PathStone Presents - Provoking Thought!, an opportunity to meet and interact with thought leaders engaged in addressing persistent poverty.  Our inaugural luncheon will feature Dr. Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City”.  WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2018 11:30AM - 1:30PM TEMPLE B’RITH KODESH 2131 ELMWOOD AVENUE, ROCHESTER, NY 14618 Register:  http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ef71euwufc13d649&llr=umex7gdab  A Reserved Table for Ten (10) -- Special Rate for Community Partners -- $450 Use the Promo Code of NONPROFIT for your discount. Discount expires 4/15/2018.  For tickets, visit our website PathStone.org

Building on our nearly five decades of success in Community Development, Workforce Development and Emergency Support services, PathStone is excited to launch PathStone Presents-Provoking Thought!, an opportunity for community builders to meet and interact with renowned thought leaders engaged in addressing the most challenging conundrum facing our community -- persistent poverty. 

PathStone Presents-Provoking Thought! will feature Dr. Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City”, to shine a light on an often-misunderstood public crisis of housing instability and to galvanize a citywide conversation addressing the region's deep housing challenges. Dr. Desmond is a brilliant sociologist and dynamic storyteller who truly understands the relationship between unstable housing and poverty. This event will bring attention to housing insecurity which overpowers thousands of low-income families, often several times each year.  In Rochester alone 8,298 eviction notices were filed and 3,408 were executed in 2016 according to figures compiled by Rochester’s Legal Aid Society.  By November of 2017, 7,943 eviction notices had already filed and 3,226 executed.  It is our hope that hosting Dr. Desmond will bring much needed attention to the struggles faced by low-income people living in our community to encourage activism and generate ways that we can work together to make our communities stronger. Follow the link below to register now for this event. http://bit.ly/PATHSTONEDESMOND

The Drug Enforcement Administration is warning the public about criminals posing as DEA Special Agents or other law enforcement personnel as part of an international extortion scheme.

The criminals call the victims (who in most cases previously purchased drugs over the internet or by telephone) and identify themselves as DEA agents or law enforcement officials from other agencies. The impersonators inform their victims that purchasing drugs over the internet or by telephone is illegal, and that enforcement action will be taken against them unless they pay a fine. In most cases, the impersonators instruct their victims to pay the “fine” via wire transfer to a designated location, usually overseas. If victims refuse to send money, the impersonators often threaten to arrest them or search their property. Some victims who purchased their drugs using a credit card also reported fraudulent use of their credit cards.

Impersonating a federal agent is a violation of federal law. The public should be aware that no DEA agent will ever contact members of the public by telephone to demand money or any other form of payment.

The DEA reminds the public to use caution when purchasing controlled substance pharmaceuticals by telephone or through the Internet. It is illegal to purchase controlled substance pharmaceuticals online or by telephone unless very stringent requirements are met. And, all pharmacies that dispense controlled substance pharmaceuticals by means of the internet must be registered with DEA. By ordering any pharmaceutical medications online or by telephone from unknown entities, members of the public risk receiving unsafe, counterfeit, and/or ineffective drugs from criminals who operate outside the law. In addition, personal and financial information could be compromised.

Anyone receiving a telephone call from a person purporting to be a DEA special agent or other law enforcement official seeking money should refuse the demand and report the threat using the online form below. Please include all fields, including, most importantly, a call back number so that a DEA investigator can contact you for additional information. Online reporting will greatly assist DEA in investigating and stopping this criminal activity.

Link to report the Extortion Scam Online: https://apps.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/esor/spring/main?execution=e1s1

This year, America’s Physician Groups (APG) is pleased to continue our webinar series with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for physicians and physician groups implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) through the Quality Payment Program (QPP), focusing on Alternative Payment Models (APMs). Through a co-branding agreement with CMS, the sessions will combine CMS expertise on the regulation’s content with APG's members’ knowledge of how clinicians are responding on the ground to these important changes and care models.

APG designed the series to provide physicians and physician organizations the “how-to” for APM implementation. Given America’s Physician Groups’ leadership with advanced payment models, we are well positioned to share best practices and lessons learned in this area. Each session will include Q&A time with the presenters. We hope the webinars will be a valuable resource to help you successfully participate in APMs in 2018 and beyond. Our next session in the series will focus on: 

Title: MIPS APMs to Advanced APMs: How to Make the Valuable Transition

Date: April 30, 2018

Time: 9:00am -10:30am PT / 12:00pm - 1:30pm ET

Register:  http://eventcenter.commpartners.com/se/Rd/Rg.aspx?516875

Subject matter experts from CMS will review the MIPS APM model and requirements for qualifying to become an advanced APM. Additionally, CMS will answer specific audience questions on the final rule for 2018 and provide information and resources relevant to the transition from MIPS APM to advanced APMs.

APG will have its members cover key implementation steps for physicians and physician organizations in making the decision to transition. Our members will offer their strategies behind how they made the transition for their organization and share any challenges/pitfalls and tips as well. Further, they will be able to answer audience questions about their specific presentations.

