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American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians News  | May 14, 2014

 

IN THIS ISSUE 

  

  1. Room Block ends soon for June 20-21 Spinal & Non-Spinal Interventional Techniques Workshop  
  2. Dr. Devi: FDA e-cig complaints pile up
  3. ASIPP Keynote Speaker Ben Sasse Wins Nebraska GOP Senate Primary
  4. New England Journal of Medicine Takes on Topic of Health Care Reform
  5. Medicare should not cover lung-cancer screening for smokers, CMS panel concludes
  6. WHO calls on governments to do more to prevent alcohol-related deaths and diseases
  7. Medicare Pays Billions for 'Low-Value Care'
  8. ACA Cost-Sharing Could Limit Rx Access: PhRMA
  9. Utilize your EHR system to boost practice revenue
  10. When Hospitals Buy Practices, Insurers, Patients Pay the Piper
  11. High deductible plans: Balancing out-of-pocket costs and outcomes
  12. Physicians caught in politics of ACA enrollment data
  13. State Society News 
  14. Physician Wanted 

juneRoom Block ends soon for June 20-21 Spinal and Non-Spinal Interventional Techniques Workshop 

  

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 15.25 AMA PRA CATEGORY 1 CREDITS

 

ACCOMMODATIONS

CHASE PARK PLAZA

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

Each tastefully decorated suite 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

deviDr. Devi: FDA e-cig complaints pile up

 

NYU School of Medicine associate professor Dr. Devi Nampiaparampil on the possible side effects of e-cigs and casual marijuana use. Click on the link below to watch her Fox Business interview on the subject.

 

 

Fox Business

 

  

Injuries from e-cigarettes increase amid rising popularity

 

Complaints of injury linked to e-cigarettes, from burns and nicotine toxicity to respiratory and cardiovascular problems, have jumped over the past year as the devices become more popular, the most recent U.S. data show.

Between March 2013 and March 2014, more than 50 complaints about e-cigarettes were filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to data obtained through a public records request. That is on par with the combined number reported over the previous five years.

 

The health problems were not necessarily caused by e-cigarettes. And it is not clear that the rate of adverse events has increased. In 2011, about 21 percent of adult smokers had used e-cigarettes, according to federal data, more than double the rate in 2010.

 

Fox News

 

E-Cigarettes Don't Actually Help People Quit Smoking, According To 84 Different Studies

 

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS ) - A newly released UCSF research study shows that claims made by some electronic cigarette manufacturers-that the devices actually help people quit smoking-are unlikely.

Scientists analyzed 84 research studies on e-cigarettes-battery-operated devices that vaporize a nicotine solution. They have been sold in the U.S. since the mid-2000s and have become immensely popular. They do no emit smoke, which has been part of the attraction to many, including teenagers

 

CBS News

teaASIPP Keynote Speaker Ben Sasse Wins Nebraska GOP Senate Primary

 

Nebraska Republicans on Tuesday chose Ben Sasse, a university president and former health-care official in the George. W. Bush administration, as their nominee for an open Senate seat, leaving him poised to become the next senator in the antiestablishment mold of Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas).

 

The Associated Press declared Mr. Sasse the winner of the GOP primary over Omaha banker Sid Dinsdale and former state Treasurer Shane Osborn. Mr. Sasse was backed by a range of conservative and tea-party groups and leaders, Mr. Cruz among them.

 

With 68% of the state's precincts reporting, Mr. Sasse had 49% of the vote. Mr. Dinsdale carried 23% and Mr. Osborn 21%. Omaha attorney Bart McLeay, who raised far less campaign money than the other three candidates, took 5.7%.

 

Wall Street Journal

 

Access to this article may be limited.

nejmNew England Journal of Medicine Takes on Topic of Health Care Reform

 

Insourcing Health Care Innovation

 

Rather than seek solutions to health care's problems in facile recommendations from management gurus with experience in unrelated industries, we'd do better to find a solution process to use from within. And the process for high-impact innovation can in fact be learned.

 

New England Journal of Medicine

 

 

Perspective - Health Care Reform after the ACA

 

After a shockingly bad start, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has completed its first open-enrollment season. As many as 8 million people have selected health plans through the federal and state insurance exchanges, and perhaps another3 million have enrolled in Medicaidand the Children's Health Insurance

Program. ACA supporters have breathed a sigh of relief after several months of calamitous problems

 

New England Journal of Medicine

 

 

Perspective - Here to Stay - Beyond the Rough Launch of the ACA

 

Open enrollment for 2014 insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ended on March 31. When the White House reported that enrollment had reached the targets, one could almost hear sighs of relief from supportersand gnashing of teeth by opponents.In truth, meeting theenrollment targets made clearonly that the administration had successfully brought order out ofthe chaos attending the rollout last October. After a ritually correct interval, Kathleen Sebelius, head of the cabinet department immediately responsible for that chaos, resigned.

 

New England Journal of Medicine

 

lungMedicare should not cover lung-cancer screening for smokers, CMS panel concludes

A Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) advisory panel concluded that Medicare should not cover annual lung cancer screening tests for heavy smokers, a recommendation that has been criticized by advocates of the screening test.

 

The CMS Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) made its determination in late April based on the high false-positive rate for the low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening, and a general lack of evidence on whether the scans are effective.

 

The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended late last year annual screening for lung cancer in adults 55 to 80 years old who have a 30 packs per year smoking history and remain heavy smokers or have quit smoking in the last 15 years, according to the guidelines. That recommendation, according to CMS, was based largely on the results of the National Lung Screening Trial, which found reduced risk of mortality for at-risk patients who received CT scans.

