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  • March 28, 2020 5:13 PM | Anonymous

    On March 27, 2020 the Governor announced that for a 60 day period, consumers and small businesses experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 may defer paying premiums for property and casualty insurance, including auto, homeowners, renters, workers comp, medical malpractice, livery and taxi. No late fees will be assessed and no negative data will be reported to credit bureaus during this time, and late payments will be payable over a one-year period.  More details are forthcoming.

    Additionally, you may call your malpractice carrier to ask about their additional accommodations for relief, such a reduction to part-time status:

  • March 13, 2020 5:23 PM | Anonymous


    Updated Content!

    All NYS Licensed prescribers are again required to satisfy and attend to three hours of CME Pain Management Training.  The new cycle (renewal) deadline is 7/1/2020.

    What You Need to Know

    • Target Audience - Physicians, nurse practitioners, residents, registered nurses, nurses, physician assistants, dentists, and pharmacists.
    • The initial course deadline was 7/1/17 and every 3 years thereafter.
    • The new cycle (renewal) deadline is 7/1/2020.
    • Newly licensed prescribers are mandated to complete training within 1 year of receipt of your license and every three years thereafter.
    • For Residents prescribing under a hospital or facility DEA number:
      • Residents must complete the course within 1 year of the start of their residency and every 3 years thereafter
      • Hospitals must attest that ALL residents prescribing under their institutional DEA number have completed the required training
    • The course is $20.00.
    • Take the Course

  • March 13, 2020 5:13 PM | Anonymous

    The Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human issued an announcement March 10 that a malicious website posing as the live map for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) global cases from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, is circulating on the Internet. Visiting the website infects the user’s computer with the AZORult trojan, an information-stealing program, which can exfiltrate a variety of sensitive data. It is likely being spread via infected e-mail attachments, malicious online advertisements, and social engineering. Furthermore, anyone searching the Internet for a Coronavirus map could unwittingly navigate to this malicious website. The American College of Surgeons urges members to avoid opening any electronic communications from corona-virus-map[dot]com and that health care provider security teams blacklist any indicators associated with this specific threat.

    A sample of the malware being deployed by “corona-virus-map[dot]com” was submitted and analyzed and received an extremely malicious threat score of 100/100 with anti-virus (AV) detection at 76 percent. Hybrid-Analysis labelled this sample as a trojan.

    For details, go to: https://blog.reasonsecurity.com/2020/03/09/covid-19-info-stealer-the-map-of-threats-threatanalysis-report/, send requests for information to HC3@HHS.GOV, or call the HC3, Monday-Friday, 9:00 am–5:00 pm Eastern time, at 202-691-2110.

  • March 12, 2020 8:00 PM | Anonymous

    The American College of Surgeons (ACS) joined other physician specialty organizations in sending a letter to congressional leaders as they work to reach a compromise on surprise billing legislation. The letter, which was sent to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor, and Ways and Means, outlines key components for a fair and effective legislative solution to surprise billing. At present, committee leaders are working to reconcile differences in their approaches to tackling the issue with the goal of including language in a broader package to extend certain health care programs beyond May 22.  

    For more information, contact Carrie Zlatos, ACS Senior Congressional Lobbyist, at czlatos@facs.org.

  • March 12, 2020 8:00 PM | Anonymous

    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released final rules March 9 that will implement interoperability and patient access provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act. The final rule put forth by CMS focuses on driving interoperability and patient access to health information by implementing policies that will help patient data flow freely and securely between payors, providers, and patients. The goals of the two rules are aligned in many ways; however, the rule that ONC introduced aims to provide additional opportunities for innovation through secure access to health data and new tools to help patients shop for and coordinate their own care.

    Both rules finalized the adoption of standardized application programming interfaces and information-blocking provisions. Together, these final rules mark the most extensive health care data sharing policies the federal government has implemented, requiring both public and private entities to share health information between patients and other parties while keeping that information private and secure.

    CMS and ONC both offer fact sheets that summarize the finalized policies in these rules. For more information, contact QualityDC@facs.org.

