eties and members thereof, affiliate and at-large members of the association.
Amend Constitution Article V, HOUSE OF DELEGATES, Sec. 2, as follows:
Sec. 2. House of Delegates member- ship shall consist of: (1) Delegates representing county medical societies, elected in accor- dance with this Constitution and By- laws; and
(2) Ex officio members, including (a) The president, president-elect, immediate past president, secre- tary/treasurer, and speaker and vice speaker of the House of Del- egates;
(b) Councilors;
(c) Nine members elected at large to the Board of Trustees plus the resident and student members of the board; (d) Texas delegates and alternate delegates to the American Medical Association;
(e) Chairs of standing councils and members of the Council on Legis- lation;
(f) Delegates from the Interna- tional Medical Graduate Section, Resident and Fellow Section, and Young Physician Section; (g) Delegates representing the Medical Student Section from each approved and active Medical Stu- dent Section Chapter;
(h) Delegates of medical specialty societies selected in accordance with this Constitution and Bylaws; and (i) Past presidents of the associa- tion who are active or emeritus members; and
(j) As nonvoting members, the chair of TEXPAC, past presidents of the association who are active or emeritus members, and delegates emeritus of the AMA delegation.
Amend Constitution Article VI, BOARD OF TRUSTEES, as follows:
The Board of Trustees shall be com- posed of at-large members elected as provided in the bylaws and, ex of-
8 TEXAS MEDICINE March 2014
ficio, with vote, the president, presi- dent-elect, immediate past president, secretary/treasurer and speaker and vice speaker of the House of Dele- gates; one young physician who shall be elected as provided in the bylaws, and one resident and one student member, who shall be appointed annually. This board shall establish interim policy of the association. All policies established by the Board of Trustees shall be subject to ratifica- tion by the House of Delegates. The Board of Trustees shall perform other duties as defined in the Bylaws and as may be established by the House of Delegates. The board shall meet at intervals between meetings of the House of Delegates.
The Board of Trustees shall manage the business and financial affairs of the association. All association funds shall be subject to the exclusive con- trol of the Board of Trustees except as otherwise provided in the Bylaws. The Board of Trustees shall serve in general as a board of directors within the meaning of the corporate laws of the State of Texas.
EHR safe harbor exception extended
An exception to Stark self-referral and antikickback rules for physicians who accept donations of nearly-free elec- tronic health records (EHRs) items and services from certain health care enti- ties was set to expire last year, but it will continue through 2021. The U.S. De- partment of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General and the Centers for Medicare & Medic- aid Services (CMS) published compan- ion rules that extend the regulatory ex- emptions. Read the rules at
http://1.usa .gov/19LL4NR.
Physicians who receive these EHRs must pay at least 15 percent of the tech- nology’s cost to be eligible for the excep- tion. Advocacy efforts by the American Medical Association and TMA helped persuade HHS to extend the exemption
through 2021, the year the Medicaid meaningful use program ends. In a let- ter to CMS, TMA opposed removal of or expiration of the exemption. “By keeping the safe harbor in place, physicians will have options for securing appropriate technology needed for their practice,” TMA wrote. The rules also make these notable
changes:
• A provision that laboratories may no longer donate EHRs,
• A new definition of software consid- ered “interoperable” for donation pur- poses,
• Clarification of the prohibition of actions that limit or restrict the use, compatibility, or interoperability of donated items, and
• Removal of the requirement related to electronic prescribing capability.
CMS gives refunds, guidance on incarcerated patients
If you had a Medicare payment recouped for providing services to patients mistak- enly identified as “incarcerated,” refunds are on the way. Last year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) incorrectly recouped payments from phy- sicians for services they provided to nu- merous Medicare patients who had mis- takenly been identified as incarcerated or otherwise in custody.
Novitas Solutions began issuing re- funds to affected physicians in Decem- ber. CMS has also published a fact sheet titled “Medicare Coverage of Items and Services Furnished to Beneficiaries in Custody Under a Penal Authority” to guide physicians on the agency’s policies and procedures. Access the fact sheet at
http://go.cms.gov/1aIXeCr.
The new fact sheet clarifies when the agency considers patients to be in custody or incarcerated. It makes de- nial forms and notices more explicit in justifying the reasons for a recoupment. The fact sheet focuses on how physicians can ensure a patient’s eligibility through the electronic transaction for eligibility
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