2012 asipp news header                
American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians News  | April 9, 2014

 

IN THIS ISSUE 

  

  1. Help Us Keep the ASIPP Seat on the AMA HOD: Join or Renew Your AMA Membership Today!
  2. ASIPP Annual Meeting Most Successful in History
  3. Dr. Kenneth Candido Named RUC Rep for ASIPP
  4. ASIPP Announces its New Board of Directors for 2014
  5. Register Today: Spinal & NonSpinal Interventional Techniques Offered Just One Time This Year: June 20-21
  6. Save the Date: ASIPP to Hold Practice Management Webinar May 13
  7. Reform Update: N.Y. law lets experienced NPs practice without supervising doctor
  8. Which Medical Specialties Cost Medicare the Most?
  9. More Doubts About Mammograms' Value Are Raised in Large Study
  10. Health-Care Law, Economy Boost Ranks of the Insured
  11. Small Slice of Doctors Account for Big Chunk of Medicare Costs
  12. The Doctor's Office as Union Shop
  13. OIG Study: Questionable Billing for Medicare Electrodiagnostic Tests
  14. Sudden Hospital Closure Stuns MA Community; More Coming
  15. For Hospital CFOs, ICD-10 Delay a Costly Disappointment
  16. CMS to Release Physician Payment Data
  17. State Society News
  18. Physician Wanted

helpHelp Us Keep the ASIPP Seat on the AMA HOD: Join or Renew Your AMA Membership Today!

 

In order for ASIPP to maintain its seat on the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD), we must submit our membership data to the AMA for a 5-year review to determine that we still meet the 35% membership AMA/ASIPP match requirement needed to maintain our HOD seat. We would urge you to check your membership status by April 11, 2014. If you are not current on your AMA dues, please renew them this week. If you are not already a member, we urge you to join the AMA. You can check your membership status by clicking on the following link: https://commerce.ama-assn.org/membership/


Joining the AMA will further strengthen our specialty's representation at the national level through the AMA HOD, the AMA's policymaking body, and strengthen our ability to meet the challenges in interventional pain management today with thoughtful, well-organized responses, specifically in the areas of coding (CPT) and reimbursement (RUC).


As a member of the AMA, you will get access to a broad range of practice management resources and publications such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, AMNews, AMA Morning Rounds and the Archives journals. So this is a win-win request.


Please take this opportunity to support the critical activities of ASIPP by joining the AMA today. To join the AMA, visithttps://commerce.ama-assn.org/membership/ or call (800) 262-3211.

 

Thank you in advance for doing your part in maintaining AMA representation for ASIPP and IPM

successASIPP Annual Meeting Most Successful in History

 

ASIPP's Annual Meeting turned Sweet 16 in April with the largest attendance in ASIPP's history. Those who attended the meeting in New Orleans are still buzzing about what a great success it was. Emailed comments to ASIPP include "What a spectacular meeting! People were making spontaneous comments and compliments" from Joshua Hirsch, MD; "This was the best meeting of ASIPP that I can remember in many years.  Great content, great location, and great networking and friendship building," from Tim Deer, MD; and "Congratulations to our leaders, and of course Melinda and her team. Our goal is to make this meeting the biggest in the country, in the world," from Sudhir Diwan, MD.

 

Those who attended immediately noticed that this meeting was something new and special when they were met with a more streamlined check-in process that took just seconds to complete. World-class lecturers have been a principal feature of every ASIPP Annual Meeting and 2014 was no exception. This year marked the inaugural Raj-Racz Distinguished Lecture, named in honor of two of IPM's legends, Drs. Prithvi Raj and Gabor Racz. The lecture, given by The Honorable Benjamin E. Sasse, PhD, president and professor of History at Midland University and a former U.S. assistant secretary of Health & Human Services, was titled "Navigating Uncertainty in Health Care and Surviving as Individual Pain Physicians in the New Era." An update on the United Kingdom's NICE was given by Steven Ward, MD, and Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of ASIPP, spoke about the challenges and opportunities of the perfect storm facing IPM.

       

The Manchikanti Distinguished Lecture featured one of the rising stars of IPM, Devi E. Nampiaparampil, MD. Dr. Devi, as she is known, has appeared on countless national television programs discussing IPM and other medical topics. She is currently working on a master's degree in journalism to help her further combine media and medicine. ASIPP is proud to announce that Dr. Devi will chair ASIPP's newly formed Young Physicians Section (YPS). Others named officers for YPS are Vice Chairman, Niteesh Bharara; Secretary, Karina Gritsenko; Treasurer, Paul Ky; Delegate-at-Large, Ajay Suma; AMA Delegate, Kaylea Boutwell; and AMA Alternate Delegate, Karina Gritsenko.

