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American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians | July 24, 2019
Purchase Your Cincinnati Reds-Chicago Cubs Suite Tickets When Registering for OH-KY SIPP Meeting

The Ohio and Kentucky Societies of Interventional Pain Physicians have planned a great agenda over 2.5 days on August 9-11. The committee has reserved a suite for the Cincinnati Reds-Chicago Cubs game Saturday evening. Enjoy a fun and relaxing evening as you watch these two clubs play while networking with your peers. Tickets are just $83 and can be purchased when you register for the meeting. IF you’ve already registered and would like to purchase tickets, email your order to [email protected]

 
Click here to view the program.
 
ABSTRACT DEADLINE EXTENDED 
We will accept abstracts for the poster presentations until Aug. 1, 2019.
To submit proposals, click here .
2019 ASIPP Washington Legislative Meeting and
Capitol Hill visits set for October 15-16, 2019  
Now is our chance! Let your voices be heard!  
 
At no other time in the history of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians has it been more important for you, as members, to get involved in our advocacy efforts. Despite o ur ongoing, tireless efforts, with some improvements, our specialty continues to be affected by coverage and reimbursement issues. These issues continue to hurt more than just our bottom lines; some practices and surgery centers have been forced to close their doors or sell to others.
 
Our legislative issues include:
  •  Non-coverage by Medicare Advantage
  •  Dual eligibility with Medicaid not paying 20%
  •  Centene acquisition of Well Care
  •  Onerous audits and investigations
  • Incorporation of best practices in Pain Management
  • Support for preauthorization for Medicare Advantage
  • Support for H.R.3107 - Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act of 2019 (preauthorization bill)

We have scheduled a legislative conference for October 15-16, 2019. To participate in this conference, you must to be in Washington DC on Tuesday, October 15 in order to attend the preparation session Tuesday evening. Then, on Wednesday, October 16, we will head to Capitol Hill for breakfast and congressional speeches. You will be able to fly out late on Wednesday evening. Please do not plan on leaving before 6 pm.  
 
Each member is expected to visit two senators and one member of Congress for a total of three visits.  
 
ASIPP has booked a block of rooms at the beautiful Melrose Georgetown Hotel, less than a mile from the Hill. You will be responsible for travel expenses.  Please let us know as soon as possible if you will be attending so that we can begin making the appointments. Please bring your family, friends and employees.
 
It will be fun! If you have never participated before, just ask those who have. Not only is this a necessary and important meeting, but it is also an exciting and fun experience.
 
Please contact Melinda Martin, ASIPP Director of Operations, at [email protected] if you are interested in attending.
 
Register Now for First Midsouth Meeting to be Held September 20-22 in Memphis
 
The first meeting of the Midsouth Societies of Interventional Pain Physicians will be September 20-22 in Memphis. IPM: Issues, Pitfalls and Opportunities is for physicians and midlevel practitioners for the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee.
 
Click here for meeting registration and hotel booking information. 

Click Below to view:
FDA approves first generics of Lyrica
 
On July 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved multiple applications for first generics of Lyrica (pregabalin) for the management of neuropathic pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, for the management of postherpetic neuralgia, as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of partial onset seizures in patients 17 years of age and older, for the management of fibromyalgia, and for the management of neuropathic pain associated with spinal cord injury.
“Today’s approval of the first generics for pregabalin, a widely-used medication, is another example of the FDA’s longstanding commitment to advance patient access to lower cost, high-quality generic medicines,” said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “The FDA requires that generic drugs meet rigorous scientific and quality standards. Efficiently bringing safe and effective generics to market so patients have more options to treat their conditions is a top priority for the FDA.” 

FDA
June 2020 ABIPP EXAMS
AND COMPETENCY EXAMS
June 13 - June 14, 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 [email protected].
 
June 13
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 13-14
ABIPP Part II  
Regenerative Medicine Competency Exam
Endoscopic Lumbar Decompression Competency Exam

June 14
ABIPP Competency Exam


939 Ridge Lake Blvd. | Memphis, TN 38120
 
Pricing Index Proposal Draws Fire
Industry groups take aim at plan to tie Medicare payments to prices charged overseas

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration's proposal to base U.S. drug prices on those in other countries would be disastrous for new drug development efforts in the pharmaceutical industry, a healthcare consultant said here.
"[The proposal] ignores the cumulative impact at the firm level ... It has a really chilling effect on R&D [research and development], " Duane Schulthess, managing director at Vital Transformation, a healthcare research firm based in Belgium, said Thursday at an event sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "It reduces revenues on predominantly the most innovative products ... And it doesn't create win/win scenarios; it's punitive."
 
