The Wyoming Medical Society receives several solicitations for products, webinars, conferences, as well as publications from various sources. We share a cross section of this information here without endorsement.
Announcements
The Wyoming Medicaid newsletter for August offers many items that Wyoming physicians should at least consider. Among the subject matter is a policy change regarding external cause code requirements and more.
PCSS Online shared the White House Opioid Commission’s recommendations to President Trump, including their interim report asking President Trump to declare opioid crisis a national health emergency.
Our friends at Wyoming Telehealth Network seeks your help to better offer their services. Please complete a brief survey to help assess current practices and attitudes regarding telehealth services. Please visit the following website at: www.uwyo.edu/wind/wytn
The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) marketplace is open for business at healthcare.gov. The SHOP Marketplace provides small businesses and non-profit organizations with flexible options for offering health insurance to their employees. In addition, employers can enroll in SHOP Marketplace coverage any time of the year, in just a few steps. CMS has posted an infographic that describes how easy it is for businesses to apply for and enroll in SHOP Marketplace coverage for 2017.
The AMA continues to hear from physicians who feel unprepared to participate successfully in Medicare’s new Merit-based Incentive Payment System, despite the transitional flexibility provided for 2017. In particular, it seems that physicians who never participated in Medicare reporting programs before need basic information on how to avoid a payment penalty in 2019 through minimal reporting in 2017.
The AMA developed a short video, entitled “One patient, one measure, no penalty: How to avoid a Medicare payment penalty with basic reporting,” which is accessible on the AMA web site at ama-assn.org/qpp-reporting. Also on this web site physicians can find a sample CMS-1500 claim form, links to quality measures on the CMS web site, a link to the CMS MIPS eligibility tool, and other materials. Please visit this page, view the resources, and consider joining us for a coordinated outreach to physician practices so that we can help as many physicians as possible avoid a negative 4 percent Medicare payment reduction in 2019.
The Wyoming Department of Family Services has released a public notice of proposed rules for the Central Registry of Abuse and Neglect of Children and Vulnerable Adults.
Publications
Physician Burnout has been a hot topic at the Wyoming Medical Society over the last year. This month, Mediscape released its Residents Lifestyle and Happiness Report for 2017.
RTWelter and Associates is a Denver-based medical business company which publishes a twice-monthly newsletter. In the Aug. 1 version, they offer tips on hiring people, and E/M coding calculator and more.
HITECH answers offers five featured complimentary white papers, covering everything from MACRO to innovation in heathcare. They also have a listing of what is new on healthcarenowradio and youtube.com.
UnitedHealthcare offers its August 2017 newsletter in which it offers stories about: UHC’s new care providers website, enhancements to Link, and Revamped prior authorization and notification app.
The official CMS news comes to us through the MLN Connects newsletter. The Aug. 2 edition was a special edition letting us know CMS has finalized a 2018 Payment and Policy Updates for Medicare Hospital Admissions. On August 16, CMS released another special edition. This one discusses the release of the CMS Hospice Compare Website to Improve Consumer Experiences, Empower Patients.
Physician Family is a quarterly publication which also features weekly blog posts of interest to physician families at all levels of the Journey of Medicine at www.physicianfamilymedia.org. Announcement of new content appears on the Physician Family Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PhysicianFamilyMedia and other social media venues. Published by the AMA Alliance (www.amaalliance.org), Physician Family is the only national publication created by and for physician families.
The August edition of Concierge Medicine Today featured posts about Mobile Eyecare Clinics, and a solicitation for the Precision Medicine and Concierge Medical Conference Oct. 27-28 in Atlanta.
The August version of Family Practice Management was released by the American Academy of Family Physicians and includes posts on ways to feel more fulfilled at work, as well as what to do when your patient brings a list.
Conferences and Webinars
The Wyoming Department of Health offers the Wyoming STI Webinar on Gonorrhea, Tuesday, Sept. 26 from noon-1 p.m. This webinar is niche towards MD’s, NP’s, RN’s, and others. The webinar will cover topics such as Gonorrhea infection, and screening and treatment recommendations for gonorrhea.
