MOASC Chair Emeritus, Cary Presant, M.D., is interviewed by City of Hope News on The Latest COVID-19 Advice For Cancer Patients, Survivors and Caregivers. In the last year, doctors and scientists have learned much about COVID-19, including how it affects cancer patients. City of Hope spoke with Cary Presant, M.D., and Jana Dickter, M.D., for the most recent information and advice.

Thank you MOASC member, Ravi Rao, M.D. from California Cancer Associates for Research & Excellence, Fresno, for sounding the alarm and sharing your perspective and experience about the impact of delayed cancer screenings and diagnoses, in an article for the New York Times.

MOASC Programs - Save the Dates - All Times are Pacific

THIS SATURDAY! March 27, 7am-1pm, attend the MOASC Annual Oncology Summit, Exciting Advances in Oncology. This educational activity is designed for medical oncologists, pathologists, surgical oncologists and other clinicians involved in the management of cancer patients. MOASC President, Ashkan Lashkari, M.D., will moderate this virtual conference that will follow a multi-tumor approach with nationally recognized speakers. There will be review of current management strategies and recent advances in Breast cancer, Colorectal cancer, Genitourinary cancer, Lymphoma, Thoracic cancer and Immunotherapy. This will be a great opportunity to learn from experts and network with colleagues. This event is free to all those interested in attending.  

Submit YOUR questions and YOUR cases for discussion with experts in the field, hear the latest clinical trial data and apply it to your patients, consider real-world scenarios and how to mitigate barriers to treatment.

Invite your patients, family and friends to attend with you on March 31, 2021, at 12:30pm, MOASC LunchTime Series webinar, “Talking to Patients About COVID-19 Vaccines: Building Confidence.” Michael Dutro, PharmD, Vaccines Medical Director, California, New Mexico, Hawaii, Pfizer Biopharma, will be presenting specific clinical trial results, general concepts of vaccine confidence, debunk misinformation that prevent people from protecting themselves from the severe effects of COVID-19, recent survey data, process for accelerated development and authorization of COVID-19 vaccines, transparency, safety, personal, community and society reasons for COVID-19 vaccination, general vaccine communication concepts.

MOASC Member, Tanya Siddiqi, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, Director, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Program, Department of Hematology & HCT, City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte, CA will present Advances in Treatment for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). This free telephone/web education program is scheduled for Wednesday, April 7, 10:00am – 11:30am. Topics to be discussed, are: Current and emerging therapies for CLL; Managing side effects to promote a better quality of life; Impact of COVID-19 on CLL treatment decisions. Register online (below) or by phone (855) 922-1531.

MOASC is partnering with Dr Neil Love and his CME organization, Research To Practice (RTP), for a daylong, live educational event to take place on Saturday, May 15, 2021.

Dr. Love and RTP would like to invite MOASC community oncologists to participate in a case-based recorded 60-minute Zoom interview with Dr. Love, which will be utilized during the live activity. There is an honorarium for your time.

Thank you for your participation in the Clinical webinar held on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. The topic was: "Introduction to VerdePharmHealth - Utilizing CBD (Clinical Cannabis) in Oncology Practices with Insights and Real World Evidence to support Health Care Providers" presented by: Jesse Hollingsworth, Founder & CEO and Dr. Ralph Boccia Medical Director at VerdePharmHealth. 

Who Is VerdePharmHealth? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSb90e_spmo

What is The Core Offering Of This Startup? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWfrMKb26Qs&t=12s

Does an unmet need exist between physicians and patients regarding the use of medical cannabis? https://www.youtube.com/watchv=ZNHz4kBMiXc

Executive Overview click Here

Featured CRx Article click Here

Dr. Boccia & Jesse Hollingsworth Presentation

If you have any questions, contact the MOASC office at moasc@moasc.org.

SB 310 (Rubio): Unused medications: cancer medication recycling, passed out of its first policy committee last week on a 14-0 vote. The bill is co-sponsored by the Association of Northern California Oncologists and the American Cancer Society- Cancer Action Network. The bill will allow oncologists to reclaim unused, unadulterated cancer medication from their patients who no longer need them and provide them to patients in need once the medications are cleared for quality. Not only did the bill get a unanimous vote, but it secured a new co-author along the way. The bill will now be heard in Senate Judiciary Committee. 

AB 347 (Arambula) Health Care Coverage: step therapy. This bill will put some restrictions on health plan step therapy protocols, giving doctors and patients more authority to reject health plan’s requirements to fail first at certain treatments before getting access to the treatments they need. The bill is not yet set, but the way is cleared for its first hearing in Assembly Health.

