The CMSA Board of Directors and Public Policy Committee will accept applications for new Public Policy Committee members starting July 1 through July 30.  The PPC works to support the Board of Directors on CMSA's public policy initiatives and participates in several policy-related activities throughout the year, including the Public Policy Summit in Washington, D.C.

If you would like to be considered as a committee member applicant,  contact Ashton-Theodore Randle at arandle@cm-innovators.com.

 

National Case Management Week

2012 National Case Management Week is October 14-20! Start planning your celebrations and recognition now within your chapters, in your communities and through your employers.

For your CM Week activities, consider banquets and recognition dinners, state and city proclamations and continuing education seminars.  And, honor the other case managers in your life with gifts, dinners or flowers to show your appreciation!

CMSA offers many planning resources for Case Management Week, including a downloadable Promotion Guide, logos/templates and a sample Proclamation Letter.  You can also order promotional products for this special week.

Visit http://www.cmsa.org/cmweek and www.facebook.com/ncmweek to get started!

 

Thank you to everyone who attended the 22nd Annual Conference & Expo in San Francisco!  Head to www.cmsa.org/conference for information on CE evaluations and certificates, presentation handouts and ways to stay connected now that the big event has concluded.

Save the Date for the 23rd Annual Conference & Expo
CMSA's 2013 conference will be held June 25-28, 2013, in New Orleans at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center.  Stay tuned for registration and other details in the coming months!

 

Through a joint collaboration, CMSA and ABQAURP have created a sub-specialty certification for Transitions of Care (TOC) as part of the specialized credentials available through ABQAURP’s Health Care Quality Management Board Certification (HCQM). Created to recognize the importance of TOC, this credential is the first one to support professionals – as a team and individually – who demonstrate competence and skills in providing the key elements of TOC.

For additional details about the certification and the available sub-specialties, visit www.abqaurp.org/certification.asp

CMSA Members: Receive a 10 percent discount on the HCQM board exam with promo code CMSAEXAM

 

By Pat Stricker, RN, MEd
SVP of Clinical Services
TCS Healthcare Technologies

Congratulations to CMSA on another great conference! There were more than 2,300 attendees representing various case management settings.  The week started with optional pre-conference workshops focused on certification preparation, chapter leadership, DOD/VA, and an introduction to the new CMAG-3 program.

The conference itself started with a presentation from Charity Tilleman-Dick, a soprano opera singer who was faced with not one, but two lung transplants.  She recounted her story from her dream of becoming an opera singer, to singing throughout the world, to her lung transplant and month-long coma, to her recovery, to an infection that resulted in rejection and the need for another transplant, and finally to her amazing return to international vocal acclaim and performance at the Lincoln Center!

 

CMS and ONC surpass 2012 goals for EHR adoption and use
Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

More than 100,000 health care providers are using electronic health records that meet federal standards and have benefited from the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) announced recently.

 

Average savings for seniors and people with disabilities this year is $651
Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

As a result of the Affordable Care Act, more than 5,254,000 seniors and people with disabilities have saved a total of $3.7 billion on prescription drugs since the law was enacted.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also released data today showing that in the first five months of 2012, 745,000 people with Medicare saved a total of $485.3 million on prescription drugs in "donut hole" coverage gap for an average of $651 in savings this year.

 

Providers, tech companies, and local organizations expected to lower costs; improve quality
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced the recipients of 81 new Health Care Innovation Awards made possible by the health care law, the Affordable Care Act. The awards will support innovative projects nationwide designed to deliver high-quality medical care, enhance the health care workforce, and save money. Combined with the awards announced last month, HHS has awarded 107 projects that intend to save the health care system an estimated $1.9 billion over the next three years.

 

Caregiver resources are available on Medicare.gov/caregivers. These resources provide insights about choosing a drug plan, selecting a hospital, finding local support and care options, and much more. And be sure to remind caregivers that many Medicare preventive services are available to their loved one with no co-pay, like an annual wellness visit, immunizations, and some cancer screenings. It’s just another way you can help caregivers.

 

World Congress has several live health care events coming up this summer. Members can save $200 on current rates for each event by entering the code CMSA200 during the registration process!

The World Congress 8th Annual Leadership Summit on Medicare
July 24-25, 2012 | Arlington, Va. More info

The World Congress 2nd Annual Leadership Summit on Medicaid
July 24-25, 2012 | Arlington, Va. More info

The World Congress 2nd Annual Leadership Summit on Shared Decision Making
September 20-21, 2012 | Newton, Mass. More info

Not valid on gov’t registrations, cannot be combined with any other offers, cannot be used toward a previous registration.

 

Join Bruce Berger Consulting and The Physicians’ Institute on August 16-17 in Atlanta, Ga., for comMIt™ (Comprehensive Motivational Interviewing Training). This effective training program is designed to teach health care providers how to use the principles of motivational interviewing (MI) with patients. Brief motivational interviewing is a patient-centered approach developed:

•    For use with patients who vary in their readiness to take their medications or manage their illness and related health behaviors
•    To more effectively improve adherence with health behaviors
•    Ultimately, to produce better patient outcomes