AMA Membership Update
Listserv Hot Topic: Study Debunks Stereotypical Image of Orthopaedic Surgeons
Year-End Reminder: Membership Dues and AFSH Donations
Thank You to AFSH Donors
ICOR Registry Initiative Making Progress
Why Patients are Turning Less to Media and Friends for Health Information 
Volunteer's Note
The Government Affairs Committee (GAC) is currently working on two fronts for ASSH members. We are focusing on what is happening in Washington, DC, and what is happening across the country.
The ASSH is a much smaller organization than the national Orthopaedic and Plastic Surgery organizations, so the GAC is working with the political arms of the AAOS and the ASPS to learn information that we feel will be of interest to our members. We are also fortunate to have Andrew Gurman, MD, the Speaker of the AMA House of Delegates and a member of the Hand Society, as a member of the GAC.
Through our
newsletter, the GAC highlights what is going on around the country and how it might affect your practice. We have discussed the rush to develop ACO's in Massachusetts, the push to prevent physicians from employing physical therapists, the development of W/C clinics in California, and the inability of doctors to own high-cost imaging in Maryland.
Future newsletters will examine changes in the ACO industry and how doctors can host political fundraisers. We encourage any member who has an issue that would benefit from publication in our newsletter to contact ASSH staff member Sarah Meyer Hughes at
smeyerhughes@assh.org.
The GAC believes political involvement is so important to the future of the Hand Society and to hand surgeons' ability to provide high-quality care that we will be hosting a political forum at the
Annual Meeting in September in Chicago.
Happy New Year!
Bruce Leslie, MD
Chair, Government Affairs Committee
One Question
To better serve you, the Hand Society would like to know if you use your mobile phone to browse the Internet, and if so, how often.
Let us know by taking our very brief
survey on this topic.
The fifth edition in the highly anticipated
Hand Surgery Update is now available through the ASSH website.
Featuring gorgeous, never-published illustrations and strong, high-quality binding, this sturdy new edition offers 700 concise pages, filled with all of the images, current research and literature reviews that you need. It's a must-have for any practicing hand surgeon.
Edited by Kevin C. Chung, MD, MS, and co-edited by Peter M. Murray, MD,
Hand Surgery Update V will not disappoint. If you only buy one publication on hand and upper extremity surgery this year,
Hand Surgery Update V is the comprehensive and easy-to-navigate book for you.
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. We'd like to recognize those who have answered the call to either join or rejoin.
Thank you to all of the ASSH members who notified us this week (via email or the Listserv) that they've joined or rejoined the AMA:
Michael J. Casey, MD
Frederick F. Fakharzadeh, MD
Michael P. Rubinstein, MD
Have you recently joined or rejoined the AMA? 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 in early 2012.Have your voice heard: Join the AMA.
Listserv Hot Topic: Study Debunks Stereotypical Image of Orthopaedic Surgeons
Making fun of orthopaedic surgeons is a popular pastime in operating rooms. Many an anesthetist has commented about the "typical orthopaedic surgeon — as strong as an ox, but half as bright."
With this in mind, one member posted a study on the ASSH Listserv this week in which a group of orthopaedic surgeons was compared with a group of anesthetists in terms of grip strength and intelligence – and the results will delight you.
If you have already signed up for the Physician Listserv, you can view or contribute to the Ortho vs. Anesthesia discussion by visiting the
archives and scrolling down to the thread titled "pdf of ortho v anesthesia article." If you don't know or remember your Listserv password, you can reset your password
here.
To sign up for the Listserv, visit the
ASSH website.
Year-End Reminder: Membership Dues and AFSH Donations
Please note:
- The ASSH/AFSH Central Office is closed December 30-January 2.
- For AFSH donations, any checks dated 2011 and received in the Central Office by January 10, 2012, will be credited toward the 2011 giving year.
Thank you for a wonderful year!
* As with all tax-related matters, you are advised to consult a tax professional.
Thank You to AFSH Donors
Randall D. Alexander, MD
Alejandro Badia, MD
William L. Bourland, MD
Reuben A. Bueno, Jr., MD
Richard I. Burton, MD
Charles Carroll, IV, MD
Michael J. Cohen, MD
Bronier L. Costas, MD
Michael P. Coyle, Jr., MD
Edward Damore, MD
Stephen C. Drukker, MD
Michael J. Fealy, MD
Gregory G. Fedorcik, MD
Mohab B. Foad, MD
Gary K. Frykman, MD
Cauley W. Hayes, MD
Donald S. Huene, MD
Doron I. Ilan, MD
David Kirschenbaum, MD
Amy L. Ladd, MD
Gary M. Lourie, MD
Harold J. McCutchan, MD
Anne J. Miller, MD
Brian A. Murphy, MD
Richard P. Murphy, MD
Ronald J. Neimkin, MD
Mark E. Pruzansky, MD
Matthew D. Putnam, MD
Hillary G. Redlin, MD
Scott A. Riley, MD
Steven S. Shin, MD
Roger L. Simpson, MD, MBA
Maximillian C. Soong, MD
Douglas Sunde, MD
Ann E. Van Heest, MD
Curtis S. Young, MD, MS, FACS
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.ICOR Registry Initiative Making Progress - from AAOS
Responding to a need for better post-market surveillance of orthopaedic devices, the US Food and Drug Administration established the International Consortium of Orthopaedic Registries (ICOR) in October 2010.
As outlined in a December 21 special online supplement in the
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, ICOR is developing a collaborative process for improving the safety of orthopedic devices using outcomes registries from the US and other countries, Medical News Today reports. The combined ICOR registries may include data on millions of orthopaedic surgical procedures and all implantable devices on the market.
More than 700,000 joint replacement devices are implanted in patients in the US every year, and this volume is projected to increase twofold for hip-joint replacements and sevenfold for knee-joint replacements to a total of more than 3 million annually within the next 20 years.
Read more.
Why Patients are Turning Less to Media and Friends for Health Information - from AMAAs patient visits to physicians have declined, so has their interest in finding information relating to their health.
The waning interest in information-seeking as patient visits fall is what the Center for Studying Health System Change called a "surprising" conclusion to a survey of 17,000 patients released in November. Visits to physicians dropped 4% between 2007 and 2010. Meanwhile, the percentage of American adults seeking information about a personal health concern in the previous 12 months decreased from 55.5% to 50% in the same period, it said.
Analysts said there are probably multiple reasons for that. The trend could reflect that when patients are less able to see a physician, they are less likely to be engaged in their health. It could be that with fewer physician visits, individual patients may have more time to spend with their doctor, meaning they have less of a need for outside sources of information.
Read more.