Volume 119, No. 1: January 2023 Edition | |
|
They Said It...
"I watched Dr. Preston Phillips work almost 30 years ago, when I was a medical student, and he was senior surgical resident at Yale Medical School. Working with Dr. Phillips was like playing with Lebron James; he was bigger, more talented, and better than the rest of the team. The other Black doctors in training at Yale admired and hoped to become as dedicated to our patients as he. Four of us, who tried to follow his example, were devastated to hear that he was the doctor who was gunned down in Tulsa in June in a mass shooting by an angry patient who purchased an assault rifle the day of his massacre." Dr. William King Jr., Vice President of the Medical Society of Eastern PA and Board Member At Large of PCMS, offers his perspective on the gun violence epidemic in our Winter 2023 edition of Philadelphia Medicine, available here.
| |
Things you should know... | |
Non-Competes – What’s happening to your employment contract? | |
|
Nationally...
In January, the FTC proposed a new federal rule that would ban all non-compete clauses, except for in a few limited exceptions, and would require companies to rescind any existing non-compete agreements at the time of the rule’s effective compliance date. The proposed FTC rule would apply to all businesses including healthcare such as physician practices and hospitals.
Healthcare in some states like Pennsylvania have relied heavily on non-compete agreements, and should the proposed rule be finalized, it would have a significant impact for physicians and those healthcare institutions that employ physicians. The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register and triggered a 60-day public comment period which opened Jan 9, 2023. Once a final rule is published, it will become effective 60 days after publication, and compliance is mandatory 180 days after publication. Click here to learn more or to submit a comment.
In Pennsylvania...
The Commonwealth is one in a minority of states that have no laws on the books to limit the use of restrictive covenants, also known as non-competes. Back in December, several State Representative members sought to re- introduce a bill, formerly HB 681, in the next legislative session: Barring Non-Compete Agreements in Healthcare Employment. PAMED policy has always looked for a compromise and sought to protect the interests of both employers and practitioner employees. To learn more, please check out: Restrictive Covenants - Why It Should Matter to All Physicians Regardless of Practice Setting
Have a comment or concern on non-competes? Please contact us at [email protected].
| |
Scope of Practice back with CRNPs | |
|
Last week, it was learned that a bipartisan pair of PA State Senators are planning another push to allow nurse practitioners to work independently in Pennsylvania, enabling them to set up their own practices offering some of the care provided by doctors.
See: Modernization of the Professional Nursing Law
The two Senators, who have tried previously to enable nurse practitioners to operate independently, plan to reintroduce their bill during the new two-year legislative session that begins this week. Their proposed change to the law would grant nurse practitioners “full practice authority” after completing a three-year, 3,600-hour collaboration with a physician. Under current Pennsylvania law, nurse practitioners must work under a collaborative agreement with a physician. They are often part of a team of caregivers in healthcare settings such as family medical practices.
The PAMED remains concerned regarding patient care and understands that patients prefer having a physician responsible for their care. Want to know more of what to expect for 2023? Watch PAMED's legislative preview video with PAMED Executive Vice President, Martin Raniowski and David Thompson, Senior Director of Legislative Affairs.
| |
MIPS hardships extended until March 2023 | |
|
Thanks to the AMA efforts, CMS has extended the 2022 application deadline for COVID-19-related MIPS hardships to March 3, 2023 at 8 pm ET. CMS has also announced that they will not be applying an automatic COVID-19 hardship for the 2022 performance year, so if you need a 2022 hardship due to COVID-19, be sure to apply. The Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstance (EUC) hardship application is available in your QPP account. Any data submitted for an individual, group, or virtual group will be scored. Data submission for an APM Entity won’t override performance category reweighting from an approved application. You can learn more here.
| |
Food insecurity in the working poor | |
|
Research on food insecurity in the working poor is being conducted around the city. The proposed research consists of interviewing patients, physicians, insurance companies, employers and government officials to understand each of the stakeholders’ perspective on the issue and present a novel solution.
Carol Haines, RN, BSN, MBA and doctoral candidate with the Jefferson Strategic Leadership program is actively recruiting physicians to participate in a 15-minute interview to discuss the concerns in caring for patients with food insecurity. If you are interested in participating in this research, please reach out to Carol directly at [email protected].
| |
Be on the watch for an increase in invasive group A streptococcal (iGAS) infections | |
|
CDC earlier this month issued a Health Advisory to notify physicians and public health authorities of a recent increase in pediatric invasive group A streptococcal (iGAS) infections. The announcement highlighted the recent rise in iGAS infections in children, the increased seasonal risk of iGAS disease for all age groups, and the importance of early recognition, diagnosis, and appropriate treatment of these diseases.