 

Medical Economics

 

whoWHO calls on governments to do more to prevent alcohol-related deaths and diseases

 

GENEVA - Worldwide, 3.3 million deaths in 2012 were due to harmful use of alcohol, says a new report launched by WHO today. Alcohol consumption can not only lead to dependence but also increases people's risk of developing more than 200 diseases including liver cirrhosis and some cancers. In addition, harmful drinking can lead to violence and injuries.

 

The report also finds that harmful use of alcohol makes people more susceptible to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia.

 

The "Global status report on alcohol and health 2014" provides country profiles for alcohol consumption in the 194 WHO Member States, the impact on public health and policy responses.

 

 

Heath Canal

billionsMedicare Pays Billions for 'Low-Value Care'

 

The Medicare system spent at least $1.9 billion in 2009 and probably much more on "low-value" procedures and tests, such as cancer screening in patients with end-stage renal disease in patients 75 and older, researchers said.

Depending on whether relatively sensitive versus specific measures of low-value care were used, the percentage of overall Medicare Parts A and B spending that went to such services ranged from 0.6% to 2.7%, according to J. Michael McWilliams, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School, and colleagues.

 

Although these figures represented "modest proportions" of the total Medicare budget, the researchers wrote online in JAMA Internal Medicine, from one-quarter to more than 40% of all beneficiaries received at least one of the 26 types of low-value service during the 1-year study period.

 

MedPage Today

rxACA Cost-Sharing Could Limit Rx Access: PhRMA

 

Enrollees in some of the health law's most popular plans will face high cost-sharing requirements that the pharmaceutical industry says could keep patients from getting the drugs they need.

 

Most silver plans in the online marketplaces, or exchanges, require patients to pay for prescription drugs as part of the plan's deductible, while nearly all bronze plans do, according to a report from Breakaway Health prepared for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the drug industry's trade group.

 

Silver plans that combine prescription and medical costs into one deductible -- the out-of-pocket costs patients pay before coverage begins -- have average deductibles of $2,275, and similar bronze plans have an average of $4,986, according to the report. The average amount for plans that have separate prescription drug deductibles is $470 for a silver plan and $956 for a bronze one.

 

MedPage Today

ehrUtilize your EHR system to boost practice revenue

 

It's difficult for small practices to get a return on investment (ROI) from their electronic health record (EHR) systems, even if they receive government Meaningful Use payments, health information technology consultants say. Still, it's possible for practices to achieve ROI if they participate in alternative delivery models that help them garner value-based reimbursement.

 

The two traditional sources of ROI are increased efficiency and higher charges, based on better documentation. Using an EHR to increase efficiency requires major changes in office processes, and the government has recently increased its scrutiny of certain documentation techniques that help practices justify higher charges.

 

As a result, says Michelle Holmes, a principal with ECG Management Consultants in Seattle, Washington, not many small practices can achieve ROI on their EHRs in a fee-for-service world.

 

Medical Economics

 

hospitalsWhen Hospitals Buy Practices, Insurers, Patients Pay the Piper

 

A new study gives ammunition to what health economists and health insurers have argued for years: When hospitals buy physician practices, the result is usually higher hospital prices and increased spending by privately insured patients.

 

The study, published Monday in the journal Health Affairs, was based on an analysis of 2.1 million hospital claims from workers of self-insured employers between 2001 and 2007. The analysis by Stanford University researchers found prices were most likely to increase when hospitals bought physician practices, as opposed to hospitals forming looser contractual relationships with physicians.

 

Hospitals have increasingly bought physician practices over the past decade, arguing it helps them coordinate care and control costs. But insurers and many economists say hospitals' main motivation is negotiating higher prices with insurers and building referrals to grow admissions.

 

MedPage Today

highHigh deductible plans: Balancing out-of-pocket costs and outcomes

 

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that healthcare spending had grown at a record low pace from 2009 to 2011. The slowdown in growth was attributed to the sluggish economy and was thought unlikely to continue as more Americans gained insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

 

An increase in the spending growth rate was considered inevitable-a 6.1% acceleration was predicted for 2014, compared with a 3.9 % increase in 2011. Even so, there was hope that the consumer-driven belt-tightening that occurred during the recession would continue despite more people being insured.

 

The way policy analysts expected that to happen was through shifting a larger share of spending to consumers.

 

Medical Economics

politicsPhysicians caught in politics of ACA enrollment data

 

Though the White House estimates that 8 million people signed up for insurance through healthcare exchanges from October 2013 to April 2014, some Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are disputing the number of enrollees who have paid their premiums.

 

The GOP-led House Energy and Commerce committee sent requests for enrollment payment data to each insurance company featured on the Healthcare.gov website, and from responses gathered as of April 15, only 67% of healthcare exchange enrollees have paid their premiums. The committee says that because the White House did not capture payment information as people signed up for insurance on Heathcare.gov, it had to solicit the information directly from health plans.

 

""The administration continues to leave too many questions about its health care law unanswered," House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) said in a statement. "What can we expect premiums to be next year? Will more people lose the health care plans they have and like? These are the questions that will impact the American people the most and they deserve answers."

 

Medical Economics

 

Hyatt 
       
     
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stateState Society News

       

 

  

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 your State Society meetings and news to:
 Holly Long at [email protected]

 

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Phone (270) 554-9412 ext. 230
Fax: (270) 554-5394

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