·  Register Today for the New Orleans Board Review Course

·  Comprehensive Review Course Registration Now Open

·  Lack of Training for Health Care Professionals Increase Drug Addiction

·  Medicare Fraud Strike Force Makes 53 Arrests

·  Acetaminophen products under speculation

·  Law means rethinking how you protect patient data

·  Access-to-care problems are resurfacing in Mass.

·  Georgia gets a medical marijuana green light

·  FSIPP Annual Meeting

·  GSIPP 5th Annual Summer Meeting

·  Physicians Wanted

Register Today for the New Orleans Board Review Course

The 2009 ASIPP Board Review Course will be held on August 11 -15 in New Orleans. The ABIPP Part I Examination will take place on August 16 following the review course. Online registration for the review course is now available. You must submit an application to sit for the ABIPP Part I Exam.

This intensive review course is designed to present interventional pain physicians with an in-depth review of multiple areas of interventional pain management. The course will feature many nationally known experts in IPM, controlled substance, billing and coding, healthcare law, and other areas.

The course will be held at the Astor Crowne Royal. A discounted room rate of $109 is available until July 10. Call 504-962-0500 and tell them you are booking under the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians.

Brochure

Register Online Today!

Comprehensive Review Course Registration Now Open

Online registration is now open for the 2009 Comprehensive Review Course and Examinations in Coding, Compliance, and Practice Management & Controlled Substance Management.

The course will be held at the Astor Crowne Plaza in New Orleans on Aug. 11 - 16. This intensive review course is 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 Controlled Substance Management course will be held on Aug. 11-12 with an optional exam on Aug. 13. The Coding, Compliance, and Practice Management section will begin on Aug. 14-15. The examination for this section will be held on Aug. 16.

For brochure, registration and hotel information go to ASIPP Meetings.

Lack of Training for Health Care Professionals Increase Drug Addiction

Intense marketing and a resultant 150% rise in the numbers of prescriptions written has resulted in a growing number of people addicted to prescription drugs.

In a recent press conference Joseph A. Califano Jr., the National Center on Drug Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University's director and president said..

Trans World News

Medicare Fraud Strike Force Makes 53 Arrests

Fifty-three physicians, healthcare executives, and Medicare beneficiaries were arrested Wednesday in New York City, Miami, and Detroit by the newly expanded federal Medicare Fraud Strike Force. They were charged with submitting more than $50 million in Medicare claims related to unnecessary or fraudulent procedures (Simmons, HealthLeaders Media, June 24, 2009).

HealthLeaders Media

Acetaminophen products under speculation

The FDA is calling for changes in products that contain acetaminophen. Brands such as Tylenol, Excedrin, and Theraflu all contain the ingredient, and the FDA states that avoidable deaths have occurred to overdoses for pain management. Here's some information you may not know about the ingredient.

Examiner.com

Law means rethinking how you protect patient data

In a previous article, I described how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, part of the federal stimulus package, expanded the reach of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act for physicians and anyone else dealing with patient information (Harris, American Medical News, June 29, 2009).

amednews.com

Access-to-care problems are resurfacing in Mass.

Massachusetts' Commonwealth Connector health reforms have reduced the state's uninsured population to less than 3% of residents, the lowest among all states. But a recent survey found an uptick last fall in adults reporting difficulty accessing certain types of care (Trapp, American Medical News, June 29, 2009)..

The outcome of the Massachusetts health system reforms has national implications. Democrats in Congress have offered or are drafting health reform bills based on many of the state-adopted principles, including a health insurance exchange, subsidized private health insurance for low-and moderate- income residents, a requirement for individuals to have health insurance, and a mandate for employers to offer health insurance to their employees or else contribute to a health care fund.

amednews.com

Georgia gets a medical marijuana green light

At long last, policymakers in Washington have begun to draw a line between illicit drug use and the legitimate use of drugs as medicine. In March, President Obama's attorney general announced the federal government will no longer prosecute medical marijuana clinics that operate in compliance with state laws. This means lawmakers in Atlanta are now free to decide - without interference from Washington - if marijuana will fill a medical niche in Georgia.

macon.com