ACG Board of Governors Meeting This Weekend
From Vice Chair and Chair of the ACG Board of Governors Dayna S. Early, MD, FACG and Patrick E. Young, MD, FACG
The ACG Board of Governors are meeting on April 10th to review and discuss ongoing issues in your states and areas. Thank you colleagues for reaching out to your ACG Governor. Among the issues being discussed are denials for surveillance colonoscopies impacting patient cost-sharing, denials for tests and studies, prior authorizations, and other important issues impacting your practices and patients.
Remember to contact your ACG Governor!
The ACG Board of Governors is one of the most unique aspects of the American College of Gastroenterology. Governors are ACG Fellows that are elected from the membership of a particular state or region. There are currently 77 Governors across seven different regions in the U.S. and abroad. The Board of Governors acts as a two-way conduit between College leadership and the membership at-large. This helps the College make certain it is meeting the evolving needs of the membership.
New EHR Rules Are Here: Are You Ready?
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized regulations designed to promote EHR interoperability and to enhance patients’ ability to control their medical information. The goal is to prevent information blocking among software developers and insurers, removing the current “silos” and opening various health IT closed “ecosystems.”
What does it mean for me?
ACG members must understand that the information blocking prohibition applies to physicians, and that rules placed on software developers, insurers, and hospitals impact your clinical notes and patient care management. A physician’s note is one type of information that must be available when requested by a patient. Failure to provide “timely” access to electronic health information (EHI), including clinical notes, could be a violation of the information blocking prohibition. A provider’s actions may be considered impermissible “information blocking.” These information blocking rules do not create a new right to request information. Rather, they cover how information must be provided upon request. Existing HIPAA rules governing requests for information continue to apply.
Hear from the legal experts: Click here for ACG's new webinar on the legal implications and impact to GI practices.
ACG will continue to educate members and provide guidance on important issues facing GI practices and clinicians.
New ACG Practice Management Toolbox: Cost Cutting and Productivity in Medical Practice: Five Steps to Making Your Practice Lean
From ACG Practice Management Committee Chair Stephen T. Amann, MD, FACG
New to the Practice Management Toolbox this week is an article by previous Committee Chair Louis J. Wilson, MD, FACG and Nitin Aggrawal, MD. This important article details five steps you can take to make your practice as cost effective as possible. Click the banner below to read the article!
