MOASC encourages all hematology/oncology practice administrators & managers to earn their certification for Hematology/Oncology Medical Office Professionals. MOASC will award the first two applicants, who register for the course, a 50% discount towards the cost of the course. The Certificate in Medical Office Manager-Hematology/Oncology is the premier certification for administrators working in this specialty. Gain new skills to become a more knowledgeable and confident leader, through exceptional education. Now you can further demonstrate your skills in your chosen field. Created to prepare experienced leaders for greater success in oncology practice management, the sessions are all virtual and candidates can go at their own pace to complete. This two-part certification program teaches advanced concepts for the administration and management of policies, risks, and financial responsibilities. 

MOASC Board of Directors encourages members to recommend a colleague or nominate themselves for one or more of the various leadership and committee service roles. All MOASC physicians and clinicians are asked to submit nominations each year. Nominations received are compiled and reviewed by the Nominating Committee, which then makes its recommendations for elected and appointed positions. 

We have been made aware that various payers are beginning to implement policies that place step-edits for Intravenous Iron Therapy drugs.

The step-edits force patients to try and fail on older treatments before having access to newer, more effective treatments.

Have you experienced this? If so, how is this affecting your practice?

Please share your experiences with us via email at moasc@moasc.org

MOASC Member is donating 5 Chemo. chairs and 4 Chemo. beds. The Member is selling a Cell-Dyn Emerald (Abbott) CBC machine with printer, purchased in 2018. If you are interested in these items, please contact Afag Murad-Ali 310-824-4133 for more information.

MOASC Programs - Save the Dates - All Times are Pacific

TOMORROW, Wednesday, April 21, 5:30pm-7:00pm, MOASC is presenting a clinical webinar focusing on the Treatment of Melanoma. MOASC President, Ashkan Laskari, M.D. will moderate a panel of experts in discussion of case presentations and various treatment options. Edward McClay, M.D., cCare, will first present on Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma. The panel will include: Greg Daniels, M.D., UC San Diego; Omid Hamid, M.D., The Angeles Clinic, and Sherry Hsu, M.D., Kaiser Permanente.

Call by April 26 to register for the April 29, 5:30pm webinar, Applying Clinical Evidence to Practice: DOPTELET® (avatrombopag) for Adult Patients with Chronic Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP) Who Have Had an Insufficient Response to a Previous Treatment, presented by Zahra Pakbaz, M.D. To register email Jolie Williams at jolie.williams@dova.com or call 310-339-9221 by April 26. Sponsored by DOVA Pharmaceticals.

May 06, 5:30pm, MOASC members are encouraged to attend a webinar to learn more about an FDA-approved Treatment for Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, presented by: Rena D. Callahan, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCLA. Dr. Callahan will discuss: the clinical landscape of metastatic TNBC; appropriate populations for a metastatic TNBC therapy; and safety and efficacy of a therapy in patients with metastatic TNBC. Sponsored by Gilead Sciences, Inc.

MJH Life Sciences brings more southern California CBPP programs to you! On May 11^th the Treatment of Prostate Cancer will be presented by Dr. David Quinn (USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Hospital and Clinics). On May 13^th the Treatment of Multiple Myeloma will be presented by Dr. Joseph Mikhael (Translational Genomics Research Institute, City of Hope Cancer Center). 

Just a few weeks away, is the CME-MOC/NCPD meeting with Dr Neil Love in partnership with MOASC. We encourage members to sign-up for this complimentary daylong, fully virtual event, taking place on Saturday, May 15, 2021 from 7:30 AM – 3:30 PM PT. The virtual webinar will follow a multi-tumor approach with 14 expert clinical investigators reviewing current management strategies and recent advances in breast cancer, AML/MD, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and lymphomas, gastrointestinal cancers, genitourinary cancers, lung cancer and multiple myeloma.  In lieu of traditional didactic lectures, the participating faculty will review recent data as well as review cases provided by MOASC clinicians. To learn more or to register for this complimentary virtual program, please visit RTP’s website.

Recordings & slides are available for the MOASC Annual Oncology Summit held on March 27. Nationally recognized speakers from City of Hope, UCLA and UCSD discussed Exciting Advances in Oncology.

