Welcome to The ACP Advocate,
Today's first article lets you know about concerns over the Medicare Shared Savings Program and Accountable Care Organizations. A joint letter to CMS from ACP and other groups calls for improvements that would increase both participation and the likelihood of success.
Our second article is all about a new coalition that ACP has joined, aiming to rein in the high cost of prescription medications. The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing is shining a spotlight on the exorbitantly high cost of some newer specialty drugs and working with manufacturers to find ways to make them more affordable. Look for more as the campaign gets underway.
Our final story today lets you know about a new effort from the federal government’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to revise their “road map” to improving health IT. The effort is focused on “interoperability” that would allow different types of technology to communicate with each other. Check out the article for more details on the proposal.
Until our next issue – which will include a look at the president’s budget and how it would affect physicians – and for more coverage of what's happening in Washington take a look at my award-winning blog, The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty. You can also follow me on Twitter @BobDohertyACP.
As always, please send your feedback and suggestions on this newsletter to: TheACPAdvocate@acponline.org.
Yours truly,
Bob Doherty
Senior Vice President
Governmental Affairs and Public Policy
American College of Physicians
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| In the news |
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ACP Joins Effort to Get Prescription Pricing Under Control
Coalition intends to shine a light on sky-high medication costs that pose problems for doctors and patients alike
Just about every doctor has a story or two -- or dozens -- about patients who don't get the care they deserve because of the high price of medication.
Dr. David Fleming, president of the American ... (read more)
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| In focus |
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QRURs Review Period Ends |
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CMS made the 2013 Quality and Resource Use Reports (QRURs) available to all groups and solo eligible professionals (EPs) on September 30, 2014. The QRURs for payment year 2013 will be used to determine the VBP adjustment for 2015 payment adjustment period, which impacts group practices with 100 or more EPs. Groups and solo EPs have until February 28, 2015, to request a correction of information contained in the 2013 QRURs. |
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Report: The Patient-Centered Medical Home's Impact on Cost & Quality |
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This year’s Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) Annual Review of the Evidence summarizes new results from primary care patient-centered medical home (PCMH) initiatives. Selected cost and utilization outcomes from a combination of peer-reviewed studies, state program evaluations, and industry publications are aggregated to present an overview of PCMH and primary care innovations happening across the country. |
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| About this newsletter |
| The ACP Advocate is an e-newsletter, edited by the College's Washington, DC governmental affairs division, created to provide you, our members, with succinct news about public policy issues affecting internal medicine and patient care. To learn more about ACP's Advocacy and to access the ACP Advocate archives, go to www.acponline.org/advocacy. |
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