       

Attendees could choose from two different tracks in the afternoon sessions. One track focused on clinical and scientific advances in IPM and the other focused on the business of IPM and medicine in general.

         

  An ultrasound workshop chaired by Kenneth Candido, MD was extremely popular. This sold-out event had multiple stations that participants rotated through, getting hands-on ultrasound experience on live subjects. An all-star faculty of imaging experts guided participants through various joint and nerve block visualizations.

         

Dr. Manchikanti announced the formation of ASIPP Department Chairs and Program Directors at Saturday night's business meeting and dinner. In addition, a number of awards were given out. Peter Staats, MD and Sudhir Diwan, MD each received a State Society Award for their dedicated service to promoting IPM on the local level; Drs. Raj and Racz received awards commemorating the establishment of the Raj-Racz Distinguished Lecture, which honors their accomplishments, contributions, and service to IPM; Frank J.E. Falco, MD received the Chairman's Elite Award for his outstanding service, leadership, and contributions to ASIPP and IPM; David S. Kloth, MD was given a Dedicated Service Award for his tireless efforts on behalf of ASIPP and IPM. Abstract Awards were given out. The top 3 were third place, "Standardized Approach to Cervical Epidural Injections (CEI): The 'Prone Left Contralateral Oblique (CLO) Hanging Drop' Technique" presented by Sukdeb Datta, MD; second place, "Reduction of Pain-related Symptoms with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Treatment in Depressed Patients" presented by David G. Brock, MD; and first place, "Predisposing Risk in Injury Claims Exceeding One Year: Predictive Assessment Using Pharmacogenetics" presented by Daniel A. Schwarz, MD. Outgoing president Hans Hansen recognized ASIPP staff members with a Team ASIPP Award. Finally, Ramsin Benyamin, MD was formally introduced as ASIPP's new president for the coming year.

 

Saturday night's dinner meeting wrapped up with medical humor presented by Brad Nieder, MD. Dr. Neider calls himself The Healthy Humorist and his performance ended the evening on an upbeat and hilarious note.

         

Sunday was a half-day for attendees. Its theme was Advocacy in IPM: All Politics are Local. Lectures and presentations focused on ways to help preserve our specialty through political action on the local and national levels.

     

Political action in support of IPM was on the minds of those who attended separate fundraisers for ASIPP's greatest friend in Congress, Representative Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, and Leader Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader from Virginia. The fundraisers were hosted by the ASIPP-PAC (Political Action Committee) and several individual ASIPP members. The fundraisers gave those who attended the chance to educate Representative Whitfield and Leader Cantor about legislative and policy concerns ASIPP has that affect IPM and the practice of medicine.

         

 Next year's annual meeting will be held April 9-11, 2015 at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando in Florida. Many of your IPM colleagues bring their families to the meetings and next year's Orlando meeting will be perfect for that. Registration information will be posted on the ASIPP Web site and announced in emails and upcoming issues of the ASIPP News when it becomes available. Don't miss it!

rucDr. Kenneth Candido Named RUC Rep for ASIPP

 

Dr. David Caraway is retiring from his active medical practice to take a position of Chief Medical Officer for Nevro. As a result, he has reluctantly resigned from the ASIPP Board and also from his position as the ASIPP representative on the Relative Value Unit Committee (RUC). Dr. Kenneth Candido has agreed to take on this important position. Candido practices interventional pain management at the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, IL. He is a long-time member of ASIPP, as well as a faculty member for ASIPP workshops and meetings.

 

In addition, with Dr. Caraway's board resignation, Dr. Aaron Calodney has been moved up to the position of President-Elect and will be inducted as President at the 17th Annual Meeting on April 9-11, 2015, in Orlando, FL.

 

Dr. Caraway will continue to be a part of ASIPP in other capacities. Please join us in thanking Dr. Caraway for his many years of service to ASIPP and wish him well in his new endeavors.

boardASIPP Announces its New Board of Directors for 2014

 

CHAIRMAN of the BOARD and CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER :Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD-Paducah, KY

 

 PRESIDENT : Ramsin M. Benyamin, MD-Bloomington, IL

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: Hans C. Hansen, MD-Conover, NC

PAST PRESIDENT: Frank J.E. Falco, MD-Newark, DE

PRESIDENT-ELECT: Aaron K. Calodney, MD- Tyler, TX

VICE PRESIDENT STRATEGIC PLANNING: Francis Riegler, MD-Malibu, CA

SECRETARY: Peter S. Staats, MD-Shrewsbury, NJ

TREASURER: David Bryce, MD-Middleton, WI

 

