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.

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

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/

On February 11th, the second iteration of the Governor’s Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) met. The Team is charged with recommending $2.5 billion in Medicaid savings as part of an effort to enact a State Budget by April 1. 

The meeting reviewed the successes of the previous MRT, a statement of the general charge and activities for the MRT 2, and identifying the highest cost drivers in the Medicaid program that will be under the microscope for revisions.

Public input will be solicited online as well as through 3 upcoming public forums/evening webinars. The next one will take place on Tuesday February 18^th from noon – 3pm, at the Monroe County Community College, High Falls Auditorium, 321 State St., Rochester, NY

To submit your ideas for Medicaid cost-saving suggestions visit their form online.

There are 3 meetings of the MRT 2 scheduled including one on March 2 in NYC and a third meeting to be announced for mid-March.  There will also be a Long Term Care advisory group established. 

Cost Drivers

In looking at the services for 6.2 million Medicaid enrollees, among the highest cost drivers identified included:

• LTC and Consumer Directed Personal Care Program (800% growth from 2016 to 2021)
• Prescription Drugs (36% growth from 2011 to 2019, exceeding 25% medical CPI)
• Transportation (up 131% from 2011 to 2019)
• Case management including Health homes
• Program Integrity (reducing fraud and abuse, and ensuring cost-efficient delivery of care for Medicaid recipients)
• Distressed Hospitals (160% increase)

It was also noted that, among the 770,000 “dual eligibles” in New York, only 3% are enrolled in managed care programs.

The only area where physician care under Medicaid appeared to be directly implicated was the stated 344% increase in the Patient Centered Medical Home program from 2011 to 2019, which pays physicians a PMPM bonus to help manage the care of certain Medicaid patients.  However, DOH also noted that patients enrolled in PCMH also had significantly lower health costs overall than non-PCMH enrollees.  

The Call for Abstracts and Videos for Clinical Congress 2020, October 4–8 in Chicago is now open.

The Owen H. Wangensteen Scientific Forum offers researchers the opportunity to present the results of their original, basic science, clinical, education, health sciences, and translational research.

The Video-Based Education Sessions aim to educate surgeons and members of surgical teams in order to improve the care of the surgical patient as well as safeguard the standards of care in an optimal practice environment.

The History of Surgery Poster Session offers surgical history enthusiasts the opportunity to present on subjects of interest related to the history of the field of surgery and its subspecialties.

Start submitting abstracts and videos today.

The last day to submit abstracts and videos is Monday, March 2 at 11:59 pm (CST).

Accreditation by the CoC and NAPBC quality programs of the American College of Surgeons demonstrates a cancer program’s commitment to providing high-quality, multidisciplinary, patient-centered cancer care. Site Visit Reviewers perform a vital service in the accreditation process through site visits to and evaluation of cancer programs.

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Division of Advocacy and Health Policy (DAHP) reported numerous legislative successes last year, including the introduction or reintroduction of more than 16 ACS-supported bills.

These accomplishments are attributable in large part to surgeon-advocate engagement via SurgeonsVoice. Thousands of participants contacted members of Congress about key health policy priorities, resulting in nearly 6,000 grassroots actions. To date, activity surrounding surprise or unanticipated medical billing had the highest participation rate of any issue campaign, with more than 1,100 Fellows, residents, and young surgeons working to effect change.

Surgeons’ voices and expertise continue to play a critical role in helping to educate and inform policymakers. As Congress continues to consider important health care legislation that will affect surgical patient care, all ACS members are encouraged to engage in advocacy.

To learn more and participate, visit the SurgeonsVoice web page.

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) signed a letter to the House Committees on Ways and Means and Education and Labor as they consider policy solutions to the issue of surprise medical bills. The letter highlights the medical community’s commitment to working with Congress to develop an equitable legislative solution to protect patients from surprise medical bills, while also facilitating a process to quickly, efficiently, and fairly resolve physician and health plan billing disputes. The ACS remains actively engaged as Congress looks toward addressing surprise medical billing before the end of May.

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

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) responded to a recently published Washington Post opinion piece describing a patient's experience with surprise medical billing, in which the patient had an upsetting interaction with the surgeon regarding treatment costs.

As the patient was being prepared for an emergency appendectomy, she was told that she would be responsible for the surgeon's full fee because the provider was out of the patient's insurance network.

The ACS letter to the editor, written by Executive Director David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, was published January 17.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the 36th proposal of his 2020 State of the State Agenda - strengthening the oversight of physicians and other medical professionals to protect patients.

The Governor is proposing a comprehensive set of reforms to provide the Department of Health's Office of Professional Medical Conduct with tools to investigate, discipline and monitor physicians, physician assistants and specialist assistants licensed in New York, providing greater transparency in physician discipline and reducing the length of misconduct investigations.

According to the release, areas he will address include:

• Making Investigations and Non-Disciplinary Actions Public
• Eliminating Lifetime Licensure
• Reform Public Health Law's Burdensome Provisions
• Consumers Have Up-To-Date and Accessible Information about New York State Licensed Physicians

"The first responsibility of any medical professional is do no harm, and when someone violates that oath they must be held appropriately accountable," Governor Cuomo said. "These sweeping proposals will help ensure patients have access to critical information they need to make informed decisions about their healthcare and give state health regulators more tools to investigate and penalize providers for dangerous, unethical or illegal behavior."