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November 9, 2011
MAFP E-BULLETIN,
November 2011,
VOL.5, NO. 11
In this issue:
EHR Incentives Now
Available to MD Primary Care Practices
Summary of Final
Medicare ACO Regulation
Less Than Two Months
to Implementation of 5010 Electronic Transaction Standards
Beat the Holiday
Bustle: Register for MAFP's Winter Conference!
Join the American
Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout November 17
Environmental Scan and News You Can Use
EHR
Incentives Now Available to MD Primary Care Practices
MThe Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) is pleased to
announce that electronic health record (EHR) incentives are now
available to primary care practices in Maryland from certain
state-regulated payors; the incentive program ends on December
31, 2014. The incentives aim to promote the adoption of EHRs.
These incentives are in addition to the federal EHR
incentives available through the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) EHR Incentive Program.
Maryland is the first state to require certain state-regulated
payors to provide incentives to select practices for adopting an
EHR. State-regulated payors participating in the incentive
program are: Aetna, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Cigna
HealthCare, Coventry Health Care, Kaiser, and United Healthcare.
Eligible primary care practices include: family, general,
geriatric, internal medicine, pediatric, and gynecologic
practices.
The incentive program consists of a base incentive valued
up to $7,500, which is calculated by the number of Maryland
payor members on the practice panel at $8 per member; and an
additional incentive valued at $7,500. An additional
incentive may be available to practices that have achieved
one of the following in the immediate 90 days prior to
submitting the payment request to each payor: 1) contracts with
a State Designated Management Service Organization (MSO) for EHR
adoption or implementation services, 2) demonstrates advance use
of EHRs, or 3) participates in the payor's quality improvement
outcomes initiative(s) and achieves the performance goals as
established by the payor.
The MHCC has launched the State-Regulated
Payor EHR Adoption Incentive Program webpage. The webpage
provides general background information on the incentive
program, including the application and payment request forms
that practices may use to participate in the incentive program,
payor contact information, and resources that can assist
practices with the adoption of EHRs.
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Summary of Final Medicare ACO Regulation
On October 20, CMS released the
final rule for the Shared Savings Program: Accountable Care
Organizations. This final rule differs significantly from the
earlier proposal and reflects many AAFP and Chapter recommended
changes.
AAFP created a detailed
summary of the regulation to help inform members about the
Medicare Shared Savings Program. The final rule largely
recognizes that small- to medium-sized physician practices
cannot convert their administrative procedures and health record
systems overnight, and the final rule is designed to provide
both time and resources to make the program more attractive.
CMS envisions the final rule will help create as many as 270
Medicare ACOs, which is significantly more than the 75 to 150
Medicare ACOs that CMS had estimated in conjunction with the
proposed regulation. This voluntary program will be implemented
on January 1, 2012. Medicare ACO applications will be due after
the first of the year.
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Less Than Two Months to Implementation of
5010 Electronic Transaction Standards
Family physicians have just two months to assess the ability of
their practices to submit and receive electronic claims and
other electronic transactions in the new 5010 format as mandated
by a provision of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act. AAFP suggests that members start now to
devise a backup plan for working with clearing houses and other
sources to avoid cash flow problems after the Jan. 1, 2012
implementation deadline passes. Read more in the October 25 AAFP
ANN article.
Members can also visit or subscribe to an RSS feed of FPM's
Getting Paid blog for information on current topics in
coding, billing, and payment including changes to Medicare
benefits and related regulations.
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Beat the Holiday Bustle:
Register for MDAF's Winter Conference
A good way
to get a jump on upcoming CME prior to the Holidays (and to
unwind afterwards) is to register for and then attend MAFP’s
2012 Winter CME Conference, “Selected Challenges in Primary
Care.” The Education Committee promises a quality program
delivered in a wonderful setting, our first in Baltimore County!
The topics are varied and will offer learners the opportunity to
interact with presenters and with each other. Important updates
on Pediatric Immunizations, risks from Obesity, DUB Management,
Challenging EKGs, New Diabetes Meds, Hepatitis C and Breast
Cancer Screening and Survivorship will be presented, as well as
the top 10 Articles of the Year and a bonus dinner session on
Adult Immunizations. Up to 9 credits are available!
