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TONIGHT, October 19th, 7-8:30pm BCMA-Targeted Therapies for Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma. MOASC News
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October 21, Adcetris Clinical Data Update and Patient Management. MOASC News
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October 27, virtual conference on “Treatment of Breast Cancer,” MOASC News
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MOASC Programs - Save the Dates - All Times are Pacific
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TONIGHT, October 19th, 7-8:30pm PDT Targeted Oncology invites MOASC Members to their upcoming virtual roundtable BCMA-Targeted Therapies for Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma. Intended for oncologists treating relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, this session offers practicing oncologists the perfect opportunity to sharpen their skills and expertise in treatment strategies. Attendees are paid $500 of compensation, per session, by Healthcare Research Analytics®, for their attendance, participation & completion of the post-event HRA survey.
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October 21, 12:30pm Adcetris Clinical Data Update and Patient Management, presented by: Elizabeth Brem, MD, Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, UCI. Sponsored by Seagen.
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October 27, in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, MOASC presents a virtual conference on “Treatment of Breast Cancer,” 5:30pm to 7:00pm.
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October 29-30, the University of California San Diego invites you to their inaugural Delivering Discoveries: Updates in Oncology CME conference. This 1.5 day event will address all aspects of cancer from basic science research, advances in clinical care, to community-based approaches that optimize prevention and interception.
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About 20% of US physicians have thought about leaving their current positions for nonclinical work, according to the Medscape Physician Nonclinical Careers Report 2021. More than 2,500 physicians took part in the survey, and 34% said general burnout was the main reason behind their consideration of other careers.
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November 3, in recognition of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, MOASC presents a virtual conference on “Recent Advances in Lung Cancer,” 5:30pm to 7:00pm-PDT.
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To learn more about what you can do to help your valuable human resource, and more, MOASC invites you to attend the virtual MOASC Annual Management Series for Oncology Administration & Accounts Receivable Management. The Administration Track 1 on November 4, 11:45am – 3:15pm topics are: Prevent Burnout & Employee Fatigue; Time Management: Find an extra hour every day; Create a More Productive Practice with Process Automation; Improve Patient Collections Experience, and Match Patients to Clinical Trials.
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Followed with the Oncology Accounts Receivable-Track 2, on November 10, 11:45am to 3:15pm, with topics including: 2022 Billing Updates; Overview of Medicare Regulations; Billing tips for Advanced Practice Providers, and How to Increase Revenue.
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Thank you to the following sponsors for supporting access to oncology care: AstraZeneca, BeiGene, Bristol Myers Squibb, Grail, Inc., Oncopeptides, Pfizer Oncology, Takeda Oncology, AbbVie, Astellas, Daiichi Sakyo, Inc., Incyte, Johnson and Johnson, Merck, Novartis, ADC Therapeutics, Agios Pharmaceuticals, Exact Sciences, Foundation Medicine, Gilead, G1 Therapeutics, Guardant Health, Kite Pharma, Lilly Oncology, MorphoSys, Inc., Myovant Sciences, Pharmacyclics, Sanofi-Genzyme, Seagen, Stemline Therapeutics. |
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December 4, 8:30am The University of California San Diego cordially invites you to their Great Debates in Advanced Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma (CSCC). This virtual meeting will provide a multidisciplinary management approach for patients with advanced CSCC. Topics will focus on updates in risk assessment, pathology, radiation therapy medical & surgical management, featuring case presentations alongside plenary sessions followed by a question and answer opportunity. Target audiences include: dermatologists; medical, radiation and surgical oncologists; otolaryngologists; plastic surgeons; pathologists, and physicians and allied health professionals caring for patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.
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Gov. Newsom has signed the following bills into law.
AB347 (Step Therapy) secures much needed protections for patients across the state. Health insurance plans will now be required to expeditiously grant requests for step therapy exceptions by establishing a set of standard exceptions to the protocol. It also builds upon previously enacted timeframes to establish a timeframe for step therapy and prior authorization requests that the insurer deemed to be “incomplete.” These and other new protections will ensure that health insurance plans operate with expediency and transparency to receive all the information they need to make determinations in a timely manner.
