March 8, 2006

Participate in Epidural Steroid Injection Practices Survey

Practicing Interventional Pain Physicians are invited to participate in a nationwide survey regarding epidural steroid injection practices. This is a Web based survey with 73 questions that can be completed in one or multiple sittings with the use of a username and password.

Once on the Web site (link provided below), you will get a box explaining that the site certificate is self-signed. Choose “Accept” - you'll then receive a prompt for a username and password to gain access to the site.

The username is: esisurvey

Password is: participant

Once inside the survey space (which resides in an internal server for security purposes), register a private username and password which will enable you to take the survey completely or stop mid-survey and continue later as time allows.

Thank you for you anticipated participation. If you have any questions or concerns, please send them to the following e-mail address esi_survey@solutionslabs.com

To participate, use the following link: http://www.solutionslabs.com/survey_portal.html

Make Plans to Attend ASIPP Annual Meeting

The ASIPP 8th Annual Meeting and SIPMS 1st Annual Meeting will be held on June 24-28 in Washington, DC. Along with the Annual Meetings, plan to attend the Legislative Session and take part in the Capitol Hill visits. This year promises to be a memorable event with the second day of our legislative session moving to Capitol Hill.

On Tuesday, June 27, the ASIPP annual meeting will convene in the Cannon Caucus Room on Capitol Hill where we will be honored with the presence of several congressional speakers. This will be an informative and exciting event and we encourage you to register early.

The Annual Meeting Brochure along with registration and hotel information can be found on the ASIPP Web site.

ABIPP Part I To Be Administered in August

ABIPP Part 1 exam will be administered in St. Louis on Aug. 10, 2006 and registration is still open.  The minimum requirements for eligibility are:

1. A primary ABMS board certification.
2. An active license to practice medicine in the United States.

For more information regarding eligibility or the ABIPP exam follow this link…ABIPP

Comprehensive Pain Medicine Board Review Course

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

CMS Plans to Cut Billions form Medicare Imaging Payments

Recent legislation that solidified the medicare rate freeze carried with it bad news for physicians who conduct imaging services under the program. Beginning in 2007, Medicare will enact a reimbursement cap for most types of imaging scans by paying the lesser of hospital outpatient or physician fee schedule charges. The impending change applies to the technical component of the service and not the interpretation of the scans.

CMS and some lawmakers claim the reimbursement cap is necessary because of the explosion in utilization of imaging services in recent years. But radiologists and other physicians conducting the services see the situation as a hindrance to physicians’ ability to offer imaging technologies that patients increasingly need. Many also consider the cap a potential financial strain that may especially hurt smaller practices.

Subscribers can read more at: American Medical News

Intensive Review Course Open to Internists and Family Practitioners

The Intensive Certification Review Courses in Controlled Substance Management and Coding, Compliance and Practice Management, which will be held in Chicago on May 4-8, will now be open to Internists and Family Practitioners. Review Course brochures will be mailed to Internists and Family Practitioners within a 100 mile radius of Chicago.

This four-day intensive review course is intended to present interventional pain management specialists and other healthcare providers an in-depth review of multiple areas of interventional pain managements.  To view the May brochure or register on-line, go to meetings on the ASIPP Web site.

AMA Leads Project to Develop Quality Measures for P4P

The American Medical Association (AMA) leaders have assured Congress that physicians will have a voluntary Medicare quality reporting system finalized by the end of 2006. The necessity for the report came out of a joint House-Senate working agreement which was signed in December 2005 by AMA Board Chair Duane M. Cady, MD; Senate Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R, IA); House Ways and Means Committee Chair Bill Thomas (R-CA.); and House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee Chair Nathan Deal (R-GA).

The agreement states that physician groups will have developed approximately 140 quality care measures by the end of 2006 and the doctors can start voluntarily informing the government of how well they do on at least three to five of the measures by 2007.

A concern for some physicians is that lawmakers won’t be content with a voluntary reporting system and that full-scale pay-for-performance looms just overhead.

Subscribers can read about the AMA report at amanews.com

Wisconsin Jury Awards $8.4 Million; Largest Since Caps Dissolved

A Wisconsin jury delivered a whopping $8.4 million verdict award – the largest award in a medical liability case since the state Supreme Court tossed out caps on non-economic damages in July 2005.

$4.25 million of that settlement was awarded for pain and suffering damages – a non-economic damage. Had the cap still been in place, this portion of the award would have been only $445,775. The Wisconsin Hospital Association issued a statement saying “’fears’ about the repeal of the malpractice caps ‘came true this week.’”

The group, along with others, fear the lack of caps will increase physician’s malpractice insurance premiums and ultimately cause doctors to flee the state.

Read more on the subject at http://www.madison.com or subscribers can read more about this issue at: amanews.com

State Society Updates

The Massachusetts Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (MASIPP) will hold its annual meeting on April 8th at 12 p.m. at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel. Officers will meet at 11 a.m. – the lunch meeting is free for all MASIPP members.

RSVP by April 1 to Jim Murphy via e-mail at: jmurphy@pain-management-center.com or by phone at 508.824.0035. For the invitation click here…