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News A Monthly Communiqué for the Vascular Society of New Jersey - August 2003 |
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| To save important resources (time and money), we are building an email address list of members. The monthly report, and other important communications, can then be easily and efficiently emailed to the organization. Please provide your name and email address. From the President….Rocco Ciocca, MD An understanding of history can be very instructive. It gives one insight into the past as well as a point of reference for the future. We at the Vascular Society of New Jersey are very fortunate to have a very rich, albeit relatively brief history. If one looks at a listing of the past Presidents of this society as well as the list of previous guest speakers, one will find an impressive roster of leaders and pioneers in the growingly distinct specialty of vascular surgery. It is time to celebrate our rich history. We invite all members of our society to join us at the 25th anniversary celebration that we have put together. We are confident that it will be a fun and worthwhile event!
Don’t Forget to Sign Up For a Free Website Listing Our new website (www.vascularsocietynj.org) will list VSNJ members — information on your practice, your education, your specialty areas, and provide a link to your practice website . . . if you want. We will only list the members on the site WHO COMPLETE the survey. Watch for your name on our website. Several members have already taken advantage of this exciting member benefit!
Law Suit Settlement You may be receiving a legal notice about a class action against AmeriHealth HMO, Inc., and/or Independence Blue Cross (IBC), which was brought by the Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society (POS). There are distinct sets of cases – two class actions in New Jersey and one in Pennsylvania. The Medical Society of New Jersey (which has a separate case pending against AmeriHealth) supports the New Jersey class actions and opposes the Pennsylvania class actions. If you are a member of one or both of the class actions, you should have received, or will receive a Notice regarding those actions. You have until August 1, 2003, to file a letter to opt out and/or file objections with the Pennsylvania Court. You will be receiving materials from the Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court, with an opt-out form. If you do not exclude yourself from this class action settlement, postmarked by August 1, 2003, you may automatically be bound by that settlement, including the universal release of claims.
Update: NJ License Renewals Physicians practicing in New Jersey who have not received renewed medical licenses must read the following. If you have submitted Parts 1 & 2 of the license renewal application in a timely fashion and have not yet received your license, please call the LICENSE VERIFICATION HOTLINE at (973) 273-8090. This number can also provide you with official documentation of your license status via FAX. If you have not submitted Parts 1 & 2 of the license renewal application, you must submit them immediately. The grace period for renewing your license ended on July 30, 2003. You can choose one of these two options: 1. Report in person to the SBME Office in Trenton, Third Floor, 140 E. Front Street. Present your application in full (Parts 1 & 2), a copy of your existing license, a photo ID, and checks for $340 (renewal) and $100 (late fee). 2. Mail via Federal Express or UPS (do not use U.S. Post Office) to: Central Licensing – Third Floor Attention: Marie Heath 140 E. Front Street Trenton, NJ 08608 The Division of Consumer Affairs reports that the C.D.S. permits do not expire until August 31, 2003. Renewals will be mailed in August.
How’s Your HMO Doing? The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services creates and distributes an annual report that compares the performance of New Jersey HMOs. The "HMO PERFORMANCE REPORT Compare Your Choices" includes information on New Jersey commercial HMOs and point-of-service (POS) products. The reports include national standard measures for plan's member satisfaction (CAHPS) and performance quality (HEDIS). All of the Department's consumer reports are accessible on its web site at www.state.nj.us/health/reportcards.htm. HMO reports from 1997 through the present can be found at www.state.nj.us/health/hcsa/hmomenu.htm. The Department's toll free number to request HMO reports is (800) 418-1397.
Update from Empire Medicare Services Your Medicare Part B Carrier for New Jersey. The Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) Program The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal Medicare agency, has had the CERT program in place for some time. This is a system for monitoring the accuracy of your Medicare payments and a strategic method of assessing the success of the Carrier’s work to pay you accurately. You may receive a request (which is random), from the Program Safeguard Contractor who was awarded the CERT Program task, for medical records of previously processed claims. It is very important you and your staff recognize such a request and comply with it. Since the request does not come from Empire Medicare Services, some practices are not recognizing it when it is received in the mail. The contractor is DynCorp but the request will come from AdvanceMed in Richmond, Virginia. Failure to comply, by not sending the records, could potentially lead to a request for a refund of monies paid for the requested service(s).
Empire Medicare’s Website Empire Medicare’s website www.empiremedicare.com contains a wealth of information for physicians and their staff. Of particular importance is the News section containing the latest updates and changes that may impact your practice. In addition you will find local medical review policies, copies of Medicare News Briefs, fee schedules, seminar schedules, an Introduction to Medicare Reference Manual and links to other sites, just to name a few. If you have not taken the opportunity to view the site, please do so. You may also sign up (on the site) to be on our electronic mailing list so all new information will be automatically sent to you whenever it is posted to the site. Should you find you have questions on either of these topics, or other global Medicare issues, contact New Jersey Provider Education & Training at 609-826-5600.
HIPAA/HINT Compliance: Are You Ready? [A REMINDER from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey] There are only three months left to prepare for compliance with the HIPAA Transactions and Code Sets Rule. If you do not submit compliant claims to your payers post October 2003, your claims may be rejected, and you run the risk of a significant impact to your cash flow. NOW is the time to focus your efforts on HIPAA compliance. Did you know that you can access FREE tools to help you with your compliance efforts? Just register on the NJShore (New Jersey’s Strategic HIPAA Collaborative Effort) website at www.njshore.org. Horizon BC/BS of New Jersey believes it is critically important to work with our provider community in an effort to ensure a smooth transition to electronic HIPAA transactions. |