April 14, 2010
Senate Clears Way For Passage of Temporary Physician Fee-Fix; Vote on Bill Expected Thursday or Friday |
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The U.S. Senate overcame a Republican filibuster Monday evening against a bill containing a one-month delay of the 21.3 percent cut in Medicare physician fees, allowing for a final vote on Thursday or Friday, according to the The Hill.
The physician fee cut actually went into effect April 1, but CMS postponed it for 10 business days, which expire on Wednesday. However, CMS has said there is a built-in delay in processing bills.
Becker's Hospital Review |
Register Today to Attend the Most Exciting ASIPP Annual Meeting Ever! |
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Mark your calendars now to attend ASIPP's 12th annual meeting will be held June 26-30,2010 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City.
We are offering three separate sessions focused on the Future of Interventional Pain Management: Evidence-Based Medicine, Comparative Effectiveness, and Practice Management. We are building on the information presented last year, while encompassing the changes in the legislation and political environment. We have several prominent speakers in the line-up, such as, Dr. Roger Chou; Dr. Gabor Racz; Medical Economist CEO, J.D. Kleinke; Founder and President of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review; Deputy Assistant Administrator, and many others.
In addition to the information-packed presentations on EBM and Comparative Effectiveness, we will also offer a practice management series of presentations, which will cover the essential coding and compliance lectures. This series is ideal for physicians and is invaluable for their staff. You could easily consider sending your staff to this meeting as an investment. They will walk away armed with the information they need to better understand the billing and coding issues they face on a daily basis.
Since last year's gala celebration was such a success, we decided to reprise this event with a celebration in the theme of An Evening in the Windy City. The evening will start with a cocktail mixer and move right into dinner, a brief business meeting, awards, and then entertainment from comedian and hypnotist, Flip Orley. After this, we will crank-up the fun and begin an evening of socializing, dancing and celebrating.
New this year, the North American Neuromodulation Society and the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians are joining forces to bring to you the 12th Annual Legislative Session. On Monday, June 28, we will prepare for our Capitol Hill visits. Tuesday morning, June 29th, we will once again go as a group to Capitol Hill and make our voices heard. This is your opportunity to speak with your representatives and senators about the legislative issues that affect you and your practice.
For more information, click HERE for the brochure.
Mark your calendar today! |
April 20 Webinar to Address How Interventional Pain Practices Can Stay Ahead of Government Enforcement Efforts |
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The federal government believes that health care fraud is rampant. To fight this perceived fraud, President Obama formed the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) and increased the amount of financial support for healthcare fraud investigations to $1.7 billion in the 2011 budget. Interventional Pain Practitioners have to understand the scope of government enforcement efforts and be on the look-out for enforcement efforts targeting pain practices.
And interventional pain practices are on the radar screen. Whether it is the Office of Inspector General's report on Medicare payments for facet joint injections or including transforaminals in the OIG's Workplan for 2010, it seems that the government is focusing on interventional pain practices.
On top of that, the billing landscape for IPPs seems to change daily. Not only do the codes change, but coverage changes as well. In fact, sometimes it seems like the billing rules change every day, and Interventional Pain Practitioners are supposed to keep up with it all.
Vicki Myckowiak, J.D. of Myckowiak Associates is here to help. In an intensely practical session, Vicki will give you the information you need to keep your practice compliant. Ms. Myckowiak will tell you what is on the compliance horizon for pain practices and where you can look to keep up on those issues that directly affect your practice.
The webinar titled, How Interventional Pain Practices Can Stay Ahead of Government Enforcement Efforts, will be at 2 pm April 20. Cost is $135. Participant may receive 1.5 CMEs for attending this event
Register Online Today! |
Join Us in Chicago in August |
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Make plans now to attend of one ASIPP's comprehensive courses to be held in the Windy City August 9-14. Meetings will be held at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel.
Comprehensive Pain Medicine and Interventional Pain Management 2010 Board Review Course August 9-13, 2010 - Chicago, IL Register | Brochure
Comprehensive Review in: Controlled Substance Management August 9-10, 2010 - Chicago, IL Coding, Compliance, and Practice Management August 12-13, 2010 - Chicago, IL Register | Brochure
Register today |
Submit your Abstract for Consideration Today |
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The Online Abstract Submission (see step-by-step procedures below) for the 12th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) is now open. The meeting will be held June 26- June 30, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA.
