April 19, 2006

Eminent Neurosurgeon and ASIPP Member Dies in Utah Plane Crash

Billings neurosurgeon and ASIPP member Dr. John C. Oakley died in a plane crash on Tuesday. The Billings Gazette reported that Oakley was piloting the twin-engine Cessna 310 when it went down. The plane was located at the bottom of a ravine in the Uinta National Forest, according to Wasatch County Officials. Oakley was reported to have been flying in blizzard conditions with virtually no visibility and was the only person onboard.

Dr. Oakley was a neurosurgeon at Yellowstone Neurosurgical Associates in Billings, Montana and medical director of the Northern Rockies Regional Pain Center.

ASIPP will mourn the loss of a great surgeon and member and wishes to expresse our deep sympathy to Dr. Oakley's family, staff, and colleagues.

Read the Billings Gazette news release

ASIPP Requests Multi-Specialty Practice Expense Survey

ASIPP is once again working to ensure fair reimbursement for interventional pain management. Laxmaiah Manchikanti, ASIPP Chief Executive Officer, recently sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Practitioner Services Division Director, Terry Kay, urging CMS to develop a multi-specialty practice expense survey. Additionally the recommendation was made that CMS delay implementing any further changes in the practice expense methodology until the data from the multi-specialty practice expense survey is available.

Read the letter to CMS

U.S. Study Finds KY Leads Nation in Pain Relief Abuse

According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), greater than 6% (6.24) of Kentuckians 12 years and older abused pain relievers in the last year. Colorado trails just behind with 6.24, Utah with 6.08, and Washington with 6.07.

The survey reveled 215,000 Kentuckians took pain relievers for non-medical purposes and those 26 or older accounted for the greatest usage.

Read the survey…State Estimates for Substance Use

Pain Physician Journal Now Accepting Article Submissions

The Pain Physician Journal, recently included and indexed on MEDLINE, is accepting manuscript submittals for publication consideration. Pain Physician is a peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary journal written by and directed to an audience of interventional pain physicians, clinicians and basic scientists with an interest in interventional pain management and pain medicine.

Pain Physician is the official publication of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP). Pain Physician requires that all manuscripts be prepared in accordance with the uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals, with the exception of reference citations and format. For information on manuscript submittals go to http://www.painphysicianjournal.com/infoforauth1.php Submit articles to: editor@painphysicianjournal.com

Register for Review Courses & Exams – Hotel Block Extended until Tomorrow!

ASIPP has just received confirmation from the Westin Michigan Avenue that our discounted room block has been extended until Thursday, April 20. You still have a chance to book your room at the reduced group rate price, but don’t wait – register and reserve your room today!

The review courses in and the certification exams in Controlled Substance Management and Coding Compliance and Practice Management will be held in beautiful downtown Chicago on May 4-9.  The four-day intensive review course (May 4-7) is planned as a CME activity to prepare physicians seeking competency certification and to provide Interventional Pain Management Specialists and other healthcare providers an in-depth review of multiple areas of interventional pain managements. The Competency Certification Exams will be held on May 8.

To view the May brochure or register online, go to meetings on the ASIPP Web site. Register today for the review courses and exams and come to the “Windy City” in May!

Medicare physician spending growth worries U.S. officials

Although Medicare spending on physician services did not rise as much last year as it did the year before, the increase was still large enough to catch the attention of federal officials looking to find more efficiency in the system. On this note, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its projection of a 4.6% Medicare pay cut for doctors in 2007.

CMS reported that Medicare spending for physician services rose an estimated 8.5% from 2004 to 2005. The bulk came from an increase in volume and intensity of services.

The problem according to CMS is not only with how much Medicare is paying physicians overall, but also how it reimburses them in the first place. Stating that the current physician payment system focuses on payment for individual services but does not provide payments that support physician efforts to combine services furnished to beneficiaries efficiently in an episode of care, or furnished during a period of time to treat chronic disease. This unfortunately leaves many physicians unable to invest in activities like electronic record systems and support programs for high-risk patients that could enhance quality of care without increasing medical costs and ultimately the patient loses.

CMS said such a dilemma could be addressed with a physician performance measurement system that identifies not only quality of care but also efficiency of care. Such a system could be the precursor to a pay-for-performance program that reimburses physicians based on both factors.

Subscribers can read more at AMA News

Massachusetts Mandates Insurance Coverage for All

Lawmakers approved a bill earlier this month that would make Massachusetts the first state to require all citizens be provided with some form of health coverage. The measure if it makes it through a final procedural vote and to Gov. Mitt Romney would not call for new taxes but would require businesses that do not offer insurance to pay a $295 annual fee per employee.

Many view the effort as a potential model for nationwide universal health care.

Read the more on the subject at USA Today

Or subscribers can read about the mandate at AMA News

State Society News

California Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (CSIPP) will hold its Annual Meeting and board elections on Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. at:

Morton's Steakhouse

South Coast Plaza Village

1641 W. Sunflower Ave.

Santa Ana, CA  92704

Guest speaker will be Carl Brakensiek, MBA, JD, Executive VP of the California Society of Industrial Medicine and Surgery. Brakensiek’s topic will be "Upcoming Changes in Workers' Compensation in California.” Workers’ Compensation continues to be volatile, with further legislative changes inevitable and pending. Mr. Brakensiek's expertise in this area is unequaled in the state and should prove to be enlightening

Please RSVP and send nominations to sheri@pcpmc.com

All CSIPP board positions are open.

If your state society has any news you would like to share, please e-mail your news items to mmartin@asipp.org