Happy New Year! Mark your calendar for the upcoming 2008 ASIPP Meetings. In addtion to the many CME training courses, you won't want to miss this the 10th Annual Meeting/Celebration! Mark these dates on your 2008 calendar today!

• February 8-10, 2008
• Vertebroplasty, Kyphoplasty, Sacroplasty
  

• March 7-9, 2008
• Review Course, Cadaver Workshop and FIPP Exam
  

• May 16-18, 2008
• Review Course and Cadaver Workshop
  

• June 21-25, 2008
• ASIPP 10th Annual Meeting Celebration
• Featuring Practice Management for Interventional Pain Physicians and Professionals
• Legislative Session and Capitol Hill Visits
• Abstracts
  

• July 28-August 2, 2008
• Board Review Course
• Coding, Compliance and Practice Management
• Competency Examinations
• ABIPP Examination
  

• October 24-26, 2008
• Review Course and Cadaver Workshop
  

• December 5-7, 2008
• Review Course and Cadaver Workshop

For your convenience, you may now pay your dues online. Click here then click on "Renew Here." No password is required to renew. If you have questions or need assistance contact the ASIPP office at 270-554-9412 Ext. 208

We are proud to announce the formation of the ASIPP Charitable Foundation.

The mission and initiative of ASIPP have evolved over the years to meet the changing needs of the members and the specialty through our efforts in education, scholarly publications, certification and advocacy. Now ASIPP would like to take the mission of the preservation and development of interventional pain management to a higher level. The ASIPP Foundation will bring to interventional pain management:

• Research that adds to the base of knowledge for interventional pain medicine;
• Promotion of interventional pain medicine among medical students, fellowships and residencies;
• On going education, certification and training for physicians and medical students; and
• Mentoring programs for medical students, fellows, residents and physicians who are new to interventional pain management

As a 501(c) (3) organization the ASIPP Foundation raises and manages funds that assist in the promotion of educational initiatives, the support of residencies and fellowships, scholarship and research.

Your tax deductible gift is critical to the advancement of our profession and patient access to this vital, life- enhancing care. Please click on the link provided and make your contribution today. As a contributor, your name will be listed in the spring issue of ASIPP News.

The 2008 1st quarter CCI updates are now available. There were no major changes this quarter.

On February 8-10 ASIPP will hold a state-of- the- art educational program consisting of a didactic course covering the various aspects of vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty and sacroplasty followed by a comprehensive hands-on cadaver workshop.

This intensive review course and workshop is a CME activity designed to prepare physicians seeking credentialing and as an in-depth review of vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty and sacroplasty. The 3-day event is an excellent way to begin learning new skills or to assist you in improving your existing skills.

Register before Jan. 18, 2008 to obtain the early registration discount! Visit the ASIPP Web site for more information.

This course is an excellent opportunity for educational and professional enhancement. At the conclusion of the course, in addition to your CME certificate, you will receive a certificate of completion (see example from our 2007 course ).

This is a course you won't want to miss. Enrollment is limited and the early registration discount price ends on Jan. 18, so register today!

Accommodations are at the Memphis Marriott Downtown. Call 901-527-7300 or 888-557-8740 and inform your booking agent you are booking under the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians to receive a discounted group rate of $159 per night (discount ends Jan. 17).

A New Jersey trial court ruling puts most, if not all, of the 200 physician-owned ambulatory surgery centers there in violation of the state's anti-referral law.

A 1989 law called the Codey Act prohibits doctors from referring patients to an entity in which they have a financial interest, except in certain circumstances, such as for radiation therapy or if the service is provided at the doctor's medical office.

amednews.com

On Jan. 1, 2008 CMS implemented changes to the ASC payment system. Of particular interest is a change in billing of bilateral procedures.  Modifier 50 will no longer be recognized for payment purposes and may result in incorrect payments to ASCs. Bilateral procedures must now be billed as single units in order for both procedures to be reimbursed. (see page 10/11 in MLN Matters). This change applies only to ASC billing not physician billing.

For details on all the changes with billing examples, go to CMS MLN Matters.

A task force that includes doctors, dentists, veterinarians, pharmacists and law enforcement personnel wants to make it more difficult for people to get pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants and sedatives illegally. The Kansas task force has been working on a draft of a law it hopes the Kansas Legislature will adopt in 2008 called the Prescription Drug Monitoring Act (Hall, Topeka Capital-Journal, Jan. 3, 2008).

If you are interventional pain physician who owns or works in an ASC, it is very important that you send a comment letter to CMS addressing the many disparities which exist between ASC setting and HOPD setting. These disparities coupled with the new proposal by CMS are of great concern to SIPMS.

The cut-off for comment letters is Jan. 28, 2008 but please customize and send your letter(s) as soon as possible. If you send you letter via USPS you must send one original and two copies (3 total should be mailed). You may also send your comment letter electronically by clicking on the following link: Submit comment letter. We ask that you also get your staff involved as they may also send comment letters.

The docket number and titel is: CMS-1392-FC - Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Changes to the Hpsoital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and CY 2008 Payment Rates; Changes to the Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System and CY 2008Payment; Changes to Hospital Conditions of Participation; Changes Affecting Necessary Provider Designations of Critical Access Hospitals Rates

To assist you in sending your letter electronically, we have provided step-by-step instructions.

• Click on the link to access the sample letter
• Save the file to your computer
• Edit the letter as you desire adding your name and address to the letter
• Click on the following  CMS link to submit
• Click on the "Submit Comment" button
• Fill out the personal information screen and click "Continue"
• Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and type "attachment" in the text box
• Click on "Continue"
• Click on "browse," choose the Word file containing the saved comment letter
• Choose the appropriate file type and click and click on "Save Comments"

Clinics that overbook patients could experience improved service and increased efficiency, according to a study released Tuesday by the University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business (Denver Business Journal, Jan. 8, 2008)

While some patients may associate overbooking with long waits and poor service, the study said the opposite is true. And that overbooking actually results in greater patient satisfaction.

"The benefit of overbooking can far outweigh the costs," said researcher Stephen Lawrence, an associate professor of operations management.

Denver Business Journal

Information on the 119 2008 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) measures, release notes, and detailed specifications are available on http://www.cms.hhs.gov/pqri on the CMS website. Eligible professionals are encouraged to contact their professional associations for additional information and tools that will facilitate participation.

Worksheets will be available in the CMS 2008 PQRI Toolkit soon on http://www.cms.hhs.gov/pqri on the CMS website.

Pain Physician journal will feature three special topical issues this year, in addition to the regular bimonthly publications. The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians' official journal, Pain Physician, will feature these special issues:

February: Opioids - This issue will include the 2007 updated Opioid guidelines in addition to systematic reviews, and health policy reviews

June: Ethics - Topics will cover:
1. general issues in normative and applied medical ethics as relevant to the care of pain;
2. clinical ethical issues focal to under- and/or over- treatment of pain;
3. conceptual and practical issues related to informed consent;
4. conceptual and practical issues related to (institutional) review of (experimental, quasi- experimental and/or clinical) studies of pain assessment, and/or therapeutics;
5. ethical issues relevant to medico-legal concerns and/or development and articulation of health policy and law.

December: health policy and practice management

All written materials should follow Pain Physician manuscript for author's instructions. The topical issues will also undergo peer review. For more information contact Holly Long at hlong@asipp.org

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

Partnership Opportunity - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Interventional Pain Specialist - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Interventional Pain Physician -- New Hampshire

Interventional Pain Physiatrist Wanted - Nevada