03/14/13

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Ambulance Open Door Forum Update


Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/OpenDoorForums/ODF_ambulance.html

 

 

 

The next CMS Ambulance Open Door Forum scheduled for:  

 

Date:  Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Start Time:  2:00 PM Eastern Time (ET);

Please dial-in at least 15 minutes before call start time.

 

Conference Leaders: Dr. William Rogers, Anne Hauswald and Matthew Brown

 

**This Agenda is Subject to Change**

 

I. Opening Remarks

Chair – Dr. William Rogers (OPE)

Co-Chair – Anne Hauswald (CM)

Moderator – Matthew Brown (OPE)

 

II. Announcements & Updates

 

III. Open Q&A

 

**Next Ambulance Open Door Forum: May 21, 2013**

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Open Door Participation Instructions:

This call will be Conference Call Only.

 

To participate by phone:

Dial: 1-800-837-1935 & Reference Conference ID: 78874337.

Persons participating by phone do not need to RSVP. TTY Communications Relay Services are available for the Hearing Impaired.  For TTY services dial 7-1-1 or 1-800-855-2880. A Relay Communications Assistant will help.

 

Encore: 1-855-859-2056; Conference ID: 78874337.

Encore is an audio recording of this call that can be accessed by dialing 1-855-859-2056 and entering the Conference ID. This recording will be accessible beginning 2 hours after the ODF and expires after 2 business days.

 

For ODF schedule updates and E-Mailing List registration, visit our website at http://www.cms.gov/OpenDoorForums/.

 

Thank you.

 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has sent this Cms.hhs.gov- Ambulance Open Door Forum Update. To contact Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) go to our contact us page.

 

Skilled Nursing Facility- Long Term Care Open Door Forum Update


Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/OpenDoorForums/ODF_SNFLTC.html

 

 

 

The next CMS Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF)/Long Term Care (LTC) Open Door Forum scheduled for:  

 

Date:  Thursday, March 21, 2013

Start Time:  2:00 PM Eastern Time (ET);

Please dial-in at least 15 minutes before call start time.

 

Conference Leaders: Jeanette Kranacs & Matthew Brown

**This Agenda is Subject to Change** 

 

I. Opening Remarks

Chair – Jeanette Kranacs (CM)

Moderator – Matthew Brown (OPE)

 

II. Announcements & Updates

 

  1. Healthcare.gov & marketplace.cms.gov Announcements
  2. Ethics and Compliance
  3. QM User Guide
  4. Quadriplegia Clarifications
  5. QAPI
  6. Transmission of Non-PPS Assessments
  7. Difference between CMS802-S and CMS802-P
  8. RFI – Advancing Interoperability and Health Information Exchange

 

III. Open Q&A

 

**Next ODF: May 2, 2013**

Mailbox: SNF_LTCODF-L@cms.hhs.gov

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Open Door Participation Instructions:

This call will be Conference Call Only.

 

To participate by phone:

Dial: 1-800-837-1935 & Reference Conference ID: 78875931.

Persons participating by phone do not need to RSVP. TTY Communications Relay Services are available for the Hearing Impaired.  For TTY services dial 7-1-1 or 1-800-855-2880. A Relay Communications Assistant will help.

 

Encore: 1-855-859-2056; Conference ID: 78875931.

Encore is an audio recording of this call that can be accessed by dialing 1-855-859-2056 and entering the Conference ID. Encores for ODFs held on Thursdays can be accessed the following Monday. The recording is available for 3 business days.

 

For ODF schedule updates and E-Mailing List registration, visit our website at http://www.cms.gov/OpenDoorForums/.

Thank you.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has sent this Cms.hhs.gov- Skilled Nursing Facility- Long Term Care Open Door Forum Update. To contact Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) go to our contact us page.

 

Home Health, Hospice & DME Open Door Forums Update


Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/OpenDoorForums/ODF_hhhdme.html

 

 

 

Hospice Quality Reporting Program: NQF #0209 Deadline April 1

 

Important Alert: The deadline to submit the NQF #0209 data is quickly approaching. Hospices that fail to submit and attest to their data will receive a 2 percentage point reduction in their Annual Payment Update (APU) for the FY 2014.

 

To comply with the Payment Year 2014 Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) requirements, providers should currently be entering their NQF #0209 data on the data entry and submission website. Providers that have not already created a data entry account should do so now.

 

The deadline for reporting NQF #0209 data for Payment Year 2014 is April 1, 2013. In order to avoid a 2 percentage point reduction in their Annual Payment Update (APU), providers must have submitted their structural measure data by January 31, 2013 and must submit their NQF #0209 data by April 1. Providers that may have missed the structural measure deadline can still visit the data entry website, create an account, and enter their NQF #0209 data. The link to the data entry site, along with a Technical User Guide giving step-by-step instructions on the data entry process, can be found on the Data Submission portion of the CMS HQRP website.

