California Oncology Weekly
"Where California Oncologists Go For Answers!"
A publication of the
Medical Oncology Association of Southern California, Inc.
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NOPE! MOASC IS
NOT
CANCELLING THIS VALUABLE SYMPOSIUM
100% OF PRESENTERS ARE CONFIRMED!
MOASC is closely monitoring the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the safety of our attendees and exhibitors at the MOASC Oncology Summit Annual Symposium.
We have been in communication with the hotel to ensure that they are taking all necessary precautions to minimize the threat of infection. In addition, there will be sanitation stations located throughout the event. Hyatt Letter
Given these factors, MOASC strongly believes that attendees will not be adversely affected by COVID-19 as long as individuals practice the following recommendations prior to arriving and while at the symposium.
This symposium is a sensational opportunity to interact with colleagues and learn from nationally recognized speakers highlighting advances in several areas of oncology including melanoma, lymphoma, and breast, colon, prostate, kidney, lung cancers, among others.
This event is open to ALL physicians, fellows, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, and clinical coordinators and is free of charge. View the
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THIS SATURDAY as
MOASC also CELEBRATES their 30th ANNIVERSARY!
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- Would you like to know more about how AB 5 will affect your business or industry?
Starting April 7 through June 6; from El Cajon to Los Angeles to Ventura to San Francisco and points in between, California's Employment Development Department (EDD) will be hosting a series of seminars discussing Assembly Bill 5 and the impacts it has throughout the year. During the seminar, they will go over the ABC Test, how to go about determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor, as well as provide resources to aid in classifying workers. To see a full list of the upcoming seminars across the state, visit the EDD's website
here
.
- The California Pharmacists Association has developed a new video to highlight the importance of supporting
Assembly Bill 2100
(Wood) as new Medi-Cal reimbursement regulations may hinder Medi-Cal beneficiaries access to life-saving medication.
Watch Now
.
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- Noridian/JEMAC has the following updates on their website
Recent Announcements Published to "Latest Updates"
- Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) Clinic Webinar on March 25, 2020 includes: CERT Introduction, Answer pre-submitted questions, Progress Reports and Website Tour
Read the complete update
- Revised CMS-855R Required May 1, 2020, will be posted on the CMS forms website in this month.
Read the complete update
- Quarterly Update to the MPFSDB in April 2020 (CR11661),informs you that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued payment files to the MACs based upon the 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Final Rule, published in the Federal register on November 15, 2019.
Read the complete update
.
Forthcoming Noridian JEMAC meetings/webinars/workshop
* PECOS Webinar (March 18)
* Rebuttal, Reconsiderations and CAPS Webinar (April 8)
* Medicare Part A/B Revalidation Webinar (April 22)
For more information and to register:
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- This Saturday!
Engage with the experts who can help you get a better picture of what Advances in Oncology care will look like moving forward
.
Register now
for the
MOASC
2020 Annual Oncology Summit Educational Symposium
on Saturday, March 14, and celebrate MOASC's 30th Anniversary, at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach. Speakers will highlight advances in several areas of oncology including melanoma, lymphoma, breast, colon, prostate, kidney, and lung cancers, among others. To register, contact the MOASC office at
moasc@moasc.org
or 909-985-9061 x1. #MOASC30.
- Do you know how to process patients that may present in your office with Coronavirus symptoms? MOASC has been in communication with the Department of Health who has provided the following CDC flow chart. Please share with your staff.
CDC Flowchart
-
MOASC Member, City of Hope CME Presents: Immunotherapy of Cancer: CAR T Cell to Checkpoint Inhibitors, March 18, 2020 to March March 21, 2020 at the Waldorf Astoria, Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information click
here. To register go to
http://cme.cityofhope.org/eventinfo_11295.html
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- Applications now being accepted for ANCO's Travel Awards to Fellows and Young Clinicians to support attendance at the ASCO Annual Meeting, ASH Annual Meeting, or other national oncology meeting in 2020. The deadline for submission is March 31. Awards will be announced by April 30. Learn more at https://anco.org/membership/fellow-benefits/.
