continued from page 1 - American College of Allergy, Asthma and

SPRING 2014
ACAAI
American College
of Allergy, Asthma
& Immunology
85 West Algonquin Road
|
Look ahead to
Faces and Facets of
Allergy & Immunology
Suite 550
|
NEWS
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
|
www.acaai.org
Plan to attend the 2014 ACAAI Annual
Scientific Meeting in Atlanta, Nov. 6-10, to
broaden your expertise,
enhance your practice
management skills and
improve patient care.
“The meeting title,
Faces and Facets of
Allergy & Immunology,
was selected by the
Dr. Sublett
Annual Program
Committee to represent the faces of the
many types of patients that Allergists/
Immunologists see in their offices and the
facets of treatment we offer,” said James
Sublett, MD, FACAAI, president-elect and
program chair. “Allergists/Immunologists
are unique in that we do not focus on one
organ, but rather the entire immune system
that also has many facets.”
The meeting begins with a full-day, comprehensive Thursday program on D-Day
for Skin Deep Allergies. Experts will discuss
improved diagnostic techniques, consensus
and controversies of guidelines and treatment breakthroughs for common allergies.
The Friday Annual Literature Review on
Everything You Should Have Read Last Year,
But Didn’t! rates among the top programs
year after year.
Other highlights include the following
topics:
• Challenges in COPD and asthma
• The brave new world of immunotherapy
• Challenges in our aging population,
children and adolescents
… continued on page 6
Where will asthma and allergy sufferers
in your community go for relief?
Dr. Mary Maier, Silverdale, Wash., hosts a screening program during Fourth of July festivities.
The number of Americans affected by asthma and allergy is on
the rise. With these conditions on the top of many sufferers’
minds, it is important those in your community know an
allergist is the best-trained expert to help them find relief.
A great way to do this is by holding a local screening program.
I
f you’re thinking about coordinating an
asthma and allergy screening but not
sure how to make it successful, ACAAI
has made it easy with the newly modernized Nationwide Asthma Screening
Program (NASP) toolkit. Thanks to ongoing support from Teva Respiratory, the
free toolkit is now completely electronic
and easily downloadable from the Members
Store at www.acaai.org. Click on the NASP
image for access to the Coordinators
Manual and all the materials listed below.
Just follow these five easy steps:
1. Select a location: The right locale is an
important factor in driving traffic to your
screening. ACAAI members have drawn
crowds at festivals, baseball stadiums,
fitness centers, shopping centers, hospitals, health fairs and state capitols.
Check out the online Site Selection Tips
for more ideas and details.
2. Choose a date: Hold your screening
anytime during the year. Many members
choose to have an event in May, during
National Asthma and Allergy Awareness
Month. Other allergists have decided a
fall event is good for them, as back-toschool and changing weather conditions
often trigger sufferers.
… continued on page 8
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Are you ready
for ICD-10?
Dr. Foggs
T
he World Health Organization competed work on the ICD-10 family of
diagnostic and procedural codes in
1990. In 2009, the Department of Health
and Human Services (DHHS) ruled that the
start date for ICD-10 would be deferred to
2013. In 2012, the date was pushed forward again to Oct. 1, 2014. The DHHS
recently stated that there will be no more
delays in implementation. Under federal
law, Medicare, Medicaid, and private payers
are not supposed to pay claims that are not
coded in ICD-10 for encounters taking
place on or after Oct. 1, 2014.
The Oct. 1, 2014 deadline for ICD-10
transition was thought to be firm,
however, the United States House of
Representatives in late March 2014
passed a bill that would delay the implementation. As of this writing, if the U.S.
Senate supports the House’s legislation,
as they are expected to do, then the
“new” start date will be October 1, 2015.
If the Senate does not support the legislation, then the following time tables discussed below will still apply, however, if
they do support the legislation, please
shift all dates in the discussion below
forward by one year.
