The MSMS Board of Directors met on April 27 in Dearborn, prior to the House of Delegates meeting, to drive MSMS Future of Medicine (FOM) strategic objectives forward. Following are highlights:

Meaningful Use Stage 2 Requirements Too Aggressive, Says MSMS

Board FOM Strategic Priorities: Primary Care; Quality & Safety

The Board approved a measure for MSMS to sign on to an AMA comment letter in response to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Service’s (CMS) proposed rule on Stage 2 of the electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use program. In general, MSMS believes the requirements CMS has proposed are too aggressive for Stage 2 and has recommended changes to lessen the burden on physicians and to increase participation rates. Recommendations include the following:

• Evaluate Stage 1 to inform the final Stage 2 requirements
• Measures for meeting meaningful use should include reasonable exclusions and factor in relevancy
• Avoid high thresholds
• Only use measures within a physician’s control
• Additional improvements to the Stage 2 measures are detailed in the letter 
• Good faith effort to meet measures in Stage 2 should count towards incentives
• Medicare/Medicaid meaningful use program rules should only apply to Medicare/Medicaid patient populations 
• Meaningful use and other penalty programs should not be back-dated and a number of exemption categories detailed in the letter should be established 
• More needs to be done to synchronize the multiple health information technology programs
• Establishment of an appeals process under both the meaningful use and e-prescribing programs is necessary 
• Recommendations on Clinical Quality Measure reporting are also detailed in the letter

MSMS and the AMA have also raised concerns regarding the Medicare e-prescribing penalty program and provided recommendations for improving the program. 

For more information about the incentive programs, visit www.msms.org/hit, or contact Stacey Hettiger at MSMS at 517-336-5766 or shettiger@msms.org.

How Much Is Diabetic Care Costing the State? Bill Would Educate Leaders about the Impact

Board FOM Strategic Priorities: Quality & Safety; Health Care Resource Stewardship

The Board approved the recommendation of the MSMS Committee on State Legislation & Regulations that MSMS support HB 5204, which would require the state to coordinate efforts to reduce the impact of diabetes in Michigan. Introduced by Rep. Gail Haines (R-Waterford Twp.), who chairs the House Health Policy Committee, the bill addresses the fact that state departments need to regularly review the impact of diabetes as it relates to health care and other expenditures in order for leaders to better understand the costs associated with diabetes. This information will, in turn, enable legislators to make better decisions about policies regarding the prevention and treatment of diabetes. 

For more information, contact Colin Ford at MSMS at 517-336-5737 or cford@msms.org. Or visit www.msms.org/legdatabase.

MSMS Leads Coalition to Stop Retroactive Audits & 'Takebacks' by Insurers

Board FOM Strategic Priorities: Health Care Resource Stewardship; Medicaid

The Board heard an update about Retroactive Audit Legislation that MSMS is involved in drafting, with the help of a coalition of health care organizations MSMS convened that includes the Michigan Dental Association, the Michigan Association of Chiropractors, the Michigan Podiatric Society, and the Michigan Optometric Association. The bill, which is expected to be introduced as soon as sponsors have been confirmed, would help curtail the practice of insurers retroactively denying payment for services rendered by physician practices. The legislation would stipulate timelines under which insurers must comply as well as a specific prohibition against insurers retroactively denying payment for services because a patient was ineligible for coverage if that insurer had previously verified his/her eligibility.

For more information, contact Colin Ford at MSMS at 517-336-5737 or cford@msms.org. Or visit www.msms.org/ladvocacy. 

Legal Counsel Report – MSMS Legal Counsel Daniel J. Schulte, JD, of Kerr Russell, updated the Board about several pending cases of interest. Read the complete report at www.msms.org/reports. 

For more information about MSMS leadership, contact MSMS Executive Director Julie L. Novak at 517-336-5735 or jnovak@msms.org.