ACN Advance: Provider Newsletter

Associated Internists of Ahwatukee, with locations in Ahwatukee and Sun Lakes, was honored as Arizona Care Network’s 2024 Jon Hackenyos Practice Excellence Award winner for the 2023 performance year.

This annual award honors a local primary care practice which achieves the highest performance within ACN’s quarterly incentive program, as determined upon completion of the prior year’s fully measured program.

Led by founding and current Board member Dr. Ed Tokatlian, Dr. Edouardo Mouaikel, Dr. Alexis Woods, Dr. Lana Turk, and Dr. Nilanjana Kothari, Associated Internists of Ahwatukee will receive its award during a celebration scheduled at the Ahwatukee location on July 30.

In December 2022, ACN’s physician-led Board of Managers established the award recognizing high-performing primary care practices within the network, named in honor of Dr. Hackenyos: The former ACN Board Chair, Network Committee Chair, and co-founder of Ocotillo Internal Medicine Associates who passed away in December 2021.

On behalf of ACN and our Board of Managers, congratulations to Associated Internists of Ahwatukee on the hard work, dedication to patient care, and success!

Jon Hackenyos Practice Excellence Award

As part of CMS’s participation requirements within the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) Enhanced ACO model, notification follow-up letters were sent by ACN to beneficiaries attributed to an ACO-participating practice.

The letter and notification serve as a reminder that each member received a similar letter in early 2024 in both English and Spanish. The letter and notification explain the MSSP Enhanced program, its benefits, and no-cost services available to all members (including Care Coordination). It also includes privacy and contact information.

Per CMS guidelines, a verbal or written follow-up communication (written, email, verbal, telephonic) is required no later than the next visit following the initial beneficiary notification or, if no subsequent visit, within 180 days from the initial beneficiary notification.

Please contact your Clinical Performance Consultant or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org with any questions or feedback.

To further support in-network utilization and care coordination between primary care and specialist physicians, improved Specialist Neighborhood maps are now available from your Clinical Performance Consultant.

These enhancements include:

• Updated listings of Specialties being monitored for in-network utilization, both at the organizational and individual provider levels.
• Updated “handshake” icons which denote monitored Specialist practices within that enhanced care coordination of at least 50 percent INN utilization which improves patient care and reduces cost.

These updates are in conjunction with updated INN utilization requirements within designated specialties approved by ACN’s physician-led Board of Managers for 2024 and 2025.

Please contact your Clinical Performance Consultant or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org to receive these quarterly-updated Neighborhood maps, or with any questions.

Summer is here to stay (for the next few months), which means it is a perfect time to schedule Annual Wellness Visits.

This (typically) no-cost annual visit with a primary care provider is an essential part of keeping your patient population healthy. These visits are a perfect opportunity to proactively improve health outcomes through conversation, vaccinations, and early detection.

• Well-Child Visit (WCV) checklist for Kids
• AWV checklist for Women
• AWV checklist for Men
• AWV benefits for Medicare patients
• Quality Measure Tip Sheets and Toolkits

Need help scheduling your patient population? Our Care Coordination team can contact your attributed patients to schedule an AWV (and many other appointments). Call (602) 406-7226 or email carecoordination@azcarenetwork.org.

Questions about proper billing codes or other administrative needs? Contact your Clinical Performance Consultant or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org with questions or feedback.

According to a 2022 study published in The Journal of Headache and Pain, 52 percent of people worldwide experience a headache disorder in a given year. This includes 26 percent with tension headaches, 14 percent with migraines, and 4.6 percent with headaches for at least 15 days per month.

Headaches are a significant driver of ER visits, so ACN Population Health Pharmacist, Tannaz Farahani, MPH, PharmD, recently sat down with Dr. Olivia Kingsford from Barrow Neurological Institute to share differences between headaches and migraines, ways to treat both conditions at home, and more.

Additionally, ACN participating providers who specialize in headaches and migraines are available, along with additional resources to support your patient care:

• The Lewis Headache Center at Barrow Neurological Institute accepts referrals from patients living with headaches sent to Barrow Neurology
• Peppertree Family Medicine in Phoenix features a migraine clinic led by Dr. Allison Crain, set up specifically for patients who recently visit an ER and are referred for follow-up following discharge.
• Specialist Neighborhood Maps and listings are available from your Clinical Performance Consultant or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org, which features in-network Neurology providers based on your preferred zip code(s) or region of the Valley.

ACN’s Care Coordination team (carecoordination@azcarenetwork.org) and Population Health Pharmacist (tannaz.farahani@azcarenetwork.org) are available to support your patient care through outreach and provide additional resources.

The American Cancer Society recommends all individuals at “average risk” begin Colonoscopy screenings at age 45 (previously age 50 until 2021), and even younger for those who may be at “high” risk.

