California
Oncology
Weekly
"Where California Oncologists Go For Answers!"
A collaborative publication of the
Medical Oncology Association of Southern California, Inc.
and the
Association of Northern California Oncologists, Inc
.
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- Medical Board of California has made changes to its physician license application.California News
- This Thursday, June 6, send comments on limiting beneficiaries' out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs in Medicare Part D.National News
- The CDC is raising awareness of the risk to patient health and safety due to misapplication of the Opioid Guideline for chronic pain.CMS News
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- The Medical Board of California has made changes to its physician license application aimed at removing stigma around having been diagnosed and treated for conditions that may impair practice, if left untreated. The new language changes the way physicians are asked to disclose impairments (physical, mental, substance abuse, etc.) that impact the ability of physicians to practice safely. CMA has worked hard to remove stigmas associated with mental health issues and has led efforts to encourage physicians to think more about their own well-being. Working in collaboration with Stanford University, CMA's new Well Physician California program will promote physician wellness across California. It will be the most comprehensive state level effort in the country, led by nationally recognized leaders on physician wellness who bring academic expertise, as well as hands-on experience building successful organizational initiatives to improve physician fulfillment and wellbeing. You can learn more about CMA's efforts on physician wellness here.
- The Budget Sub-committees for each house have completed their work, with both Budget Committees having a final vote on their budget proposals completed. The Conference Committee began its hearing process last week, and announced that they hope to close out all items by the end of this week, a very speedy process.
Unfortunately, neither house has included in its budget proposal a recalculation of the Proposition 55 formula or allocated any resources to the Medi-Cal program from the funding stream. When meeting with the Department of Finance, one of the rationales they provided was the enormous amount of funding the Legislature and the Administration are working on in the budget process to invest in the Medi-Cal program. Some of the Medi-Cal investments, still being debated, that are going to be heard in the Conference Committee are:
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Revision of the Healthy California for All Commission.
The Governor would like to direct the group to explore specific ways to get CA to a single payer health care system.
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Increased funding for state-only subsidies for families below 600%
of the federal poverty level.
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Continuing the ACA Individual Mandate.
*Expanding Medi-Cal to undocumented residents.
*Restoring optional Medi-Cal benefits.
The Governor has proposed to restore optical benefits to the Medi-Cal program, utilizing the Prop 56 tobacco tax funding stream.
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Restoring optional Medi-Cal benefits
.
The Governor has proposed to restore optical benefits to the Medi-Cal program, utilizing the Prop 56 tobacco tax funding stream.
Reported by the California Cancer PAC lobbyist Nicette Short, Noteware & Rosa.
- CMA actively works on your behalf to keep your workers' compensation costs low through legislation and aggregating your policies with other practices through the Sponsored insurance program. Learn how CMA members receive a 5% discount off of already very low rates! READ MORE....
- Please join Californians Allied for Patient Protection (defenders of MICRA) for an evening reception in honor of Assembly Member Sabrina Cervantes on Thursday, June 6, 2019 from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. The reception will be held at PrimeCare, part of OptumCare (2275 Sampson Ave. Ste. 111, Corona, CA 92879). Please click here to view the invitation.
Please share this invitation with your colleagues and encourage them to attend. Please RSVP to Kristina Gelabert kgelabert@micra.org. Thank you for your continued support of CAPP.
- The 2019 Patient Conference on Prostate Cancer presented by the California Prostate Cancer Coalition and the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center of UCSF will be held Saturday, June 8, 2019 from 8am-5pm at UCSF. There are a small number of complimentary tickets available for this event. If you are unable to pay the registration fee and would like a ticket, please send your name and email address to hdfcccoce@gmail.com. Please include Prostate Conference in the subject line. To download the flyer, click here. To register, click here.
- Join the California Medical Association (CMA) for a webinar entitled Value-Based Payment Program Performance Measures: What Physicians Need to Know About the Incentive Payments, on June 13, 2019 at 1:00pm. Learn more and register at
- Save the date for the 2019 Sacramento Regional Colorectal Cancer Roundtable
on June 27, 2019.
Be sure to block out this time for an opportunity to discuss best practices with colleagues in your region. Please
click here to learn more details.