If you have a date of service in late
September 2014, but the claim is not billed
until October 2014, which codes would
you use, ICD-9 or ICD-10? The answer is
ICD-9. Encounters that took place prior to
Oct. 1, 2014 can still be coded in ICC-9.
This may result in a transient period of dual
processing for some services rendered. For
all dates of service that take place on or
after the Oct. 1, 2014 deadline, then only
ICD-10 codes will be accepted.
The number of codes in the system will
skyrocket from 17,000 in the ICD-9 system
to 155,000 in the ICD-10 system. Some of
the codes are quite novel, (e.g., suicide by
jellyfish is coded T63622A; bitten by orca
is coded W56.21Xd; problems in relationship with in-laws
is coded Z63.1).
The good news
for allergists/
immunologists is
we will use only a
fraction of these
new codes.
An important
note: ICD-10 does
not affect current procedural terminology
(CPT) codes. Although there will be CPT
code changes in 2014, the code “freeze” in
2014 is for ICD-9 codes only. The 2014
CPT Manual will include 329 changes (175
new codes; 107 code descriptor revisions;
and 47 deletions).
ICD-10 will impact one’s entire practice,
not just billing and administrative functions. Adopting will require major changes
to administrative and clinical systems that
capture and report diagnosis codes. ICD-10
Board of Regents
ACAAI News is published by the American
College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
(ACAAI), 85 W. Algonquin Road, Suite 550,
Arlington Heights, IL, 60005; telephone
(847) 427-1200; fax (847) 427-1294;
email info@acaai.org; website www.acaai.org.
2
President Michael B. Foggs, MD, FACAAI
President-Elect James L. Sublett, MD, FACAAI
Vice President Bryan L. Martin, DO, FACAAI
Treasurer Bradley E. Chipps, MD, FACAAI
Immediate Past President Richard W. Weber, MD, FACAAI
Past Immediate Past President Stanley M. Fineman, MD, MBA,
FACAAI
Regents Gregory W. Bensch, MD, FACAAI; Leonard
Bielory, MD, FACAAI; Warner W. Carr, MD, FACAAI;
Chitra Dinakar, MD, FACAAI; Curtis L. Hedberg, MD,
Connect with us on
is a difficult health information technology
(HIT) challenge that all practicing allergists/immunologists will be facing.
Testing is needed to discover problems and
resolve them prior to Oct. 1, 2014. There
will be limited opportunities for testing
before it goes live. Medicare contractors
need to conduct end-to-end testing of their
claims processing systems with providers.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS)
will conduct front-end testing (i.e., testing
how easily and accurately providers can
submit claims) during the first quarter of
this year and is expected to conduct end-toend testing by this summer for current
direct submitters. There are major concerns
that CMS may not have a sufficient back-up
plan if last minute testing demonstrates
anticipated problems, such as disruptions in
medical claims processing, with this massive
coding transition. It is also important to
conduct test transactions using ICD-10
codes with other payers and clearinghouses.
These are your trading partners with whom
you must complete testing that will involve
sending ICD-10 codes in test transactions to
facilitate a smooth transition, in hopes these
organizations will continue to process your
transactions correctly and efficiently after
Sept. 30, 2014.
Many electronic health records (EHR)
vendors plan to release ICD-10 updated
… continued on page 3
FACAAI; Rohit K. Katial, MD, FACAAI; Tao Tuan Le,
MD, MHS, FACAAI; Maeve E. O’Connor, MD, FACAAI;
and Christopher C. Randolph, MD, FACAAI.
Speaker, House of Delegates Kathleen R. May, MD, FACAAI
Fellow-in-Training Representatives Monica Bhagat, MD and
Andrew Nickels, MD
Executive Medical Director Bobby Q. Lanier, MD, FACAAI
Editor-in-Chief, Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
Gailen D. Marshall, MD, PhD, FACAAI
Alliance President Margaret Quel
Executive Director Richard J. Slawny
at acaai.org
College pledges its continued
support for the JCAAI Council
A m e r i c a n C o l l e g e o f A l l e r g y, A s t h m a & I m m u n o l o g y
A
s you may know, during the March 2 Board of Directors
meeting of the Joint Council of Allergy, Asthma &
Immunology (JCAAI), the AAAAI leadership announced its
decision to withdraw its financial support for all legal and professional lobbying for the Joint Council, without advance notice prior
to the Board meeting.
