and scheduling procedures that allegedly resulted in the deaths of at least 40 veterans. Steve Young will oversee delivery of healthcare to some 85,000 veterans and an operating budget of about $500 million.  Read more >>
CMS is Accepting Suggestions for PQRS Measures
CMS is accepting quality measure suggestions for potential inclusion in the proposed set of quality measures in the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) for future rule-making years. Quality measures submitted in this Call for Measures also will be considered for use in other quality programs for physicians and other eligible professionals.  Read more >>
Five Ways Your Website Can Drive Patients Through the Door
"If your practice isn't online, it might as well be invisible."
An estimated 50+ percent of people start their search for a physician by looking online. When searching for health-related information, it is estimated that around 75 percent of people will search online to find it. Here are five ways your website can drive patients through the door.  Read more >>
Review of the New Medicare PPS for Federally Qualified Health Centers - Registration Now Open
Wednesday, May 21; 12:30 - 2 pm, EST 
As required by Section 10501 of the Affordable Care Act, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) will transition to a prospective payment system (PPS) beginning on October 1, 2014. This MLN Connects™ National Provider Call will describe the final policies for the new Medicare PPS for FQHCs, including the encounter-based per diem payment rate, adjustments, coinsurance, and the transition to the new payment system. Read more >>
People on the Move at the UA College of Medicine - Phoenix
  • Dr. Michael Grossman, MD, a member of the Maricopa County Medical Society and a former member of the MCMS Board of Directors, moderated at the 18th Annual Academic Excellence Day at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix. The Academic Excellence Day is an opportunity to focus attention on the magnitude and variety of clinical and bench research done by residents, fellows, graduate students, clinical allied health staff and physician staff. Read more >>  
  • When she is not in class or studying for her first national board exam, second-year University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix student Carmel Moazez, a member of the Maricopa County Medical Society, is returning to her roots in dance and teaching the activity to blind children in the community. Moazez is pursuing a career in ophthalmology. Read more >>  

 

Are You On the Move? Share Your News!
Are you moving on up to the East, West, North or South-side? Or moved in a different direction worth noting?

Have you recently taken on a new role at your practice, clinic or hospital? Recognized for excellence in delivering care? Accepted a new position within our community? Have you completed a new training or certification? Recently retired? 

If so, we want to know! Please share with us your recent professional achievements, and we will share them with the rest of our members and readers and "connect our docs."
 
Email your news to mcms@mcmsonline.com
CMS Issues Proposed Hospital Inpatient Payment Regulation
Proposed rule would strengthen tie between payment and quality improvement

On April 30, CMS issued a proposed rule that would update FY 2015 Medicare payment policies and rates for inpatient stays at general acute care and long-term care hospitals (LTCHs). This rule builds on the Obama administration's efforts through the Affordable Care Act to promote improvements in hospital care that will lead to better patient outcomes while slowing the long-term healthcare cost growth.

 

CMS will accept comments on the proposed rule until June 30, 2014 and will respond to comments in a final rule to be issued by August 1, 2014.  Read more >> 

 

Proposed rule >> 

 

Press release >> 

 

Fact sheet: "CMS Proposals to Improve Quality of Care during Hospital Inpatient Stays"

 

Fact sheet: "Fiscal Year 2015 Proposed Policy and Payment Charges for Inpatient Stays in Acute-Care Hospitals and Long-Term Care Hospitals" 

Could Alcohol Be Causing Your Irregular Heartbeat?
Written by Ian Grant-Whyte, MD, a member of the Maricopa County Medical Society.

Most people, including many doctors, have never heard of a condition called "Holiday Heart." My cardiologist finally discovered I had this particular condition.  Read more >>
Employers Eye Moving Sickest Workers to Insurance Exchanges

Can corporations shift workers with high medical costs from the company health plan into online insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act? Some employers are considering it, say benefits consultants.

 

"It's all over the marketplace," said Todd Yates, a managing partner at Hill, Chesson & Woody, a North Carolina benefits consulting firm. "Employers are inquiring about it an brokers and consultants are advocating for it."

 

And the health law might not prohibit it, opening the door to potential erosion of employer-based coverage. Read more >> 

Paradise Valley Doctor Implanting New Device to Help Restore Hearing
The Envoy Esteem device has brought improved hearing to more than 1,000 patients worldwide since 2010. It is the first FDA-approved, fully implanted device designed to help adults with moderate to severe hearing loss. Now the technology will be more available to the hearing impaired in the Valley.  Read more >>
Interactive Tool Allows Easier Access to Physician Data
On April 23, CMS released a new interactive search tool that can help consumers and other stakeholders navigate information about the types of medical services and procedures delivered by physicians and other healthcare professionals. Users can search for a provider by name, address, or National Provider Identifier (NPI). Once a user selects a provider, the tool returns information about the services the provider furnished to Medicare beneficiaries, including the number of services provided, the number of beneficiaries treated, and the average payment and charges for such services.  Read more >>
Practice Spotlight - New Round-up Feature Series

The Maricopa County Medical Society's Round-up is pleased to bring you a new feature series, "Practice Spotlight".

Starting with the March 2014 issue, each month we will spotlight a physician or a practice that has made changes to their care delivery model for the benefit of the patient. Articles will focus on new methods of treatment, technological advances, and patient education, to name just a few.

If you would like to submit yourself or your practice for consideration, or would like to recommend another physician or practice group for our spotlight, please contact Jay Conyers at 602.251.2361 or jconyers@mcmsonline.com

Critical Care Neurology, NeuroTerrorism & Disaster Symposium

The following is an announcement from 
Robyn G. Young, MD, FAAN, President of the California Neurology Society:

 

The California Neurology Society (CNS) is pleased to announce a summer CME program, "Critical Care Neurology, NeuroTerrorism and Disaster Management."

 

This event will be held June 13 and 14, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency, North Lake Tahoe, NV. This program offers 12 units of CME and will contain a wide range of topics related to Critical Care and NeuroTerrorism. Don't miss Friday night's President's reception and dinner with guest speaker Alexander Gelber, Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and Assistant Professor Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley.

 

Please bring your family and friends to enjoy a weekend in beautiful Lake Tahoe. The conference will end early on Saturday to allow attendees to also enjoy the remainder of the weekend in the area.

 

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