EDPMA’s April Membership Newsletter

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EDPMA Solutions Summit 2021
Registration is now OPEN!

The Emergency Department Practice Management Association (EDPMA) is Pleased to Invite You to the 2021 Solutions Summit!

Join us at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel, Fort Worth, Texas, September 26-29, 2021, for the premier conference for those in the business of emergency medicine!  We missed seeing all of you last year, we are thrilled to be planning an in-person event this year. Registration is now OPEN!

The 2021 EDPMA Solutions Summit offers in-depth educational sessions on the issues facing those managing an emergency department, emergency physician group, billing company, or other business that supports the emergency department. Learn solutions to the issues you face every day and network with both new and familiar business partners that you haven’t seen in many months.

This Year:

• EDPMA committee workshops will be held on Sunday, September 26th, and are open to all registrants (including nonmembers and exhibitors). Learn more about EDPMA’s advocacy on out-of-network reimbursement, Medicare rates, inappropriate down-coding policies, documentation, practice management, and more.
• Educational sessions are Monday and Tuesday, September 27-28, 2021. Sessions will address how to restore order in a post-pandemic world. Session topics include physician employment, finance, leadership, contracting, rural health, and more.
• Wednesday morning sessions will focus on reimbursement issues including the Prudent Layperson Standard, implementation of the No Surprises Act, the interaction between federal and state surprise billing laws, and the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) & RUC.  Make sure your flight home is scheduled after 3:00pm so you don’t miss out on some of our most popular annual sessions.

Learn more and register here for the 2021 EDPMA Solutions Summit!

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The Newly Designed EDPMA Website is Now Live!

EDPMA is very excited to announce the launch of our newly designed website! Our goal with this new website is to provide our visitors an easier way to learn about EDPMA, explore upcoming events, read advocacy and news updates, and more. The website features a refreshed look, improved navigation, and a handful of features that will make the overall experience more impactful on desktop, mobile, and tablet. Click here to check it out.

 

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Meet EDPMA’s New State Government Relations & Education Director!

EDPMA is pleased to welcome Adrienne Frederick as our new State Government Relations & Education Director. Adrienne joins EDPMA from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s State & Local Campaigns team where she worked on the Robert Wood Johnson-funded Medicaid Covers US project and Medicaid advocacy. Prior to joining ACS CAN, she was the Education Program Manager for the American Urogynecologic Society. Adrienne began her career working on political campaigns, serving on the staff of two presidential campaigns and a number of down-ticket races. She is also a proud graduate of the University of Iowa. Welcome to the EDPMA team, Adrienne!

 

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Become a Sponsor for EDPMA’s
Cinco de Mayo Workshop

Sponsor the Workshop and support EDPMA! These sponsorships are available:

General Workshop Sponsor ($1,500)

• Logo visibility when EDPMA advertises the Spring Workshop,
• Thank-you recognition in an EDPMA Membership Newsletter,
• Three “free” tickets to the workshop for your clients or prospects,
• 2-month listing on EDPMA’s Vendor Showcase page,
• Post-event list of workshop registrants.

Workshop Reception Sponsor ($1,500)

• Logo visibility when EDPMA advertises the Spring Workshop,
• Thank-you recognition in an EDPMA Membership Newsletter,
• Three “free” tickets to the workshop for your clients or prospects,
• Post-event list of workshop registrants, and
• Welcome everyone to the Reception, give a brief introduction (2 minutes) of your company and be the MC of the trivia activities.

For more information and to move forward, please contact Joanne Tanner, MBA, Membership, Sponsorship & Exhibits Coordinator at [email protected].

 

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Sponsor EDPMA’s Solutions Summit!

Are you a leader in the business of Emergency Medicine? The 2021 EDPMA Solutions Summit is THE Place to be. Join us September 26-29 in Fort Worth, TX. Highlight your services, products and thought leadership by joining your colleagues in supporting EDPMA through year-round corporate partnerships, Summit sponsorships and exhibiting!

The 2021 EDPMA Solutions Summit Prospectus is now available!

