It’s Friday! Enjoy your Morning Rounds

February 4, 2022
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” —James Baldwin
 

In the News
     
 

1. 2021 NCMS Legislative Summary Is Now Available

Wondering what you may have missed at the NC General Assembly this past year? Be sure to review the compilation of highlights now available in the 2021 NCMS Legislative Summary. The NC Medical Society government relations and policy team members stayed engaged and active as they tracked more than 450 health care-related bills and identified 75 of those bills considered a high priority for our membership.  Review the Summary online or download a PDF.

2. NC HealthConnex’s Upcoming Outreach to Unconnected N.C. Health Care Providers

The NC Health Information Exchange Authority (NCHIEA) enters a new phase of its mission: providers and entities regulated by the Statewide Health Information Exchange Act have a new statutory deadline of Jan. 1, 2023, to connect to NC HealthConnex and begin sending data.

3. Payor Contracting 101 for Private Practice Physicians

Practicing physicians encounter a wide variety of contracts for payment for their services. The AMA held a virtual mini-bootcamp on December 1, 2021, covering both introductory and advanced contracting topics important for physicians to know. The introductory portion of that event recording, “Payor Contracting 101,” is now available, and covers basic contract provisions, the legal rules governing contracts, commonly negotiated provisions, common disputes, and innovative/non-traditional opportunities. To accompany the webinar, the AMA has also published a payor contracting toolkit, which provides an overview of payors and outlines common insurance products and reimbursement structures.

  

COVID-19 Updates
     
 
  1. COVID-19: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Letter to Health Care Facility Administrators on Health Care Worker Vaccination Rule
  2. Biden-Harris Administration Will Cover Free Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Tests Through Medicare
  
 

Learning Opportunities
     
 

Durham-Orange County Medical Society (DOCMS) 2022 Virtual Meeting: “What We’ve Learned from Covid-19 Patient Care”

February 9, 2022
6:15 PM-8:00 PM

Chris Hostler, MD, MPH, an Assistant Professor of Medicine and faculty of the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network (DICON) and Duke Antimicrobial Stewardship Outreach Network (DASON), will share insights about COVID-19 patients — what we’ve learned about them and what we may have missed in diagnosis and treatment.

 LEARN MORE AND REGISTER NOW 

  
 

Upcoming Events
     
 

·       2022 NC Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons Codequest (Feb. 5, 2022) – NOW VIRTUAL

·       2022 NC-ACP Annual Scientific Session (Feb. 11-12, 2022)—NOW VIRTUAL

  
     
 

  • Get our latest news and content on our social media channels!

  • If you have policies you’d like your NCMS Board of Directors to consider, please complete the Board input form here.
  • Don’t want to receive Morning Rounds in the future? Just reply to this email and type “No Rounds” in the subject line.