Each Office Visit is an Opportunity

Medicare patients give many reasons for not getting their annual flu vaccination, but the fact is that flu seasons are unpredictable and can be severe. Each year, it is estimated that 90 percent of seasonal flu-related deaths and more than 60 percent of seasonal flu-related hospitalizations occur in people 65 years and older. Please talk with your Medicare patients about the importance of getting their annual flu vaccination. And remember, vaccination is important for healthcare workers too, who may spread the flu to high risk patients. Don’t forget to immunize yourself and your staff. Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself. Get the Flu Vaccine—Not the Flu.

Remember – The flu vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. CMS has posted the 2011-2012 seasonal flu vaccine payment limits at http://www.CMS.gov/McrPartBDrugAvgSalesPrice/10_VaccinesPricing.asp. Note that the flu vaccine is NOT a Part D-covered drug.

For more information on coverage and billing of the flu vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational provider resources, visit http://www.CMS.gov/MLNProducts/35_PreventiveServices.asp and http://www.cms.gov/immunizations.

Medical Licensure Renewal

If your medical license is set to expire on January 31, 2012, the process of renewing your license may take two to three weeks. Initiating contact to confirm the receipt of fees or the status of your license prior to this time will not expedite the renewal process. Applicable fees, forms and information for licensure renewal can be found by visiting: http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/Renewal/medicine/renew-me1.html

 For licensure renewal, physicians must complete the following CE requirements: http://doh.state.fl.us/mqa/ceu.html

Please log into www.FLHealthsource.com and follow these steps:

• Click Renew my License and log in
• Click Renew License and select your renewal option
  • Renew online
  • Print your renewal notice to submit with your payment via mail

You will be promoted to complete the Physician Workforce Survey online.

Please note that if you currently dispense, an additional fee of $100.00 is required to the active renewal licensure fee as indicated on the FL DOH renewal webpage. If you are requesting to dispense, you will also need to add the additional $100.00 fee to the active renewal licensure fee. Dispensing Practitioner Registration can be found by visiting: http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/medical/frm_dispensing.pdf.

Section 456.0635, F.S., may affect your ability to renew your license. Please visit http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/laws.html for more information

Remember, all renewals must be submitted no later than January 31, 2012, in order to avoid a delinquent fee.  For general licensing and renewal questions, please contact the FL DOH at 850-488-0595 and press option 3.

64B8-13.0045 Requirements for Reactivation of Retired Status License

To reactivate a license that has been retired for less than five years the physician is required to provide the following:

(1) Contact the board either by phone, mail , email or fax and let us know they want to react their retired license.

(2) Complete twenty course hours of AMA approved, category one, general CME, one hour of HIV/AIDS, and two hours of Preventing Medical Errors.

(3) Pay the reactivation fee of $250 plus all back renewal fees that the physician would have paid had the license remained in an active status.

(4) Complete a Financial Responsibility form indicating the type of medical malpractice insurance coverage they have.

To reactivate a license that has been retired for more than five years, and the physician has not practiced in any jurisdiction during this time, the physician must provide the following:

(1) Everything listed in (1) – (4) above.

(2) Pass a clinical competency exam given by the Federation of State Medical Boards otherwise known as the SPEX exam.  The SPEX score cannot be less than a 75.

(3) Appear before the Credentials Committee.

(4) Provide a statement accounting for all medical practice in another jurisdiction while the Florida license was in the retired status.

(5) Provide a statement establishing no malpractice or disciplinary action pending in another jurisdiction.

A retired status license shall be reactivated upon demonstration that the licensee has paid the reactivation fee set forth in Rule 64B8-3.004, F.A.C., and has complied with the following requirements:

(1) As a condition to the reactivation of a retired status license, a physician must:

(a) Submit documentation of successful completion of an average of twenty (20) hours per year of Category I, American Medical Association approved continuing medical education for each year of retired status;

(b) Document compliance with the financial responsibility requirements of Section 458.320, F.S., and Rule Chapter 64B8-12, F.A.C.; and

(c) Document compliance with Section 456.033, F.S., and Rule 64B8-13.005, F.A.C.

(2) Any physician whose license has been on retired status for more than five (5) years or a licensee from another state who has not been in the active practice of medicine within the past five (5) years shall be required to appear before the Credentials Committee of the Board and establish the ability to practice with the care and skill sufficient to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. At the time of such appearance, the physician must:

(a) Demonstrate compliance with subsection (1) above;

(b) Demonstrate successful completion of the SPEX with a score of at least 75 achieved within the year immediately preceding the appearance before the Credentials Committee; and

(c) Account for any activities related to the practice of medicine during the period that the license was on retired status or not practicing in another jurisdiction and establish an absence of malpractice or disciplinary actions pending in any jurisdiction.

(3) The Department shall refuse to reactivate the license of a retired status physician who is under investigation or prosecution in any jurisdiction for an action that would constitute a violation of this chapter or the professional practice acts administered by the department and the boards, until 15 days after the Department receives the final results of the investigation or prosecution. 

If you have questions, kindly contact Jennifer Young, FAFP Director of Membership and Social Media, jyoung@fafp.org.

The Great American Smokeout: Pledge Today!

Join the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout on November 17 with two opportunities to promote tobacco prevention and cessation.

