The California Department of Health Care Services’ Medi-Cal electronic health records (EHR) Incentive Program is now open to individual providers. Individual physicians can enroll and earn up to $63,750 in incentive dollars by demonstrating meaningful use of a qualified EHR system.  The Medi-Cal program is different from the Medicare program and specifically targeted to safety net physicians.  

To enroll, register with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, then enroll in the Medi-Cal Incentive Program. If you need more information about the incentive programs and how to obtain financial support for your adoption of an EHR, visit CAFP’s Health Information Technology Toolkit for additional tools and resources. 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it will delay the implementation of the Recovery Audit Prepayment Review Demonstration originally scheduled to begin January 1, 2012. The demonstration will allow Medicare recovery audit contractors to conduct prepayment reviews of certain types of inpatient hospital claims in 11 states, including California. The American Hospital Association shared several concerns with CMS about the demonstration and suggested that the implementation date be delayed. CMS said it is considering the many suggestions it received and will provide at least 30 days’ notice before the demonstration begins. To help you prepare for a third party audit, CAFP developed a set of guidelines for responding to a payer’s request for documentation.

Mark Blatt, MD will be the keynote speaker at the 2012 Congress of Delegates in Sacramento (March 3-5). Dr. Blatt joined Intel in the summer of 2000 working in the New Business Group. He is currently Worldwide Medical Director, Enterprise Solution Sales in the Sales and Marketing Group. In this role he concentrates on how health information technology infrastructure can enable Providers to deliver cost effective, quality care to a wide cohort of citizens. He has a particular interest in Integrated Care Delivery, Mobile Point of Care, Secure Computing and the emergence of Cloud Computing services.  

The 2012 CAFP Congress of Delegates will be held at The Citizen Hotel in Sacramento March 3-5.  December 9 was the deadline for receipt of resolutions and names of delegates and alternates; four resolutions were received, including two from the Board of Directors and two from the Alameda-Contra Costa Chapter.  Resolutions submitted between now and the Congress must be emergent in nature (to be judged by the Speaker and Vice Speaker) and be signed by 10 active members and affirmed by a two-thirds vote of the Congress, as must the names of delegates and alternates submitted between now and the Congress.

Any member is welcome to attend the Congress of Delegates, the Sunday afternoon advocacy and media training sessions and the activities of Legislative Day in Sacramento on March 5, but only delegates and alternates may vote on the business of the Congress. 

Make your hotel reservation at The Citizen Hotel today at 916-492-4460 and ask for the CAFP group rate. Important note: the group rate of $155 will be available only through February 17, 2012; identify yourself as attending the CAFP meeting to get this rate.  Questions? Contact Susan Hogeland at 415-345-8667.

In less than two months, the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula that sets Medicare physician payment will reduce Medicare payment by nearly 30 percent. In late December, Congress passed a two-month delay of the cut, but physicians’ pay and patients’ care are still threatened. Attempts to delay the cut further have been caught up in political grandstanding, threatening your practices and access to care for millions of seniors. We must ensure that EVERYONE in Congress knows the hardship created by this political game of chicken. Our legislators need to put aside partisan politics and repeal the SGR. Your national and state Academies have been working hard to pressure Congress to do the right thing, BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP.

TAKE ACTION TODAY!

Please contact your representative and senators this week. Urge them to:

• Demand a positive, stable Medicare payment rate for at least three years;
• Ensure at least a three-percent positive payment differential for primary care compared to other specialties to begin to address the imbalance in our health care delivery system that drives up costs; and
• End patients’ health insecurity by averting the draconian Medicare physician pay cut and establishing a permanent change to the Medicare payment formula. No other sector of the business community is routinely subjected to this variability and uncertainty.

Call California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein:  

Barbara Boxer – 202-224-3553

Dianne Feinstein – 202-224-3841

Find the contact information for your representative here.

More information on the SGR and how your Academy has been fighting for you is available here.

The winter 2012 issue of California Family Physician magazine is on its way to your mailbox, but you can view it as an ebook right now.

The winter issue offers a forecast for 2012 with articles about the new laws and regulations surrounding health care. You will find articles written by Dorian Seamster, MPH, Chief of Health Information Services with the California Health Information Partnership and Services Organization (CalHIPSO); Donald Crane, President and CEO of the California Association of Physician Groups (CAPG) and others. 

View the magazine as an ebook here or as a PDF here.