October 9, 2006

Editor's Column:Profiling We Can Support
Stop Medicare Cuts Now!
Schlichting Among Most Powerful
Free Help For Patients
Third-Party Payer Day
The Benefit Of Paying Dues Early
St. John, Oakwood Honored By Gov

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Editor's Column:
Profiling We Can Support

By JOSEPH WEISS, MD

The AMA wants us to do our part to advance Physician Profiling. What the parent organization needs is our contribution to the AMA Physician Masterfile. This file provides the AMA with information that forms the basis for details on the physician workforce and how it is distributed.

You can complete the data base questionnaire by going to http://surveysolutions.com, or call (800) 262 3211. The data you provide is under your control. Furthermore, you can decide who can use this information. It is within your rights to say that you do not want your profile to go into the hands of drug companies or other commercial organizations that could use your profile to sell you want you do not want.

To limit use of your profile call the AMA Unified Service Center at (800) 262 3211. You will expedite your call if you have your AMA identification number at your fingertips. You can expect the AMA operator to understand your request and give you options regarding who you want to receive your profiling data.

I often fault the AMA for its policies and actions. It is only fair that when the AMA undertakes what is needed, reasonable and right, that it receive our thanks and support.

Stop Medicare Cuts Now!

MSMS has intensified its efforts to help prevent the scheduled 5.1 percent Medicare physician payment cut, which will go into effect January 1, 2007, if action is not taken now. Physician leaders recently met with many of Michigan’s lawmakers in Washington, DC, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) has helped MSMS by twice pushing Senate leadership for a vote to stop the proposed cut and support a moderate Medicare payment increase. All it takes for physicians to help in this effort is to visit the MSMS Action Center (www.msms.org) and send a prewritten email message to lawmakers; or, call them using the AMA Grassroots Hotline at (800) 833-6354. For details, contact MSMS Executive Director Kevin A. Kelly at (517) 336-5742 or kkelly@msms.org.

Schlichting Among Most Powerful

Nancy Schlichting, president and chief executive officer of Henry Ford Health System, has been named one of the “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare magazine.

This is the second year in a row that Schlichting has been listed in the magazine’s annual ranking. She is ranked No. 71.

ill Gates of Microsoft ranked No. 1, followed by President George Bush. Most of the top 10 were elected officials or government leaders. Voting was done by readers of Modern Healthcare.

Schlichting joined Henry Ford in 1998 as senior vice president and chief administrative officer. She was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer the following year and assumed the additional responsibility of president and chief executive officer of Henry Ford Hospital in 2001. She assumed the position of president and CEO of the health care system in June 2003.

Free Help For Patients

African-American Medicare recipients can get free health-related services, ranging from transportation to help with insurance copays, from a new federally funded study targeting the tri-county Detroit area and now underway at Henry Ford Health System.

The study is intended to find out if eliminating such barriers to care will reduce health disparities in cancer among African Americans, who are often diagnosed after having the disease longer than the general population, making it harder to treat.

HFHS is the only health system in the Midwest that is part of the study, supported by a $5.2 million grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It plans to track 4,000 seniors during the next four years.

Half of the study's patients will receive reminder calls, transportation and help with co-pays and be assigned to a nurse who will manager their appointments and tests for breast, colon, prostate and cervical cancers.

Participants will be paid $10 after completing a survey for the study.

For more information, call (313) 916-9033.

Third-Party Payer Day

Group Managers: Save the Date for Third Party Payer Day!
Friday, November 17, Lansing

Sponsored by MSMS, the Michigan Medical Group Management Association, the Michigan Medical Billers Association, and the Michigan Osteopathic Association, Third Party Payer Day features all the major payers of Michigan, who will present expected changes for the coming year, give feedback on how to get claims paid in a timely manner, and answer questions about claims processing and reimbursement.

The Medicaid claims department also will be on hand to meet one-on-one with attendees to discuss problem claims and answer questions. (Bring your Medicaid claims and the remittance advice that had the rejection on it for each claim.)

For details, visit www.michmgma.org
or contact Sherry Barnhart at (517) 336-5786 or sbarnhart@msms.org

The Benefit Of Paying Dues Early

Pay your 2007 Membership Dues by December 31 to receive free CME! Paying your dues in full by December 31, 2006, will enable you to receive one free registration to any MSMS educational program or conference in 2007 (excluding the MSMS Annual Scientific Meeting). Upon receipt of your dues, you’ll receive a coupon for which to use when registering. And don’t forget, up to 86% of your dues may be tax-deductible!

St. John, Oakwood Honored By Gov

Several St. John Health and Oakwood Healthcare facilities within the tri-county metropolitan Detroit region recently received the MPRO, Michigan’s Medicare Quality Improvement Organization’s, prestigious 2005 Governor’s Award of Excellence for Improving Care in the Hospital Setting and in the Emergency Department Setting. Both Gov. Jennifer Granholm and MPRO sponsor the award.

In concert with the governor, the Governor’s Award of Excellence honors Michigan hospitals that are performing quality initiatives aimed at improving patient outcomes. The award measures clinical topics that have been designated as national health care priorities by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The award acknowledges facilities that are actively engaged in advancing care in one or more of the following clinical areas in the hospital and emergency department setting: Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI, commonly known as a heart attack), Heart Failure, Pneumonia and Surgical Infection Prevention.

Six St. John Health hospitals received awards, including Providence Hospital, St. John Detroit Riverview Hospital, St. John Hospital and Medical Center, St. John Macomb Hospital and St. John River District Hospital.

Four Oakwood Healthcare System hosptials received awards of excellence from Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Oakwood Heritage Hospital (OHH), Oakwood Annapolis Hospital (OAH), Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center (OHMC) and Oakwood Southshore Medical Center (OSMC) are recipients of the 2005 Governor's Award of Excellence for Improving Care in the Hospital and Emergency Department Settings.

This publication brought to you by Natinsky Publishing Network.

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