Volume 118, No. 1: January 2022 Edition
They Said It...

"There's the people who will not mask, don't believe in the science and will not vaccinate. When you have that, you start feeling resentment. The human politicization and polarization have caused a lack of empathy." Dr. Mona Masood, founder and chief organizer of the Physician Support Line, discussing physician burnout amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read more in our Winter 2022 edition of Philadelphia Medicine magazine.
Things you should know...
It is time to transition your account to the new PDMP program - learn how on Jan. 19!
The Pennsylvania Medical Society is hosting the Pennsylvania Department of Health to discuss the new and improved prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) system. This virtual webinar will be held on Jan. 19 at noon and will guide you through the steps to easily transition to the new system. Topics include when to start using the new PDMP system, how to transfer your account and what you need to transfer your account.
 
You can register at the PAMED website here. (You will be prompted to log in)
Quality Insights help is here
Navigating the CMS Quality Payment Program can be overwhelming, but that’s where Quality Insights can help. Their team of practice transformation specialists provide one-on-one
assistance to help practices meet and exceed program requirements. MIPS eligible small practices with 15 or fewer are eligible for no-cost assistance from Quality Insights. Contact them today at [email protected] to avoid this year’s 9% Medicare penalty.
No Surprises Act… Now what?
The No Surprises Act (NSA) establishes new federal protections against surprise medical bills that took effect on January 1, 2022. Surprise medical bills arise when insured consumers inadvertently receive care from out-of-network hospitals, doctors, or other providers they did not choose. NSA now requires certain health care providers and facilities to provide patients with a one-page disclosure notice that includes:
 
  • The requirements and prohibitions applicable to the provider or facility regarding balance billing
  • Any applicable state balance billing prohibitions or limitations
  • How to contact appropriate state and federal agencies if the patient believes the provider or facility has violated the requirements described in the notice.
 
This information must be publicly available from the provider or facility. PAMED/PCMS will continue to monitor implementation of the Act as well as the promulgation of accompanying regulations and provide updates accordingly.
 
The Pennsylvania’s Insurance Department has developed this model notice available for use here.
Tracking Legislation in Harrisburg
PAMED has been actively monitoring movement on two bills that affect our members in the Pennsylvania State House:
 
House Bill 1630 – This legislation will authorize the Auditor General to review and audit subcontracts between managed care organizations (MCOs) and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PAMED is supportive of this effort. Status: The House Health Committee voted unanimously to move HB1630 out of committee. This legislation will head to the House for consideration.
 
House Bill 1280 – This legislation amends the Patient Test Result Information Act to further define select pieces of language, as well as repealing the definition of “significant abnormality” and provisions related to test results. PAMED is supportive of this legislation. Status: The House unanimously passed HB1280 on third consideration. The legislation is now being considered by Senate.
 
PAMED also will continue to address additional advocacy issues affecting Pa. physicians and patients as they arise. You can follow along on PAMED's Bill Tracker webpage.
Oral antiviral for treatment of COVID-19
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month issued emergency use authorizations (EUA) for a Pfizer and Merck oral antiviral for treatment of COVID-19 respectively. These are the first oral antiviral treatments and are available by prescription only. Both products have limitations of authorized use. You can learn more about Paxlovid, the Pfizer antiviral here and Molnupiravir, the Merck antiviral here. The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) has updated their website that provides additional information to healthcare providers regarding COVID-19 therapeutics.
 
DOH also maintains a list of Paxlovid Dispensing Locations and Molnupiravir Dispensing Locations and provides additional information about the antivirals on their Coronavirus Provider Prevention and Treatment page. Questions can be directed to the DOH logistics team at [email protected].
COVID-19 pandemic: Two new procedure codes from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS is implementing 2 new procedure codes, in addition to the 7 new procedure codes previously announced, to describe the introduction or infusion of therapeutics, including vaccines for COVID-19 treatment, into the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS), effective April 1, 2022. Additional files containing information related to these 2 procedure codes are located in the CMS downloads section labeled as ERRATA on the their website.
Calendar of Events
March
Child Abuse Prevention Training Program
 
Date: Thursday, Mar. 3
Time: 7 to 9 p.m. ET
 
Our upcoming Child Abuse Prevention Training Program for the 2022 licensing cycle will be taking place on Mar. 3. All physicians renewing their license are required to submit documentation to verify the completion of at least two hours of approved continuing education in child abuse recognition. The program will be conducted as a Zoom video conference.
 
An Action Plan for Reducing Opioid Overdose Deaths
 
Date: Friday, Mar. 4
Time: 12 to 1 p.m. ET
 
A free virtual program hosted by Penn LDI, a panel of experts will discuss the impact of the pandemic on the opioid epidemic and outline innovative approaches for reducing the toll of the opioid epidemic.
 
May
Inflammatory Brain Disorders Conference
 
Date: Friday, May 20 to Saturday, May 21
 
Stanford University School of Medicine is offering a virtual Inflammatory Brain Disorders Conference on May 20-21, 2022 via webcast. The focus is both pediatric and adult patients. CME credit is available to all live attendees. To learn more, visit www.neuroimmune.org.
 
Have a suggestion for an article? Contact us at [email protected]!
Connect with us at:
Philadelphia County Medical Society | [email protected]
215-563-5343 | http://philamedsoc.org