 

Kentucky reports drop in drug overdose deaths in 2018

Last year's drop follows years of steady increases in the death toll, driven mostly overdoses from opioid painkillers and the prevalence of such powerful drugs heroin and fentanyl. Drug overdoses far outpace traffic crashes as a cause of death in Kentucky.
Kentucky's political leaders, from Frankfort to Washington, D.C., hailed the downturn in drug-related fatalities in the report from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy. But they cautioned it's just one round in a long fight, as did officials at the forefront of the anti-drug campaign.
"The numbers are trending down, but our state still faces incredible challenges," said state Justice and Public Safety Secretary John Tilley. "This crisis claimed more than 1,300 lives last year and inflicted untold heartbreak on our families and communities."
 
 

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

Feds Try to Recoup Billions in Medicare Advantage Overbilling

Health insurers that treat millions of seniors have overcharged Medicare by nearly $30 billion the past three years alone, but federal officials say they are moving ahead with long-delayed plans to recoup at least part of the money.
Officials have known for years that some Medicare Advantage plans overbill the government by exaggerating how sick their patients are or by charging Medicare for treating serious medical conditions they cannot prove their patients have.
Getting refunds from the health plans has proved daunting , however. Officials with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services repeatedly have postponed, or backed off, efforts to crack down on billing abuses and mistakes by the increasingly popular Medicare Advantage health plans offered by private health insurers under contract with Medicare. Today, such plans treat over 22 million seniors, there are more than 1 in 3 people who are on Medicare.


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.

Get started today at ASIPP.ArborMetrix.net

FDA warns company marketing unapproved cannabidiol products with unsubstantiated claims to treat cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, opioid withdrawal, pain and pet anxiety
 
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has issued a warning letter to Curaleaf Inc., of Wakefield, Massachusetts, for illegally selling unapproved products containing cannabidiol (CBD) online with unsubstantiated claims that the products treat cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, opioid withdrawal, pain and pet anxiety, among other conditions or diseases.
“As we examine potential regulatory pathways for the lawful marketing of products containing cannabis and cannabis-derived compounds like CBD, protecting and promoting public health remains our top priority. Selling unapproved products with unsubstantiated therapeutic claims — such as claims that CBD products can treat serious diseases and conditions — can put patients and consumers at risk by leading them to put off important medical care. Additionally, there are many unanswered questions about the science, safety, effectiveness and quality of unapproved products containing CBD,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless, M.D. “Today’s action demonstrates that the agency stands firm in its commitment to continue monitoring the marketplace and protecting the public health by taking action as needed against companies that deceive consumers and put them at risk by illegally selling products marketed for therapeutic uses for which they are not approved, such as those claiming to treat cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. Consumers should beware of purchasing or using any such products.”


FDA
BlogSupplements: the Wild, Wild West of Medicine
Kevin Campbell, MD, wonders how to keep the supplement industry in check

In the U.S. today, supplements are a multi-billion-dollar industry. By and large, the supplement industry has managed to go unchecked by regulatory bodies such as the FDA. Unlike pharmaceuticals, which must meet high standards for safety and efficacy, supplements need only meet a few requirements. Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), supplements such as dietary supplements, were placed in the same category as food, which allowed supplement manufacturers to play by a very different set of rules.
One of the biggest differences is the way in which supplements are approached by the FDA. While pharmaceuticals are considered unsafe until proven safe, supplements are considered safe until proven otherwise. The DSHEA says that dietary supplements cannot contain anything that may have "a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury" when the supplement is used as directed on the label, or with normal use if there are no directions on the label. In addition, the FDA demands that an individual supplement must contain exactly what the label says it does.
 

State Society News 

July 26-28, 2019
PAIN 2019
West Virginia Society of Pain Physicians
Loews Miami Beach, FL

August 9-10, 2019
Ohio and Kentucky Annual Meeting
Westin Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH

Send in your state society meeting news to Holly Long, [email protected]
ASIPP | Pain Physician Journal | Phone | Fax | Email