LIFETIME DIRECTORS

Cyrus E. Bakhit, MD-Roanoke, VA

Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD-Paducah, KY

Vijay Singh, MD-Niagara, WI

 

DIRECTORS AT LARGE

Salahadin Abdi, MD, PhD-Houston, TX

Mark V. Boswell, MD, PhD-Louisville, KY

Harold Cordner, MD-Sebastian, FL

Tim Deer, MD-Charleston, WV

Sudhir Diwan, MD-New York, NY

Haroon Hameed, MD-Blatimore, MD

Mariam Hameed, MD-Boston, MA

Joshua A Hirsch, MD-Boston, MA

Alan Kaye, MD, PhD-River Ridge, LA

Allan T. Parr, MD-Covington, LA

Gabor B. Racz, MD-Lubbock, TX

David M. Schultz, MD-Minneapolis, MN

John R. Swicegood, MD-Fort Smith, AR

Andrea M. Trescot, MD-Eagle River, AK

 

DIRECTORS EMERITUS

Standiford Helm II, MD-Laguna Hills, CA

juneRegister Today: Spinal & NonSpinal Interventional Techniques Offered Just One Time This Year: June 20-21

 

  

DESCRIPTION

This 2-day comprehensive review course and cadaver workshop on spinal interventional techniques (basic and intermediate levels) and non-spinal interventional techniques. Participants experience a comprehensive and intense learning opportunity, focusing on interventional pain management techniques.

 

TARGET AUDIENCE/PURPOSE

This intensive review course in spinal and non-spinal interventional techniques is planned as a CME activity for interventional pain physicians-for review, skills improvement or to fullfil state board requirements for CME hours.

 

 OBJECTIVES

After this course, participants should be able to:

- Describe the delivery of multiple aspects of interventional pain management.

- Review multiple areas of interventional pain management including spinal and non-spinal techniques.

- Demonstrate skills through interactive hands-on cadaver workshop.

 

OUTCOME

Physicians should be able to integrate multiple aspects of spinal and non-spinal techniques in interventional pain management in treating their patients so that patients have better outcomes and reduced side effects.

 

UP TO 15.75 AMA PRA CATEGORY 1 CREDITS™

 

ACCOMMODATIONS

CHASE PARK PLAZA

212 N. Kingshighway, St. Louis, MO 63108 - (877) 587-2427

Each tastefully decorated space welcomes you with a comforting array of amenities and personal touches, including fine cotton sheets, generously sized towels and pre­mium toiletries.The discounted nightly rate of $160 is available through May 30, 2014 or until sold out which ever occurs first. Ask for the ASIPP room block when registering.

 

CLICK HERE for Brochure

 

CLICK HERE to Register

webinarSave the Date: ASIPP to Hold Practice Management Webinar May 13

 

PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

May 13, 2014 | 11:00am CST

Mark your calendar

This 90 minute webinar will be presented by Gary M. Janko, Executive Vice President & COO

Pain Solutions Management Group, LLC
 

His experience includes leadership positions in both the provider and payer sectors of the health care system. He is a regular contributor to practice management journals, and lectures on critical business issues affecting medical practices. He is a regular faculty member for ASIPP meetings.

(Complete information to be announced soon)

reformReform Update: N.Y. law lets experienced NPs practice without supervising doctor

 

Experienced nurse practitioners in the state of New York will no longer need to be formally tethered to a physician in order to practice medicine starting Jan. 1.

The
Nurse Practitioners Modernization Act was introduced last year and was included in the state budget enacted last week. The law will allow NPs with more than 3,600 hours of experience to practice without a written practice agreement with a supervising physician. It does not expand NPs' scope of practice or allow them to provide additional services, according to the 3,500-member Nurse Practitioner Association New York State.

The bill was promoted as a way to preserve access for patients who may otherwise not be able to see a physician after previously uninsured state residents gain coverage through the
health insurance exchange or expanded Medicaid.

 

Modern Health

costWhich Medical Specialties Cost Medicare the Most?

 

On Wednesday, Medicare released data detailing how much it paid physicians for procedures for the first time since a court injunction sealed those records in 1979. The insurance program for the elderly and disabled is the biggest U.S. purchaser of health care, spending $77 billion in 2012.

 

Bloomberg

 

doubtsMore Doubts About Mammograms' Value Are Raised in Large Study

 

Nearly 20% of breast cancers diagnosed by mammogram would never cause problems if left alone, according to a new report. Melinda Beck and the study's lead author Dr. Nancy Keating join the News Hub.

