ASSH Weekly Member Upd@te
________________________________January 23, 2009
Our Society
· A Message from ASSH President L. Andrew Koman, MD
One Question
· A one-question survey designed to help us all better understand the contexts in which our members live and work
ASSH News
· NIH Reviewers Needed
· The Hand Society Welcomes New Affiliate Members
· Apply Now to be an ASSH Committee Member
· Call for Applications for Clinical Trials and Outcomes Planning Grant
· Hand Surgeon-Scientist Award
· Call for Basic Science and Clinical Research Grant Applications
· ASSH/ASHT Combined Meeting Call For Abstracts
· Correction: January 23rd’s ASSH-AMA Advocacy Email
ASSH Courses and Meetings
2009 Advanced Techniques in Reconstructive Elbow Surgery
2009 Self-Assessment Examination – Registration Now Open
Medical News
· AMA Provides Tools for the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI)
· “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” will Affect the Nation’s Health Care (From AMA)
· The Department of Health and Human Services Extends the ICD-10 Deadline
· American Hand Therapy Foundation Grants (From AHTF)
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Our Society
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I just returned from the meetings of the American Association of Hand Surgery, the Peripheral Nerve Society, and the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery. All three events were of the highest scientific merit, and well-attended. Of special note, each organization’s president is an ASSH member.
In spite of the economic issues confronting all of us, I noticed the thirst for specialty knowledge and face-to-face exchange with peers appeared to be of great importance at the meetings. This is reassuring for both our Society and our patients. I was honored to represent the ASSH at these events, each of which documented the importance of continued educational and research missions.
Andy Koman
To comment on Dr. Koman’s column, visit his blog.
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One Question
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Do you use vascular grafts for scaphoid fractures? Why, or why not? Answer this week’s one question.
Last week’s One Question asked if you would be interested in buying a practice management book from the Hand Society. To review the responses we have collected, click here.
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ASSH News
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NIH Reviewers Needed
The NIH recently asked specialty societies to nominate some of their members to be NIH grant reviewers and/or study section members. As we strive to promote more funding for hand surgery, it is particularly important that we have representation within the NIH so that our grants are adequately supported. We would like to know if any members would be interested in being nominated by the Hand Society for one of these positions to represent hand surgery. Nominees should have had R01 equivalent grants from the NIH. Being a study section member is a significant time commitment. If selected to a study section, the members meet three times a year for six years. Each member reviews roughly ten grants, and each grant takes about 4-5 hours to review. Please contact Sarah Meyer Hughes, by Friday, January 30th if you are interested. For more information please visit the NIH website.
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The Hand Society Welcomes New Affiliate Members
Please join the current ASSH membership and staff in welcoming new ASSH Affiliate Members to the Hand Society. A new class was inducted January 1, 2009. Congratulations to all the new members!
For more information about Affiliate Membership, visit our website or email our Membership Coordinator Jeanne Bloesch at jbloesch@assh.org.
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Apply Now to be an ASSH Committee Member
Participation in American Society for Surgery of the Hand committees is one of the best ways to share your voice with the Hand Society and to contribute to our specialty. If you are a motivated, dedicated, and enthusiastic member, consider sharing your talents by applying to be a committee member.
To read more about each committee and it’s charges, visit the ASSH website. Once you know which committee you are interested in joining, take a few moments to fill out the online application.
The deadline for applications is Friday, February 13. Questions can be directed to Tara Havenga at the Central Office (thavenga@assh.org).
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Hand Surgeon-Scientist Award
Jointly sponsored by the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation and the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation
AFSH, OREF and PSEF are now offering the Hand Surgeon-Scientist Award to recognize one young orthopaedic hand surgeon and one young plastic hand surgeon who have demonstrated success as both a clinician and a researcher, and provide a base of financial support that will ensure sufficient protected time to develop a long and productive career in academic surgery.
