Weekly Member Update - March 2, 2012

Volunteer's Note

One Question

AMA Membership Update

ASSH Social Media: Hand Therapy Pioneer and Affiliate Member Thankful at 90

AMA Offers New Physician Resource on Emerging Payment Options

Member Leads Team That Performs Rare Hand Transplant Surgery

Applications for Practice Division Director Position Now Being Accepted 

Registration Deadline for ASSH-AHSS Combined Meeting Extended

Thank You to AFSH Donors

CMS Releases Proposed Rule for EHR Meaningful Use Stage 2 Requirements





Volunteer's Note

Over the last five years, the American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand (AFSH) has successfully developed an endowment to further hand surgery through the generous contributions of ASSH membership and its industry partners.

Under the leadership of former Research Director, James Chang, MD, the ASSH began the process of defining the important questions that our membership wanted to have answered and actively researched.  These areas included improving functional recovery after nerve injuries, flexor tendon injuries, wrist instability, developing the optimal treatment for osteoarthritis and improving outcomes after distal radius fractures.

Best regards,

Ranjan Gupta, MD
Chair, Research Management Committee




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AMA Membership Update
 
AMA rules stipulate that in order to qualify for a seat in the AMA House of Delegates, 25% of our members must be AMA members.  Currently, we are 37 members shy of the 25% mark.  
 
Thank you to the ASSH members who notified us this week that they've joined or rejoined the AMA since December 2011:

Louis M. Adler, MD

Have you joined or rejoined the AMA since December 2011?  Please let us know by contacting amitchell@assh.org so we can track the progress of your AMA membership.  ASSH will reconcile our membership list with the AMA to get credit for our members.

 

Have your voice heard: Join the AMA.

Hand Therapy Pioneer and Affiliate Member Thankful at 90

 

The Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger recently profiled 90-year-old Evelyn Mackin, who along with other current ASSH members, helped establish hand treatment and therapy as a specialty.

 

Hand Society members James M. Hunter, MD, and Lawrence Schneider, MD, are also featured in the article, which notes that Mackin's work remains a guide to doctors today.

 

To read the article, visit the ASSH Facebook page, scroll down to the Mackin story, and follow the link.  Those who don't have a Facebook account can access the story on the Star-Ledger website.

 

 

 

 

AMA Offers New Physician Resource on Emerging Payment Options

 

The health care delivery system in the United States is undergoing a paradigm shift with regard to physician and other health care provider payment methodologies.

 

In an effort to control the growth of health care costs, payment methodologies involving risk are slowly replacing fee-for-service as the predominant means through which physicians will be paid.

 

The American Medical Association (AMA) has developed a tool to help physicians understand these concepts and position themselves to succeed under budget-based payment systems titled Evaluating and Negotiating Emerging Payment Options.

 

The AMA will expand and update this resource to ensure that physicians are continually equipped with the information and tools they will need to evaluate and negotiate current and emerging payment arrangements.

 
 

 

 

 

Member Leads Team That Performs Rare Hand Transplant Surgery

 

ASSH member Joseph E. Kutz, MD, recently led a team of 24 surgeons that performed a rare hand transplant surgery in Louisville, Kentucky.

 

It was the eighth such procedure Kutz's team has performed, and it took more than 15 hours to complete. 

To learn more, view the OR video and the post-op news conference.

 

 

 

Applications for Practice Division Director Position Now Being Accepted 

 

In spring 2011, ASSH President W. P. Andrew Lee, MD, created the Identity Task Force and appointed Steven Z. Glickel, MD, to chair the group.

 

One of the Task Force's main goals was to increase private practitioner involvement in the Hand Society.  In December, the ASSH Council accepted the Task Force's recommendation to revise the criteria and application for the Practice Division Director.   

 

On behalf of the Nominating Committee Chair, Daniel J. Nagle, MD, we would like to invite all qualified members to apply for the Practice Division Director position.

 

The revised Practice Division application calls for applicants to list their practice leadership experience as well as any involvement with practice management, advocacy and government affairs, as well as contributions to ASSH Practice Division committees and workgroups.

 

Please visit our Council Application page to learn more about the position and requirements, or complete the application today.  The deadline to apply is March 30.

 

If you have questions or comments, contact Alexzandra Wallace-Szewka at awallace@assh.org.

   

Registration Deadline for ASSH-AHSS Combined Meeting Extended

 

The deadline to register for the first combined meeting of the American and Australian hand surgery societies March 22-25 in Kauai, Hawaii, has been extended to March 5.

The ASSH and the Australian Hand Surgery Society have a long history of collegiality and collaboration, and we look forward to formally bringing together both sides of the Pacific for an exciting and interactive educational program.

The program schedule includes papers, posters, symposia, instructional courses, keynote lectures, industry workshops, and a commercial exhibit hall.  Download the current schedule and visit the event page for registration details.

Kamran Asadi, MD
Mark E. Einbecker, MD
Joseph R. Falcon, MD
Christopher L. Forthman, MD
Todd Havener, MD
Bert F. Jones, MD
Stuart G. Kirkham, MBBS, FRACS
Neville A. Lewis, MD
Brian A. Murphy, MD
David M. Ostrowski, MD
Mukund R. Patel, MD
Masoumeh Pouraskarparast, MD
Wesley G. Schooler, MD
Nathan L. Taylor, MD
Troy B. Watkins, Jr., MD

Did you know you can now support the Foundation (AFSH) through automated monthly payments?  Visit www.afsh.org/donate to complete an auto-pay form, or contact afsh@assh.org.




CMS Releases Proposed Rule for EHR Meaningful Use Stage 2 Requirements - from AMA