 

A large study published Tuesday adds to the growing body of research concluding that screening mammograms save relatively few lives from breast cancer while discovering many cancers that wouldn't have caused problems if left alone.

 

"The more we screen for cancer, the more we find it. But we could have saved some of these women the angst of being told they have cancer," said Nancy Keating, a researcher at Harvard Medical School and senior author of the study, which examined decades of screening data.

 

Wall Street Journal

 

Access to this article may be limited.

boostHealth-Care Law, Economy Boost Ranks of the Insured

 

Research released Tuesday shows 9.3 million Americans gained insurance coverage since the Affordable Care Act took full effect, though most who bought policies through newly established exchanges weren't uninsured and employers accounted for much of the rise in the newly covered.

 

The figures from the nonpartisan research firm Rand Corp. are the latest findings to paint an emerging picture of the law's impact. This and other studies released recently suggest the 2010 law is meeting its goal of lowering the number of Americans without insurance.

 

But only one-third of people, or 1.4 million, who enrolled in plans through HealthCare.gov and state insurance exchanges as of March were previously uninsured, according to Rand. That is slightly higher than the level cited in a February study by McKinsey & Co. that put the proportion at 27%.

 

Wall Street Journal

 

 Access to this article may be limited.

sliceSmall Slice of Doctors Account for Big Chunk of Medicare Costs

 

A tiny sliver of doctors and other medical providers accounted for an outsize portion of Medicare's 2012 costs, according to an analysis of federal data that lays out details of physicians' billings.

 

The top 1% of 825,000 individual medical providers accounted for 14% of the $77 billion in billing recorded in the data. (Interactive: Search database of Medicare payments to providers.)

 

The long-awaited data reveal for the first time how individual medical providers treat America's seniors-and, in some cases, may enrich themselves in the process. Still, there are gaps in the records released by the U.S. about physicians' practice patterns, and doctors' groups said the release of such data leaves innocent physicians open to unfair criticism.

 

 

Wall Street Journal

 

Access to his article may be limited.

unionThe Doctor's Office as Union Shop

 

As the country moves toward the effective start date of the Affordable Care Act in 2014, the operational and economic elements of this vast legislation are becoming clearer. Yet one likely outcome of the act that will directly affect the quality of patient care, and could affect its cost, has gone virtually unnoticed and unreported: the increasing trend for physicians to become employees, rather than self-employed. This development represents a potentially radical factor in the transformation of health care-the doctor as union worker.

 

Physicians have historically practiced either in small groups or alone. Unlike hospitals, which operate under the rubric of large regulatory agencies, physicians have been much more difficult to regulate and monitor. For cost control to be effective, the professional autonomy and independent clinical judgment of the physician and other providers must in some measure be sacrificed to standardization. This can't be accomplished by overseeing thousands of doctors in thousands of offices and medical complexes, each conducting its own symphony.

 

The Obama administration, by intent or accident, has effectively driven a major change in the status of physicians. By reducing the reimbursement for certain office-based specialists while enhancing related payment to hospitals, the administration is compelling more and more physicians-many of them with an any-port-in-a-storm fatalism-to seek employment with health systems or large physician groups.

 

Wall Street Journal

 

 

 Access to this article may be limited.

oigOIG Study: Questionable Billing for Medicare Electrodiagnostic Tests

 

WHY WE DID THIS STUDY

In 2011, Medicare paid approximately $486 million to 21,700 physicians who billed for electrodiagnostic tests for 877,000 beneficiaries. Electrodiagnostic tests are used to evaluate patients who may have nerve damage. Recent investigations have found that electrodiagnostic testing is an area vulnerable to fraud, waste, and abuse. For example, in 2011, following work by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, a group of physicians was charged with fraudulently billing Medicare $113 million for false claims, including claims for electrodiagnostic tests. CMS issues comparative billing reports to providers for a variety of services, including electrodiagnostic testing. Such reports are intended to proactively educate providers and to help them identify and correct errors in their billing.

 

HOW WE DID THIS STUDY

We developed seven measures of questionable billing on the basis of past OIG work and input from CMS staff. We analyzed Medicare 2011 electrodiagnostic test claims to identify physicians who had unusually high billing for at least one of these measures. We also determined whether physicians with questionable billing for electrodiagnostic tests received comparative billing reports in 2011 for such tests. Finally, we identified the geographical areas with the highest amounts of questionable billing.

