News from ACOI

“It really took me back when I when I found out I was getting this; it was so humbling,” she says. “My entire career has been about teaching, and I've been involved with students and residents since I was a resident. That's when I fell in love with teaching. I don't do it for awards or accolades. So, it caught me off guard to even think that one of my residents would even think to nominate me because it's just part of what I do every day and I get such joy out of it”.

ACOI was honored to help support Dr. Kwon’s nomination to PACCARB. “Dr. Kwon has an impressive track record of antimicrobial resistance research (AMR),” said ACOI President Robert T. Hasty, DO, FACOI, FACP. “PACCARB is fortunate to have the value of her expertise, including her work on strategies to prevent transmission of AMR.”

The CY 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule released on November 3 finalizes a 2024 conversion factor — the starting point for calculating physician payments — of $32.74, a decrease of $1.15 (or 3.37%) from the CY2023 conversion factor of $33.89. Roughly 90 percent of the cut is attributed to fee schedule budget neutrality requirements triggered by the impending January 1, 2024, implementation of G2211, an office/outpatient evaluation and management visit complexity add-on code.

The American College of Osteopathic Internists Board of Directors welcomes its new Resident Representative, John A. Arthur, DO.

At the Annual Member Meeting, ACOI officially announced the Board of Directors Appointments.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is accepting applications through December 14, 2023, for new voluntary payment and delivery model — Making Care Primary (MCP). Eligibility requirements and additional details can be found in the request for applications. The model, which will run 10.5 years, will be launched on July 1, 2024 and will be tested in eight states: Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Carolina and certain counties in New York.

ACOI announced the appointment of Robert T. Hasty, DO, FACOI, FACP, as President for 2023-2024 during the ACOI 2023 Annual Convention & Scientific Sessions in Tampa, Florida last week. Dr. Hasty, who has served on the ACOI Board of Directors since 2015 enters the presidency with clear objectives in mind. “My goals are to grow ACOI’s advocacy efforts, while also continuing to advance our world class education that we know many osteopathic internists count on. Plus, we’ll focus on further increasing leadership and community opportunities for our internists.”

Two Current SOIMA Officers Progress to New Roles; Seven New Officers & Regional Representative Elected. ACOI announces the results of the second national election of officers for its Student Osteopathic Internal Medicine Association (SOIMA) held in September.

Anya Cope, DO, FACOI, believes everyone matters and has value. Perhaps that is what drew her to serve on the ACOI Committee for Health Equity and Inclusion in Medicine. As Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs and an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) in Harrogate Tennessee, she is using her time and talents paying forward her experience and personal philosophy of care and compassion as she grooms the next generation of osteopathic physicians.

The ACOI has submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in response to its proposed payment policies for 2024. In the letter, ACOI re-stated its concerns about Medicare payments that are not keeping pace with inflation. Next year the Medicare conversion factor — the basic starting point for calculating Medicare physician payments — will be reduced by more than 3 percent. While Congress has provided a 1.25 percent positive adjustment for 2024, it is half of the 2.5 percent provided for 2023. The remainder of the cut is due to requirements of budget neutrality triggered by the proposed implementation of office/outpatient evaluation and management visit complexity add-on code G2211 that begins on January 1, 2024.

2023 Award Winners to be Celebrated for their Professional Accomplishments; Presidential Citation to be Granted Posthumously to James C. Giudice, DO, MACOI

I am often frustrated with those who post their questions on blogs and web pages instead of looking for the answer themselves. All too often the answers I see in response to these questions are incorrect. You will see a discussion with multiple people involved discussing how they handle a specific coding or billing situation, and their answers are all wrong. None of them know they are wrong and, in doing so, continue to distribute incorrect information.