Newsroom
April 14, 2021
WCMS Board Chair Dr. Rivers Woodward spoke with WNC Health Network to share his #MyReasonWNC for getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
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April 8, 2021
Last year the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released a rule implementing provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act requiring physicians to comply with new regulations on the access, exchange and use of patients' electronic health information (EHI).
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January 4, 2021
As a reminder, physicians in NC are required by state law (NC General Statute § 130A-135) to report suspected or confirmed communicable diseases to the local health department.
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December 7, 2020
As physicians continue to battle the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, the last thing they should have to worry about is cuts to their Medicare payments. Unfortunately, without Congressional action before January 1, 2021, that nightmare scenario will become reality.
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August 19, 2019
The Western Carolina Medical Society Foundation--in collaboration with Digestive Health Partners (DHP)-- has been awarded a Colon Cancer Coalition (CCC) grant to expand the Western North Carolina Colorectal Cancer Screening Initiative (WNC-CRCSI) across 5 counties.
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February 9, 2018
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) recently announced the administration’s first new Medicare alternative payment model, Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced). This voluntary model includes 29 inpatient and 3 outpatient clinical episodes. Please join AMA Board Chair Dr. Gerald Harmon on Monday evening, Feb. 26th, from 7:00 to 8:00 pm Central time, for a free webinar on the model. The webinar, designed for physicians and focusing on the clinical aspects of the model, will be presented by CMMI’s Dr. Steven Farmer, who is a cardiologist, senior advisor and medical officer. Dr. Farmer will also respond to questions from webinar participants. The webinar comes at a key time, two weeks before applications to participate in the model will be due.
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January 18, 2018
Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) is offering FREE technical assistance to help practices in Western North Carolina understand and enroll in the Quality Payment Program (QPP). You may earn a positive Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) payment adjustment for 2019 if you submit 2017 data by March 31, 2018. MIPS-eligible clinicians opting not to participate will receive a 4% reduction in Medicare reimbursement in 2019.
QPP is a revenue neutral program meaning that penalties will be assessed to low –performing providers and redistributed to providers performing well. MAHEC can help you determine your baseline score and aid you in developing a strategy going forward to maximize your score for Payment Year 2 and beyond.
Read more here.
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January 3, 2018
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that doctors and other eligible clinicians participating in the Quality Payment Program can begin submitting their 2017 performance data using a new system on the Quality Payment Program website (qpp.cms.gov). The data submission system is an improvement from the former systems under the CMS legacy programs, which required clinicians to submit data on multiple websites. Now, eligible clinicians will use the new system to submit their 2017 performance data for the Quality Payment Program during the 2017 submission period which runs from January 2, 2018 to March 31, 2018, except for groups using the CMS Web Interface whose submission period is January 22, 2018 to March 16, 2018.
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August 1, 2016
In a common mission to provide streamlined, patient-centered care, four independent orthopaedic physician groups across North Carolina have joined together to form a new practice called EmergeOrtho.
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March 25, 2016
It is not news that electronic health records (EHRs) are a major cause of job dissatisfaction among physicians. Advances in patient portal technology over the past few years, however, have opened numerous opportunities for health information technology to actually improve your office and your job satisfaction. Patient portals, when implemented well, can increase workplace efficiency and reduce practice costs.
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February 4, 2016
"We are very excited to announce a number of changes focused on enhancing experiences with BRBJ. A major step is our adding a satellite office in Arden/Fletcher."
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January 19, 2016
An interview with Dr. Gus Vickery
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January 18, 2016
Check out these informative articles by WCMS Circle of Friends partner, Johnson Price Sprinkle PA.
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December 16, 2015
The MGMA report highlights medical practices that have demonstrated superior performance in cost management, productivity, capacity and staffing, and patient satisfaction.
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October 13, 2015
What are your thoughts about concierge medicine? In this post, we take a close look at this evolving model, its history, and public reaction.
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