Interventional Techniques in Chronic Spinal Pain is the premier manual for interventional pain management physicians. This must have text book has an expected publication date of Summer 2007. All proceeds go to the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians.

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ASIPP legislative session and prevent 10% cuts for 2008 and 40% cuts for next 8 years for physician payments and 12% and 28% cuts for ASCs. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD, Chief Executive Officer, invites you to attend the legislative session, June 25-27. It is imperative that each state is represented. We are very close to preventing the cuts and maybe even a long-term agreement on physician payments.

We are also close to end negotiations with CMS with regards to ASC surgery center payments. Further, it is crucial to get funding for NASPER.

While we are working vigorously to achieve these goals, a final push is essential for us to prevent these drastic cuts which may even lead to extinction of interventional pain management.

Even if you know a Congressman at home, you still need to see and be seen by the Senator. It is always more effective to present the agenda and the appropriate information in an appropriate forum rather than individually, which is mostly haphazard and they do not remember even if you are best friends.

So far, we have only 70 people registered to attend the legislative session. This does not cover the majority of the districts in the United States and also does not cover the majority of the states. While some states are well represented, some are grossly insufficient, and some do not have any members at all.

States without any representation, even though they are extremely powerful are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia.

States which have representation but need more are: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Make that call today, attend the meeting, prevent future cuts in physician payments and save our specialty.

Thank you,
Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD

Register Online Today!

ASIPP has reached a major milestone with a membership now of over 4000. As we head into our 9th Annual Meeting this significant membership increase is cause for celebration.

The 2007 Guidelines have recently been accepted for inclusion in the National Guideline Clearinghouse and are now available on the to be NGC Web site.

If you are interested in working on future articles or systematic reviews for the Pain Physician Journal, please contact Holly Long at hlong@asipp.org

See 2007 Guidelines

National Guideline Clearing House

For the first time in nearly a decade, ASIPP, AAPM, ISIS, the American Medical Association (AMA), and more than 70 other medical specialty societies, have worked together to coordinate a comprehensive multi- specialty survey of America's physician practices during 2007. The purpose of the survey is to collect up-to-date information on physician practice characteristics in order to positively influence national decision makers while further developing and refining AMA and ASIPP policy. Thousands of practices will be surveyed from virtually all physician specialties to ensure accurate and fair representation for all physicians and their patients.

Press Release

The ASIPP Comprehensive Imaging Review in Interventional Pain Management will be held on July 13-15, 2007 in Las Vegas, with a competency certification in Fluoroscopic Interpretation and Radiation Safety for Physicians only to follow on July 16. Online brochure and registration are now available.

The comprehensive seminar is designed to provide interventional pain physicians with the ability to understand radiological evaluations and fluoroscopic interpretation. This course is an essential component for interventional pain physicians and will provide educational opportunities to assist you in providing high quality, competent, safe, and cost-efficient services to your patients.

Register

Recently CBS Evening News aired an investigative piece on 'Pill Mills.' The segment featured a Houston clinic and an interview with Andrea Trescot, MD, ASIPP President-Elect.

After being approached by CBS for expert knowledge in the area of prescription abuse, Trescot provided an interview on the subject. The Web video is now available for viewing.

CBS

Trying to improve medical care by giving hospitals extra money to follow treatment guidelines doesn't make a difference in the end, new research contends. However, the researcher who led the study said it's too early to give up on the pay-for-performance concept. ( June 5, HealthDay News)

"What we found was that all the hospitals in the study improved over time: those in the improvement group, which received money, but also those in the control group," said Dr. Seth W. Glickman, an assistant professor in the division of emergency medicine at Duke University. "All reduced errors at the same rate over time and had the same improvement in survival over time."

The Washington Post

Joseph A. Califano, Jr., chairman and president of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA*) at Columbia University has written a book that delves deep into all aspects of substance abuse.

In his book, HIGH SOCIETY: How Substance Abuse Ravages America and What to Do About It, Califano shows how substance abuse is the culprit in violent and property crime, soaring Medicare and Medicaid costs, family breakup, domestic violence, the spread of AIDS, teen pregnancy, poverty, and low productivity.

Joseph Califano was founding chairman of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. He was special assistant to the Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy administration; special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson; and Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the Carter administration.

Press Release

High Society

Doctors will refuse to take new patients unless Congress blocks a 10 percent cut in fees paid by Medicare, the U.S. health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, the American Medical Association said. The reduction in fees, set to take effect at the start of 2008, also will cause doctors to cut staff and postpone investments in practices, including buying new equipment, according to a survey the association released Monday. (June 5, 2007 Bloomberg News)

Courant.com

ASIPP is offering a Comprehensive Pain Medicine Board Review Course for physicians seeking board certification or re-certification for ABMS Pain Medicine examination or for American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians Part I examination.

The review course will be held on Aug. 5 - 10 in Nashville, TN This six-day intensive Board Review Course is a CME activity which is geared to prepare physicians for their pain boards but can also serve an in-depth review of the specialty of pain medicine.

To register on-line or for more information on the review course or to register, visit our Web site.

Meetings

ABIPP Part I To Be Administered in August

ABIPP Part 1 exam will be administered in Nashville, TN, on Aug. 11, 2007 and registration is now open. The minimum requirements for eligibility are:

• A Primary ABMS or AOA board certification
• An active license to practice medicine in the United States

ABIPP Application