- Home
- Advocacy
- Latest News and Practice Data
- August 7, 2018
Read the Latest Issue of STATLINE
August 7, 2018
CAP, ACLA and Others Urge Congress to Reform PAMA
The CAP, along with several other physician, patient, and laboratory professional groups, urged Congress to reform the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) because of the damaging cuts to Medicare’s clinical laboratory fee schedule (CLFS) due to flawed implementation from the agency. In an August 2 letter to congressional leadership, the groups state that “by not collecting reimbursement data from more than 99 percent of laboratories, [the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)] implemented a CLFS that fails to accurately reflect the clinical laboratory market and ignores Congress’ directive, resulting in extreme cuts to vital lab services that will jeopardize care for the most vulnerable Medicare patients.”
The groups, which include the American Clinical Laboratory Association, Association of Pathology Chairs, the American Health Care Association, and the National Independent Laboratory Association, also encouraged Congress to advance legislation that would:
- Modify PAMA to address data integrity concerns and market exclusion through a statistically valid process that is least burdensome on providers and ensures access for patients;
- Ensure that the private payer data the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) collects accurately represents all segments of the clinical laboratory market (national independent, community and rural independent, hospital outreach, and physician office laboratories); and
- Provide a transparent process to allow for the validation of the data collected by the CMS.
The CAP, along with these groups, is working with Congress to help identify ways to improve PAMA data collection and calculation processes.
STATLINE Wants to Hear from You!
Take our Readership Survey and Win an Apple Watch
The CAP invites readers to take a quick survey regarding STATLINE, our weekly federal and state advocacy e-newsletter. STATLINE strives to keep CAP members updated on the latest regulatory and legislative issues concerning pathologists at the federal and state levels of government. Through news briefs, STATLINE provides clarity on these issues while also reporting what the CAP is doing to address matters concerning pathologists. Your valuable feedback will allow us to evaluate and improve the e-newsletter to best meet your needs. This survey should take about 3-5 minutes to complete.
TAKE THE STATLINE READERSHIP SURVEY.
The CAP recognizes the value of your time and privacy. Be assured that your individual information will be kept strictly confidential and your email address will not be distributed to anyone. All results are reported in aggregate format. If you need assistance, please email Lori Vernon at LVERNON@CAP.ORG.
As a thank you for your time and feedback, we invite you to enter into a drawing to win one Apple Watch. If you would like to enter, please enter your information at the end of the study.
Uncover Ways to Impact Your Income at CAP18
Are you being paid fairly for the services you provide? Payment for pathology services has a direct impact on the success of your practice. Do you know who makes these decisions—and what criteria they use? Are there steps you can take to ensure fair compensation? These topics and more will be explored at CAP18.
Educational Sessions
- MACRAscopic Analysis of the New Quality Payment Program: Maximize Reimbursement While Demonstrating Value (S1620)
- How Is My Payment Determined for Pathology Services? Non-CME course (STA008)
- The CAP’s Policy and Advocacy Agenda (STA010)
- The Role of Pathologists in Population Health: An Interactive Discussion (STA011)
- What You Need to Know About the CAP’s Pathologists Quality Registry Non-CME course
- Lunch Roundtables
- Current Payment Policy Challenges in Pathology Practice (R1691)
- My Surgical Pathology and Cytopathology Coding Dilemmas: Getting It Right—An Advanced Discussion (R1690)
Learning Pavilion Session
- Understanding and Maximizing your MIPS Score
CAP Exhibit Booth
- Pathologists Quality Registry Demos
- MIPS Resources for Pathologists
- Billing and Cost Assessment Toolkits
Registration is now open for vital CAP policy and advocacy courses and roundtable discussions during CAP18.
Decoding MIPS Webinar Series
First webinar this week
Navigating all the requirements related to successfully complying with MIPS can be confusing; especially for non-patient-facing physicians such as pathologists. And on top of that, you may be at risk for losing bonus opportunities if you don’t fully optimize your participation.
As part of our ongoing commitment to ensure pathologists are able to successfully participate in new and evolving payment models, the CAP is pleased to offer a comprehensive MIPS education webinar series specifically developed for pathologists, led by experts who will take a deep dive into components of the MIPS program. Upon completing the six webinars in this program, you will fully understand program requirements, be able to optimize your participation and successfully comply with MIPS.
The first in this webinar series – Maximize Your MIPS Bonus Potential – will take place on Thursday, August 9 at 12 PM ET/ 11 AM CT. During this 30-minute webinar, Diana Cardona, MD, FCAP, Chair of the Economic Affairs Measures & Performance Assessment Subcommittee, will review key elements of the MIPS program as it relates to understanding and maximize scoring, including selecting the right measures and improvement activities that have the maximum scoring and bonus point potential. Register today.
Attendees can submit their questions about MIPS points and scoring in advance when they register for the webinar.
Other webinars in the MIPS series are open for registration:
MIPS Reporting: Which Path is Right for Your Practice?
Thursday, September 6, 2018, 11AM ET
Emily Volk, MD, MBA, FCAP
Explore the MIPS readiness checklist and learn how to choose the best reporting options for your practice.
REGISTER NOW
Pathologist Improvement Activities Under MIPS
Tuesday, September 20, 2018, 1PM ET
Diana Cardona, MD, FCAP
Discuss strategies to maximize the 15% of MIPS total score for Improvement Activities and review the activities that are most applicable to you.
REGISTER NOW
2019 Final Medicare Policy and Payment Changes
W Stephen Black-Schaffer MD, FCAP
Donald S. Karcher, MD, FCAP
Emily Volk, MD, MBA, FCAP
Details coming soon.
Quality Measures that Will Improve Your MIPS Score
Tuesday, December 4, 2018, Noon ET
Diana Cardona, MD, FCAP
Examine ways of improving your performance and MIPS scores using CAP-developed quality measures.
REGISTER NOW
Steps to Take Before Reporting MIPS Data
Tuesday, January 8, 2019, 3PM ET
Emily Volk, MD, MBA, FCAP
Discover ways of maximizing your scoring for 2018 before submitting results to CMS.
REGISTER NOW
Have Your Voice Shape the AMA’s Policy Goals
As an important partner in health care policy, the American Medical Association (AMA) and the CAP work together on issues to reduce regulatory burdens and influence legislation concerning patients and physicians. The AMA Council on Long Range Planning and Development would like CAP members to help identify and better understand important issues relevant to health care and the practice of medicine by taking this survey.
The AMA Council on Long Range Planning and Development studies and evaluates the long-range objectives and policy development process in order to make recommendations to the AMA Board of Trustees on the strategic issues related to AMA's vision, goals, and priorities. The last day to complete the survey is August 31.
If you have questions about the survey, contact Susan Close at susan.close@ama-assn.org.