Each week the Wyoming Medical Society receives a number of emails and letters offering its physicians webinars, conferences, or other information. In this section we share that information without endorsement.
Announcements
On April 28, a federal appeals court upheld the lower court’s ruling to block industry giant Anthem’s proposed acquisition of Cigna. This is a monumental win for America’s patients and physicians, which was made possible through medicine’s joint leadership — most notably collaboration between The Wyoming Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Click here to read more.
CMS proposes 2018 payment and policy updates for Medicare hospital admissions, and releases a Request for Information. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that would update 2018 Medicare payment and polices when patients are admitted into hospitals. The proposed rule aims to relieve regulatory burdens for providers; supports the patient-doctor relationship in health care; and promotes transparency, flexibility, and innovation in the delivery of care. For a Fact Sheet on the proposed rule, click here.
Congrats to Summit Medical Center in Casper. Summit Medical Center was recently presented with the 2016 Excellent Patient Satisfaction award among NueHealth hospitals across the country. This award is based on how our patients rate our hospital in third party surveys conducted following their stay at Summit Medical Center. Summit Medical Center has consistently scored high in all areas of the patient survey, with an average of 95 percent of patients giving the hospital the highest possible rating in 2016. Patient comments consistently cite the caring staff and the cleanliness of the facility in their reviews of the hospital.
The American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network has let us know that if anyone is interested in serving on the new Palliative Care Committee to volunteer to do so by clicking here.
The Wyoming Center on Aging (WYCoA) asks that you save the date for the Rocky Mountain Alzheimers Summit, June 13-15 at Little America in Cheyenne. Registration is now open for the conference which includes a workshop for healthcare professionals.
Publications
CMS publishes its MLN Connects E-newsletter and did so on May 4 offering posts on DMEPOS Revised Blended Fee Schedule Amounts; Hand Hygiene and more. The April 27 edition offers posts on MIPS Participation Status, EHR Payments and more. The April 13 edition discussing accountable health communities model and more is here. They sent another version on April 20 which offers a Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Provider Minute Video, as well as new quality payment program resources.
Our Friends of the WMS members The Doctors Company released a post called, Patient Centered Communications: Building Rapport.
The UnitedHealthcare Network Bulletin for the month includes articles on: new and enhanced link apps, special needs plan model of care training, upcoming provider information expos and more.
Providers Clinical Support System released a video resource to guide providers through an interview with a pain patient to make informed decisions based on CDC Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain.
HITECH offers a number of free white papers, guides and ebooks:
- The Holistic Patient Health Record: Image Enabling the EHR
- New! Stop Losing Revenue Through Improved Payer Contract Management
- New! Advancing Innovation in Healthcare
- Five Reasons Hospitals Still Value Pagers
- 2017 EHR Software Pricing Guide
- 2017 Medical Billing Software Pricing Guide
- HIPAA, Cyber Hacking and ePHI Security
- 10 FAQs About Alternative Payment Models (APMs)
The BMJ published an article this week that concluded that, “Retention in methadone and buprenorphine treatment is associated with substantial reductions in the risk for all cause and overdose mortality in people dependent on opioids.” The review examined 19 observational studies involving more than 120,000 patients. “In pooled trend analysis, all cause mortality dropped sharply over the first four weeks of methadone treatment and decreased gradually two weeks after leaving treatment,” the review said.
The American Academy of Family Physicians released a story suggesting Direct Primary Care is gaining momentum in multiple states. There is at least one familiar name in the story to Wyoming physicians. To read the rest of the April publication, click here.
The National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners passed along new quarterly data from the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in Nursing Homes.
Denver-based healthcare finance group RTWelter offers a free revenue assessment in its latest newsletter.
Conferences, webinars and events
Mountain Pacific Quality Health offers more webinars in their Quality Payment Webinar Series. On May 9 it offers a QPP Overviewat 1 p.m. This session will include a broad overview of the QPP program, including who it impacts, what it is, when it will start, how it fits int the big picture and how to be successful in the QPP.
On May 16, the next webinar in the series will take place at 1 p.m., called “MIPS Deep Dive – Quality and Improvement Activities.” This session will include a deeper dive into the MIPS portion of QPP, including information on how you can be successful in the MIPS program, how to choose quality measures, how to improve quality measures, documentation and reporting and how to complete an improvement activity.
Finally on May 23 at 1 p.m. Mountain Pacific will host session 3, called, “MIPS Deep Dive – Costs and Advancing Care Information. This session will include a deeper dive into two components of the MIPS portion of QPP, including costs and advancing care information. Tools you can use today to assess your costs will be reviewed, along with ways to improve interoperability.
Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) will host a webinar 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., May 11, to highlight two clinical tools to help health care providers treat patients following concussion. Current concussion management guidelines include a stepped, or phased, approach to returning to activities after a period of rest. Continuing education credit is available from Professional Education Services Group (PESG). You must register by 3 p.m. (ET) May 11, 2017, to qualify for the receipt of continuing education credit.
Becker’s ASC Review invites you to attend a May 11 webinar at 9 a.m. explaining how you can increase revenue through proper management of out-of-network bills. Register now and receive the recorded version to view at your convenience.
Join your colleagues at the American Medical Association Organized Medical Staff Section (OMSS) Annual Meeting. Held June 8–10 in Chicago, this event offers the opportunity for section members to learn about and discuss issues vital to the profession.
PCSS Offers a webinar called Motivational Interviewing for Clinical Practice at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 9. The webinar will provide a clear presentation of Motivational Interviewing that is readily transferable to everyday clinical practice. Motivational Interviewing is a clinical style for engaging patients in treatment, enhancing motivation to reduce substance use, and supporting adherence to recommended behavioral or pharmacological treatments.