Applications are due Friday, November 15

The International Relations Committee of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has announced the availability of traveling fellowships to Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), Germany, and Japan.

 The traveling fellowships encourage the international exchange of information concerning surgical science, practice, and education and foster professional and academic collaborations and friendships.  The traveling fellowships, which are available in most surgical specialties, are open to ACS Fellows under the age of 50.

 The Traveling Fellows will spend a minimum of two or three weeks in the countries that they visit. Their activities will include attending and participating in the 2020 annual scientific meeting of the host country: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Perth (May 3-7); Germany Society of Surgery, Munich (April 8–10); and Japan Surgical Society, Chiba (April 8–10). View the full description and a link to the application form on the ACS website. [https://www.facs.org/member-services/scholarships/traveling].

Questions may be directed to the Scholarships Administrator, at scholarships@facs.org.

The closing date for receipt of applications and all supporting documents is November 15, 2019

The College offers faculty research fellowships through the generosity of Fellows, Chapters, and friends of the College, to surgeons entering academic careers in surgery or a surgical specialty.  These fellowships assist surgeons in the establishment of a new and independent research program.  Applicants should have demonstrated their potential to work as independent investigators.  The fellowship award is $40,000 per year to support the research.

 The Franklin Martin Fellowship honors the College's founder.  The C. James Carrico Fellowship is dedicated to trauma and critical care research.  There are two more undesignated fellowships. All of them are two years in length. 

 The full requirements and application form are posted on the ACS website at https://www.facs.org/member-services/scholarships/research/acsfaculty.   Questions may be directed to the Scholarships Administrator, at scholarships@facs.org.

Adapted from the Times Union

New York state is being more forceful in its warning about vaping products as the state Health Department has urged people to stop using them until the cause of a rash of serious respiratory illnesses can be determined.

While attending New York City's Labor Day parade Saturday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, "our health guidance is no one should be using vaping products period until we know what it is."

Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker then issued a statement Saturday saying at the direction of Cuomo, and heeding warnings from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "I am urging New Yorkers to stop using vape products while the investigation into the definitive cause of reported vaping-associated illnesses nationwide can be better determined."

The CDC is reporting that more than 450 possible cases of vaping-related illness have been reported, with five users dying who live in California, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Oregon.

The New York Chapter ACS strongly recommends that every effort be made to prevent the initiation of e-cigarettes by youth and adults. The use of products containing nicotine in any form is unsafe and in youth can harm brain development. Furthermore, evidence indicates that young e-cigarette users are at increased risk for both starting to smoke and becoming long-term users of combustible tobacco products.

Additional legislation we support in efforts to prevent tobacco and vaping related complications include:  S.428 Hoylman/A.47 Rosenthal - prohibits the sale and distribution of flavored e-liquid for use in e-cigarettes.

> Learn more about the Chapter's priorities

As part of its ongoing advocacy efforts surrounding patient matching and the Unique Patient Identifier (UPI), the American College of Surgeons (ACS) joined 56 stakeholder organizations in signing a letter urging leadership of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations to remove language from the fiscal year 2020 Labor, Health and Human Services Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. This provision prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from spending federal dollars to adopt a UPI.

The CMS regional will consult with stakeholders on the best way to communicate with physicians and other prescribers about how their opioid prescribing compares to peers. 

The target audience includes, but is not limited to, clinicians treating Medicare beneficiaries under new Part D regulations; State Medical Societies; and third-party payers.

CMS is seeking feedback to develop a methodology to establish outlier prescriber thresholds; the tone and content of the feedback report to clinicians; how to identify a “medical specialty” from the NPI framework; how to define geographic areas for the analysis; and recommendations on appropriate opioid prescribing guidelines.

The listening sessions are intended to fulfill the CMS “consultation with stakeholder” requirements in Section 6065 of the SUPPORT Act. Importantly, the sessions are critical to inform the methodology CMS will used to define “outlier prescribers.” Stakeholder feedback is also essential to help CMS craft notifications that will drive change in prescribing behavior without encouraging providers to inappropriately reduce or abandon opioid prescribing. CMS must be thoughtful and respectful about how we communicate with providers around opioids, and the input we get through these listening sessions will help guide our efforts. 

A list of questions will be provided to those who register, and dial in information will be shared in advance of the call to take place on 9/17 at 4pm. 

Please register using the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cms-region-ii-prescriber-listening-session-opioids-tickets-71540679097

Changes to National Government Services Local Coverage Determination Process

In accordance with Section 4009 of H.R. 34-21st Century Cures Act (Public Law No: 114-255), CMS is updating the “Medicare Program Integrity Manual” with detailed changes to the LCD process. These changes were communicated in CMS Transmittal 863, issued on 2/12/2019.

Please ensure your staff is aware of the LCD revisions and transition of all coding to related articles. There has been no change in coverage associated with this update.

• All coding information, will be removed from the LCDs and placed in a related billing and coding article, including national coverage provisions, and associated information (documentation requirements, utilization guidelines).
• The article name will begin with “Billing and Coding,” followed by the title of the associated LCD.
• Bill types, revenue codes, CPT/HCPCS codes, ICD-10 codes, as well as any coding guidance or mention of codes in the LCD will now be found in the associated billing and coding article.
• Several LCDs will be revised for 8/1/2019 publication. The remaining LCDs will be revised in the coming months, with all completed by 1/1/2020.
• Billing and coding articles will be listed on the Medical Policy Center page alongside the related LCD.

 

 

Related Content

• More details on this update are available in MLN Matters® Article MM10901.
• For a complete listing of all LCDs, visit the Medical Policy Center

For the first time, the July 2019 issue of MLMIC’s Case Review is available here as a podcast (see below). 

This allows policyholders and non-policyholders alike to listen to an audio version of each case study and its accompanying legal and risk management analysis. 

The cases in this new issue include:

•  Case Study #1:  Gastroenterologist and Hospital Absolved after Disastrous Outcome
• Case Study #2:  Poor Communication Regarding Medical Management Results in Patient Death

The June 2019 issue of MLMIC’s Albany Report, is now available here. 

It offers a concise, insider’s  view of pending legislative, regulatory, and political developments that have an impact on the New York State medical professional liability insurance marketplace.

 

As a surgeon advocate within your state, the ACS Division of Advocacy and Health Policy (DAHP) needs your immediate assistance to help garner additional opposition to legislation moving through the U.S. Senate, the Lower Health Care Costs Act of 2019 which seeks to address unanticipated/surprise medical billing.

Recently, this issue has garnered much public attention, and has risen to the level of congressional action. While the ACS continues to work with Congress to propose meaningful solutions to address this issue, the College needs your help in opposing this legislation introduced by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA).

This legislation includes a federally benchmarked payment rate tied to the in-network median rate to resolve the issue of surprise billing and excludes a fair Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process.
 

Let Us Amplify Your Voice!

A sample email message has been crafted for you and will take less than 2 minutes to send via SurgeonsVoice    If you prefer, you may also send a traditional letter.  A sample is available for you.

As the Governor Liaison to the ACS Legislative Committee, I would like to report that the Committee has had a busy year thus far, with ongoing developments regarding multiple issues, the most salient of which are highlighted in this newsletter.

You can help these causes not only by writing your Congressional Delegates, but also by becoming active at the State level within the New York Chapter of the ACS. Please be an ACS Advocate, even if only at your local government level: truly it can make a difference-or rather, should I say, YOU can make a difference. Best wishes to all for a happy and safe July 4th.

Anthony J. Vine, MD, FACS
Asst. Clinical Professor of Surgery,
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, NY, NY
Laparoscopic Surgical Center of NY