ASCO, CMS, ION, & Palmetto/J1MAC News

The following information has been received by ANCO.


****ASCO NEWS****
Palmetto Allows For Temporary Coverage Change in Response to Leucovorin Shortage
In December 2008, Arthur Lurvey, MD, the Contractor Medical Director for Palmetto GBA (MAC Jurisdiction 1), announced, "Until the supply shortage for Leucovorin has been corrected, we will allow the use of Fusilev (Levoleucovorin) in all places where Leucovorin was and is covered."

Important Changes to ASCO Coding & Reimbursement Hotline Policies & Procedures
Starting January 5, 2009, ASCO has implemented two important changes for the Coding & Reimbursement Hotline. We hope these changes will help expedite responses and improve service to ASCO members.

1) All hotline inquiries should be submitted via e-mail to practice@asco.org. We believe this will help streamline our response process.
2) We are now requesting that inquiries from members and their staff be accompanied by an ASCO member ID number.

State Society Executive Directors who are asking questions on behalf of State/Regional Affiliate members will continue to have access to the hotline. We appreciate your patience as we transition to this new process.

ASCO Hosting "Adapting to Changes in Medicare for 2009" Audio-Conference Call
ASCO will be hosting their Annual "Adapting to Changes in Medicare" audio-conference call on Thursday, January 22, 2009, from 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM (EST). Discussion topics will include:
Overview of Medicare's 2009 Physician Fee Schedule
Overview of Medicare's 2009 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System
Review of 2009 PQRI Program and oncology-specific measures
E-prescribing
Oncology Coding Update

For more information, and to register for this call, please visit the ASCO website.

FDA Approves Gleevec For Adjuvant Treatment of Adult Patients Following Complete Gross Resection of Kit (CD117) Positive Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST)
On December 19, 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Imatinib Mesylate tablets for oral use (Gleevec®, Novartis Pharmaceuticals) for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients following complete gross resection of Kit (CD117) positive Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST).

Full prescribing information, including clinical trial information, safety, dosing, drug-drug interactions, and contraindications is available on the FDA website.

FDA Approves Plerixafor (In Combination With G-CSF) to Mobilize Hematopoietic Stem Cells in Patients with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) and Multiple Myeloma (MM)
On December 15, 2008, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration approved Plerixafor, solution for subcutaneous injection, (MozobilTM, Genzyme Corp.) for use in combination with Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) to mobilize hematopoietic stem cells to the peripheral blood for collection and subsequent autologous transplantation in patients with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) and Multiple Myeloma (MM).

Full prescribing information, including clinical trial information, safety, dosing, drug-drug interactions, and contraindications is available on the FDA website.


****CMS NEWS****
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Provider Communications Group will host the first in a series of national provider conference calls on the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). This toll-free call will take place from 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., EST, on Wednesday, January 14, 2009.

The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) made the PQRI program permanent, but only authorized incentive payments through 2010. Eligible professionals who meet the criteria for satisfactory submission of quality measures data for services furnished during the reporting period, January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2009, will earn an incentive payment of 2.0 percent of their total allowed charges for Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) covered professional services furnished during that same period. The 2009 PQRI consists of 153 quality measures and 7 measures groups.

Following a short presentation on what’s new for the 2009 PQRI, the lines will be opened to allow participants to ask questions of CMS PQRI subject matter experts.

Educational products are available on the PQRI dedicated web page located at, http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI , on the CMS website, in the Educational Resources section. Feel free to download the resources prior to the call so that you may ask questions of the presenters, Dr. Michael Rapp and Dr. Daniel Green.

Conference call details:
Date: January 14, 2009
Conference Title: 2009 PQRI- National Provider Call
Time: 1:30 p.m. EST

In order to receive the call-in information, you must register for the call. It is important to note that if you are planning to sit in with a group, only one person needs to register to receive the call-in data. This registration is solely to reserve a phone line, NOT to allow participation. If you cannot attend the call, replay information is available below.

Registration will close at 1:30 p.m. EST on January 13, 2009, or when available space has been filled. No exceptions will be made, so please be sure to register prior to this time.

To register for the call participants need to go to: http://www2.eventsvc.com/palmettogba/011409

Fill in all required data.

Verify your time zone is displayed correctly the drop down box.

Click "Register".

You will be taken to the “Thank you for registering” page and will receive a confirmation email shortly thereafter. Note: Please print and save this page, in the event that your server blocks the confirmation emails. If you do not receive the confirmation email, please check your spam/junk mail filter as it may have been directed there.

For those of you unable to attend, a replay option will be available shortly following the end of the call. This replay will be accessible from 4:30 p.m. EST 1/14/2009 until 11:59 p.m. EST 1/21/2009. The call- in data for the replay is (800) 642-1687 and the passcode is 79451256.

If you require services for the hearing impaired please send an email to:Medicare.TTT@PalmettoGBA.com.


****ION NEWS****
Emerging Evidence: The Role of Histology in the Treatment of First-line Advanced NSCLC Patients--Satellite Broadcast Event from Lilly
On Wednesday, January 21, Lilly Oncology will be hosting a satellite broadcast event on histology's role in the treatment of first-line advanced NSCLC. The discussion will be led by four distinguished faculty experts: Chandra Belani, M.D., Ronald Natale, M.D., Giorgio Scagliotti, M.D., and Mark Socinski, M.D. The program will take place at 7pm EST/ 6pm CST, with an alternate opportunity occuring at 10pm EST/ 9pm CST.

ION members can register by calling 1-888-253-2865 or by going to www.emergingevidence.com.

If you have any questions, please contact your ION relationship manager.


****PALMETTO/J1MAC NEWS****
Drug and Biological Injections and Infusions: Use of the Units Field
http://www.palmettogba.com/palmetto/providers.nsf/DocsCat/Providers~Jurisdiction%201%20Part%20B~Articles~Drugs%20and%20Biologicals~Drug%20and%20Biological%20Injections%20and%20Infusions:%20Use%20of%20the%20Units%20Field?opendocument

This is a J1 Part B article regarding how to use the Units field on the
CMS-1500 form for drug and biological injections and infusions. This is
field 24G on the form.