November 7
IN THIS ISSUE / November 7, 2018
- Fee Schedule: How will your practice fare in 2019?
- Adopt-a-Shade: Giving kids a safe place to play
- Academy releases guidelines for melanoma treatment
- Are you smarter than DataDerm?
- New psoriasis biologic now available in the United States
- FDA to ban lead from hair products
Fee Schedule: How will your practice fare in 2019?
The 2019 final Medicare Physician Fee Schedule is out, and while dermatology as a specialty will see about a 1% increase in payments overall, how will your individual practice be affected? Check out the Academy’s listing of payment changes to the top dermatologic codes and find out how reimbursement for your mix of services will change.
CMS has also announced that the conversion factor for the 2019 calendar year will increase from $35.9996 to $36.0463. Additionally, CMS accepted the RUC-recommended values for the new CPT codes for tangential, punch, and incisional skin biopsies. The skin biopsy CPT Codes 11100 and 11101 are being discontinued. Stay tuned to DWW for more updates on the 2019 Fee Schedule.
Are you ready for the biopsy coding changes in 2019? Check out DW’s latest iteration of its Cracking the Code column. If you or your practice staff encounter questions about coding, ask an AAD/A expert in the Academy’s Coding Questions community, or explore the Academy’s Coding Resource Center.
Related Links:
- Register today! Coding & Practice Updates for 2019 – live webinar
- Components of evaluation and management – Dermatology World (May 2018)
- Components of evaluation and management 2 – Dermatology World (June 2018)
- Digital Derm Coding Consult Pro
- 2019 Coding & Billing for Dermatology Manual
- Principles of Documentation for Dermatology, Second Edition
Adopt-a-Shade: Giving kids a safe place to play
By M. Laurin Council, MD
It’s important for children to have safe places to play. For my kids and many others, one such place is the playground at Saint Margaret of Scotland School — the Catholic school they attend in St. Louis, Missouri. There, surrounded by classmates and under the watchful eyes of teachers, the kids can enjoy recess with little worry of life’s dangers. But until recently, there was one thing the playground did not offer much protection from: The sun.
The lack of shade may strike many people mainly as a comfort issue. Temperatures on the playground’s exposed blacktop can get uncomfortably hot under the bright St. Louis sunshine. But as a dermatologist, I know that overexposure to the sun presents a much more serious danger: An increased risk of skin cancer. The need for both comfort and safety led me to donate a shade structure to the school through the American Academy of Dermatology’s Adopt-a-Shade program.
The program was very easy and the process was smooth. The Academy provided a list of national shade structure manufacturers to help us get started seeking bids and designs for our structure, and provided guidance to the school throughout the process. They even coordinated the dedication ceremony in conjunction with the school.
The completed structure was dedicated in September, in a ceremony attended by several local dermatologists and AAD President-elect George Hruza, MD, MBA. It is no surprise that these members of the dermatology community wanted to use the occasion to help make sure our kids are educated about sun safety. But the structure — the first of its kind for our area — also seemed to capture the public imagination. St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson even gave a brief speech at the dedication, and the new structure was reported on local television news.
It’s gratifying to think that the children have a safe and comfortable place to play. The structure provides much more than just shade. It includes a sign full of information about sun protection. The shade structure and sign serve as a visible reminder to students, teachers, and parents of the importance of sun safety.
Academy releases guidelines for melanoma treatment
The American Academy of Dermatology has released new guidelines of care for the management of primary cutaneous melanoma. The guidelines, published in JAAD, outline best practices for treatment of the disease and address genetic testing for hereditary risk and considerations for pregnant patients. Read more about the new guidelines and check out more Academy clinical guidelines on office-based surgery, acne, psoriasis, non-melanoma skin cancer, and atopic dermatitis.
Read more about how dermatology groups are pushing physicians to adhere to guidelines to improve quality and drive value in Dermatology World.
- On target: New approaches to skin cancer treatment and prevention – Dermatology World (August 2016)
- Standards of care guidelines and appropriate use criteria: What's the difference? – Dermatology World (June 2015)
- Press release: American Academy of Dermatology releases guidelines for melanoma treatment
Are you smarter than DataDerm™?
From pediatric to geriatric patients — anyone can suffer from psoriasis. Which percentage of psoriasis patients are 55 and older? Test your knowledge against DataDerm’s.
Related Links:
- Earning a high performance bonus for MIPS: Using DataDerm to report – Dermatology World (November 2018)
- DataDerm participants earned MIPS bonuses in 2017 – Dermatology World (November 2018)
- When dealing with payers, the data can speak for itself – Dermatology World Weekly
- AAD product: 2018 MIPS Reporting Module
- AAD web: MACRA Resource Center
New psoriasis biologic now available in the United States
Tildrakizumab-asmn (ILUMYA™) 100 mg/mL is now available in the United States for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. The IL-23 inhibitor was approved by the FDA in March.
The FDA has also recently approved adalimumab-adaz (Hyrimoz) — a biosimilar for psoriasis drug adalimumab. Due to licensing agreements between the biosimilar’s manufacturer, Novartis AG, and the manufacturer of adalimumab, AbbVie, the biosimilar will not be available in the United States until 2023. Read about the present state of biosimilars and why they remain something dermatologists should be aware of in this month’s issue of Dermatology World.
- Taking aim at psoriasis – Dermatology World (November 2017)
- What advice should dermatologists give psoriasis patients about CV risk? – Dermatology World (March 2017)
- Which topicals work for scalp psoriasis? – Dermatology World (June 2016)
- Academy resource: Practical Approaches to Assessing Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Patients in Clinic
FDA to ban lead from hair products
The FDA has released a final rule that repeals a regulation that allows for the use of lead acetate as a color additive in hair dye products. The ban will take effect in 12 months. However, some manufacturers have already reformulated their products replacing lead acetate with bismuth citrate. The FDA advises that, “Consumers wishing to avoid these products during that time can identify the products by the listing of lead acetate as an ingredient and by the presence of the warning label – that states, in part: “For external use only. Keep this product out of children’s reach.””
Related Links:
