Share

April 2015 Vol. 1, Issue: 11
 

RSL Matters

AAAAI Efforts Lead to Reimbursement of CPT Code 95018 in Florida
Did you know that the AAAAI Office of Practice Management can assist with practice issues? At the request of an AAAAI member, the Office of Practice Management recently resolved the inadvertent omission of CPT code 95018 for Florida's Managed Medicaid program. As a result of direct communication with the Agency for Health Care Administration, practitioners will now be reimbursed for this service that encompasses, "allergy testing with drugs or biologicals into or within the skin, immediate type reaction, including test interpretation and report." It was anticipated that the correction would occur by March 20, 2015.

  • Do you have a practice-related concern or question for the Office of Practice Management? Contact practicematters@aaaai.org today.

Compounding Revisited - FDA Style
In February, the FDA issued draft recommendations titled, "Mixing, Diluting or Repackaging Biologic Products Outside the Scope of an Approved Biologic License Application (BLA)–Guidance for Industry." This proposal is now open for public comment. The AAAAI has been reviewing the draft over the last several weeks and the AAAAI Immunotherapy, Allergen Standardization and Allergy Diagnostics Committee has been reviewing it to assist with developing AAAAI guidelines. The AAAAI will comment on the proposal as it relates to allergen extract preparation and will post the comments and follow up information at the AAAAI advocacy webpage.

ICD-10 Codes for Diseases of the Respiratory System, ICD-9 Codes for Bee Immunotherapy
The ICD-10 implementation date continues to draw closer. While there are many more asthma codes overall, reporting diseases of the respiratory system require relatively minor changes to code for the asthma specificity with tobacco use in ICD-10. Access an explanation of the codes below. Also, stinging season is upon us. Are you coding correctly for bee immunotherapy? Review the current ICD-9 codes below. Do you have a coding question? Email it to coding@aaaai.org.

#Allergyready Twitter Chat Makes Almost 7 Million Impressions
The #allergyready Twitter Chat hosted by the AAAAI and Allergic Living on March 26 was very successful. Over 1 million accounts were reached and 6,837,407 impressions made during this hour-long discussion. Social media continues to be a very successful tool to promote the practice of A/I.

Advocacy Matters

Congress Passes Historic SGR Repeal Bill
Late Tuesday night, the Senate voted 92 to 8 to pass a bill that permanently repeals the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for physician reimbursement under Medicare. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives on March 26, now heads to President Obama for his signature. The SGR will be replaced with an increase of 0.5% in Medicare physician reimbursement starting in July 2015 through December 2015, and then annual 0.5% increases through 2019. It consolidates a number of reporting programs, such as the Meaningful Use program for EHRs and several quality reporting programs, into a new, merit-based incentive payment system that will take effect in 2019. The bill also extends the Children's Health Insurance Program. If you have been holding your Medicare claims, be aware that you can send them in. You will be paid the full Medicare reimbursement and not the 21% reduction.

Practice Changers

We have partnered with the editors of JACI: In Practice to bring you monthly "Practice Changers" from recently published journal articles.

Highlighting cutting-edge information keeps you current and assists you in educating patients and physicians who rely on the expertise of our specialty!

Safety of C1-Esterase Inhibitor in Acute and Prophylactic Therapy of Hereditary Angioedema: Findings from the Ongoing International Berinert Patient Registry. By Paula Busse et al.

Interim analysis of Berinert (C1-INH) Registry data describes 135 hereditary angioedema (HAE) patients who received 3,196 infusions. Patients used C1-INH as on-demand therapy only (67.4%), prophylaxis only (8.9%), or both (23.0%). Approximately half of the infusions were administered as prophylaxis; >90% at home. Two hundred ninety-nine adverse events (including some HAE attacks) were reported; six were considered related to C1-INH, including two thromboembolic events in patients with increased thrombotic risk. These real-world data, reflecting use of C1-INH as on-demand and/or for prophylactic HAE therapy, further support the overall favorable safety profile of Berinert administered in home or health care settings.

