Physician practices of 10 or more eligible professionals must act before Sept. 30, 2014 to avoid a payment decrease under the Value-Based Payment Modifier. Eligible professionals consist of physicians, practitioners, physical or occupational therapists, qualified speech-language pathologists, and qualified audiologists.

All physicians are encouraged to check your 2013 Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) feedback reports to see details on how you performed. These reports were released in August by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and will determine whether you receive a bonus or penalty. The first penalty of 1.5 percent will be assessed in 2015 for those who didn't meet 2013 participation requirements. The penalty increases to 2 percent in 2016 based on 2014 participation. Those in groups of 10 or more eligible professionals who don't successfully report for PQRS this year will receive an additional 2 percent value-based modifier penalty on top of the 2 percent PQRS penalty for a total of 4 percent.

Click here to read more in a CMS bulletin on the Colorado Medical Society's website. Also read more in the September/October issue of Colorado Medicine, which should be arriving in your mailbox soon.

A bill passed during the 2014 regular session of the Colorado General Assembly made modifications to the electronic prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP), including mandating registration of physicians and other providers to the system. CMS supported the bill and the efforts of the Colorado State Board of Pharmacy to make the PDMP more user-friendly for physicians.

The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) Division of Professions and Occupations Healthcare Branch has announced the due dates for mandatory practitioner PDMP user account registration.

• Pharmacists and DEA-registered Advanced Practice Nurses: Sept. 30, 2014
• DEA-registered Dentists, Veterinarians, Optometrists and Podiatrists: Oct. 31, 2014
• DEA-registered Medical Board licensees: Nov. 30, 2014

While these are the respective due dates for each profession, all pharmacists and DEA-registered prescribing practitioners may and are certainly encouraged to register a user account with the PDMP at anytime between now and their deadline.

Click here to go to the Colorado PDMP webpage.

Physicians across the state have been hard at work interviewing candidates and helping the Colorado Medical Political Action Committee (COMPAC) make decisions on which candidates to support in the upcoming election. COMPAC does not endorse based on political party. Instead, endorsements are made following a screening process that takes into account the views of the local medical community, the position of a candidate or incumbent on medical issues important to the medical society, the demographics of the district and a candidate's ability to win.

As of Sept. 10, 2014, COMPAC had endorsed 76 candidates for state and federal office. Go to www.cms.org/advocacy/compac-endorsements to see the current list of endorsements.

Physicians and all friends of medicine are encouraged to consider the recommendations and, above all, to be sure to vote. Be sure to visit the endorsements page often. More will be made before the election. For help identifying the candidates running in your district, visit www.cms.org/advocacy/find-your-legislators.

Access the Medicaid provider look-up, an online provider search function from the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. Search by street address or city/ZIP code for a list of providers in alphabetical order.

Go to www.colorado.gov/hcpf/find-doctor.

With any behavior change, the key to sustaining the change over time is to make it a way of life. Creating well-being, in work and life, requires a lifelong dedication to the long-term goals of health and wellness. Often this can feel daunting. The momentum for focus on living a mindful and intentional life ebbs and flows depending upon fluctuating life events. For many, emphasis on well-being does not happen until a person is aware they are unwell -- the discomfort of being out of balance propelling an individual into action. However, lack of wellness or illness does not necessarily need to be the catalyst for action. A combination of intentional living, self-awareness, and commitment to well-being can not only support the process of behavior change but sustain the change over time.

There are several key steps to making and sustaining change. Click here to read more in this post in the Physician Wellness section of CMS.org.

CMS will roll out a physician wellness toolkit at the 2014 Annual Meeting in Vail this weekend, providing numerous resources and tips for achieving balance and avoiding burnout. Watch for more information on accessing the toolkit in future publications.