California   Oncology  Weekly
"Where California Oncologists Go For Answers!"
A collaborative publication of the
Medical Oncology Association of Southern California, Inc.
and the
Association of Northern California Oncologists, Inc .
       
September 17, 2019

This Weekly's Hot Topics
  • Provide YOUR feedback to Congress regarding impact of California laws on practice viability. California News
  • Best of WCLC 2019-San Francisco on September 23. ANCO News
  • Contact your lawmakers regarding HR913 and HR3107 National News


California News

The California Medical Association (CMA), and its partner specialty societies, is in the midst of a legislative struggle as Congress is moving swiftly to pass legislation that would ban balance billing for Federally-regulated self-insured ERISA plans. This would impact more than 40% of California's insurance market. Congress is currently modeling this
Federal  legislation on California's surprise billing law (AB72). CMA needs feedback from physicians to demonstrate to Congress the impact that California's laws are having on practice viability, patient access to in-network physician care, as well as emergency and on-call medial services. Learn more and complete CMA's brief (no more than 5-7 minute) survey at  https://www.cmadocs.org/newsroom/news/view/ArticleId/28150/Urgent-survey-Assessing-the-impact-of-CA-surprise-billing-laws-on-physicians .
 
The California Medical Association (CMA) will host a webinar entitled Medicare Changes: What Physicians Need to Know About 2020 Changes to Audits and Reimbursements and Other Updates on October 10 at 12:15PM. Register at https://www.cmadocs.org/event-info/sessionaltcd/CMA19_1010_MEDICARE.
 
The Coalition to Protect MICRA (CAPP) invites you to join them for an evening reception in honor of Assembly Member Christy Smith on Wednesday, October 23rd from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM . The reception will be held at Oakmont of Valencia (24070 Copper Hill Dr., Valencia, CA 91354). Please click here to view the invitation. If you are not far from Valencia, please share this invitation with your colleagues and staff and encourage them to attend. Please RSVP to Kristina Gelaber kgelabert@micra.org. Thank you for your continued support of CAPP.



Noridian News 

- Noridian/JEMAC has the following updates on their website  http://med.noridianmedicare.com/web/jeb
 
Announcements: 
New Medicare Card: Transition Period Ends in Less Than 4 Months; Hospices: Call for Panel on Assessment Instrument and Quality Measures-Nominations due September 30; Local Coverage Determination Meetings; Average Sales Price Files: October 2019
 
Publications:  
Medicare Part B Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule: Revised Information for Laboratories on Collecting and Reporting Data for the Private Payor Rate-Based Payment System-Revised; Quality Payment Program: 2019 MIPS Resources; Advance Care Planning-Revised; Medicare Billing: CMS Form CMS-1500 and the 837 Professional-Revised; Medicare Secondary Payer-Revised; Radiation Oncology Listening Session: Audio Recording and Transcript; Medicare Secondary Payer Provisions Web-Based Training Course-Revised; Quality Payment Program for Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) APMs in 2019 Web-Based Training Course-Revised; SNF-PPS: Patient Driven Payment Model Videos

Events:  
* Appealing Resubmitted Claims
* Medicare Part B Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule: Revised Information for Laboratories on Collecting and Reporting Data for the Private Payor Rate-Based Payment System-Revised SE19006 
* October 2019 Update of the Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System CR11457
* Provider Enrollment Application and Correspondence Details Available in NMP
 
Forthcoming Noridian JEMAC meetings/webinars/workshops
* Submitting Your Enrollment Online-Part 2 (PECOS) Webinar (September 18)
* Modifier 59, NCCI and MUEs Webinar (September 18)
* Eligibility Claim Denials and Rejections Webinar (October 3)
* What's New in the Fourth Quarter 2019 Webinar (October 8)
* Common Errors on all Application Types Webinar (October 9)
* Using the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier Webinar (October 16)
 
For more information and to register visit:



MOASC News  

- ATTENTION PHYSICIANS, NURSES, PHARMACISTS AND ALL CLINICAL STAFF! Save the date for the MOASC LunchTime Series webinar, "The Venetoclax CLL Scientific Story," Wednesday, September 25th at 12:00pm Pacific time. The webinar will include:
1.      A review of the indications and important safety information for Venetoclax.
2.      Examining Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Disease Landscape.
3.      Evaluating the efficacy results of Venetoclax in CLL patients.
4.      Understanding the adverse reactions and important safety considerations of Venetoclax.
Please register at  moasc@moasc.org. Thank you.
 
Mark your calendars for November 14, 2019, to attend the "MOASC Educational Series Program." This year's program will highlight administrator issues as: Protecting Data in the Healthcare Industry; Secrets of successful provider contracting; Creating a custom website to drive patient growth and make your practice stand out. The current billing & collection issues and strategies to be addressed: Billing & Coding Updates for 2020; MACRA Quality Measures Guide; MIPS; G-Codes; Claims Review; Reporting and Returning Overpayments; Medicare Fraud and Abuse Penalties; Claim Denials - Understand why the claim was denied; Medicare Appeals Processes.
 
