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August 11, MOASC will host a live Zoom meeting on Innovative Immunotherapy in Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma. Evolving Science, Key Clinical Evidence, and Implications for Multidisciplinary Management MOASC News
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California Department of Public Health issues public order requiring all health care professionals to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 30. California News
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Start analyzing the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule impact on your practice. CMS News
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August 11, COA Patient Advocacy Network virtual Advocacy Chat Affiliate Association News/ACCC News
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MOASC Programs - Save the Dates - All Times are Pacific
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August 11, 5:30-6:30 PDT, MOASC will host a live Zoom meeting on Innovative Immunotherapy in Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma. Evolving Science, Key Clinical Evidence, and Implications for Multidisciplinary Management. Karl D. Lewis, MD University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado Cancer Center, will chair & moderate the CME/MOC/NCPD/CPE presentation and discussions.
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August 19, 5:30-6:30 PDT, MOASC will host a live webinar on Practical Tips for Prostate Cancer, Genomic Testing Forum. Matthew Rettig, MD, Professor of Medicine and Urology, Medical Director Prostate Cancer Program, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Chief, Division of Hematology-Oncology, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System and Stephen Freedland, M.D., Warschaw, Robertson and Law Families; Chair in Prostate Cancer, Professor of Surgery (Urology), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Staff Physician, Durham VA Medical Center, will lead discussions. This program is intended for practitioners involved in prostate cancer care, to discuss the rationale and significance of genomic testing in prostate cancer and to understand the adoption of different molecular diagnostic options available.
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August 25th at 12:30pm, MOASC LunchTime Series presents a zoom meeting with Bradley Behrendt, Financial Consultant discussing new California law requirements that force business with more than 5 employees to provide a qualified health plan to their employees.
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SAVE THE DATE! MOASC’s Spotlight On Oncology is scheduled for Saturday, October 2, 2021 from 8am – 12pm. MOASC Board member, Jason Zell, MD will moderate discussions on: Melanoma presented by Omid Hamid, MD; Genitourinary Cancer presented by Nataliya Mar, MD; Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer presented by Jennifer Valerin, MD; Lower Gastrointestinal Cancer presented by May T. Cho, MD; Lung Cancer presented by Misako Nagasaka, MD, and Breast Cancer presented by Rita S. Mehta, MD.
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October 29-30, The University of California San Diego invites you to their inaugural Delivering Discoveries: Updates in Oncology CME conference. The diagnosis and management of cancer patients is increasingly complex and requires multidisciplinary management. This 1.5 day event will address all aspects of cancer from basic science research, advances in clinical care, to community-based approaches that optimize prevention and interception.
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The California Department of Public Health last Thursday issued a public order requiring all health care professionals to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 30. |
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It’s Time to Screen! Researchers analyzed screening mammography trends at the University of California at San Francisco and found screening mammograms dropped from 5,662 in 2019 to 3,385 in 2020, while the rate of missed appointments rose from 21% before the COVID-19 pandemic to 40% in March 2020.
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Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) - On-Demand Tutorials Available
Noridian offers two self-paced training tutorials to assist providers and facilities in better understanding of MSP Compliance, Payer Types, Conditional Payments and Tertiary claims.
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August 19 Evaluation and Management 2021 Clarifications - After Hours
This webinar is intended for Medicare Part B Providers and will include: • Evaluation and Management Codes 99202-99215 • AMA Errata and Technical Corrections • Review Questions and Answers • Resources.
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August 25 Provider Enrollment: PECOS Overview. Learn the advantages of PECOS. How it saves you time, tracks associates and applications. This session includes the PECOS questionnaire and submitting the e- signatures.
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August 25 Beneficiary Forms for Medicare Part A and Part B. This webinar is intended for Medicare Part A/B Providers and will include: • Beneficiary Notices Initiative (BNI) • Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) • Important Message from Medicare (IM) • Detailed Notice of Discharge (DND) • Hospital-Issued Notice of Noncoverage (HINN) • Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN).
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August 31 Noridian Medicare Portal (NMP) Claim Denial Details and Appeals. This webinar is intended for Medicare Part A/B Providers and will include: • Claim Status • Additional Documentation Request (ADR) • Reopenings • Appeals • Message Center • Resources
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CMS News
The 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) changes are economically impacting all healthcare organizations. The impact of these changes varies depending on many factors such as specialty type, case volume, and historical provider compensation per wRVU. Have you taken the time to analyze your situation? You can start estimating the impact of these changes today with the Coker Group E/M Coding Calculator.
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COA has electronically filed a preliminary comment letter regarding the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule cuts and the Radiation Oncology Model. COA has also performed an analysis of the PFS cuts for your review.
