August 2015 Newsletter
Building Partnerships Between
Business and Medicine
 
Save the Date
First Annual CSMS-IPA Pinnacle Award Symposium
6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m.
Amarante's
62 Cove Street
New Haven, CT
 

CSMS-IPA 2015 Pinnacle Award

We are excited to announce that the deadline for submitting 2015 nominations for the first annual CSMS-IPA Pinnacle Award has been extended from August 15, 2015 to August 31, 2015. There is still plenty of time to complete your nomination. Please visit our website at www.csms-ipa.com to download the Pinnacle Award Nomination Form or submit your nomination directly from the website.

Thank you to all of the practices who have already submitted nominations. We look forward to our annual symposium where we can celebrate the successes of our members and share best practices.
 
 
 
The Pediatrician's Role in the Prevention of Obesity
 
The American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) offers practical steps for families to take that can help their children maintain a healthy weight. You can learn more about this report by reading the June 29, 2015 online published report or the article in the July 2015 issue of Pediatrics, “The Role of the Pediatrician in Primary Prevention of Obesity,” by Stephen R. Daniels, MD, PhD, FAAP, Sandra G. Hassink, MD, FAAP, COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION.

The report offers guidance to both the pediatrician and families on how to introduce healthy habits into the daily lives of their children. This guidance includes eating a well-balanced diet, increasing the physical activity levels in children and reducing sedentary behaviors. To read more about this report, click here to continue
 

CSMS-IPA and Cigna join together to Increase Awareness Around the Importance of the Retinal Eye Exam in Diabetes Care.

In September, CSMS-IPA in collaboration with Cigna, will launch a campaign entitled “Keep Your Eye on What’s Important”. The goal of the campaign is to conduct a mailing to CSMS-IPA diabetic patients with Cigna coverage who are in need of a Retinal Eye Exam. “Making certain that all diabetics get annual eye exams is extremely effective at preventing the number one cause of blindness in18-64 year olds. CSMS-IPA can identify patients who need to get this exam. We all need to work together to make this happen” says David D. Thompson, Jr., MD.,President and Medical Director CSMS-IPA.


Patients will gain the following valuable information from the mailing:
• Learn why their yearly eye exam is so important as a diabetic patient.
• Learn what actions they can take by calling their doctor and scheduling their exam.
• Schedule regular visits with their doctor who manages their diabetes.
• Keep their blood sugar levels in control and obtain hemoglobin A1c levels as directed by their doctor.

Retinal Eye Exams are one of the HEDIS Star Performance measures in diabetes Care. It requires that diabetic patients have a Retinal Eye Exam yearly with an optometrist or ophthalmologist. Why is this important? Diabetes can cause eye problems including diabetic retinopathy. Many patients may not even present with symptoms or notice any changes in their vision or have pain. An eye exam may detect problems early when treatment may be more effective.

Ensure that all of your diabetic patients are participating in their diabetes care, including their regular Diabetic Retinal Eye Exam.

All Cigna products and services are provided exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation, including Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Cigna Health Management, Inc., Cigna Behavioral Health, Inc., and HMO or service company subsidiaries of Cigna Health Corporation. The Cigna name, logo, and other Cigna marks are owned by Cigna Intellectual Property, Inc.
 
Adult Body Mass Index (BMI) Assessment and HEDIS Measure 2015



To Download BMI
chart, please click here.




One of the Stars/HEDIS Performance Measures in Medicare Advantage is Adult BMI Assessment. It reads, "Percent of plan members ages 18-74 years of age with an outpatient visit over 12 months from January to December who had their Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated from their height and weight and recorded in their medical records." The measurement is achieved by including a claims code for the appropriate BMI measurement. Practices can achieve a 4 STAR rating if 77% of their members are reported or a 5 STAR rating if 89% of their members are reported. We understand that all of our practices are calculating BMIs on each of their patients, but few are getting credit for completing it due to a lack of documentation with the appropriate non-reimbursable Diagnosis Code in their claims data. You can change that by utilizing the appropriate ICD-9 codes. For a complete list, please click here.
 

October 1, 2015...ICD-9 to ICD-10 Implementation
Oct. 1, 2015, is the compliance deadline for ICD-10 implementation. American College of Physicians (ACP) strongly urges practices to continue work toward implementation by October 1, 2015. Claims testing is one of the most critical ways by which practices can prepare. End-to-end testing allows practices to submit test claims and receive a remittance advice back from the payer(s). Ideally, all practices should conduct end-to-end testing with all payers well before the deadline. Front-end testing (where practices can send test claims and receive a simple acknowledgment of receipt back) is available with CMS at any time until the compliance date. Learn More..
CMS and AMA Announce Efforts to help providers Get Ready for ICD-10
In response from the provider community, CMS is releasing additional guidance that will allow for flexibility in the claims auditing and quality reporting process as the medical community gains experience using the ICD-10 code set. For more information read the press release below at CMS.gov. Learn More...
 
 
PQRS: An Overview and Decoding MYQRUR


Don't miss your opportunity to view 2 Webinars sponsored by CSMS in partnership with Qualidigm: Available on CSMS Website. Learn More..
 

CSMS-IPA has engaged a new email encryption service through ZixMail. We have adopted this new system of encryption to protect your practice information and patient’s health information that is being sent to you from CSMS-IPA. It is simple and secure. You do not need to have a ZixMail account to open our encrypted emails, but you do need to register (first time only) and establish your own personal password. Please record your password in a secure place, as you will utilize that same password for all ZixMails received from CSMS-IPA. The messages do expire so any information or reports contained in the message that you want to review at a later time should be downloaded to your computer. Should you have any questions regarding the process or the reports, please contact Rosemary Hokanson, Physician Network Education Manager at rhokanson@csms-ipa.com.
 
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Please visit our Website at www.csms-ipa.com to check out the following new resources:

-Webinar Registration Links and Recorded Webinars
-Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults Pocket Guide: American Geriatrics Society
-Chronic Care Management FAQs: Medicare Learning Network
-Play Back on Summer Webinars: Chronic Care Management and
Coding and Risk Adjustment
 





 
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The Connecticut State Medical Society - IPA (CSMS-IPA) is the largest and only statewide IPA in Connecticut and one of the largest in the nation. The CSMS-IPA is comprised of approximately 7,000 physician members. The CSMS-IPA is governed by a 27-member physician Board of Directors.

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