Mark your calendars NOW for the 7th Annual MOASC Oncology Summit, March 14, 2020 at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach. From 2014 through 2019, the MOASC Oncology Summit has highlighted cutting-edge topics presented by world-renowned physicians. From topics like: Decoding Molecular Medicine's "nibs" and "mabs" to Personalizing Cancer Care in the Era of Multiple Therapies and Diagnostic Tools to Harnessing the Power of Immunotherapy, and this year's Advancing Cancer Care in the Elderly; unlike any other, MOASC has brought to southern California physicians the most contemporary topics for presentation and discussion among colleagues. You will not want to miss our 2020 program!

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ANCO News  

- ANCO's Annual Professional Education Meeting 2019 is taking place at The Claremont Resort in Berkeley on October 17. Register at  https://bit.ly/2Sz3OsY .

- The  ANCO-UCSF Precision Oncology Symposium is taking place at the Marine's Memorial Club in San Francisco on Saturday, November 9. Download the meeting announcement at https://anco.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FINALPreciOncBro2019.pdf.
 
- ANCO members will receive a complimentary registration when they register as an "Early Bird ANCO Member" for the Best of WCLC 2019-San Francisco on September 23Learn more at  https://anco.org/20thwclc2019flyer ; register at  https://bestofwclc2019.eventbrite.com .
 
- ANCO's VuMedi Channel ASCO Highlights 2019 is now available. Watch the presentations and listen to the speakers from ANCO's ASCO Highlights 2019 at https://www.vumedi.com/channel/ancos-asco-highlights-2019/.

- September 25 Deadline Fast Approaching! ANCO annually funds one  Young Investigator Award  (YIA) for a qualified Northern California early-career cancer researcher through Conquer CancerĀ®, the ASCO Foundation. We encourage all eligible Northern California Fellows and Trainees to apply. The YIA is a one-year, $50,000 grant that provides research funding to promising physicians to support their transition from final years of subspecialty training to faculty appointment and to encourage and promote quality research in clinical oncology. In addition, ANCO funds two  Merit Awards  for the 2020 ASCO Annual Meeting and an award to attend the 6thAnnual Scientific and Career Development Retreat in October 2020, which is by invitation only. Learn more at  https://anco.org/membership/fellow-benefits/ . For questions about eligibility and the application, please contact Conquer Cancer at  grants@conquer.org .
   
- ANCO physician members, their practice staff, and representatives from ANCO's corporate members must register to access password protected content on the new ANCO website ( www.anco.org ) at  https://anco.org/membership/already-a-member/ .
 
Follow ANCO on Twitter at  @ANCO News .



National News

- Contact your lawmakers regarding two bills ASCO is supporting--HR913, the Clinical Treatment Act, that would require Medicaid to cover the routine care costs associated with clinical trials; and, HR3107, the Improving Senior's Timely Access to Care Act, that would streamline prior authorization practices within the Medicare Advantage program. Learn more and weigh in with your lawmakers at https://asco.quorum.us/action_center/

- America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association sent comments to the House Committee on Small Business underscoring the importance of prior authorization, while physicians told lawmakers they wanted a say in how the process works. Dr. John Cullen, who testified on behalf of the Academy of Family Physicians, told the committee that generics should not be subject to prior authorization and physicians in alternative payment models should be exempt from the process. Lawmakers hear from insurers, physicians about prior authorization.


CMS News 

Under a recently finalized rule, providers enrolling in Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP will be required to disclose current or previous "affiliations" with other providers or suppliers with certain public integrity infractions. Specifically, CMS will require disclosure during enrollment of any current or previous affiliation with another provider and/or supplier that has uncollected debt or has been excluded, suspended, or had billing privileges revoked from a federal healthcare program. Until it is updated, CMS will not require new disclosures via the CMS-855 form and providers will only make required disclosures upon specific request from CMS. The rule also provides CMS with additional authority around preventing or revoking enrollment for certain infractions. These provisions go into effect Nov. 4, 2019. To learn more, review CMS'  fact sheet .
 
As Medicare Open Enrollment approaches, CMS is protecting Medicare beneficiaries by reminding them to be vigilant and take precautions to avoid falling victim to healthcare fraud. Scammers are after medical insurance and financial account information and passwords for their monetary gain and may use the increased public outreach activities during Open Enrollment as an opportunity to strike. Last year, CMS removed Social Security numbers from all Medicare cards. Even with this change, CMS is reminding people with Medicare to guard your Medicare card like a credit card, check Medicare claims summary forms for errors, and be wary of unsolicited requests for your Medicare number. CMS is airing a national advertising campaign through October 14, the day before Open Enrollment begins. The ads will run on television and on digital platforms. For more information on CMS' fraud efforts, including new authorities to stop fraud before it happens, click here.