Corporate Partnerships $7,500-$25,000
Year-Round Corporate Partnership Packages (Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze) give you high visibility at EDPMA’s signature event, the 2021 Solutions Summit, as well as year-round benefits. Corporate Partnerships highlight your leadership in the business of emergency medicine and your support for EDPMA. Depending on the package, benefits include Summit registrations; an exhibit table; and ads on our website, newsletters and the Summit Onsite Guide. The Platinum Corporate Partnership includes the sponsorship of a Summit keynote speaker or reception.

EDPMA’s 2021 Solutions Summit Sponsorship Opportunities $2,000-$15,000
Solutions Summit Sponsorships showcase your company throughout the Solutions Summit. We expect 300-400 attendees with over 80% in management. We offer a wide variety of sponsorships that will give your company and logo high visibility. Here’s just a sampling; Conference Portfolios, New Member Breakfast, Water Bottles, pedometers, and more.

2021 Solutions Summit Exhibit Table: $2,300 for members/$2,500 for nonmembers
Spend quality time with Solutions Summit attendees networking during breaks and for the well-attended Opening Night Reception in the Exhibit area (located in the foyer outside the general session and breakout rooms).

Solutions Summit Advertisements: $500-$750
Highlight your group or organization by purchasing a full or half-page color ad in the Solutions Summit On-Site Guide.

For more information and to move forward, please contact Joanne Tanner, MBA, Membership, Sponsorship & Exhibits Coordinator at [email protected].

 

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Special Wednesday Half-Day Program at EDPMA’s 2021 Solutions Summit

Make sure not to schedule your flight home from EDPMA’s 2021 Solutions Summit before 3:00pm on Wednesday or you will miss out on some of our most popular sessions!

This year we are focusing on the following reimbursement issues during our Wednesday morning sessions:

• Prudent Layperson (PLP) – Lisa Maurer, M.D., FACEP / Tom Sugarman, M.D., FACEP, FAEM
• Surprise Medical Billing (SMB) Federal Rule – Speakers: Tony Cirillo, M.D., FACEP / Randy Pilgrim, M.D., FACEP
• Interaction between Federal & State Surprise Billing Laws – Andrew Sama, M.D., FACEP / Don Powell, D.O., FACEP and others
• Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) & RUC – Speakers: Ed Gaines, JD, CCP / David A. McKenzie, CAE

This half-day program is included as part of your Solutions Summit registration.

Alternatively, you can purchase a separate Wednesday Half-Day Registration for only $300.

 

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Highlight Your Organization by
Sponsoring EDPMA in 2021

Do you want to be a Corporate Partner or Sponsor in 2021?

In addition to our Summit sponsorships, you can become a Copper Year-Round Corporate Partnership that gives you high visibility with EDPMA’s members. The benefits include your logo hyperlinked on EDPMA’s homepage, two banner ads, a Webinar Plus sponsorship, and more.

Other Sponsorships and Advertisements: $500-$2000
You can sponsor a webinar where you choose the topic and speaker for $2000 (Webinar Plus) or a Roundtable for $1000. You can advertise in the EDPMA Vendor Showcase for 2 months for $1000 (member price) or place a banner ad in an EDPMA newsletter for $500.  The EDPMA Vendor Showcase is a new page on the EDPMA website for vendors to link to a short video, marketing brochure, or other advertisements — just like a virtual exhibit table!  The 2021 EDPMA virtual sponsorships and advertisement opportunities are available here!

For more information and to move forward, please contact Joanne Tanner, MBA, Membership, Sponsorship & Exhibits Coordinator at [email protected].

 

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New Member Spotlight: Hospitality Health ER

Hospitality Health ER is a Freestanding Emergency Center company with three locations in eastern and southern Texas. Hospitality Health ER has been operational since 2015. It supports a team of Board-certified physicians and nurses with years of experience in busy hospital ERs. They pride themselves on patient first, business second. For more information on Hospitality Health ER, please click here.

