On the Agenda is published quarterly by the New York State Chiropractic Association (NYSCA). It is designed to provide information about the Chiropractic profession and NYSCA activities and initiatives.
As some of you are aware, the availability of telemedicine services for New York's injured workers was set to expire on July 20th. The NYSCA workers' compensation committee contacted the WCB to ensure telemedicine would remain available for those injured workers who could not seek chiropractic care as a result of COVID-19.
President Trump signed a bill into law on July 4 which created an extension to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) deadline for small businesses to apply for the program. This deadline which expired at the end of June 2020 under current law was extended to August 8, 2020. The PPP still had approximately $134 billion to give even as the deadline neared.
The NYSCA recently hosted a live webinar with Carisk Clearinghouse on Thursday, June 25, 2020 at 8pm: "Workers' Compensation and Auto/No-Fault Made Easy: How to get paid faster."
Your office may have received a notice from American Specialty Health (ASH) titled REMOVAL FROM PARTICIPATION FOR SPECIFIC CLIENT SOURCES. The letter indicates that your office has been terminated from participation in Medicare specific Client Summaries as allowed in your ASH Practitioner Services Agreement.
A NYSCA member asks: A patient just called to make an appointment; however, they attended a protest a few days ago. Can I see them if they have not demonstrated Covid-19 symptoms?
As many of you are aware, we will be required to submit our workers' compensation claims and clinical documentation in an electronic format. Most (if not all) clearinghouses who work with commercial carriers and Medicare do not accept No Fault and Workers' Compensation Claims.
In the continued spirit of assisting and advancing the profession, the NYSCA will be holding a workshop to assist those of you who have questions or simply want to join your colleagues virtually in the completion of this vital task.
There is a lot of good news happening as New York moves forward.
The NYSCA is pleased to share the good news. Updated guidance has been released that chiropractic offices can resume providing the full breadth of chiropractic services. The prior restriction to “emergency chiropractic services” is no longer in place. This was accomplished with the update of the definition of Essential Business being changed to ''chiropractic services". All chiropractic services are now considered essential throughout the entire state of New York.
We know there are many questions and concerns about the best practices for reopening a practice and for returning to the full breadth of chiropractic practice. To assist with this, last week a “reopening and reigniting practice guide” was emailed to you.
UnitedHealthcare recently published an update relative to COVID-19. Noted in the introductory paragraph of this notice:
Your service to public health throughout the covid crisis is appreciated. At this stage some of our colleagues are looking to reopen their practices and begin providing 'emergency chiropractic services'. Others have been open in this essential capacity and are anxiously awaiting the green light to provide a full spectrum of chiropractic care. To assist you with both of those strides forward, the NYSCA has created a guide to opening and reigniting your practice.
The NYSCA was under the impression that offices for doctors of chiropractic would be included in Phase 2 as part of Professional Services. However, in the Phase 2 guidance issued by Empire State Development, the listing for Professional Services has been removed.
As you are aware, “emergency chiropractic services” have been deemed an “essential business” during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been able to ascertain that the best interpretation of this language means, urgent and necessary chiropractic care.
As NY begins to reopen, there is some new guidance for operating a business as part of essential services. In summary, you must have a detailed safety plan and be following the phase one guidelines.
Recently, DCs may have witnessed monies from HHS deposited into their bank accounts and should have received follow-up emails requesting that they “attest” in order to keep the funding. The NYSCA previously emailed the membership regarding the HHS funding, which is part of the CARES Act.
The NYSCA is pleased to share with you the following educational opportunity from National Government Services. This platform will allow you to hear about the latest Medicare education from the NGS Provider Outreach and Education team and ask your questions immediately following.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, New York’s chiropractors continue to do their best to serve their patients and communities. A reminder for those that chiropractors that remain open as part of Essential Business during this state of emergency- you need to still practice under the current scope of practice.