Following is the response from ACAAI leadership:
“We want to assure our members that the College is committed to
support JCAAI, and that we value the essential and important work
of the JCAAI. The College is prepared to provide the financial support needed so JCAAI can continue uninterrupted. We are also at a
critical junction in health care, and the value the JCAAI brings to the
allergist/immunologist has never been more crucial.
“The ACAAI remains committed and will continue to fight for the
practicing allergist. We will continue our conciliatory efforts with the
Are you ready for ICD-10?
AAAAI to move the
specialty of allergy
and immunology
forward during these challenging times.”
Michael B. Foggs, MD, FACAAI, ACAAI President
James L. Sublett, MD, FACAAI, ACAAI President-Elect
Bryan L. Martin, DO, FACAAI, ACAAI Vice President
Bradley E. Chipps, MD, FACAAI, ACAAI Treasurer
Richard W. Weber, MD, FACAAI, ACAAI Immediate Past President
Bobby Q. Lanier, MD, FACAAI, ACAAI Executive Medical Director
We would like all ACAAI members to consider becoming members
of the Joint Council, which is more important now than ever
before. If you’re not already a JCAAI member, please consider joining by going to the Joint Council website www.jcaai.org. You can
submit a membership application and pay dues online.
continued from page 2
software during the first quarter of this
year, but many physicians are still waiting
for their vendors to deliver software with
updates. In some instances, there will be
late delivery of tested and certified software
to practices. These providers will be at risk
for not having sufficient time to test those
updates. The later practices receive this
software the harder it will become to test it
prior to the Oct. 1, 2014 deadline. Minor
glitches in the rollout could potentially
cause a very costly backlog of medical
claims. Such backlogs could disrupt delivery of care and jeopardize some practices.
between $57,000 and $226,000 while large
practices may have to spend $2 million to
$8 million. He estimated that 70% of physician practices will need to upgrade their
EHR to meet ICD-10 requirements, but
only 40% have contracts that require their
vendors to pay for the mandated updates.
He estimated that up to 25% of providers
will not be capable of utilizing codes as of
Oct. 1, 2014. If Mr. Nachimson is correct,
this could have a devastating impact on
medical practices and on the delivery of
health care. Failing compliance could trigger
catastrophic cash-flow problems.
The cost of implementing ICD-10 will vary
widely depending on one’s practice circumstances. Implementation will be more
expensive than previously estimated
according to CMS. A major reason for the
cost increase is going to be due to the vendor/software upgrade costs.
Providers need to know exactly what to
expect from their vendors and payers. Long
before Oct. 1, 2014 check with all of your
vendors and payers to receive their specific
instructions about how to optimally utilize
ICD-10 and avoid pitfalls that could delay
reimbursement.
Stanley Nachimson, a HIT consultant and
ICD-10 specialist, recently updated an
American Medical Association sponsored
report estimating the practice costs related
to implementation. He predicted that small
physician practices may have to spend
Allergy/immunology practices
must be prepared for the
occurrence of a variety of
tumultuous events:
• Some of the smaller EHR vendors going
out of business.
• Claims denial rates rising.
• More payers requesting copies of medical
records for careful analysis of billing.
• Medical record audits increasing.
Consider the following practice
mitigation strategies:
• Appoint a leader in your practice to
manage the ICD-10 transition.
• Invest in provider training in documentation. Identify which staff members
complete each task related to ICD-9
coding as this information will be
most useful when identifying what
level of training they will need for
ICD-10 coding.
• Complete an inventory of all systems,
manual and electronic, that use ICD-9
now. If your existing system is unable to
accommodate the ICD-10 codes, or if
your vendor is not upgrading the system, you will probably need to purchase
a new system.
