Concerned or confused about Maintenance of Certification requirements? As mandated by the American Board of Medical Subspecialties, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) has developed a Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program that includes four components:

The Principles of Medical Ethics are published by the AMA as “standards of conduct that define the essentials of honorable behavior for the physician.” Recognizing that physicians in psychiatric practice may face special ethical problems, the APA publishes The Principles of Medical Ethics With Annotations Especially Applicable to Psychiatry.

At the March Council meeting, nominees will be considered for the thirteenth Lifetime of Service Award to be given at the April 2013 MPS annual meeting. Council would appreciate member suggestions as to who should be selected.

 

DHMH has now selected a model for its behavioral health integration initiative.  Model 2, which continues the “carve-out” approach for mental health services, will be implemented.  It uses an administrative services organization (ASO) with significant and meaningful performance risk at the ASO and behavioral health provider levels.

As we approach the fourth anniversary of the enactment of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) on October 3, 2008, your help is needed to make the purpose of the federal parity law a reality. Although MHPAEA was enacted nearly four years ago, a final rule implementing the law has not yet been issued.  Without a final rule from the Administration, many individuals seeking care for mental health and addictive disorders have been unable to access the health care services they need.

MedChi and the Maryland Rx Card Program are making available to every Marylander access to the lowest price on prescriptions.  No enrollment forms, restrictions, waiting periods, or age/income requirements.   This program is accepted at more than 54,000 pharmacies across the country. Go to www.medchi.org and select “The Maryland Rx Card” to download a FREE prescription drug card.    

To assist members of the healthcare community who may be treating patients affected by tragic events like the shootings in Aurora, the Sikh Temple shootings, or other tragic events, American Psychiatric Publishing is offering a free compilation of chapters from the recently published book

 

The new Novitas Customer Service Center at https://www.novitas-solutions.com/csc/index.html has 6 main categories: Single Toll Free Service, References, System Access, Self Service Tools, Frequently Asked Questions, and Contact Information. In addition, new documents are available:

Organized medicine is pushing back against a Medicare proposal to recoup overpayments quickly from physicians, who would be required to go back through up to 10 years of medical records when determining if they received excess pay. The AMA and about 110 state and specialty medical organizations have called on CMS to clarify — or in some cases abandon — new requirements that practices must return overpayments within 60 days.

 

Dear APA Members,

The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology made the following decision regarding “Board eligibility” at the February 2012 Policy Meeting:

Novitas Solutions (formerly Highmark) has received several questions from the provider community regarding its name change transition.  To view FAQs, visit https://www.novitas-solutions.com/parta/info-alerts.html and go to the section dated March 26, 2012.

Can you believe the MPS has published 250 editions of The MPS News? Click on the attachment below to see the first issue.

An estimated 20 percent gap between what Medicare pays physicians and their cost to provide the care means that some physicians have had to limit the number of Medicare patients they see or withdraw from Medicare altogether. The Medicare

The Maryland Parity Project reports that beginning this year any insurer who wishes to have their utilization review policies, procedures, and criteria accredited by the Utilization Review Accrediting Commission (URAC) will need to demonstrate compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.  Consumers insured by URAC-accreditated plans can file complaints about non-compliance with URAC at https://www.urac.org/consumers.  MPS member, Steven R.

On February 22, President Obama signed the law postponing a scheduled Medicare payment cut.  The new law extends the current zero percent update through December 31. However, the law does not extend Section 307 of the Continuation Act, the five percent psychotherapy add-on payment.  Updated fees are available at https://www.novitas-solutions.com/ql-fees.html.