Registration Now Open for July Board Review Course in Chicago

This 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.

- A five-day review covering anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, psychology, ethics, interventional techniques, non-interventional techniques, controlled substances and practice management

- Unique lectures by experts in the field

- Extensive educational materials

 MEETING LINKS  |  REGISTRATION  |  BROCHURE  |  PALMER HOUSE  |  

ASIPP To Offer Controlled Substance Management, Coding, Compliance and Practice Management Courses in Chicago

The ASIPP Comprehensive Review Courses and Exams in Controlled Substance Management and Coding, Compliance, and Practice Management will be held in Chicago, Illinois, on July 22-24, 2015.

The Coding, Compliance and Practice Management is so beneficial to practices, both office-based and ASCs, that many physicians send their staff early to keep them current on the cutting edge aspects of practice management. These intensive review courses are 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 can't afford not to broaden your knowledge and refresh your skills in these areas.

- Discuss documentation

- Review practice management topics

- Discuss coding and billing

- Examine compliance issues

CLICK HERE to register for Coding, Compliance and Practice Management Course 

- Review basic science and core concepts

- Discuss pharmacology

- Identify clinical use and effectiveness

- Identify substance abuse

- Discuss topics with documentation, regulatory issues, legal issues, and ethical issues

CLICK HERE to register for Controlled Substance Management Course 

In addition to the review course, the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians (for physicians) and the American Association of Allied Pain Management Professionals (for non-physicians) offers the opportunity for examination in order for physicians to obtain competency certification to and non-physicians to obtain associate certificates in Controlled Substance Management and Coding, Compliance, and Practice Management.

Click HERE for Reservations at The Palmer House Hotel  

17 East Monroe Street, Chicago, IL 60603 | Phone: 312-726-7500

The New Disease Classification (ICD-10): Doctors and Patients Will Pay

Abstract

The mandatory adoption of the latest International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) will add to the already considerable financial and administrative burdens on physician practices. Instead of imposing this unfunded mandate, Congress should delink the disease classification system from reimbursement policy, and make the adoption of the new ICD-10 code system voluntary until a less burdensome billing process is in place.

On October 1, 2015, a new standardized system of classifying disease will be imposed on practicing physicians and others in the health care sector. The World Health Organization's (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is a system of diagnostic codes established for defining and reporting disease, identifying global health trends and collecting global statistics, and providing a common language for health information distribution.[1] 

The Heritage Foundation 

ASIPP Webinar: Get On The Road To ICD-10 Success For Your Pain Management Practice! 

Marvel Hammer, RN, CPC will host a webinar on May 28 from 11 am to 12:30 pm CST on ICD-10.

This webinar will focus on the actual ICD-10 codes and corresponding ICD-10 guidelines. Some of the important topics to be covered ...

• The differences and similarities between ICD-9 and ICD-10
• Is Your Documentation Up to Snuff?  Find Out What Needs to Change In Your Pain Management Notes to Continue Correct Coding in ICD-10
• When pain management providers should report an acute or chronic pain ICD-10 code as the primary diagnosis
• How to report bilateral conditions when ICD-10 only include specific unilateral codes
• The importance of including "cause and effect" etiology in their notes by using  words such as "due to," "secondary to," "caused by," or "resulting from" to connect conditions to their underlying cause
• What is the difference in reporting initial versus subsequent encounters in ICD-10...Hint: It doesn't necessarily match new patient versus established patient in CPT!
• When a cervical spinal condition should be reported as "high cervical" versus "mid-cervical" versus "cervicothoracic"?

Click HERE to register

Section Editors are a relatively new part of the editorial decision-making structure for the journal. These positions were created, to both lighten the burden on the Editor-in-Chief and improve the quality of content. This will also help the editorial board. Pain Physician has experienced a dramatic increase in the number of submissions and we are working on ways to streamline production.

Section Editor responsibilities are as follows:

• After peer review, each Section Editor is responsible for the selection and approval of manuscripts submitted in their subject area.  
• Each Section Editor provides recommendations to the Editor-in Chief after evaluating the opinions provided through peer reviews by editorial board members.

Based on the Section Editor's evaluation, the Editor-in-Chief will recommend whether to accept or reject the manuscript. A process for conflict resolution will be developed. If interested, please send your CV to hlong@asipp.org.

Prednisone Offers Modest Relief in Sciatica

A short course of oral steroids moderately improved function in patients with herniated lumbar disc, but did not improve pain, according to a randomized,controlled trial.

After 3 weeks of treatment with prednisone, patients experienced an adjusted mean 6.4 point improvement in Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores (95% CI 1.9-10.6, P=0.006) with marginal improvements in Short Form 36 Health Survey Physical Component Scores (SF-36 PCS) compared with placebo (mean 3.3, 95% CI 1.3-5.2, P=0.001), reported Harley Goldberg, DO, of Kaiser Permanente Northern California in San Jose, and colleagues.

But no improvement was seen in the SF-36 Mental Component Scores at 3 weeks (mean 2.2, 95% CI -0.4 to 4.8, P=0.10), they wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

MedPage Today

A strong association exists between higher physical fitness and lower levels of pain, less psychological overreaction (catastrophizing) to pain, and higher chronic-pain self-efficacy in women with fibromyalgia (FM), according to a recent Spanish study.

In addition, muscle strength and flexibility and aerobic fitness had independent and combined effects on pain levels and negative pain-associated psychological factors. Hence, fitness might have a positive role in the physical experience and the negative attitudes of FM patients toward their chronic pain.

MedPage Today

Feds still mulling changes to privacy rule for substance abuse records

Providers, electronic health-record developers and health information exchange operators are still waiting for new regulations or guidance on electronically handling highly sensitive behavioral health information.

A year ago, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration held a national listening session on possibly updating its rule that protects patients of federally funded drug- and alcohol-treatment centers.

The rule is seen by some as a barrier to interoperability of healthcare information systems, which could impair provider organizations from successfully transitioning from fee-for-service to outcomes-based reimbursements with population-health-based care-delivery mechanisms such as accountable care organizations.

Modern Healthcare 

Migraine, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Linked in Association Study

Migraine headache and carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) may be associated, researchers reported, with individuals reporting one in a large federal survey having greater likelihood of also reporting the other.

Among more than 25,000 American adults, migraine prevalence was reported to be 34% among those with CTS, compared with 16% in those without CTS (adjusted odds ratio 2.60; 95% CI 2.16-3.13), wrote Douglas M. Sammer, MD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and colleagues.

Comparatively, CTS prevalence in participants with migraine was 8%, compared with 3% in those without migraine (aOR 2.67; 95% CI 2.22-3.22), according to the researchers' report in PRS Global Open, a journal affiliated with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

MedPage Today

FDA: Smokeless Tobacco Warning Stays

The FDA denied a petition by two tobacco companies to ease up on the warnings around smokeless tobacco.

R.J. Reynolds and the American Snuff Company had requested that the FDA change one of the four warning statements required for product packages and advertising from "This product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes" to "No tobacco product is safe, but this product presents substantially lower risks to health than cigarettes."

A supplement to the petition suggested "No tobacco product is safe; however, exclusive use of smokeless tobacco products presents substantially less risk to health than cigarettes" as an alternative.

MedPage Today