Single-Use Drug/Biological Waste is reimbursed with the -JW Modifier, effective for dates of service on or after April 1, 2021 for Medi-Cal patients. The HCPCS Level II, -JW modifier may be used on drug claims to report the amount of drug or biological that is discarded and eligible for payment under the discarded drug policy. The discarded drug amount is the amount of a single-use vial or other single-use package that remains after administering a dose/quantity of the drug to a patient. This policy applies to all separately billable drugs that are designated as single-use or single-dose on the FDA-approved label or package insert. 

Californians are leaving home to work, shop and eat more now than they were a year or even several weeks ago, but activity has not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, and people are avoiding public transit, according to an analysis of Google cellphone location data. Models suggest the number of COVID-19 cases would have been 10 times higher if people had not stayed home, but they also highlight links between low income and high infection rates, says Serina Chang, co-author of a mobility study published in Nature.

Influenza and Pneumococcal Immunizations Roster Billing - On-Demand Tutorials Available

COVID-19 Vaccine for Mass Immunizer - On-Demand Tutorials Available. Noridian offers two self-paced training tutorials to assist providers and facilities in better understanding of overview, mass immunizer enrollment, coverage, billing, and roster forms.

Quarterly Update to the NCCI PTP Edits, Version 27.1, Effective April 1, 2021.

CMS has increased the amount Medicare will pay to providers for administering the COVID-19 vaccine. Effective March 15, the national average payment rate for administering the vaccine is $40 for each dose. For vaccines requiring two shots, Medicare now pays $80, which is nearly double the $45 Medicare had been paying. CMS said the exact payment rate will depend on the type of entity providing the vaccine and will be geographically adjusted.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission released its annual report to Congress, calling for no payment changes for physicians, yet a 2% increase in Medicare base payment rates for acute care and long-term-care hospitals, a 5% reduction in payments for inpatient rehabilitation and home health care, next year.

Last Friday, the House of Representatives passed H.R.1868, extending the moratorium on 2% Medicare payment cuts caused by a federal budget sequestration and avert $36 billion in payment cuts triggered by the American Rescue Plan. Legislators voted 246 to 175 to pass the bill which postpones Medicare sequester payment cuts until the end of the year and exempts the budgetary effects of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill from the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.

Last Thursday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was confirmed as the next HHS secretary by a vote of 50-49. Becerra helped draft the Affordable Care Act when he was a member of Congress, and he pledged to strengthen it as HHS secretary.

April 5 is the deadline for complying with rules implementing some of the 21st Century Cures Act's health data access requirements. Health care providers should assess the configuration of patient portals and update information release policies to ensure they are in compliance. Health IT developers should evaluate their contracts and other arrangements that involve electronic health information. Health IT vendors should identify whether software updates are needed to comply with the new rules for application programming interfaces and EHI export.

Health insurers have expanded benefits to cover telehealth at no additional charge, provide in-home hospital care and intravenous drug administration, and more. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the embrace by patients, health care providers and health insurers of telemedicine and the home as a health care setting.  Per a blog in America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).

ANCO, in collaboration with Noridian, will be hosting a 1 hour webinar on Thursday, April 15th at 12pm on Medicare in 2021: E&M Office Changes, Telehealth Status and Other Changes.

ANCO's three part series of Hematologic Malignancies Updates: Leukemias, Lymphomas, & Myelomas 2021 will kick off online on 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.

Registration is Open for the 2021 Highlights of ASH Series. This year’s all-virtual experience will take place March 1 – April 2, 2021 and feature program curated annual meeting content derived from all four regions ASH has historically presented in: North America, the Mediterranean, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Attendees will receive full access to the entire program and content on the virtual platform until April 2.

The 63rd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, is on December 11-14, 2021 in Atlanta and virtual. ASH is committed to providing its members and meeting attendees with the most rewarding and satisfying experience each year. While the Society is currently planning for both a virtual and in-person component to the meeting, they continue to monitor the feasibility of meeting in person. ASH would like to know your opinion so they can provide the optimal educational experience for all attendees, speakers, and exhibitors.  

The virtual ASCO Annual Meeting is scheduled for June 4-8, 2021. Register now for the best rates. The early registration deadline is April 28, 2021 at 8:59 PM (PT).

Do not miss the 2021 Community Oncology Conference, April 8 & 9, 2021. See community oncology from a new perspective. This year’s, free, virtual-conference is so much more than just best-in-class educational programs. Not only does the Conference offer unmatched opportunities to hear from key players in the field of oncology, but more importantly, the content is focused on the needs of independent, community oncology practices. Learn about social determinants of health and how other practices are incorporating this data into their workflow. Economics greatly affect how care is provided and successful patient outcomes. Get a deeper understanding of how oncology care can address the community’s needs. There’s something for every member of community oncology, so bring a large contingent from your practice!

Agios Pharmacuticals presents three Virtual Disease Awareness webinars on Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency: An Under recognized Cause of Chronic Hemolytic Anemia on March 23^rd, 31^st and April 8^th.

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.