AMA report shows physician Medicare revenue down 19% over first half of 2020 The economic impact of COVID-19 on health care continues to reveal itself through reductions in patient volume and revenue and in higher practice costs. As the pandemic stretches on, physician practice viability remains under threat. Financial impacts were assessed with a claims-based analysis of changes in Medicare physician spending for the first six months of 2020 and a nationwide survey of physicians in July and August of 2020. Medicare physician spending The report “Changes in Medicare Physician Spending During the COVID-19 Pandemic” provides an in-depth look at impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic ... March 4, 2021 AMA, CMS, COVID19, Medicare AMA, COVID-19, Medicare, Report 0 0 Comment Read More »
New Data Reports on ACEs Aware Training and Screening New data reports are now available that detail the number of Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) screenings conducted in California between January 1 and June 30, 2020, and the number of providers who have completed the “Becoming ACEs Aware in California” core online training. Since launching the ACEs Aware initiative in December 2019, more than 15,500 providers have taken the training. About 9,100 Medi-Cal providers in California have attested to completing the training and are receiving Medi-Cal payment for conducting qualified ACE screenings. Medi-Cal providers – primarily pediatric, family medicine, and internal medicine physicians – have conducted over 155,000 ... March 2, 2021 Medi-Cal, Trauma Informed Care ACEs, ACEs Aware, Medi-Cal, Screening 0 0 Comment Read More »
Vaccines expanded to workers in education, childcare, emergency services, food and agriculture COVID-19 Updates for Santa Clara County Dear Neighbors, Great news! Santa Clara County has now vaccinated more than half of its residents age 65 and older. Getting vaccinated is not only the best way to protect yourself against COVID-19 but also helps the County more quickly move to less restrictive tiers. Starting February 28th, COVID-19 vaccines will be available to residents who work in education and childcare, emergency services, and food and agriculture. This is in addition to those who are already eligible, which include healthcare workers, long-term care residents, as well as those ... March 1, 2021 COVID19, Public Health COVID, Eligibility, Vaccines 0 0 Comment Read More »
Public Comment on Draft Research Plan: Screening for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Young Children The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force posted today a draft research plan on screening for autism spectrum disorder in young children. The draft research plan is available for review and public comment from February 25, 2021 through March 24, 2021. To review the draft research plan and submit comments, go here. Any visitor to the Task Force Web site can comment on any of the listed USPSTF draft documents. However, readers should note that the USPSTF writes these documents for researchers, primary care doctors, and other health care providers, using medical ... February 25, 2021 General, Patient Care Autism, Screening 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS holds physicians harmless from MIPS penalties amid COVID-19 PHE CMS to Apply MIPS Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Policy for the 2020 Performance Period in Response to COVID-19; Reopens Application Today, CMS announced it will hold physicians harmless from up to 9% MIPS penalties due to the significant disruptions of the COVID-19 public health emergency on physician practices’ performance in 2020. The Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Hardship Exception policy will be automatically applied to ALL MIPS eligible clinicians who do not submit any MIPS data for the 2020 performance period and avoid a 2022 payment penalty. CMS is also reopening the ... February 25, 2021 CMS, COVID19, MIPS CMS, COVID-19, MIPS 0 0 Comment Read More »