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health reported that while the overall number of reported cases has remained relatively low and iGAS infections remain rare in children, severe cases associated with high mortality and which required immediate treatment, including appropriate antibiotic therapy, were reported. In Philadelphia, iGAS infections among children have not increased recently. iGAS infections among adults aged 18 to 64 years have increased over the past several years, due to an increased number of infections among persons who use drugs. To learn more about this and other local health alerts, check out the PDPH Health Information Portal.
| |
Biosimilars: Are they the same quality? | |
|
A biosimilar is a biologic that is highly similar to another biologic that’s already FDA-approved, called a reference product. Use this FDA infographic to discuss with your patients about biologics and biosimilars. Biosimilars have no clinically meaningful differences from their reference product in terms of safety, purity, and potency. Biosimilars are versions of brand name biologics that may offer more affordable treatment options to patients, similar to generic drugs. The FDA now offers a series of free CME Courses on Biosimilars & Interchangeable Products through Medscape and to access these courses, signing up is free.
| |
How is Physician Work Paid: Now and in the Future - Recording available | |
|
If you missed this very informative program presented by Dr. William Van Decker, please check it out here. Far too often physicians enter the workforce unclear on how health care is paid. Knowledge on how to get paid is central to the transition to practice and your quality of life. This 90 minute program was held on January 11 and covers the various types of payment models such as: Fee-for-service, Capitation, Hybrid, and Direct primary care.
| |
Do you know a colleague who deserves to be recognized? | |
|
Consider nominating them for one of our annual awards! Awardees will be honored by PCMS during the formal Presidents Installation event on Saturday, June 3, 2023 with physical awards, media recognition, and a feature in our annual Installation and Awards publication of Philadelphia Medicine.
Strittmatter Award: Since 1923, the award has honored a PCMS physician who has demonstrated to the Society the most valuable contributions to the healing art, surgical or medical. Requirements: A physician colleague should submit a nominating letter and include the candidate’s current curriculum vitae. Please email Eileen Ryan at PCMS: [email protected]
Practitioner of the Year Award: Presented to a PCMS member for excellence in patient care and community service. Requirements: Physician colleagues, medical students and staff may send letters of nomination. Please include examples of community service. Click Here to Nominate
The Dr. Vanitha Appadorai Vaidya Award for Humaneness in Medicine: Presented to a PCMS resident/fellow physician for his/her exceptional ability to work with people, patients, and their families, and for his/her understanding of human as well as clinical needs. Requirements: Medical students, physicians and professional staff are urged to submit nominating letters and include written examples of their nominee’s humaneness. Click Here to Nominate
Cristol Award: Presented to a PCMS physician member who has made a significant contribution to the Society by furthering and enhancing the educational, scientific and charitable goals, purposes and functions of organized medicine. Requirements: Physicians and medical student members are encouraged to submit nominating letters. Send your nomination letters to [email protected]. For more information or to nominate a member, please email or call Eileen Ryan at 215-563-5344.
Nomination deadline is Friday, March 3, 2023.
| |
New toolkits available from AMA | |
HMS proposes standardization of "health care attachments" transactions | |
|
Last month, CMS, on behalf of HHS, issued a proposed rule that would standardize “health care attachments” transactions (medical charts, x-rays, provider notes, etc.) with the intent of streamlining the electronic submission of health care information and reducing administrative costs.
The proposed rule is available here and comments can be submitted until March 22. For more information on the rule, click here.
| |
CONTRACT CORNER BRIEFS
by Karen E. Davidson, Esquire
| |
GROUNDBREAKING DEVELOPMENT
In follow-up to our December Contract Corner Brief on non-compete provisions, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a “Proposed Rule” on January 5, 2023 which would prohibit noncompete clauses for “workers” (e.g., employees, contractors, etc.) in all business sectors including health care. If ultimately finalized, the rule could significantly impact physician employment contracts.
Click here to view the full text (PDF) (Scroll to Page 211 towards the end of the Proposed Rule to read the rule itself.)
Under the Proposed Rule “employers” would be required to notify workers (present and former) who have non-compete restrictions that the non-compete is rescinded and no longer in effect. One exception would be to allow non-competes under circumstances of a business sale. Employers would also be prohibited from imposing training costs (as a type of de facto non-compete) if a worker’s employment terminates within a specific time period, unless the payment amount is “reasonably related” to costs the employer incurs - a possible opening here for employers to impose some penalty.
The rule is proposed to take effect 180 days after it is published as final which could take time. We are now in the 60-day comment period, so you can be sure that business of all types will submit comments seeking to fend off the rule or seek additional exceptions. Prohibiting non-competes would be a sea change throughout all business sectors given their wide-spread use. Stay tuned for developments!
| |
|
Deadline for PAMED Year-Round Leadership Academy Registration
The deadline to register for the Pennsylvania Medical Society's Year-Round Leadership Academy is Tuesday, January 31. This program is for physicians transitioning from a patient care role to an administrative role in leadership and for those who are taking on new leadership roles or responsibilities within their practice or system. The program includes 4 in-person sessions, online mini-courses, webinars and coaching.
You can learn more and sign up here.
| |
|
Understanding the Military Experience
Date: Thursday, February 2, 2023
Time: 11:00 am to 7:30 pm ET
Star Behavioral Health Providers is providing training to help health care providers better understand the needs of service members, veterans and their families. The training is free and comprised of three tiers that must be taken sequentially. Multiple dates are available.
Learn More and Register Here
| |
|
The 12th Annual Clinical Update in Gastroenterology
Date: Saturday, April 29, 2023
Save the date! Our annual update in Gastroenterology will be held virtually on Saturday, April 29! Stay tuned for more information!
| | | | |