Abstract submission deadline will be May 21, 2010. Those selected will be notified and will receive free registration to the annual meeting.
Selected abstracts will be presented along with posters at the annual meeting on Saturday June 26 or Sunday June 27.
Submit your abstract today! |
Health Reform's Next Challenge: Who Will Care for the Newly Insured? |
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The health system reforms signed into law in March will cover an estimated 32 million uninsured patients by 2019. But there may not be enough physicians to care for them.
The nation likely will see a shortage of about 160,000 physicians by 2025 -- leaving too few to keep up with the flood of newly insured patients seeking care for long-neglected health problems.
American Medical Association |
Oklahoma Passes Interventional Pain Management and Treatment Act |
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The state of Oklahoma has just passed State Bill 1133. This law will prevent nurse anesthetist from practicing interventional pain management.
Congratulations to the Oklahoma State Society for all their work on this issue.
OK SB1133 |
Doctor Shortage? 28 States May Expand Nurses' Role |
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CHICAGO - A nurse may soon be your doctor. With a looming shortage of primary care doctors, 28 states are considering expanding the authority of nurse practitioners. These nurses with advanced degrees want the right to practice without a doctor's watchful eye and to prescribe narcotics. And if they hold a doctorate, they want to be called "Doctor."
For years, nurse practitioners have been playing a bigger role in the nation's health care, especially in regions with few doctors. With 32 million more Americans gaining health insurance within a few years, the health care overhaul is putting more money into nurse-managed clinics.
St. Augustine Record |
Massachusetts Wins First Round in Battle with Insurers Over Rate Hikes |
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BOSTON - An ongoing battle between state officials and health insurers over proposed rate hikes is putting Massachusetts front and center in the debate over controlling healthcare costs.
A state supreme court judge fired the latest salvo with his April 12 decision to deny a preliminary injunction sought by six health insurers to raise premiums by an average of 8 percent to 32 percent for about 50,000 policies. Those policies, which were up for renewal, cover approximately 200,000 members in a pooled group of individual and small business owners.
Healthcare Finance News |
CMS Issues Sanctions Against Aetna |
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WASHINGTON - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued an intermediate sanction against the Aetna Insurance Company for what CMS officials said are violations in administering the Medicare drug benefit.
According to CMS officials, the sanction would become effective April 21 and would prevent Aetna from marketing to and enrolling new beneficiaries until it corrects the violations and "they are not likely to recur."
CMS said Aetna "has continued to improperly administer the Medicare drug benefit in the plan's national standalone prescription drug plan (PDP) and its 25 Medicare Advantage prescription drug (MA-PD) contracts."
Healthcare Finance News |
Wide Gaps Remain in Quality of Care, Says AHRQ |
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Despite much more attention to the issue of patient safety, rates of postoperative sepsis- or bloodstream infections-increased in the U.S. by 8% between 2009 and 2008, according to one of two new lengthy reports issued by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The first document, called the National Healthcare Quality Report, pointed out these other disturbing signs:
- Post-operative catheter associated urinary tract infections increased by 3.6%.
- Rates of selected infections due to medical care increased by 1.6%
- There has been no decline, but also no increase, in the number of bloodstream infections associated with central venous catheter placements.
- Rates of postoperative pneumonia declined by 12%.
HealthLeaders Media |
New CMS Anesthesia Guidelines Completely Rewrite Former Standards |
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A recent round of edits to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) interpretive guidelines has caught the attention of experts in the field for its focus on anesthesia guidelines.
Any hospital that accepts Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement must follow these interpretive guidelines, explains Sue Dill Calloway, RN, MSN, JD, director of hospital risk management for The Doctor's Company, in Columbus, OH.
HealthLeaders Media |
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Copyright © 2008
American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians ®
81 Lakeview Drive, Paducah, KY 42001
Phone 270.554.9412, Fax 270.554.5394
E-mail asipp@asipp.org
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