Exclusive New Medical Professional Liability Insurance Program for Physician Groups

MSNJ is pleased to announce that one of its platinum sponsors, Arthur J. Gallagher, has negotiated a program that will give qualifying physician groups that are insured on a claims-made policy, extended reporting ("tail") coverage AT NO ADDITIONAL COST.

At last, a program now exists that allows physicians to switch to an occurrence-type policy and eliminate the worry associated with expensive tail coverage - AT NO ADDITIONAL COST.

MSNJ has made arrangements with an on-line resource (Education in Palliative and End-of-life Care) to satisfy the 2 credit end-of-life training requirement via long distance learning - and at a 15% discount to members. MSNJ members, please click here to obtain the promo code.

The following modules are thought to meet the requirements. Each module is designated for 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ (cost to MSNJ members about $25.50 per credit)

• Gaps and Elements of Care
• Legal Issues
• Whole Patient Assessment
• Physician Assisted Suicide
• Last Hours of Living
• Withholding/Withdrawing Treatment
• Medical Futility

Choose two that meet your needs! See related News story. 

PCSS-MAT Online Module: Hepatitis C and B Prevention and Treatment in Persons who Use Drugs

The Center for Italian & Italian-American Culture, Inc. is hosting their 2014 Annual Gala on November 21 at 7:00pm at the Villa at Mountain Lakes. This year's hon­orees are Ken Rosata, Chan­nel 7 News Anchor (Man of the Year) and MSNJ member, Dr. Josephine Vin­cenza Jasper, a board cer­ti­fied endocri­nol­o­gist (Woman of the Year). Call The Center office at 973-571-1995 for more details.

NJ Chapter, American College of Surgeons 63rd Annual Clinical Symposium

Saturday, December 6, 2014 from 7:30am to 5:30pm at the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel & Conference Center

Clinical Sessions include:  

Bariatric Surgery; Cardio-Thoracic Surgery; Colon & Rectal Surgery; Neurosurgery; Trauma Surgery; Plastic Surgery; Otolaryngology; Urologic Surgery; Vascular Surgery; Trauma Surgery; Global Surgery.

Special Sessions include:  

End of Life Care - POLST; 2014 ACS Update; Sheen Award Lecture; Resident Jeopardy/Resident Manuscript Awards

More information and registration. 

DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole, LLP - Gold Level Partner  

Address: Glenpointe Centre West, 500 Frank W. Burr Boulevard, Suite 31, Teaneck, NJ 07666
Phone: 201-928-1100
Fax: 201-928-0588
Website 

DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole, LLP, is a full-service law firm with eighty attorneys headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, with a satellite office in Trenton, New Jersey. We are a group of skilled, experienced attorneys who practice in a wide variety of specialties. A partial list of our practice areas includes healthcare law, real estate, labor law, public procurement, litigation, environmental law, public finance, tax, municipal law, government and regulatory affiars, corporate law, banking and bankruptcy.

Member Resource Guide   

Check out the current MSNJ Member Resource Guide! Inside, you will find a complete listing of partners by service/product category, along with contact information. Also, be sure to check out the individual Corporate Partner pages on our website as some offer additional discounts to members!

It is important to note that MSNJ does not endorse any vendor, service, or product. However, we encourage members to please consider our Corporate Partners first as the financial support received from these organizations is vital to our association. It is our hope that their investment in MSNJ will help keep your membership dues and programming affordable.

Ebola Coverage:

Miss the AMA's live stream update on Ebola?

CDC experts discussed how physicians can prepare for and manage Ebola patients in hospital and ambulatory care settings. View the archived recording of this address made at the 2014 AMA Interim Meeting. See full coverage of the Interim Meeting. 

