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 18,
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This Weekly's Hot Topics
- THIS THURSDAY! Sept. 20, don't miss MOASC's Educational Series Program (MOASC News)
- NEXT TUESDAY! Sept. 25 is the last day to submit your application for Conquer Cancer Foundation's 2019 Young Investigator Award, including an award for a northern California Fellow. (ANCO News)
- Oct. 2 California DoJ will begin enforcing mandatory use of the Controlled Substance Utilization and Review System (CURES 2.0) Database.(California News)
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California News
- On October 2, 2018, the California Department of Justice (CDoJ) will begin enforcing mandatory use of the Controlled Substance Utilization and Review System (CURES 2.0) Database. In general, mandatory use will require prescribers to consult with CURES the first time that a patient is prescribed a controlled substance (Schedule II, Schedule III, or Schedule IV). For more information on mandatory use, see this publication from the California Medical Board. In addition, view the California Medical Association (CMA)/CDoJ webinar on CURES at www.cmadocs.org/newsroom/news/view/ArticleId/27813/CURES-webinar-with-DOJ-now-available-for-on-demand-viewing.
For your perusal are the important documents for you to become familiar and are prepared to enact in your practice.
For your perusal are the important documents for you to become familiar and are prepared to enact in your practice.
- The California Oncology PAC is
pleased to report that the Governor just signed our co-sponsored bill, AB 1860 (Limόn) Health care coverage: cancer treatment. This bill limits the out of pocket expenses for oral anti-cancer medications used to kill or slow the growth of cancerous cells to $250 per prescription per month.
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- NHS will no longer support modem functionality after October 1st, 2018. Any provider or vendor who utilizes modems for connectivity and data exchange with Noridian will need to find alternative methods for their connectivity. Many submitters who still utilize modems may not be aware of the alternative connectivity options available to them. Network Service Vendors (NSVs) offer many affordable, user-friendly connectivity options which allow submitters to utilize a secure SFTP internet connection for file transfers. A listing of Network Service Vendors conducting business with NHS can be found by going to www.edissweb.com, selecting your state, and clicking the link at the end of the EDISS to End Support of Modem Technology article under the "What's New"section.
- Noridian/JEMAC has the following updates on their website
- MLN Connects Provider eNews:
Announcements
: Help Your Medicare Patients Avoid and Report Scams; Hospice Provider Preview Reports: Review Your Data by October 5; Quality Payment Program: Other Payer Advanced APM Resources; Physician Compare: Public Reporting Webinar Materials; Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Events
: Final Modifications to the Quality of Patient Care Star Rating Algorithm Call-October 3
Claims, Pricers & Codes
:
Publications
: ASC Payment System: October 2018 Update MLN Matters Article-New; Complying with Documentation Requirements for Laboratory Services Fact Sheet-Revised;
* Stereotactic Radiosurgery LCD-R4
* Controlled Substance Monitoring and Drugs of Abuse Testing LCD-R6
* Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy LCD-R5
* IMRT Planning Services Editing SE18013
* Noridian Medicare Portal (NMP) Offers Expanded Denial Details
* CERT Claim Look Up Tool Available in the Noridian Medicare Portal
- Upcoming Noridian/JEMAC webinars include:
* Recovery Audit (RAC) Program Webinar (September 19)
* Understanding the Medicare Fee Schedule-September 25, 2018
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- THIS THURSDAY! Don't miss MOASC's Educational Series Program Thursday, September 20, 8:00am to 12:30pm at the Waterfront Beach Resort, Huntington Beach. For practice administrators & managers, topics include: utility and value of COA Analyzer Tool, Pharmacy Standards Update and Value Based Care and bundled payment negotiation. Billers' topics will address: Navigating Denials; Billing Updates; Telemedicine in Oncology, Care Management reimbursement opportunities; proposed changes for 2019 Medicare physician fee schedule and much more. Contact moasc@moasc.org for meeting information.
- Immediately following the MOASC Educational Series Program on September 20th, MOASC Corporate Sponsor, AMGEN, is interested in scheduling lunch with attendees to discuss and get your input on:
· Amgen's Comprehensive Product Support for KYPROLIS
· Current oncology landscape
· Practice Resources and Patient Resources
· Q&A
If you are interested in participating, please answer the following questions and respond to moasc@moasc.org.