 

User Account Deactivation Requests for the HQRP

If you anticipate needing a deactivation request for your HQRP user account, please submit the user account deactivation request to the Technical Help Desk via fax at 888-477-7871 or email at help@QTSO.com prior to March 25, 2013. Any deactivation requests received on or after March 25 puts a hospice organization at risk for missing the NQF #0209 deadline, which is April 1. Please note: all data submitted by a user who is deactivated is permanently deleted.

 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has sent this Cms.hhs.gov- Home Health, Hospice & DME Open Door Forums Update. To contact Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) go to our contact us page.

 

Effective Health Care Program Update: AHRQ's Technology Assessment Program To Post Draft Technology Assessment for Review on March 21, 2013


Effective Health Care Program - Helping You Make Better Treatment Choices

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) Technology Assessment Program will be posting a draft technology assessment for review on March 21, 2013. This draft is entitled "Assessment on Implantable Defibrillators and the Evidence for Primary Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death."  If you are interested in reviewing this document, please visit: http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/ta/tareview.htm. The document will be available for review from 9:00 am March 21, 2013 to 5 pm on April 8, 2013 (extended due to the encompassing holidays). If you have any questions, please contact ahrqtap@ahrq.hhs.gov.

Effective Health Care Program
http://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov

 

MMWR News Synopsis for March 14, 2013


MMWR – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

MMWR News Synopsis for March 14, 2013

1. Distracted Driving — United States and Seven European Countries, 2011

2. HIV Infection Among Heterosexuals at Increased Risk — United States, 2010

3. Eligibility and Enrollment in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — 27 States and New York City, 2007–2008

 

Read More

 

Health Plan Identifier and Other Entity Identifier Outreach Events


Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

 

 

 

 

Health Plan Identifier and Other Entity Identifier applications available in the Health Plan and Other Entity Enumeration System beginning March 29, 2013!

 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will host a three free webinars with question and answer sessions that will provide an overview on how to access Health Plan and Other Entity Enumeration System (HPOES) and how to complete a Health Plan Identifier (HPID) or Other Entity Identifier (OEID) application.

 

These webinars will assist participants on the application process so they can begin planning for HPIDs and OEIDs. CMS will present the same information on all three scheduled webinars in case of scheduling conflicts.

 

Below is the webinar schedule and information to access them. There is no registration, but the webinars are limited to the first 500 participants.

 

Webinar Schedule

 

Date

Time

Webinar Link

Call Information

March 18, 2013

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. EST

 

https://webinar.cms.hhs.gov/hpoes21/

877-267-1577

Meeting Id: 2800

March 22, 2013

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. EST

 

https://webinar.cms.hhs.gov/hpoes032/

877-267-1577

Meeting Id: 2800

March 25, 2013

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. EST

 

https://webinar.cms.hhs.gov/hpoes342/

 

877-267-1577

Meeting Id: 2800

 

 

Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange Member Town Hall Meeting

 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is pleased to announce that the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) will hold a Member Town Hall Meeting on "Health Plan and Other Entity Enumeration System: Applications, Data Dissemination and Future Functionality" on Thursday, March 21, 2013 from 2:00 - 3:00 PM Eastern Time.  

 

The webinar will provide an overview of Health Plan and Other Entity Enumeration System (HPOES); deliver instructions on how to access and create an account in HPOES; and explain how to apply for a Health Plan Identifier (HPID) or Other Entity Identifier (OEID). Following the presentation there will be a Q & A session for participants to ask questions, provide their perspectives on how to disseminate data and suggest what items should be included in future releases.

 

Register here for the WEDI Member Town Hall Meeting.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has sent this cms.hhs.gov - Administrative Simplification Update. To contact Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) go to our contact us page.

 

Press Release: Mobile device use while driving more common in the US than in several European countries


Press Release: Mobile device use while driving more common in the US than in several European countries

Most U.S. drivers reported talking on their cell phone and about one in three read or sent text or email messages when driving, according to a new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The study, published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, examined two specific types of self-reported distracted driving behaviors: cell phone use while driving and reading or sending text or e-mail messages while driving, among drivers aged 18-64 years in the United States and in seven European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom).

CDC researchers analyzed data from the 2011 EuroPNStyles and HealthStyles surveys and found that 69 percent of U.S. drivers talked on their cell phone while driving within the 30 days before they were surveyed compared to 21 percent of drivers from the United Kingdom. The study also found that 31 percent of drivers in the United States reported that they had read or sent text messages or emails while driving, compared  to 15 percent of drivers in Spain.

"The cell phone can be a fatal distraction for those who use it while they drive," said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden.  "Driving and dialing or texting don't mix.  If you are driving, pull over to a safe place and stop before you use your cell phone."

CDC researchers also looked specifically at U.S. drivers and found that in the 30 days before they were surveyed:

  • There were no significant differences between men and women in terms of cell phone use or reading or sending text or e-mail messages while driving.
  • A higher percentage of 25-44 year-old men and women reported talking on a cell phone while driving than those ages 55–64, and;
  • A higher percentage of 18-34 year-old men and women reported reading or sending text or e-mail messages while driving than those ages 45-64.

Read More.