1. Tar Wars—Pledge to present a Tar Wars tobacco prevention presentation in your local elementary school.
2. Ask and Act—Ask your patients about their tobacco use and utilize AAFP tobacco cessation resources to help them quit.

Pledge today to receive free Tar Wars and/or Ask and Act materials.

http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/clinical/publichealth/tobacco/great-american-smokeout-pledge.html.

Incentive Payments to Florida Providers for Adoption of Electronic Health Records

More than $28 million in federal incentive payments have been made to Florida hospitals and health care professionals who have taken the first step toward using electronic health records to improve the quality of patient care.

The payments – to 72 physicians and 38 hospitals – represent the first funds distributed by Florida’s Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program since it began on September 5, 2011.  As of October 24^th 1,568 EPs and 133 EHs have registered to participate in the program.   It is anticipated that by the end of the program in 2021, Florida will have issued more than $600 million in incentive payments.

The federally-funded program provides incentive payments to eligible professionals and hospitals based initially on the adoption, implementation or upgrade of an electronic health record system, and eventually, the demonstration of “meaningful use” as defined by the federal government.

Eligible professionals must treat a certain percentage of Medicaid patients. Qualifying providers will receive up to $21,250 for their first year up to a total of $63,750 over the six years they choose to participate in the program. Those years do not have to be consecutive. The final year to join the program is 2016.

Funding and support for the Medicare and Medicaid Incentive Programs is provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. CMS reported as of August 31, 2011, more than $653 million has been paid through the Medicare and Medicaid incentive programs to 90,650 eligible providers for successfully qualifying for the program.

For more information about the program and how you can participate, please visit www.ahca.myflorida.com/medicaid/ehr /

Pledge To Empower Individuals To Be Partners In Their Health Through Health IT

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is leading a national campaign to educate and engage the public on the value and benefits of health information technology (health IT) in improving health and health care. As part of the campaign, ONC is encouraging entities that touch Americans’ lives to pledge to empower individuals to be partners in their health care through health IT. Taking the pledge is voluntary and does not represent any endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or any other part of the Federal government.
In a call last week, following the SFREC Sustainability subcommittee meeting, ONC asked numerous stakeholders – such as such as payers, providers, consumer advocacy groups, health-related associations, and non-profits – that play a critical role in managing and improving the quality of health and health care to take a pledge to facilitate the use of health information technology (health IT). For a full list of pledging organizations, visit http://www.healthit.gov/pledge/who.

As indicated by ONC, an important part of engaging individuals in their health and care is making it easier for them to access their personal health information, asking the community to help develop tools to interpret and make decisions about their care based on that information, and educating patients about their right to their health information and empowering them to ask their providers for a copy of their health record.
For more information and to take the pledge, visit www.healthit.gov/pledge.

Medical Licensure Renewal

If your medical license is set to expire on January 31, 2012, the process of renewing your license may take two to three weeks. Initiating contact to confirm the receipt of fees or the status of your license prior to this time will not expedite the renewal process. Applicable fees, forms and information for licensure renewal can be found by visiting: http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/Renewal/medicine/renew-me1.html

For licensure renewal, physicians must complete the following CE requirements: http://doh.state.fl.us/mqa/ceu.html

Please note that if you currently dispense, an additional fee of $100.00 is required to the active renewal licensure fee as indicated on the FL DOH renewal webpage. If you are requesting to dispense, you will also need to add the additional $100.00 fee to the active renewal licensure fee. Dispensing Practitioner Registration can be found by visiting: http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/medical/frm_dispensing.pdf.

For general licensing and renewal questions, please contact the FL DOH at 850-488-0595 and press option 3.

Membership Benefits

If this year marks the end of your re-election cycle, FAFP would like to remind you about your CME requirements. To maintain AAFP/FAFP membership, you will need to report 150 CME credit hours including 75 Prescribed, 25 from Live activities and 12 FL Prescribed Credit hours earned during your re-election cycle.  For more information, please visit: http://fafpf.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/membership-renewal.pdf

Benefits of Membership

Do you know the benefits of your FAFP membership? Take a moment to review your FAFP membership benefits and discover resources that are useful to you throughout your family medicine career.   Please visit: http://www.fafp.org/index.php/membership/Benefits for more information.

What’s New With You?

Change is good. And if you have a new address, e-mail or number, please let us know. That way, you will continue to receive FAFP updates and won’t miss out on your valuable membership benefits. Take a moment to verify or change your FAFP contact information by emailing Jennifer Young at jyoung@fafp.org.

Volunteers Needed for Legislature’s Doctor of the Day Program

The 2012 Legislative Session is just a few months away, and the Florida Office of Legislative Services needs physicians to participate in the Legislature’s Doctor of the Day program. Session begins on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, and is scheduled to adjourn on Friday, March 9, 2012. The Legislature needs two physicians for each day of the session, one for the House of Representatives and one for the Senate. If you are interested in serving as Doctor of the Day, please fill out the Doctor of the Day Application.

Review Your Practitioner Profile with the DOH and Make Necessary Changes

It is an excellent time for all physicians to review the information listed on their practitioner profiles. Florida licensed physicians are required by law to maintain current information on the practitioner profile, which is the record that the licensing boards will use to mail renewal reminders. Click here to update and confirm your profile.