AB 457 (Telehealth) ensures patients can access telehealth services from their selected health care provider, or other networked provider of their choosing, rather than having a health plan direct them to a third-party corporate telehealth provider. If a patient does choose to be treated by a third-party corporate telehealth provider, this bill requires the provider to forward patient records from the visit to the patient’s primary care physician or a physician of the patient's choosing.
SB 806 (Medical Board of California) The governor had to sign the bill in order for the medical board to continue to exist in a process known as a sunset review, which typically occurs every four years. During those reviews, lawmakers assess how state boards are functioning and include what changes are needed in legislation sent to the governor.
Signed amid increasing criticism that the state’s medical board is failing to discipline bad doctors, critics say the changes in SB806 doesn’t address their main concern — that the Medical Board of California is too lenient in its punishment of negligent doctors.
The California Dialogue on Cancer invites you to view the 10 chapters, objectives and strategies of the 2021-2025 California State Cancer Plan.
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Reminder that Remittance Advices (RA) are issued in either Standard Paper Remittance (SPR) or Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA). An RA provides finalized claim details and contains explanatory claim processing message codes. Effective 9/29/2021, RAs are required when contacting claims review.
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Quarterly Medicare Updates - A/B - After Hours Webinar - October 14, 2021. This event includes: CMS and Noridian Updates, October 2021 Quarterly Provider Updates, Change Requests (CR), Recurring Updates, Special Editions (SE), and Resources.
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October 20 - Live Chat with Provider Enrollment Webinar - This event includes: Provider Enrollment, Live Chat with Provider Enrollment, and Telehealth/Telemedicine
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October 26 - External Breast Prosthesis (EBP), Mammography and Physician Orders Webinar. This webinar is intended for Medicare Part B providers and DME suppliers and will include: • Mammography Screening/Diagnostic • Coverage Criteria and Coding • Orders and Documentation • Reminders and Resources.
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October 27 - The Noridian Provider Outreach and Education (POE) staff is hosting the Screening Services: Mammography, Pap Test and Pelvic Exam webinar. This webinar is intended for Medicare Part B Providers and will include: • Screening Mammography • Screening Pap Test • Screening Pelvic Examination • Screening for Cervical Cancer with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Test • Resources.
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October 27 - Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) Clinic Webinar. The CERT Overview will address, Part A Missing Documentation - SNF, Labs/Diagnostic Tests, TAVR, ICD, OP Therapy, Part B Missing Documentation - Policy-Based Denials, DME - NPI Billing Errors, Refill Request Errors, Error Prevention, and Website Tour.
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A CMS report found that Z codes were reported for only 1.59% of beneficiaries in 2019. ICD-10 Z codes are useful for identifying and tracking Medicare beneficiaries' social determinants of health. Any member of a care team can collect SDOH data for mapping to Z codes, billing and coding systems can help ensure the appropriate codes are assigned, and analyzing and reporting the data can yield insights that improve care quality, coordination and outcomes.
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January 2022 Quarterly Average Sales Price (ASP) Medicare Part B Drug Pricing Files & Revisions to Prior Quarterly Pricing Files |
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On October 12, ASH submitted a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in support of the agency’s proposal to rescind the Most Favored Nation (MFN) Model. The MFN Model, originally introduced in November 2020, was a national, mandatory model, which sought to change the current Medicare reimbursement formula for Part B drugs by replacing the current Average Sales Price component with a new MFN price no higher than the lowest price paid by another developed country with an economy similar to the U.S. ASH had grave concerns about the potential for harmful impacts of the MFN Model on both patients’ access to treatments and on the practice of hematology and is pleased that CMS is rescinding the Model.
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The Washington Post doesn’t put just any story “above the fold” front-and-center in the paper edition and feature the same story digitally. It has to be major news. It's a pretty big deal that the feature story was on health disparities, especially due to the fall-off in cancer screenings due to COVID. The story features COA President, Kashyap Patel, MD, South Carolina and COA Board Member, Debra Patt, MD, Texas. Most importantly their patients are prominently featured in this major article.
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76% of respondents to a survey reported feeling disappointed or confused after a health care visit and needed to search online to find answers to their questions. 80% go online to find out more about medical recommendations, 24% don't think answers to their questions are clear, the same percentage said they don't understand medical information they've been given, and 17% said they weren't given an opportunity to ask questions.
