The week is half over! Enjoy your Wednesday
NCMS Morning Rounds.
June 17, 2020
The NC General Assembly is in session and the NCMS advocacy staff is closely tracking its work. Keep up-to-date on what could impact your practice and your patients at our Legislative blog. The blog is continually updated with behind-the-scenes, quick summaries as the proposed legislation makes its way through the various committees and floor votes. Go to the NCMS Legislative Blog.
NC Medicaid Implements 5 percent Rate Increase
The NC General Assembly’s recently approved HB 1043—2020 COVID-19 Recovery Act includes a 5 percent rate increase for all Fee-For-Service (FFS) Medicaid providers who had not yet received a 5 percent increase during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The rate increases are effective March 1, 2020, and will be applied retroactively to claims already submitted with a date of service on or after March 1, 2020. This increase will end when either the nationwide public health emergency expires; the state’s Declaration of Emergency related to COVID-19 ends or March 31, 2021, whichever comes first.
The rate increases only applies to Medicaid and NC Health Choice services billed through NCTracks and do not apply to behavioral health and I/DD services billed to local management entities/managed care organizations (LME/MCOs). Only those providers who have not previously received rate increases implemented under the Medicaid Disaster State Plan Amendment (SPA) submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in April are eligible for this rate increase.
More information is available in SPECIAL BULLETIN COVID-19 #99: North Carolina General Assembly Mandates Temporary 5 percent Rate Increase for Certain Medicaid Providers.
NC HealthConnex Goes National
NC practices will now be able to receive information when patients present at certain out of state emergency rooms or for inpatient stays thanks to a connection between NC HealthConnex and other participating Health Information Exchanges (HIE) across the nation via the Patient Centered Data Home (PCDH).
The PCDH is a secure health data exchange initiative that can help patients by proactively alerting their health care providers when they have a health event away from home. The patient’s health records can be available wherever and whenever they need them to ensure those treating them have access to real-time information and eliminates potential gaps in care when a patient is seen outside of their normal care area across state lines. The system proactively will notify NC HealthConnex when a care event has occurred outside of the patients’ ‘home’ HIE.
Today is #WellChildWednesday
Leveraging social media as a positive force, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is asking physicians, PAs, patients and the concerned general public to post and link to #wellchildwednesday today as a way to encourage keeping up with regular pediatric checkups and immunizations.
The data shows that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer children are receiving timely immunizations this year compared to last year. To encourage parents and stakeholders to keep up with these important well-child visits and immunizations, HRSA launched a new social media campaign with the hashtag #WellChildWednesdays.
Each Wednesday for four weeks, messages will address well-visits, immunizations, adolescent and young adult care, and nutrition, safety, and mental health as topics to be discussed with pediatric providers.
The first message will be posted today, Wednesday, June 17, and more messages will appear on Twitter and Facebook with the handle @HRSAgov and #WellChildWednesdays. Please share, retweet, and promote the hashtag #WellChildWednesdays to help amplify this important message!
In the News
‘An Obligation’: Doctors and Other Health Workers Increasingly See Protesting Racial Injustice as Part of the Job, STAT, 6-16-20
Learning Opportunity
This week’s Power Hour on Friday, June 19 from 1 to 2 p.m. will bring together practice managers and owners to discuss their experiences in keeping their practice afloat during these particularly challenging times, how the reopening process has been going and what the future may hold. Learn more and register here for this engaging conversation with your colleagues.
The KIPL Power Hour aims to provide a forum for ongoing conversation, collaboration and community. Tune in to Power Hour weekly to hear from different experts, decision makers and influencers on a variety of topics. The format is informal and conversational and sessions are easy to access through Zoom. Power Hours will be recorded and made available to you through your NCMS Morning Rounds and on the KIPL webpage.
If you have policies you’d like your NCMS Board of Directors to consider, please complete the Board input form here. Thanks for reading!