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In this Issue...
- Idahoans For Healthy Moms is LIVE!
- Help Us Help You Update Medicare Physician Payment!
- IMA Board Positions Up for Elections
- Six New COVID-19 Vaccine Codes Effective September 11, 2023
- Can You Afford Not to be an IMA Member?
- Physician Vitality Program
- New Cybersecurity Training Videos Available on AMA Ed Hub
- IMA Education Webinar - Explore Medicare's Final Rule 2024
- Order Your 2024 AMA Coding BooksToday!
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Idahoans For Healthy Moms is LIVE!
For more than 16 months, IMA has been working tirelessly to reform Idaho’s abortion laws. Our initial effort required working closely with the Idaho Legislature to educate them on unintended consequences and advocate for meaningful changes to the law. IMA physicians shared your experiences of patients being unable to access medically necessary care that is now illegal. However, during the journey, IMA began to hear from several physicians that the general public is not fully informed about Idaho’s far-reaching laws. In some cases, even friends and relatives were unaware of the impacts, and discovering the unintended consequences after it was too late.
Your IMA team heard you and, on October 16, launched Idahoans for Healthy Moms. This educational outreach campaign aims to inform Idahoans about how the laws are harming access to care for pregnant women and causing physicians to leave the state. By sharing stories of those directly impacted, the result is a thoughtfully crafted initiative that brings the real-life accounts of everyday Idahoans to life. Simply put -- Idaho’s ban is hurting families, and exceptions must be made to ensure women who want to have babies can do so safely.
We are proud of this project. Please visit IdahoHealthyMoms.org to see for yourself.
As the physicians on the frontline, we invite you to be a part of this effort. If you are interested in sharing your story or contributing financially, please email connect@idahohealthymoms.org.
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Help Us Help You Update Medicare Physician Payment!
The American Medical Association (AMA) Physician Practice Information (PPI) Survey is underway, and they urgently need all selected physicians to engage in this effort actively. The intent of the survey, which has been endorsed by over 170 medical societies, including Idaho Medical Association (see complete list here), is to collect updated and accurate data on practice costs, which are a vital element of physician payment. This data has yet to be updated since last collected over 15 years ago, and it is critically important to update this data to ensure accurate payment.
See here for more information about this survey.
Mathematica, a well-regarded consulting firm, is helping the AMA run this survey. Your practice may receive an email (from ppisurvey@mathematica-mpr.com) and a USPS priority mail packet from Mathematica that contains a link to the survey as well as supporting information. The AMA urges you to speak with your practice management colleagues to determine if they have received these communications and ask them to complete this critical survey. In the coming weeks or months, your practice, or Mathematica, may ask you to complete a brief survey on the number of weekly hours spent on direct patient care. Help us help YOU to update Medicare physician payment!
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IMA Board Positions Up for Election
Seats in Districts 2, 4A & 6 are up for election for four-year terms, and eligible for re-election in 2027.
- District 2: The North Idaho District Medical Society represents all IMA physicians in Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, and Yakima counties.
- District 4A: Current Trustee Stacia Munn, MD has indicated her intent to seek re-election. Ada County Medical Society represents all IMA member physicians in Ada and Elmore counties.
- District 6: The Idaho Falls Medical Society represents all IMA physicians in Bonneville, Butte, Custer, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison, and Teton counties.
The IMA Board meets four times per year. Two Board meetings are held in Boise, specifically, February 2, 2024, and May 3, 2024. The third meeting is part of a Board retreat on June 28–30, 2024 in McCall and the fourth meeting is during the IMA House of Delegates Annual Meeting on October 3 and 6, 2024, in Sun Valley. The IMA Board of Trustees acts on all policies, regulations, and legislation affecting physicians, their practices, the profession, and healthcare delivery in our state.
Physicians interested in running are encouraged to submit their names to appear on the ballots. If you have any questions, please contact the IMA at 208-344-7888 or rebecca@idmed.org.