Affiliate Association News

ASCO seeks comments on its draft guideline entitled  Systemic Therapy for Melanoma (by September 25); and, Diagnosis and Management of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Unknown Primary in the Head and Neck (by September 27) at https://www.asco.org/practice-guidelines/quality-guidelines/guidelines-tools-resources/open-comment-guidelines.
 
Register for ASCO's Advocacy Summit, September 25 & 26, 2019 in Washington, D.C. this two-day conference will feature guest speakers and network opportunities that will empower you to advocate for policies that support cancer research, your practice and highest quality patient care in meetings with your lawmakers.
 
ANCO and MOASC encourage eligible members (physicians who have completed their subspecialty training between 2010 and 2015) to apply by September 25 for the ASCO Leadership Development Program at https://www.asco.org/training-education/professional-development/leadership-development-program. In addition, the September 25 application deadline is also rapidly approaching for ASCO's Health Policy Leadership Development Program. Learn more and apply at https://www.asco.org/advocacy-policy/advocacy-center/health-policy-leadership-development-program.
 
The I Am Community Oncology campaign needs to keep the momentum going. There are still plenty of practices and locations that have not taken advantage of Community Oncology TV in their waiting rooms. Why not?  It's free, easy, and painless with no staff time or energy needed to maintain. Community Oncology TV is critical to our advocacy work. Over two years, literally millions of people across the country have learned about what were once obscure or wonky topics.  Raising awareness is the first step to actively engaging patients and their families to speak out on big issues that matter to community oncology. Such as, mandatory demonstration projects, aka "the Cancer Experiment" that we faced not too long ago, PBM abuses, the value of community oncology, why it matters where they get cancer care, and how they can join our advocacy efforts. Please give strong consideration (or re-consideration) to installing Community Oncology TV.  This is very important to community oncology advocacy, it is completely free to you, and it provides a value-add to your patients and practices. Your help is needed to keep growing Community Oncology TV and sharing the community oncology message!If you have any questions, concerns and would like to schedule a talk with someone about this, please reach out to Nick Ferreyros at nferreyros@coacancer.org.

- ASCO has revised and updated its ASCO Answers: Managing the Cost of Cancer Care Gives Financial Guidance to Patients and Families. The update is available at  https://shop.asco.org/mccc19_managing-the-cost-of-cancer-care-pack-of-50-booklets/ .
 
The First Annual Leadership, Empowerment, and Development (LEAD) conference will take place on October 4th and 5th at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica, California. This 2-day conference will focus on Enriching Experiences for Women in Hematology and Oncology through CME-certified clinical updates, career development workshops, professional networking opportunities, and one-on-one mentoring sessions. The target audience for this meeting is women in hematology/oncology careers seeking professional networking and science-based insights into the hematology/oncology landscape. Additional conference information, including the program agenda, can be found at www.LEADoncology.com.  Of note, fellows can register for the conference free of charge by using the promo code FELLOWS100. If you have any questions, please contact: Patti Bunyasaranand, MS, Program Manager, Bio Ascend LLC, 404-310-1180 cell, 312-277-6893 fax bunyasaranand@bioascend.com   www.bioascend.com.

You are cordially invited to the Research To Practice (RTP) "Year in Review," moderated by Dr. Neil Love, Saturday, October 12, 2019 at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel 1700 Ocean Avenue Santa Monica, California . Physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers are welcome. This activity is accredited for CME-ABIM MOC and CNE. To view the invitation, click HERE.  To register or to learn more, please www.ResearchToPractice.com/Meetings/ YIR2019/CA
 
MOASC Member, City of Hope CME presents: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Cancer Symposium on October 10-13, 2019 at the Waldorf Astoria, Las Vegas. This intensive program will provide participants with an enhanced ability to interpret and apply best treatment options into their individual cancer practices. For more information click  HERE. To register go to: https://cme.cityofhope.org/eventinfo_10946.html.
 
Join the Inland Empire Oncology Nursing Society fundraiser event for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night, on October 26, 2019 at the Auto Club Speedway of California in Fontana, money raised through Light The Night allows The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) to fund treatments for patients who are suffering from all forms of blood cancers. In 2018, LLS helped advance 19 of 21 approved blood cancer therapies. Beating cancer is in our blood. Donate NOW!
 
