ASIPP Launches Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) for Interventional Pain Management

 

 

As we have seen over the past several months, Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) has taken many turns. We have written a comment letter with 4,534 signatures and also went to Washington. We made great strides.

 

While MIPS requirements have been substantially relaxed in reference to penalties, we need to focus on making bonuses and also putting ourselves into exceptional categories which may yield bonuses of over 20% in the beginning.

 

To achieve this, the major tool is to publish measures excessively than required and follow through Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) registry.

 

The advantage of QCDR registry will be not only that we will use many of the existing measures, but also we have to incorporate multiple interventional pain management specific measures to show the outcomes. Thus, this registry will not only meet the criteria for MIPS, but will also provide us with outcome measures across the nation.

 

Consequently, the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) is developing a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) alongside our technology and analytics partner ArborMetrix. Our goal is for ASIPP to be a QCDR for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) for 2017 and beyond, as the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) transitions to MIPS.

 

You can help us achieve this milestone by replying to this email. Once we hear from you, our goal is to complete your enrollment in the QCDR before November 30, 2016, as initial participants which will facilitate you to participate in outcome measures development and provide us with the required numbers of at least 200 physicians prior to filing the application. Others may join later on until 2017. However, to get the full credit it will be imperative that everyone join by February 28, 2017. We foresee to submit registry application in the first week of January 2017 and we expect to hear from them by the end of February.

 

We will share soon with you the present ideas we have in reference to the outcomes and also the PQR measures we will recommend. However, you do not have to stick to these. We would like your input in developing outcome measures, as well as in selection your own existing PQR measures.

 

The following provides you further information:

 

Why is ASIPP developing a QCDR?

As ASIPP has communicated over the past several months, the existing measures and reporting options available through CMS are not adequate for our specialty. They do not reflect the procedures and nuances of interventional pain management. The QCDR we are developing will provide ASIPP members the ability to meet CMS quality reporting requirements through MIPS while utilizing measures specific to the specialty.

 

Why do I need to participate in a QCDR?

Participating in a QCDR is one way to meet requirements mandated to you by CMS under MIPS. In 2017, if you are a solo practitioner, in a group practice, or work as a consultant, and you bill Medicare Part B, you are required to report through MIPS. Doing so will allow you not only to avoid negative payment adjustments but also potentially to receive gains in 2019 for reporting in 2017.

 

What are the benefits of participating in the ASIPP QCDR?

 

How do I enroll in the ASIPP QCDR?

The first step is to let us know you are interested by replying to this email. Once we have garnered enough interest, we will be in contact with details of the enrollment process. Participating in the ASIPP QCDR will be $500 per year for physician for ASIPP members, $750 for non-members. For physician assistants and nurse practitioners the cost is 20% less (i.e., $400 for members or $600 for non-members).

 

What is the timeline for participation?

ASIPP must enroll at least 200 physicians in our QCDR by November 30, 2016 to meet this initial milestone.

 

Where can I find additional information about QCDR participation?

The CMS website has information on QCDR. We will be making more ASIPP-specific information available soon.

 

Thank you again for all your help.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

CMS Publishes Final Rule for Hospital Outpatient Department and ASC Final Payment Rates

 

As you see below, the news is not good for interventional pain management. Overall both ASCs and hospital outpatient departments are facing significant cuts as high as 11.5% for most commonly performed interventional techniques compared to the proposed rule and 2017 payment rates.

 

Most importantly it is disheartening to see that they plan to reimburse same amount for surgery centers or HOPDs for epidural injections with or without imaging guidance. There is a significant difference between hospital rates. Hospitals are reimbursed more than 85% higher than ASCs. Please click here to see analysis of interventional pain management for ASCs. Please click here for HOPD. To see the entire group please click here.

We cordially invite you to be a part of ASIPP's newest journal: Interventional Pain Management Reports

 

The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians is proud to announce a new journal that will be an important addition to the body of interventional pain management literature: Interventional Pain Management Reports. This is your chance to be one of the first to publish in this journal dedicated to the clinical practice of IPM.

  

Led by Editor in Chief Kenneth Candido, MD, Chairman and Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, IPM Reports will focus on the promotion of excellence in the practice of interventional pain management and clinical research.

 

Interventional Pain Management Reports is an official publication of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) and is a sister publication of Pain Physician. Interventional Pain Management Reports is an open access journal, available online with free full manuscripts.

