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INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE:
--PAFPPAC NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT
--MEDICARE AND MEDICAID EHR INCENTIVE PROGRAMS
--2011 SAM STUDY GROUPS
--PAFP RESIDENCY COLLABORATIVE IS COUNTRY'S LARGEST
--MANDATED REPORTER RESOURCES SURVEY
--PAFP TO HELP PRACTICES BECOME PATIENT-CENTERED MEDICAL HOMES
--CALL FOR RESEARCH DAY ABSTRACTS
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ON THE HILL
The 2011-2012 legislative session is underway. Members of the Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives were sworn in this week. Leadership has been elected and chairmen of both the House and Senate committees have been appointed. Click here for a complete list of leadership positions and committee appointments. Governor-elect Tom Corbett’s Inauguration will take place Tuesday, January 18.
PAFPPAC NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!
The PAFPPAC is extremely valuable to you and your practice because it pools political funds together in order to help lawmakers in the PA General Assembly who support you and the decisions that affect your practice in Pennsylvania. Decisions like who can make medical diagnoses, tort reform, fair payment for family physician services, etc. The PAFPPAC political arm of the PAFP is gearing up for the new legislative session. Because we are looking to be very active in the coming year, we need family physician member support. Please visit the PAFPPAC website to read more and contribute. Whether its $25, $250 or $1,000, it all goes to benefit you and your practice by supporting lawmakers that support you and your practice.
CONGRESS DELAYS MEDICARE PAYMENT CUTS
Last month, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed and President Obama signed into law legislation that will delay the 24.9 percent Medicare payment cut to physicians for one year. The cut was originally scheduled to take effect January 1, 2011. The extension will allow policymakers more time to find a permanent solution to the Medicare physician payment fix.
MEDICARE AND MEDICAID EHR INCENTIVE PROGRAMS Registration for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs is now open. Providers must register in order to be eligible for incentive payments up to $44,000 for the Medicare program and up to $63,750 for the Medicaid EHR incentive program. In order to participate, all eligible providers must have a National Provider Identifier (NPI) and an enrollment record in the Provider, Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS); providers participating in the Medicaid EHR incentive program only do not have to be enrolled in PECOS. Providers who register for the incentive programs are not required to have an EHR system in place, nor are they obligated to participate in the programs once they are in progress. For more information and to register for the programs, click here.
RECOVERY AUDIT CONTRACTORS (RACs) COMING TO PA
The enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act required states to contract with at least one Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) by the end of 2010. At the December meeting of the Pennsylvania Medical Assistance Advisory Committee (MAAC), committee members informed attendees that a RAC program will be in place by March 2011. At the time, DPW was working on selecting a RAC contract and submitting a state plan amendment related to the RAC requirements to CMS by the end of the year. They ensured the group that the RFP will meet the requirements of a RAC program as outlined in the Affordable Care Act. To learn more about RACs, read the latest edition of Keystone Physician.
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SAM Study Groups are designed for Physicians who have entered the ABFM Maintenance of Certification cycle to come together to complete the knowledge assessment section for the MC-FP SAM requirement. Facilitated by expert faculty, this group works through the 60 core competency questions assessing, reviewing and deciding on the best answer.
Each Study Group is limited to 100 attendees. Cost is $149 for PAFP members. Participants are guaranteed a passing grade for Module 1 (60 questions). Also, includes a clinical simulation demonstration with time at the end to complete Module 2 (clinical simulation).
2011 Dates:
Friday, March 11, Nittany Lion Inn, State College, Topic: Diabetes
Thursday, May 12, Heritage Hills Conference Center, York, Topic: Hypertension
Friday, November 4, Nemacolin Woodlands, Farmington, Topic: Diabetes
CME WEBCAST ON CARDIO CARE
(presented by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) The webcast of last week's "Advancing Cardiac Patient Care in the 21st Century: Recent Developments" is now available online for 28 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ (good to 12/9/2011). To access go to www.CardioCareLive.com
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PA HOSTS COUNTRY'S LARGEST RESIDENCY COLLABORATIVE
Physician Leader to Present at International Conference
The PAFP Foundation’s PA IPIP program sponsors a learning collaborative for family medicine and, now, internal medicine residency programs, making it the largest single state residency program collaborative in the nation.
Family medicine programs are becoming Patient-Centered Medical Homes and learning how to fully implement the Chronic Care Model to improve care for patients with diabetes, and ultimately all patients.
