The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will publish the Open Payments Program Year 2017 data and updates to the previous program years’ data in June 2018.

Review and dispute for the Program Year 2017 Open Payments data publication began on April 1, 2018 and will end on May 15, 2018.

Physician and teaching hospital review of the data is voluntary, but strongly encouraged. Please keep in mind the following reminders:

• Disputes must be initiated by May 15, 2018 in order to be reflected in the June 2018 data publication. For more information on review and dispute timing and publication refer to the Review and Dispute Timing and Data Publication Quick Reference Guide.
• CMS does not meditate or facilitate disputes. Physicians and teaching hospitals should work directly with reporting entities to resolve disputes.  
• Registration in the Open Payments system is required in order to participate in review and dispute activities.

If you have never registered with Open Payments before:

Make sure you have your National Provider Identifier (NPI) number and State License Number (SLN). Initial registration is a two-step process:

1. Register in the CMS Enterprise Identity Management System (EIDM);
2. Register in the Open Payments system

For users who have previously registered:

Users that have registered during previous program years do not need to re-register.

Please note:
If the account has not been accessed for within the last 60 days the account will have been locked due to inactivity. To unlock an account go to the CMS Enterprise Portal, enter your user ID and correctly answer all challenge questions to gain access to your account. You will be prompted to create a new password.

If the account has not been accessed for 180 days or more, the account will be deactivated. To reinstate the account contact the Open Payments Help Desk at 1-855-326-8366; 1-844-649-2766 (TY Line) 

For more information about the registration process, visit the physician and teaching hospital registration page on the Open Payments website.

Questions — Contact Live Help Desk

Submit questions to the Help Desk via email at openpayments@cms.hhs.gov or by calling 1-855-326-8366, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. (ET), excluding Federal holidays.

The Help Desk refers media inquiries to CMS’ Press Office for response.

TO REGISTER: http://www.cvent.com/d/stqrfv

Register at: lecture.urmc.edu/satcher

PathStone Presents - Provoking Thought!, an opportunity to meet and interact with thought leaders engaged in addressing persistent poverty.  Our inaugural luncheon will feature Dr. Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City”.  WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2018 11:30AM - 1:30PM TEMPLE B’RITH KODESH 2131 ELMWOOD AVENUE, ROCHESTER, NY 14618 Register:  http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ef71euwufc13d649&llr=umex7gdab  A Reserved Table for Ten (10) -- Special Rate for Community Partners -- $450 Use the Promo Code of NONPROFIT for your discount. Discount expires 4/15/2018.  For tickets, visit our website PathStone.org

Building on our nearly five decades of success in Community Development, Workforce Development and Emergency Support services, PathStone is excited to launch PathStone Presents-Provoking Thought!, an opportunity for community builders to meet and interact with renowned thought leaders engaged in addressing the most challenging conundrum facing our community -- persistent poverty. 

PathStone Presents-Provoking Thought! will feature Dr. Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City”, to shine a light on an often-misunderstood public crisis of housing instability and to galvanize a citywide conversation addressing the region's deep housing challenges. Dr. Desmond is a brilliant sociologist and dynamic storyteller who truly understands the relationship between unstable housing and poverty. This event will bring attention to housing insecurity which overpowers thousands of low-income families, often several times each year.  In Rochester alone 8,298 eviction notices were filed and 3,408 were executed in 2016 according to figures compiled by Rochester’s Legal Aid Society.  By November of 2017, 7,943 eviction notices had already filed and 3,226 executed.  It is our hope that hosting Dr. Desmond will bring much needed attention to the struggles faced by low-income people living in our community to encourage activism and generate ways that we can work together to make our communities stronger. Follow the link below to register now for this event. http://bit.ly/PATHSTONEDESMOND

The Drug Enforcement Administration is warning the public about criminals posing as DEA Special Agents or other law enforcement personnel as part of an international extortion scheme.

The criminals call the victims (who in most cases previously purchased drugs over the internet or by telephone) and identify themselves as DEA agents or law enforcement officials from other agencies. The impersonators inform their victims that purchasing drugs over the internet or by telephone is illegal, and that enforcement action will be taken against them unless they pay a fine. In most cases, the impersonators instruct their victims to pay the “fine” via wire transfer to a designated location, usually overseas. If victims refuse to send money, the impersonators often threaten to arrest them or search their property. Some victims who purchased their drugs using a credit card also reported fraudulent use of their credit cards.

