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Medical Society of New Jersey e-Newsletter
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Renew your dues ONLINE by
October 15, 2017
and receive a 5% discount on your STATE dues!
When prompted enter discount code
msnj5
, then click "update price."
Discount is applied to physicians state dues only.
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MSNJ Policy & Strategy Panel: Gifts from Pharmaceutical Companies and Others
Thursday, October 12, 2017 from 5:30pm - 7:30pm at MSNJ
Governor Christie recently announced a regulatory proposal to severely limit physician relationships with pharmaceutical companies. Join us for a policy discussion with guest speakers on the issues of ethics, best practices and patient impact of physician-pharmaceutical relationships.
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New Jersey Healthcare Executive Leadership Academy Conference: Improving Care at the End-of-Life
Thursday, October 12, 2017 from 8:30am to 1:00pm
NJHA Conference & Event Center
Learn more about the New Jersey Healthcare Executive Leadership Academy and how it can provide physician leadership training to help generate solutions towards some of NJ's pressing healthcare challenges.
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 Legislative Update
Drug Abuse
Governor Christie Plans "25 Initiatives That Will Create Or Enhance Opportunities For Addiction Prevention, Treatment, And Recovery." Read more about his proposal.
Yesterday, the pharmaceutical industry announced during a meeting of the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction, hosted by Governor Christie at the White House, that it supports placing a 7 day limit on opiate prescriptions for acute pain management.
Read more.
Separately, 41 state attorneys general subpoena opioid manufacturers for their role in addiction and misuse. Read more. And, a growing number of cities are filing lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors. Read more.
CVS announced last week that it would limit dispensed amounts of opioids. Physician groups are reviewing the policy. Read more.
ACA Reform
This week, the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson health system reform legislation failed. Find a joint letter
from the AMA and other groups expressing concerns with the bill.
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Legal Update
MSNJ Warns Court about Impact of Unreliable Expert Testimony
MSNJ, together with the AMA, American Academy of Dermatology, Dermatological Society of New Jersey, and other dermatology societies filed an amicus brief in the New Jersey Supreme Court cautioning it about the negative impact on the practice of medicine if it allows unreliable scientific evidence to be considered in the Accutane and other litigation. We focused on: the importance and foundational nature of peer reviewed medical literature in the hierarchy of evidence; and, the negative impact of unreliable scientific evidence on informed consent. Other amici, including the NJ Chamber of Commerce and professors urged the high court to adopt a Daubert standard of evidence.
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News
New NJHA President & CEO Named
This week, the New Jersey Hospital Association's (NJHA) Board of Trustees announced that Cathleen Bennett, Esq. will assume the 6th President and CEO position of the New Jersey Hospital Association, effective November 9, 2017. This came after Betsy Ryan announced that she will be stepping down as of July 2017. Ms. Bennett is known for serving as the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health since 2015. It was a pleasure working with Ms. Ryan over the years and we look forward to working with Ms. Bennett going forward. Read more.
NJBIZ Awards for Industry Leaders
MSNJ ranked #3 in NJBIZ's Best Business and Professional Associations! Congratulations to all the healthcare industry winners, including the following MSNJ supporters:
- Valley Health System
- RWJBarnabas Health
- Valley Hospital
- Hackensack University Medical Center
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
- Valley Medical Group
- WithumSmith+Brown P.C. - MSNJ Corporate Partner
Read more
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MIPS-Read Why You Should Do More than the Minimum!
Resolutions Due - November 10, 2017
Revolving Reference Committee - Thursday, November 30 at 7:00pm
The next Revolving Reference Committee meeting is Thursday, November 30th at 7:00 pm. All resolutions need to be vetted by the County Medical Society prior to submission to MSNJ. Resolutions are due from the County Medical Societies by November 10th. Click here for instructions on writing resolutions and here for the submission form.
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Practice Management
Due October 1: Medicare EHR Incentive Program: Hardship Applications to Avoid 2018 Penalties
If you have never attested to meaningful use under the EHR Incentive Program before and you are transitioning to MIPs for the 2017 reporting year, you may be eligible to
apply
for a "
Transitioning to MIPS Hardship
." This is a one-time exemption and must be filed by October 1, 2017.
Read more
from the AMA.