The deadline for submissions is Friday, November 24, 2023.
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Six New COVID-19 Vaccine Codes Effective September 11, 2023
By Jana Weis, Gill Compliance Solutions
CMS recently published new codes for the most current COVID-19 variants circulating in the United States. The federal government is not purchasing these products (as they did during the PHE), yet CMS will reimburse for the drug and its administration under the applicable Medicare Part B payment policy. These vaccines have been updated to include a monovalent (single) component corresponding to the Omicron variant XBB.1.5.
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| New CPT Codes | CPT Short Description | Vaccine Name/Manufacturer | National Pricing | | 90480 | ADMN SARSCOV2 VACC 1 DOSE | N/A | $40.00 | | 91318 | SARSCOV2 VAC 3MCG TRS-SUC | Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine 2023-2024 Formula (Yellow Cap) | $65.36 | | 91319 | SARSCV2 VAC 10MCG TRS-SUC IM | Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine 2023-2024 Formula (Blue Cap) | $87.78 | | 91320 | SARSCV2 VAC 30MCG TRS-SUC IM | COMIRNATY (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) 2023-2024 Formula (Pfizer-BioNTech) | $131.10 | | 91321 | SARSCOV2 VAC 25 MCG/.25ML IM | Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine 2023-2024 Formula | $145.92 | | 91322 | SARSCOV2 VAC 50 MCG/0.5ML IM | SPIKEVAX 2023-2024 Formula (Moderna) | $145.92 | | |
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Note: Medicare no longer pays for the following codes as of September 12, 2023:
91312, 91313, 91314, 91315, 91316, 91317, 0121A, 0124A, 0134A, 0141A, 0142A, 0144A, 0151A, 0154A, 0164A, 0171A, 0172A, 0173A, and 0174A
The complete COVID-19 vaccine table can be found at: https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/all-fee-service-providers/medicare-part-b-drug-average-sales-price/vaccine-pricing
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Can You Afford Not to be an IMA Member?
When you join IMA, you hire a powerful staff to protect the viability of your practice. By protecting your practice from legal, legislative, and regulatory intrusions, your IMA membership lets you focus on what’s really important: your patients.
Join thousands of your Idaho colleagues and take advantage of the countless ways IMA can help enhance your professional life.
The Idaho Medical Association (IMA) advocates protecting physicians and urges them to join our community of over 4,000 members. By becoming a member of IMA, you will play a crucial role in ensuring that your voice is heard and that Idaho maintains its position as a leading medical practice location in the United States.
* Don't forget: If you pay your AMA dues through the IMA, the IMA benefits.
You can easily join IMA by visiting www.idmed.org or contacting us at (208) 334-7888.
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New Cybersecurity Training Videos Available on AMA Ed Hub
The “Cybersecurity for the Clinician” video training series on the AMA Ed Hub™ provides physicians and students in the medical profession with what they need to understand how cyber-attacks can affect clinical operations and patient safety. The eight videos in the series use easy, non-technical language to explain how you can do your part to help keep healthcare data, systems, and patients safe from cyber threats.
Produced by the Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council Cybersecurity Working Group, Episode 1 of the series, Cyber Safety Is Patient Safety, discusses the threat cyber-attacks pose to patients, including stealing patient data, disrupting clinical operations, and ultimately harming patients. Other episodes feature discussions on the social engineering techniques that are used to acquire patients' personal information, medical device cybersecurity, and the teams that act after a cyber-attack occurs. Each episode is hosted by Christian Dameff, MD, an emergency medicine physician and medical director for cybersecurity.
Also, in recognition of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, take advantage of other resources. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 405(d) Program is focused on providing the healthcare sector with impactful resources, products, and tools to raise awareness and strengthen its cybersecurity posture against threats. In addition, on its physician cybersecurity webpage, the AMA has curated resources and tips for physicians and healthcare staff to protect patient health records and other data from cyberattacks.
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