• Improve internal and external organizational communication between HIT
systems vendors and payers.
… continued on page 8
3
How does your Foundation
support make a difference?
A m e r i c a n C o l l e g e o f A l l e r g y, A s t h m a & I m m u n o l o g y
“Understanding the immune response is like
finding a needle in a haystack, in a field of
haystacks, in a county full of fields.”
Brian Vickery, MD
In a new video, Brian
Vickery, MD,
Matthew Rank, MD,
and Matthew
Greenhawt, MD,
MBA, MSc – past
recipients of the
ACAAI Foundation’s
Young Faculty Award
Dr. Rossman
– discuss how their
research is impacting patients’ lives.
In the “Making a Difference” video –
featured on the Foundation web page at
www.acaai.org – they discuss their research
in food allergies, immunotherapy safety and
flu vaccines in children with egg allergy.
“It’s important that our donors know how
their support to the Foundation is impacting our specialty,” said ACAAI Foundation
President Suellyn Rossman, MD, FACAAI.
“The Young Faculty Award grants enable
recipients like Drs. Vickery, Rank and
Greenhawt, to dedicate their time to
allergy-immunology research, which results
in more treatment options for allergists and
improved patient care.
“Financial support from ACAAI members is
crucial for meeting the increasing needs for
allergy-immunology education and research
through Young Faculty Support Awards,
Fellow-in-Training Program Relief Grants,
and other Foundation programs,” she said.
The video is not all that’s new on the
Foundation web page. You can now support your Foundation by donating online
by credit card.
Your gifts to the Foundation – which will
be applied toward your 20K Club, 10K Club
or 5K Club contribution goal – may be handled in a variety of ways, including cash
donations, through a contribution of stock
and charitable trusts/bequests. In times of
bereavement, you can request donations be
made in lieu of flowers – or easily establish
a named memorial fund – to help advance
the care of allergy and immunology. The
Jean Chapman Endowment Fund for
Education was established to help support
fellows-in-training travel grants.
The Tithe-a-Talk program makes it easy for
you to donate honoraria from an upcoming
speaking engagement. Simply complete the
Tithe-a-Talk form available on the
Foundation page of the College member
website and present it to the association/
company that is sponsoring your talk.
Your donations are always welcome. Please
send your contribution to: ACAAI
Foundation, 85 W. Algonquin Road, Suite
550, Arlington Heights, IL 60005. Checks
should be made payable to ACAAI
Foundation. Credit card donations may be
made on the Foundation page at
www.acaai.org.
Young faculty invited to apply for $50,000 grant
4
If you are an ACAAI member interested in
undertaking a research or teaching project, the
Foundation of ACAAI invites you to apply for a
Young Faculty Support grant.
• Anne Ellis, MD, MSc, FRCPC, Queen’s University,
Kingston, ON, Canada, for her study titled
“Epigenetic Signature of Allergic Disease in Dendritic
Cells: Prenatal & Early Life.”
Young faculty who are less than 40 years of
age, or those within the first five years of medical practice in an academic environment, may
apply for a $50,000 Young Faculty Support
grant. Two grants will each fund a one-year
project with a possible one-year renewal for
clinically relevant research projects involving
basic research, innovative teaching or delivery
of care in an academic setting.
• Jay Lieberman, MD, The
University of Tennessee Health
Sciences Center, Memphis, Tenn.,
for his study titled “A
Randomized, Double-blind,
Placebo-controlled Study of the
Use of Viscous Oral Cromolyn
Sodium for Treatment of
Eosinophilic Esophagitis.”
Two Young Faculty Support Awards were presented at the 2013 Awards Ceremony in
Baltimore to the following recipients:
Dr. Anne Ellis receiving the award
from ACAAI Immediate Past
President Dr. Richard Weber
Dr. Jay Lieberman
The deadline for applications is Aug. 15. Application
instructions are enclosed with this issue of
ACAAI News.