UPDATE: UHC Delays Consult Code Policy
In July, MSNJ was joined by 36 medical and specialty societies in a
letter to United Healthcare (UHC) opposing its proposed policy change to no longer pay for consultation CPT codes 99241-99245 and 99251-99255 for dates of service on and after October 1.
Last week, UHC advised MSNJ that it will delay implementation of the policy. An announcement regarding the delay, including details of the length of the delay, will be included in UHC's October 2017 Network Bulletin. MSNJ asked UHC to provide more information about the delay in advance of the Bulletin. We will keep members apprised of new developments in e-News.
2017 Quality Payment Program Hardship Exception Application
Transition to New Medicare Numbers
Medicare providers were mailed a letter from Novitas Solutions (NJ's Medicare Contractor) regarding the New Medicare Card initiative. Patients will be assigned new Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBIs) that will no longer include social security numbers and new cards will be mailed beginning April 2018. Providers will be able to look up patients' new MBIs on the Novitas secure portal beginning June 2018. View a sample letter
. See the new Medicare card design
. Read more
.
Horizon Pilot Outlier Program: Input Needed
Horizon recently introduced a pilot program using Change HealthCare's Code Advisor tool as an alternative to their pre-payment audits. Horizon is testing the tool on 500 providers. Those involved in the pilot should have received a certified letter from Horizon explaining the program. Change Healthcare will also reach out to pilot providers by phone. Pilot participants will begin to receive electronic messaging on claims that include high level E&M codes or E&Ms that are appended with modifier 25. If you are involved in this pilot program, we'd like to hear from you. Please
tell us
about your experience.
Effective May 2018: AmeriHealth Exclusive with LabCorp
Starting on October 1, AmeriHealth will begin transitioning to an exclusive arrangement with LabCorp, by terminating its agreement with Quest Diagnostics. AmeriHealth will have an exclusive arrangement with LabCorp by May 1, 2018 and plans to stay contracted with a few specialty laboratories.
Read more
. Practices participating in AmeriHealth are encouraged to make note of the change to ensure patient coverage for laboratory services.
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Upcoming Events
Join us on October 12 to learn more about the New Jersey Healthcare Executive Leadership Academy and how it can provide physician leadership training to help generate solutions towards some of NJ's pressing healthcare challenges.
Register before October 6!
The Federation of State Medical Boards Releases Free Online Education Module for Medical Students and Residents
Newly licensed medical practitioners, be sure to review NJ Board of Medical Examiners Orientation Program to satisfy your license requirement.
Medical History Society of New Jersey Annual Fall Meeting
New Jersey Healthcare Executive Leadership Academy Conference: Improving Care at the End-of-Life
Thursday, October 12, 2017 from 9:00am to 3:00pm
NJHA Conference & Event Center
More information and registration.
AMA Webinar: Thriving Under MIPS - Where to start? Breaking down the complexity of MIPS
Wednesday, October 18, 2017 from 1:00pm to 2:00pm
More information and registration.
NJHA Webinar Series - Opioid Misuse: Innovative Tools to Improve Patient Care Across the Continuum
Please note: The above webinars do not satisfy the continuing education requirement for the next biennial license renewal period.
NJ Chapter, American College of Surgeons: 66th Annual Clinical Symposium
Saturday, December 2, 2017 from 7:00am to 3:00pm
The Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel
More information.
Governor Christie's 2nd Annual Candlelight Vigil
To help bring addiction out of the shadows and into the light
December 6, 2017 at 5:00pm
More information to follow.
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Corporate Partner Feature
Health Insurance:
QualCare, Inc. - Platinum Level Partner
Member Resource Guide
Check out the current
MSNJ Member Resource Guide! Inside, you will find a complete listing of partners by service/product category, along with contact information. Also, be sure to check out the individual Corporate Partner pages on our website as some offer additional discounts to members!
It is important to note that MSNJ does not endorse any vendor, service, or product. However, we encourage members to please consider our Corporate Partners first as the financial support received from these organizations is vital to our association. It is our hope that their investment in MSNJ will help keep your membership dues and programming affordable.
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Member Benefits
All MSNJ members can now save $14 on Basic and $20 on Plus annually on AAA membership. Access discount.
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| 2017 © Medical Society of New Jersey. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the written permission of the Medical Society of New Jersey. |
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Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
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