·  Just a Few Spots Remain for Chicago: 3 Courses, One Location

·  ASIPP Publishes Critical Reviews of APS Guidelines

·  New Data Reveal 400% Increase in Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions for People Abusing Prescription Drugs

·  Justice Department Charges 94 People with Health-Care Fraud

·  Caraway Named to RUC Committee

·  Brief Medicare Pay Fix May Mean Showdown In Lame-Duck Congress

·  Please Participate in IPM Practice Benchmark Survey

·  Comprehensive Imaging Course Set for September

·  Spinal Cord Stimulation Course Slated for September

·  "Meaningful Use" Final Rule Offers Some Flexibility

·  Senate Presses CMS to Prevent 2.9 Percent Cut to Hospitals

·  Opinion: Medicare Needs Systemic Remedies

·  Recorded ASIPP Webinars Available

·  Fewer Medicare Patients for Specialists Due to Consult Code Cuts

·  Upcoming State Society Meetings

·  Physicians Wanted

Just a Few Spots Remain for Chicago: 3 Courses, One Location

You don't want to miss our fabulous Chicago lineup. Make plans to attend ASIPP's Comprehensive Pain Medicine and Interventional Pain Management 2010 Board Review Course to be held in the Windy City August 9-14. Meetings will be held at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel.

Comprehensive Review in: Controlled Substance Management August 9-10, 2010 - Chicago, IL Coding, Compliance, and Practice Management August 12-13, 2010 - Chicago, IL. This intensive review course is designed to present interventional pain management specialists and other health care providers an in-depth review of multiple areas of interventional pain management-the areas we were never taught, yet are crucial for our survival. The course features many nationally recognized experts in pain management billing and coding and practice management as well as controlled substance management. In today's environment of regulations and litigations, you cannot afford not to broaden your knowledge and refresh your skills in these areas.

Click HERE to register for the Comprehensive Review in: Controlled Substance Management August 9-10, 2010 - Chicago, IL Coding, Compliance, and Practice Management August 12-13, 2010 - Chicago, IL

The Comprehensive Pain Medicine and Interventional Pain Management 2010 Board Review Course August 9-13, 2010 - Chicago, IL.

This review is an intensive and comprehensive high-quality review will prepare physicians appearing for the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)-Subspecialty Pain Medicine examination and for the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians (ABIPP)-Part 1 examination. Remember, some of these areas are not even taught in medical school and training programs. In a dynamic world, with daily changing rules and regulations, it is essential to keep yourself updated.

Click HERE to register for the board review.

Register today!

ASIPP Publishes Critical Reviews of APS Guidelines

Recently, the American Pain Society (APS) developed and published multiple guidelines in managing low back pain resulting in multiple publications. However, these guidelines have been questioned regarding their development process, their implementation, and their impact on various specialties.

Two articles, published in Pain Physician journal took on the task to reassess the APS guidelines' evidence synthesis for low back pain diagnostic interventions using the same methodology utilized by the APS authors. The interventions examined were diagnostic techniques for managing low back pain of facet joint origin, discogenic origin, and sacroiliac joint origin.

The reassessment, using appropriate methodology and including high quality studies, shows evidence that differs from published APS guidelines.

Click on the article names to read the reviews in full: A Critical Review of the American Pain Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for Interventional Techniques: Part 1. Diagnostic Interventions

A Critical Review of the American Pain Society Clinical Practice Guidelines For Interventional Techniques: Part 2. Therapeutic Interventions

New Data Reveal 400% Increase in Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions for People Abusing Prescription Drugs

July 16 -- WASHINGTON - Today, Michele M. Leonhart, Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and Thomas McLellan, Deputy Director of ONDCP, joined Peter Delany, Director of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Office of Applied Studies to release a new study showing a 400 percent increase in substance abuse treatment admissions for prescription pain relievers. Governor Jack Markell of Delaware and Chris Kennedy Lawford were also in attendance.

The study, Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions Involving Abuse of Pain Relievers 1998-2008, conducted by the SAMHSA, and based on the agency's Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) reveals a 400 percent increase between 1998 and 2008 of substance abuse treatment admissions for those aged 12 and over reporting abuse of prescription pain relievers. The increase in the percentage of admissions abusing pain relievers spans every age, gender, race, ethnicity, education, employment level, and region. The study also shows a more than tripling of pain reliever abuse among patients who needed treatment for opioid dependence.

DEA

Justice Department Charges 94 People with Health-Care Fraud

The Justice Department stepped up its crackdown on Medicare and Medicaid cheats Friday, announcing charges against 94 people in what authorities called the largest health-care fraud sting in U.S. history.

Federal agents fanned out across five states to arrest defendants accused of bilking the Medicare system out of more than $251 million through false claims for services that were medically unnecessary or never provided. Among those charged, officials said, are doctors and health-care company owners and executives. Thirty-six of the defendants had been arrested as of Friday afternoon.

