April 17, 2015
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President Obama has signed into law legislation repealing the flawed Medicare payment formula that has plagued physicians for more than 17 years.
The president, who signed the bill Thursday afternoon at a White House ceremony, called it a “significant bipartisan achievement” and said the new law helps Medicare patients by giving assurance to doctors about their payments.
The legislation to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate, or SGR, passed the House and then earlier this week, the Senate, by overwhelming majorities. The approval came just hours before yet another payment patch was set to expire and Medicare would have been forced to cut physician payments by 21 percent.
The new legislation guarantees physicians a 0.5 percent rate increase every year through 2019, when a series of quality incentive payments become available. The first 0.5 percent increase takes effect July 1, 2015, followed by another on Jan. 1, 2016.
MMS President Richard Pieters, MD, thanked the hundreds of Massachusetts physicians who contacted members of Congress earlier this month to urge passage of the bill.
“We could not have done this without you,” said Dr. Pieters. “Your work on behalf of your patients, your practice and your colleagues was tireless; and your voice was heard.”
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- Testify Unable to attend Annual Meeting in person, but feel passionate about a resolution or report? Any MMS member may view the online Delegates’ Handbook and post testimony.
This year's Annual Meeting is scheduled to take place April 30 to May 2, 2015 at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in Boston.
Online registration is currently available.
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"From Kaohsiung, Taiwan to Harvard Medical School to Lahey Medical Center:
A Second Generation Immigrant Physician and What My Parents Taught Me" featuring Chi Huang, MD
, associate chief medical officer of Lahey Burlington Hospital, on Thursday, April 30 at 5:00 p.m. World Trade Center, Boston. All are welcome.
Register here.
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Join us for live event with featured speakers and open discussion on May 7 at 6:00 p.m. in the Longwood area of Boston. Subjects will include next generation EHR interoperability, Apple Healthkit, and modular EHR technologies. Students and residents can register on the MMS website for free. Light dinner included.
More info and registration.
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The Massachusetts Medical Society & Alliance Charitable Foundation has awarded 18 grants totaling $234,00 to agencies across the state to support a variety of health and medical services, including mental health, substance abuse, teen health, violence prevention, and care for the uninsured and underinsured.
Read more here.
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The MMS recently submitted public comment regarding the Health Policy Commission’s proposed Patient Centered Medical Home certification program. The PCMH certification—mandated in the 2012 “Chapter 224” cost containment bill—is a voluntary program designed to recognize innovative, coordinated, value-based primary care practices. While the MMS praises the HPC’s decision to base the certification upon the existing, widely-recognized National Committee for Quality Assurance’s PCMH certification program, MMS cautions the HPC about several concerning proposed modifications to the program.
Read the MMS testimony here.
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PLEASE NOTE: If you have not renewed your MMS membership, it will be subject to termination at the next MMS Board of Trustees meeting. Renew today by calling (800) 322-2303 ext. 7495 or visiting
www.massmed.org/renew.
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Live CME Activities
Unless otherwise noted, all events are held at MMS headquarters, 860 Winter St., Waltham, Mass.
May 13, 2015
Location: Virtual (via live webinar)
The above activities have been approved for
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
Save the Date
Caring for the Caregivers X: Enhancing the Quality of Your Professional Life
October 20, 2015
Featured Online CME Activities – Risk Management Credit
The above activities have been approved for
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
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Baystate Health Chief Warns Health New England Could Exit Health Exchange
Dr. Mark A. Keroack, president and chief operating officer of Baystate Health, is warning that the use of
current methodology to assess risks to insurers in the health care market in Massachusetts could cost smaller insurers millions of dollars.
State Helps Bring Behavioral Health Online
Last week, the state's health care IT agency, Massachusetts e-Health Institute, or MeHI, announced
a round of grants that will help behavioral care providers. It is the first set of grants intended to help behavioral health providers invest in records systems that reduce health care spending while improving the quality of care.
Resurgence of Hepatitis C in Mass.
The opioid epidemic that is killing hundreds of intravenous drug users who overdosed this year in the state
has resulted in a Hepatitis C epidemic, according to state health officials. Most of those drug users, they note, are people younger than 30 who probably used contaminated syringes.
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