Monthly Focus

Upcoming Events

• November 19: Webinar: Provider Relief Fund Reporting & Auditing—
• What You Need to Know
• December 1: Giving Tuesday (details coming soon)

We have created a web page with all of the Monthly Focus news with minimal formatting to make it easy for you to copy and paste the articles into your own communications.

We encourage state organizations to share this news with your members to keep them informed of the many benefits of their state and national membership.

• social media graphics
• sample social media posts
• press release
• customizable feature article
• A special edition of our patient newsletter Footprints

There are a variety of materials available for individual patients to use. Please encourage your members to use these materials—they are one of the key benefits of membership in their state and national organizations! Watch APMA’s video on how to use the campaign materials.

Should you have questions as you implement your Diabetes Awareness Month activities, please email Peggy Tresky.

APMA determined this meeting date and logistics based on feedback from members and health policy consultants. The CY 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule will be published late this year because the proposed rule was released almost a month later than usual. A December meeting date gives us time to address the final rule and changes to Medicare reimbursement policy at the meeting.

Date: Saturday, December 5
Time: 10 a.m.–6:30 p.m. ET
Location: Virtual (Zoom link will be shared)
Register today!

Send questions or comments to APMA staff at healthpolicy.hpp@apma.org.

APMA had a preliminary call earlier this month with Anthem’s new Office of External Affairs and its Medical Affairs staff from its subsidiary, AIM, to discuss its new guidelines, new prior authorization process, and peer-to-peer review process. Following the call, APMA’s Health Policy and Practice Committee leaders reviewed the guidelines, and APMA wrote to Anthem regarding several of its concerns and requested a delay in implementation to allow for additional stakeholder feedback. The Health Policy and Practice Committee also formed a workgroup to conduct a more in-depth review and to continue to collaborate with orthopedic and podiatric societies.

Getinsulin.org is a nonprofit organization that connects individuals living with diabetes in the United States to insulin affordability options, with access to insulin matching their unique circumstances. Users of this service answer questions about their location, insurance type, income, and prescription. GetInsulin.org creates a customized action plan to guide that person to solutions that best serve their unique circumstances. This program is supported by a coalition of partners including the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists, the Endocrine Society, Feeding America, and more. It is funded by Lilly, Mylan, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi.

Currently, APMA is working with ADA to support legislation to make insulin more affordable. We would like to share this unique resource with our colleagues to help provide patients not only outstanding podiatric care, but also information to share with patients living with diabetes under financial distress. Together, we can help our patients achieve a higher quality of life despite their medical and financial circumstances.

Anastasios Manessis, MD, Endocrinologist in New York
Jean Chen-Vitulli, DPM, Fishkill, New York

Note that if you have already claimed the COVID-19 MIPS 2020 Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Exception, you do not need to apply for this exception. MIPS eligible clinicians, groups, and virtual groups may submit a MIPS PI Hardship Exception Application to reweight the PI performance category to 0 by citing one of the following specified reasons:

• small practice (15 or fewer clinicians);
• decertified EHR technology;
• insufficient internet connectivity;
• extreme and uncontrollable circumstances such as disaster, practice closure, severe financial distress or vendor issues; or
• lack of control over the availability of CEHRT.

Note that lacking CEHRT alone does not qualify you for re-weighting. To apply, first you must set up a HARP account. Learn how in the QPP Access User Guide. Once you sign into your account, select “Exceptions Application” on the left-hand navigation bar, then select “Promoting Interoperability Hardship.”

You’ll be notified by email as to whether your request was approved or denied. You can check the status of your application by signing into QPP. Once your application is approved, you do not have to report for the MIPS PI performance category, and your PI score will be reweighted to 0. The 25-percent weighting of the PI performance category will be redistributed to another performance category (or categories) unless you choose to submit data.

For more information on the MIPS 2020 performance year, visit www.apma.org/MIPS2020.

This notice contains important information concerning the proposed revisions to CPME publications 320, Standards and Requirements for Approval of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residencies and CPME 330, Procedures for Approval of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residencies.

Please read the notice in its entirety.

Every six years, the Council on Podiatric Medical Education (council or CPME) conducts a comprehensive review of its standards, requirements, and procedures associated with its evaluation activities. In order to facilitate these reviews, ad hoc advisory committees are appointed. In 2018, the council appointed an ad hoc advisory committee to review CPME publications 320 Standards and Requirements for Approval of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residencies and CPME 330, Procedures for Approval of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residencies. The Residency Ad Hoc Advisory Committee (committee) members broadly represent the communities of interest related to residency education, and were selected with the belief that they would provide thoughtful analysis and insight into the needed evolution of residency training, in coordination with the goals and the interests of the profession. | READ MORE >

CPME Accreditation Eligibility Requirements Document Adopted

After an extensive four year process, multiple surveys and input from the communities of interest, CPME has adopted CPME 109, College Accreditation Eligibility Requirements. To ensure a candidate institution has the authority, means, and resources to adequately support an educational program in podiatric medicine, the eligibility requirements have been established for colleges applying for initial accreditation or reaccreditation. These requirements must be satisfied in order that an application for candidate status, leading to accreditation may be considered. The revised College Eligibility Requirements document went into effect October 17.

Virtual On-Site Evaluations

The council approved that in light of the continued pandemic, all on-site evaluation visits for residency and fellowship programs scheduled for spring of 2021 will be conducted virtually.

CPME Reviewed NBPME Request to Modify CSPE Exam Requirements

At the council’s October 17 meeting, it reviewed the request made by the National Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners (NBPME) to “modify the requirement of passing the CSPE examination, which is part of the Part II examination, from prior to beginning a residency program to prior to completing a residency program.”

The Residency Review Committee made a recommendation to the council, which the council approved. That recommendation and resultant action states that “Residency programs will not be cited with an area of noncompliance if they accept students entering residency training in 2021 who have not passed the NBPME Part 2 CSPE.”

The council did not go so far as to state when students or residents should take the examination, as that is outside the council’s purview. Instead, the council stayed within its scope based on the standards and requirements made explicit in CPME 320, Standards and Requirements for Approval of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residencies, specifically requirement 3.6, which states, “The sponsoring institution shall accept only graduates of colleges of podiatric medicine accredited by the Council on Podiatric Medical Education. Prior to beginning the residency, all applicants shall have passed the Parts I and II examinations of the National Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners.”

APMA strongly encourages its state components and affiliates to link to these materials from their websites. We have heard from several members who have been unable to find information on their state organizations’ sites. Take advantage of the materials APMA has created. Link to www.apma.org/covid19.