  • March 12, 2020 8:00 PM | Anonymous

    The Resident and Associate Society of the American College of Surgeons (RAS-ACS) invites all ACS Resident and Associate Fellow members to submit an essay to the annual RAS-ACS Symposium debate by the April 3, 2020, deadline. This year’s topic is Surgical Resident Unionization.

    For participating institutions, resident unions provide a mechanism to unify and mobilize residents, who otherwise are departmentally based and decentralized. However, some argue against resident unionization for myriad reasons—from the financial to the cultural.

    To participate in this debate, submit a 1,000-word essay taking either the pro or con position and submit it to the application site no later than 5:00 pm Central on the deadline. Details about the debate topic can be found on the application site. 

    First-place winners of this essay contest will compete in the debate 1:00–3:00 pm Central time, October 4, 2020, at Clinical Congress 2020 in Chicago, IL. The two second-place winners will have their submissions published in the November issue of the Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons.

    Submit your essays, and contact Rasnews@facs.org with any questions.

  • March 12, 2020 2:03 PM | Anonymous

    Physicians should utilize the New York State Department of Health website that has up-to-date information on COVID-19 and includes information on known cases of COVID-19, cleaning and disinfection guidance, help for childcare providers and schools, and guidelines for individuals who have recently traveled internationally.
    https://health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/coronavirus/providers.htm

    Reporting
    COVID-19 is a reportable disease.  If novel Coronavirus is suspected, immediately notify the local health department (LHD) where the patient resides.

    Health care providers should review: CDC's Interim Guidance for Healthcare Professionals Evaluating Persons Under Investigation (PUI)

    Free Communication Resources 
    CDC offers free resources including video, fact sheets, and posters. 
    https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/communication/index.html

    Additional Resources
    CDC Website for Healthcare Professionals 
    https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/hcp/index.html

     
  • March 06, 2020 4:52 PM | Anonymous

    The New York Chapter's legal counsel has put the following alert together regarding COVID-19.

    The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States is increasing rapidly and health care providers need to be prepared.

    Federal, state and local government agencies recommend that health care providers take various steps during their preparation efforts, including the following.


  • March 05, 2020 4:18 PM | Anonymous

    As the number of cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to rise internationally, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) recommends that all surgeons continue to monitor the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the latest updates and information about it.

    Here you'll find an information section on the CDC COVID-19 website solely dedicated to health care professionals:

    Go to CDC Information for Health Care Professionals

    Although you may not currently be experiencing COVID-19 exposure issues in your practice setting, now is the time to prepare for it. Start by familiarizing yourself with these infection control practices in the event you encounter someone with symptoms. 

    To review protective gear steps, download and view this three-page CDC instructional document.

    ACS will continue to monitor the situation and post updates to this page as needed.

    If you have any information that you think the ACS should be aware of, please email: dhoyt@facs.org

  • February 20, 2020 3:05 PM | Anonymous

    The New York State Doctors Across New York (DANY) program is now accepting applications.

    The DANY initiative includes several programs collectively designed to help train and place physicians in underserved communities,in a variety of settings and specialties,to care for New York’s diverse population. The DANY Physician Loan Repayment (PLR)and Physician Practice Support (PPS)programs make funds available to help recruit physicians to and encourage them to remain in medically underserved areas of the state.

    Funding is provided in exchange for a physician’s commitment to work in an underserved area for a three-year period (DANY service obligation period).

    This is the seventh DANY PLR/PPS cycle of funding. For Cycle VII, both PLR and PPS awards will provide up to $40,000 per year for three years to or on behalf of a physician who agrees to practice in an underserved area for the three-year DANY service obligation period.

    Up to $9million is currently available under this Request for Applications (RFA), which is expected to result in approximately 75three-year awards.

    ,DANY funds can be awarded to: (1) a physician to pay qualified educational debt; (2) a physician to submit the costs of establishing or joining medical practices; or (3) a health care facility to recruit or retain a physician by providing the physician with a sign-on bonus, funds to repay outstanding qualified educational debt, or enhanced compensation. In all cases,100 percent of the funds ultimately must be distributed to the physician or the physician’s practice.

    To learn more please visit: https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/doctors/graduate_medical_education/doctors_across_ny/

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