APMA News Brief - September 1st, 2016

National News

Audits Of Some Medicare Advantage Plans Reveal Pervasive Overcharging

More than three dozen just-released audits reveal how some private Medicare plans overcharged the government for the majority of elderly patients they treated, often by overstating the severity of certain medical conditions, such as diabetes and depression.

Visit http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/29/491543167/audits-of-some-medicare-advantage-plans-reveal-pervasive-overcharging to view the full article online.

Top 3 Tips for Successful Patient Engagement

The most effective care happens when patient engagement is central to the process, not just a check mark on a box related to a business decision or government mandate.

Editor’s note: Share APMA’s foot health information page with your patients.

Visit http://medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/medical-economics/news/top-3-tips-successful-patient-engagement to view the full article online.

What Patients are Reading

7 Things Every Woman Needs to Know About Wearing Heels

The average woman owns nine pairs of heels, according to a 2014 survey conducted by the American Podiatric Medical Association of 1,000.

Visit http://www.realsimple.com/beauty-fashion/women-and-heels to view the full article online.

Cutting Edge Bunion Procedure A Big Step Toward Ending Suffering

Millions of people experience that with bunions. But they often put off surgery because of the long and painful recovery.

Editor’s Note: APMA’s free "Beat Bunion Blues" campaign materials are still available to members on APMA.org.

Visit http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/08/26/cutting-edge-bunion-procedure/ to view the full article online.

Big Toe Pain: Bunions, Gout, Turf Toe and Sesamoiditis

Experiencing pain in your big toe is a relatively common occurrence.

Visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nabil-ebraheim-md/big-toe-pain-bunions-gout_b_11703798.html to view the full article online.

Health Tip: Make Sure Kids' Shoes Fit Well

Kids need sturdy, supportive shoes that fit their growing feet.

Editor’s note: Share APMA’s Back-to-School shoe shopping tips and video with your patients

Visit http://tucson.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/health-tip-make-sure-kids-shoes-fit-well/article_fe019ea1-6bd0-58d4-9943-2591b63640d4.html to view the full article online.

What I Learned About Wearing the Same Pair of Shoes For a Year

How many pairs of shoes do you own? Ten? Twenty? Fifty?

Visit http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/what-i-learned-about-wearing-the-same-pair-of-shoes-for-a-year-20160829-gr3r7z.html to view the full article online.

CMS Proposal Would Raise Legal Risks for Hospitals, Physicians

The proposed site-neutral rule for outpatient care for 2017 released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could leave hospitals and physicians at risk for violating federal fraud and abuse laws, finds a recent legal analysis commissioned by the American Hospital Association.

Visit http://www.hhnmag.com/articles/7585-cms-proposal-raises-legal-risks-for-hospitals-physicians to view the full article online.

What Could Be the Next Big Thing in Practice Management? 5 Things to Know

Practices that take a team-based care approach to treatment are seeing higher quality of care numbers, lower rates of acute care use and lower actual payments, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Visit http://www.beckersspine.com/orthopedic-spine-practices-improving-profits/item/32957-what-could-be-the-next-big-thing-in-practice-management-5-things-to-know.html to view the full article online.

Providers Ramp Up Use of Telemedicine to Boost Access to Care

Hospital systems are elevating the technology to a vital place in their care continuum, to not only gain better clinical outcomes but also to manage costs in a fixed-revenue business environment.

Visit http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/providers-ramp-up-use-of-telemedicine-to-boost-access-to-care to view the full article online.

How to Prepare for the Shift to MACRA

As part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), providers will need to begin reporting quality measures through participation in either the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or Alternative Payment Models (APMs), or surrender a percentage of their Medicare earnings for not participating.

Editor’s note: APMA’s MACRA resources can help you prepare for the shift.

Visit http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/opinion/how-to-prepare-for-the-shift-to-macra to view the full article online.

Healthcare Compliance: Juggling Risk Mitigation Strategies

Healthcare organizations – ranging from physician practice groups to large, multi-state hospital systems – face a variety of risks, including fraud and abuse, as well as HIPAA privacy issues.

Editor’s note: APMA provides HIPAA Privacy and Security Manuals for members on APMA.org.

Visit http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=af4a8b05-372a-4cc0-96a2-2af927687b8c to view the full article online.

Five Ways to Decrease Patient Wait Times

The top concerns for most physician practices include increasing patient-care quality, improving the patient experience and maximizing reimbursement under value-based payment models.

Visit http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/articles/five-ways-decrease-patient-wait-times to view the full article online.