December 1, 2010
Congress Puts Off Cuts to Doctor Medicare Payments |
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress agreed Monday to a one-month delay in Medicare payment cuts to doctors, giving a short-term reprieve to a looming crisis over treatment of the nation's elderly.
The House, in approving by voice vote the bill passed by the Senate earlier this month, postponed a 23 percent cut in doctors' pay scheduled to take effect Dec. 1. That gives lawmakers a month to come up with a longer-term plan to overhaul a system that in recent years has bedeviled Congress, angered doctors and jeopardized health care for 46 million elderly and disabled.
"This bill is a stopgap measure to make sure that seniors and military families can continue to see their doctors during December while we work on the solution for the next year," said Rep. Frank Pallone, R-N.J., chairman of the Energy and Commerce health subcommittee.
Associated Press |
Reserve Your Spot Today for 2011 Review Course and Cadaver Workshops |
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Registration is now open for the February and April Comprehensive Review Course and Cadaver Workshop in Interventional Pain Management. Both courses feature Basic, Intermediate, and Comprehensive Interventional Pain Management Examination section levels. The courses will be held on February 18-20 and April 8-10 in Memphis, Tenn. In order to maintain an optimal participant/instructor ratio, space in both courses is limited so please register early to assure a spot in the course and in the level of your choice.
During the 2½-day Comprehensive Review Course and Cadaver Workshop, you can improve existing skills and/or learn new techniques. You will have the opportunity for personal interaction with our distinguished faculty comprised of excellent teachers and lecturers. It is always our goal is to create a thorough and compelling educational experience for you.
Whether you have been practicing interventional pain management for many years or are new to the field with basic skills, we are confident you will find these courses and workshops to be beneficial to you in your practice. With the ever changing dynamics in healthcare and in the specialty of interventional pain management, it-is essential that we continue learning and exploring new procedures and techniques in our specialty.
Both courses will take place at the Marriott Memphis, 2625 Thousand Oaks Boulevard (901-362-6200) on Friday. Ask for the ASIPP reduced room rate of $129 when making your accommodations. On Saturday and Sunday we will transport you the Medical Education and Research Institute (MERI) for a hands-on learning experience.
Click HERE for February Registration
Click HERE for April Registration
Register for 2011 Course Today |
OIG Targets Medicaid Reimbursement for Non-Approved FDA Drugs |
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WASHINGTON - A new study from the Office of the Inspector General has discovered that Medicaid may be paying for drugs it shouldn't.
The study found that 38 percent of Medicaid drug reimbursement has been used to pay for medications not listed in the National Drug Code Directory issued by the Food and Drug Administration.
The OIG's study found that 62 percent of drugs paid for by Medicaid in 2008 had an approved application number in the National Drug Code directory. These drugs accounted for 75 percent of total Medicaid expenditures for prescription drugs in 2008. The remaining 38 percent either did not have an approved application number listed or were not in the NDC directory, the study found.
Healthcare Finance News |
Article Discusses Results of 2008 IPM Bacteremia Outbreak |
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Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine has just published an article on an outbreak of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter aerogenes Bacteria in it's November-December issue
The manuscript discusses an outbreak which occurred after interventional pain management procedures were performed in New York City in 2008.
Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine |
Federal District Judge Rules in Favor of Healthcare Reform |
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LYNCHBURG, VA - A Virginia federal district judge has ruled in favor of the constitutionality of the healthcare reform law.
Ruling Tuesday on a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act by Liberty University and five individuals, Judge Norman Moon said it is constitutional for Congress to require individuals to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty.
Moon said there is "a rational basis for Congress to conclude that individuals' decisions about how and when to pay for healthcare are activities that in the aggregate substantially affect the interstate healthcare market."
Healthcare Finance News |
Bundle Webinars on Coding for AMA and CMS Set for Dec. 7, Dec. 14 |
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ASIPP is pleased to offer you the opportunity to attend a bundle of webinars that will explain the RVU changes in the Medicare Physicians Fee Schedule and how they impact the most frequently performed interventional procedures and services. The two webinars will both be at 10 am EST. On Dec. 7, the topic will be AMA Coding and then on Dec. 14, the topic will be CMS Coding.
Joanne Mehmert, President of Joanne Mehmert & Associates, LLC, in Kansas City, Missouri, has specialized in consulting for coding, billing and reimbursement issues for Anesthesia and Pain Management for the past 10 years. A Certified Operating Room Technician and a Certified Professional Coder, she brings "walk in your shoes" experience directly to physicians' staff as well as an understanding of the clinical aspects of the practice. Memhert will update you on the various government audit tools, who they are and what their goals are.
