[ANCO Online ListServ] CMS & Palmetto/J1MAC News

The following information has been received by ANCO.


****CMS NEWS****
The revised publication titled ICD-10-CM/PCS: An Introduction Fact Sheet (August 2009), which provides general information about the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition, Clinical Modification/Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-CM/PCS) including benefits of adopting the new coding system, structural differences between ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM/PCS, and implementation planning recommendations, is now available in print format from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Medicare Learning Network. To place your order, visit http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNGenInfo/ , scroll down to “Related Links Inside CMS” and select “MLN Product Ordering Page.” If you are unable to access the hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser.


The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Provider Communications Group will host a national provider conference call on the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). This toll-free call will take place from 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., EDT, on Thursday, October 15, 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.

The topics covered on this national provider call will include:

· The Alternative National Provider Index (NPI) Feedback Report Distribution Process;
· Updates on 2008 PQRI and 2007 re-run PQRI incentive payments; and
· An explanation of the paper and electronic remittance advice statement for determining incentive payments.

A PowerPoint slide presentation will be posted to the PQRI webpage at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI, on the CMS website for you to download prior to the call so that you can follow along with the presenter. Following this presentation, 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, as well as educational products are available on the e-prescribing dedicated web page located at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ERxIncentive. Feel free to download the resources prior to the call so that you may ask questions of the CMS presenters.
Conference call details:

Date: October 15, 2009
Conference Title: 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative-National Provider Call
Time: 2:30 p.m. EDT

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.

Registration will close at 2:30 p.m. EDT on October 14, 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://www.eventsvc.com/palmettogba/101509
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 e-mail shortly thereafter. Note: Please print and save this page, in the event that your server blocks the confirmation e-mails. If you do not receive the confirmation e-mail, please check your spam/junk mail filter as it may have been directed there.

For those of you who will be unable to attend, a transcript of the call will be available at least one week after the call at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/pqri on the CMS website.

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


To ensure the quality of heparin and to guard against potential contamination, the (USP), a nonprofits standards-setting organization, adopted new manufacturing controls for heparin effective, today, Oct. 1, 2009. These changes include a modification of the reference standard for the drug’s unit dose – a 10% reduction in potency. Embedded below is a copy of the FDA press release, which includes a link to an FDA health alert.
While there are concerns that quantities of the former dosage may linger for some months, it is important to share this update with health care providers, advocacy groups and others. Text of the news release follows.

FDA NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Oct. 1, 2009
Media Inquiries: Karen Riley, 301-796-4674, karen.riley@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

FDA Alert: New USP Standards for Heparin Products Will Result in Decreased Potency
Adjustments may be needed to achieve desired anticoagulant effect

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today alerted health care professionals to a change in heparin manufacturing that is expected to decrease the potency of the common blood-clotting drug.

To ensure the quality of heparin and to guard against potential contamination, the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), a nonprofits standards-setting organization, adopted new manufacturing controls for heparin effective Oct. 1, 2009. These changes include a modification of the reference standard for the drug’s unit dose.

Manufacturers in the United States and Canada label the amount of heparin included in their products based on USP standards. The changes adopted by the USP for the heparin unit dose match the World Health Organization’s International Standard (IS) unit dose definition that has been in use in Europe for many years. The revised USP reference standard and unit definition for heparin is about 10 percent less potent than the former USP unit.

A unit is the measure of a drug’s activity in the body. For heparin, a unit dose is the measure of the drug’s ability to block the blood’s natural clotting ability (anticoagulation). Heparin’s potency is determined by the dose of the drug required to produce a specific level of anticoagulation.

Manufacturers for the U.S. market have begun to make heparin using the new USP standard. The FDA has asked that they not ship this new product to customers until Oct. 8, 2009, or later. The delay will give health care providers and facilities time to learn about the changes and to make adjustments to their pharmacy procedures and dosing practices, according to John Jenkins, M.D. director of the Office of New Drugs in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

“Although the FDA-approved labeling for heparin has not changed, including the recommended doses, it is essential that health care professionals be aware of the potential difference in potency between the old and new vials of heparin when administering the drug,” said Jenkins.

Four companies market heparin in the United States. APP, the largest manufacturer, markets heparin in vials; Hospira markets heparin in intravenous bags, vials, and syringes; Baxter markets heparin in intravenous bags, and B. Braun markets heparin in intravenous bags. The FDA has asked that all manufacturers identify their new products to help pharmacies and health care professionals differentiate it from the former product.

By federal law, prescription and over–the–counter medicines available in the United States must meet USP's public standards, when such standards exist. The revised standards for heparin are contained in a new USP monograph.

The monograph was revised, in part, in response to a 2007-2008 incident of heparin contamination involving a manufacturing step in China. The contaminated heparin was associated with deaths and other adverse events in the United States. The monograph was changed to include a test for the contaminant.

For more information go to:

FDA Alert to Health Care Professionals
http://www.fda.gov//Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm184502.htm

USP Heparin Information
http://www.usp.org/hottopics/heparin.html


****PALMETTO/J1MAC NEWS****
Falls Evaluation: Translating Evidence-based Interventions into Your
Practice
Under Part B’s Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI), the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) makes available additional revenues
to practices that report at least three applicable quality measures. Two
such quality measures are #154 and #155 - Falls: Risk Assessment and Falls:
Plan of Care, respectively. It is important that physicians and independent
therapy practices understand the PQRI process and how it incorporates fall
evaluations. Please review and share with your staff.
http://www.palmettogba.com/palmetto/Providers.nsf/vMasterDID/7W5MUJ1150?opendocument


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