The 2019 Innovatix + Essensa National Meeting & Expo is only 1 month away October 28-30 in Atlanta!As a MOASC purchasing member, you pay no registration fee for the conference or the sessions. There is still time to register for this annual event providing three highly anticipated days of learning, networking, and business development. Make sure you don't miss out on this exclusive opportunity, REGISTER TODAY. Each year, the Innovatix + Essensa National Meeting & Expo brings together members, contracted suppliers, and staff from Premier's Alternate Site Programs division for three highly anticipated days of learning, networking and business development. The educational sessions feature nationally recognized policy leaders and influencers who share their knowledge about ways to help your business thrive. Please plan to register early to secure your spot as space is limited, and we anticipate it to fill quickly. Please review the National Meeting web page for additional details and register to attend today before space or time runs out! REGISTER TODAY
 
- Research To Practice will hold their First Annual Oncology Nursing Retreat taking place this year from Friday, November 8th through Sunday, November 10th at the Diplomat Beach Resort Hotel in Hollywood Beach, Florida. This educational meeting will focus on covering a plethora of common solid tumors & hematologic cancers with expertise from a stellar faculty panel of clinical investigators and nurse practitioners (33 in total). There is no fee for oncology nurses to participate. For more information and to register, click on the link below. http://www.researchtopractice.com/Meetings/CNERetreat2019
 
Download the mid-year update on the MyCOA Members Portal! This update is available exclusively to COA's members and subscribers through the MyCOA member portal:
Already a member? Just click here and log in to MyCOA.
Need to sign up? Click here to sign up on MyCOA for free!
 
The Friends of Community Oncology PAC is the only national independent PAC dedicated solely to community oncology. FCO PAC is entirely non-partisan and only support candidates based on criteria directly related to defending community oncology in Washington, DC.

Start planning now for the meeting you cannot miss!   The preliminary program for the 61st ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, December 7-10, 2019, in Orlando, is now available online.  Take a look to start planning your meeting now and ensure you have access to the most up-to-date information on this year's exciting sessions, speakers, and events.
 
NCCN has published updated guidelines: https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/default.aspx.



Industry News

Merck informs ANCO and MOASC that the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved two new indications for Keytruda--for patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer that progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy and at least one other prior line of therapy, and a mono therapy for certain patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Keytruda is now available in new packaging containing two 100mg/4mL single-dose vials in a single carton. The NDC for this new package of Keytruda is 00006-3026-04. Updated Letter 
 
Janssen Oncology invites you to their upcoming webinar Prostate Cancer: Understanding Today's Treatment Challenges on September 30, 2019 at 5:00pm PST. For more information click here and to register click go to http://trio.adobeconnect.com/janssenoncology145566/event/registration.html











In This Issue





 
MOASC CALENDAR

Educational Series 
November 14, 2019

Oncology Summit 
March 14, 2020









ANCO
CALENDAR

 
(NCCN, San Francisco, September 27-28) 
 

8th International Cancer Metastatis Congress
(San Francisco, October 25-27) 
 
Supportive Care in Oncology
(ASCO, San Francisco, October 25-26) 

Kaiser Permanente National Oncology Symposium (Los Angeles, November 8-9)
 
  ANCO-UCSF Precision Oncology Symposium (San Francisco, November 9)

Best of WCLC San Francisco
(Complimentary
Early Bird ANCO member registration available; November 23) 

ASCO's Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium
(San Francisco, January 23-25, 2020) 

ASCO's Genitourinary Cancers Symposium
(San Francisco, February 13-15, 2020) 

Stanford's Review of the 61st Annual ASH Annual Meeting (Half Moon Bay, February 15, 2020)

 
The  Medical Oncology Association of Southern California (MOASC) is a leading oncology society that advances and protects the ability of cancer patients to obtain, and the ability of the oncology physicians to provide, optimal cancer care. The  Association of Northern California Oncologists (ANCO) is an association of hematologists/oncologists dedicated to promoting high professional standards of cancer care by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas, data, and knowledge. The material contained in the California Oncology Weekly is intended as general information for ANCO and MOASC members. Because diagnostic, treatment, contracting, coding, and billing decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis, any such information contained in the California Oncology Weekly may not apply in any given situation. Members are encouraged to contact their own consultants or advisors to obtain specific advice on matters relating to contracting, coding, and billing. The information contained in California Oncology Weekly should not be used as a substitute for such advice. This publication provides a summary of regulations affecting oncology and its business practices. Reading this newsletter does not substitute for understanding regulations and verifying the validity of every claim. This information is time-sensitive and is subject to change. MOASC or ANCO accepts no liability for any statements or articles herein. CPT codes are owned and trademarked by the American Medical Association.  All Rights Reserved.

 

  

MOASC: P.O. Box 161, Upland, CA 91785 | P (909) 985-9061 | F (909) 804-5006| www.moasc.org

ANCO: P.O. Box 151109, San Rafael, CA 94915 |  P (415) 472-3960 | F (415) 472-3961 | www.anco.org