 

So submit today your:

 

Click HERE to read the Instructions for Authors for article submission

 

Click HERE  to submit a manuscript

October Podcast Now Available!

 

On the October podcast we'll learn what medical scribes are and what they do; in the news segment we'll have stories about which NSAIDs have the greatest cardiac risk, acetaminophen's effect on fetal neurodevelopment, a new prophylactic treatment for migraine, and much more; and we'll wrap things up with a study about whether women find beards attractive.

 

Cick HERE to listen.

American College of Surgeons Launches Education Program on Opioids and Surgery: Use, Abuse, and Alternatives

 

CHICAGO (October 31, 2016): The American College of Surgeons (ACS) today announced a new multifaceted initiative to improve the knowledge and management of pain in surgical patients with a focus on opioid risk and non-opioid alternatives.

With an educational grant from Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Pacira), ACS will develop Opioids and Surgery: Use, Abuse and Alternatives (Opioids and Surgery) professional and patient education materials. Evidence-based education for the surgical patient will support informed choice and meet the guidelines for health literacy, informed consent, and surgical patient safety. Surgeons and surgical practitioners will have access to a comprehensive library of resources specific to opioids and the surgical patient including managing pain expectations, non-opioid options and screening programs. Team training focused on pain management, discharge and transition management will be a critical component of the program.

In 2014, more people died from drug overdoses than in any year on record. The majority of drug overdose deaths (more than six out of ten) involve an opioid, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC also reports that since 1999 the number of overdose deaths involving opioids, including prescription opioid pain relievers and heroin, nearly quadrupled

FACS.org

  

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump   and his running mate once again pledged to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act if elected and emphasized plans to allow insurance to be  sold across state lines   and block grant Medicaid to the states.

At a campaign rally outside Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Trump also said he would want to see his primary opponent neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson as a major part of his administration.

On the  first day of open enrollment   in ACA marketplaces for 2017, Trump and his surrogates blasted rising premiums and fewer plan choices. They also said the law has slowed hiring and job-making, although data does not reflect this.

 

Modern Healthcare

  

Patients with chronic pain face a variety of burdens in addition to their symptoms, including depression, relational and occupational issues, and inadequate health care. 1

According to a sizable body of research, another significant issue affecting such patients is stigmatization, of which social exclusion is a key feature. 2   In a new study reported in the Journal of Pain, researchers at the University of Ghent in Belgium explored the social responses of observers toward individuals with medically unexplained pain. 3

  

   

Start Planning NOW!
ASIPP® Abstracts Submission for 2017 Annual Meeting OPEN

  

Registration will be open for Abstract Submissions is now available.

  

The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians will hold its 19th Annual Meeting April 20-22 in Las Vegas at Caesar's Palace.

  

This year, we will be making significant changes to the Abstract and Poster Sessions. Submissions will be in two categories: Resident/Fellow and Physician.  Selected posters will be on display forall meeting participants during all breaks and meal times.

  

The Abstract Committee will select the top 25 for publication in Pain Physician and of those 10 will be selected for Abstract presentation and judging during the Annual Meeting. The top 3 will receive cash prizes.

Submit and review this year's rules.

  

The number of hospitalizations for opioid poisonings among children and adolescents more than doubled over a 15-year period beginning in the late 1990s, with poisonings among the youngest children more than tripling, a large retrospective analysis of pediatric hospital data found.

Among all children 1 to 19 years old, the incidence of opioid poisoning increased 165% from 1997 to 2012 -- from 1.40 to 3.71 per 100,000 children  (P   for trend <0.001), reported Julie R. Gaither, PhD, of Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and colleagues.

  

  

MedPage Today

  

She came to the urgent care center with a sprained ankle. The primary care provider gave her excellent care, expertly applying evidence-based evaluation guidelines to her situation, and, thereby, avoiding unnecessary x-rays. By all measures, the provider's care was excellent, but the interaction still ended up reducing his salary. You see, that patient's only medical interaction that year was for this ankle sprain, and the provider was therefore held accountable for all of her primary care needs. Since she had not received a mammogram that year, or received a diabetes screening, he incurred an end-of-the-year penalty for failing to meet these quality standards.

Is it any wonder that many providers - primary care physicians, physician assistants, and even many beleaguered specialists - are increasingly dissatisfied with their jobs? What is happening to medical practice and what can we do to bring the joy back to being a health care provider?

  

Kevin MD