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Sept. 24, 2014 | Issue 97 |
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Government Affairs
'Good Samaritan' Overdose Bill Set to Pass
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Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) expressed confidence that his legislation (Senate Bill 1164) will receive a favorable concurrence vote in the Senate this week, sending the bill on to Gov. Corbett for his signature. The bill provides legal protections for persons helping an overdose patient seek medical attention, negating the fear of arrest. It was amended to also allow first responders (police, fire, EMS) to administer naloxone with training from an EMS medical director or a physician. Pennsylvania is one of only two states that currently do not allow first responders to carry naloxone.
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Practice Advocacy
Avoid Downward Medicare Payment Adjustment
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For calendar year 2016, Medicare will apply an automatic negative 2 percent (-2%) Value-Based Payment Modifier to physician payments for groups of 10 or more eligible professionals billing under the same Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) who do not participate and satisfy 2014 PQRS requirements. Participation can be done as a group practice or on an individual basis following specific reporting mechanisms. If participating as a group, an authorized representative must register for an IACS account by September 30, 2014. For more specific information see this CMS tip sheet or contact Tracy Koval, Director of Practice Advocacy tkoval@pafp.com.
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Education
Two More Weeks to Save on CME!
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Public Health
'What's Your Plan?' Join Mini-Webcast Series
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A recent survey shows sizable gaps among practices in emergency planning. The PAFP and Drexel University are providing a lunchtime mini-webcast CME series for your practice. Mark these dates (12:15-12:45 p.m.):
• Nov. 5: Primary care physician roles in disasters and importance of preparedness
• Nov. 6: Risk and hazard vulnerability assessment for medical practices
• Nov. 12: Planning for disasters - key elements of business continuity planning for medical practices
• Nov. 13: Evaluating the practice emergency plan - training and drills
• Nov. 19: Communicating with patients - voicemail, websites, social media
• Nov. 20: Preparing patients with special health care needs for emergencies
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Quality Improvement
Project Process vs. Outcome Evaluation: What's the Difference? |
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Process evaluation focuses on how a project is put into place. It concentrates on project operations, implementation, and delivery. Process evaluation addresses who and where the project intends an effect, what was affected, the progress of the project, and the activities and outputs achieved.
Outcome evaluation looks at the intended effect of the project activities. An important distinction is the difference between project outcomes and outputs. Outputs are the products of activities such as the number of entities served by the project. Outcomes assess the project’s effectiveness, measuring new behaviors observed due to the projects influence.
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Residents & Students
Join us at the FMEC Annual Conference |
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| The Family Medicine Education Consortium (FMEC)’s annual conference is headed to Arlington, Virginia Oct. 24-26! Join hundreds of family physicians from more than 80 residency programs, residents and medical students for one of the most exciting family medicine events of the year. Located just outside Washington, D.C., innovators and leaders in the family medicine revolution will help fuel your passion for family medicine and connect you to some of the creative solutions transforming our nation’s health care system within view of the Capitol. Student scholarships are available – and click here for the conference program! |
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Huddle Up Against Bullying in October
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The Highmark Foundation invites you to discuss the future of bullying prevention at the Huddle Up Against Bullying symposium, Oct. 28, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. Tremendous measurable and favorable strides in bullying prevention have been made over the past decade, but there is still work to be done. Your attendance will be critical in helping other community, school, legal and health care professionals in keeping this momentum going in meaningful and synergistic ways.
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