Excerpts from a conversation with Jeffrey Beers, MD, Physician Director

While a Texas native, Dr. Beers did his emergency medicine residency working in several busy hospital EDs in the central Illinois area. Afterwards, he moved to the Houston area and worked with a physician group serving hospital EDs as well as Freestanding Emergency Centers (FSEC’s). In 2015, Dr. Beers and his partner, Dr. Jason Lebwhol, created Hospitality Health ER and has brought top-quality services to its three locations. Dr. Beers said, “Hospitality Health ER prides itself on bringing the highest quality of care to its patients and treats everyone like family.” Hospitality Health ER works to implement innovative approaches to patient care that keep costs down and can quickly respond to billing inquiries or hardship situations. Dr. Beers highlighted that FSEC’s offer more access points for patients to receive care. Especially in rural and semi-rural areas, Dr. Beers said, “hospitals can be long distances away and can have long waiting times, FSEC’s offer a high-quality and safe option for many people in need of care.”

Dr. Beers has attended two Solutions Summit and is familiar with EDPMA, its high-quality advocacy work at the state and Federal levels and its educational programs. Dr. Beers decided the company would join EDPMA because he understands the importance of keeping the team up-to-date on advocacy issues and have member access to the ongoing educational opportunities. In particular, Dr. Beers pointed out that he has listened to a few of EDPMA’s Webinars this past year and found the content to be useful and informative. He particularly enjoyed the webinar on coding and documentation as it offered hands-on, practical and useful information. Dr. Beers pointed out that it’s so easy to access an EDPMA webinar and he doesn’t have to go anywhere which is a real plus.

In regard to the challenges facing emergency medicine and FSEC’s in particular, Dr. Beers would like to see EDPMA help educate the public and politicians on the different reasons why a person would choose an FSEC or an urgent care center. As Dr. Beers points out, both are important points of access to health care and both need to be supported and receive appropriate levels of reimbursement. In addition, Dr. Beers highlights that much of the challenges for FSEC’s are at the state level. For Texas, in 2021, there are several issues currently under discussion including surprise medical billing (SMB) and facility reimbursement. Plus, since the federal SMB legislation passed, this is another area where EDPMA can bring real value in understanding how the state and federal legislation and regulations will be applied.

Dr. Beers plans to join at least one EDPMA committee in 2021 so he can get to know more members and have direct influence on the discussion and exchange of ideas. And Jeffrey looks forward to attending the Solutions Summit, September 26-29, 2021, in Fort Worth, Texas.

 

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Call for Speakers: EDPMA Workshops or Webinars

As experts in the business of emergency medicine, we hope that you are interested in presenting at an upcoming EDPMA workshop, webinar or Summit. We want to receive your application and hear your ideas for educational sessions.  EDPMA encourages you to share this link with coworkers and industry colleagues you think would be great speakers on thoughtful and critical issues facing the business of emergency medicine. We accept applications on a rolling basis.

The application is available through this link:

Apply Now

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Upcoming Nomination Period for
MACRA Wave 4 Clinician Expert Workgroups

CMS recently sent out the following email asking for nominations by May 21:

From: MACRA Clinical Committee Support <[email protected]>
Reply-To: “[email protected]” <[email protected]>
Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 4:29 PM
Subject: Upcoming Nomination Period for MACRA Wave 4 Clinician Expert Workgroups

Hello,

We are writing to announce the upcoming public nomination period for Wave 4 of the Clinician Expert Workgroups (“workgroups”) that will provide input on the development of 4 episode-based cost measures for potential use in the Quality Payment Program. The 4-week nomination period will open on April 26, 2021, and close on May 21, 2021, at 11:59 pm ET. The rest of this email contains more details about the nomination period and the workgroups.

Acumen will convene the following workgroups in June 2021, which are based on the episode groups selected by CMS and informed by stakeholder input received through the public comment period:

• Emergency Department
• Heart Failure
• Low Back Pain
• Major Depressive Disorder

Once the nomination period opens, clinicians interested in joining a workgroup for the first time may submit their nomination through a web-based nomination form that will open on the go-live date (i.e., April 26, 2021). Wave 3 Clinical Subcommittee and workgroup members who are interested in continuing their involvement should indicate interest in an abbreviated form that will be shared directly via email. Individuals who participated in Acumen stakeholder groups other than Wave 3 should fill out the full public nomination form to ensure that Acumen has the most recent information.

