California Oncology Weekly
"Where California Oncologists Go For Answers!"
A publication of the
Medical Oncology Association of Southern California, Inc.
September 1, 2020
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Click anywhere on picture to view the past 30 years |
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This Thursday, enhanced encore presentation, Dealing with Issues related to COVID-19 Pandemic MOASC News
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Send letter to Gov. Newsom’s office urging him to veto SB1383 California News
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This Thursday, the ASH Consultative Hematology Course Affiliate Association News
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- September is National Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month. MOASC President, Dr. Warren Fong, shares why thyroid cancer has a higher survivor rate than other cancers.
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- "Being a part of MOASC has been a great experience thus far, a relationship that I will continue for years to come. Having the ability to connect with other board members, to share ideas, collaborate on important projects, as well as discuss solutions to difficult situations, especially in the middle of COVID 19, has been invaluable. Additionally, there have been several learning opportunities including presentations and round table discussions to further academic interests. From this group of oncologists, I am able to see a variety of perspectives from private practices (both small and large), academic centers, and even hybrid groups. There is something here for every oncologist."
Joshua Mansour, M.D., MOASC Board Member, MOASC Secretary/Vice-President-elect, MOASC Legislative Committee, specializes in Bone Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Immunotherapy at City of Hope and for the Southern California Permanente Group.
- In consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic, MOASC extended membership through the end of September. MOASC’s membership drive will start October 1 with renewing member dues prorated through June 2021. If you have any questions please contact the MOASC Office at moasc@moasc.org. Thank you.
- MOASC Members have shared information regarding Anthem Blue Cross requiring HMO & PPO patients to acquire certain drugs from CVS Pharmacies. MOASC is interested hear from practices who are in receipt of a similar letter, and how it has affected your practice. Please contact the MOASC Office moasc@moasc.org with your information. Thank you.
- As California’s wildfires and rolling blackouts leave thousands without shelter or power, we want to remind you of MOASC’s Oncology Patient Emergency Network (OPEN). Created for patients, their care providers and physicians, in the event of an emergency, to provide continuity of care for displaced cancer patients actively receiving treatment, provide access to alternative physicians, have medications available at alternative physician’s office, less stress dealing with insurance companies, provide “wallet card” with critical diagnostic and treatment information. We encourage you to participate. Please go to www.open-central.com for more information or moasc@moasc.org.
MOASC PROGRAMS - SAVE THE DATES
All times are Pacific
- Mark your calendar for this Thursday, September 10 at 5:30pm. An encore presentation of the MOASC Clinical Webinar, “Dealing with Issues related to the COVID-19 Pandemic,” will be presented by Arthur Lurvey, MD, Medicare Contractor Medical Director, Noridian. This follow-up webinar will go over the slides presented and answer any questions you may have. Click here to view the presentation slides. Dr. Lurvey will cover:
The latest clinical resources, latest federal rules regarding physician payments and loans;
To differentiate and use various forms of telemedicine;
To improve documentation and correct charts;
New Preauthorization for selected topics starting July 1, and
The new E&M office definitions to start in 2021.
If you have any questions or would like for Dr. Lurvey to discuss a specific topic or issue during the webinar, please send a detailed email to moasc@moasc.org no later the close of business today, Tuesday, September 8, 2020.
Thank you to the following sponsors of this encore presentation:
AstraZeneca, BeiGene USA, Inc., Pfizer Oncology, Puma Biotechnology, AbbVie, Merck Oncology, Verastem Oncology, Astellas, Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson and Johnson, Agios Pharmaceuticals, Foundation Medicine, Genentech, Genomic Health, Kite Pharma, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Pharmacyclics, Regeneron Healthcare, Sanofi-Genzyme, Stemline, Takeda, Immunomedics.
- Wednesday, 11/04/20, 12:00pm to 3:00pm - MOASC Virtual Oncology Administrator program will cover: Patient Access Strategy for your practice; Optimize Cash Flow; and Telemedicine.
- Thursday, 11/12/20, 12:00pm to 3:00pm – MOASC Virtual Oncology Biller program will cover: Medicare Updates on COVID Coding Changes/telehealth updates, Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Outpatient Prospective Payment System, How to prepare for a MAC/RAC Audit, 2021 changes to E&M coding, data from PracticeNET and CancerLinQ, as well as Guide for Cancer Care Delivery.
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- Unfortunately SB 1383 passed in the legislature. SB 1383 is the bill that will expand the 12-week employee leave under the California Family Rights Act onto employers with 5-49 employees. YOU are encouraged to send a letter to the Governor’s office urging him to veto this bill. Click the link below to log in and send your message: https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/n7Z2qpCJJEEZp-pTdbrU6A
- California could become the first state to develop its own line of generic drugs under a bill approved last week by the legislature. The measure heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom for consideration.