Arizona Care Network can help your practice close this important quality gap closure in a variety of ways:

• Innovaccer Provider Dashboard: Accessing Innovaccer’s multi-dashboard program allows your practice easy access to actionable and downloadable data, metrics, and network utilization insights. Available dashboards for your practice include attribution lists, Quality performance data, and a Scorecard, with additional dashboards for PCP and Specialist practices available during the coming year. Please contact your Clinical Performance Consultant or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org to begin the Provisioning process for your TIN, or with any questions or feedback.
• Electronic Medical Records (EMR) access: This secure, confidential option allows an ACN Quality team member access to your EMR and member care gap lists so we may outreach patients on your behalf to help schedule a colonoscopy and (if applicable) other services. ACN team members will not have the ability to change any patient information. Contact quality@azcarenetwork.org to begin the Provisioning process for your organization.
• Cologuard At-Home Testing: Through a partnership with Cologuard, ACN attributed members may receive an in-home test kit from Cologuard (upon referral from a member’s PCP). No prep or changes to a patient’s daily routine is required. Contact ACN’s Quality team at quality@azcarenetwork.org for more information.

Quality measure tip sheets, Medication adherence best practices, and Virtual Health Education videos are now available on ACN’s YouTube page.

These short Quality and medication videos (most are 5 minutes or less) support Quality measures and coding 1-page quick-reference documents available to your practice.

As part of our Virtual Health Education, ACN’s population health pharmacist, Tannaz Farahani, PharmD, MPH, conducts a Q&A with ACN participating providers to discuss a wide range of topics related to each provider’s overall area of expertise:

• • • Quality measures
    • common health conditions and trends
    • treatment options
    • medication adherence, and much more.

Have a pharmacy or medication question? Or topic idea(s) for a future video? Email Tannaz at tannaz.farahani@azcarenetwork.org.

• Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube for additional news, health-related content for providers and patients, organizational updates, and more.
• Provisioning for ACN’s new Provider Portal is underway for Primary Care Practices (additional dashboards for both PCP and Specialist practices are coming soon). Contact your Clinical Performance Consultant or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org to begin the Provisioning process, or with any questions about the new portal.
• Learn more about ACN’s Care Coordination program and services designed to partner and support your practice in achieving healthy, cost-effective patient outcomes in this video.
• ACN’s improved Specialist Performance Reports and Medical Neighborhood Maps are available to your practice anytime. Additionally, OBGYN, Ophthalmology/Optometry, Physical Therapy and Radiology listings quick reference guides are also available. Contact your Clinical Performance Consultant or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org to receive any of these reports and/or maps, all of which are updated quarterly.
• Quality measure tip sheets are available from your Clinical Performance Consultant, including colorectal cancer screening, depression screening and follow-up, diabetes (A1C, Eye Exam, Nephropathy), Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), and Tobacco screening. These 1-page tip sheets (.PDF) include best practices, documentation requirements, and codes for your practice to help close quality gaps. Contact your Clinical Performance Consultant or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org to receive any/all tip sheets.
• A Payer ID Card Quick Reference document will be available from your Clinical Performance Consultant during Q1 of 2024. This document contains samples of ID Cards from ACN payer partners, as well as contact information. Contact your CPC or email practicetransformation@azcarenetwork.org if your practice would like copies of this document.
• Alignment Health Plan partners exclusively with Arizona Care Network for its Medicare Advantage plan in Arizona. This valuable Q & A provider education document (.PDF) provides additional support for your Alignment members, including information and processes related to claims, authorization requirements, referrals, resource contacts, and much more.
• Aetna offers free Risk Adjustment Coding and support webinars. Each education webinar is approved for 1.0 AAPC CEU, and the coding CEUs can be used for AAPC continuing education requirements. Advance registration is required.
  Contact RiskAdjustment@aetna.com to register for a webinar or with any questions.
• Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital is the first Arizona facility to treat a patient using the Evolut™ FX+ transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) system, a minimally invasive alternative to open-heart surgical aortic valve replacement. TAVR can be an effective option to improve quality of life in patients who otherwise have limited choices for repair of their aortic valve. The heart team led by Dr. Timothy Byrne, a Structural Interventional Cardiologist, implanted a replacement valve through a small incision, eliminating the need to surgically open a patient’s chest.
• Cigna has created a Behavioral Health checklist and resource guide for additional patient support. Additionally, Cigna launched a new online Newsroom for providers with updated information, resources (for patients and providers), and much more.
• Phoenix Children’s Hospital opened its new 44,000-square-foot Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The new space, which replaces Phoenix Children’s existing NICU, is Arizona’s only Level IV NICU. Located on the 11th floor of the Thomas Road campus in Phoenix, the NICU includes:
  • • 48 spacious private rooms, each with a crib, window and private bathroom
    • Sleeper couches for parents and caregivers
    • Patient rooms equipped for bedside emergency and advanced treatments
    • A multipurpose room for physical, occupational and speech therapy
    • A washer, dryer, refrigerator and sink for patient families
    • A family lounge and quiet areas for parents

• Advanced Podiatry
• Arizona Chest & Sleep Medicine
• Arizona Liver Health
• Arizona Orthopedic & Fracture Surgeons
• Aveon Health
• The Brain and Eye Institute
• Dr. Eileen Chang Family Practice
• Digestive Institute of Arizona
• East Valley Women For Women
• Fountain Hills Foot & Ankle
• IntraCare Health Center
• Kachina Family Medicine
• Lungs & Sleep Consultants
• Mindpath Health Arizona
• Parkview Internal Medicine
• Retina Macula Institute of Arizona
• Craig M Rundbaken, DO

You can also view a list of provider organizations no longer participating with ACN.