March 17, 2010
Health Care Fiasco: Obama, Pelosi, and Reid Care |
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Any plan you look at, any way you look at them, all are disastrous- especially for interventional pain management. The only beneficiaries will be insurance companies. Each plan will increase rate, increase taxes, reduce benefits, create high copays (even for Medicare Advantage) and result in non-coverage for almost all interventional techniques.
The administration's control of comparative effectiveness research, coupled with unlimited authority, will kill the health care system in the United States. Ever since the new administration took over, a bureaucratic explosion has occurred, for Medicare in particular and health care in general. As a result, physician practice costs have increased 10%; 20% for ambulatory surgery centers.
Under any of the proposed plans, physician work will increase while payments will see substantial cuts. For patients, higher copays will make interventional pain management unaffordable. Everyone is under the impression that cuts will affect only physicians; however, they will severely curb patient access as well as cut salaries or eliminate positions leading to higher unemployment. With increasing bureaucracy and reducing reimbursements, the quality of health care will be affected substantially; at worst, it will mean the end of quality health care in America.
Please look at the letter written by Stephen Fraser, an anesthesiologist from Indianapolis, to Senator Evan Bayh. He makes very good points.
Stephen Fraser, MD letter |
Manchikanti to Present Webinar on Evidence-Based Interventional Techniques: An Algorithmic Approach To Keeping It Simple, Safe, and Successful |
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The next ASIPP Webinar is scheduled for 7 pm ET March 30. Dr. Laxmaiah Manchikanti, Chairman of the Board, American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, will present a session on Evidence-Based Interventional Techniques: An Algorithmic Approach To Keeping It Simple, Safe, and Successful'. The webinar is worth 1.5 CMES
Cost for the 90-minute session is $145. Dr. Manchikanti advocates a step-by-step implementation of guidelines to apply pain management techniques based on the best available evidence. While it may not apply to every patient, the evidence-based approach promotes validity of treatment and compliance, while avoiding unnecessary procedures.
Discussion points will include:
- How Medicaid, Medicare and private insureres apply Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) and Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER)
- Daily reading strategies to stay current in EBM and CER
- Comparative Effectiveness and The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Register Here |
Make Plans 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. 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! |
Documentation for Dummies and Cadaver Course offered in April |
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Make your plans to attend the Comprehensive Review Course and Cadaver Workshop (Basic, Intermediate, and Comprehensive Interventional Pain Management Examination Preparation Course) or the Documentation for Dummies Review Course April 23-25, 2010 - Memphis, TN. Both meetings will be held at the historic Peabody hotel in Memphis and the MERI Center. Special room rate expires March 30, 2010.
The Documentation for Dummies session is not only an essential element in Interventional Pain Management, but also beneficial to you as a physician and to your practice. Coding, compliance, and practice management are areas which are critical to our field yet ones in which few have adequate training. In todays environment of ever-changing regulations and litigations, we cannot afford to ignore these important and complex subjects.
The intensive review course and comprehensive cadaver workshop is planned as a CME activity to prepare physicians seeking board certification by ABIPP, and/or as an in-depth review of interventional techniques. During this 2½-day event you can improve existing skills, learn new skills, prepare for the interventional techniques certification examination, or prepare for the board examination.
Click HERE to register for the Cadaver review course.
Click HERE to register for the Cadaver review course.
Register Online 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.
This year we are offering an early bird deadline of March 31, 2010. This early deadline will ensure that your abstract gets first preference and an opportunity to grab one of our limited spots for presentation.
A final abstract submission deadline will be April 30, 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! |
Which Option Will House Democrats Use to Pass Health Reform Bill? |
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The new phrase being heard in the House this week is "deem and pass"-a process that would let the Senate healthcare reform bill go through the House-without members actually voting on the measure itself.
The "deem and pass" process instead would let the House vote on a package of changes to the Senate bill, which would approve the provisions in the bill without officially passing the bill.
HealthLeaders Media |
Medicare Pay Patches Persist as Medicine Demands Long-Term Fix |
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Washington -- Even before President Obama signed an extension bill that reverses until April 1 an unprecedented 21% Medicare physician pay cut, the Senate had begun work on the next short-term patch -- this one to delay the rate reduction until Oct. 1.
The Tax Extenders Act, which essentially is a longer-term version of the Temporary Extension Act from March 2, was approved by the Senate on March 10 with a vote of 62-36, sending the measure to the House.
American Medical Association |
Physicians Step Up Protests Against Medicare Cuts |
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Despite the Senate pushing back a possible 21% physician Medicare reimbursement cut until October 1, physicians continue to look for ways to stop the fiscal bleeding.
J. James Rohack, MD, president of the American Medical Association, says he has heard anecdotally from the AMA membership that physicians are taking steps to allot certain days to see Medicare patients, and not see them on others.
HealthLeaders Media |
Stricter Training Urged for Imaging, Radiation |
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Washington -- National standards are needed for the training and certification of individuals -- typically nonphysicians -- conducting medical imaging and radiation therapy, industry witnesses told a House panel during a Feb. 26 hearing.
"The benefits that we as a society have gained from these advancements are enormous," said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D, N.J.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health. "But we often forget the fact that we are still dealing with something that is toxic to the human body. When it is delivered correctly, a single CT scan can deliver as much radiation as 300 chest x-rays."
Experts testified that radiation overdoses at hospitals and other facilities -- as reported recently in The New York Times -- could be reduced with more consistent training, better supervision and procedures to address mechanical errors.
American Medical Association |
At the Breaking Point |
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[The following was excerpted from In Their Own Words: 12,000 Physicians Reveal Their Thoughts on Medical Practice in America by lead author Phil Miller, based on his first-hand, on-the-ground experience dealing with primary care doctors-their problems and frustrations, their strengths and weaknesses, and their central role as the foundation of the American health system.]
In reviewing the thousands of comments submitted by physicians, several general themes emerge. Many physicians wanted policy makers and the public to know that the pressures of medical practice are coming to a head. For hundreds of doctors who added comments to the survey, the practice of medicine has simply become untenable, for a variety of reasons expressed in the comments below. Statements underscoring the various themes are highlighted in bold.
Modern Medicine |
FDA Announces New Boxed Warning on Plavix |
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today added a boxed warning to the anti-blood clotting drug Plavix (clopidogrel), alerting patients and health care professionals that the drug can be less effective in people who cannot metabolize the drug to convert it to its active form.
Plavix reduces the risk of heart attack, unstable angina, stroke, and cardiovascular death in patients with cardiovascular disease by making platelets less likely to form blood clots. Plavix does not have its anti-platelet effects until it is metabolized into its active form by the liver enzyme, CYP2C19.
FDA |
P4P Models Could Improve Medical Professionalism |
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PHILADELPHIA - Properly designed pay-for-performance programs can strengthen the relationship between physicians and patients and increase the likelihood that physicians will deliver the best possible care, according to a panel convened by the American College of Physicians.
"Concerns about the conflicts between medical professionalism and pay-for-performance have been based primarily on theories about the tension between external motivation and self-interest and the internal motivation and self-restraint that characterize professional expectations," said panel member Amir Qaseem, a senior medical associate with the ACP.
Healthcare Finance News |
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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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