- Long fought nurse practitioner independence bill passes the legislature. The measure caps one of the most contentious health policy debates in recent memory, potentially altering how Californians get their medical care. Gov. Gavin Newsom has until the end of September to sign or veto it.
- The California Legislature at the end of its 2020 session last week sent more than a dozen bills aimed at addressing the coronavirus pandemic to Gov. Gavin Newsom, requiring healthcare providers to create stockpiles of personal protective equipment for their workers. The bills, SB 275 and AB 2537, now go to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will need to sign or veto them by Sept. 30.
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Noridian News
- Upcoming Educational Events - September 2020.
The schedules of region-specific events, webinars and training are JEA, JEB, JAF, and JFB.
- Part A Ask the Contractor Teleconference (ACT) - Prior Authorization - September 16, 2020. This event includes: Presubmitted Questions, Prior Authorization Updates, and Open Question and Answer Read the complete update.
- Rebuttal, Reconsiderations and CAPs Webinar - September 16, 2020. This event includes: What is the Rebuttal Process, What is a Reconsideration Request, What is a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) Read the complete update.
- Evaluation and Management (E/M) Modifiers - After Hours Webinar - September 29, 2020. This event includes: Basics of E/M modifiers, Supporting documentation, Knowledge assessment, Resources Read the complete update.
- Required Use for Telephone Re-openings - Effective October 1, 2020
Starting on October 1, 2020. Noridian will require providers to use the Noridian Medicare Portal (NMP) for all Re-openings that are available through Self-Service Re-openings. Read the complete update.
CMS News
- The new Medicare Severity DRG administration of CAR- T therapies was published in CMS’ final Inpatient Prospective Payment System rule last week. This provides a predictable payment to help adequately compensate hospitals for administering CAR-T therapies. The rule gives hospitals a 2.7% payment bump for fiscal year 2021.
- CMS has updated provider-specific documents, with new information identified by two stars (**), by practitioner type:
- Claim Status Category and Claim Status Codes Updates. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) requires all covered entities to use only Claim Status Category Codes and Claim Status Codes approved by the National Code Maintenance Committee in the ASC X12 276/277 Health Care Claim Status Request and Response transaction standards adopted under HIPAA for electronically submitting health care claims status requests and responses. These codes explain the status of submitted claim(s). Proprietary codes may not be used in the ASC X12 276/277 transactions to report claim status. Read the complete update
- CMS has officially launched Care Compare, a patient-facing website that streamlines all the CMS Compare websites and intends to help patients make more informed decisions about care access. Specifically, Care Compare will combine the eight Compare websites, including sites like Hospital Compare and Nursing Home compare, to make the process for accessing care easier for patients and their family caregivers. This effort builds on previous ones to make the care access decision-making process easier for patients. All eight of the CMS compare websites, which include: physician and other professional, hospital, home health, nursing home, hospice, inpatient rehabilitation facility, long-term care hospital and dialysis facility compare, were designed to give patients and their loved ones the information necessary to make a care access decision. These websites display information about key quality measures that should help patients determine which facilities align with their care needs and goals.
- In addition to launching Care Compare, CMS has also unveiled updates to separate tools the agency also intends to help patients make decisions about care access. The Procedure Price Lookup (PPL) tool, for example, will not include both physician and facility fees for certain procedures, which CMS said will make it easier for patients to know the full out-of-pocket cost for a health visit. A new price transparency tool launched under the eMedicare initiative also aims to give patients a better idea of their own healthcare financial responsibility.
- As a reminder, reported in earlier editions of the California Oncology Weekly:
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The HHS Office of Inspector General announced in June that effective August 3, 2020, CMS will resume auditing Medicare payments for advanced care plans to ensure clinical documentation supporting in-person services meets federal regulations. The OIG plans to release a report on its findings next year. Practices may struggle to respond to CMS' audit requests given many business office employees are still furloughed. Please contact the MOASC Office moasc@moasc.org if, 1) your practice is in receipt of a Medicare audit request, and 2) if responding to the request poses undue hardship due to limited staff support.
