Tag: Texas Medical Association (TMA)
Reduced 2024 Medicare Physician Pay Cut Now in Effect.
Thanks to the passage of a new federal spending bill, the 3.4% Medicare physician pay cut that took effect on Jan. 1 was reduced to 1.68% as of March 9. This reduced cut and the corresponding new conversion factor of $33.2875 will remain in effect through Dec. 31.
Putting Patient Care Before Paperwork
- Do you spend two hours completing documentation and EHR management for every one hour of treating patients?
- Do you feel Administrative work is causing increased burnout?
- Are you completing EHR work at home?
- Are you looking to take steps to reduce the myriad of bureaucratic burdens?
Receive More Accurate Payment for Medicare Complex Visits.
The new code will take effect Jan. 1, 2024. The 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule allows physicians to list G2211 in addition to codes used in-office or outpatient visits for new or established patients (i.e., 99202-99215). Physicians can also use it for telehealth visits.
Texas Medical Association continues to push for additional guidance as confusion over the code’s use persists.
5 State and Federal Training Mandates
There are five topics that physicians and their staff must receive training on regularly per state and federal requirements, and the TMA Education Center offers programs to meet those mandates.
All these programs are free to members and their staff as a benefit of membership, saving members $200 or more per program or more than $2,000 combined. Find them in the TMA Education Center under the Opioid and Mandated Trainings topics.
State:
- Human trafficking: Meets all required Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) Human Trafficking Training Standards, is approved by HHSC in accordance with House Bill 2059 (2019), and addresses how to recognize, screen for, and report suspected human trafficking.
- Pain management and the prescribing and monitoring of controlled substances required by the Texas Medical Board: State requirement for a total of 2 hours of formal CME that count as ethics credit and addresses:
- Best practices, alternative treatment options, and multimodal approaches to pain management that may include physical therapy, psychotherapy, and other treatments;
- Safe and effective pain management related to the prescription of opioids and other controlled substances, including education regarding standards of care; identification of drug-seeking behavior in patients; and effectively communicating with patients about the prescription of an opioid or other controlled substances; and
- Prescribing and monitoring of controlled substances.
Federal:
- OSHA: Federal requirement for annual training for all health care workers.
- Treatment and management of patients with opioid or other substance use disorders required for all U.S. DEA-registered practitioners: Federal requirement, one-time 8 hours of specified training.
Federal and state:
- HIPAA and Texas medical privacy laws: Federal and state requirements annually, regularly, and/or within 90 days of hiring.
TMA’s Education Center also has dozens of other courses you can find anytime, available at no cost to members thanks to TMA Insurance Trust.
Disclaimer: Participation in this program in no way implies the participant has fully met the federally and state-mandated training requirements. Participants are solely responsible for ensuring any mandated training requirements are completed.
Notice of Data Breach Update
Texas physician practices and other health care facilities soon will be required to give more timely and public notice of any breaches of computerized data, including electronic health records (EHRs) and billing information.
During the 2023 regular legislative session, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 768 by Sen. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound), which takes effect Sept. 1. The law requires anyone doing business in Texas to notify the state attorney general of computer security breaches involving the sensitive, personal information of at least 250 individuals as soon as possible, and not later than 30 days after discovery, down from 60 days.
More on DEA Training
Please click on this link “DEA Registered-Practioners” to read the Letter from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Pay close attention to “Group 2”. There are other ways to satisfy the training requirement.
Additional Links:
TMA Welcomed Unanimous Passage of House Bill 3359.
A major win for medicine in that it codifies the state’s network adequacy rules by putting them into statute and strengthens their enforcement by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI).
“HB 3359 restricts insurers from making unilateral contract changes and tackles the problematic waiver process which leaves patients unprotected and in the dark.”
TMA now looks to the rulemaking process. TDI has indicated it likely will rewrite the state network adequacy rules impacted by HB 3359
THE END IS NEAR
What’s Next for Telehealth?
Medicare vs Inflation
As part of a broader push for Medicare payment reform, the Texas Medical Association, along with the American Medical Association and 133 national specialty and state medical associations, recently called on Congress to index Medicare physician payments to inflation.
ASK THE EXPERT
TMA RESOURCES |
Ask the Expert: End of the Public Health EmergencyOn March 29 via Zoom, join TMA experts in this interactive Q&A session as they discuss how best to prepare your practice for upcoming changes as the public health emergency winds down on May 11. They will discuss the impact on Medicaid coverage, telehealth, and COVID vaccines and treatments for which you can earn CME. Send your questions in advance. Register now. |
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