The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is holding a webinar titled, “EHR Incentive Programs Final Rule Overview & What You Need to Know for 2015,” to learn more about the recently released Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs Final Rule, tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 8, from noon to 1 p.m. Space is limited. Register now to secure your spot for this webinar. If you are unable to join, a copy of the presentation will be posted on the CMS Events page of the eHealth website following the event.


The North Carolina Industrial Commission will hold its 20th Annual North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference on October 14-16, 2015 at the Raleigh Convention Center. The conference provides a valuable opportunity for professionals to share information on current issues impacting the workers’ compensation arena. View the conference brochure, which includes the conference agenda and registration information. For more information, please contact Jeanne Bush or Eric Oxfeld at the International Workers’ Compensation Foundation office by telephone at (386) 677-0041, fax at (386) 677-0155, or e-mail at [email protected].


The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a Virtual Office Hours series on the 2015 Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) quality measures. The series will include three separate sessions that will cover topics related to PQRS measures, such as explaining what a quality measure is, measures-related resources and next steps for participation in 2015 PQRS.
The first session, titled “2015 PQRS Reporting: Introduction to Quality Measure Reporting,” will be Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 2 – 3 p.m. Dates and times for other sessions will be announced soon.
This PQRS Virtual Office Hours session will allow stakeholders an opportunity to ask a CMS representative questions about how to get started with quality measures for 2015 PQRS reporting. To participate in this session, please register here.


“ICD-10: Denials and How to Work the Mounting Backlog,” a webinar sponsored by the North Carolina Medical Society Foundation in cooperation with the North Carolina Medical Group Managers, on Oct. 21, noon to 1 p.m. Featuring Amy Poplin Dunatov, MPH, FACMPE, CCS-P, ICDCM-CT. On the day of this webinar, ICD-10 will have been live for 20 days. How is your practice doing? Join us for this session to learn alternative strategies for denials management and how to be proactive in overall denials reduction to decrease expenses and speed up cash flow. Register here.


The North Carolina Medical Board will host a roundtable titled “Switching Gears: Longevity in Practice” on Wednesday, Oct. 21 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Board’s offices, 1203 Front St., Raleigh. As medical practitioners age, they may want, or need, to make changes to the way they practice medicine. The longevity roundtable will bring together stakeholders to explore ways to support licensees in fulfilling their goals for career longevity and, perhaps, to explore ways to assist licensees in making an appropriate determination of their career longevity goals. Keynote Speaker: Thomas M. Hess, Ph.D., North Carolina State University Distinguished Professor of Psychology. From 3:30 to 4 p.m. there will be a light reception.


Palmetto GBA is offering two free Medicare Part B Traveling 10 Workshops Oct. 26 and 27, at the Palmetto GBA Government Programs Complex (GPC) located in Columbia, South Carolina from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. These workshops will offer insight on reducing overall claim error rate and provide strategies for ensuring claims are processed correctly the first time. These workshops will feature a presentation from one of Palmetto GBA’s Medical Directors concerning ICD-10, detailed information on the top errors and how to prevent and resolve them and clinical information focused on how to reduce your medical review denials. Additional details and register for event.


Carolinas Trauma Related Issues and Critical Knowledge Symposium (TRICKS) of Fracture Management, November 14, 2015, 8 am – 2 pm, Hilton Charlotte Center City Hotel, 222 E. 3rd St., Charlotte, NC 28202. For more information, call 704.512.6534 or visit the website for further information.


NCTracks Training Opportunities in October: Registration is now open for several instructor-led training courses in addition to the ICD-10 courses previously announced.
Friday, Oct. 9 – 9 a.m. to noon (WebEx) – ES User Role_Abbreviated MCR_Upload Documents. This course will guide providers through the enhancements to the provider enrollment application processes.   This course is taught via WebEx and can be attended remotely from any location with a telephone, computer and internet connection.
Wednesday, Oct. 14 – 9 to 11 a.m. (WebEx) – New Office Administrator. This course shows authorized users the process for changing the current Office Administrator (OA) to a new Office Administrator for an Individual Provider or Organization with a National Provider Identification (NPI) number or Atypical Provider Number. This course is taught via WebEx and can be attended remotely from any location with a telephone, computer and internet connection.
Wednesday, Oct. 14 – 1 to 4 p.m. (WebEx) – Provider Web Portal Applications Webinar. This course will guide providers through the process of submitting all types of provider applications found on the NCTracks Provider Portal.  This course is taught via WebEx and can be attended remotely from any location with a telephone, computer and internet connection.
Monday, Oct. 19 – 9:30 a.m. to noon – Prior Approval – Medical (Professional). This course will cover submitting Prior Approval (PA) Requests to help ensure compliance with Medicaid clinical coverage policy and medical necessity. It will also cover Prior Approval inquiry to check on the status of the PA Request.  The course is being offered in-person at the CSC facility in Raleigh. It includes hands-on training and will be limited to 45 participants.
Monday, Oct. 19 – 1 to 4 p.m.  – Submitting a Professional Claim. This course will focus on how to submit a Professional Claim via the NCTracks Provider Portal. The course is being offered in-person at the CSC facility in Raleigh. It includes hands-on training and will be limited to 45 participants.
Providers can register for these courses in SkillPort, the NCTracks Learning Management System. Logon to the secure NCTracks Provider Portal and click Provider Training to access SkillPort


The Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) fall course schedule is out. Find out what is being offered July through December 2015 and register today.


A video recording of the “PQRS/Value-Based Provider Modifier: What Medicare Professionals Need to Know in 2015” presentation has been posted to the CMS MLN Connects® page on YouTube. This presentation is the same as the webinars that were delivered on March 31, 2015 and April 7, 2015 by the Philadelphia Regional Office. View the video.