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Comments on the proposed CY 2021 Physicians Fee Schedule (PFS) are due no later than 2 pm Pacific, on October 5, 2020. CMS is not proposing any changes to the values of the outpatient E&M services finalized in the CY 2020 rulemaking. If this rule is finalized as proposed, hematology/oncology is projected to see an increase of 14% in 2021. Read The Summary. For more information, see CCHP's fact sheet on the CMS CY 2021 Proposed PFS or see the full text.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released information regarding the October updates to the 2020 MPFSDB. The MACs will not search their files to retract payment for claims already paid or to retroactively pay claims impacted by these changes. However, MACs will adjust claims brought to their attention. 21 New Codes Effective October 1st The 21 codes below are new codes effective for dates of service from October 1, 2020, and beyond. These codes were also implemented under CR 11736 for the October 2020 HCPCS update. Note: For all 21 codes, there are no RVUs, and payment policy indicators do not apply. Go to https://www.cms.gov/files/document/mm11939.pdf?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=name_coding_billing_updates_for_august_13_2020&utm_term=2020-09-08 for the list of codes and more information from the MLN Matters Bulletin. The official instruction, CR 11939, issued to your MAC regarding this change is available at https://www.cms.gov/files/document/r10288cp.pdf.
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- The CDC announces that September is National Preparedness Month. CDC has resources on creating community, which can help people continue to take precautions in the face of a long pandemic. Discussed are some of the ways people can work together to improve personal preparedness, social connectedness, and community resilience where they live and work.
Physicians & Healthcare delivery systems can: Work with community health workers, healthcare providers, and patient navigators to connect community members with health resources, and provide telehealth options that are tailored to the needs of patients.
Employers can: Review and put into practice CDC’s guidance for businesses and employers, reminding managers to ensure that best practices are followed. Provide masks, alcohol-based hand sanitizers, hand-washing stations, and personal protective equipment as appropriate.
- Arizona State University is working to identify sleep-disturbed cancer patients willing to participate in a research study designed to determine the effects of an 8-week smartphone-based health intervention. Participants must be available for a total of eight weeks and will be asked to download a free smartphone app to engage in ~70 min/week of health/wellness activities. Take the eligibility survey to learn more! Take Survey. Contact asupilotapp@gmail.com with questions.
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Affiliate Association News |
ANCO News
- The Association of Northern California Oncologists (ANCO) continues to monitor the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and is committed to providing the membership the best possible information with which to make clinical and personal well-being decisions. https://anco.org/anco-covid-19-updates-resources/
We encourage member practices to let ANCO know of COVID-19 resources they are depending upon and found useful and how they are responding to COVID-19 and serving their patients and staff at director@anco.org (Use Subject: COVID-19: RESPONSE). Thanks!
- 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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ASH News
- The first course will take place virtually this Thursday, September 10. Don't miss an update on state-of-the-art advances in clinical hematology. The ASH Consultative Hematology Course is an interactive, half-day virtual program led by faculty familiar with consultative practice issues and commonly encountered clinical problems that require the expertise of a hematologist. View the program.
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ASCO News
- Conquer Cancer, seeks nominations for an Extraordinary Woman Mentor for their Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award. Please submit your nomination by October 30, 2020.
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- Bristol Myers Squibb announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Onureg® (azacitidine 300 mg tablets, CC-486) for the continued treatment of adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who achieved first complete remission (CR) or CR with incomplete blood count recovery (CRi) following intensive induction chemotherapy and who are not able to complete intensive curative therapy.1 AML is one of the most common acute leukemias in adults.
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- BeiGene USA Inc., cordially invites MOASC Members to their upcoming webinar for a valuable discussion on the trial data for newly-approved BRUKINSATM in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), as well as a review of its dosage and administration. Presented by: Elizabeth Brem, M.D., UCI, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Healthcare professionals including hematologist oncologists, medical oncologists, pharmacists, PAs, NPs, and RNs are encouraged to participate in this valuable dialogue. Please RSVP to Shelley Brown at shelley.brown@beigene.com or (805) 279-8800.
- Astellas Pharma US, cordially invites MOASC Members to their upcoming webinar to discuss XOSPATA® (gilteritinib): A Targeted Therapeutic Approach for Relapsed or Refractory FLT3m+ AML Patients (077-0621-PM) on Thursday, September 24, 2020 at 6:00 PM-PDT. Presented by: Gary Schiller, MD. Register before September 21, 2020, at https://astellas.virtualspeakercast.net/Registration/index/48
- MOASC Members, ACT NOW AND SAVE! Effective October 1, 2020, pricing for GAMUNEX®-C (Immune Globulin Injection [Human), 10% Caprylate/Chromatography Purified) under Grifols USA, Inc. will increase. CLICK HERE for detailed product and pricing information. For more information about our agreement with Grifols, please contact your Innovatix representative at (888) 258-3273.
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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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