Medical Society of New Jersey e-Newsletter
 
April 2, 2015

   
In This Issue
 

MSNJ is proud to announce three new corporate partners: Priority One Group, Parker McCay, PA., and Citizens Bank. Check out their pages on the MSNJ website!

Please join MSNJ in welcoming our new members for 2015!

MSNJ serves as the voice of physicians and is the only society representing all specialties and practice models in the state. We offer unparalleled advocacy and practice support.

Numbers matter...each member adds to our influence! Help us spread the word...joining is simple! Visit www.msnj.org/membership for more information.
Member Benefits

MSNJ Magazine Subscription Service 

Subscription Services, Inc., does their very best to get you the lowest rates.  As a member, you are eligible for the very lowest prices on magazine subscriptions as well as personalized hands-on customer service. Click "Shop for Magazines" to place new subscriptions, renewals, as well as gift order subscriptions. You can also  inquire about titles you may be interested in.  If you ever have a question regarding your order or your account, please call 1-800-603-5602, or use the contact page to communicate with a  customer service representative. And if you ever find a lower authorized price, they will match it!  

First Healthcare Compliance released some new offerings to MSNJ Members including educational compliance webinars and an updated website.
Employment Contract Review Program
Entering into an employment agreement can change your professional life for years to come. Don't sign until you have consulted with counsel.
Check out our Employment Contract Review Program today! View the flyer.
Check out all of MSNJ's member benefits!
CME/Events /Training

Check out the MSNJ Calendar for upcoming meetings!

Ready Set Code! ICD-10 Webinar Workshops

The compliance date for implementation of ICD-10 is October 1, 2015. Will you be ready? MSNJ and the New Jersey Hospital Association will host a series of specialty specific webinar workshops on ICD-10. These hands-on coding workshops will help you master ICD-10-CM and the documentation requirements associated with coding for your specialty-specific practice. Participants will gain an understanding of the code format and structure of ICD-10 and the ability to successfully assign diagnosis codes using ICD-10. Choose one workshop that best describes your practice. Each 2-hour Specialty Workshop will be repeated on two different dates/times for your convenience. All workshops are approved for 2 AAPC CEUs. More information and registration.  


SAVE THE DATE!
MSNJ's 2015 Advocacy Conference and House of Delegates Meeting
Friday, May 1, 2015
7:30am to 6:00pm
Crowne Plaza Princeton

New! Free on-line course on End of Life Care

Meets NJ BME education requirement for two Category 1 Credits in End of Life Care needed for 2015 license renewal. 

Members access here. 

 

We also have an alternative online option with a modest fee:

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.


CMS Webinar: Open Payments (Sunshine Act) 2015: Prepare to Review Reported Data

Wednesday, April 15 from 2:00pm to 3:30pm.

CMS will provide a brief overview of the Open Payments national transparency program and highlight when it is most critical for physicians and teaching hospitals to be aware and get involved. Register online. 


Reflecting on the Past to Protect the Future: A Conference on Medicine, Bioethics, and the Holocaust

Drew University's Caspersen School of Graduate Studies' Department of Medical Humanities, in conjunction with the Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study, is pleased to present this full-day conference on April 16. More information. 


First Healthcare Compliance is offering Compliance webinars on their website. These activities are approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Access the webinars.

Novitas Solutions will host their 2015 Medicare Symposium in our area on the following dates:

  • May 5, 2015 - Pittsburgh, PA
  • June 9, 2015 - State College, PA
  • July 29, 2015 - Fort Lee, NJ
  • August 5, 2015 - Philadelphia, PA
More information.

Cleveland Clinic Florida's 6th Annual Internal Medicine Board Review and Update

May 30-June 3 at Double Tree by Hilton in Sunrise, Florida

The conference is designed to prepare internists for the board examination, while simultaneously providing the practitioners with an update and general review of the most current knowledge and practices in internal medicine. More information and registration.  


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Connect with Medical Society of New Jersey on LinkedIn

MSNJ's 2015 Reference Committee Hearing Webinar 

Tuesday, April 7, 2015 at 6:00pm Register online!
News
MSNJ Urges Senate to Repeal Medicare's SGR
MSNJ's CEO, Lawrence Downs, is urging New Jersey's Senators to take a leadership position and repeal the flawed Medicare payment formula, upon their return to Washington on April 13, by passing H.R. 2. Unless Congress acts, physician fees will be reduced by 21% effective April 1. This is an historic opportunity to fix the Medicare physician payment system. Read more.

Medicare Payment Cut and Claims Hold

The US Senate will not vote on the bipartisan bill to fix Medicare by eliminating the sustainable growth rate (SGR) until after a two week recess. In the meantime, the SGR patch expired on April 1 and a 21% rate cut went into effect on claims with dates of service of April 1 or later. The good news is that CMS has ordered Medicare contractors to hold claims for 10 days (until April 14). This is standard practice and will allow time for Congress to pass legislation to reverse the payment cut.

 

Practice Tip:

   Do not submit claims using a lower fee schedule; Medicare is required to pay the lesser amount between submitted charges and the Medicare fee schedule. If your billed amount is less than the Medicare fee schedule, Medicare will pay you the lower billed amount. If your billed amount is higher than the Medicare fee schedule, Medicare will pay you the lower fee schedule amount. 

 

Read more.
U.S. Supreme Court Rules that Providers May Not Sue for Increased Medicaid Reimbursement Rates

On March 31 a divided U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center, Inc., which was much-anticipated in the health care world.  The Court held that individual health care providers cannot sue states under the Medicaid Act to challenge how states set reimbursement rates in their Medicaid programs.  A provision of the Act requires states to ensure "that payments are consistent with efficiency, economy, and quality of care and are sufficient to enlist enough providers so that care and services are available" to beneficiaries to the same extent they are available to the general public. The high court found that there is no private right of action to enforce under the Supremacy Clause on the Constitution. It noted other avenues to ensure enforcement of the provision that will be of interest to physicians in states, like New Jersey, where reimbursement rates are woefully inadequate to ensure Medicaid beneficiaries' access to care. However, the Court noted that the sole remedy for a state's failure to comply with Medicaid's requirements is for the Secretary of Health & Human Services to withhold funds.

Scholastic Student Athlete Safety Act: Physician Training Module

The New Jersey Department of Education has finally released the professional development module required by the Scholastic Student Athlete Safety Act. All physicians performing pre-participation youth physicals must complete this module. Read the instructions. 

Read a NewJerseyNewsroom.com article on "The Increase Monitoring of Frequently Abused Prescription Drugs in N.J."

DOJ and DHSS Recover $27.8 Billion through Health Care Fraud Program

The Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services announced over $27.8 billion in returns from joint efforts to combat health care fraud. Read more.  

OCR Resolution Agreement: Effective Communication with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut recently announced that they have jointly entered into a voluntary resolution agreement with St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center (SFHMC) to ensure effective communication and enhance the quality of services for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. Read more.

Legislative Update

Vaccines

The Assembly Health Committee passed a bill tightening the religious exemption. The Senate Health Committee passed earlier this month. MSNJ supports these bills. Read more.  

Prescription Monitoring Program

The Assembly passed A.3062, which makes improvements to the PMP, but also creates a narrow prescriber mandate. The bill heads back to the Senate for concurrence before heading to the Governor's desk. Read more.

Student Health

The Assembly Women and Children Committee passed A.4207, which requires public school students with concussion to be evaluated by licensed health care professionals before returning to school and requires school districts to provide restrictions or limitations to students as needed. MSNJ has not yet taken a position on the bill, but the NJ Academy of Pediatrics supports this bill.

 

In addition, the Senate has passed S.471, which requires physicians who perform physicals on children to complete a training module on cardiac health.  Read more.
Scope of Practice:

APNs

The Senate has passed S.1152, which allows APNs to diagnose and certify cause of death of a patient if no collaborating physician is available to do so and the nurse is the patient's primary caregiver.

Read more

 

Physical Therapists

The Assembly Regulated Professions Committee took testimony during a hearing on a bill that would expand physical therapist scope of practice. Representatives from the acupuncture society and MSNJ testified against the bill's expansions of scope to medical practices (diagnosis, etc.) and acupuncture/PM&R practices (dry needling). Read more

 

Physician Assistants

The Senate has passed a bill modernizing the scope of practice for physician assistants.  As previously reported, MSNJ and specialty societies worked very closely with the physician assistant society to craft the parameters of the bill and support the final version.

Read more.
Practice Management

Medicare Annual Wellness Visits Performed by Private Companies

We have received numerous complaints about private companies providing annual wellness visits (AWV) for seniors, sometimes without consultation with the patient's physician.  We brought this issue to CMS' attention and were advised that, absent any specific complaints from beneficiaries, these private companies may perform AWV. We will continue to work with the AMA and other groups to address this issue. Read CMS' ABCs of Providing AWV. Read our recommendations to ensure coordinated care.

Volunteer for CMS ICD-10 End-to End Testing

CMS will begin ICD-10 end-to-end testing with a small group of volunteers, beginning July 20 through July 24, 2015. If you are interested in volunteering for this testing opportunity, complete the Volunteer Testing Form by April 17, 2015. Volunteers will be notified of selection by May 8. Read CMS's new FAQ on ICD-10 End-to-End Testing, MLN Matters SE1435. Watch the MLN Connects video on Coding for ICD-10-CM: More of the Basics for a better understanding of ICD-10.

Read CMS' MLN Matters Global Surgery Fact Sheet and HIPAA Privacy and Security Basics for Providers. 

HIPAA 5010 277CA Reject Code Lookup Tool

Novitas Solutions, Inc. has developed a free application to view the descriptor associated with rejections returned on the 277CA, Claims Acknowledgement report. View the lookup tool

AMA issued an article on "Common payment issues-and how to handle them." Read the article.

ICD-10: Only 181 Days 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. Register for upcoming ICD-10 Webinar Workshops.

Corporate Partners

Insurance:

QualCare - Platinum Level Partner    

   

Collections:  

I.C. System - Bronze Level Partner  

    

 

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.

 
Medical Society of New Jersey
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About the Medical Society of New Jersey:

Founded in 1766, the Medical Society of New Jersey (MSNJ) is the oldest professional society in the United States. MSNJ promotes the betterment of the public health and the science and the art of medicine, to enlighten public opinion in regard to the problems of medicine, and to safeguard the rights of the practitioners of medicine.  The organization and its members are dedicated to a healthy New Jersey, working to ensure the sanctity of the physician-patient relationship. In representing all medical disciplines, MSNJ advocates for the rights of patients and physicians alike, for the delivery of the highest quality medical care.  For more information visit our website or send us an e-mail.

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