The Online Abstract Submission for the 10th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians is now open. The meeting will be held June 21- June 25, 2008 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Washington, DC.

To be considered for a presentation at the meeting, abstracts must be submitted and completed by the submission deadline of 5 pm Central Standard Time (CST) Friday, December 28, 2007.

Click here for rules an submission direction

"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." - Calvin Coolidge

All 3 final rules are now in (see announcement below). The brutal cuts to physician payments, specifically in the office setting, appear to be final for physician payments and ASCs. We really can't blame anyone except ourselves. Because our reaction has been so poor, we must stand up and take the blame.

Having admitted our own failures, let us do something about it. Let us NOW stand up and ACT. There is still time. up your efforts to contact your Congressional officials. We must act immediately if we are to make an impact.

Please send or continue to send letters. Your letters are not enough though you must get signatures from your patients and encourage your colleagues to get involved as well. It is up to you to make them aware and believe us they care. If you truly are interested in saving your practices and medicine in general, please act immediately.

To send a letter from yourself click on the Physician Capwiz Letter link below. You may edit the letter or send it as it is. You may send it through Capwiz or fax or mail the letter on your personal or business letterhead. The choice is yours.

Please take the time to send a letter today. Additionally, we urge you to have your patients sign the letter and support this effort as well.

• Capwiz Physician Letter
• Capwiz Patient Letter
• Capwiz Staff Letter
• Capwiz Citizen Letter
  

1. Customize and print off copies of the sample
2. Identify patients' state, putting the names of their Senators and Representative at the top of the page along with the President. Only one letter with all the names is necessary (see example).
3. As your patients sign out, ask them to fill out and
4. Using the patient Capwiz link assign a staff
5. Also you can print off the ASIPP Advocacy page and post or hand out to your patients for more information
   

• Example Physician Letter
• Example Patient Letter
• Example Staff Letter
• Example Citizen Letter

CMS released the final rule on Nov. 1 establishing the payment rates in 2008 for services provided in ASCs. This finalizes the proposed rule that was issued in August as a companion to the final rule initially overhauling the Medicare ASC payment system. The effect of the latest final rule delineates payment rates for ASCs and HOPDs and establishes the first payments determined using the new payment system finalized in August.

• In 2008, ASCs will generally be paid 65 percent of HOPD rates, as was proposed in August. Due to an inflationary update, CMS estimates Medicare payments for outpatient services will increase overall by an average of 3.8 percent in CY 2008.
• A four-year implementation period will give ASCs more time to adjust; newly added procedures will be established at full payments on Jan. 1, 2008.
• Forty-five procedures designated as "device- intensive" will be paid at more than 65 percent of HOPD rates, and procedures performed more than 50 percent of the time in physicians offices will be capped at the lesser of either 65 percent of HOPD rates or the global fee Medicare pays physicians to perform the procedures in the office setting.

ASC 2008 Final Payment Rates

HOPD 2008 Final Payment Rates

The final rule, effective for services on or after January 1, 2008, will go on display today and will be published in the Federal Register on November 27, 2007. The rule can be found at: The rule can be found at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/center/physician.asp

A few spots still remain for the Spinal Cord Stimulation Review Course Cadaver Workshop

There a still a few spots open for the upcoming Spinal Cord Stimulation Review Course and Cadaver Workshop. This information-packed intensive review course and cadaver workshop, Nov. 30 - Dec. 2, will provide a comprehensive learning experience focusing on various aspects of spinal cord stimulation.

The course will be conducted at the historic Peabody Hotel and the Medical Education Research Institute in Memphis, TN.

Some insurers are joining physicians in successfully lobbying against a contract provision that requires doctors to give an insurer their lowest reimbursement rate. (Amednews.com)

Indiana and Colorado this year banned the practice of insurers requiring, by contract, that doctors always give them the lowest reimbursement rate, while Maryland did so in 2006. Idaho this year extended its ban to foreign-based insurers. And Ohio's House has passed a ban that covers any insurer that controls more than 20% of a local market, a measure now being taken up by the state's Senate.

The District of Columbia's attorney general is investigating whether the use of most-favored-nation clauses by one major insurer, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, violates antitrust law. The company is cooperating with the investigation and says its "cost containment" program violates no laws. In Pennsylvania, the insurance commissioner is looking for assurance from two merging Blue Cross Blue Shield plans -- Highmark and Independence Blue Cross -- that the newly combined entity won't violate a state consent order that has prohibited the use of such clauses.

