LeadershipMDCSCO OfficersPaul Celano, MD Board MembersSandra Bailey Kelly Mercer, RN William Sharfman, MD |
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New Strategies magazine - The Changing Face of the Oncology Practice
Click here for past issues of Strategies
On October 21, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced plans to delay the start date of the Radiation Oncology (RO) model until July 1, 2021. The change comes following stakeholder concerns—the Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) among them—about the challenges of implementing the model by the initial start date, January 1, 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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ASCO COVID-19 Telehealth Updates, May 8, 2020
Click HERE to view the slide presentation from the webinar.
CMS Finalizes FY 2021 Inpatient Rule
On September 2, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the FY 2021 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Final Rule. ASH submitted comments in July on the proposed rule. The Society is pleased that many of the provisions ASH supported have been finalized, including the creation of a new Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Group (MS-DRG) for Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell Immunotherapy, now the highest weighted MS-DRG with an unadjusted national base payment of around $240,000. CMS also finalized its proposal to exclude clinical trial cases from the calculation of the weight of the new MS-DRG in order to account for the cost differentiation between clinical trial and non-clinical trial cases. CMS’s final ruling on CAR-T reimbursement is a major advocacy win for ASH!
ASH Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts
Help ASH eliminate inequities in hematology by getting involved with our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. ASH has created an online library related to its programs in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, which includes a growing archive of stories from diverse voices in hematology.
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CMS Releases Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule
On August 3, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the CY 2021 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule. CMS is not proposing any changes to the values of the outpatient evaluation and management (E/M) services finalized in the CY 2020 rulemaking. If this rule is finalized as proposed, hematology/oncology is projected to see an increase of 14% in 2021. The proposed rule also includes significant discussion around telehealth.
See Detailed Summary Here