The award is designed to support young faculty members at teaching institutions with accredited programs in orthopaedic surgery and plastic surgery. The award for each of the two recipients provides up to $75,000 per year for up to five years, subject to annual review. This support is intended to replace clinical practice salary lost by redirecting time to research, and help offset the recipient’s reduced clinical productivity. Applications are invited from individuals who demonstrate success in research by receiving initiation of extramural research funding in 2009 or later under one or more K08 or K23 awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
For more information please visit the ASSH website. Deadline for submission is December 1, 2009.
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Call for Basic Science and Clinical Research Grant Applications
Applications due April 1, 2009
The American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) and the American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand (AFSH) have established grant funding to encourage young investigators to perform clinical and basic science research studies. It is anticipated that the funding will enable investigators to initiate pilot projects that will lead to subsequent funding from other sources such as the NIH.
Applications are now being accepted for basic science and clinical research grants. The selection of the research proposals for funding is made by the Research Management Committee with the approval of the Council of the ASSH and the AFSH Board. Selection is based on the merits of the proposal with preference given to new projects for which the grant could serve as seed money for larger grants from the NIH, OREF or PSEF. In order to be eligible for the grant, at least one of the investigators must be a member of the ASSH.
For more information on the application requirements, please visit the ASSH website.
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2009 Call For Abstracts
September 3-5, 2009 * San Francisco, California
2009 Combined Annual Meeting of the ASSH and ASHT
Bridges: Connecting the Past and the Future
The abstract submission site is now open to submit your proposals for the 2009 Combined Annual Meeting of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) and the American Society of Hand Therapists (ASHT). Interested in learning more? Download the official 2009 Call For Abstracts or visit the Hand Society’s Call For Abstracts online information page for important details then submit your proposal today!
2009 Online Abstract Submission Forms:
· Instructional Course Lecture – Deadline passed
· Symposia abstracts – Deadline passed
· Paper Presentation (Podium) abstracts due February 9, 2009
Already submitted an abstract but need to make a change? Visit the Abstract Service Center to edit your submission. Revisions can be made through the deadline listed above.
Questions about the abstract submission process? Contact Diana Shkap at dshkap@assh.org.
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Correction: January 23rd’s ASSH-AMA Advocacy Email
Regarding today’s ASSH-AMA Advocacy email, ASSH’s delegate to the Young Physician's Section of the AMA is Charles S. Day, MD, not Gregory May, MD.
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ASSH Courses & Meetings
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2009 Advanced Techniques in Reconstructive Elbow Surgery
Registration Deadline: May 22, 2009
Online Registration Now Open!
Program Chairs:
David C. Ring, MD
Scott P. Steinmann, MD
This course will provide a state of the art update on open and arthroscopic techniques of elbow surgery. A renowned faculty of leading elbow surgeons will present lectures, panel discussions and hands-on training in the cadaver laboratory. Specific techniques covered in detail will be elbow arthroscopy, elbow instability, all elbow fractures, and arthroplasty. Course attendees will have the opportunity to perform all surgical procedures in the laboratory and are encouraged to bring problem cases for discussion with the faculty.
Course Objectives:
· Become familiar with advanced techniques of elbow surgery
· Learn arthroscopic techniques for the elbow
· Become familiar with all surgical approaches to the elbow for the most common procedures
· Recognize pitfalls of surgical techniques and how to avoid complications
· Understand the biomechanics of the elbow and learn how to perform surgical reconstruction for instability
· Learn state-of-the-art techniques for treatment of fractures of the distal humerus, radial head, coronoid and olecranon
· Become familiar with elbow arthroplasty techniques and how to avoid complications
CME Credit Hours
The ASSH designates this educational activity for a maximum of 16.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Accreditation
The ASSH is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Learn more by downloading the course brochure or visit www.assh.org to register online.
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2009 Self-Assessment Examination
Registration Deadline: April 3, 2009
Online Registration Now Open!
