February 25, 2015

Supreme Court of South Carolina Hears Oral Arguments on Physical Therapy

Focusing on arguments over equal protection, the Supreme Court of South Carolina heard testimony last week on what makes physical therapy different from every other medical profession that is able to be employed in physician offices in South Carolina. The oral arguments in Joseph vs. SC Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, were the latest development in the debate over integrated physical therapy services in the state. The SCOA has consistently supported efforts to allow of physical therapists and physicians to enter into legitimate employment relationships.

The Oral Arguments before the Supreme Court lasted just over 40 minutes. The Supreme Court archives recordings of oral arguments before the Court. You can view the recording by clicking on the link below. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page until you see the Joseph case.

www.judicial.state.sc.us/scvideo/indexArchived.cfm

With all of the briefs and oral arguments out of the way, there is no timeline for a decision to be made but we anticipate a ruling will be announced by the summer at the very latest.

Call for Abstracts and Residents Research Competition Submissions for 2015 SCOA Annual Meeting!

Deadline to submit materials is March 31, 2015

The South Carolina Orthopaedic Association is now accepting abstract submissions and Resident Research Competition submissions for the 2015 SCOA Annual Meeting. The 2015 Annual Meeting is taking place August 6-9, 2015 at The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island. All of the information you will need to secure your participation will be added to the SCOA website in the coming weeks: www.scoanet.org/annual-conference

All abstracts and Resident Competition papers must be submitted by March 31, 2015 to be considered by the Program Committee. Instructions for regular abstract submissions and the 2015 Resident Research Competition are included on the SCOA website and attached to this email. In addition to the abstract information, all submissions should be accompanied by a completed AAOS Financial Disclosure Form and an AAOS FDA Disclosure Form.

2015 AAOS FDA Disclosure

2015 Financial Disclosure SCOA

2015 Abstract Application SCOA

2015 Abstract Submission Instructions SCOA

Registration and housing details to be released in the coming weeks.

CMS Makes Drastic Changes to the RAC Audit Program

Responding to concerns from the physician community, CMS has announced significant changes to the RAC Audit Program including reducing the look back period to six months as well as tighter timelines for the auditors to conduct their reviews. News of the changes are included below from Astro.org.

Read CMS makes changes to the RAC program as contracts are renewed

CMS Announces Submission Timeframes for 2014 Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) Data

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is pleased to announce the 2014 PQRS data submission timeframes

Reporting Method	Submission Period	Submission Deadline Time (All Times are Eastern)
EHR Direct or Data Submission Vendor that is certified EHR technology (CEHRT)	1/1/15 - 2/28/15	8:00 p.m.
Qualified clinical data registries (QCDRs) (using QRDA III format) reporting for PQRS and the clinical quality measure (CQM) component of meaningful use for the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program	1/1/15 - 2/28/15	8:00 p.m.
Group practice reporting option (GPRO) Web Interface	1/26/15 - 3/20/15	8:00 p.m.
Qualified registries	1/1/15 - 3/31/15	8:00 p.m.
QCDRs (using XML format) reporting for PQRS only	1/1/15 - 3/31/15	8:00 p.m.
Maintenance of Certification Organizations (MOCs)	1/1/15 - 3/31/15	8:00 p.m.

Read the update from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

South Carolina Unclaimed Cash

South Carolinians have more than $462 million in unclaimed property. To search the database for unclaimed property click here. If you have any questions about unclaimed property correspondence or telephone calls you have received, please call our Unclaimed Property staff at (803) 737-4771. They will be happy to assist you.

Mary the Administrator at Carolina Orthopaedic Surgery Associates, P.A. provided a couple of great tips!

Search for orthopaedics (16 records found)
Search individual physicians names

SCOA Foundation Global Orthopedic Residency Initiative

The South Carolina Orthopedic Association established a Foundation and began to fund a Global Orthopedic Residency Initiative. The AAOS Board of Councilors also endorsed and added funding for the program. This program will create an educational initiative between the three South Carolina orthopedic residency programs (Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville) and the Haitian orthopedic residency program at Hospital de la Paix in Port-au-Prince.
Visit the SCOA website for more information:

Program Specifics
Travel Requirements
Preparing for the Trip
Orthopedic Instruments
Lecture Schedule

SCOA Executive Committee

President

Langdon Hartsock, M.D.

President-Elect

Scott Porter, MD

Vice-President

Andrew Piasecki, MD

Secretary/Treasurer

William James, MD

Immediate Past-President

Thomas Joseph, MD

Board of Councilors

James O'Leary, MD

Timothy Shannon, MD

Leadership Council

Member Slots

Richard Frisch, MD

Vincent Pellegrini, MD

Ross Taylor, MD

Shane Woolf, MD

Leadership Council - Resident Slots

Kristen Nathe, MD

Stephen Finley, MD

John W. Neal, MD

SCAOE Board of Directors

President

Mary Elkins

President Elect

Ann Margaret McCraw

Treasurer

Geoffrey McLeod

Secretary

Joey Fischer

Membership

Richard Spires

Immediate Past President

Carl Butler

At Large

Debbie Creswell

Kelly Roper

Pete Mansfield

South Carolina Orthopaedic Association

1215 E Robinson Street

Orlando, FL 32801

Tel: 866-949-3121

Fax: 813-949-8994

Executive Director

Fraser Cobbe