The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (federal CMS) started mailing new Medicare cards to people with Medicare who live in Wave 3 states. They continue to mail new cards to people who live in Wave 2 states and territories, as well as nationwide to people who are new to Medicare. They finished mailing most cards to people with Medicare who live in Wave 1 states. Colorado is in Wave 6, scheduled to mail "after June."

If someone with Medicare says they did not get a card: 

• Print and give them the "Still Waiting for Your New Card?" handout (in English or Spanish). 
• Or tell them to call 1-800-Medicare (1-800-633-4227). 

Physicians are invited to participate in a virtual focus group that is part of a project to improve cybersecurity in health care. The United States Department of Health and Human Services is seeking advice from the health care industry around the country on how to promote cybersecurity in our sector. 

 
As part of that effort, a virtual focus group will be conducted among health practitioners in Colorado on Aug. 9, 6 - 8 p.m. MT online via a WebEx conference. The aim of this two-hour discussion will be to learn more about awareness, practices, and attitudes towards cybersecurity. 

 
Participants in this important effort will help inform and shape the plans and outreach efforts of HHS as it works to address health care cybersecurity issues. 

 
Unfortunately, due to federal regulations on this type of project, financial incentives cannot be provided. These focus group sessions are being organized by a research firm working with the government. 

 
This is a great opportunity to weigh in on an important issues facing our industry today. It's important -- and it should be interesting, too.  

Focus group participants will be capped at 15 people. RSVP by emailing [email protected].

The federal CMS updated the Quality Payment Program Look-Up Tool with 2018 Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligibility and Qualifying Alternative Payment Model (APM) Participant (QP) data. Enter a National Provider Identifier (NPI) to find out:

• Whether you need to participate in MIPS in 2018
• Your Predictive QP status

You can also check 2018 MIPS clinician eligibility at the group level and APM Predictive QP status at the APM entity level:

• Log into the Quality Payment Program website with your Enterprise Identity Data Management credentials 
• Browse to the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) affiliated with your group 
• Access the details screen to view the eligibility status of every clinician based on their NPI 
• Download the list of all NPIs associated with your TIN, including eligibility information for each NPI

For more information:  

• Predictive QP Methodology Fact Sheet 
• Contact the Quality Payment Program Service Center at [email protected] or 866-288-8292 (TTY: 877-715-6222)

The Colorado QPP Coalition -- of which the Colorado Medical Society is a leading member -- has resources, training and technical assistance accessible to clinicians and their team on their website, www.cms.org/coqpp. Visit the website often for resources, including monthly live webinars and the webinar archive. COQPP is here to help clinicians and their teams successfully transition to the QPP.

The Association of Health Care Auditors and Educators will hold their national conference in Denver Aug. 2-4, 2018. A nationally renowned panel of speakers will address auditing and investigations; HCC, MACRA and other risk programs; health care law and compliance; reporting and monitoring; reimbursement and auditing impacts; and more.

Network with high level professionals. The event is recommended for auditors and educators, EHR users and vendors, compliance officers, coders and billers, physicians and clinicians, practice administrators, educators and lawyers, health plan professionals and HIM professionals.

This program will have prior approval from various organizations for up to 27 continuing hours (AHCAE, CCB, AHIMA and AAPC). View more information and register here.