Plan to attend the March 6-8, 2008 Interventional Techniques Review Course, Cadaver Workshop, and ABIPP Preparation.

The review course includes one day of didactics covering various interventional techniques and one and a half days of hands-on cadaver workshop designed to meet the needs of interventional pain physicians seeking to refresh or learn new skills and also for those who desire ABIPP certification.

During this 3-day event, you can improve existing skills, learn new skills, prepare for the interventional techniques certification, or prepare for the board examination. Whether you have been practicing interventional pain management for many years or are new to the field with basic skills, we are confident you will find this review course and cadaver workshop to be beneficial as it is essential to keep learning. We trust you will be eager to join us for this opportunity to professional enhancement.

The seminar will be conducted at the Westin Memphis Beale Street and the world famous Medical Education and Research Institute (MERI) in Memphis, TN. Make your plans early to attend. We look forward to seeing you in Memphis.

Meetings

Brochure

UnitedHealth Group has announced a $350 million settlement in a class-action suit over out-of- network medical services.

Former Sen. Tom Daschle, appearing at his first confirmation hearing to be Health and Human Services secretary, pledged to replace Medicare's sustainable growth rate formula with a system that bundles payments in an attempt to reward good patient outcomes (Trapp, American Medical News, Jan. 19, 2009).

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has revised the physician, non-physician practitioner and group practice reporting responsibility Fact Sheets and the physicians, non-physician practitioner and other health care supplier brochure found on the Medicare Provider Enrollment web page.

These Fact Sheets list the types of changes that enrolled physicians, non-physician practitioners, and group practices are required to report to Medicare. By reporting changes as soon as possible, physicians, non-physician practitioners, and group practices will help to ensure that their claims are processed correctly.

Reporting Responsibilities for Individual Physicians Enrolled in the Medicare Program http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareProviderSupEnrol l/Downloads/PhysicianReportingResponsibilities.pdf

Reporting Responsibilities for Physician Group Practices Enrolled in the Medicare Program http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicareProviderSup Enroll/Downloads/GroupPracticeReportingResponsibi lities.pdf

CMS OUTLINES FOUNDATION TO IMPROVING HEALTH CARE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued Quality Measurement, Resource Use Measurement, and Value-Based Purchasing Roadmaps for the traditional Medicare Fee-For- Service Program.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has recommended that Congress raise payments for ambulatory surgery center services by 0.6 percent in 2010 and is also calling for ASCs to submit cost and quality data "that will allow for an effective evaluation of the adequacy of ASC payment rates." (Outpatient Surgery E-Weekly)

Obama names HHS deputy secretary

Then President-elect Barack Obama announced last week that he had chosen the head of a leading anti-tobacco organization to be the No. 2 official at the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Washington Times

Pallone keeps House health panel chair

Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Jan. 8 again chose Rep. Frank Pallone (D, N.J.) to chair the panel's health subcommittee.

amed news.com

As part of the newly created PR campaign, Dr. David Kloth will be a guest on the satelite radio show Doctor Radio
This will be a live broadcast on Sirius 114 and XM 119. The show is broadcast from the New York University (NYU) Langone Medical Center in New York City, with NYU physicians serving as hosts.

The segment featuring Dr. Kloth is scheduled for Monday February 2nd from 8 am to 8:30 am. He will be interviewed by an NYU MD and the phone lines will be open to listeners for questions. The call-in number is 1-877-NYU DOCS

For more information about Doctor Radio you can check their website: www.sirius.c om/doctorradio

To donate to the ASIPP PR Campaign click here.

Based on the current state of CDC and FDA's ongoing investigation consumers are advised:

Do not eat products that have been recalled and throw them away in a manner that prevents others from eating them.

If your state society has news to share, send it to mmartin@asipp.org

The AM CPT 2009 Professional Edition, AMA HCPCS 2009 Level II, and AMA Physician ICD-9-CM 2009 - Vol. 1 & 2 are now available online. Get prepared for the new year by purchasing your copies today.

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