OHA has updated its claim system with the new fee-for-service hospice rates for services provided Oct. 1, 2019, through Sep. 30, 2020. To learn more and review helpful billing reminders, read the letter from OHA.
In our Sep. 23 article about payable procedure code/modifier combinations, we asked providers to not use modifier 26 when billing for administration of state-supplied vaccines, including Vaccines for Children (VFC) vaccines.
Based on feedback from VFC providers, OHA will continue to accept either modifier 26 or modifier SL for these claims. While OHA still plans to discontinue use of modifier 26 for vaccine administrations, we will give advance notice in a future issue.
Coordinated care organizations should also continue to accept modifier 26 for vaccines administered to CCO members.
On Oct. 8, 2019, the Oregon Law Center, Causa Oregon and Oregon Latino Health Coalition with support from OHA’s Community Partner Outreach Program hosted a webinar about the Department of Homeland Security's public charge rule that was scheduled to take effect Oct. 15, 2019.
- While geared for service providers, the webinar is open to anyone interested in learning more about the new rule including who is impacted and what resources are available for those concerned about public charge.
- You can now view the webinar sessions in English and in Spanish.
The webinar still provides accurate information about public charge except that the new rule did not go into effect on Oct. 15, and is still not in effect. To learn more, read the press release from OHA.
Diabetes: HbA1c Poor Control – Peer-to-Peer Learning for Clinics
The Transformation Center invites clinical staff to a webinar focused on the Diabetes: HbA1c poor control incentive metric. Representatives from Winding Waters Clinic and Old Town Clinic will share how they create workflows, address social determinants of health, offer team-based care and involve pharmacists, among other best practices for diabetes care.
Free tobacco cessation counseling training (with no-cost CME) ends Nov. 30, 2019
This free, self-paced, 45-minute online course will improve your care team’s ability to help patients quit tobacco. The course focuses on Brief Tobacco Intervention and Motivational Interviewing techniques.
- This training is accepted for up to 1.0 prescribed CME credits from the American Academy of Family Physicians. For other licensing boards, please submit the certificate of participation to your accrediting body.
You can find more tobacco cessation counseling resources on the OHA website.
As you may know, OHA has issued a public health warning for all individuals to stop using vaping products. While some of the emergency rules regarding the sale of flavored vaping products were stayed on Oct. 17, other rules for medical providers are still in effect.
Effective Oct. 9, 2019, a temporary emergency disease reporting rule was put in place for 180 days. Clinicians must report within one working day any patient who has been hospitalized or who died from radiographically or histologically demonstrated lung injury following a history of e-cigarette use or vaping in the preceding 90 days.
As a health care provider you are likely to see more patients who need help quitting vaping products. To help both youth and adults with quitting vaping:
- Please advise them on their options for quitting, including counseling, FDA-approved Nicotine Replacement Therapy and other FDA-approved medications.
- A combination of counseling and medication can increase the chances of successfully quitting.
Resources for you and your clinic to help patients quit vaping
OHA has created flyers that provide information on how to help adults and youth quit vaping.
For more information, including how to bill for cessation support, please visit healthoregon.org/vaping and click on “For Providers.” Additional resources will be added as they are available.
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