With the drop in fees and all payers creating much more strict medical policies before they will pay for interventional procedures, you can't afford to fall behind in the coding changes. We will include AMA coding decisions and 2010 coding news affecting IPM.
Cost for both webinars is $195. The courses have been approved for a total of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Register Today! |
Drug Control Policy Director Proposes Mandatory Prescription Monitoring Program |
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The state's Drug Control Policy director says education is key to reversing a dramatic increase in prescription drug abuse in Iowa. Gary Kendell says there's a perception that recreational use of prescription and over the counter medicines is "safer" than drugs like methamphetamine or heroin. "That's our big challenge with alcohol as well," Kendell said. "It's a socially acceptable substance and we have a difficult time regulating it and convincing people it's dangerous to use."
Iowa treatment centers have also reported a dramatic increase in clients abusing prescription drugs - particularly painkillers like hydrocodone and oxycodone. The state has a voluntary Prescription Monitoring Program, but only 10 to 12 percent of the providers in the state are currently taking part in the program. Kendell would like to make participation in the program mandatory for doctors and pharmacists. He believes that would prevent people from stockpiling prescription drugs. "They'll go to see multiple doctors and multiple pharmacies and they end up with many, many prescriptions for the same drug," Kendell said. "That just provides an incredible supply onto the market for drug users with particular regard to prescription pain killers."
Radio Iowa |
New Florida Law is Delaying Regulation of Pill Mills |
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The fight against pill mills and prescription drug abuse in Florida has hit another snag as a new state law will inadvertently hold up administrative rules meant to regulate pain clinics.
The law requires legislative approval of any state agency rules that could have at least a $1 million impact over five years. It went into effect last week when the Legislature overrode Gov. Charlie Crist's veto of the bill.
The new law was intended to slow down government regulations but, in an unintended consequence, it will delay the Florida Department of Health's rules governing pain clinics, which were to go into effect Sunday. The Legislature will now have to approve the rules, and that likely won't happen until the next session in March.
Florida Times-Union |
Drug Industry Ties to Doctors Weaken as Disclosure, Gift Rules Spread |
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Increased scrutiny of the potential conflicts of interest posed when physicians accept gifts and payments from industry -- combined with greater pay disclosure and a sputtering pharmaceutical pipeline -- have led to a significant drop in doctors' financial ties to drugmakers.
Among the indicators of a declining link between physicians and industry:
- Commercial support for continuing medical education dropped 20%, from a little more than $1 billion in 2004 to $856 million in 2009, according to the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education.
- The amount drugmakers spent on drug rep details dropped 10%, from $6.9 billion in 2005 to $6.3 billion in 2009, the health data firm IMS Health reports.
- Nearly a quarter of physician practices refuse to see drug reps, according to an ongoing survey of 237,000 U.S. clinics conducted by SK&A, a prescriber-profiling firm. Nearly half of practices see reps only with an appointment, up from 40% in February 2009.
AMA |
2010 Interventional Pain Management Practice Survey Now Online |
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Please remember to take part in our 2010 Interventional Pain Management Practice. We have established an online version here to make participation easier and more convenient for you here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PFSCP8R.
As the Interventional Pain Management community is small and select, we must depend on one another for this key practice information. Our purpose is to provide the ASIPP membership with timely information, thereby helping physicians compare practice performance with their peers. The higher the level of participation, the more value the survey will have to our membership.
This survey has been previously distributed at review course meetings and through the ASIPP eNews. The deadline for participation has been extended several times. Unfortunately, we did not receive adequate response to create a reliable profile of our members' practice activity.
If you have already completed the survey and submitted the results, they have been recorded and will be included in our 2010 Practice Benchmark Report. You do not have to re-submit. Please contact the ASIPP Staff at asipp@asipp.org if you have any questions about the survey.
Take online survey now! |
Rethink Social Media Policies in Light of NLRB Complaint, Lawyers Say |
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If an employee posts something really negative about you or your practice on Facebook, your first thought might be to change the employee's job status on the social networking site to unemployed.
But after a recent complaint was filed by the National Labor Relations Board against a company that did just that, lawyers are advising their clients -- including physician practices -- not to be so quick to sign that pink slip, particularly if the social media post is about improving workplace conditions. Attorneys are advising practices to re-examine their social media policies as a result of the complaint -- or write a policy to make sure they are protected.
AMA |
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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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