September 8, 2010
APS Pro-Con Lecture Presentations Available |
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If you'd like to view a recorded version of the debate between American Pain Society Guidelines between ASIPP Chairman of the Board and CEO Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD, and Roger Chou, MD, American Pain Society Director of Clinical Guidelines Development, click HERE for Dr. Chou and HERE for Dr. Manchikanti.
The forum, titled "Interventional Pain Management in the Era of Evidence-Based Medicine and Comparative Effectiveness Research," was one of the most anticipated events of the ASIPP 12th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The APS Board of Directors voted to develop and disseminate a series of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines on the management of complex pain problems to be used by patients, payers, and providers in 1997. The guidelines deemed some treatments used by interventionalists to be supported by inconsistent or sparse research.
The APS study offers misleading results due to lack of methodological rigour or fact-checking, Dr. Manchikanti said. Beyond the differences over specific treatments, Dr. Manchikanti voiced significant concerns over the reliability of the guideline-writing process.
Dr. Chou said his group's views of interventional treatments are not radical. He said he is not aware of any insurer or organization using the guidelines as a basis for approving treatments or coverage. He added that APS will consider updating the guidelines to include more recent studies. Dr. Manchikanti said the notion of "lack of evidence" in IPM is not new and has been propagated by methodologists, non-interventionalist physicians, non-practicing physicians, insurers and individuals/organizations with conflicts of interest.
While neither Dr. Chou nor Dr. Manchikanti conceded, Dr. Chou said he would seek advice from practicing interventionalists when the guildelines are revised. Dr. Manchikanti said he will do all he can to show health care officials what solid, well-researched interventional pain management guidelines should look like.
Presentation Title: American Pain Society Guidelines Debate: Pro Presentation Date: Saturday June 26, 2010 Speaker: Roger Chou, MD Scientific Director, Oregon Evidence Based Practice Center, Portland, Oregon
Presentation Title: American Pain Society Guidelines Debate: Con Presentation Date: Saturday June 26, 2010 Speaker: Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD, ASIPP Chairman of the Board and CEO |
Few Spots Remain for September Courses |
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Register today to attend the September 17-19 Spinal Cord Stimulation didactic and hands-on cadaver workshop or the September 17-18 The Comprehensive Imaging Review in Interventional Pain Management & Competency Certification in Fluoroscopic Interpretation and Radiation Safety in Memphis, TN.
The Spinal Cord Stimulation meeting marks 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.
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. Click HERE to register.
The Comprehensive Imaging Review in Interventional Pain Management & Competency Certification in Fluoroscopic Interpretation and Radiation Safety 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.
Click HERE to register.
Register now to attend. |
CMS Letter Provides Guidance on NCCI section of Affordable Health Care Act |
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released another State Medicaid Director (SMD) letter in a series of guidance on implementation of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. This letter provides initial guidance about Section 6507 of the Affordable Care Act- Mandatory State Use of National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI). Specifically, the letter outlines several key pieces of information including State use of NCCI statutory requirements; implementation of NCCI methodologies in Medicaid; and resources and funding for implementing NCCI methodologies in State Medicaid programs.
Section 6507 of the Affordable Care Act amends section 1903(r) of the Social Security Act (the Act). Section 1903(r)(4) of the Act, as amended, requires CMS to take three specific actions by September 1, 2010:
- Notify States of NCCI methodologies that are "compatible" with claims filed with Medicaid to promote correct coding and control improper coding leading to inappropriate payment of claims under Medicaid.
- Notify States of the NCCI methodologies (or any successor initiative to promote correct coding and to control improper coding leading to inappropriate payment) that should be incorporated for claims filed with Medicaid for which no national correct coding methodology has been established for Medicare.
- Inform States as to how they must incorporate these methodologies for claims filed under Medicaid.
By March 1, 2011, CMS must submit a report to Congress that includes the September 1, 2010, notice to States and an analysis supporting these methodologies. Section 1903(r)(1)(B)(iv), as amended, requires that States incorporate compatible methodologies of the NCCI administered by the Secretary and such other methodologies as the Secretary identifies, effective for Medicaid claims filed on or after October 1, 2010.
