ACAP Annual Convention 5/6/12 is open for registration now.

Please click here to register

Thank you

Please come and join the International Conference on Viral Hepatitis
March 26-27, 2012 New York Academy of Medicine to have an update on
the cutting edge information on the treatment of hepatitis.

This conference has a maximum of 12.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit

Click here for the registration information

ACAP Diabetes Update – Diabetes Recognition Program ( Few spots left. Please RSVP asap update: 02/16/12)

Come learn about latest Diabetes information, Certified Diabetes Educator talk
(bring your office manager)

Date 03/13/12 Tuesday
Time: 6:30 Registration

Program starts at 7:00 pm

Location: The Water Club
Between 29th and 32nd (cannot be reached via 30th), 500 East 30th Street,
New York, NY

Agenda

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm             Registration
7:00 pm – 7:05 pm            Opening Remarks
Lisa Eng, DO
President, ACAP

7:05 pm – 7:30 pm            Diabetes recognition program
Ms. Bronwyn Starr
NYS Health Foundation

7:30 pm – 8:15 pm             Incretin System: differentiating DPP-4 Enzyme and Native GLP-1
Michael Radin, MD
Medical Director – Winthrop Comprehensive Diabetes Center
Winthrop University Hospital, New York, NY

8:15 pm – 8:30 pm The role of Diabetes Educator
Jason Exter
Certified Diabetes Educator

Click here to register

Medical Society of the State of New York offers a discount on membership fee for ACAP members.

Please complete the form and enroll as a member to enjoy the great benefits offered by Medical Society of the State of New York

Click here for the membership form

What are the Chinese Exclusion Laws?

The Chinese Exclusion Laws involved legislation Congress passed between 1879 and 1904 that explicitly discriminated against persons of Chinese descent based on race.

The laws imposed increasingly severe restrictions on immigration and naturalization. Congress repealed the laws as a wartime measure in 1943,

without any express acknowledgement that the laws violated fundamental civil rights.

To learn more go to  http://www.1882project.org/

Great News Everyone!

CMS Registration for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program is now open in New York State!

CMS registration for Medicaid EHR Incentive has just opened up in New York. Through the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, health care practitioners can qualify for up to $63,750 in incentive payments over six years.

Remember, in order to qualify for the Medicaid EHR Incentive, you must, over a 90 day period, have adopted, implemented, upgraded, or demonstrated meaningful use of certified EHR technology and your patient volume during the 90-day reporting period must be at least 30% Medicaid (some exclusions apply).

To begin the process, register here: https://ehrincentives.cms.gov/hitech/login.action

 ECAP and MDLand are here to help. In order to help member physicians apply for the CMS EHR Incentive Program, ECAP is working closely with MDLand (a preferred vendor of multiple REC centers throughout the country) to host a series of informational sessions geared specifically toward the Medicaid Incentive Program which will include some background on the program, payments, and a look at how by using new features in the ONC certified version of iClinic, MDLand can assist you in if you qualify for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program. Please contact MDLand for more details at (212) 363-8000 or support@mdland.com.

For more information regarding the NYS Medicaid EHR Incentive Program, please visit the NYS Department of Health.

From Medscape Medical News

Appeals Court Voids Lower-Court Ruling Against Individual Mandate

Robert Lowes

September 8, 2011 — Citing technical grounds, a federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, today tossed out a lower-court decision that declared the healthcare reform requirement to obtain insurance coverage unconstitutional.

Today’s decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth District in Richmond vacated a ruling by US District Court Judge Henry Hudson, also in Richmond, who said that the individual mandate “would invite unbridled exercise of federal police powers.” In a unanimous decision by a 3-judge panel, the appeals court stated that the state of Virginia, which was the plaintiff in the case, lacked legal standing to bring its suit. The appeals court did not rule on whether the individual mandate was constitutional or not. Continue reading →

From Medscape Medical News

Congress Passes Debt Deal; Could Reduce Medicare Payments

Robert Lowes

August 2, 2011 — With a 74 to 26 vote by the Senate today, a contentious Congress finally passed a bill that both shrinks federal spending and raises the $14.3 trillion federal debt ceiling, just in time to beat an August 2 deadline and avert a catastrophic government default.

The House did its part yesterday by approving the bill 269-161 in a grudging bipartisan vote, with Democrats unhappy that envisioned spending cuts topping $2 trillion were not accompanied by any tax increases, which Republicans vehemently opposed. Next comes the expected signature of President Barack Obama, who had crafted the measure with congressional leaders.

The agreement may calm the financial markets by maintaining the credit worthiness of Uncle Sam, but it is troubling physicians and hospital executives, who could see their Medicare reimbursements trimmed in the process. Those potential cuts would come at a time when providers already face other major Medicare reductions. Continue reading →

Lawsuit Targets Medicare Pay ‘Bias’ Toward Specialists

Robert Lowes

August 10, 2011 — Six family physicians in Georgia have accused the Medicare program in a federal lawsuit of illegally relying on a committee of the American Medical Association (AMA), which they hold responsible for paltry reimbursement rates for primary care physicians and inflated ones for proceduralists.

The lawsuit, filed this week in a US district court in Maryland, is the latest sign of a long-standing rift between primary care clinicians and specialists over Medicare compensation. The professional feud has been obscured recently by organized medicine’s united efforts to replace the sustainable growth rate formula that Medicare uses to set physician pay.

Continue reading →