Mixing cough syrup, Vicodin or Lipitor with cat litter is the new advice on getting rid of unused medications. Preferably used cat litter. (Neergaard, AP writer, Nov. 7, 2007)

It's a compromise, better for the environment than flushing - and one that renders dangerous medicines too yucky to try if children, pets or drug abusers stumble through the trash.

A government experiment is about to send that advice straight to thousands of patients who use potent painkillers, sleeping pills and other controlled substances. Why? Prescription drug abuse is on the rise, and research suggests more than half of people who misuse those drugs get them for free from a friend or relative. In other words, having leftovers in the medicine cabinet is a risky idea. Anyone visiting your house could swipe them.

Read more

Mercurynews.com

Please keep in mind the benchmarking (comparative data) survey for pain specialty practices (not ASCs) is due on Nov. 12. If you have not yet submitted your survey please do so by this deadline.

You may fax your survey to 763-514-9992 to expedite reciept. If you did not recieve a survey or require a new one, click on the following link. Survey

The survey is important to interventional pain in that the information from this survey provides useful benchmarking data for pain specialty practices. The more practices that participate, the more valid the data becomes.

We encourage you to participate in this benchmarking project.

Survey

ASIPP is offering a new feature for those who advertise on our Postions Wanted section of the ASIPP Website. As a service to our advertisers and our members, we will list the link to each current job posting.

Interventional Pain Physician -- Louisville, Kentucky

Pain Management -- Florida

Pain Management Opportunity -- Pennsylvania

Entrepreneurial Opportunity -- Lake Tahoe, Nevada

Florida Opportunities

Pain Medicine Fellowship Program Opportunity

Interventional Pain Specialist -- Toledo, Ohio

Interventional Pain Specialist -- Paducah, KY and Marion, IL

Interventional Pain Medicine Physician -- St. Cloud, Minnesota

Entrepreneurial Opportunity -- Wooster, Ohio

Musculoskeletal Interventionalist -- Dallas, Texas

Interventional Pain Specialist - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Interventional Pain Physician -- New Hampshire

Interventional Techniques In Chronic Spinal Pain is now availabe for purchase and all pre-order purchases have been shipped. Each book comes with a complimentary CD of the book.

Interventional Techniques in Chronic Spinal Pain, is the premier manual for interventionalists. With detailed descriptions of practical techniques in interventional pain management this is a must have publication for all interventioanl pain physicians.

If you have not yet ordered your copy, you can do so by visiting the ASIPP Web site.

ASIPP Publishing

Antidepressant Medication Products

Colchicine Compounded Injectable Products

Zanaflex (tizanidine hydrochloride) Tablets and Capsules

Sedative-hypnotic drug products

Actos (pioglitazone hydrochloride) Tablets

Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate) ; Avandamet (rosiglitazone maleate and metformin hydrochloride); Avandaryl (rosiglitazone maleate and glimepiride)

More than 17,000 people have accessed the article "A randomized, controlled trial of spinal endoscopic adhesiolysis in chronic refractory low back and lower extremity pain," earning it a "highly accessed" flag on BioMed Central's online journal, Anesthesiology. The article, authored by Laxmaiah Manchikanti, Mark V. Boswell, Jose J. Rivera, Vidyasagar Pampati, Kim S. Damron, Carla D. McManus, Doris E. Brandon and Sue R. Wilson, has been on the web site since Aug. 1, 2006. The "highly accessed" graphic appears on the journal's table of contents and search results to identify those articles that have been especially highly accessed, relative to their age, and the journal in which they were published.

"Prevalence of facet joint pain in chronic spinal pain of cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions," a May 2004 article by Laxmaiah Manchikanti, Mark V. Boswell, Vijay Singh, Vidyasagar Pampati, Kim S. Damron and Carla D. Beyer. This article has been accessed by more than 37,200 people since it first appeared on BioMed Central.

"Risk of whole body radiation exposure and protective measures in fluoroscopically guided interventional techniques: a prospective evaluation." The article, written by Laxmaiah Manchikanti, Kim A. Cash, Tammy L. Moss, Jose Rivera, and Vidyasagar Pampati, was published in 2003, has been viewed over 13,900 times, and as the articles mentioned above, is available to open access on the BioMed Central Web site. Access these articles on BioMed Central.

BioMed Central