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Announcements:
Quality Payment Program: MIPS 2019 Call for Measures/Activities Ends July 1; Medicare Shared Savings Program: Submit Notice of Intent to Apply Beginning June 11; Promoting Interoperability Programs: Submit Comments on Proposed Changes by June 24; New Medicare Card Flyer for Your Patients; Hospice Compare Refresh; SFN PPS Patient Driven Payment Model: Get Ready for Implementation on October 1
Events:
Hospice Quality Reporting Program: Review and Correct Report Webinar-June 11
Publications:
* Documentation of Medical Necessity of the Home Visit; and Physician Management Associated with Superficial Radiation Treatment CR11273
Forthcoming Noridian JEMAC meetings/webinars/workshops
* Using the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) Webinar (June 13)
* Clinical Lab Basics (June 18)
* Completing Appeals through the Noridian Medicare Portal (NMP) Webinar (June 19)
* Advanced Beneficiary Notice of Non-coverage (ABM) Webinar (June 21)
* Modifier 59, NCCI, and MUEs Webinar (June 26)
* Submitting Your Enrollment Online-Part 2 Webinar (PECOS; June 26)
* New Provider New Biller Review Entities and Appeals Part 2 of 2 Webinar (June 28)
* Telehealth/Telemedicine Enrollment Only Webinar (July 10)
* Understanding National and Local Coverage Determinations Webinar (July 23)
* Medicare Part A/B Revalidation Webinar (July 24)
* Revocation, Caps and Appeals Webinar (August 7)
* Submitting Your Enrollment Online-Part 1 (I&A) Webinar (August 21)
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- Renew your MOASC Membership TODAY! Continue your investment in your state association.
MOASC
will be able to continue to advance oncology in California, with your continued support and membership in MOASC. In 2018, MOASC successfully worked to create the California Cancer Caucus in Sacramento. YOU, the California oncologist, are the reason for MOASC's existence. MOASC advocates diligently to insure your ability to serve the California oncology community.
You can renew your membership in two ways:
Print the application HERE mail it along with your check made payable to: Medical Oncology Association of Southern California, Inc., P.O. Box 161, Upland, CA 91785.
OR
We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead with benefits you will not want to miss.
If you have any questions, please contact the MOASC Office at 909-985-9061 ext.1 or at
moasc@moasc.org.
- SAVE-THE-DATE for MOASC's Spotlight On Oncology, August 17, 2019 in Huntington Beach. Through a restricted grant from MOASC, selected oncology fellows and faculty from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), present the premier topics from their attendance at the 2019 Annual ASCO meeting. The presentations promote collegial discourse among colleagues along with networking in an informal setting. Contact the MOASC Office for more information at
moasc@moasc.org.
- MOASC Member, City of Hope CME presents: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Cancer Symposium on October 10-13, 2019 @ Waldorf Astoria, Las Vegas, Nevada. This intensive program will provide participants with an enhanced ability to interpret and apply best treatment options into their individual cancer practices. For more information click
HERE. To register go to: https://cme.cityofhope.org/eventinfo_10946.html
INFUSION PUMPS for SALE:
- MOASC Member has 32, never used, in the box, Hospira/Abbott Plum A+ infusion pumps. Sold as is. Warranty is not transferrable. If interested, please contact Laura Volpini at 661-616-1650 or lvolpini@cbccusa.com.
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- ANCO congratulates its 2019 Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO/ANCO Young Investigator Awardee Cheryl Andrea Cohler Peretz, MD, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland
.
Dr. Peretz will be studying the role of tumor heterogeneity in relapsed and refractory pediatric FLT3-activated AML. In addition, we salute the 2019 ASCO Merit Award recipients--Michael H. Xiang, MD, PhD, Stanford University, and Yao Yao Guan Pollock, MD, UC San Francisco--supported by funding from ANCO.
- SAVE THE DATE: ANCO's
ASCO Highlights 2019
will take place on Saturday, August 17 at The Claremont Resort in Berkeley. Watch for an official announcement in June!
-
ANCO is now on Twitter
; follow
@ANCO News
.
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National News
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Stakeholders are invited to submit input on the following proposals by June 6. The leaders and ranking members of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee released the discussion draft of legislation meant to limit beneficiaries' out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs in Medicare Part D and reduce the government's portion of catastrophic coverage from 80% to 20% over a four-year period. The Senate health committee also unveiled its
165-page discussion draft of provisions to lower healthcare costs. The Senate Finance Committee is aiming to release its slate of drug pricing bills related to Medicare Parts B and D and Medicaid shortly after recess, with a mark-up in mid-June.
- CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control proudly announces a sponsored supplemental, free-to-view, issue of The Gerontologist, focusing on ways to reduce cancer risk
during older adulthood.
- Treatment timeliness between black patients and white patients with advanced or metastatic cancer has been almost entirely eradicated in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, per a study presented at ASCO this last weekend. Another study presented at the meeting showed that women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer at earlier stages and more patients began treatment within a month after diagnosis after the Affordable Care Act was implemented.
- ANCO, MOASC, and ASCO urge all members to contact their Congressional Representatives to ask them to co-sponsor the Clinical Treatment Act (HR913) that would provide for coverage of routine care costs of Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled in clinical trials. Use the ASO ACT Network at
https://asco.quorum.us/campaign/14280/ to contact your Representatives.
- ASCO has endorsed and encourages members to contact their Congressional Representatives to urge their support of the Access to Infertility Treatment and Care Act (HR2803/SB1461). This legislation would require all health plans to provide coverage for the treatment of infertility without raising insurance or copayment costs. It would also require coverage for fertility preservation services for individuals who undergo a medically necessary procedure that may cause infertility, such as chemotherapy or radiation.
- ICER will welcome comments through Monday, June 10th. The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is opening a national call for suggestions on how to improve ICER's value assessment framework to the methods that underpin ICER's evidence reports on new drugs and other health care interventions. Based on the feedback received, draft revisions will be published to ICER's value assessment framework on August 16th, then go out to public comment on those proposed revisions through October 11th, and post the final updated framework on December 18th. This final framework will be applied to all assessments initiated in 2020 and beyond.
Please note that when information in the Network Bulletin conflicts with applicable state and/or federal law, UnitedHealthcare will follow the applicable and/or federal state law.
- A proposed rule on interoperability and information blocking may increase clinicians' administrative burden and compromise the security of patient data, according to comments submitted to the ONC by the Medical Group Management Association. "The risks of moving too quickly include additional administrative and financial burdens on practices, weaker privacy and security protections for sensitive health information, an increased level of physician burnout, and even the potential of compromised patient care," MGMA wrote.
- A lack of training on how to use EHRs is the main cause of physician user dissatisfaction, and physicians who receive poor training are over 3.5 times more likely to report that their EHR does not help them provide quality care, according to an analysis published in the journal Applied Clinical Informatics. Researchers evaluated physicians using seven different EHR systems and suggested that health care organizations must invest more money in EHR training, develop training standards and encourage user personalization.
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CMS News
- CMS has been asked to help amplify the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids and related social media messaging. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guideline for Prescribing Opioids. The CDC is raising awareness of the risk to patient health and safety due to misapplication of the Opioid Guideline for chronic pain. Please read the recent commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine, where authors of the 2016 CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain advise against misapplication of the Guideline that can put patients' health and safety at risk. Link to CDC Opioid Guideline and specific resources: CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain.
- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, yesterday, that HHS improperly changed its Medicare disproportionate-share hospital payments when it made billions of dollars in cuts.
In a 7-1 decision, the justices said HHS needed a notice-and-comment period for the Medicare DSH calculation change. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the decision that HHS' position for not following the procedure was "ambiguous at best." The case was highly technical, and hinged on dueling interpretations of agency activity on what constitutes a "substantive legal standard" in a payment policy change to Medicare. "Not only has the government failed to document any draconian costs associated with notice and comment, it also has neglected to acknowledge the potential countervailing benefits," Gorsuch wrote.
The majority opinion also emphasized the size and scope of Medicare, noting that, "even seemingly modest modifications to the program can affect the lives of millions."
"As Medicare has grown, so has Congress's interest in ensuring that the public has a chance to be heard before changes are made to its administration,
" Gorsuch wrote.
During oral arguments in the case in January, Gorsuch and Justice Sonia Sotomayor addressed the economic magnitude of the change, which HHS estimated to be $3 billion to $4 billion between fiscal 2005 and 2013.