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Congress is moving forward on the draft 340B discounts, “follow the patient,” bill which will reimburse “eligible health care providers” for unreimbursed costs for 340B covered drugs. Linked here are: The draft bill (revised); an overview of the bill, and a section-by-section.
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National Cancer Institute centers had higher insurer spending and 90-day post-discharge payments than those who used community hospitals. Published in JAMA Network Open, researchers examined 67,000 patients age 65 and up with private insurance who underwent colon, breast or lung cancer surgery.
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Affiliate Association News |
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The ACCC Community Oncology Research Institute (ACORI) is holding the ACORI Call to Action Summit on September 13 -14, 2021.
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August 21, ANCO presents a hybrid meeting on the highlights of ASCO. ANCO’s ASCO21 Highlights will summarize the major research and treatment advancements presented at this year’s ASCO21 Virtual Meeting. The program will focus on breast, gastrointestinal genitourinary, gynecologic, head & neck, lung cancers and sarcoma, as well as a Plenary: Equity: Every Patient. Every Day. Everywhere and an Equity Panel. The faculty will place these developments in context as to their immediate clinical utility.
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September 11, ANCO's Virtual Hematologic Malignancies Updates (part II of III) will be presented. Please register online no later than Thursday, September 9th.
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The 2021 ASH Meeting on Hematologic Malignancies will take place September 10-11, at the Hilton Chicago and online as a virtual meeting. Hear top hematology experts present cutting-edge science, provide out-of-the-box treatment approaches, and answer challenging patient care questions during topic-based “How I Treat” presentations and panel discussions. Those who register for the in-person experience will also receive complimentary access to the meeting’s virtual platform.
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August 11, 9am PDT, join COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN) for a virtual Advocacy Chat. The chat will feature Brenda McGarr, RN, an oncology nurse at Augusta Oncology in Augusta, GA. With more than 17 years in the field, Brenda has experience from around the field, operating as an oncology nurse navigator, inpatient nurse, case manager, and other positions. Additionally, Brenda is the CPAN Chapter Leader for Augusta Oncology, working with passionate advocates to make sure their voice is heard from Atlanta to Washington, DC. Her unique wealth of perspectives will give viewers a 360-degree view of the oncology nurse life and how they work together with other care professionals to support patients. Take a look inside the care process and gain an appreciation for the hard work these nurse professionals put in delivering excellent care to their patients.
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Hey America, it’s Time to Screen! Early detection of cancer may save your life!
As announced in this publication earlier, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and CancerCare have formally launched Time to Screen with PSAs by Grammy Award-winning musician Patti LaBelle! Consumers must take charge of their health by getting screened for cancer now. Even with the significant national and local attention this effort is generating, more work needs to be done. COA is asking practices to help spread the word about the importance of timely cancer screenings and the Time to Screen campaign. COA has created a comprehensive communications toolkit that makes it easy for you to spread the word about Time to Screen. Getting the message out to your communities has never been easier! We can build on the momentum COA is beginning to generate around Time to Screen, but only if we amplify the campaign in communities around the country—communities like yours. On behalf of COA, CancerCare, and our generous campaign sponsors, thank you for helping boost cancer screening rates in the United States.
You can see Patti LaBelle’s PSA series, get the Practice Toolkit and various pieces to Get Involved, here.
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COA is asking practices to share with them the names of hospitals that are canceling elective surgeries due to the Covid-19 and Delta variant. COA wants to spotlight the issue which goes along with their Time To Screen campaign. Please share your information with Nick Ferreyros, Director of Communications nferreyros@COACANCER.ORG.
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Merck announced that the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-716 trial investigating KEYTRUDA, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, met its primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival (RFS) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with surgically resected high-risk stage II melanoma.
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Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced:
1. Phase 3 trial of LIBTAYO® (cemiplimab-rwlc) combined with chemotherapy stopped early due to significant improvement in overall survival in patients with first-line advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Libtayo combined with chemotherapy increased median overall survival from 13 to 22 months, leading to a 29% reduction in the risk of death.
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2. The FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to permit the emergency use of the unapproved product, REGEN-COV (casirivimab and imdevimab) co-formulated product and REGEN-COV (casirivimab and imdevimab) supplied as individual vials to be administered together, for the treatment of mild to moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in adult and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg) with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death.
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Oncopeptides cordially invites you to watch the On Demand video of Dr. Joseph Mikhael and Dr. Joshua Richter and learn more about PEPAXTO (melphalan flufenamide), the first anticancer peptide-drug conjugate, for some patients with triple-class refractory Multiple Myeloma.
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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 material contained in the California Oncology Weekly is intended as general information for 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 accepts no liability for any statements or articles herein. CPT codes are owned and trademarked by the American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
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