·  Spinal Cord Stimulation Course Slated for September

·  Florida ABIPP Diplomats Granted Approval to Advertise

·  Ohio Pain Management Physician Faces 19 Malpractice Suits, Files for Bankruptcy

·  Report: 95 Medical Liability Claims Filed for Every 100 Physicians

·  Single-Question Drug Screening Urged

·  FDA Moves Toward Tighter Medical Device Oversight

·  Move to Restrict Pain Killers Puts Onus on Doctors

·  Please Participate in IPM Practice Benchmark Survey

·  Comprehensive Imaging Course Set for September

·  Nixed Medicare Consultation Codes Force Doctors to Make Cutbacks

·  Medical Societies Demand Insurers Rethink Doctor Cost Ratings

·  Court Delays Virginia's Healthcare Reform Lawsuit

·

Spinal Cord Stimulation Course Slated for September

For the first time, the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) and the North American Neuromodulation Society (NANS) are collaborating to bring you the most focused and comprehensive review course in spinal cord stimulation. We invite you to attend this didactic and hands-on cadaver workshop on September 17-19, 2010 in Memphis, TN.

This state-of-the-art educational program features didactics covering key aspects of spinal cord stimulation as well as a comprehensive hands-on cadaver workshop. This course is designed to meet the credentialing needs of interventional pain physicians but is also valuable to those who want to improve their skills or are new to the procedure and would like to know more.

This in-depth review course and comprehensive spinal cord stimulation cadaver workshop will cover all the important aspects of these techniques and provide a comprehensive overview of the subject, with extensive case discussions, and interaction with the faculty. It is planned as a CME activity to prepare physicians seeking credentialing and as an in-depth review of spinal cord stimulation. During this three-day event, you can improve existing skills and learn new skills.

Register by Aug. 24 to receive specially discounted room rates.

Register now to attend.

Florida ABIPP Diplomats Granted Approval to Advertise

The petition to the Florida Medical and Osteopathic Boards for recognition for the purpose of advertising was approved. On June 4, 2010, ABIPP diplomates Drs. Harold Cordner (FSIPP immediate past president) and Deborah Tracy (FSIPP president) attended a special Florida Board of Medicine meeting to present to the Board supporting evidence for its approval. Prior to this on April 8, 2010, ABIPP diplomates Drs. Rosemary Daly-Camacho, Edward J. Frankoski and Bradley Wargo addressed the Florida Osteopathic Board also to present the request for approval to advertise. The Florida Osteopathic Board's approval is contingent upon an August 20 meeting to finalize documentation. Advertisements of any kind should always list the full name of the certifying body such as "Board Certified by the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians."

ABIPP has petitioned all state medical boards for permission to advertise on behalf of our members. While this is an ongoing process, to date Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Virginia (MD and DO Boards), Washington state, West Virginia all allow physicians certified by ABIPP to advertise "Board Certified by the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians." Rhode Island expands on this by requiring the disclaimer "not an ABMS Board." Our requests to several state boards are still pending.

The American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians was formed in 2005 and currently has 178 members from 41 states.

Ohio Pain Management Physician Faces 19 Malpractice Suits, Files for Bankruptcy

Lawrence Rothstein, MD, a Dayton, Ohio-based board-certified anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist with 19 malpractice suits against him, has filed for bankruptcy, according to a report by the Dayton Daily News.

According to former patient John Fouts, Dr. Rothstein told patients that the laser spine surgery technique he used consistently showed positive or neutral effects on patients. In reality, Dr. Rothstein already had multiple malpractice claims filed against him in response to "catastrophic injuries" following surgery, according to Mr. Fouts' complaint.

Becker's Orthopedic & Spine

Report: 95 Medical Liability Claims Filed for Every 100 Physicians

WASHINGTON - For every 100 physicians, there are 95 medical liability claims filed against them, according to the American Medical Association.

AMA officials say their new report paints a bleak picture of physicians' experiences with medical liability claims and bolsters the case for national and state level reform.

The report includes information on medical liability claims' impact by age, gender and practice arrangement for physicians. Highlights include:

• · Nearly 61 percent of physicians age 55 and older have been sued.
• · There is wide variation in the impact of liability claims between specialties. The number of claims per 100 physicians was more than five times greater for general surgeons and obstetricians/gynecologists than it was for pediatricians and psychiatrists.
• · Before they reach the age of 40, more than half of all obstetricians/gynecologists have already been sued.
• · 90 percent of general surgeons age 55 and older have been sued.

Healthcare Finance News

Single-Question Drug Screening Urged

A single question can help primary care physicians identify patients who misuse drugs, according to a new Archives of Internal Medicine study: "How many times in the past year have you used an illegal drug or used a prescription medication for nonmedical reasons?"

Participants, who were age 18 and older, were asked the single screening question. A positive result for drug use was defined as a patient response of at least one time.

Illicit drug use and nonmedical use of prescription drugs are underrecognized, the study said. Lead author Peter Smith, MD, said the new screening test is more efficient than standard multiquestion drug surveys.

