Senate Finance Committee Approves Sebelius Nomination

In a 15-8 vote, the Senate Finance Committee approved Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius' nomination Tuesday morning as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Her nomination now goes to the Senate for a full vote .

No time has been scheduled for the confirmation vote, although it is expected to come soon. Two Republicans, Olympia Snowe of Maine and Pat Roberts of Kansas, supported Sebelius.

Health Leaders Media

Doctors face risk of harsh penalties from new Medicare enrollment rules

Physician practices are anticipating major difficulties with Medicare enrollment rules that went into effect amid protests from doctors and practice managers. A wrong step by a practice could mean that it loses Medicare revenue or even gets kicked out of the program altogether (Silva, amednews.com, April 20, 2009).

Starting April 1, the time frame under which physicians can bill retroactively for services after successful enrollment or re-enrollment in Medicare has been shortened from 27 months to only 30 days. In addition, doctors must alert contractors of a change in practice location within 30 days, or risk expulsion from Medicare for up to two years.

amednews.com

Tomorrow is last day for early registration and room block discount: Review Course in Vertebroplasty, Kyphoplasty and Sacroplasty

On May 15-17, 2009, ASIPP will hold a specialty review course and cadaver workshop in Verbebroplasty, Kyphoplasty,and Sacroplasty.

This intensive review course and hands-on 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.

The course offers 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.

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 $169 per night (discount ends April 23).

Enrollment is limited and the early registration discount price ends on April 23.

Online Registration

Tomorrow is last day for early registration and room block discount: Comprehensive Review Course in Controlled Substance Management

Online registration is now open for the Competency Review Course and Examination in Controlled Substance Management. The course will be held in Memphis, TN at the Memphis Downtown Marriott on May - 15-17. The review course will be held on May 15-16 with an optional exam on May 17.

This intensive review course is planned as a CME activity to prepare physicians seeking competency certification and also to provide Interventional Pain Management Specialists and other healthcare providers an in-depth review of the important topic of controlled substance management.

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 $169 per night (discount ends April 23).

Online Registration

Registration Now Open for ASIPP 11th Annual Meeting

The ASIPP Annual Meeting is the premier Educational Forum for Evidence-based Medicine for Interventional Pain Management! This is a first-time opportunity to learn about the importance of evidence-based medicine in IPM as it applies to you, your patients, and your practice. In addition, this year we offer an extensive program that covers the essential elements of practice management including extensive presentation on Billing and Coding.

Listen to our distinguished faculty and learn from these experts the cutting-edge research and the importance of guidelines, IPM techniques as they apply to evidence-based medicine. Discover many important "pearls" for Billing and Coding. Hear how you can run your ASC or office more efficiently through best practices. Interventional Pain Management is continually growing and evolving, and there is no better time to stay abreast of the field and learn about emerging issues.

We welcome and encourage all ASIPP members and guests to attend the 11th Annual Meeting. This program offers something for everyone; physicians, administrators, nurses, educators, etc. We also invite you to attend the ASIPP "Night at the Oscars" Business Dinner Meeting on Saturday evening. The night will hold dinner, awards, entertainment, and dancing.

On Tuesday we will bring Capitol Hill to you. Presentations will be made by many distinguished congressional and governmental speakers who will address how the changing economy and administration will affect healthcare and Interventional Pain Management in particular, MCAC, etc.

Our host hotel is the Crystal Gateway Marriott , 1700 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Arlington, VA 22202. Phone: (703) 920-3230. When making your reservations ask for the ASIPP discounted rate.

You won't want to miss the award winning 2009 ASIPP Annual Meeting! Join us on June 27-30, 2009, in Washington, DC.

Brochure (subject to change)

Online Registration

Details now emerging about cuts to Medicare private plans

Medicare private plans that for years have received annual pay increases are set to sustain sizeable reductions in 2010 under cost estimates recently released by the Obama administration (Silva, amednews.com, April 20, 2009).

In an April 6 directive to Medicare Advantage plans, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services updated plan payment information that it first released in February. The National Per Capita Medicare Advantage Growth Percentage -- an estimation of how much more the program will need to spend on all beneficiaries -- will be 0.81% for 2010.

amednews.com

HITECH Act Breach Notification Guidance and Request for Public Comment

On April 17, 2009, HHS issued guidance specifying the technologies and methodologies that render protected health information unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals, as required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This guidance was developed through a joint effort by OCR, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

HHS

Federal Stimulus Law Raises the Bar for Health Information Privacy and Security

The federal stimulus bill enacted on February 17, 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), contains many new compliance challenges for physicians and other health care entities and their vendors. In addition to creating a new federal bureaucracy for a new national electronic health records (EHR) infrastructure to set EHR standards and administer EHR stimulus money, and establishing new Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement methods to incent EHR adoption, ARRA contains many new health information privacy and security requirements (Keefe, Physicians News Digest, April 6, 2009).

Physicians News

Nevada assembly approves bill to lift medical malpractice cap for non-economic damages

The Nevada Assembly voted 26-15 on Monday to pass legislation that would remove a $350,000 cap on jury awards for non-economic damages in medical liability lawsuits, the Las Vegas Sun reports. The cap was approved by voters in 2004 after concern was raised that higher medical malpractice insurance premiums were driving some doctors out of the state. The bill would permit unlimited damages for instances of gross negligence and would give patients an additional 12 months to decide if they want to file a lawsuit (McGrath Schwartz, Las Vegas Sun, 4/20).

Las Vegas Sun

Hidden Malpractice Dangers in EMRs

An estimated 85,000 medical lawsuits are filed annually, which include those against hospitals and individual physicians. One of the highly-touted benefits of electronic medical records (EMRs) is the potential to help prevent malpractice incidents and medical errors. By providing better documentation, automatically checking for medication errors and drug interactions, providing failsafe systems to track test results and follow-up with patients, EMRs can dramatically reduce the risk of malpractice. While the benefits of EMRs are far greater than the cons, no road is without stumbling blocks. A physician who is not careful when using the EMR could increase his malpractice liability (Kern, Medscape Today, April 9, 2009).

Medscape Today

AMA plans one-stop electronic shopping for docs

The American Medical Association is developing a Web-based service offering doctors electronic prescribing, up-to-date reference material, and other resources. The goal is to make it easier for physicians to adopt technology President Obama is promoting for healthcare reform, to streamline their workload, and improve patient care (Associated Press - Yahoo News, April 22, 2009).

Yahoo News

Federal Officials Vow to Raise Medicare Reimbursement Rates in Several of California's High-Cost Counties

A summit called last week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Sam Farr to address the long- standing Medicare geographic payment inequity for a number of California counties concluded with a commitment from federal officials to tackle the problem this year (California Physician, April 20, 2009).

"This is a welcome breakthrough on a problem that has reduced access to care for years," says CMA President Dev A. GnanaDev, MD. "As costs have risen in places like Santa Barbara and San Diego counties, Medicare reimbursements have not kept up, and that has resulted in fewer doctors being able to serve those patients."

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California Physician

Physicians Wanted

Visit the ASIPP Web site to find available positions for IPM physicians.

Physicians Wanted