Washington Post

Caraway Named to RUC Committee

ASIPP is pleased to announce that we now have representation on the AMA's Relative Value Update Committee (RUC). David Caraway, MD, PhD, ASIPP Vice President of Strategic Planning, has been appointed to represent ASIPP as a RUC adviser, effective immediately for a 3-year term.

The RUC makes annual recommendations regarding new and revised physician services to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and performs broad reviews of the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale-(BRVS) every 5 years.

We are pleased that Dr. Caraway has accepted the position and are confident that he will do an excellent job representing not only ASIPP, but also the specialty of interventional pain management.

Brief Medicare Pay Fix May Mean Showdown In Lame-Duck Congress

Washington -- For Leah McCormack, MD, the modest Medicare raise she started receiving in late June to replace a double-digit cut might be the last adjustment the government makes to her pay. After the first half of a particularly tumultuous year for Medicare physicians, she has decided to drop out of the program.

Dr. McCormack, who has operated a solo, private dermatology practice for 25 years in Forest Hills, N.Y., decided in July to terminate all of her contracts with Medicare and managed care companies as soon as she is able. \

"The failure of the government to permanently fix the long-promised physician reimbursement rate factored greatly into this decision," she said.

AMA

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.

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.

"Meaningful Use" Final Rule Offers Some Flexibility

Washington -- The final "meaningful use" rule for electronic medical record adoption gives physicians and hospitals some flexibility in meeting certain objectives to qualify for billions in federal incentives.

The American Medical Association and other physician organizations had expressed concern earlier this year when a proposed rule outlined what should constitute meaningful use of paperless records. They said the plan asked adopters to do too much too quickly and would undermine the government's goal of establishing a nationwide EMR system.

AMA

Senate Presses CMS to Prevent 2.9 Percent Cut to Hospitals

WASHINGTON - Fifty-two senators have pressed the federal government to prevent a 2.9 percent Medicare cut to hospitals in the proposed fiscal year 2011 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) regulation.

The proposed cut is part of a coding "offset" in the IPPS, designed to correct any overpayments hospitals may have received due to changes in Medicare billing codes.

Healthcare Finance News

Opinion: Medicare Needs Systemic Remedies

On June 25, President Barack Obama signed a bill to "fix" payments to doctors by Medicare - until November. Although costing taxpayers $6.5 billion, this short-term patch will just have to be "fixed" again right after the next election. Throwing more money at a broken Medicare reimbursement schedule is what passes for bipartisan success in Washington.

Without the "fix," Medicare would have immediately executed a scheduled 21 percent cut to doctors' Medicare reimbursements. At issue is the Sustainable Growth Rate, which Congress imposed in 1997. The SGR attempts to limit Medicare's payments by the overall rate of inflation, rather than faster-growing medical price inflation. The American Medical Association has lobbied for more money since the SGR started to bite almost a decade ago, and Congress has executed short-term "fixes" every few months since then.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Recorded ASIPP Webinars Available

If you missed a previous ASIPP Webinar, you can still view it online or order the CD at http://asipp.peachnewmedia.com/store/provider/provider09.php?. If you had previously registered for the webinar and missed it there will be no additional charge and you can view it at your convenience. The pdf document of the powerpoint presentation is also available. If you need help to access the recorded version you can click HERE to contact our customer support team or call us at 1-866-702-3278.

If you did not register previously, you may order the recorded webinar and view it online at your convenience or order the CD. The pdf document of the presentation will be available, as will the CME and/or CEU credit certification.

Each new webinar will be archived for future reference or purchase. Current webinar topics available are:

• Staying Ahead Of Government Enforcement Efforts. Speaker: Vicki Mykowiak, JD
• Evidence-Based Interventional Techniques: An Algorithmic Approach To Keeping It Simple, Safe, and Successful. Speaker: Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD, ASIPP CEO and Chairman of the Board
• Coding: Be Prepared for 2010. Speaker: Joanne Mehmert CPC, CCC-PM, ACS-PM

Order Webinar

Fewer Medicare Patients for Specialists Due to Consult Code Cuts

Upset about the federal government's elimination of pay for specialty consultations, about one in five physicians has eliminated or cut back on accepting new Medicare patients, according to a survey by the American Medical Association and 17 professional specialist societies.

HC Pro

Upcoming State Society Meetings

Mark Your Calendar for Georgia State Chapter Meeting

The Annual GSIPP meeting will be August 6-8 at the Lake Oconee Ritz-Carlton at Reynold's Plantation.

Click HERE for more information. Or contact Laurel Smith at lsmith@centersforpain.com.

Physicians Wanted

Visit the ASIPP Web site to find available positions for IPM physicians.

Physicians Wanted