One Question
'Hand Surgery Greats' Poll Reminder
Call for Weiland Medal Applications
Sign Up for Our Next Webinar: Maximizing Reimbursement
Listserv Hot Topic: iPhone 4 Medical (and Other) Apps
Consumer Product Safety Commission Soliciting Comments on Table Saw Injuries
Bipartisan Support Emerges for Including Payment Reform in Deficit Reduction
Open Enrollment for Medicare Part D Starts Saturday
CMS to Alleviate Two Medicare Enrollment Requirements
One Question
This week's poll involves your Medical Education Number (ME Number). To weigh in, visit our polling site.
'Hand Surgery Greats' Poll Reminder
If you haven't already, please take moment to tell the AFSH which of a selected group of "hand surgery greats" most resonates with you for the impression he has left on the field of upper extremity surgery.
In addition to the "greats" we have identified, you can also write in a vote for your favorite. Vote now
Call for Weiland Medal Applications
Applications are now being accepted for the 2012 Andrew J. Weiland Medal for Outstanding Research in Hand Surgery. The medal is awarded annually to a mid-career researcher dedicated to advancing patient care in the field of hand surgery.
The award is a $20,000 unrestricted gift and will honor a hand surgeon-scientist who has contributed a body of research that advances the field. The medal recognizes and supports outstanding research in order to continue Weiland’s vision for the field of hand surgery. It will be awarded to a mid-career surgeon who is less than 55 years old or a surgeon who is less than 15 years from hand fellowship training. The medal will be presented at the 2012 ASSH Annual Meeting in Chicago.
The deadline for submitting an application is April 2, 2012. To learn more about the Andrew J. Weiland Medal, visit the web page.
Sign Up for Our Next Webinar: Maximizing Reimbursement
Join us for our next Practice Management Webinar: Maximizing Reimbursement - What to Consider When Negotiating with a Large Healthcare Entity. This 60-minute webinar will take place on Tuesday, October 25 at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST. The $75 fee includes the recording.
Do you find yourself trying to negotiate employment contracts with your hospital or large group practice? Are you starting to set up your own practice? Not sure where to begin?
We will cover both sides of the physician-hospital relationship to examine what is important for service, delivery of services, growth, prosperity, and even "exiting" the agreement. Also, we will provide an update on hot coding issues for hand surgeons as we approach the end of 2011. Register now
Listserv Hot Topic: iPhone 4 Medical (and Other) Apps
The ASSH Physician Listserv has hosted a lot of discussion over the last week about iPhone 4 medical (and other) apps: what's out there; what's new; how people are using these apps in their everyday practices and lives.
If you have already signed up for the Physician Listserv, you can view or contribute to the discussion on iPhone 4 apps by visiting the archives and navigating to October 8. Don't know or remember your Listserv password? Reset your password here.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has given advanced notice of a proposed rule to mandate safety standards for table saws. The commission has unanimously voted to "be part of the solution to reduce the serious number of preventable table saw injuries that occur each year."
CPSC is in the comment-gathering phase and invites written comments from "interested persons concerning the risk of injury associated with table saw blade contact." Although ASSH will be drafting a formal response, individual members are also encouraged to respond directly to the CPSC.
Visit the
Federal Register to learn more about the ruling and the information the CPSC has requested.
To read the statement issued by the CPSC Chair, Inez M. Tenenbaum,
click here. To read the statement issued by CPSC Commissioner Robert S. Adler,
click here.
A bipartisan coalition of 113 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter last week to the 12 members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, urging them to repeal Medicare's formula for calculating payments to physicians, known as the sustainable growth rate (SGR). Because of the SGR, Medicare payments to physicians are scheduled to be cut 29.5 percent from current levels on January 1, 2012.
In the letter, the representatives noted that the committee's task of deficit reduction provides an opportunity to address what is effectively a $300 billion debt that has accumulated because of Congress's failure to enact a long-term solution to the SGR. The letter also notes that continuing to enact short-term measures to avoid cuts that would otherwise be required by the SGR will only raise the cost of finding a solution.
If the necessary reforms are not achieved, it is estimated that the cost of simply maintaining current Medicare rates for the next 10 years could double from current estimates of $300 billion to $600 billion in as little as five years. The College continues to call on Congress to enact responsible Medicare payment reform that repeals the SGR and builds on physician-led quality initiatives, such as the College’s activities in this arena. To view a copy of the letter,
click here.
Open Enrollment for Medicare Part D Starts Saturday - from AMA Medicare patients'
annual election period for the Part D prescription drug benefit begins Saturday and will run through December 7.
With a number of options and new benefits, physicians should encourage their Medicare patients to carefully consider which plan they will enroll in. Patients can visit the
Medicare website to learn more about coverage and enrollment.
CMS to Alleviate Two Medicare Enrollment Requirements - from AMAUpon hearing physician concerns about two burdensome new questions in the Medicare enrollment process, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking steps to make the new questions optional.
In a letter to CMS on August 4, the AMA encouraged CMS to no longer require physicians to answer whether they are accepting new Medicare patients. The AMA cautioned that many physicians would not recognize that the question was mandatory because accepting new patients is not a requirement for participating in the Medicare program. Consequently, their enrollment applications could be denied, causing extra administrative hassles, such as denied claims.
Read more