 

OIG

 

suddenSudden Hospital Closure Stuns MA Community; More Coming

 

The events leading up to the abrupt closure of a regional hospital in a remote corner of Massachusetts are complicated. But many community hospitals across the country are equally vulnerable, and more will close.

 

Tucked into the northwest corner of Massachusetts in a valley between the Taconic mountain range to the west the Berkshires to the east sits the state's smallest city, North Adams.

 

Cotton, wool, and textile mills fueled the growth of this town generations ago. Today on the sprawling site of one of those industrial complexes, the city boasts a world-class contemporary art museum.Still, incomes are low and jobs are scarce.

 

Health Leaders Media

hospitalFor Hospital CFOs, ICD-10 Delay a Costly Disappointment
 
 Last week's surprise delay of ICD-10 implementation is a lose-lose-lose proposition for provider organizations: Costs will rise, physicians are likely to disengage, and the clinical benefits will be put off.   

 

When the news broke early last week that the Senate passed and the president signed legislation that included a one-year delay for ICD-10 implementation, I could almost hear the collective groan coming from the healthcare finance community.

 

I have had many conversations about ICD-10 with CFOs and senior-level finance executives at provider organizations over the last 12 months. No one was expecting-or even hoping for-another delay, so I was sure the postponement to October 1, 2015, was unwelcome news to a lot of people.

 

Health Leaders Media

 

 

cmsCMS to Release Physician Payment Data

 

CMS logo CMS has announced it will give the public unprecedented access to Medicare physician payment data.

 

No earlier than April 9, the agency will release data concerning the number and type of healthcare services provided by individual physicians and how much Medicare paid them in 2012, according to a blog post by CMS Principal Deputy Administrator Jonathan Blum. The data includes information on more than 880,000 healthcare professionals across the country who received a total of $77 billion in Medicare Part B fee-for-service payments in 2012. Mr. Blum called the development "another major step forward in making our healthcare system more transparent and accountable."

 

"Data like these can shine a light on how care is delivered in the Medicare program," he wrote. "They can help consumers compare the services provided and payments received by individual healthcare providers. Businesses and consumers alike can use these data to drive decision-making and reward quality, cost-effective care."

 

Becker's Spinal Review

 

  
Hyatt 
si bone-more than- 4-6-8-10-12   
    
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Georgia Society Chapter Plans Meeting

 

 The Georgia Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (GSIPP) will have its 10th Annual Pain Summit April 25 - 27, 2014 at The Ritz Carlton Lodge Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, GA.

 

For more information and registration, visit www.gsipp.com

  

FSIPP Annual Meeting set for May 16-18, 2014

 

The Florida  Soceity of Interventional Pain Physicians will hold its annual meeting May 16-18 at the Hilton Bonnet Creek, Orlando, Florida--

On the Disney Property.

 

Don't miss this year's FSIPP Annual Meeting. It is expected to supersede all other meetings and includes an additional full-day Friday Schedule with concomitant sessions, Session A, Prescribing Controlled Substances and Session B, Practice Management. Our full-day Practice Management Session is a new edition to our meeting and will include: ICD-10, PQRS, HIPPA and cyber situations, audits, efficiency, solvency and much more. Our Controlled Substance Workshop will provide full updates on the pill mill crisis in Florida, a review of current statistics, trends in prescribing practices and addiction. The Friday Night Dinner for you and your family will feature Spanish Guitar Music, Flamenco Dancers, Sketch Artists and a Banquet Dinner. Discounted packages for the Spectacular Disney World Kingdoms are available to all. Lectures on Saturday and Sunday will be presented by nationally recognized speakers on cutting edge issues in pain management.

 

Go to FSIPP's homepage, http://fsipp.org, for information on reserving your hotel room. The Conference Brochure with registration materials will also be available soon and you will be notified.

  

CASIPP Sets Date for Annual Meeting

 

The California Society of Interventional Pain Physicians will hold its 2014 annual meeting September 12-14 at the Terranea Resort (www.terranea.com) in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA.

 

For more information, go to www.casipp.com

 

  

 

* Please send in your State Society meeting news to:
 Holly Long at [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

adsPhysicians Wanted

 

If you are interested in advertising on the Physicians Wanted page, please contact Holly Long for pricing information
Phone (270) 554-9412 ext. 230
Fax: (270) 554-5394

[email protected]

 

Click HERE to view Classified Physicians Wanted Ads listed on the ASIPP website.

ASIPP Members are encouraged to visit and 'Like' or do 'Friend Request' or 'Connect' on ASIPP's new social media sites. ASIPP now has a Facebook account, a Twitter Account, a You Tube account and we are also on LinkedIn. Get more involved today and visit our new sites.
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