Effective October 1 or 60 days after the data has been integrated in the statewide health information exchange, prescribers are required to obtain a “patient utilization” report from the Arizona Controlled Substance Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (CSPMP) before prescribing opioid,…
Providers are our eyes and ears in the community. Please report immediately unusual numbers of patients presenting with similar symptoms, unusual symptoms, or unexplained infectious diseases in healthy individuals. Do not wait until laboratory results become available. This report includes:…
The Pima County Medical Society has signed onto a letter to Senators McCain and Flake which calls on them to oppose the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). PCMS joins the Arizona Medical Association, Arizona Chapter of the American College of…
Archita Desai, MD, a research associate with the University of Arizona Liver Research Institute, won a two-year, $150,000 grant from the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease Foundation to examine health-care utilization by advanced liver disease patients to better…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that would make changes in the second year of the Quality Payment Program as required by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). CMS reports the changes…
The Senate has released a draft of the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), the Senate version of repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A comparison with the ACA and the U.S. House’s version is here. In response, both…
The Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG) report they can provide “No-cost” technical assistance and education for the Quality Payment Program (QPP) and Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). It offers: Phone and email support for all QPP questions Assistance with selecting…
Becoming a physician is a not just a career choice, it is “a calling” and a lifelong commitment. Making life and death decisions, keeping patients and families satisfied and maintaining the highest professional standards can absolutely take its toll. Simply…
The Arizona Medical Association (ArMA) Annual Meeting kicked off on June 2 with the President’s Awards Banquet and the inauguration of ArMA's new President and Pima County Medical Society member, Michael Hamant, MD. The following are comments delivered as the…
Around 15 years ago, U.S. state capitals were regularly besieged by large numbers of physicians demanding legislatures do something about skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance rates. Before one such rally in Connecticut in 2003, Henry Jacobs, an obstetrician and head of…