PCSS and the American Academy of Addition Psychiatry has created a performance in practice and self assessment activity to help you and your practice learn more about opioid abuse disorder.
Mountain Pacific Quality Health offers a webinar called HIPAA Highlights and Impact to your Telehealth from noon-1 p.m. on Aug. 27. Join the webinar to discuss how the same HIPAA requirements apply for in-person visits and Telemedicine visits. This is your chance to learn how encryption, secure connections and secure storage can protect patient records. You will also learn how building a culture of compliance that includes business associates can protect your organization.
The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Extension offers a psychological health webinar titled, “Latest Mobile Apps and Clinical Support Tools Available for Service Members and Families”. The webinar will take place on August 24, 2017 from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Registration is now open for the 2017 DCoE Summit! For more information and to register, visit dcoe.adobeconnect.com/dcoesummit2017/event/event_info.html.
The Wyoming Telehealth Network has a listing of its upcoming sessions over the next month. Among the offerings are:
- The Growing Cybersecurity Threats in Telemedicine on Wednesday, Aug. 30 from noon-1 p.m.. Participants will be able to: understand the current cybersecurity risks to the medical profession, know the prevalence of medical identity theft, describe ways to protect patient data and yourself as a remote worker
- The HIPAA Highlights and Impacts To Your Telehealth Program is set for Wednesday, Sept. 27 from noon-1 p.m.
PCSS Offers an Aug. 23 webinar called Understanding the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome for the General Pediatrician at 10 a.m. The goal of this webinar is to train pediatricians in evidence-based practices to prevent, identify, and treat neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Our friends a the Yankton Rural AHEC offer a 1 p.m. webinar on Aug. 24 called, “Raising HPV Vaccine Coverage Rates through Provider-Focused Interventions: Implementing Effective Quality Improvement” Dr. Alix Caslor will present on how health professionals can transform their practices by utilizing a sustainable intervention that fits or even simplifies their current work flow.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Rocky Mountain Region, will be presenting FREEtraining on the Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules: HIPAA for the Small Provider in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. The purpose of the presentation is to help small health care providers that are covered entities understand their regulatory obligations under HIPAA. OCR will cover a number of topics such as an individual’s right of access, safeguarding protected health information, the business associate agreement requirement, and risk analysis/risk management.
Among the Rocky Mountain locations for this training are:
Aug. 31 – Cheyenne
8am-12pm
Joseph C. O’Mahoney Federal Center – Room 2115
2120 Capital Avenue
Cheyenne, WY
Aug. 10 – Billings
8am-12pm
Department of Interior Bldg
ISG Conference Room
2021 4th Avenue North
Billings, MT
Sept. 8 – Denver
8am-12pm
Byron Rogers Federal Bldg
Aspen/Pine Room, Floor 16
1961 Stout Street
Denver, CO
The 2017 AMA Organized Medical Staff Section Interim Meeting is set for Nov. 10-11 in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Hawaii Convention Center and Hilton Hawaiian Village. Among the opportunities are the ability to discuss policymaking, networking and mentoring, as well as education.
PCSS offers a number of online modules for interested physicians. Click here to see the offersings.
Mountain Pacific Quality Health offers an Aug. 30 webinar called, Understanding Physician-to-Patient Communications Strategies to Avoid Unnecessary Antibiotic Prescribing. The webinar is et for Aug. 30 from 1-2:30 p.m. The webinar will focus on successful physician-to-patient communication strategies to avoid unnecessary antibiotic prescribing. During this webinar participants will learn cutting edge techniques from guest speaker Dr. Rita Mangione-Smith on how to manage expectations for antibiotics in order to avoid unnecessary prescribing while maintaining satisfaction with care.
PCSS-O offers a 10 a.m. webinar on Aug. 23 called Substance Use Disorder Case Studies: Drug Testing, Toxicology, and Forensic Medicine. Risk management is first and foremost about protecting patients. This PCSS webinar will examine risk management in general, and urine drug testing (UDT) in particular, as core constituents in an effective, comprehensive strategy.