Value based Modifier Program

"The American Medical Association is concerned following Friday's announcement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that a third of physician groups of 100 practitioners or more will face a penalty under the Value-based Modifier program (VBM) in 2015. If even the largest and most sophisticated groups in the country cannot comply with the program's complex and poorly-communicated requirements, the damage will likely be far greater when the VBM is extended to smaller groups and solo practitioners.

"We also think it is notable that none of the 14 groups receiving bonuses have a large percentage of high risk patients. This underscores the need for CMS to better adjust for risk and include socioeconomic factors in that adjustment to ensure that the physicians who see our sickest patients are not disadvantaged.

"The VBM program is just one part of the regulatory tsunami physicians are facing, which includes potential cuts from Meaningful Use and the Physician Quality Reporting System. The AMA has been urging CMS to fix these programs to reduce their burden on physicians so that they can spend more time caring for their patients and looks forward to continuing to work with the administration to improve the quality of care and reduce costs.

LUNG CANCER SCREENING

Lung Cancer Screening Registries

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a national coverage determination (NCD) for Medicare coverage of screening for lung cancer with low dose computed tomography (LDCT) if certain eligibility requirements are met, effective February 5, 2015.  

Detailed information regarding the eligibility requirements are available in the NCD.  Eligible radiology imaging facilities furnishing lung cancer screening with LDCT are required to submit data to a CMS-approved registry for each lung cancer LDCT screening performed.  

Below is the list of CMS-approved lung cancer screening registries.   

   

American College of Radiology (ACR) 

Lung Cancer Screening Registry (LCSR)

Email: nrdr@acr.org

Physician Office of the Future

The AMA Interaction Studio at MATTER will facilitate development of technologies to improve health care delivery, patient-physician interactions and quality of care

CHICAGO – With a shared commitment to meeting the evolving needs of the health care marketplace, the American Medical Association (AMA) and Chicago's new health care technology incubator, today announced a partnership to drive innovation and create a flexible facility that will allow physicians, entrepreneurs, health care professionals and industry experts to test new models for health care delivery.

The AMA Interaction Studio at MATTER is being designed with physical and virtual infrastructure that will enable entrepreneurs and physicians to collaborate on the development of new technologies, services and products in a simulated health care environment.

"Innovation is a key driver in making the health system work better for everyone, and together we can educate and inspire entrepreneurs to deliver technologies that will transform health care," said AMA CEO and Executive Vice President James L. Madara, M.D. "The AMA's partnership with MATTER will create an environment where entrepreneurs can directly collaborate with and gain insights from physicians and the health care community to improve and advance technologies, products and services that will improve the health of the nation."

"New technologies by themselves are not meaningful in health care without the engagement of physicians and health care professionals," said MATTER CEO Steven Collens. "MATTER's partnership with the AMA creates an environment that will allow entrepreneurs to work together with physicians and the broader health care community to test and advance new technology to improve the way the health care system works."

The AMA Interaction Studio, located at MATTER in Chicago's historic Merchandise Mart, is being envisioned to include modular furniture and advanced video and audio technologies that will allow users to better understand workflows and how new products and services will fit into a health care delivery environment of the future. The architecture and design firm will lead creation of the approximately 450-square-foot space.

The AMA/MATTER partnership will also include a variety of educational workshops, interactive simulations and collaboration events focused on optimizing health care – specifically clinician-patient interactions. "Our goal is to help entrepreneurs identify and understand key challenges in patient care and foster the seeds of innovation that will deliver meaningful solutions for physicians," said Dr. Madara.

"The opportunity to engage with physicians through this partnership is hugely valuable to our company," said Shane Greyvenstein of LatticeWorx, a MATTER member company that uses IT solutions to help physicians make better medical decisions. "MATTER's partnership with AMA will help us to refine our products in collaboration with the medical professionals who will use them, and helps us ensure we're creating the maximum benefit for patients."

Ref: http://www.ama-assn.org