- MEETING POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 -- NOTE NEW DATES. 20th Multidisciplinary Management of Cancers: A Case-based Approach taking place in Napa on June 19-21. For the more information on the impact of COVID-19 on this meeting go to,
- ANCO physician members, their practice staff, and representatives from ANCO's corporate members must register to access password-protected content (e.g., The ANCO Directory, ANCO meeting materials) on the ANCO website www.anco.org.
- Use ANCO's job board to post or search for employment opportunities at ANCO member practices.
- Follow ANCO on Twitter at @ANCO News.
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National News
-
Yesterday, President Trump introduced a new rule requiring all healthcare systems to provide Americans secure access and control of their own health records.
Press Secretary, Stephanie Grisham
released a statement, which reads in part" Patients will be empowered to share their record with family members and care providers and more easily choose the doctor and treatment that is right for them. No longer will Americans spend hundreds of dollars on redundant medical tests or countless hours collecting copies of their medical record, which are often still transferred using a fax machine or CD-ROM. Americans will finally be able to control their health record. Read Press Secretary Grisham's full statement.
- The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and eighteen of its member organizations have agreed to invest $55 million in a nonprofit with the aim of creating cheaper versions of certain expensive generic drugs. The partnership will acquire and develop Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) for select generic drugs to bring more affordable generic drugs to uncompetitive markets in exchange for aggregated volume and multiyear purchasing commitments.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Invests in Nonprofit Aimed at Cheaper Drugs
- Drug rebates and PBM practices (and rebate reform) are an ongoing part of the prescription drug costs discussion. In February, the University of Southern California published an investigation of the correlation between rebates and list prices of drugs.
In summary:
- Rebates play a role in increasing drug prices, and reducing or eliminating rebates could result in lower list prices and reduced out-of-pocket expenditures for some patients.
- Drug rebates and list prices are positively correlated: On average, a $1 increase in rebates is associated with a $1.17 increase in list price.
- The relationship between rebates and list prices persists when controlling for time trends by drug class, and when excluding drugs with high Medicaid share.
The conclusion states:
"...We find that increases in rebates are associated with a roughly dollar-for-dollar increase in list prices, and conclude that the rebate practices of intermediaries such as PBMs and insurers deserve greater regulatory scrutiny in the quest for lower drug prices. Greater transparency about the use of rebates and potential efforts to reduce them may prove important tools for controlling the cost of pharmaceuticals..."
-
United Healthcare's March Network Bulletin
discusses the replacement of paper checks in 2020. Read more at
News@ProviderEmail.uhc.com.
- The tax filing season is a prime time for phone scams because people are thinking about taxes. Taxpayers should be aware that aggressive criminals pose as IRS agents in hopes of stealing money or personal information. Here are some tell-tale signs of a tax scam along with actions taxpayers can take if they receive a scam call.
The IRS will never:
- Call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer. Generally, the IRS will first mail a bill to any taxpayer who owes taxes.
- Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law enforcement groups to have the taxpayer arrested for not paying.
- Demand that taxes be paid without giving taxpayers the opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed.
- Call out-of-the-blue about an unexpected tax refund.
Taxpayers who receive these phone calls should:
Share this tip on social media -- #IRSTaxTip: Taxpayers should know the signs of a phone scam, especially during filing season. http://go.usa.gov/xd73W
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CMS News
- March 31, at 5PM PT will conclude the period for attesting for 2019 MIPS.
The closer it gets to the deadline, the more traffic these sites will have and the higher chance you'll have to run into technical difficulties-please take care of this as soon as you can. AdvancedMD, Inc. consolidated all the key facts into 2-page guide. It's a self-help guide with all the steps needed to attest. Get the Checklist for MIPS Attestation 2019 for free.
- HHS announced the final rules issued by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information (ONC) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on the implementation of interoperability and patient access provisions in the Cures Act.
- CMS issued frequently asked questions and answers (FAQs) for health care providers regarding Medicare payment for laboratory tests and other services related to the 2019-Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The agency is receiving questions from providers and created this document to be transparent and share answers to some of the most common questions.
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Affiliate Association News
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- Respond by March 15th ! The COA Practice Impact Report tracks the changing landscape of community cancer care in the United States. It captures important trends and sentiments from community oncology practices. It's quoted extensively in the press and has been used a lot on Capitol Hill. It has been instrumental in the fight!!! Please help COA compile the 2020 report by taking a very quick 6-question survey. It's easy and very brief. The specific practice data collected remains totally anonymous and will help COA get a more complete picture on the cancer care landscape and how it has changed.
