Thomas Compton, chairman of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, has issued a letter in response to CMS' concerns about the commission's hydraulic fracture chemical disclosure rule, Rule 205A, and the Form 35 confidentiality agreement.

Within the last few months, CMS sought confirmation from COGCC that a physician has the right to access specific proprietary or confidential information - above what is available in the public domain - if it is necessary to care for a patient, and that physicians should be able to share the information with the patient and other physicians or providers involved in the patient's care without violating trade secret or confidentiality laws. CMS' action was in collaboration with Chris Urbina, MD, MPH, executive director and chief medical officer of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment; and Matthew Lepore, COGCC director.

COGCC assures CMS that "physicians are able to share information claimed to be a trade secret under Form 35 with patients, other health care professionals or health systems, and with public health agencies."

Further, "Commission Rule 205A requires oil and gas operators, vendors, and service providers to disclose the specific identity and amount of hydraulic fracturing chemicals claimed to be a trade secret to any health professional who requests the information, has a reasonable basis to believe that knowledge of the information will assist in diagnosis or treatment of a patient, and executes a Form 35 confidentiality agreement." The form obligates the physician to only use the information for medical diagnosis and other health needs.

Click here to read the full letter.

Starting May 1, physicians who refer or order services for Medicare patients will be required to be enrolled in Medicare. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced they will deny claims submitted on or after May 1 that include the name and National Provider Identifier of a physician who referred or ordered services for a Medicare patient but who is not enrolled in Medicare. 

Physicians who have opted-out of Medicare and have a current opt-out affidavit on file are not required to enroll in Medicare. CMS also has a separate, shorter enrollment form for physicians and other health professionals who only refer and order services but do not bill Medicare directly.

The federal CMS encourages physicians to enroll as soon as possible to avoid delays in processing. Click here to view a fact sheet and FAQ on this requirement.

"Nearly 65 percent of clinical documentation doesn't contain enough information for coders to use for billing under the upcoming ICD-10 system," a coding expert said in recent reporting on the American College of Physicians annual meeting. And, "under ICD-10, if we're not ready, we're not going to get paid."

Are you ready for implementation on Oct. 1, 2014?

A free webinar series hosted by the Colorado ICD-10 Training Coalition can help your staff prepare your ICD-10 implementation plan. Two webinars have already occurred and their archived recordings are available on the coalition's website, www.cms.org/icd-10.

Click here to watch "Take the First Step Down the ICD-10 Pathway," which gives a high-level view of the history and background of ICD-10 and some coding basics. Click here to watch "Assessing ICD-10 Impact on Your Practice," which aired on April 16 and provides more discussion on how to approach an impact assessment.

Stay up to date on upcoming webinars by joining the coalition mailing list; click here.

Physicians: We need your help to develop the best CME for your needs. Simply complete a very brief survey about your continuing medical education needs and we will enter your name into a drawing for a $150 gift certificate to a restaurant of your choice.

Please let us help you achieve your continuing professional development goals and requirements through accredited CME. Click here to fill out the survey or copy and paste this URL into your browser: www.surveymonkey.com/s/CMENeeds2013.

Maintenance of licensure, or MOL, is a process in development by which licensed physicians will periodically provide, as a condition of license renewal, evidence that they are actively participating in a program of continuous professional development that is relevant to their area of practice.

The Colorado Medical Society has partnered with the Colorado Society of Osteopathic Medicine, the Colorado Medical Board, the Federation of State Medical Boards, the National Board of Medical Examiners, and the American Board of Medical Specialties to help develop the new process and ensure it meets the needs of Colorado patients and physicians.

DORA has released an MOL survey about your participation in and opinion of various types of continuous professional development activities that may be approved for fulfilling future MOL requirements. CMS strongly encourages all members to complete the survey. It should take no more than 10 minutes. Click here to access this important survey or paste the following URL in an Internet browser: www.nbme.org/PhysicianSurvey.

Another installment from the American Medical Association's "Prescription for a Healthier Practice" series, the AMA recommends switching from a manual claims process to electronic billing for workers' compensation and auto claims to help practices reduce administrative costs, receive timely acknowledgement of claim status and reduce the time it takes to submit bills.

Physician practices utilizing e-billing are cutting costs for these claims, getting paid faster and eliminating most of the hassles involved with paper billing. AMA has developed tools to help automate medical billing for workers' compensation and auto injury. They encourage you to start with their Property and Casualty (workers' compensation and auto injury) Toolkit; click here to access it.

Spots are still available at CMS' Spring Conference, May 3-5, 2013, at the Sonnenalp Resort in Vail, Colo. Attendees can earn up to 11.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ while learning specific action steps to leverage practice transformation and improve your bottom line.

As always, there is no registration fee for members to attend. Click here to view the full agenda, hotel information and more.