Marijuana Eases Nerve Pain Due to HIV	Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:00:25 EST
Smoking pot may help relieve pain in patients with HIV-related neuropathy, a form of nerve damage that leads to burning and tingling sensations, which can be hard to treat with traditional medications, a study shows.

Although we would prefer providers to submit their NPI number along with your TAX ID or GLHP number and TAX ID; if we do receive a claim without an NPI, we will search our records to determine if we have the NPI loaded in our system. Claims that are submitted via EDI without an NPI will be accepted into our system. However, if we cannot locate the missing NPI number in our system the claim will be denied. The denial will appear on your remittance advice with an EX code that explains the denial.

Our accreditation status – the highest level achievable – was awarded after rigorous evaluation by NCQA of all aspects of our plan, including preventive health services, member satisfaction, physician credentialing and quality improvement.

The review included both on- and off-site evaluations conducted by a team of physicians and managed care experts. A committee of physicians then analyzed the team's findings and assigned us an Excellent status based on our performance compared to NCQA standards.

Studies widely reported in the trade and lay press have shown that health plans earning NCQA Accreditation outperform non-accredited health plans across a variety of measures of clinical quality and member satisfaction. Earning NCQA Accreditation recognizes the commitment of our organization to provide quality products to our members and demonstrates that we have incorporated quality improvement into our standard operating procedures.

Each of you, in your work with your patients – our members – contributed to our achieving accreditation. It is an important accomplishment in which we should all take pride. We thank you for your ongoing support and look forward to working with you for many years to come.

There will be many benefits for your patients to join Great Lakes Personal Care Plus plan:

• Quality care and access to the best network of physicians and facilities in their neighborhood
• Enhanced podiatry benefit
• Members will receive $80 quarterly credits towards purchase of items from a catalog of personal healthcare products with top-quality items such as vitamins and supplements, fitness items, blood pressure monitors and more
• A Medicare expert can answer their questions and help get the care they need

We will be working through 2008 developing our provider network in order to expand into additional counties by January 2009.

For more details please contact one of our Medicare Sales staff at 248.331.4451.

According to the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s The State of Health Care Quality 2006 Report, the quality of health care for millions of Americans improved in most areas of care in 2005, the seventh consecutive year of such gains. MQIC recommends cancer screenings to improve mortality and reduce the cost of health care for breast, cervical and colon cancer treatment. For more information about MQIC, please visit the group's Web site at mqic.org or view the following Prevention Measures.