MOASC’s great appreciation is extended to our meeting sponsors: Eisai, EMD Serono, Incyte, Merck, Regeneron, Tempus and Seagen for their support of this event.

Special thanks to our Sponsors for their continued support of MOASC’s programs and initiatives: AstraZeneca, BeiGene, Bristol Myers Squibb, Grail, Inc., Oncopeptides, Pfizer, Puma Biotechnology, Takeda, AbbVie, Astellas, Merck Oncology, Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., Foundation Medicine, Incyte Corporation, Johnson and Johnson, Novartis Oncology, Agios Pharmaceuticals, Exact Science, Gilead Sciences, Inc., G1 Therapeutics, Kite Pharma, Lilly Oncology, Morphosys Inc., Myovant Sciences, Pharmacyclics, Sanofi-Genzyme, Seagen,, Stemline and Walgreens. 

MOASC has created a database of Oncologist who seek to practice in California. The database also includes other practice professionals as pharmacists, advanced care professionals, nurses and non-clinical staff. Current applications in que:

-         3^rd year Fellow who will graduate in October 2021, recommended by his director as, “… an outstanding clinician, who has trained under my supervision in clinic over the past year and whom I serve as clinical research mentor.”

City of Hope Medical Group seeks Medical Oncologists to join their expanding network at the following locations, immediately:

City of Hope Medical Group seeks nationally recognized Medical Oncology physician leaders for their Irvine Campus, opening in August 2022, with expertise in: Women’s Cancer (Breast); Genitourinary (GU); Gastrointestinal (GI); Thoracic & Upper Aerodigestive. Interested candidates must submit an official application via the City of Hope Physician Careers Internet site: PhysicianCareers. 

Additionally, applicants can forward a curriculum vitae and letter of interest to MDRecruitment@coh.org.

Office Manager needed for a solo medical oncology practice in the Pasadena Area. Experienced professionals may email your resume to Dr. Cynthia Martel at cynthiamartel@sbcglobal.net.

California passed a Supplemental Paid Sick Leave law (SPSL) that provides up to 80 hours of COVID-related sick leave for employees in both the public and private sector. The law applies to all California employees who work for employers with more than 25 employees, regardless of location, and covers leaves taken between January 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021. The law took effect immediately on March 19, but had a 10-day grace period. Employers will need to begin granting SPSL, as well as responding to requests for retroactive SPSL pay, on March 29, 2021. The California Department of Industrial Relations has released FAQs that we strongly encourage employers to review as soon as possible. Employers must post this mandatory workplace poster in a conspicuous location in the workplace. Employers whose workforces are remote, or partly remote, should ensure that those employees see the poster, either by sending it via email or posting it online.

The California Department of Managed Health Care (Department) has updated its website to reflect a new posting under “Open Pending Regulations.” The Department is giving notice of a 3rd comment period for the proposed regulation, Timely Access to Non-Emergency Health Care Services and Annual Timely Access and Network Reporting Requirements. Interested parties may submit public comments to the Department from April 16, 2021 through May 3, 2021. In summation: A health care service plan that provides or arranges for the provision of hospital or physician services, including specialized mental health plan, is obligated to comply with this section and shall not be waived when the plan delegates to its provider groups medical groups, independent practice associations, or other contracting entities any services or activities that the plan is required to perform. A plan's implementation of this section shall be consistent with the requirements of the Health Care Providers' Bill of Rights, and a material change in the obligations of a plan's contracting network providers shall be considered a material change to the provider contract. This section confirms requirements for plans to provide or arrange for the provision of access to health care services in a timely manner, and establishes additional metrics for measuring and monitoring the adequacy of a plan's contracted provider network to provide enrollees with timely access to needed health care services.

July 1 is the effective date of the Quarterly Update to the National Correct Coding Initiative Procedure-To-Procedure edits, Version 27.2. CR12226. Please be sure your billing staffs know of the updates. 

May 12, Differences Between Sole Proprietor and Sole Owner webinar will be presented. This event includes: Provider Enrollment, Sole Owner Enrolling in Medicare - Part B, Sole Proprietor Enrolling in Medicare - Part B.

