New sleep center honors longtime AMS member
Arkansas Medical Society member, Hillard Duckworth, MD was recently recognized for over 60 years of service to the Piggott community through the newly opened Duckworth Diagnostic Sleep Center, part of the Piggott Community Hospital. Dr. Duckworth has been a continuous member of the Arkansas Medical Society since 1956. Full article below from…
House passes multiple bills to address opioid epidemic
The U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month passed 18 bills to address the opioid epidemic, including the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act (H.R. 5046), which would authorize various grant programs through the Department of Justice. The House also passed H.R. 4641, which would establish an inter-agency task…
How new Medicare payment system intends to help small practices
The proposed rule for implementing key provisions of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) has drawn concerns regarding its regulatory impact analysis, which projected that the quality and resource use components of the new Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) would have a negative impact on most…
New Group Purchasing Program Supports Private Practice Members
The Arkansas Medical Society is excited to announce the purchase of a franchise from the Arkansas based group purchasing organization (GPO), Buygility LLC. The partnership will allow physician members of the Arkansas Medical Society to access lower pricing on a wide variety of practice needs such as medical…
Confronting a Crisis: An open letter to America’s physicians on the opiod epidemic
By Steven J. Stack Emergency physician and the 170th president of the American Medical Association. The medical profession must play a lead role in reversing the opioid epidemic that, far too often, has started from a prescription pad. For the past 20 years, public policies - well-intended but…
2016 Annual Meeting Recap
Physicians from across the state met on April 22nd-23rd at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain to discuss advocacy efforts, elect new leaders, participate in educational opportunities and plan for the future of healthcare in our state. From prescription drug abuse to health care reform policies, advocating…
Dr. Scott Cooper Installed as President
Rogers Orthopedic Surgeon Scott Cooper, MD, was recently named president of the Arkansas Medical Society. Dr. Cooper, who practices at Mercy Clinic Orthopedics, has been a member of the society since 1996 and has also served as a district trustee representing the physicians and patients of 10 Northwest…
AMS Trustees Address Tort Reform and Telemedicine
During the 2016 AMS Annual Meeting, the Board of Trustees voted to support a proposed Arkansas constitutional amendment that would limit attorney fees and allow the General Assembly to adopt caps on non-economic damages for medical malpractice lawsuits. The amendment has been filed and is currently gathering signatures.…
Medicaid Audits Creating Confusion
AMS is currently addressing several complaints about audits being performed by the Arkansas Office of Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG). OMIG is a separate agency from DHS and acts independently to address Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse. AMS has received several complaints over the past month about OMIG audits…
Episodes of Care April 2016 Reports Delayed
AMS has been notified that Episodes of Care (EOC) Principle Accountable Provider quarterly reports originally scheduled for release April 29 have an anticipated publication date of June 17. For the most current information, call the APII Help Desk at 866-322-4696 or 501-301-8311; or EMAIL. During routine quality assurance…
AMS Workshop: E&M Coding Made Easy – August 16, 2016
In the last decade, billing for higher-level E&M codes has increased vastly, drawing the attention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General (OIG). This medical auditing E&M training program will provide you everything you need to be an E&M auditing pro!…