The
ACC on Dec. 23, 2008, submitted comments to the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt
on the development on a plan to transition to a Medicare value-based
purchasing program for physician services. HHS asked commenters
to focus value in four areas: measures; incentive structure;
data strategy and infrastructure; and public reporting. The
ACC in its letter responds to each area, and articulates ACC’s
commitment to “health system reform that involves carefully
examining the many issues with the health care financing and
delivery system and exploring alternative models that may
begin to address these issues.” View the letter in full.
ACC
Comments on 2009 Medicare Fee Schedule
The
ACC on Dec. 26, 2008, offered comments on the 2009 Medicare
Fee Schedule, as published in the Federal Register
on Nov. 19, 2008. The letter comments on: independent diagnostic
testing facilities provisions; physician and non-physician
enrollment issues; the elimination of a fax exemption to the
electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) transmission standards;
the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative; the new e-prescribing
incentive program; and the establishment of payments for new
CPT codes. View the letter in full.
FDA
News Updates The
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Jan. 8 released its
final clinical study report on ENHANCE and issued an update.
According to the update, “The results from ENHANCE do
not change FDA’s position that an elevated LDL cholesterol
is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and that lowering
LDL cholesterol reduces the risk for cardiovascular disease.”
Read the review here.
The Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) on Dec. 23, 2008, filed a Consent
Decree and has barred Actavis Totowa, LLC, Actavis, Inc.,
and their officers from manufacturing and distributing drugs
at the Actavis Totowa facilities until the company comes into
compliance with U.S. current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements.
The company manufactured and sold oversized tablets of Digitek,
which resulted in serious injuries and death. More coverage
is available from Cardiovascular
Business magazine.
CMS
Chooses ‘Value-Based Care Centers’ for Demo
The
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Jan. 6
announced its site selections for the Acute Care Episode (ACE)
demonstration, which will test the use of a bundled payment
for both hospital and physician services for 28 cardiac and
nine orthopedic inpatient surgical services and procedures
delivered through Medicare fee-for-service. Specific electrophysiology
and interventional procedures will be included in this demonstration
project. The demonstration, which was open to applicants from
Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado, will designate the
chosen applicants as “Value-Based Care Centers.”
According to CMS, the bundled payments offered by the demonstration
will better align incentives for hospitals and physicians
to offer higher quality and greater efficiency in care. The
demonstration will also test the effect that transparent price
and quality information has on beneficiary choice, CMS added.
The demonstration will begin in early 2009. ACC will monitor
the demonstration to review this new payment model and its
impact on both physicians and patients. More information is
available here.
CMS
Announces New Medicare Claims Contracts
The
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Jan. 7
announced the final five Medicare Administrative Contractors
(MAC) that will process and pay Medicare claims for health
care services under the Medicare fee-for-services program.
The new MACs are mostly located in the South and Midwest.
The contracts will last for up to five years and pay 36 percent
of the national volume of Medicare Parts A and B claims payments
in 14 states. When fully operational, the Parts A and B MACs
will completely replace the fiscal intermediaries and carriers
that have administered Medicare since it began. More
information can be found on the CMS Web site, including
a map
of MAC jurisdictions.
QUALITY
Physician
Groups Must Be Involved in Reform, Iowa Chapter President
Says
Iowa
ACC Chapter President Craig Clark, M.D., F.A.C.C., was featured
on Jan. 9 as a guest columnist in the Des Moines Register.
He writes, “Physician groups have an opportunity to
proactively address the need for health system reform by coordinating
patient care, encouraging doctors to practice data-driven,
high-quality medicine and addressing medical liability concerns
to increase the overall quality of health care Americans receive.”
Dr. Clark believes that ACC’s Quality First campaign
“should serve as a model for health care reform”
because cardiovascular professionals “know what practices
provide our patients the best quality health care, and we
know how much it costs to provide it.” Read Dr. Clark’s
column in
full, or click
here to learn more about Quality First.
