For immediate release:
March 10, 2010

Statement attributable to:
J. James Rohack, MD
President, American Medical Association

“Today, the U.S. Senate voted to again delay this year’s steep 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut to October 1, pushing the problem off into the near future.  If the House adopts this Senate bill, America’s seniors and their physicians will be left in limbo, and access to health care for Medicare patients will continue to be in grave danger.  Physicians cannot keep their practice doors open to all Medicare patients without clear direction from Congress on Medicare payment rates. Already, Medicare payment rates are far below the costs of providing patient care, and physicians are left wondering how they can continue to run a medical practice if Congress does not inject security and stability into the Medicare program.

“Short-term actions are the wrong answer to a long-term problem.  These band-aid fixes have only served to increase the size of the cuts and the cost of reform. The longer Congress delays, the higher the cost to the American taxpayer.  It’s time to fix the formula and ensure that seniors can count on Medicare now and for years to come.”

Additional information from the AMA

Additional information from the AMA.

As of February 18, 2010, all HIPAA covered entities (physicians and their employees) will also be under HITECH (Health Information Technology Economic and Clinical Health) Act. The HIPAA Security Rules require covered entities and business associates to implement and adopt administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to ensure that electronic protected health information (“ePHI”) is adequately protected.

HITECH also includes civil and criminal penalties for violations of HIPAA and compliance audits. These penalties range from $100 to $50,000 per violation based on the nature and extent of the violation and the extent of the resulting harm. With these new compliance responsibilities in an increased enforcement environment at both the federal and state levels, physicians need to quickly take steps to prepare themselves for the first wave of audits.

Covered entities also need to be cognizant of what measures to take to both limit their compliance liability with their Business Associates (BA) and to structure their contractual agreements with BAs to better enable efficient and effective compliance and notification response requirements.

Working with Joan Kiel, PhD, the Allegheny County Medical Society has developed sample policies and an online training module to help ensure compliance with the new HITECH rules. Additional information and registration details are available at http://www.acms.org/training/coveredentity/index.html

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Medical Office Occupational Health
and
OSHA Update

Wednesday
April 14, 2010

At the
Allegheny County Medical Society
713 Ridge Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA

Fee: $50.00
Each additional registration $45.00

via Recall: Products Containing Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is actively investigating findings of Salmonella Tennessee in hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) manufactured by Basic Food Flavors, Inc., in Las Vegas, NV. HVP is a flavor enhancer used in a wide variety of processed food products, such as soups, sauces, chilis, stews, hot dogs, gravies, seasoned snack foods, dips, and dressings. It is often blended with other spices to make seasonings that are used in or on foods.

FDA Information page

Washington, D.C. – “Last night, the U.S. Senate voted yet again to delay the 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut for one month, postponing it until April 1. The Senate should use this time to permanently repeal the flawed Medicare physician payment formula that puts access to care for seniors and military families at risk.

Additional Information

AMA Website

MGMA Website

“How to Document and Implement Client/Patient Health Care Decisions”

Course credit offerings include: CME, CLE, NHA, NASW and NAPCA.

Click here for registration information.

The HITECH Act, a provision written into the Recovery Act that deals with the security of electronic health records, hit a small milestone this week.

On Feb. 17, a large group of companies classified as business associates of health care providers became subject to privacy policies outlined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

via Privacy policies over electronic health records expand reach – Pittsburgh Business Times:.

Drastic 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut will take place on Monday, March 1

For immediate release:
Feb. 26, 2010

Washington, D.C. – A Medicare meltdown now seems certain, as the U.S. Senate has left early for the weekend, abandoning seniors, military families and baby boomers. The Senate failed to repeal the Medicare physician payment formula that will cause a drastic 21 percent payment cut to physicians who care for Medicare and TRICARE patients. On Monday, the 21 percent cut goes into effect, forcing many physicians to limit the number of Medicare and TRICARE patients they see in order to keep their practice doors open.

Complete article

American Medical Society – www.ama-assn.org