A Message from the ASSH President
One Question
Did You Know - ASSH Annual Meeting?
50 AFSH Resident and Fellow Traveling Scholarships to be Awarded for the Annual Meeting
Evidence Based Practice Committee
Updated Fact Sheet on Impact of July 6 Date on Medicare Enrollment and Claims Processing - From AMA
AMA Summary and Analysis: 2011 Medicare Physician Payment Proposed Rule - From AMA
A Message from the ASSH President
In response to the earthquake disaster in Haiti earlier this spring, I asked our Volunteer Service Committee to take on the added task of serving as a clearinghouse for hand surgeon volunteers when significant disaster relief is required. To accomplish this, the committee will be coordinating ASSH members interested in volunteering when disasters occur, and they have been hard at work developing a volunteer disaster relief program for you. Below is a message from the committee. I encourage all ASSH members interested and able to be a part of a disaster relief team to sign up for this program.
Regards,
Bob Szabo
Dear Colleagues,
We have all been witness to the disastrous natural disasters that took place in Haiti and Chile. It was only a few years ago that the Gulf Coast of the U.S. was hit by Hurricane Katrina. During these catastrophic events, the infrastructural resources for health care are overwhelmed and the ability of local authorities to respond may be severely compromised. At this time, help is requested from the outside. The response may be generated by government agencies, the UN relief organizations and non-governmental organizations.
The ASSH Volunteer Service Committee is establishing working relationships with these relief agencies which will include training in disaster relief and potential deployment to disaster zones to function as an upper extremity surgeon or even as a general orthopedist, plastic, or general surgeon.
We are establishing a database of all potential volunteers that would be available for training and possible deployment. If you are interested in volunteering on behalf of ASSH, please email smeyerhughes@assh.org for more information. More details will be posted to the website later in the summer, so stay tuned.
Thanks in advance for your participation,
The ASSH Volunteer Service Committee
One Question
Last week, we asked you about your mobile devices. See the results of the poll here. This week, we want to know your thoughts on ASSH-specific applications for your mobile devices and e-publications. Answer this week's One Question.
Did You Know - ASSH Annual Meeting?
Did you know… that 24 exhibitors will feature a new product at the 65th Annual Meeting in Boston? Take a moment to visit the New Product Showcase webpage to learn more about these interesting new products. Then visit the interactive floorplan to plan your route through the Exhibit Hall at the Annual Meeting.
Do you think someone is missing from our exhibitor list? If a company with a great or interesting product for the specialty isn’t on the list of exhibitors, tell our exhibits team at exhibits@assh.org and we’ll take it from there.
50 AFSH Resident and Fellow Traveling Scholarships to be Awarded for the Annual Meeting
This year the AFSH will be awarding 50 scholarships for residents and fellows to attend the Annual Meeting. Members of the Residents and Fellows Conference Committee will be reviewing the 100+ applications and determining the winners by mid-July.
Residents and fellows, at all stages of training from PGY1 through fellowship, that are granted this scholarship may use it towards registration fees, travel, lodging and any other expenses incurred at the Annual Meeting. Thanks to the generosity of our corporate sponsors, we have almost doubled the number of scholarships from last year, giving more opportunities for future hand surgeons to reap all of the benefits the Annual Meeting has to offer.
• Stryker Orthopaedics - 20 Scholarships
• Biomet, Inc. - 10 Scholarships
• Integra Foundation - 10 Scholarships
• OsteoMed, L.P. - 5 Scholarships
• Acumed LLC - 4 Scholarships
• MicroAire Surgical Instruments - 1 Scholarship
Evidence Based Practice Committee
Members of the Evidence Based Practice Committee recently completed a review of the Level of Evidence for all the accepted abstracts for the 2010 Annual Meeting. This is the second year the committee has done this and is the first year that all the abstracts have been reviewed. This is an important step in promoting the use of evidence in all aspects of the Hand Society. Special thanks goes to David Ring, MD for coordinating this effort. Of course, this would not be possible without the hard work of the members of the Annual Meeting Program Committee, Scientific Displays Committee, and the Residents and Fellows Conference Committee, who have the time-intensive task of reviewing the hundreds of abstract applications received every year for the Annual Meeting.
Updated Fact Sheet on Impact of July 6 Date on Medicare Enrollment and Claims Processing - From AMA
The AMA has created an updated fact sheet that details the Medicare requirements stating referring and ordering physicians must be enrolled in PECOS, the Medicare enrollment database. This must be done by July 6th, 2010. This includes any physician who has not submitted an updated enrollment application to Medicare in the past 6 years, or has had a change to their enrollment information (i.e., change of address) during this time but has not reported the change. All physicians must list the legal name and NPI of the physician or provider who referred/ordered to them on their claims. This change stems from Section 6405 of the new health system reform law known as Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Read the complete fact sheet.
AMA Summary and Analysis: 2011 Medicare Physician Payment Proposed Rule - From AMA
The AMA has created a summary and analysis of the 2011 Medicare Physician Payment Proposed Rule. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a proposed regulation detailing Medicare physician payment policies for 2011. The rule is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on July 13, 2010, and is open for comment until August 24, 2010. At 1,250 pages, the rule includes both the standard annual update to the Medicare payment schedule and implementation of many provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA.) The AMA summary touches on the issues that are likely to be of most interest to physicians but does not review every element of the entire proposed rule.