You still have time to send your comments to CMS on two important proposed rules; proposed changes to the ASC Payment System and CY 2009 Payment Rates & Revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2009. Since the two deadlines are Sept. 2 (Tues) and Aug. 29 (Fri.), respectively. Please submit electronically in order to assure you make the delivery deadline.

We can't stress enough how very important it is that CMS hear from you. They have no reason to reconsider these rulings if they do not know that we oppose the proposed rules and why. Please don't assume that someone else will write a letter. It is up to each one of us to take the time to voice our concern.

The proposed rulings are as follows:

CMS-1404-P: Proposed Changes to the ASC Payment System and CY 2009 Payment Rates (CMS Fact Sheet)

Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted until September 2, 2008, and a final CY 2009 OPPS/ASC payment rule will be issued by November 1, 2008.

CMS-1403-P, Revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2009 - Deadline for comments August 29, 2008.

For sample letters and instructions on how to send and on how to involve your patients click here.

The online registration and brochure are now available for the upcoming Spinal Cord Stimulation and Intrathecal Implantable Infusion Systems Review Course and Cadaver Workshop.

The course will be held on Oct 24-26 in Memphis, TN at the Westin Memphis Beale Street and the Medical Education Research Institute (MERI). The course is a CME activity that will cover all aspects of spinal cord stimulation and intrathecal implantable infusions systems, through didactics, extensive case discussions, faculty interaction and hands-on instruction.

Whether you have practiced spinal cord stimulation for many years or you are new to this procedure with only basic skills, you will find this course to be beneficial to you in building or refreshing your skills.

Take advantage of the early registration discount by registering before September 30. For more information go to http://www.a sipp.org/meetings.htm

Should doctors be required to undergo special education in order to prescribe powerful narcotics? The Food and Drug Administration may soon recommend that they do so, though such a move would most likely prove controversial (Meier, The New York, Aug 16, 2008)

"I think it is a good idea, and it is something we are considering," said Dr. Bob Rappaport, the director of the division of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Rheumatology Products at the F.D.A. But the agency itself does not have the authority to take such a step, Dr. Rappaport said.

Companies that promise patients the chance to see a physician through video linkups are pushing into the mainstream. One is making it possible for anyone in the state of Hawaii to talk to a doctor of his or her choice via a webcam -- in a visit that could be reimbursed by the patient's health plan (Berry and Dolan, amednews.com, Sept. 1, 2008 issue).

Under the Medicare payment bill that became law in July, doctors who prescribe electronically for Part D patients in 2009 will get an incentive payment equal to 2% of all the Medicare services they provide for the year. This bonus will phase down over five years and disappear at the beginning of 2014.

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The ad's shock value is its verisimilitude: A proud dope dealer, interviewed documentary-style at his street-corner office, complains that business is tanking because former customers are getting high for free by raiding medicine cabinets. "How am I supposed to compete with that?" he asks. Then he warns viewers not to blame him if their kids' lives go "south" because of drug abuse. "I didn't do it," he says. "I wish I did." (Dillon, Anesthesiology News, July 2008 Issue)

The White House Effort Targeting Prescription Drugs Criticized as Wasteful, Ineffective. Detractors say that the White House has had a long history of misspending money to fight abuse, and that this campaign is the latest example. "I'm discouraged that our federal dollars are not being used as effectively as they can," said Andrea M. Trescot, MD, immediate past-president of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP). "They have spent hundreds of millions of dollars with no evidence of any benefit. It has been a very frustrating situation."

Read more through free online registration.

The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) is undertaking a national public relations campaign targeted toward informing the millions of Americans who suffer from chronic pain about the relatively new and often confusing specialty of Interventional Pain Management (IPM).

It is our objective to promote a basic understanding of the various modalities and benefits our specialty can offer, and to demonstrate what it is that makes IPM physicians unique in their approach to the treatment and elimination of chronic and/or acute pain.

ASIPP believes that educating the national media, the general public, payors and even other physicians about new and emerging therapies in this rapidly expanding field is the logical and necessary next step for our specialty. We hope you will support this effort by making a contribution to the campaign.

Watch for more information on this important campaign as more plans are made and the details unfold.

To access the July/August issue of the Pain Physician journal as well as all back issues and special issues, go to: http://ww w.painphysicianjournal.com/

Illinois Society of Interventional Pain Physicians will hold an dinner lecture on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 6 p.m., at Nick's Fishmarket in Rosemont, IL

The meeting will feature a dinner lecture by Dr. David Schultz, ASIPP President, speaking on "Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Pain - the Current and Future Trends".

Invitation

ASIPP is now offering a new feature for those who advertise on our Positions Wanted section of the ASIPP Website. As a service to our advertisers and our members, please find the link to each current job posting.

Fellows hip Trained Physician - Northwest Indiana

Out patient Interventional Pain Physician - Atlanta, Georgia

Pain Management Opportunity - Pennsylvania

Entrepre neurial Opportunity - Lake Tahoe, Nevada

Florida Opportunities

Pain Medicine Fellowship Program Opportunity

BC/ BE Physiatrist - Shrewsbury, New Jersey

Part nership Opportunity - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

100% Pain Practice - Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Natio nal Pain Institute - Florida

Interv entional Pain Specialist - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

MAYO CLINIC - Cardiac Anesthesiologist

Interven tional Pain Physiatrist Wanted - Nevada