JUST ADDED TO NOVEMBER COURSE LINE-UP!
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October 15 Fundraiser for ASIPP and ASIPP-PAC
The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians is holding an ASIPP-PAC and ASIPP fundraiser on Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at the Melrose Georgetown, (2430 Pennsylvania Ave NW) in Washington, DC in conjunction with the October 15-16 Legislative Meeting and Capitol Hill visits. Whether or not you plan to attend the event, we ask that you contribute to this fundraising campaign to enable ASIPP to continue the fight for the survival and practice of interventional pain physicians.
Our advocacy issues for the Legislative Meeting are (Click for access to Fact Sheet):
Our advocacy work resulted in the successful outcomes time and time again. Our most recent victory being CGS (Kentucky and Ohio Medicare Carrier) has agreed to modify its facet joint policy.
To continue our forward momentum in victories such as this, the ASIPP-PAC and ASIPP General Funds must have a full tank
.
Unfortunately, today we are far below full and in fact the refuel light is on. Now is the time to show your support to an organization that does so much for you.
Over the years, some of you have contributed greatly to the PAC and to ASIPP, others sporadically, and many have never contributed. Regardless of our participation in the PAC, all of use are enjoying the fruits of these achievements.
* PAC contributions must be from personal credit cards or personal checks only. However, you may use either a corporate OR a personal check/credit card for contributions to the ASIPP Lobbying Fund or ASIPP.
Thank you in advance for your contribution to the ASIPP-PAC and/or ASIPP. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.
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Pain Physician
September/October 2019 Issue Features
The September/October issue of Pain Physician features a cost utility analysis of cervical interlaminar epidural injections as well as several systematic reviews, randomized trials and original research.
Cost Utility Analysis
Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD, Vidyasagar Pampati, MSc, Allan Parr, III, MS, Maanasa V. Manchikanti, ., Mahendra R. Sanapati, MD, Alan D. Kaye, MD, PhD, and Joshua A. Hirsch, MD.
Narrative Review
Inna Blyakhman, MSc, and Krishnan Chakravarthy, MD, PhD.
Comprehensive Review
Ajay B. Antony, MD, Anthony J. Mazzola, MD, Gurpreet S. Dhaliwal, MD, and Corey W. Hunter, MD.
Narrative Review
Gabriel Fregoso, MD, Annie Wang, MD, Kelly Tseng, MD, and Jingping Wang, MD, PhD.
Retrospective Review
Leonardo Kapural, MD, PhD, Nicholas Lee, ., Kevin Neal, MD, and Michael Burchell, MD.
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JUNE 2020 ABIPP EXAMS
AND COMPETENCY EXAMS
June 27 - June 28, 2020 | Memphis, TN
The
American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians
(
ABIPP
)
has developed certification programs that recognize accepted levels of knowledge and expertise in the interventional pain management
profession, with the goal of improved patient care. Hundreds of qualified physicians have made the commitment to become
ABIPP
certified.
ABIPP
now offers the only competency
certification program for regenerative medicine.
For complete information about the examination requirements and to obtain an application packet, visit www.abipp.org or call 270-554-9412 x4217 or by email at summer@asipp.org.
June 27
ABIPP Part I
Combined CSM/CCPM Exam for ABIPP Path
Competency Exam in Controlled Substance Management
Competency Exam in Coding, Compliance, and
Practice Management
June 27-28
ABIPP Part II
ABIPP Competency Exam
Regenerative Medicine Competency Exam
Endoscopic Lumbar Decompression Competency Exam
939 Ridge Lake Blvd. | Memphis, TN 38120
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OIG Report: Ambulatory Surgery Center Inspections Lag
Report says states failed to inspect 147 facilities for 6 years, violating Medicare rules
Dozens of states, some of them very large, didn't meet Medicare's requirement that they survey their ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) at required intervals to assure they met safety protocols, such as infection control or anesthesia administration, and many facilities went without any state survey for at least 6 years.
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FDA, DEA Issue Joint Warning Letters to Illegal Online Opioid Sellers
For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have issued joint warning letters to several website operators that have been illegally selling opioid medications online.
The networks that received warning letters included Divyata, Euphoria Healthcare Pvt Ltd, JCM Dropship, and Meds4U, which in total operate 10 websites where various unapproved and misbranded opioid medications, including tramadol, are sold often without the need for a prescription. In a statement, the FDA and DEA warned the public that purchasing medications from illegal online pharmacies can be dangerous as many of the products may be “counterfeit, contaminated, expired or otherwise unsafe.” The Agencies also noted that credit card fraud, identity theft and computer viruses were also risks unlawful online pharmacies posed to consumers.
In addition to being in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, these networks also violated the Controlled Substances Act by failing to register their online pharmacies with the DEA to allow for online dispensing and distribution of controlled substances. The Companies have been given 15 days to respond to each agency with details on the actions they will take to address their violations. Failure to correct the violations may lead to legal enforcement action.
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Trump's Medicare Plan Gets Mixed Reviews
Attacks from the left, praise from the right, mainstream medical groups wait for details
Reactions to President Trump's plans to revamp Medicare -- outlined in an
executive order released Thursday -- split largely along partisan lines, with most medical professional societies preferring to remain on the sidelines for now.