1. Name, Title and Name of Practice
2. Contact phone number
- You are cordially invited to MOASC's LunchTime Series Clinical webinars on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 at 12:00pm-PST AND 5:30pm-PST. MOASC Industry partner Kite Pharma is sponsoring a discussion around YESCARTA® (axicabtagene ciloleucel) a suspension for IV infusion. Click HERE to view the invitation. Presented by: Ran Reshef, MD, Columbia University Medical Center, New York.
- Return your completed survey no later than September 30! MOASC and ANCO are jointly conducting a 2018 Staff Salary Survey. The survey was USPS mailed, e-mailed/Faxed to all MOASC members in mid-May and is available online at www.anco-online.org/salsrvy.html. A $50 Visa gift card for respondents is included in this year's survey. Results will be analyzed and reported in 4Q2018.
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- The Conquer Cancer Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2019 Young Investigator Award (YIA), including the YIA dedicated to a northern California Fellow. Learn more about the YIA at https://www.conquer.org/young-investigator-award and submit your application no later than September 25. In addition, ASCO is accepting applications for Career Development Awards (CDAs) that provide research funding to clinical investigators who have received their initial faculty appointment as they work to establish an independent clinical cancer research program. Applications for CDAs are also due by September 25 at www.conquer.org/career-development-award.
- ANCO and MOASC are jointly conducting a 2018 staff salary survey. The survey will be USPS mailed, e-mailed/FAXed to all ANCO members in mid-May and is available online at www.anco-online.org/salsrvy.html. A $50 Visa gift card for respondents is included in this year's survey. Return your completed survey no later than September 30; results will be analyzed and reported in 4Q2018.
- ANCO is organizing a series of Hematologic Malignancies Updates in 2018. These updates are supported by AMGEN, Janssen Oncology, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Novartis Oncology, and Seattle Genetics. Download the presentations www.anco-online.org/education.html. The next
Update
takes place on November 15 in San Francisco; watch for a meeting announcement/registration form in October.
- ANCO members may take advantage of complimentary registration at the Best of World Conference on Lung Cancer organized by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer and taking place in San Francisco on November 17. Register for an "Early Bird ANCO Member" ticket at https://bestofwclc2018.eventbrite.com.
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National News
- CURES 2.0 not with standing, the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 is expected to be voted on by the U.S. Senate TODAY! It is a bipartisan package of over 70 proposals intended to help combat the nation's opioid crisis.
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CMS News
- You have until October 15, 2018, at 5 p.m. Pacific Time to request a targeted review of your MIPS performance score. CMS recently released 2017 Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) performance scores and payment adjustment information for the 2019 payment year. Physicians have been able to request targeted reviews if they believe an error was made in the calculation of their performance score. Based on these requests, CMS reviewed the concerns, identified a few errors in the scoring logic and implemented system-wide solutions.
The 2019 MIPS payment adjustments have been corrected for clinicians impacted by the identified issues. Additionally, in order to ensure the budget neutrality that is required by law under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), some clinicians not directly impacted by the corrections will see slight changes in their payment adjustment as a result of the reapplication of budget neutrality. Revisions were made to the performance feedback on the Quality Payment Program (QPP) website on September 13, 2018.
Physicians are encouraged to sign-in to the QPP website as soon as possible to review their performance feedback. If you believe an error still exists with your 2019 MIPS payment adjustment, you can request a targeted review until October 15, 2018, at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.
Physicians, physician groups and accountable care organizations (and their authorized representatives) can access their performance feedback by logging into qpp.cms.gov with the same EIDM credentials used to submit and view their data during the submission period.
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Yesterday,
CMS announced a proposed rule to relieve burden on healthcare providers by removing unnecessary, obsolete or excessively burdensome Medicare compliance requirements for healthcare facilities.
The Proposed rule, driven by agency's Patients Over Paperwork initiative, is expected to save U.S. healthcare facilities $1.12 billion per year. Taking into account policies across rules finalized in 2017 and 2018 as well as this and other proposed rules, savings are estimated at $5.2 billion.
CMS developed the proposed rule in response to President Trump's charge to federal agencies to "cut the red tape" and reduce burdensome regulations. In addition, feedback from Requests for Information (RFIs) the agency issued seeking stakeholder input on regulatory burdens helped inform this proposed rule, with particular attention to comments and anecdotal insights from clinicians serving Medicare beneficiaries.