The New Jersey Department of Health has developed a video with information for New Jersey's West African communities on the Ebola virus. Watch the video.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) developed a bulletin regarding Ebola to ensure that HIPAA covered entities and their business associates are aware of the ways in which patient information may be shared under the HIPAA Privacy Rule in an emergency situation. Protections of the Privacy Rule are not set aside during an emergency. View guidance on HIPAA in Emergency Situations: Preparedness, Planning, and Response. Read more. 

Have questions regarding the Ebola virus?

Prescription Drug Awareness

MSNJ member, Dr. Debra Koss, appeared on NJTV news this week to discuss the health of New Jersey's citizens.  In particular, the story highlighted the fact that half of all residents take prescription medication and that many of these prescriptions are for diabetes and related conditions.  Dr. Koss pointed out the connection of mental and physical health, citing the importance of proper mental health diagnoses.

ICD-10: Less than One-Year Away

October 1, 2015 is the deadline to transition to the ICD-10 code set. MSNJ encourages all physicians to begin preparing for implementation by working with software vendors and testing their systems. View resources on MSNJ's website.  

NJBIA 2014 Health Benefits Survey Report

NJBIA recently released the 2014 Health Benefits Survey report. The report includes key insights into what member companies are paying for health benefits, how they are responding to rising costs, and the difficult decisions they are making as they select health care coverage for their employees.

Highlights of the 2014 NJBIA Health Benefits Survey include:

• The smallest employers saw the biggest jump, with an average cost increase of 24 percent for those with fewer than 25 employees and a 16 percent increase for those with between 25 and 49 employees. 
• Larger companies faced more modest increases. Those with between 100 and 249 employees saw an 8 percent increase and for those with 250 or more, the increase was 7 percent.
• Coverage for the employee only had an average cost of $7,416. Coverage for parent and child had an average cost of $11,352, husband and wife averaged $15,660, and finally, family plans averaged the most, $19,116.
• Employers of all sizes remain committed to providing healthcare coverage. Eighty-seven percent offer coverage to their employees, and 71 percent intend to continue coverage in the future. 
• Escalating costs threaten coverage. Of those companies that said they may discontinue coverage, 9 out of every 10 said the reason would be cost. 

Read the findings in this month's New Jersey Business magazine.

Medicare/Medicaid Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan (D-SNP) Changes Effective 01/01/15

NJ DOBI Standard ICD-10 Readiness Survey - Respond by December 12 

The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) ICD-10 Implementation Task Force, which MSNJ participates in with NJHA and many New Jersey payors and hospitals, is conducting their second standardized ICD-10 Readiness Survey to collect your practice's ICD-10 implementation project coordinator's contact information, as well as information regarding your ICD-10 readiness. The goal is to have all healthcare trading partners respond to one standard survey. Your survey responses will be shared. Everyone who participates in the survey will receive the results in Excel format. Trading partners, including participating payors, may use this information to follow your progress and schedule a time to begin end-to-end testing with you. This survey will be reissued periodically so you can continue to update information as you continue to make progress. Only one person should register and submit a response on behalf of your organization. Once you have done so, you will have access to all other trading partners that have submitted survey responses. Please keep in mind that registered users will also have access to your information. We urge members to participate in this survey and begin communicating with payors about transitioning to ICD-10. Submit your survey response by December 12, 2014.

AMA Webinar: Stop Paying to Get Paid: Effective Electronic Payments
The AMA is offering an on-demand webinar to assist physicians in effectively implementing electronic payments into their practice. The webinar is designed to provide attendees with the knowledge of electronic payments, an overview of the implications of accepting virtual credit card payments, and an introduction on how to implement the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standard electronic funds transfer (EFT) transaction in their practice. The webinar can be viewed at any time via the AMA's Online Learning Center and has been approved for 1 hour AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.

Toolkit for Physicians Facing Medical Audits

Medicare Open Enrollment Began October 15 

View November's Coding Tip of the Month for information on the use of G codes in ICD-10 for diseases of the Nervous System (G00 to G99)

Medicare ICD-10 Testing Week: November 17-21, 2014