Contents tagged with medicare
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Family doctors tell Senate Committee to expand access to women's health services, raise Medicaid payment rates
By Jonathan Nelson
The Texas Legislature approached full stride this week as some of its most powerful committees began hearing testimony from state agencies and the public. The Senate Finance Committee took up Article II of the state budget, which contains funding for all agencies and programs that fall under Texas Health and Human Services. That includes Medicaid, CHIP, Healthy Texas Women, the Family Planning Program, services for the aging and those with disabilities, and much more. At roughly $80 billion for the biennium, Article II accounts for more than a third of total state expenditures.
Antonio Falcon, MD, of Rio Grande City, was the first TAFP member to address the committee on Wednesday morning, February 6, advocating for one of organized medicine’s top legislative priorities, the allocation of funding to ensure competitive and appropriate Medicaid payments. Those payment rates have not been increased in a meaningful or enduring manner in nearly two decades. Yet physician practice costs have increased by about 3 percent each year.
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Get MACRA ready with QPP Now: AAFP enhances tools to help you avoid negative payment adjustment in 2019
By Jonathan Nelson
Amid the daily deluge of news about efforts to repeal Obamacare and the possible passage of the next iteration of health reform winding its way through Congress, it’s easy to forget the looming deadlines associated with Medicare’s Quality Payment Program. But don’t do it! We’re halfway through the year, which means you have only 6 months left to report at least one quality measure or activity in 2017 to avoid being penalized in 2019.
Your Academy has put together a wealth of resources to help you avoid that penalty and prepare for what’s to come. Bookmark this link in your browser and visit it frequently, as modules are being updated and developed as regulations are modified: http://www.aafp.org/practice-management/payment/macraready.html.
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OIG steps up investigations of health care providers
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OIG steps up investigations of health care providers
Physician compensation under the microscope
By Corinne Smith, Strasburger and Price
Headlines like this should make you feel … more
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Texas Family Physician - Vol. 67 No. 2, Spring 2016
Go to the TFP archive
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President’s letter
Perspective
CONTENTS
TMF Health Quality Institute: Helping you succeed in the transformation from volume to value is … more
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2017 and MACRA are on the way, but now you can pick your pace
By Perdita Henry
The march from volume-to-value by way of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 has been steady, and as we prepare to meet 2017, anxiety about the new Quality Payment Program has left many wondering what hurdles they will have to face.
CMS recently announced the Pick Your Pace Program, specifically designed to assist medical providers at different readiness levels as they prepare for MACRA. The announcement was a welcomed development by AAFP Board Chair Robert Wergin, MD, who took it as a sign that CMS not only took into account AAFP’s comment letter in reference to MACRA but also realized physician success in implementing the new payment program benefits everyone in the health care community.
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What should you know about Medicare's new quality payment program?
By Suzie Buhr, BSN, RN, CPHQ
Quality Improvement Consultant for TMF Health Quality InstituteJust when your physician practice successfully participated in the Physician Quality Reporting System or achieved Meaningful Use with your electronic health record, along comes a new payment program from the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services. Beginning next year, your practice will be evaluated for the data you report in 2017, which will affect payments in 2019. The good news is by participating in PQRS and meaningful use now, you are moving in the right direction. The work you are doing for those programs will help you transition to participating in either the Merit-based Incentive Payment System or the Alternative Payment Model program. What do you need to know now to prepare for the transition?
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Texas Family Physician - Vol. 67 No. 1, Winter 2016
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President’s letter
Perspective
CONTENTS
Texas Family Physician of the Year 2015-16: Antonio Falcon, MDBorn and bred in Rio Grande City, … more
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After the SGR: Alternative payment models
After the SGR: Alternative payment models
By Jim Walton, DO, MBA
Last year the much maligned sustainable growth rate cost control scheme used by The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services was … more
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Strength in numbers
An adaptation of the 2015-2016 incoming president’s address
By Ajay Gupta, MD
TAFP President, 2015-2016Greetings colleagues. I am humbled and honored to serve as president of this extraordinary Academy and I want to thank all of those leaders and physicians who have mentored me and guided me along the way as well as my wonderful family for their steadfast support.
I became involved in the Texas Academy in my second year of practice because it equipped me with the tools to make my practice better. As you know, TAFP provides some of the best CME available and is produced for family physicians by family physicians. The Academy has helped me maintain board certification, which as you all are aware is an important process and not easy to do. The Academy also provides a range of practice support services to help my practice be more efficient. At our statewide meetings I get the chance to network with other family physicians to hear about the latest trends in health care delivery and payment—what’s working and what’s not working.
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Texas Family Physician - Vol. 66 No. 3, Summer 2015
Go to the TFP archive
View the virtual issue
President’s letter
Perspective
CONTENTS
Inside the coverage gapTexas is the only state left with at least 20 percent of its population … more