SAE Educational Objectives
• Detect and differentiate injury mechanisms, pathologies and applied anatomy associated with upper extremity conditions treated by hand surgeons
• Differentiate and apply the range of conservative and surgical treatment options to deal with upper extremity problems that present to a hand surgeon’s practice
• Develop informed evidenced-based guided clinical decision practice options in the treatment of upper extremity disorders
• Evaluate by self assessment basic cognitive, reasoning skills, and clinical aptitudes required of all hand surgeons in practice to complete maintenance of certification
This examination is offered as a convenient self-education exercise by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and is geared towards hand and upper extremity health care professionals. Designed to assist the physician in reviewing basic principles of hand care, the exam also helps to keep the physician abreast of new developments and concepts within the specialty. The examination covers diagnostic and therapeutic problems, both surgical and non-operative, basic science knowledge, and fundamental principles of hand surgery. The interpretation of the illustrative material (clinical photographs and radiographs) is an integral part of this examination. The 2009 examination consists of the Question Book (Book 1) containing 150 questions, an answer sheet, evaluation, and the Discussion Book (Book 2) with preferred responses, discussion and literature references.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Registration Deadline – April 3, 2009
Deadline to return answer sheet – Postmarked by June 12, 2009
Discussion book mailed - July 31, 2009
ACCREDITATION
The American Society for Surgery of the Hand is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education to physicians.
CME CREDIT HOURS
The ASSH designates this educational activity for a maximum of 20.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
NOTE: Only those who return a completed answer sheet for computer scoring by June 12, 2009 will be eligible for CME.
Learn more about the Self-Assessment Exam by downloading the program brochure or visit the exam webpage to register online!
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Medical News
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For more on ASSH advocacy news and efforts, visit the health policy page of our website.
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AMA Provides Tools for the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI)
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has launched the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI).
The American Medical Association has created participation tools to assist physicians and other eligible professionals who participate in the PQRI program for 2009. The AMA designed the tools for claims-based reporting to facilitate the data collection required to report clinical performance data.
In addition to tools for the 131 individual quality measures that can be reported through claims-based submission, the AMA has created new tools for the 6 measures groups that can be reported through claims-based submission. These include a data collection sheet that incorporates all of the individual measure-specific information in one step-by-step worksheet for clinical use and office/billing staff use.
The tools for individual measures and measures groups can be accessed on the AMA website.
Additional information on the PQRI program, including detailed technical specifications for the measures, can be found on the CMS website.
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“American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” will Affect the Nation’s Health Care (From AMA)
This week, Congress began considering the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” an $825 billion stimulus package. The legislation contains $275 billion in tax relief and $550 billion in direct spending in an effort to stimulate economic activity.
A number of the provisions affect health care. Specifically, Congress will provide increased funding for Medicaid programs and subsidies directed to uninsured individuals. Additional funding will be provided for health care infrastructure, training, and research. Several provisions have been characterized as “down-payments” of health care reform, such as a $20 billion investment in Health Information Technology and $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness research conducted through existing authorities.
More information will be available after House floor consideration next week.
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The Department of Health and Human Services Extends the ICD-10 Deadline
In response to comments from healthcare providers, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a final rule which pushes back the implementation date of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 code set from Oct. 1, 2011 to Oct. 1, 2013.
ICD-10 is an expanded code set designed to improve the specificity of claims processing and payment. However, concerns have been raised regarding the cost of implementation to physicians. A recent study estimated that implementing the new code sets could cost a three-physician practice as much as $83,290; a 100-physician practice might have to spend more than $2.7 million to implement the change.
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American Hand Therapy Foundation Grants (From AHTF)
The American Hand Therapy Foundation (AHTF) has two grants available for 2009. First, the AHTF Burkhalter New Investigator Grant is being given for clinical research in hand and upper limb rehabilitation. It has been established in honor of Dr. William Burkhalter (1928-1992), a long time advocate and promoter of hand therapy. This funding opportunity is $4,000.
Second, the AHTF Evelyn Mackin Traveling Hand Therapist Award is being granted to a practicing occupational or physical therapist, who meets the following requirements: is a current member of the American Society of Hand Therapists or a Certified Hand Therapist, travels to various hand therapy facilities, presents on a specific domain of hand therapy, and shares the "pearls" of hand rehabilitation learned from the experience. This funding opportunity is $3,000.
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ASSH Weekly Member Update is a member service. The ASSH home page is at www.assh.org.