Feb. 15, 2006

ABIPP Certification Update

To date, 16 physicians have qualified for ABIPP diplomate status by reciprocity.

For opportunities to fulfill requirements to earn a certification as a diplomate see the news items below…

Certification Review Courses and Examinations

Register soon for the May 4-8, Intensive Certification Review Courses in Controlled Substance Management and Coding, Compliance and Practice Management and the 2006 Competency Certification Examinations which will be held in Chicago.

Passing both exams will satisfy completion for ABIPP-Part I for physicians with current ABMS subspecialty certification in pain medicine by ABA, ABPMR, ABPN (but NOT non-ABMS certifications). Online registration is available. Visit our Web site at http://www.asipp.org/meetings.htm for more information.

ABIPP Part I Examination Review Course – Register Online

ASIPP is offering a Comprehensive Pain Medicine Board Review Course on Aug. 5 – 9 in St. Louis in conjunction with the Aug. 10 ABIPP Part I examination.

This five-day intensive Board Review Course is a CME activity to prepare physicians seeking board certification, re-certification, or can also serve an in-depth review of the specialty of pain medicine.

For more information on the review course or to register on-line, visit our Web site…Meetings

Final Draft of Amicus Curiae

Last December we reported on legal action taken by Spine Diagnostics Center of Baton Rouge, Inc. in response to a ruling by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing that authorized certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA) to practice “pain management” procedures.

In a January 26, 2006 letter to Keogh, Cox & Wilson, Ltd., on behalf of The Spine Diagnostic Center of Baton Rouge, Inc., the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners announced its ruling that interventional pain management procedures “constitutes the practice of medicine and may only be performed in this state by a physician licensed to practice medicine in Louisiana.”

This ruling is in response to the Nursing Practice Committee’s recommendation that CRNA’s be authorized “to perform pain management procedures including but not limited to peripheral nerve blocks, epidural injections and spinal facet injections.” sets precedence for the other states that face similar issues with CRNAs seeking to perform interventional pain procedures.

ASIPP Files Amicus Curiae

This victory was aided in part by the support of ASIPP who filed an Amicus Curiae memorandum on behalf of The Spine Diagnostic Center of Baton Rouge, Inc. ASIPP filed the memorandum to assist in informing the Court of various facts and issues surrounding the litigation and by defining interventional pain techniques for the Court.

See the final draft…Amicus Curiae

Medicare Reimbursement Frozen: Focus Returns to Pay Formula

Now that Congress has wrapped-up the issue of Medicare physician payment for 2006, it begins budgetary battles for 2007. Moving into this new legislative year the House approved a measure left over from the previous session that restores doctors’ reimbursements to last year’s rates leaving the measure to be signed by President Bush staving off an earlier measure which called for a 4.4% cut.

But an estimated 4.6% cut looms over physicians’ futures for 2007 and while cuts were avoided for 2006, costs of running a practice continue to rise. AMA President J. Edward Hill, MD, was quoted in the American Medical News as saying, “We must build on the momentum and awareness raised in 2005 to make 2006 the year Congress permanently repeals the broken Medicare physician payment formula.”

In the President’s proposed fiscal year 2007 budget, he recommends slashing Medicare payments by roughly $36 billion over the next five years. This plan would leave no room for the billions needed to align physicians’ reimbursements with their costs of providing care.

But Medicare law does incorporate a warning system of sorts that requires the White House to “fast-track” spending reductions for congressional consideration. This “alarm” would be tripped after the second time in a row the program’s trustees issue an annual report with a request that 45% or more of total Medicare expenditures come out of the general tax revenues in one of the following six years. If spending trends continue, Bush would be required to submit the legislative proposal at the beginning of 2008, his final year in office.

Subscribers can read more on this story at: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/

More States Allow Bare-Bones Health Coverage

Kentucky and Georgia have joined six states that let insurers offer alternative policies that will exclude coverage of all or some state-mandated health benefits.

Since 2001, eight states have passed legislation allowing insurers to offer policies to individuals and small employers that exclude some or all state-mandated health benefits. Insurers are now allowed to offer the bare-bones policies as a less expensive coverage option, in addition to the state-mandated benefit policy.

The trend is a sign that lawmakers increasingly recognize that benefit mandates add cost to health care coverage, according to the Council on Affordable Health Insurance, a nonprofit research and advocacy association.

Subscribers can read more on this story at: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/

NJ Gov. Signs Bills to Clarify Health Insurance Reimbursement Rules

In his final days of office, outgoing New Jersey Governor Richard Codey signed two bills that set out specific guidelines for health insurance providers to follow in authorizing the delivery and payment of health care services by doctors and hospitals.

Bill S-2824, the “Health Claims Authorization, Processing and Payment Act,” will require that “utilization management” occur according to certain standards when it comes to authorizing certain health care services. The bill would also clarify the rules governing the reimbursement of claims made by health care providers.

The Governor also signed S-1314 which requires that managed care plans furnish doctors covered under their plan with a fee schedule for the 20 most common fees and services under the doctor’s specialty