Clinical Efficacy and Immunologic Effects of Omalizumab in Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis. By Astrid L. Voskamp et al.

We demonstrated both clinical and immunological efficacy of omalizumab in Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis (ABPA), in the first randomized placebo-controlled, double blind study. Thirteen patients were recruited with a mean total IgE 2314 IU∙ml-1. In a crossover design active patients received 375mg of omalizumab every two weeks for twelve weeks. Exacerbations occurred less frequently during the active treatment phase compared to the placebo period (two versus 12 events in six patients, p=0.048). Mean FeNO decreased from 30.5 to 17.1 ppb during omalizumab treatment (p=0.03). There was no improvement in lung function and there were no significant adverse events. Omalizumab appears to be a safe and effective treatment of chronic ABPA.

AAAAI Calls for Penicillin Skin Testing to Slow Antibiotic Resistance
On the heels of the White House's new action plan to address antibiotic resistance, the AAAAI issued a press release calling for the use of penicillin skin testing to help slow the development of this growing health threat. One of the often overlooked factors contributing to antibiotic resistance is "penicillin allergy," which is reported by about 10% of the population. Yet approximately 9 in 10 with suspected penicillin allergy have negative penicillin skin testing, and can receive penicillins safely.

Read Highlights from the April MedPAC Meeting
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), which met earlier this month, is analyzing claims data with Choosing Wisely-based measures of "low-value" care in support of the transition from payment based on Fee-for-Service to value-based payment. The AAAAI was an early participant in the Choosing Wisely initiative and submitted two lists of Things Physicians and Patients Should Question.


Practice & Policy Matters

2015 Practice Management Workshop Will Help You Make Sense of Meeting Government Mandates
Have you registered for the 2015 Practice Management Workshop in Denver, July 17-19? According to Practice Management Committee Vice Chair Weily Soong, MD, FAAAAI, "I am most excited about the 'Meeting Government Mandates' session. The practice of medicine has been in the process of EMR transitions and this year it will be going through the ICD-10 transition. I think this is the next big thing in practice management in medicine, and it's great that the Practice Management Workshop is on the forefront of letting allergists understand this important topic."

New Member Benefit! SLIT Information, Consent and Patient Instruction Forms
The AAAAI is pleased to offer patient information, consent and instruction forms related to sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT). As an AAAAI member benefit, these forms can be edited and customized for individual practices. Simply login with your username and password. The forms will open in Word/Excel document format for editing.

Need Help Implementing an Effective Claims Appeal Process?
To maximize revenue and maintain financial viability, physician practices need to ensure that health insurers are properly adjudicating their claims and be prepared to address/appeal any improper health insurer payment adjustments. The American Medical Association (AMA) now offers resources to help physicians identify and appeal issues surrounding health insurer claims payments.

2015 PQRS Group Practice Registration Now Open
Groups of 2 or more individual eligible professionals (EPs) that intend to participate in PQRS 2015 through a group practice reporting option (GPRO) must register with CMS by June 30 at 11:59 pm EDT through the PV-PQRS Registration System. A valid IACS account is needed to register. Groups that choose not to register as a GPRO can still avoid the 2017 PQRS payment adjustment of -2.0% if at least 50% of the EPs in the group fulfill individual PQRS reporting criteria. Reporting as an individual does not require prior registration. Groups that register as a GPRO will not be able to change or update their registration after the deadline.

Experiencing High Fees with Automated Clearing House Electronic Funds Transfers?
Have you experienced high fees with automated clearing house electric funds transfers? Have you been issued "virtual" credit cards instead of automated clearing house electric funds transfers for payments? The AMA wants to know.

Looking for past issues of Practice Matters? An archive is available at: aaaai.org/practicematters

Stay Connected with AAAAI:           
You have received this email because you have had previous contact with the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.


Email Marketing by ActiveCampaign