Staff has prepared this update of AAHPM activities during the week of September 10, 2018:
- Interested in reviewing abstracts for the 2019 Annual Assembly? Applications are now being accepted for review opportunities including: case submission oral presentations/poster, scholars and fellow e-posters, and pediatric content. Deadline to apply is Tuesday, September 18. Submit an application
- AAHPM continues to produce the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Questions (HPMQ) videos. This month, the tough question is “How do we diagnose and manage behavioral and psychotic symptoms of dementia vs. delirium in long term care?” View this and more videos on the Academy’s video log.
- Is quality important to you? Then join your colleagues on October 11at the Quality Matters Conference, a half-day virtual event focused on timely issues related to quality in palliative care. Co-sponsored by AAHPM, CAPC, NPCRC, PCQN and GPCQA, this conference will feature 12 leading national experts. Registration is free and participants will receive complimentary CME/ANCC from Duke University.
- AAHPM submitted comments on CMS’s 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule/Quality Payment Program proposed rule. The Academy is also participating in a coalition of specialty societies formed in response to the agency’s proposals to revamp E/M coding and payment. The group sent a letter laying out concerns with the payment changes and urging CMS to work with stakeholders on possible alternatives.
- AAHPM Board Members Janet Bull and Arif Kamal spoke with health policy staff of Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) about 693, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act, urging the Senator to cosponsor PCHETA and help advance it through the HELP Committee on which he serves. Have you e-mailedor tweeted your senators to ask for their support?
- AAHPM joined more than 90 state and specialty medical societies to send a letter urging CMS to reverse its decision allowing Medicare Advantage plans to utilize step therapy protocols for drugs covered under Medicare Part B beginning in 2019. The signatories note that such a “fail first” approach to treatment will be particularly problematic for patients with serious or life-threatening conditions.