Speakers:

CMS Speakers:

• Corey Henderson, DrPH, MPA, Stakeholder Engagement and Policy Division, CMS Innovation Center
• Adam Conway, MPH, Alternative Payment Model Infrastructure Division, CMS Innovation Center

APG Speakers:

• Dr. Sam Skootsky, Chief Medical Officer, UCLA Faculty Practice Group and Medical Group
• Chantal Buchanan, Executive Director, Medicare and Medicaid ACOs, New England Quality Care Alliance (NEQCA)

For more information, please contact Dr. Amy Nguyen, anguyen@capg.org or 213.239.5051.

You can now use the updated CMS MIPS Participation Lookup Tool to check on your 2018 eligibility for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).

Just enter your National Provider Identifier, or NPI, to find out whether you need to participate during the 2018 performance year.

Changes to Low-Volume Threshold

To reduce the burden on small practices, we’ve changed the eligibility threshold for 2018. Clinicians and groups are now excluded from MIPS if they:

• Billed $90,000 or less in Medicare Part B allowed charges for covered professional services under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS)

OR

• Furnished covered professional services under the PFS to 200 or fewer Medicare Part B -enrolled beneficiaries

This means that to be included in MIPS for the 2018 performance period  you need to have billed more than $90,000 in Medicare Part B allowed charges for covered professional services under the PFS AND furnished covered professional services under the PFS to more than 200 Medicare Part B enrolled beneficiaries.

Note: The 2018 Participation Lookup Tool Update for Alternative Payment Model (APM) participants will be updated at a later time.

Find Out Today

Find out whether you’re eligible for MIPS today. Prepare now to earn a positive payment adjustment in 2020 for your 2018 performance.

The Physician Medicine and Drugs Procedure Codes and Fee Schedule have been updated for 2018. For details, click here.

Opioid Task Force of Monroe County - brochure of resources - updated April 2018

MCMS and 7th District Branch Physicians -

March 30th, National Doctor’s Day, is a day set aside to show appreciation for the role of America’s physicians in caring for the sick and advancing the art and science of medicine.  I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the physicians in our community who dedicate their lives to the health and well being of their patients.

Since the days of the Hippocratic Oath, the physician has been held in high esteem as healer, trusted confidant and patient advocate.  The relationship between physician and patient is invaluable.  Technological breakthroughs have done much to advance the science of medicine, however, the patient- physician relationship remains the fundamental tenant of medicine. Patients depend on their doctors, and for good reason. 

You make the world a better place through the selfless dedication and compassion you show to our community.  As you give your all to your patients, I’m proud MCMS stands ready to support you and the profession of Medicine.

Thank you for choosing to practice medicine, and as always, thank you for all that you do for this community.

Chris

Christopher Bell, MS, MBA
Executive Director
Monroe County Medical Society
American Academy of Pediatrics NY 1
Genesee Valley Medical Foundation

The data submission deadline for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) is March 31. Resources:

·       Submitting 2017 Transition Year Data Fact Sheet

·       Quality Performance Category Fact Sheet

·       Quality Measure Specifications

·       Quality Benchmarks

·       Quality Measure Specifications Supporting Documents

·       Quality Performance Category Claims Data Submission Fact Sheet

·       Eligible Measure Applicability Resources

·       Patient-Facing Encounter Codes Fact Sheet and List

·       30-day All-cause Hospital Readmission Measure

·       Improvement Activities Fact Sheet

·       Scores for Improvement Activities Fact Sheet

·       Web-Based Training Courses

For More Information:

·       Quality Payment Program website

·       Resource Library webpage

·       Contact the Quality Payment Program Service Center at QPP@cms.hhs.gov or 866-288-8292 (TTY: 877-715-6222)

ON A SEPARATE BUT VERY IMPORTANT NOTE, ANY PAPER CLAIMS THAT CONTAIN HANDWRITTING IN OTHER THAN THE SIGNATURE FIELD WILL BE RETURNED AFTER April 30, 2018 and will need to be resubmitted in a TYPED format!

This is a reminder that Saturday, March 31, 2018 is the final day for applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to submit and attest to data for the June 30, 2018 publication of Program Year 2017 data.   

In order for your Program Year 2017 data submission to be considered timely and be included in the June 2018 data publication, you must complete the attestation for your submitted data by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on March 31, 2017.

Reporting entities are encouraged to perform final submission and attestation of all entered records as soon as possible to avoid potential processing delays nearing the reporting deadline.

Data submission and attestation activities can be completed by logging into the Open Payments system through the EIDM Portal.

If you have reported data during previous program years but have not yet begun reporting for Program Year 2017, you will need to recertify in the Open Payments system before you can begin any 2017 submission activities.

For more information about the recertification process as well as new registrations, refer to the Applicable Manufacturer and GPO Registration and Re-Certification – Quick Reference Guide [PDF]to help you complete this necessary step.

For all other resources including the Open Payments User Guide, go to the Resources page on our website.

Questions—Contact Live Help Desk

Need help or have more questions? Contact the Open Payments Help Desk at openpayments@cms.hhs.gov or call 1-855-326-8366.The Help Desk is available Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. (ET), excluding Federal holidays.

The Help Desk will be available on Saturday March 31, 2018 8:30 am – 7:30 pm

The Help Desk refers media inquiries to CMS’ Press Office for response.