Resources help FITs prepare
for the ABAI exam
A m e r i c a n C o l l e g e o f A l l e r g y, A s t h m a & I m m u n o l o g y
By Monica Bhagat, MD, Senior FIT Representative to the ACAAI Board of Regents
Congratulations to our first-year FITs for
completing more than half of their first
year, and good luck to our second and
third-year FITs who are hunting for jobs
and getting geared up for boards! As we
head into the spring season, it is important
to be aware of all of the board preparatory
resources available to us.
The 2014 ABAI exam dates are set for Sept.
29 – Oct. 3. Although the registration
deadline for the ABAI exam is May 31, you
should register prior to April 30 to avoid
late fees. The total cost to register for the
exam is $2,650. The passing rate for firsttime test takers of the 2013 exam was 89
percent. For more information, please see
www.abai.org.
Enrollment for the 2014 ACAAI/AAAAI
Certification/Maintenance of Certification
Board Review Course is closed, but there
are multiple other ways to prepare for your
exam! One key resource is the ACAAI website, where you will find the ACAAI Review
for the Allergy and Immunology Boards,
Second Edition. This newly updated review
book is available for download for all
College members at www.acaai.org/members. It is a 600-page concise review of key
allergy and immunology
subject matter, designed
for board preparation.
Our website also
includes the FIT Corner
Questions featuring 20
questions published
monthly written by your Dr. Bhagat
College FIT representatives! These questions are another great way
to review since they are based on key textbooks including Janeway’s Immunobiology
for 2014, and Abbas’ Cellular and Molecular
Immunology last year.
Clemens von Pirquet Awards –
The Alliance of the ACAAI provides
fellows-in-training three awards for the
best papers on any aspect of allergy/
immunology or related fields. In addition
to award certificates and a travel grant to
attend the Annual Meeting, winners will
receive cash awards from $1,000 to
$2,500. Applications are due July 7.
The ACAAI Abstract Review Committee
invites you to submit your clinical and
research findings online for presentation at
the 2014 ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting
in Atlanta, Nov. 6-10. The deadline for submission is July 7. First Year FITs only may
submit abstracts for consideration of a poster
presentation as late as Aug. 4.
Abstracts must be submitted online at
www.acaai.org. Authors should follow all
directions carefully as they proceed through
the system’s step-by-step process. The
assigned abstract ID number will allow
authors to resume or edit a previous submission until the July 7 deadline.
Another key way to prepare for the ABAI
exam is to study for your mock In-Training
Allergy/Immunology Exam. This year the
mock exam will be offered May 7-14. Your
program director will register you for this
exam, so look for information soon.
Good luck to everyone! I look forward to
the ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting in
Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 6-10.
Questions? Contact me at monicabhagat1@
gmail.com or your regional FIT representative listed at www.acaai.org.
Grants and awards available to FITs
The College will assist Fellows-in-Training
(FITs) with travel grants to attend the
ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting in
Atlanta, Nov. 6-10, and recognize outstanding research through its 2014 ACAAI
Fellows-in-Training Grants and Awards
Program. FITs are invited to apply.
Call for abstracts for
ACAAI Annual Meeting
Travel Grant Awards – The College
will provide travel grants to fellows-intraining in the United States, Canada and
Mexico for attending the 2014 Annual
Scientific Meeting.
Applications for the ACAAI Fellows-inTraining 2014 Awards and Grants Program
will be emailed to all fellows-in-training
and program directors, and will be available
online at on the member website at
www.acaai.org (see “Applications and
Forms”). For more information, contact
Debra Kroncke at (847) 427-1200 or email
debrakroncke@acaai.org.
Dr. Olajumoke Fadugba was one of more than 400
abstract presenters at the 2013 ACAAI Annual Meeting
in Baltimore.
There is a $40 submission fee for each
abstract submitted. This fee is waived for
fellows-in-training, medical students and
residents. Visit the website for payment
information.
