ACCC'S NATIONAL ONCOLOGY ECONOMICS CONFERENCE

Association of Community Cancer Centers
25th National Oncology Economics Conference
September 17-20, 2008, San Francisco, California

Prepare your cancer program to weather the storm of increased competition, reduced reimbursement, and rising demand. You’ll find SOLUTIONS, STRATEGIES, and CREATIVE THINKING for your organization’s success at the Association of Community Cancer Centers 25th National Economics Conference in San Francisco, September 17-20, 2008. Join the innovators as they introduce new concepts and programs that succeed for patients, staff, and the bottom line!

ACCC: Pre-eminent and respected in the oncology community. More than 30 years’ experience providing the cancer care team with the meeting content you need.

Click here to see an agenda.

REGISTER BY AUGUST 15 FOR THE BEST RATE!

Members, registered & paid by August 15, just $490. Second registrant, just $350.

Meeting Highlights

Model Supportive Care Programs. Planning, implementation, funding, and outreach. Practical strategies for cancer centers to expand their psychosocial oncology, home, palliative, and integrative care, as well as other supportive care services.

Models for Multi-Institutional Joint Ventures. Community cancer centers are teaming up with larger academic centers to strengthen their service line and expand their breadth of clinical trials. A discussion of how your program may be able to benefit from such a joint venture.

Why Leaders Fail. From 50-75 percent of managers are nor performing well. Learn the top 10 reasons why leaders fail and how we can make ourselves and our organization’s leadership more effective.

Managing Employees, Physicians, and Yourself. Find ideas and solutions to increase productivity and loyalty from employees, as well as ways to change bad habits.

And MUCH MORE: End of life issues, new ways to increase your retail revenue stream, transitioning a private practice to a hospital setting, your infusion center, to name just a few.

How to Register

Go to the NEW ACCC Member Log-in page, type in your email address. If you've not set up your password yet, the default password is Password1. Once you have successfully logged in, you can set up your own password. Then, you can register online under ONLINE EVENT REGISTRATION.
Click here to register.

Remember, ACCC Members,—bring a friend! A member that registers for the meeting at the full rate ($490 or higher) may register a second person, member or non-member, from an institution or practice at a discounted rate. (This offer applies only to cancer care providers—no industry representatives.)

The Hyatt Regency San Francisco is holding rooms for the ACCC meeting at a reduced rate until August, 18, 2008 (or until the block of rooms is sold out).

For room reservations, please call Hyatt central reservations at 888.421.1442, and refer to ACCC and conference name in order to obtain the discount.

ASCO e-News Published: Progress in Personalized Therapy: KRAS Status Predicts Response to First-line Cetuximab for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

The American Society of Clinical Oncology's (ASCO) e-News was published and is available at http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe6215757261057d771c&m=ff2d16787160&ls=fde7127273610c7e771c777c&l=fe5b1574726503797c17&s=fdf2157972640d79751d7073&ju=fe1c15787d63027e731779.

It features:

Progress in Personalized Therapy: KRAS Status Predicts Response to First-line Cetuximab for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Zoledronic Acid Added to Endocrine Therapy Improves Outcome for Premenopausal Patients with Early Breast Cancer

International Trial Establishes Role of Cetuximab for Advanced EGFR-expressing NSCLC

Single Injection of Carboplatin Reported to be an Option for the Treatment of Stage I Seminoma

Trial Results Establish Clinical Benefit of RAD001 as Treatment for Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma

Caution Urged in Prescribing Erythropoiesis-stimulating Agents

For Your Patients: News and Information from the 2008 ASCO Annual Meeting

CMS/Medicare Website Updates

The following information is provided by CMS/Medicare.


