The ASIPP 8th Annual Meeting and SIPMS 2nd Annual Meeting will be held on June 23-27 in Washington, DC. Along with the Annual Meetings, plan to attend the Legislative Session and take part in the Capitol Hill visits. This year's event promises to informative and also memorable, with the second day of our legislative session taking place on Capitol Hill.

The annual meeting will again this year convene in the Cannon Caucus Room on Capitol Hill where we will be honored with the presence of several congressional speakers. We encourage you to sign up for and participate in the Capitol Hill visits which will take place on June 27- 28. This is your opportunity to make your voice heard! But please register early to assure your visit with your state's representative. We will make every effort to schedule your personal request but to increase the likelihood of your visit; we strongly encourage you to register early.

Interventional pain management is facing many grave issues in the upcoming year so we urge you to take this rare opportunity to express your concerns face-to- face with your elected officials.

Register Today!

The deadline for 2007 Board nominations has been extended for two more weeks. If you are interested in serving on the Board or nominating someone else, please send in your form by the March 15.

The following will provide the nomination form and information on the present constitution of the board and available openings. Noniation Form

Please follow the instructions as specified in the form and mail the nomination form along with the requested candidate information using the enclosed self-addressed envelope.

Electronic nominations will not be accepted. The last day for receipt of the nomination form (not postmarked) is March 15, 2007.

With the changing of the guard in Washington, we are faced with a new problem called "pay-as-you-go." Essentially this means that if Congress makes any increase in expenditures, they must get the revenues from somewhere, most likely from taxes.

The problems we are going to face this year are:

• 10% cut in physician payments for 2008 and 5% per year until 2012
• 12% cut in ASC payments for 2008 and 27% cut for 2009 and beyond
• For office procedures (office payment portion) cuts will range from 25% to 35% over 4 years and 5% to 10 % for 2007
  

Your action and indulgence is essential. This issue will ultimately impact all IPM physicians not just ASC owners. ASIPP has given you much over the years and we have made it possible for you to practice today. Without ASIPP, interventional pain management would likely be history.

The Illinois attorney general's office claims that more than 20 Chicago-area radiology centers engaged in a widespread scheme to win referrals for MRIs by paying illegal kickbacks to doctors. (Japsen, Chicago Tribune Jan. 18, 2007).

The alleged scheme, which potentially resulted in health insurers being billed fraudulently for millions of dollars in claims, was disclosed in a lawsuit kept under seal until Wednesday, when the state announced that it was joining the suit as a plaintiff.

According to the suit, the doctors paid the centers a reduced rate for the magnetic resonance imaging and other services but charged patients' health insurers a higher rate, keeping the difference.

Read More

On Feb. 5 President Bush sent a $2.8 trillion budget to Congress that held within it $77 billion in funding cuts for Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years, and $280 billion over the next 10.

The budget provides for NO funding to reverse the Medicare physician pay cuts. This proposed budget is not binding on Congress.

Read amednews.com story

ASIPP has filed an Amicus Curiae in support of Spine Diagnostics Center of Baton Rouge, Inc., in the ongoing issue with the Louisiana State Board of Nursing (LSBN). in response to the ongoing battle to expand their practice privileges, the Louisiana State Board of Nursing.

As reported earlier, in the ongoing battle to expand their practice privileges, the Louisiana State Board of Nursing filed a writ in response to the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal judgement rendered against them last month. The writ was filed on Jan. 29 to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

On Jan. 3, 2007, ASIPP reported that the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal rendered a judgement which finds the LSBN lacked authority to authorize certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) practice of chronic interventional pain management. The Court also ordered the trail court to grant the preliminary injunctions prohibiting CRNAs from performing such procedures.

See Amicus Curiae

The Annals of Internal Medicine recently published a letter to the Editor submitted by ASIPP CEO, Laxmaiah Manchikanti.

The letter addresses a systematic review by Martell et al on opioid treatment for chronic back pain that reports patterns of use, relative outcomes' efficacy, and association with addiction

Read Letter

Online registration is now open for the 2007 Competency Review Courses and Examinations in Coding, Compliance, and Practice Management & Controlled Substance Management.

The course will be held at the Caribe Royale Resort in beautiful Orlando, FL. The five-day intensive review course (April 12-16) 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 management.

The Competency Certification Exams will be held on April 17. Register today for the review courses and exams!

Physician Registration
Non-physician Registration

Meetings

Advanced Neuromodulation Systems (ANS) recently moved up in sponsorship from the bronze level to silver. ANS has been an ASIPP sponsor since 2001.

Baylis medical recently committed to a bronze level sponsorship with ASIPP. We are pleased to have the support of Baylis Medical.

If you would like information on becoming an ASIPP sponsor, contact Ray Lane at rlane@asipp.com or 270-554-9412 ex. 220

See ASIPP Sponsors