All authors whose abstracts are accepted for
presentation will be required to register for
the meeting and pay the appropriate meeting
registration fee. Registration information will
be available on the website in July.
Abstracts selected for oral and poster presentations will be published as a Supplement in
Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. FITs
who submit an abstract may apply for consideration for a Clemens von Pirquet Award
by selecting the appropriate option on the
website. Information on the criteria and
application requirements can be obtained by
contacting debrakroncke@acaai.org.
5
A m e r i c a n C o l l e g e o f A l l e r g y, A s t h m a & I m m u n o l o g y
Visit amazing Atlanta in the great state of Georgia!
By Margaret Quel, Alliance President
I
t has been 21 years since the College
had the pleasure of visiting Atlanta during the 1993 ACAAI Annual Meeting.
This charming city is packed with history
and many lovely sights.
Atlanta is home to the
1996 Olympic Village,
CNN headquarters, and
the World of Coke to
mention just a few
attractions. The Swan
House, a beautiful mansion built in 1928, is
Mrs. Quel
also worth a visit.
Oakland Cemetery, resting place of
Margaret Mitchell, is the oldest cemetery in
Atlanta and less than a mile from the heart
of downtown. Founded in 1850, it is a hidden treasure, a secret sanctuary. When you
visit the Cyclorama in Atlanta’s historic
Grant Park, you can also see artifacts of the
war displayed in the Civil War Museum
and a steam locomotive known as the
Texas, a veteran of the Great Locomotive
Chase of 1862. Right in Atlanta’s historical
center you will find Tullie Smith House, an
example of a small Southern plantation.
Just outside the city? There is famous and
impressive Stone mountain or, if plantations are your thing, drive to Jarrell
Plantation (still owned by descendants of
the Jarrell family) or visit Stately Oaks
believed to be Mitchell’s inspiration for
Tara. By the way, did you know that 2014
will mark the 75th anniversary of the epic
film Gone with the Wind?
But be sure to keep some time open to enjoy
the special events Judy Fineman, our president-elect, and I, along with the Alliance
board are planning. Thanks to Barbara
Finegold and Jeanne Zitt, our photo contest will continue in 2014; we hope to add
some creative items which will showcase
the wonderful award winning pictures.
Peanuts and peaches are as bountiful as the
many sights and attractions of Atlanta. So
be sure to mark your calendar now and join
us in Atlanta for the ACAAI Annual
Meeting, Nov. 6-10.
Faces and Facets of Allergy & Immunology
• Adverse and allergic responses to
medications
• Environmental contaminants and
assessment
• New developments in the diagnosis and
treatment of food allergy
A variety of workshops, Meet the Professor
Breakfasts and informative symposia are
designed to raise standards of care and provide effective practice management tools.
continued from page 1
Dome and Centennial Olympic Park, the
three facilities comprise one of the finest
convention, sports, and entertainment
complexes in the world.
World-class attractions such as the popular
Georgia Aquarium, home to whale sharks
and wave pools, and World of Coca-Cola, a
dedication to a century of top-notch adver-
Plan to bring your professional staff to the
allied health courses. General session registration fees for participants are waived,
allowing them to attend plenary sessions
and symposia.
6
Attendees are sure to fall in love with
Atlanta’s charming hospitality, rich cultural
history and world-class attractions. The
Georgia World Congress Convention
Center is located in the heart of downtown
Atlanta. Complemented by the Georgia
tising, are only a short walk away. Sports
fans congregate here too, to cheer the NFL
Falcons in the Georgia Dome, NBA Hawks
and WNBA Atlanta Dream in Philips Arena
and the MLB Braves at Turner Field.
Atlanta’s rich culture includes Grammywinning symphony, opera and ballet. The
Fox Theatre hosts the best touring shows in
the nation. Catch homegrown plays on stage at both
the Alliance Theatre and
Horizon Theatre, improv at
Dad’s Garage or inspire your
imagination at the Center
for Puppetry Arts.
See more about Atlanta at
www.acaai.org.
