In Parts of California, a Prescription Will Pay for Fresh Fruits and Veggies BY RYA JETHA | CalMatters Article Link Every other Friday, the Stockton Emergency Food Bank hosts two live cooking classes — one in English and one in Spanish. Last week, Brenda Munoz made a classic tuna melt with an orange, romaine and dandelion salad. “Dandelion is completely edible,” said Munoz, holding the small leaves from the flower. “They’re really high in vitamin A and folate.” But this isn’t your typical cooking lesson on Zoom and Facebook. It’s part of a “food prescription” experiment — prescriptions for healthy food instead of pills. Diabetics get a free ... August 16, 2023 General, Patient Care 0 0 Comment Read More »
SCCMA EHC Writes Recommendation to Replace Artificial Turf with Natural Turf for Saratoga High School The SCCMA Environmental Health Committee has examined issue of artificial turf and recommends the Saratoga High School Board of Trustees to replace the artificial turf with natural living grass, as have other cities, for the health and safety of both the students and the environment. Although in the past artificial turf seemed to be the best alternative due to reduced costs, reduced water usage, and lower maintenance, newer information has come to light regarding the direct and indirect environmental and health impacts of synthetic grass, including full life cycle analysis. To learn ... August 15, 2023 General, Public Health Environmental Health 0 0 Comment Read More »
NEW PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY FOR CALIFORNIA PHYSICIANS CMA has won a significant victory in expanding the Federal Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness Program for California physicians who were previously blocked from participating in the program. The new program started on July 1, 2023. It provides loan forgiveness for physicians who work in nonprofit hospitals, foundations, clinics, or other health care entities 30 hours/week for approximately 10 years. It will also help many medical groups recruit more physicians to California. CMA has published a guide to help physicians navigate the program. The most up-to-date version of this guide will always ... August 7, 2023 CMA, Physician Workforce loan forgiveness program 0 0 Comment Read More »
DEADLINE: HIPAA Compliant Video Communications Tools for Telehealth by August 10, 2023 When the COVID-19 public health emergency expired on May 11, 2023, the U.S. Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced the end of flexibilities that allowed physicians to utilize remote communication technologies for telehealth services that did not fully comply with HIPAA rules. OCR provided a 90-calendar day transition period for covered health care providers to come into compliance with the HIPAA rules for telehealth. The transition period will expire at 11:59 p.m. on August 9, 2023, at which time physicians will be expected to utilize only HIPAA-compliant communication ... July 27, 2023 CMA, COVID19, General, Healthcare, Insurance, legislation, Patient Care, Public Health HIPAA, telehealth, virtual appointments 0 0 Comment Read More »
2024 Medicare Physician Payment Schedule is Out The CY 2023 Medicare Physician Payment Schedule Final Rule updates payment policies and rates as well as other provisions for services offered on or after Jan. 1, 2023, under the Medicare Physician Payment Schedule. The AMA provides final rule summary (PDF) of the 2023 Medicare Physician Payment Schedule and Quality Payment Program (QPP). In addition, CMS has released the CY 2024 Medicare Physician Payment Schedule Proposed Rule, including key proposals that impact Medicare physician payment and the Quality Payment Program (QPP). Key proposals include a predicted 3.36% reduction in the ... July 27, 2023 AMA, General, Healthcare, Insurance, legislation, Medicare, Patient Care, Public Health payment schedule 0 0 Comment Read More »
