October 14, 2009
Health Care Reform Bill Clears Final Senate Panel, Tough Negotiations Loom |
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Health care reform cleared a major hurdle Tuesday, as the Senate Finance Committee voted to send its version of the legislation to the Senate floor after months of closely watched deliberations.
The committee voted 14-9 in favor of the package. One Republican, Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, broke with her party to support the bill. All 13 Democrats on the panel voted in favor of it, while the rest of the Republicans opposed it.
Fox News |
Register Now for Spinal Cord Stimulation, Intrathecal Implantables, or Discal Therapies Review Course and Cadaver Workshop |
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Make plans now to attend the Intrathecal Implantables & Discal Therapies Review Course and Cadaver Workshop December 4-6 in Memphis, TN.
This intensive comprehensive review course and cadaver workshop in spinal cord stimulation, intrathecal implantables and discal therapies will cover all aspects of these techniques providing a comprehensive overview of the subjects, with extensive case discussions and interactions with the faculty. During the 2½ day event, participants will be presented with lectures on spinal cord stimuation, intrathecal implantables and discal therapies. In order to provide a more focused learning experience, you will be provided the opportunity to choose either spinal implantables or discal therapies for the hands-on lab.
Whether you have been practicing these procedures for many years or you are new to the field with basic skills, we are confident you will find this comprehensive review course and hands-on cadaver workshop to be beneficial, as it is essential to learn new and relevant information to survive in the new millennium.
The seminar will be conducted at the Peabody Memphis and the world famous Medical Education and Research Institute ( MERI) in Memphis, TN. Register by November 13 to receive a room discount of $195 per night. Fellows and Residents receive 50% off.
Register Today! |
There is still time to take action: Noridian comment period extended to Oct. 31 |
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Noridian has extended the comment period through the end of this month. This is good news as it buys us more time to convince them that this ruling will be devastating to the states currently covered under this carrier, and also do great harm to patient access.
Please e-mail the letter since it must be received by October 31, 2009. You may e-mail it to policyb.dra fts@noridian.com or to the directors as noted on the ASIPP sample letter.
Click on this link for a sample comment letter to assist you in contacting Noridian. You should customize it on your personal or business letterhead and expand as you desire. It is much more effective to send a letter that reflects the facts from your personal standpoint. To help you expound on your own letter, we are also providing the Comment letter sent by ASIPP . Please feel free to use the references and supporting evidence to assist you in creating your own letter.
We have provided a link to a sample comment letter to Noridian and also a Capwiz link to assist you in contacting Congress. Please don't delay - act soon and encourage others to respond as well.
If you have trouble with any of the links provided in this letter, you can access this information on the ASIPP Web site: http://www.asip p.org/index.html |
Medicaid drug fraud targeted by government watchdog group |
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A recent Government Accountability Office report calling on state and federal health officials to ramp up their efforts against fraud and abuse of controlled substances in the Medicaid program raises the potential for increased scrutiny of physician prescribing, experts said (Sorrel, American Medical News, October 12, 2009).
amednews.com |
How The Modern Patient Drives Up Health Costs |
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The doors to the clinic had been locked for over an hour, and the last light in the sky was quickly fading when two eyes appeared in Teresa Moore's office window, followed by a sharp knock and a glass- muffled plea to be let in: It was a patient (Spiegel, NPR, October 12, 2009).
NPR |
The War on Specialists: Wall Street Journal Opinion Piece |
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In President Obama's Washington, medical specialists are slightly more popular than the H1N1 virus. Compared to bread-and-butter primary care doctors, specialists cost more to train and make more use of expensive procedures and technology- and therefore cost the government more money. Even so, the quiet war Democrats are waging on specialists is astonishing.
The Wall Street Journal |
Facet Joint Interventional Techniques Survey |
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ASIPP members are encouraged to participate in a study titled "A survey of facet joint interventional techniques" The survey should take 10 - 15 minutes to complete. The purpose of this study is to get your input regarding various practice patterns for facet interventions and try to develop a consensus for the use of specific interventions at facet regions.
This study is being conducted by Sukdeb Datta, M.D with Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Interventional Pain Center. An example of a question you will be asked is "How many radiofrequency ablations of the medial branches do you perform in a given year on one patient?"
All answers are private and will not contain any information that could identify you. Participation in this survey is voluntary.
If you have any questions about this survey please contact: Sukdeb Datta, M.D. Vanderbilt University Medical Center Interventional Pain Center Email: sukdeb.datta@Vanderbilt.Edu
Click on the following link to begin the survey: http://vovici.com/wsb.dll/s/108acg3b532
Take Survey Now |
State budget battle:Is it fair to balance budget with special doctor tax? |
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When Michigan House Democrats shook the tax tree last week, a 3% tax on the gross receipts of the state's approximately 28,000 physicians dropped. Nothing on other professions. Just doctors. And a lot of them are grumbling as the bill heads to the Senate for a hearing next week (Christoff, Free Press, October 13, 2009).
freep.com |
Shared Usernames: HIPAA Security No-No |
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Many times in our work with medical facilities and ASCs, we see usernames shared among multiple people. Sometimes this is for (perceived) convenience, sometimes it is because more than one person shares a workstation or terminal and sometimes it is to get around software vendors' licensing terms to avoid paying extra costs for extra licenses. Regardless of the reason, this is a serious HIPAA Security Rule violation. It may also violate the terms of use policy of your software vendor(s), leading to significant fines and penalties. It is also against industry best practices (Jenkins, Becker's ASC Review, October 1, 2009).
Becker's ASC Reivew |
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American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians ®
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Phone 270.554.9412, Fax 270.554.5394
E-mail asipp@asipp.org
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