Hands-on-Session in Rhinolaryngoscopy in Baltimore
Plan to join your colleagues
in Atlanta, Nov. 6-10, and
bring your professional staff
and family, too.
A m e r i c a n C o l l e g e o f A l l e r g y, A s t h m a & I m m u n o l o g y
Executive Committee reports summary of actions
F
ollowing is a summary of key actions
taken by the Executive Committee at
its Jan. 21 phone conference:
• Agreed to schedule the 2014 Annual
Meeting exhibit days from Friday to
Sunday as requested by the Exhibitors
Advisory Committee and approved by the
program chair.
• Voted to accept the RADAR white papers
pending minor copyediting clean-up
and authorize their use by RADAR
representatives:
• Allergic Diseases Affect 35-40% of
Americans
• Preventing Costly, Low Quality Care for
Respiratory Allergies
• High Quality Care for Asthma
• Primary Immunodeficiency Disease
(PIDD): Saving Lives and Saving Costs
• Agreed to sponsor a symposium at the
March 29 – April 1, 2014, INTERASMA
meeting in Mexico City provided it is
cost neutral with speakers funded via
other means.
• Accepted the draft E-Cigarette Position
Statement as presented: “The American
College of Allergy, Asthma and
Immunology recognizes that nicotine
delivered by any mechanism represents a
drug exposure, and that vaporization
instruments are a drug delivery system,
both of which are within the Federal
Drug Agency’s scope of regulation.”
• Established an ad hoc committee to
include Leonard Bielory, MD, FACAAI,
Stanley Fineman, MD, FACAAI, James
Sublett, MD, FACAAI and Richard
Weber, MD, FACAAI, to review the draft
Practice Parameters Action Plan with its
supplemental reports and provide recommendations to the Executive Committee
at its next meeting.
• Ratified the appointment of Dana
Wallace, MD, FACAAI, to serve as
reviewer for the American Academy of
Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
Foundation’s Clinical Practice Guidelines
for Adult Sinusitis with the understanding that ACAAI participation does not
carry endorsement of the completed
guidelines.
• Appointed Gregory Bensch, MD,
FACAAI, and Mr. Matthew Denny to
serve two-year terms on the ACAAI
Foundation Board as per the recently
revised Foundation bylaws.
• Nominated Rohit Katial, MD, FACAAI,
to the ACGME Residency Review
Committee for Allergy/Immunology.
Call for entries for the 3rd Alliance
Photography Competition
D
ue to the enthusiastic
response of ACAAI members
and Annual Meeting attendees, the Alliance is holding its third
photography competition! Get your
favorite pictures together and help
support the ACAAI Foundation.
donated to the Foundation to help support education and
research through FIT Training Program Relief Grants and
Young Faculty Support Grants.
The Alliance received more than 130 photos for the 2013
competition, raising nearly $3,000 for the Foundation.
All entries were displayed at the ACAAI Annual Meeting
in Baltimore.
All College members and 2014
Annual Meeting attendees and their
guests are eligible. Photograph categories are:
1. Nature & Landscapes
2. Animals & Unique Pictures
Pleasing to the Senses
3. Travel: Landmarks & Cities
4. People
Net proceeds for this Alliance service
project, co-chaired by Barbara
Finegold and Jeanne Zitt, will be
Last year’s first place winners were
Dr. Harold Nelson, for entries in
three categories including People
(above), and Dr. James Sublett,
Nature & Landscapes.
The submission deadline is Oct. 13, 2014.
Send your printed
8x10 photos to the
ACAAI Executive
Office with your $25
donation for each
entry. No electronic
submissions will be
accepted. For details,
see the entry form on
the Alliance page at
www.acaai.org.
7
A m e r i c a n C o l l e g e o f A l l e r g y, A s t h m a & I m m u n o l o g y
Where will asthma and allergy sufferers in your community go for relief?