Impersonating a federal agent is a violation of federal law. The public should be aware that no DEA agent will ever contact members of the public by telephone to demand money or any other form of payment.

The DEA reminds the public to use caution when purchasing controlled substance pharmaceuticals by telephone or through the Internet. It is illegal to purchase controlled substance pharmaceuticals online or by telephone unless very stringent requirements are met. And, all pharmacies that dispense controlled substance pharmaceuticals by means of the internet must be registered with DEA. By ordering any pharmaceutical medications online or by telephone from unknown entities, members of the public risk receiving unsafe, counterfeit, and/or ineffective drugs from criminals who operate outside the law. In addition, personal and financial information could be compromised.

Anyone receiving a telephone call from a person purporting to be a DEA special agent or other law enforcement official seeking money should refuse the demand and report the threat using the online form below. Please include all fields, including, most importantly, a call back number so that a DEA investigator can contact you for additional information. Online reporting will greatly assist DEA in investigating and stopping this criminal activity.

Link to report the Extortion Scam Online: https://apps.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/esor/spring/main?execution=e1s1

This year, America’s Physician Groups (APG) is pleased to continue our webinar series with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for physicians and physician groups implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) through the Quality Payment Program (QPP), focusing on Alternative Payment Models (APMs). Through a co-branding agreement with CMS, the sessions will combine CMS expertise on the regulation’s content with APG's members’ knowledge of how clinicians are responding on the ground to these important changes and care models.

APG designed the series to provide physicians and physician organizations the “how-to” for APM implementation. Given America’s Physician Groups’ leadership with advanced payment models, we are well positioned to share best practices and lessons learned in this area. Each session will include Q&A time with the presenters. We hope the webinars will be a valuable resource to help you successfully participate in APMs in 2018 and beyond. Our next session in the series will focus on: 

Title: MIPS APMs to Advanced APMs: How to Make the Valuable Transition

Date: April 30, 2018

Time: 9:00am -10:30am PT / 12:00pm - 1:30pm ET

Register:  http://eventcenter.commpartners.com/se/Rd/Rg.aspx?516875

Subject matter experts from CMS will review the MIPS APM model and requirements for qualifying to become an advanced APM. Additionally, CMS will answer specific audience questions on the final rule for 2018 and provide information and resources relevant to the transition from MIPS APM to advanced APMs.

APG will have its members cover key implementation steps for physicians and physician organizations in making the decision to transition. Our members will offer their strategies behind how they made the transition for their organization and share any challenges/pitfalls and tips as well. Further, they will be able to answer audience questions about their specific presentations.

Speakers:

CMS Speakers:

• Corey Henderson, DrPH, MPA, Stakeholder Engagement and Policy Division, CMS Innovation Center
• Adam Conway, MPH, Alternative Payment Model Infrastructure Division, CMS Innovation Center

APG Speakers:

• Dr. Sam Skootsky, Chief Medical Officer, UCLA Faculty Practice Group and Medical Group
• Chantal Buchanan, Executive Director, Medicare and Medicaid ACOs, New England Quality Care Alliance (NEQCA)

For more information, please contact Dr. Amy Nguyen, anguyen@capg.org or 213.239.5051.

You can now use the updated CMS MIPS Participation Lookup Tool to check on your 2018 eligibility for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).

Just enter your National Provider Identifier, or NPI, to find out whether you need to participate during the 2018 performance year.

Changes to Low-Volume Threshold

To reduce the burden on small practices, we’ve changed the eligibility threshold for 2018. Clinicians and groups are now excluded from MIPS if they:

• Billed $90,000 or less in Medicare Part B allowed charges for covered professional services under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS)

OR

• Furnished covered professional services under the PFS to 200 or fewer Medicare Part B -enrolled beneficiaries

This means that to be included in MIPS for the 2018 performance period  you need to have billed more than $90,000 in Medicare Part B allowed charges for covered professional services under the PFS AND furnished covered professional services under the PFS to more than 200 Medicare Part B enrolled beneficiaries.

Note: The 2018 Participation Lookup Tool Update for Alternative Payment Model (APM) participants will be updated at a later time.

Find Out Today

Find out whether you’re eligible for MIPS today. Prepare now to earn a positive payment adjustment in 2020 for your 2018 performance.

The Physician Medicine and Drugs Procedure Codes and Fee Schedule have been updated for 2018. For details, click here.