If you have any questions, please contact the Acumen MACRA Clinical Committee Support Team at [email protected].

Best,

Acumen MACRA Clinical Committee Support Team

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EDPMA News Alert:
Updated Practice Guidelines for Buprenorphine

CMS recently sent out the following email on updated practice guidelines for Buprenorphine:

In an effort to get evidenced-based treatment to more Americans with opioid use disorder, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is releasing new buprenorphine practice guidelines that among other things, remove a longtime requirement tied to training, which some practitioners have cited as a barrier to treating more people.

Signed by HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Practice Guidelines for the Administration of Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder exempt eligible physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists and certified nurse midwives from federal certification requirements related to training, counseling and other ancillary services that are part of the process for obtaining a waiver to treat up to 30 patients with buprenorphine.

More than 90,000 drug overdose deaths are predicted to have occurred in the United States in the 12 months ending in September 2020, the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and overdose deaths have continued to accelerate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The alarming increase in overdose deaths underscores the need for more accessible treatment services, and studies have shown that medication-based treatment promotes long-term recovery from opioid use disorder.

“Increases in overdose deaths emphasize the need to expand access to evidence-based treatments, including buprenorphine that can be prescribed in office-based settings,” said Assistant Secretary for Health, Rachel Levine, MD. “These guidelines provide another tool to help communities respond to the evolving overdose crisis, equipping providers to save lives in their communities.”

“The spike we’ve seen in opioid-involved deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic requires us to do all we can to make treatment more accessible,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Tom Coderre, who leads HHS’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). “Americans with this chronic disease need and deserve readily available access to life-saving, evidence-based treatment options. These new guidelines are an important step forward in reducing barriers to treatment and will ultimately help more people find recovery.”

“Removing barriers to quality treatment is a top policy priority for the Biden-Harris Administration,” said Office of National Drug Control Policy Acting Director Regina LaBelle. “Addiction treatment should be a routine part of healthcare, and this new guideline will make access to quality treatment for opioid use disorder more accessible. The guideline is another important step forward in our efforts to bend the curve of the overdose and addiction epidemic.”

The Practice Guidelines for the Administration of Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder provide an exemption from certain certification requirements under 21 U.S.C. § 823(g)(2)(B)(i)-(ii) of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Specifically, the Practice Guidelines provide that:

• With respect to the prescription of certain medications that are covered under applicable provisions of the CSA, such as buprenorphine, practitioners, defined as physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse midwives, who are licensed under state law, and who possesses a valid DEA registration, may be exempt from the certification requirements related to training, counseling and other ancillary services.
• Practitioners utilizing the exemption are limited to treating no more than 30 patients at any one time. Time spent practicing under the exemption will not qualify the practitioner for a higher patient limit.
• Under the exemption, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse midwives are required to be supervised by, or work in collaboration with, a DEA registered physician if required by state law to work in collaboration with, or under the supervision of, a physician when prescribing medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder. This requirement does not apply to practitioners who are employees or contractors of a department or agency of the United States acting within the scope of such employment or contract.
• Practitioners who do not wish to practice under the exemption and its attendant 30 patient limit may seek a waiver per established protocols.
• The exemption applies only to the prescription of Schedule III, IV, and V drugs or combinations of such drugs, covered under the CSA, such as buprenorphine. It does not apply to the prescribing, dispensing, or the use of Schedule II medications such as methadone for the treatment of opioid use disorders.
• Before treating patients with buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, practitioners are required to obtain a waiver under the CSA by submitting a Notice of Intent to SAMHSA under established protocols.

Practitioners may find more information about the exemption at Quick Start Guide – PDF and FAQs. Reporters seeking more information should contact the SAMHSA press office at [email protected].