Experts agree that reducing unnecessary burden is critical to improving patient care. Burden hours represent the amount of time healthcare providers spend complying with federal regulations. A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that for every hour providers spend seeing patients, nearly two additional hours are spent on paperwork.
- CMA, ASCO, AMA, ASH, ASTRO and 90 other medical societies have cosigned a letter to CMS calling on them to "reconsider its decision to allow Medicare Advantage plans to use 'step therapy' or 'fail-first' cost-control programs for Part B drugs."
- Your
Quality Payment Program Hardship ExceptionApplication
for the Promoting Interoperability (PI) performance category (formerly Advancing Care Information) must be submitted to CMS by Dec. 31, 2018. If you are participating in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) during 2018 as an individual, group, or virtual group; or participating in a MIPS Alternative Payment Model, submit your application by citing one of the following reasons:
Small practices (new for 2018);
Using decertified EHR technology (new for 2018);
Insufficient Internet connectivity;
Extreme and uncontrollable circumstances;
Lack of control over the availability of certified electronic health record technology.
If the hardship exception is approved, CMS will reweight your PI performance category score to 0% of the final score and reallocate the 25% weighting of the PI performance category to the Quality performance category.
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Affiliate Association News
- ASCO develops and publishes clinical practice guidelines to provide evidence-based recommendations and outline appropriate methods of treatment and care. New guidelines or guideline updates have recently been published on:
- ASCO's Education Scholars Program is now accepting applications through September 25. Participants in this year-long selective program will undergo learning science training, undertake training by ASCO's Leadership Development Program executive coach, and design an ASCO education activity based on learning theory and learning science. Learn more at www.asco.org/training-education/professional-development/education-scholars-program.
- The deadline to sign up for electronic reporting with the QOPI Reporting Registry, a QCDR brought to you by ASCO and ASTRO, is October 1st. The sooner you sign up, the more time you have for reporting, monitoring and improving on your practice's quality of care, so you can receive the maximum payment increase in 2020. The QOPI Reporting Registry is a one-stop shop to submit your data to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and help improve your practice's quality of care. It features: An easy-to-use dashboard; 25 CMS-approved quality measures; An option to attest to participation in Improvement Activities and Promoting Interoperability (formerly Advancing Care Information); A real-time estimated MIPS score to track throughout your reporting; An electronic submission option that works with most EHR systems, including EPIC, GE Centricity, MOSAIQ, OncoEMR, and Varian products. If your EHR is not listed, please email the QOPI Help Desk at QOPI@asco.org to confirm we support your EHR. For more information and to sign-up, visit the QOPI Reporting Registry page or contact us today to get started.
- You are cordially invited to the Research To Practice (RTP) "Year in Review" Moderated by Dr. Neil Love. It has been scheduled for Saturday, November 17, 2018 at Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows; 101 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401. Physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers are welcome. This activity is accredited for CME-ABIM MOC and CNE - ILNA/ONCC. To view the invitation, click HERE. To register or to learn more, please visit: http://www.researchtopractice.com/Meetings/YIR2018/CA
- NCCN has published the following updates at www.nccn.org: bone cancer (V1.2019), neuroendocrine and adrenal tumors (V3.2018), Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia/lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (V2.2019).
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- AstraZeneca informs ANCO and MOASC that the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved Lumoxiti for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory hairy cell leukemia who received at least two prior systemic therapies, including treatment with a purine nucleoside analog (PNA).
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Stemline Therapeutics
is launching a hematology treatment in the future for a rare, orphan disease. Stemline Therapeutics is looking for physicians who are involved in Patient Advocacy with Leukemia and Lymphoma
as part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you are involved and interested, please contact the MOASC Office moasc@moasc.org for more information. As mentioned in the 8/21 & 8/28editions of the California Oncology Weekly, Stemline Therapeutics announced that the FDA has accepted ELZONRISTM, for the treatment of patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN).
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MOASC CALENDAR
LunchTime Series
September 26, 2018
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SAVE THE DATE
19th Multidisciplinary Management of Cancers: A Case-based Approach
(Napa, March 15-17)
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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-online.org
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