Collaborative physician leader and PAFP member William Warning, MD, Program Director of the Crozer-Keystone Family Medicine Residency Program, will present on the collaborative at the 12th Annual International Summit on Improving Patient Care in the Office Practice and the Community, to be held March 20-22 in Dallas.
Click here for more information about the collaborative and related FREE online CME.
“MANDATED REPORTER” RESOURCES SURVEY
As a family physician, you are a mandated reporter of child abuse under Pennsylvania law. The PAFP Foundation is working with the PA Coalition Against Rape and its Vision of Hope Campaign to help family physicians recognize child sexual abuse among patients so that victims have access to treatment.
Would you please help Vision of Hope to gather information about “mandated reporter” training? Please click here for three quick surveys--one for providers, another for employers of providers and another for training organizations. Take all surveys that apply. Deadline is Monday, Jan. 24.
The PAFP Foundation will then work with Vision of Hope to improve your access to training. Meanwhile, please take advantage of these resources from the PAFP Foundation:
PUBLIC HEALTH INFORMATION AND CME IN KEYSTONE PHYSICIAN
Child abuse (FAQs for mandated reporters): Fall 2010Using PDSA cycles to implement better care (CME!): Summer 2010
PUBLIC HEALTH CME WEBCASTS
Lots of free CME at www.pafp.com/onlineCME, most of which qualifies as patient safety. Topics such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and colorectal cancer.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: FREE CME WEBCAST
Live, Noon-1pm, Wednesday, March 2, 2011
--ACIP Update
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PAFP TO PROVIDE PCMH PREPARATION AND TRAINING
Program Director Appointed
Colleen Schwartz, RN, is PAFP's PCMH Initiatives Director and will work with practices looking to become patient-centered medical homes. Through this new program physicians and staff will learn what is needed to become a certified PCMH and receive the training to reach that level. For more information contact her at cschwartz@pafp.com.
MAINTENANCE OF CERTIFICATION (MOC) PART IV CREDIT AVAILABLE
Looking for a MOC Part IV activity? The PAFP Colorectal Cancer Screening (CRCS) Collaborative is an activity that qualifies as part of the performance improvement module for MOC Part IV. It’s a way to learn how to do performance measurement in a fully supported program that will not only improve your CRCS rates but also teach you skills to make improvements in other clinical areas (diabetes, for example). To get started or to receive more information, please visit www.pafp.com/IPIP and click the CRC Screening Collaborative icon, or email Michelle Seitz at mseitz@pafp.com.
ONLINE WEBCAST AND FREE CME
Click here to watch CME webcasts on Colorectal Cancer Screening (CRCS). Learn about the Guidelines for Care, Using Systems Change to Improve your Rates and Using the ACS toolkit on Increasing CRC screenings. These CME webcasts qualify for patient-safety credits.
PA REACH TURNING "MEANINGFUL USE" INTO "MEANINGFUL" FINANCIAL GAINS
Physicians who adopt or upgrade their existing EHRs to a CCHIT-certified product/version can earn up to $44,000 per provider from Medicare over a 5-year span or up to $63,000 from Medicaid over a 6-year span. To get the maximum incentive payment, Medicare eligible professionals must begin participation by 2012. Do NOT miss out on this opportunity! Sign up now for the PA REACH Project! Contact PAFP REACH coordindator Tracy Koval at tkoval@pafp.com or call 717-635-7589.
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RESEARCH DAY CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: SUBMISSION DEADLINE FEB. 11, 2011
Compete for cash prizes in each category: best student research, best resident research, best faculty/fellow/physician research, best overall research. For more info, past winners, past topics, go to http://www.pafp.com/pafpcom.aspx?id=15
POSTER CALL FOR AAFP NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2011
Submit your project for the AAFP's annual poster session at the 2011 National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students July 28-30 in Kansas City. Application deadline April 15, 2011. One student and one resident will win a trip to the 2011 Scientific Assembly in Orlando, Florida.
STATEWIDE PA PRIMARY CARE CAREER FAIR COMING SOON TO CENTRAL PA
Friday & Saturday educational sessions, networking with prospective employers, loan repayment opportunities, learn more about practice options in underserved areas and with underserved communities. Watch for date announcement in future PN.
NHSC ANNOUNCES MAJOR ENHANCEMENTS TO LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM
For more information go to http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loanrepayment/ . Highlights include: Increased to $60K for 2 years service; Up to $170K for 5 years of service; TOTAL DEBT repaid for 6 or more years of service; Full- & part-time options available ($30K for 2 years part-time service).
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