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Affiliate Association News
- ABIM and ASCO have created a new assessment option for oncologists entitled the ABIM/ASCO Medical Oncology: Learning & Assessment. The new option will become available in 2020 as an alternate to the traditional long-form MOC exam and includes shorter assessments that are reflective of physician practice with topic-focused exam modules and related educational materials provided before, during, and after exams. Learn more at https://elearning.asco.org/product-details/abimasco-medical-oncology-learning--assessment.
- ASCO University has changed its name and upgraded the learning platform to ASCO eLearning. In addition to the name change, the ASCO eLearning platform includes new personalized course collections to make content more digestible. Courses offer CE/CME/MOC credit and, on the new site, learners no longer have to complete all sections before obtaining credit. Learn more at https://elearning.asco.org/homepage.
- ASCO's Oncology Practice Conference takes place in San Diego on September 5. Focused on the business of cancer care, this conference will address the needs of practice administration and operations, with timely and practice strategies for the challenges faced by all those involved in the business of cancer care. Learn more and register at https://meetings.asco.org/opc/register.
- The ASCO Quality Care Symposium, September 6-7 in San Diego, encompasses the latest strategies and methods for quantification of patient experience, provider efficiency, clinical outcomes, and quality and safety in the cancer care field. The Symposium will include a variety of sessions that will cover the latest science in precision and personalized medicine. Oral abstract presentations will feature the highest-quality science submitted to the Symposium and Poster Walks will allow for networking while exploring the presentation of the newest science. This meeting will bring leaders in quality improvement science together to participate in stimulating conversation with opportunities for networking among physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and others.
ASCO Quality Care Symposium.
- Join ASH on September 6-7, 2019, at the Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park for the 2019 ASH Meeting on Hematologic Malignancies to gain knowledge that can help you make an immediate impact in your practice. The meeting will feature top experts in the field, comprehensive clinical content, the latest clinical research, and opportunities to interact with colleagues in an intimate, small group setting with no competing sessions. The program content will be structured as "How I Treat" presentations, which will highlight each speaker's evidence-based treatment approaches, present cutting-edge scientific data that can be translated into new strategies for diagnosis and treatment, and address what to do in cases where there is no data. For more details, or to register, please visit the ASH Website.
- Present your research at the world's premier hematology event.
The best new scientific research in all areas of hematology will be presented at the 61st ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition in Orlando, Florida. We encourage researchers to submit an abstract by August 1, 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (V2.2019), chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (V5.2019), esophageal and esophagogastric junction caners (V2.2019), gastric cancer (V2.2019), Hodgkin lymphoma (V1.2019), pancreatic adenocarcinoma (V2.2019), pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (V1.2020), prostate cancer (V2.2019).
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- Astellas Oncology informs ANCO and MOASC that the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved the addition of overall survival data in labeling for Xospata indicated for adult patients who have relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a FLT3 mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test.
For more information, please visit XospataHCP.com and click here for the Full Prescribing Information including BOXED WARNING for additional safety information.
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Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology
will host a webinar for ANCO and MOASC entitled
Pursuing Precision Medicine through Oncology Biomarkers
on Tuesday, June 18 at 12PM. The speaker will be Tony Wang, PharmD, JD,
Health Systems Liaison, Medical Affairs, Associate Director, Health Systems (Northwest Region), Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology
. The call-on number is (866) 217-3840; the conference code is 1630309; and, the webcast address is
https://bms.webex.com/meet/wangt36.
- Celgene informs ANCO and MOASC that the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved Revlimid in combination with a rituximab product for previously treated follicular lymphoma (FL) and previously treated marginal zone lymphoma (MZL).
- Novartis Oncology informs ANCO and MOASC that the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved Piqray in combination with fulvestrant for postmenopausal women, and men, with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2)-negative, PIK3CA-mutated, advanced or metastatic breast cancer as detected by an FDA-approved test following progression on or after an endocrine-based regimen.
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MOASC CALENDAR
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(NCCN, San Francisco, September 27)
(NCCN, San Francisco, September 27-28)
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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
Association of Northern California Oncologists
(ANCO) is an association of hematologists/oncologists dedicated to promoting high professional standards of cancer care by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas, data, and knowledge.
The material contained in the
California Oncology Weekly
is intended as general information for ANCO and 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 or ANCO 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
ANCO: P.O. Box 151109, San Rafael, CA 94915 | P (415) 472-3960 | F (415) 472-3961 | www.anco-online.org
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