Monday Rx | September 10, 2018 | Shana Tova! September 13, 2018 Monday RX 849 Shana Tova - Wishing everyone health and happiness for the New Year this Rosh Hashanah! As LACMA enters the Fall season and our final quarter, we, as well, are poised for a successful 2018 close. Membership Growth We are making progress with such institutions as Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center where we are looking at supply chain and utilities costs. Any reductions and savings will be used for LACMA memberships. We will be meeting with leadership from Cedars Sinai Medical Network next week where the focus will be on physician wellness and what LACMA/CMA can deliver specifically to help physicians in crisis. UCLAHealth discussions continue to be fruitful as do conversations with Huntington Hospital and others. Each of these conversations center around helping physicians within each organization. How Do Members Feel About the APM Experiment? Doctors say they are likely to sit out of a planned CMS experiment that would allow doctors in Medicare Advantage plans to qualify as participating in an alternative pay model. While the agency suggested the demonstration in June, some physicians say the proposed structure places too much administrative burden on doctors and they can't consider it as a pay option. Under the proposal, the agency would accept applications to participate in the alternative pay model from individual clinicians rather than using tax identification numbers or physician group levels. Clinicians are also taking issue with the amount of data they will have to collect and report during the demonstration. The CMS estimated that it will take 15 hours to complete the application for each participating clinician. The American Medical Association recently raised no issues with the proposal and said it wants the CMS to move forward with launching the experiment this year. "The demonstration recognizes the advantages of APMs in MA and will afford physicians participating in risk arrangements in MA similar advantages to those enjoyed by physicians participating in risk arrangements in traditional Medicare APMs," Dr. James Madara, president of the association, said. I'd like to hear from our memberson this important topic. Do physicians have issues with the experiment? Or, as Dr. Madara says, should physicians take advantage of APMs in order to maximize payments? Health Information Exchanges This spring, a coalition led by the California Medical Association (CMA) and the California Health Information Partnership & Services Organization (CalHIPSO) secured a $5 million expenditure for a health information exchange (HIE) in the 2018-19 state budget. This funding will be used as the match to draw down $45 million in federal HITECH funds, creating a $50 million investment in HIE. As of early September, the state Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is working to secure the necessary federal approvals to make this project a reality. DHCS and its stakeholders are aiming to have the project up and running by the end of this year, or the first part of 2019 at the latest. Once federal approval is secured, funds will flow to HIEs to help onboard physicians in their communities. In general, this involves all the technical and support services needed to connect physician practices to an HIE and help them integrate data exchange into their practice workflows. A portion of the funding for this project is being set aside to help HIEs connect directly to the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) database. Under CMA-supported legislation passed last year (AB 40, Santiago), the California Department of Justice (DOJ) is building a health IT interface to CURES, which is expected to be ready on October 1, 2018. The funding in this project will help HIEs to connect to that interface, so that data from CURES can be incorporated directly into physicians' electronic health records, without the need for a separate sign on. Once this interface is in place, HIEs can help physicians comply with the new CURES duty-to-consult, which takes effect on October 2 of this year. The California Medical Association also recently co-hosted a live CURES webinar with DOJ and the Medical Board of California regarding this new requirement. The webinar provides an overview of the new mandate and the requirements imposed by the law when checking CURES. It also includes an overview of the registration process and key features of the CURES database. The webinar is now available for on-demand viewing—free to all interested parties. State of Reform Health Policy Conference I hope you will consider joining LACMA and CMA next week at the 2018 Los Angeles State of Reform Health Policy Conference on September 19th at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel. Now in its third year in Los Angeles, and fourth year in Southern California, the 2018 Los Angeles State of Reform Health Policy Conference convenes one of the largest, most diverse gatherings of senior health care executives and health policy leaders from across the state. All members are invited to attend on September 19th to connect, network, and discuss the most pressing, most practical health care issues facing the system today. You may register here. State of Reform pulls together practitioners, thought leaders, and policymakers – each working to improve our health care system in their own way – into a unified conversation in a single place. It is sure to be one of the most diverse gatherings of senior health care leaders in Southern California, and one of the most important statewide events in California health care. Gustavo Friederichsen Chief Executive Officer Los Angeles County Medical Association "If it matters to our LACMA members, it matters to me." EVENTS AND COMMUNITY DoubleTree by Hilton, Thousand Cranes Ballroom, 120 S. Los Angeles Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 11 AM - 2 PM WITH SPECIAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER DR. BARBARA L. MCANENY PRESIDENT AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION CME Programs FINDING EFFECTIVE CURATIVE OPTIONS IN THE TREATMENT OF SICKLE CELL DISEASE WHEN: September 14, 2018 WHERE: Brookside at the Rose Bowl, Mediterranean Room, 1133 Rosemont Ave. Pasadena, CA 91103 Click here for more information This seminar will discuss the rapid development of new gene therapy and needfor access to novel curative modalities for Sickle Cell Disease. MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO CANCER SYMPOSIUM WHEN: September 20 to 23, 2018 WHERE: Loews Coronado Bay Resort 4000 Coronado Bay Road Coronado, CA 92118 Click here for more information. This intensive program will provide participants with an enhanced ability to interpret and apply besttreatment options to their individual cancer practices. 5TH ANNUAL GAYLE BRINKENHOFF BREAST CANCER SYPOSIUM WHEN: October 23, 2018 WHERE: Argyros Auditorium, City of Hope 1500 E. Duarte Road Duarte, CA 91010 TIME: 8:00 AM -4:00 PM Click here for more information and click hereto register This program will bridge the gap of current practice to include recent developments in disease classification, molecular biology, diagnostic algorithms, testing modalities andtherapeutic advances. NEOPLASTIC HEMATOPATHOLOGY UPDATE WHEN: November 8 to 10, 2018 WHERE: The Waterfront Beach Resort, A Hilton Hotel 21100 Pacific Coast Highway Huntington Beach, CA 92648 Click here for more information. Join experts for this exclusive interactive conference. This is a unique opportunity for up-close learning and discussion with experts in the treatment of neoplastic hematopathology. HOW THE EXPERTS TREAT HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES WHEN: March 21 to 23, 2019 WHERE: Waldorf Astoria, Las Vegas 3752 S. Las Vegas Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89109 Click here for more information. This two-and-a-half-day symposium has been designed by experts in the field of hematologic malignancies and affords the conference attendee specialized educational tracks for both physicians and nurses, providing an opportunity to learn about the most recent advances in the treatment of bone marrow transplant, multiple myeloma, lymphoma andleukemia. For questions contact: cme@coh.org or 626-218-5622.