May 18, Signature Requirements webinar, includes: Overview and Purpose, Valid Signatures, Signature Guidelines, Signature Log and Attestation Statement, Common Signature Errors, and Resources

About 20% of older adults said online physician ratings were very important and 43% said they had checked reviews of physicians they considered seeing, researchers reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study, based on data from the National Poll on Healthy Aging from the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, found 40% of older adults said a recommendation from another physician was important, but overall factors such as insurance, appointment availability and location were more important than a physician's reputation.

As new cases of COVID-19 in the United States were peaking in late 2020, most physicians reported that health plans continued to impose bureaucratic prior authorization policies that delay access to necessary care and sometimes result in serious harm to patients, according to new survey results from the American Medical Association (AMA).

Lyft Healthcare has developed prepaid transportation passes that health care providers and social services agencies can distribute to patients, allowing them to schedule their own rides to health appointments instead of waiting for rides to be scheduled for them. The program is called Lyft Pass for Healthcare. Uber has a similar medical transportation program called Uber Health.

National Cancer Survivors Day^® 2021 is on Sunday, June 6!  Register your event now at ncsd.org/register to unlock access to the NCSD Speakers Bureau Roster, as well as other exclusive resources and materials. This year, because of COVID-19, many organizations are opting for virtual or hybrid events to commemorate NCSD and celebrate cancer survivors. If you want your NCSD 2021 event to be a success, you need to create the same level of engagement and value as you would with a traditional in-person NCSD event.

ANCO's three part series of Hematologic Malignancies Updates: Leukemias, Lymphomas, & Myelomas 2021 will kick off online May 15. Faculty will present the latest research on treatment modalities for hematologic malignancies—leukemias, lymphomas, and myeloma—along with case studies for these diagnoses.

April 28 at 8:59pm PT is the deadline for early registration to the ASCO virtual Annual Meeting, June 4-8. For the best rates, register now! When participating in the virtual ASCO Annual Meeting we invite you to visit MOASC’s virtual booth. 

Cancer.Net is taking action to help right common misconceptions around cancer in a series of scientifically vetted posts featured on the Cancer.NetBlog. Common questions and topics that have been covered in the series include: Is CBD safe for people with cancer? What should people with cancer know about alkaline water? How to tell if cancer information on social media is “fake news.” Can a biopsy make my cancer spread?

View all posts currently featured in the series and all future posts by visiting the "myths" tag on Cancer.Net.

NCCN has published updates to their Chemotherapy Order Templates (NCCN Templates®) for Small Bowel Adenocarcinoma to reflect the currently published NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for Small Bowel Adenocarcinoma v1.2021

Bristol Myers Squibb announced their FDA Approval for Opdivo® (nivolumab) in Combination with Chemotherapy for Patients with Advanced or Metastatic Gastric Cancer, Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer, and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma, Regardless of PD-L1 Expression.

Incyte Corporation invites you AND your patients to attend any four of their live webinars about myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). These disease education virtual talks are geared for patients diagnosed with a myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN), including: polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, myelofibrosis. The program on 4/28 includes a nutrition talk and MPN. Hear from an Incyte Oncology Clinical Nurse Educator about MPNs, learn and ask questions about your condition. You will receive a workbook of the presentation in the mail to help you organize your thoughts. When you register, Incyte will send you a kit with a workbook, educational resources, and accessories to help raise awareness about MPNs. Have questions or want to register? Register today through any of the below most convenient for you. info@mpnpatientevent.com ; MPNpatientevent.com; MPNwebinars.com or dial 919-256-2479.

The Medical Oncology Association of Southern California (MOASC) is a leading oncology society that advances and protects the ability of cancer patients to obtain, and the ability of the oncology physicians to provide, optimal cancer care. The material contained in the California Oncology Weekly is intended as general information for MOASC members. Because diagnostic, treatment, contracting, coding, and billing decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis, any such information contained in the California Oncology Weekly may not apply in any given situation. Members are encouraged to contact their own consultants or advisors to obtain specific advice on matters relating to contracting, coding, and billing. The information contained in California Oncology Weekly should not be used as a substitute for such advice. This publication provides a summary of regulations affecting oncology and its business practices. Reading this newsletter does not substitute for understanding regulations and verifying the validity of every claim. This information is time-sensitive and is subject to change. MOASC accepts no liability for any statements or articles herein. CPT codes are owned and trademarked by the American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.