The NCCI is a CMS program that consists of coding policies and edits. Providers report procedures/services performed on beneficiaries utilizing Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes. These codes are submitted on claim forms to Fiscal Agents for payment. NCCI policies and edits identify procedures/services performed by the same provider for the same beneficiary on the same date of service. This program was originally implemented in the Medicare program in January 1996 to ensure accurate coding and reporting of services by physicians. The coding policies of NCCI are based on coding conventions defined in the American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology Manual, national and local Medicare policies and edits, coding guidelines developed by National societies, standard medical and surgical practice, and/or current coding practice.
CMS |
Botox Maker Settles Case for $600 Million |
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The specialty pharmaceutical company Allergan has agreed to pay $600 million to settle civil and criminal accusations that it illegally marketed Botox, the drug used in antiwrinkle injections, for medical uses for which the drug had not been approved.
In the settlement with the Justice Department, the company agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor charge and pay $375 million to the government for misbranding - making statements about a drug for a use not approved in the product label by the Food and Drug Administration.
New York Times |
Deadline for IPM Practice Benchmark Survey Friday |
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This is your last chance to get the voice of Interventional Pain Management heard. Please participate in the second Interventional Pain Management Practice Benchmark Survey. This information will be utilized to determine data for interventional pain. 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 this Friday, September 10, 2010. |
Planned Medicare Reimbursement Cut 'Will Never Take Place', Says Sen. Cardin |
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If U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin gets his way in Congress, physicians, especially those in primary care, could get a bigger paycheck.
While the health care reform law will widen access to health care coverage for 98 percent of Americans, Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, said the law doesn't address major issues like Medicare reimbursement rates, which are slated to be cut by 21 percent in December.
Washington Business Journal |
Health Care Wastefulness Is Detailed in Studies |
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In a snapshot of systemic waste, researchers have calculated that more than half of the 354 million doctor visits made each year for acute medical care, like for fevers, stomachaches and coughs, are not with a patient's primary physician, and that more than a quarter take place in hospital emergency rooms.
The authors of the study, which was published Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs, said it highlighted a significant question about the new federal health care law: can access to primary care be maintained, much less improved, when an already inadequate and inefficient system takes on an expected 32 million newly insured customers?
New York Times |
Colorado Governor Plans to Opt Out of Physician Supervision for Anesthesia |
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Colorado Governor Bill Ritter is planning a policy change that would allow certified registered nurse anesthetists to administer anesthesia without a physician's supervision, a decision that has angered Colorado anesthesiologists, according to a Denver Post report.
Mr. Ritter will decide in the next few weeks whether to opt out of a federal Medicare rule that requires physician supervision of CRNAs. Fifteen states have opted out of the rule since they were granted the option to do so in 2001.
Becker's ASC Review |
Drug Addiction Pill Suboxone Costly for Kentucky |
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Kentucky's Medicaid program spent nearly $11 million last year for an expensive, brand-name prescription medication used to help deal with drug addiction - even though the state does not pay for the treatment programs that experts say should accompany its use.
Spending on the drug, Suboxone, comes at a time when the state is struggling to control pharmacy costs to help reduce a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall in Medicaid, the health plan for poor and disabled people.
And the illegal sale of Suboxone - a narcotic designed to ease drug cravings - is becoming an increasing problem in Kentucky, said drug enforcement officials.
Louisville Courier Journal |
SJC Backs Doctor on Patient Confidentiality |
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Investigations of potential physician misconduct do not trump the law protecting confidentiality between psychotherapists and patients, the state's highest court ruled yesterday, siding with a doctor who defied a subpoena for patient treatment records despite concerns he might be overprescribing pain medication.
In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court held that a psychiatrist identified only as John Doe had the right to defy a subpoena by the state Board of Registration in Medicine for the records of two dozen of his patients.
The Boston Globe |
Elections 2010: Physicians on the Ballot |
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More Americans -- and physicians -- are running for Congress this year than in any other election in recent decades.
At least 47 physicians filed the paperwork necessary to run for a congressional seat, according to AMPAC, the American Medical Association's nonpartisan political action committee. In addition, 15 physicians are running for re-election to Congress, increasing the prospect for more doctors to take House and Senate seats in the November midterm elections. However, some physician candidates were defeated in primary elections, and others still face late primaries.
American Medical Association |
Physicians Wanted |
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Visit the ASIPP Web site to find available positions for IPM physicians.
Physicians Wanted |
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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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