- ASCO PracticeNET will host an hour-long call focusing on the upcoming changes to E&M coding. Thursday, March 19, at 1:00 PM Pacific, Click here to Register
- To ALL Community Oncologists:
COA is asking you, your partners, and anyone else you think should contribute to please step up and immediately support the Friends of Community Oncology PAC (FCO PAC)! This is an active election season, as you know, and the PAC is running on fumes! You can donate easily on the FCO PAC website with PayPal or credit card, just click on the yellow DONATE button: https://fcopac.org/join/. OR make checks payable to: Friends of Community Oncology PAC, sent to Deandra Dickson, 760 Lynnhaven Parkway, Suite 150, Virginia Beach, VA 23452.
You've seen the headlines, watched the debates, and know that this is going to be a very busy election season. Community oncology needs to be there supporting the candidates that believe in and support community oncology. FCO PAC is the way to do that!!! The Friends of Community Oncology PAC is the only political action committee dedicated solely to community oncology. FCO PAC is bipartisan, supports the campaigns of our congressional champions, and gives critical visibility to our issues.
COA has a very active year planned for the PAC and really needs a boost. Please contribute! Please forward this message to your partners/peers/etc. and let's give the PAC the boost it needs!
- Join Dr. Robert Vescio (MOASC member and key opinion leader from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center),
who will lead a roundtable discussion on Multiple Myeloma on March 18, 2020 at 7PM, at Alexander's Steakhouse - 111 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101. This program is open to, and intended for medical oncologists treating Multiple Myeloma. Space is limited and RSVP is required. RSVP at www.targetedonc.com/events
- Register for the 2020 COA Conference: Focusing On The Future - Together, on April 23-24 in Orlando. COA Conferences help community oncology physicians, pharmacy leaders and business representatives connect the dots across specialties, with a special focus on what is relevant for independent community oncology practices. When practices come together to discuss the important initiatives on a national stage, it drives progress in a way that is truly beneficial to patients. Learn more and register at
www.COAConference.org
.
- Cedars-Sinai 3rd Annual Gastrointestinal Tumor Conference is on Saturday, April 25, 2020. Concise and comprehensive updates on the most recent research and advances in immunotherapy for gastrointestinal cancers, will be presented. A stellar faculty has been assembled to share developments in precision medicine, research, and immunotherapeutic approaches to the treatment of cancers of the pancreas, liver, and gastric/esophagus. For more information and to register go to:
cedars.cloud-cme.com/gicancercme
.
- Save the Date! National Cancer Survivors Day® is Sunday, June 7, 2020. Get a jumpstart on planning your NCSD 2020 event by registering it (free of charge) with the National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation at
ncsd.org/register.
Visit their website at
www.ncsd.org
.
- NCCN has published updated guidelines at
https://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/default.aspx-
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Industry News
- In response to COVID-19 and during this period of uncertainty, Takeda Oncology will maintain engagement and continued support of Oncology Practices in the immediate future. Takeda Oncology remains committed to continuity of care for your patients and ensuring they receive medicines required for treatment. Takeda's top priority is to help protect patients, healthcare professionals and stakeholders they serve. Your Takeda Oncology Regional Account Executive will remain proactively engaged and available to you, providing information you may need to support your organization. Given Takeda's commitment and priorities, please note that the Takeda team will communicate with you/your organization primarily via phone, email, digital or video conferencing at this time. However, if you have an urgent situation arise that requires a company representative in-person,
Southern California Oncology Practices can contact China Izatt, Regional Account Executive via mobile phone (503) 849-3623 or through email at china.izatt@takeda.com.
The Takeda Oncology support service line is available at 844-817-6468 for product related questions.
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MOASC CALENDAR
City of Hope CME presents: Immunotherapy of Cancer: CAR T Cell to Checkpoint Inhibitors
March 18-21, 2020
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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.
MOASC: P.O. Box 161, Upland, CA 91785 | P (909) 985-9061 | F (909) 804-5006| www.moasc.org
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