American Medical Association

FDA Moves Toward Tighter Medical Device Oversight

Makers of X-ray machines, drug pumps and other medical devices would have to submit more safety information to win federal approval under a proposal designed to tighten regulation of thousands of products reviewed each year. The Food and Drug Administration released recommendations Tuesday night designed to improve oversight of the U.S. device industry, including the government's ability to revoke approval for products that prove unsafe or ineffective.

. The FDA's report comes nearly a year after FDA's medical devices division endured a storm of criticism from public health advocates and lawmakers. Last August, the head of the device division resigned, months after scientists under his leadership alleged they were pressured to approve certain products. Last year began with congressional investigators saying the FDA should take immediate steps to make sure more devices are reviewed through the most stringent process.

Atlanta-Journal Constitution

Move to Restrict Pain Killers Puts Onus on Doctors

In an unusual move, a state government is developing regulations meant to stop doctors from prescribing higher doses of powerful - and often dangerous - pain killers for patients who are not benefiting from them.

The effort, in Washington State, represents the most sweeping attempt yet to stem what some experts see as the excessive use of prescribed narcotics, and it is being closely watched by medical professionals elsewhere. Among other things, Washington would apparently become the first state to require a doctor to refer patients on escalating doses of pain killers for evaluation if they were not improving.

Experts in pain treatment and drug abuse prevention say the growing use of long-acting pain killers like OxyContin, fentanyl and methadone has been a crucial factor in a nationwide epidemic of overdose deaths, largely from the abuse of such drugs.

New York Times

Please Participate in IPM Practice Benchmark Survey

We are pleased to announce our second Interventional Pain Management Practice Benchmark Survey.

There is no other source for this information in the Interventional Pain Management community and we must depend on one another for this key practice information. Our purpose is to provide the ASIPP membership with timely information that you can use to compare your practice performance with your peers. The higher the level of participation, the more value the survey will have to our membership.

We urge you to complete the attached Interventional Pain Management 2010 Practice Benchmark Survey and send to Gary Janko at the earliest possible date, but certainly by the submission deadline of September 10, 2010.

Please Send Completed Survey To: ASIPP Practice Benchmark Survey c/o Gary M. Janko Executive Vice President Pain Solutions Management Group 21 Eastman Avenue Bedford, NH 03110

IPM Practice Management Survey

Comprehensive Imaging Course Set for September

Make plans to attend the Comprehensive Imaging Review in Interventional Pain Management & Competency Certification in Fluoroscopic Interpretation and Radiation Safety on September 17-18, 2010, in Memphis, TN.

This comprehensive seminar is designed to provide interventional pain physicians with the ability to understand radiological evaluations and fluoroscopic interpretation. In addition, we offer to all interested physicians the opportunity to sit for a radiation safety competency examination.

This course is an essential component for interventional pain physicians and will provide educational opportunities to assist you in providing high quality, competent, safe, accessible and cost-efficient services to your patients. This course, as with all ASIPP courses, focuses on doing the right things, the right way and for the right reasons.

To receive a specially discounted room rate, make your reservations to attend by Aug. 24, 2010.

Register today.

Nixed Medicare Consultation Codes Force Doctors to Make Cutbacks

Washington -- Thousands of physicians say they have been forced to adopt a number of damaging cost-cutting measures as a result of Medicare discontinuing its use of consultation codes, a policy adopted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that took effect on Jan. 1.

Consultation codes are used most frequently by specialists after patients are referred to them by primary care physicians. Starting this year, Medicare eliminated the use of all consultation codes except telemedicine consults. It directed physicians instead to bill for the visits using only evaluation and management codes that apply.

American Medical Association

Medical Societies Demand Insurers Rethink Doctor Cost Ratings

The American Medical Association -- along with 47 state medical societies -- is calling for an outside entity to formally re-evaluate cost-profiling programs because recently published data indicate that those programs may misclassify many physicians.

"There are serious flaws in the attempts to rate individual physicians based on economic criteria," said AMA President Cecil B. Wilson, MD. The July 19 letter, sent to 47 insurers nationwide, follows a series of studies by RAND Corp. researchers, funded in part by the Dept. of Labor. Those studies concluded, as RAND outlined in a June 21 brief, that current physician cost-profiling records "are not ready for prime time" because of how often cost-profiling systems come to the wrong conclusions.

American Medical Association

Court Delays Virginia's Healthcare Reform Lawsuit

WASHINGTON - In a new twist in the ongoing battle over the right of the federal government to mandate health insurance, a Virginia District Court has said it needs more time to decide whether Virginia should be allowed to move forward with challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

Kenneth Cuccinelli, Virginia's attorney general, had filed suit against Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius arguing that Congress does not have a right to require that Americans purchase health insurance by 2014.

In an Aug. 2 memorandum of opinion, the Virginia court denied the federal government's earlier motion to dismiss Virginia's challenge.

Healthcare Finance News