3. Register with ACAAI: Complete and
return the Screening Program
Coordinator Registration form. Once
received, your screening information will
appear on the Screening Locator within
the AllergyandAsthmaRelief.org public
microsite, and your Teva representative
will receive the banner kit to deliver to
your office.
4. Promote your screening: Year after
year, screening coordinators with the
best turnout attribute their success to
Are you ready for ICD-10?
8
advanced publicity, including flyers,
posters and media coverage. Just personalize the publicity materials in the
Coordinators Manual, which includes
tips on how to distribute these materials.
5. Organize materials: To support your
screening, ACAAI has developed educational and support materials for adults
and children including flyers, LQ test,
participant registration forms, a patient
education DVD, and more. Simply
download these materials, personalize
continued from page 1
them with your contact information and
print in your office or use a local or
online instant print service.
The online toolkit includes everything you
need, except the spirometer, to promote
and conduct your event. Read FAQs, watch
the video and register today in the NASP
section of the ACAAI Members Store at
www.acaai.org. Still have questions?
Contact ACAAI at 847-427-1200 or
nancyryan@acaai.org.
continued from page 3
• Find out which codes are most applicable
to your allergy/immunology practice and
focus on them.
• Invest in cutting edge software.
• Some companies offer software that will
scan claims data and find which ICD10 codes you use most often. The same
software is capable of identifying where
documentation is lacking. There is also
software that will scan a patient’s record
and find the appropriate code.
• Some vendors have developed hybrid
systems, whereby one can still use
ICD-9 coded content data for billing
until Oct. 1, but as that date approaches
gradually convert some of the ICD-9
codes to ICD-10 codes for future use,
and as of Oct. 1, begin to use ICD-10
coded content billing. This is referred
to as dual coding. It is essential that
your HIT systems, billing services, third
party vendors, and clearinghouses can
handle both ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes
since you will be utilizing both coding
systems until all of your September
2014 claims are submitted.
• Update any systems used to perform
verification of eligibility, obtaining prior
authorization, and confirming a referral,
all of which require the patient’s diagnostic code(s).
• Practices should consider escrowing
money in case of delayed processing of
claims and reimbursements due to coding
problems. Some experts are recommend-
ing that practices increase their line of
credit to cover payroll and other costs if
coder and physician productivity and revenue drop during this transitional period.
It is important to ask your vendors the following questions:
1. Will you be ready for the CMS testing
periods?
2. How long will your system accept ICD-9
codes after Oct. 1, 2014?
3. What are your instructions regarding
ICD-9 and ICD-10 coding for submitting
a claim for the dates of service prior to
Oct. 1, 2014?
4. Will you provide a specific provider template for the specialty of allergy and
immunology?
It is important to ask your payers
the following questions:
1. How long will I be able to appeal a
record containing an ICD-9 code?
2. Will you reimburse claims with unspecified ICD-10 codes?
3. What impacts will ICD-10 have on your
medical review and auditing process?
4. Will there be a re-negotiation of contracts for ICD-10?
5. Will there be any change in your fee
schedule or reimbursement rates for
ICD-10 diagnosis codes?
6. Will you modify the terms of your contracts for billing?
7. Will you alter your payment schedules
and reimburse differently for higher versus lower specific codes?
Clinicians will also have to consider other
practice activities that include patient
diagnosis codes such as compiling reports
and conducting clinical research. All
systems and work flow processes will
need to be updated.
Four more tips:
1. Develop a timeline for training clinical
staff before the Oct. 1, 2014 implementation date.
2. Create a timeline for action items.
3. Implement dual coding as long as
necessary.
4. Try to conduct testing with all payers,
not just with Medicare/Medicaid.
Last word:
Will there be a contingency plan offered by
big health insurers and CMS to help
practices that are struggling with implementation? Presently, one can only speculate as none has been publically announced
as of this writing. The College welcomes
you to share your personal experiences.
Please continue to refer to the Joint Council
of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology’s ICD10 education programs to keep informed
about how to best prepare for ICD-10.
Michael B. Foggs, MD, FACAAI
President
president@acaai.org