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36% of patients surveyed in June and July said they had used a telehealth service sometime in the past year, compared with 9% in 2020 and 7% in 2019, but overall satisfaction with telehealth has declined. Patient perception of security, ease of use, trustworthiness and convenience affected decisions to use telehealth; healthier patients were more likely than those with complex health conditions to be satisfied with telehealth, and more than half of respondents cited at least one factor that made telehealth difficult.
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Hospital consolidation and acquisition of physician groups by growing health systems are driving up health care costs and health insurance premiums without improving patient outcomes. Research indicates hospital consolidation has been linked with 5% higher marketplace premiums, while another study found prices for care are 12% higher at hospitals that have no competition within a 15-mile radius, compared with those that have at least four competing hospitals nearby.
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Affiliate Association News |
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In honor of breast cancer awareness month, ANCO will be having Dr. Pamela Munster participate in the October 21st ANCO Connections. Dr. Munster recently authored Twisting Fate, about her experience as an oncologist and a cancer patient. The first 20 registered health care providers will receive a copy of her book.
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ANCO's 2021 Professional Education Meeting is taking place virtually on October 27th.
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ANCO's Hematologic Malignancies Updates (part III of III), will be November 6, 2021- Hyatt Regency San Francisco Embarcadero. The faculty will present the latest research on treatment modalities for hematologic malignancies—leukemias, lymphomas, and myeloma—along with case studies for these diagnoses. Registration deadline is Thursday, November 4th.
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Four seats on the ANCO Board of Directors are up for election in 2021. ANCO seeks nominations for candidates to stand for election to these seats. This year's election will be conducted via election runner online in December. Candidates with the top four vote totals will serve for three years (i.e., from 2022-2024, inclusive). You may nominate an ANCO member (including yourself) to stand for election to the Board via e-mail to director@anco.org no later than November 15.
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Reconnect with old friends and make new ones at the 63rd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition on December 11-14 in Atlanta and virtually. Read more about the various opportunities to connect with participants at the "Welcome Back" Reception, ASH-a-Palooza and Trainee Welcome Reception, Hallway Conversations and ASH Collaboration Rooms.
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COA NEEDS YOUR HELP regarding unfairness of DIR fees and PBM delays. COA has been working with Congressional representatives and senators to fix these issues, but still need YOUR help! Two bills are making their way through Congress that would: force PBMs to speed up their authorization process for oral cancer medications and eliminate retroactive DIR fees. These are hugely important bills to community oncology practices and patients alike – but Congress wants to hear your support for these bills! The more co-sponsors community oncology can get aligned in Congress with these bills the more likely they will come to a vote in the Senate or House of Representatives so you reaching out to your members is so, so important! The COA team has created an easy-to-use support kit to help you contact your legislators. It neatly summarizes both bills, provides talking points for conversations, and includes sample language for reaching out over social media or email. Please take this kit and run with it so we can notch some wins for community oncology and patients with cancer!
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Please support the Friends of Community Oncology PAC (FCO PAC). FCO needs your support! Each year you can contribute up to $5,000. Even if it is an additional $50 or $500, every dollar counts. The election cycle never really ends in Washington, but it is absolutely going to heat up in the coming months. In 2022, all 435 seats in the House and 34 seats in the Senate will be up for election. Who comes into power will have tremendous influence over the policies that impact your patients and practices!
The year is winding down, and you don’t want to miss this opportunity to contribute for 2021. You can donate easily on the FCO PAC website. Thank you for your support, and please share this message with your partners, peers, and colleagues. The FCO PAC is one of the most effective ways for community oncology to engage politically.
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Merck's Keytruda, or pembrolizumab, has been approved by the FDA as a first-line treatment for recurrent, persistent or metastatic cervical cancer with tumors that express PD-L1. The treatment is combined with chemotherapy and may be administered with or without bevacizumab.
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Kite Pharma, Inc. announces that on October 1, 2021, the FDA approved brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus) for adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
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Janssen Biotech cordially invites you to a live educational program, Adherence with Oral Oncolytics & Impact on Patient Outcomes. November 4, 6:30pm PDT at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, Century City.
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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.
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