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Column: What seniors should know about Trump’s Medicare executive order
Highlights include:
- Encouraging innovative MA benefit structures and plan designs, including allowing the use of medical savings accounts in conjunction with MA plans, and shared savings rebates for beneficiaries, and promoting additional supplemental benefits;
- Several administrative changes aimed at promoting access to non-physician providers; and
- Requiring CMS to clarify the application of coverage standards and eliminate the time and steps between FDA approval and CMS coverage decisions, with the aim of increasing patient access to new technologies.
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Interventional Pain Management Reports
is an Open Access online journal, a peer-reviews journal dedicated to the publication of case reports, brief commentaries and reviews and letters to the editor. It is a peer-reviewed journal written by and directed to an audience of interventional pain physicians, clinicians and basic scientists with an interest in interventional pain management and pain medicine.
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 Interventional Pain Management Reports
is an open access journal, available online with free full manuscripts.
The benefits of publishing in an open access journal that has a corresponding
print edition journal are:
- Your article will have the potential to obtain more citations.
- Your article will be peer-reviewed and published faster than other journals.
- Your article can be read by a potentially much larger audience compared with traditional subscription-only journals.
- Open Access journals are FREE to view, download and to print.
So submit today your:
- Case Reports
- Technical Reports
- Editorials
- Short Perspectives
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Modernizing and Clarifying the Physician Self-Referral Regulations Proposed Rule
Modernizing and Clarifying the Physician Self-Referral Regulations Proposed Rule
(CMS-1720-P)
On October 9, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule to modernize and clarify the regulations that interpret the Medicare physician self-referral law (often called the “Stark Law”), which has not been significantly updated since it was enacted in 1989. The proposed rule supports the CMS “Patients over Paperwork” initiative by reducing unnecessary regulatory burden on physicians and other healthcare providers while reinforcing the Stark Law’s goal of protecting patients from unnecessary services and being steered to less convenient, lower quality, or more expensive services because of a physician’s financial self-interest. Through the Patients over Paperwork initiative, the proposed rule opens additional avenues for physicians and other healthcare providers to coordinate the care of the patients they serve – allowing providers across different healthcare settings to work together to ensure patients receive the highest quality of care. In addition, as part of the Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care, CMS worked closely with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General in developing proposals to advance the transition to a value-based healthcare delivery and payment system that improves the coordination of care among physicians and other healthcare providers in both the Federal and commercial sectors.
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2019 MIPS Reporting? Start Now.
MIPS-eligible clinicians must report a full year of data. Don’t fall behind – keep up with NIPM-QCDR.
MIPS 2019 has brought larger payment adjustments and greater reporting requirements, including a 365-day performance period for the Quality and Cost categories. The sooner you start your MIPS reporting for 2019, the better.
Sign up today to use ASIPP’s NIPM-QCDR for MIPS.
This powerful tool makes MIPS reporting easy through the use of our new patient-reported outcomes measures for 2019, which ease the burden on providers and reduces costly EMR integration.
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Blog: CMS Unveils New Rules: Too Little Too Late?
Physicians have too much paperwork but Kevin Campbell, MD, says this one change is not enough
This past week,
CMS announced a new "rule"
known as the Omnibus Burden Disruption. This apparently has been issued to address the rising rate of burnout among U.S. physicians due to ridiculous and oppressive paperwork requirements instituted by the government. While the devil is likely in the details, the rule is supposed to "remove Medicare regulations identified as unnecessary, obsolete, or excessively burdensome on hospitals and other healthcare providers to reduce inefficiencies and move the nation closer to a healthcare system that delivers value, high quality care, and better outcomes for patients at the lowest possible cost."
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Arthritis Foundation Issues CBD Guidelines
Although CBD remains an understudied treatment avenue for the management of rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions, patients are still exploring its use on their own.
A study earlier this year
found that more than half of arthritis patients have tried CBD and/or medical marijuana for pain relief.
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Patients sue Pennsylvania clinic over MRSA outbreak
Tri-State Pain Institute in Erie, Pa., and a physician at the practice are facing seven lawsuits alleging that unsafe injection practices exposed patients to MRSA, according to
The Erie Times-News
.
Seven patients treated for chronic pain by Joseph M. Thomas, MD, claim that the physician exposed them to bacteria known to cause MRSA. Health officials reported eight confirmed MRSA cases and one probable case in patients who received steroid injections at Tri-State between Sept. 21 and Sept. 27, 2017.
State and local health departments discovered numerous issues with infection control and injection practices at Tri-State Pain, including poor hand hygiene compliance, inadequate on-site infection control training and the improper reuse of single-use syringes. Officials also found Dr. Thomas failed to report the infections to proper authorities. However, Pennsylvania's licensing board has not taken disciplinary action against Dr. Thomas.
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Texas Physician Convicted in $16 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
A federal jury in Texas found a physician who was the owner and operator of a medical clinic in Houston, Texas, guilty today of participating in a $16 million Medicare fraud scheme in which she signed false and fraudulent “plans of care” and other medical documents for purported home health services.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick of the Southern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI’s Houston Field Office and Special Agent in Charge C.J. Porter of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Dallas Regional Office made the announcement.
Following a six-day trial, Yolanda Hamilton, M.D., 56, of Harris County, Texas, the owner and operator of HMS Health and Wellness Center, PLLC, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, one count of conspiracy to solicit and receive health care kickbacks and two counts of false statements relating to health care matters. Hamilton is expected to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison of the Southern District of Texas, who presided over the trial. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
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October 25-27, 2019
CalSIPP
California Society of Interventional Pain Physicians 10
th annual meeting
The Resort at Squaw Creek, Lake Tahoe.
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