The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has added new information to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program) website at www.cms.gov/sharedsavingsprogram<http://www.cms.gov/sharedsavingsprogram>.
A new webpage on Quality Measures and Performance Standards at http://www.cms.gov/sharedsavingsprogram/37e_Quality_Measures_Standards.asp has the latest information on Medicare Accountable Care Organization (ACO) quality measures. The 2012 ACO Narrative Quality Measures Specifications Manual<http://www.cms.gov/sharedsavingsprogram/Downloads/ACO_QualityMeasures.pdf> provides guidance about the 33 required quality measures that are part of the quality performance standard. Two crosswalks have been added to the Shared Savings Program Application webpage at http://www.cms.gov/sharedsavingsprogram/37_Application.asp. Organizations who submitted an application under the Pioneer ACO Model or have been participating in the PGP Transition Demonstration, who would like to submit a Shared Savings Program application, scroll down the page for links to these two application crosswalks. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Flu Season is Here! While seasonal flu outbreaks can happen as early as October, flu activity usually peaks in January. Remind your patients that annual vaccination is recommended for optimal protection. Medicare pays for the seasonal flu vaccine and its administration for seniors and others with Medicare with no co-pay or deductible. Healthcare workers, who may spread the flu to high risk patients, should get vaccinated too. Don't forget to immunize yourself and your staff. Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself. Get the Flu Vaccine-Not the Flu. Remember - The flu vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. CMS has posted the 2011-2012 seasonal flu vaccine payment limits at http://www.CMS.gov/McrPartBDrugAvgSalesPrice/10_VaccinesPricing.asp. Note that the flu vaccine is NOT a Part D-covered drug. For more information on coverage and billing of the flu vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational provider resources, visit http://www.CMS.gov/MLNProducts/35_PreventiveServices.asp and http://www.cms.gov/immunizations. ____________________________________ Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to (http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf). If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you.