In addition, on the day prior to the Winter Conference, MAFP
will conduct an American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Self
Assessment Module (SAM) on Diabetes scheduled for Friday,
evening February 24 from 5-10pm; with dinner. During the SAM you
will explore the questions and engage in clinical discussion. At
the end of the session, your answers to the 60-question
knowledge assessment will automatically be sent to the ABFM.
Then, after your completion of the clinical simulation portion
of the module (Part B), you will receive a certificate for 12
AAFP Prescribed CME credit (also equivalent to AMA Category 1
credit).
Conference Brochure/Materials and SAM Registration Form at
www.mdafp.org.
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Join the American Cancer
Society's Great American Smokeout on November 17
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A Join the American Cancer
Society’s Great American Smokeout on November 17 with
Ask and Act, an opportunity to promote tobacco cessation
in your practice.
Tobacco addiction causes
443,000 deaths in the United States each year, making
tobacco use the nation's leading cause of preventable
death. Of the 46 million current U.S. smokers, 70
percent say they would like to quit. Family physicians
are taking a frontline approach to helping these smokers
meet their goal. The AAFP's tobacco cessation program,
"Ask and Act ," encourages family physicians to ASK all
patients about tobacco use, then to ACT to help them
quit.
There's strong evidence that advice from a health care
professional can more than double smoking cessation
success rates. Also, research shows that patients are
more satisfied with their health care if their primary
care provider offers smoking cessation interventions -
even if patients are not yet ready to quit. Take
advantage of the resources on this site to make your
interventions with your patients who use tobacco even
more effective. Check back regularly for new online
resources.
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Environmental Scan and News
You Can Use
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The
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has published
the first of a series of one-pagers about the primary care
workforce that they commissioned of the Robert Graham
Center. These data and methods were finalized with the other
federal health agencies that have oversight of health
workforce. The first
one-pager reviews the primary care physician workforce and
the second the
proportion of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants
most likely to
be working in primary care.
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Creation of UMD School of
Medicine Primary Care Track - Richard Colgan, M.D, associate
professor, and Director of Medical Student Education,
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Linda Lewin,
M.D. associate professor, Division Chief of Pediatric
Education Department of Pediatrics and Nikkita Southall,
assistant professor, Director of Ambulatory Education,
Department of Internal Medicine were awarded a five year, $
878,000 HRSA Grant to start a Primary Care Track for UMSOM
medical students. Dr. Colgan is the Principle Investigator
of the grant and Dr. Mozella Williams, assistant professor,
and Assistant Director of Medical Student Education,
Department of Family and Community Medicine will serve as
the Health Community Health Relations Coordinator. The
project titled “Early and Continued Medical Student
Experience with Primary Care Physicians, the Patient
Centered Medical Home and Care for the Underserved in
Maryland” will create a new Primary Care Track as a
collaborative program of the Department of Family and
Community Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics. Its
focus will be to introduce all students to primary care role
models early in medical school and to offer a longitudinal
experience in primary care in underserved communities to
interested students, with the intention of increasing the
number of UMSOM medical students who choose primary care
careers in these communities.
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Increases in Gonorrhea in Maryland and the Emergence of
Cephalosporin -Resistant Isolates: Maryland and the
mid-Atlantic region have noted significant increases in
cases of gonorrhea (GC). Maryland experienced a 16% increase
in GC from 2009 to 2010, including vaginal, rectal and
pharyngeal infections. Treatment failures are being reported
in Europe and Asia, and the emergence of gonococcal isolates
in the US with decreased susceptibility to cephalosporins,
the only antibiotics left to treat GC, are cause for alarm.
See entire alert at
http://ideha.dhmh.maryland.gov/cstip/.
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Columbia University Medical
Center, Department of Medicine will conduct a very unique
educational activity, a 25-credit intensive review of
internal medicine which will take place on board the
Norwegian Epic, February 18-25, 2012. The course takes place
while the ship is at sea, so ports of call won’t be missed!
Those wishing additional information can visit
www.ColumbiaMedicineCME.org.
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SGR Repeal Request Tools
Available - Chapters and members can ask Congress to repeal
the SGR with
free tools on the AAFP Web site. Find letter templates
to senators and representatives, which include a special
video message featuring AAFP President Stream.
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MAFP or MAFP Foundation
5710 Executive Drive, Suite 104
Baltimore, MD 21228
Phone:
(410) 747-1980 - Fax: (410) 744-6059
E-Mail:
info@mdafp.org
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