Medigram - May 29, 2008 | Wisconsin Medical Society

IN MEMORIAM

Alice Hassberg Thayer

Alice Hassberg Thayer, wife of longtime Wisconsin Medical Society Secretary Earl Thayer, passed away Tuesday, May 27 in Madison. She was 92. In addition to being active in her church and community, for several years she was employed as a legal secretary for both the Society and the Murphy-Crownhart law offices. Earl Thayer worked for the Society for 35 years, including 16 years as Secretary-General Manager, 1971-1987.

A Memorial Service celebrating Alice Thayer’s life will be held at First United Methodist Church in Madison Saturday, June 28 at 2 p.m. A private internment will take place at Oak Hill Cemetery in Waterloo, Wis. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Oakwood Foundation (Hebron Nursing Home) 6201 Mineral Point Road, Madison, WI 53705; the First United Methodist Church, Madison; or a charity of choice. Click here to read an obituary published in the Wisconsin State Journal.

NEWS BRIEFS

Free Webinar June 12 to focus on importance of documentation

“The Write Stuff—Documentation Pitfalls to Avoid” is a free Web-based seminar being sponsored by the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund. The one-hour educational session on Thursday, June 12 will focus on the critical impact documentation can have on patient safety, reimbursement and claim defensibility. Physicians, nurses, office staff, managers, medical assistants and any health care professional that has responsibility for documenting in the medical record are encouraged to participate. CME is available. For more information, click here, and if you have questions call 800.606.4193. To register, click here.

Updated tobacco guideline now available

The U.S. Public Health Service "2008 Clinical Practice Guideline Update: Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence" is now available on-line. The update, which was previewed in this Medigram article May 1, was released at a May 7 event hosted by the American Medical Association (AMA) in Chicago. A Webcast of the event, featuring former US Surgeon General C. Everett Kopp, MD, AMA President Ron Davis, MD, and AMA CEO Michael Maves, MD, will be available here next week.

Society member Michael C. Fiore, MD, MPH, founder and 15-year director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI), chaired the Panel for the 2008 Guideline Update. Access the full guideline through the Surgeon General's Web site.

NIH launches Undiagnosed Diseases Program

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a new clinical research program that will aim to provide answers to patients with mysterious conditions that have long eluded diagnosis. Called the Undiagnosed Diseases Program, the trans-NIH initiative will focus on the most puzzling medical cases referred to the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by physicians across the nation.

“A small number of patients suffer from symptoms that do not correspond to known conditions, making their care and treatment extraordinarily difficult. However, the history of biomedical research has taught us that careful study of baffling cases can provide new insights into the mechanisms of disease—both rare and common,” said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, MD, in this press release. “The goal of NIH’s Undiagnosed Diseases Program is two-pronged: to improve disease management for individual patients and to advance medical knowledge in general.”

For more information, about the program, click here. Physicians and patients with specific inquiries may call the NIH Clinical Center clinical information research line at 866.444.8806.

CAPITOL INSIDER

Election races taking shape; physician involvement needed!

Now that that State Legislature wrapped up its final business this week—approval of state employment contracts and a failed veto override effort—the Capitol halls will be filled with tour groups rather than legislators and lobbyists. Elections this November will have a dramatic effect on the legislature’s 2009-2010 activities, with control of both houses in play (perhaps more so in the Republican-controlled Assembly than the Democratic-controlled Senate).

The 2006 elections are remembered for the “Democratic tsunami” that washed across the national and state elections landscape. The Wisconsin results—with the State Senate swinging from Republican to Democratic leadership and Republicans losing eight seats from their Assembly majority—set up an 18-15 Democratic majority in the Senate and 52-47 Republican majority in the Assembly entering into this election cycle.

Like 2006, a number of seats will be wide-open races with no incumbent, as some legislators have opted to retire or run for a different legislative office. Sen. Roger Breske (D-Eland) will be the state’s new railroad commissioner and Sen. Carol Roessler (R-Oshkosh) is retiring. Current Assembly minority leader, Rep. Jim Kreuser (D-Kenosha) is running unopposed for Kenosha County executive. Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, MD, (D-Milwaukee) is running for the 8th Senate District against incumbent Sen. Alberta Darling. Additionally, the following representatives are retiring: Rep. Sue Jeskewitz (R-Menomonee Falls), Rep. Eugene Hahn (R-Cambria), Rep. Sheryl Albers (R-Reedsburg), Rep. Carol Owens (R-Oshkosh), Rep. Steve Wieckert (R-Appleton), Rep. Frank Boyle (D-Superior), Rep. Dave Travis (D-Waunakee), Rep. Barb Gronemus (D-Whitehall), and Rep. Terry Musser (R-Black River Falls).

The 13 announced vacancies are a bit more than the 12 from 2006, but are split more evenly between the parties. In 2006, 11 of the 12 vacancies were in Republican-held seats, while this year seven Democrats and six Republicans are moving on. Both parties are ramping up their election efforts, seeking to expand or seize a majority for their caucus.

With nearly 12,000 members across the state, Wisconsin Medical Society members have the opportunity to make the physicians’ voice well-heard in all 99 State Assembly and 16 State Senate races. The grassroots potential for medicine is spectacular, whether via political contributions through WISMedPAC or WISMedDIRECT, having candidates visit your clinic or office or simply requesting more information about the candidates (Society staff are happy to help). Click on the link to the left to start your political contribution account, and help strengthen the voice of medicine in the State Capitol.

For more information, contact Mark Grapentine, Jeremy Levin or Beth Alvin.

FOUNDATION FOCUS

Scholarship recipients announced

The Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation is pleased to announce scholarships and awards totaling $68,400 for the 2008-2009 academic year. Recipients include medical students, as well as student pursuing careers in nursing and other health care professions identified as having critical workforce shortages. Join us in congratulating them!

Click here to view a list of the recipients.

QUALITY CORNER

Call for quality or safety improvement projects

The Wisconsin Medical Society is pleased to join the Wisconsin Hospital Association, MetaStar, the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality and the Wisconsin Health Information Organization in sponsoring the 2008 Wisconsin Quality and Safety Forum October 20-21, 2008 at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. A highlight of the forum is the showcase of quality and safety projects from health care organizations around the state. Examples of projects eligible for submission include those that enhance organization-wide improvement culture and structure; are undertaken to improve quality or safety of care; and demonstrate how quality improvement practices are utilized in an organization. Submitted projects will be included on the 2008 Wisconsin Quality & Safety Forum Showcase CD and published in a future issue of the Wisconsin Medical Journal. Showcase project submissions will only be accepted via completion of the on-line submission form. All submissions are due by Tuesday, July 1, 2008. To learn more, see the Call for Submissions.

Forum registration materials will be available in August. Watch future issues of Medigram for additional information. Click here for the save-the-date flyer.

FAQ

Question:
What is the correct way to report place of service when the same physician performs a hospital discharge and initial nursing home service on the same day while the patient is still in the hospital?

Answer:
The physician should bill 99238-39 for the hospital discharge with Place of Service (POS) 21. The initial Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF)/Nursing Facility (NF) assessment codes 99304-99306 would be reported with POS 31 or 32, as appropriate, even though the assessment is actually done while the patient is still in the hospital.

For answers to other Frequently Asked Questions about coding matters and more, click here to review our Education Department’s FAQ archive, or e-mail efaq@wismed.org.