Congressional News and Perspective
New COVID-19 Legislation Spells Relief for Primary Care Physicians and Patients
Legislation increases Medicare payments, funds COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and vaccine distribution.
Advocacy in Action
ACP, Other Physician Groups Call for New Primary Care Financing Paradigm
Leading physician organizations provide recommendations for changing the way primary care is delivered and financed.
ACP and the AMA
Public Health Insurance, HCQ for COVID-19 Stir Debate at AMA House of Delegates Meeting
House of Delegates also recognized racism as public health threat, detailed plan to mitigate effects of racism.
Quick Hits
New E/M Resource Explains Changes for 2021
Starting now, physicians who are billing Medicare only need to use time or medical decision making to determine the appropriate level of evaluation and management (E/M) coding for a patient encounter. This change came about due to advocacy of ACP and other major medical societies with the Relative Value Scale Update Committee.
Learn more about how to begin using the reduced documentation requirements and about new code values here.
New Paradigm for Financing Primary Care and Health Promotion Released
Recently, along with six other leading primary care organizations in the U.S., ACP helped spark change in the conversation and modernize how primary care is financed and delivered. The collective vision for the group is clear: By fundamentally changing the way primary care is financed, clinicians will be able to offer care that achieves better health, seamless integration of care, health equity, and lower costs.
Find the complete recommendations described in today's newsletter here.
COVID-19 Vaccine Forum II: Promoting Vaccination
ACP and Annals of Internal Medicine hosted a panel of experts who provided unique insight and practical information related to what physicians and other health care professionals can do to promote COVID-19 vaccination confidence and uptake. A recording of the forum and a summary of key takeaways are now available.
Access the forum recording and summary here.
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