MM5798 – Average Sales Price (ASP) Updates
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/MM5798.pdf

CMS/Medicare: National Provider Identifier (NPI): Medicare Fee-For-Service Update & Medicare Reminder Regarding Accelerated/Advance Payments

Medicare FFS Update
Medicare FFS has made excellent progress over the past week, since fully implementing the NPI. In fact, the favorable trend in NPI compliance is better than we expected with most of the Medicare contractors reporting that over 90 percent of claims are NPI-compliant, with some reporting 100 percent compliance. Furthermore, we have experienced relatively few problems to date and we are working daily with our contractors to help resolve those issues that exist.

We would like to point out that, on May 23, there were a number of rejections for claims with legacy numbers in the SECONDARY provider identifier field. As indicated, we are seeing this particular issue rapidly improve as more and more providers realize the need for NPI-only in secondary identifier fields and the relative ease in which they can appropriately complete these fields.

In the way of background, Medicare allowed legacy-only numbers in the secondary fields up until May 23. To assist those billing providers which, after reasonable effort, are still unable to obtain NPIs for secondary providers, Medicare has instituted a temporary measure that allows billing providers to use their own NPI in secondary identifier fields. Thus, providers are not unduly burdened to ensure secondary identifier fields have an NPI.

While CMS is seeing some issues in some areas of the country, we are continuing to monitor and assist providers in becoming fully NPI-compliant. Progress has been substantial in recent days and weeks and this favorable trend is expected to continue. We would also like to mention that we monitor Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage) and Part D (Prescription Drug Program) and we have received no reports of NPI problems.

Medicare Reminder--Accelerated/Advance Payments May Be Available for Financial Hardships Associated with NPI Implementation
Some Medicare providers, physicians, other practitioners, and suppliers might experience cash flow issues during their efforts to implement the NPI. The Medicare contractors and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will consider, in limited circumstances, the availability of advance or accelerated payments where facts and circumstances fall within the scope of the CMS regulations and/or manual requirements for such payments.

In general, entities who bill without an NPI do not warrant consideration for an advance or accelerated payment since Medicare providers have been given ample time to secure an NPI.

Medicare providers who may be experiencing cash flow problems related to NPI claims processing issues should contact their Medicare contractor to determine if they are eligible for an advance or accelerated payment. The Medicare contractor will review the request and provide a decision.

Need More Information?
Still not sure what an NPI is and how you can get it, share it and use it? As always, more information and education on the NPI can be found through the CMS NPI page www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalProvIdentStand on the CMS website. Providers can apply for an NPI online at https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov or can call the NPI enumerator to request a paper application at 1-800-465-3203. Having trouble viewing any of the URLs in this message? If so, try to cut and paste any URL in this message into your web browser to view the intended information.

Note: All current and past CMS NPI communications are available by clicking "CMS Communications" in the left column of the www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalProvIdentStand CMS webpage.

THIS WEEK AT ACCC, JUNE 2-6, 2008

The Association of Community Cancer Center's (ACCC) This Week at ACCC was published and may be viewed at http://www.accc-cancer.org/mediaroom/newsletters/media_ACCC_june02_08.html.

It features:

See You in San Francisco in September

Oncology Practices: Survey on Off-Label Use to Arrive Tuesday, June 3

Innovative Prostate Cancer Programs: Do You Have One?

Heard on the ACCC Listserv: Dietitian Services and More

ACCC's CE Blackboard: Colorectal Cancer Program, Other Offerings

Upcoming NCI Teleconference Addresses Cancer Health Disparities

BRCA2 Linked to Prostate Cancer Incidence and Aggression

ACCC Launches New Online Services and Database

State Medical Oncology Societies Host Upcoming Meetings

NHIC/Medicare Website Updates

The following updates have been posted to the NHIC/Medicare website at http://www.medicarenhic.com/cal_prov/updates.shtml

These guides have been updated: General Surgery Billing Guide and Preventive Services Billing Guide

CMS/Medicare Website Updates

The following updates have been posted to the CMS/Medicare website.


MM6045 – Quarterly Update to Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) Edits, Version 14.2, Effective July 1, 2008
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/MM6045.pdf

MM6026 – VMS Modifications to Implement the Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) System - Part II
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/MM6026.pdf