Volunteer's Note
Submit Your Proposal for $100,000 Clinical Research Grant
Sign Up for Our Next Webinar: Maximizing Reimbursement
HVO Volunteer Opportunities in China
Thank You to AFSH Donors
Lawmaker Joins AMA, Nation's Physicians in Urging for Repeal of SGR
Physicians: Liability Reform Must be Part of Deficit Committee Package
CMS to Alleviate Two Burdensome Medicare Enrollment Requirements
Volunteer's Note
In addition to relying on its excellent Central Office staff, the ASSH also leans heavily on its volunteer members to ensure it reaches its goals. Indeed, 360 members served on ASSH committees and task forces in 2010-'11, and our meetings and courses last year featured 453 unique faculty and presenters.
An article published on OrthoSuperSite.com this month details how the ASSH, along with the Orthopedic Trauma Association, provides the most comprehensive opportunities for resident involvement among all orthopedic specialty organizations.
While volunteer enthusiasm appears to be high, could we do an even better job of engaging our members? Utilizing the recent member survey, Council discussed at its spring meeting how the ASSH can further enhance the volunteer experience to maximize member involvement and broaden participation. I appointed a task force, led by Scott Kozin, to determine if the ASSH provides volunteer opportunities of sufficient diversity to accommodate members with varying needs and time commitment, and if members receive sufficient information and guidance on the paths to involvement. Also among the task forces charges is to ensure our means of selecting and advancing leaders at various levels are transparent, equitable, and effective.
The Member Engagement Task Force has been meeting via conference calls over the last three months and will be joined by Glenn Tecker, a renowned consultant for associations, in its deliberation. The task force will give its recommendations to Council at its December meeting. I believe such a self-assessment, even for a high-functioning organization like ours, can be illuminating and beneficial. We will keep you posted.
W. P. Andrew Lee, MD
ASSH President
Submit Your Proposal for $100,000 Clinical Research Grant
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand, the AFSH will award a $100,000 grant for a well-designed, prospective multi-center clinical research study. With many clinical questions waiting to be asked and answered, AFSH/ASSH will continue to elevate our tradition of high-quality research.
Applications must be submitted by February 1, 2012. The ASSH Research Committee will review all proposals and select the recipient of this grant, to be announced at the 67th Annual Meeting of the ASSH in September 2012 in Chicago.
Find out how to apply
New initiatives like this are made possible by the generous support of ASSH members and friends through annual giving, which supports a portion of all funding the Hand Society awards for hand surgery research. There are many opportunities to donate to the general or designated funds throughout the year and at different
donor levels. Learn more at
www.afsh.org/donate.
Keep an eye out this weekend for an email with the AFSH Mid-Year Report, which highlights all the ways the Foundation supported research, mentoring and volunteer outreach in 2011.
Read more in a message from AFSH President Fred Fakharzadeh, MD.
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 nowThank You to AFSH Donors
Dawn M. Briskey, CAE
Bernard F. Hearon, MD
Julie A. Melchior, MD
Jewish Community Foundation of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, Inc. from the Lewis & Patricia Chamoy Family
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.
Lawmaker Joins AMA, Nation's Physicians in Urging for Repeal of SGR - from the AMA
As the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction develops a legislative package to reduce federal spending, one lawmaker is circulating a letter urging the committee to include repeal of Medicare's flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula in the legislation.
The letter, from Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., lays out a well-reasoned argument for why eliminating the SGR should be part of any solution to address the budget deficit Schwartz is asking all members of the U.S. House of Representatives to sign it.
The AMA supports this important opportunity for members of Congress to declare their support for repeal of the SGR in the context of the committee's work. Schwartz's letter comes on the heels of a separate
letter from the AMA and 116 state and specialty medical societies urging the committee to include repeal of the SGR in its legislative package.
Read morePhysicians: Liability Reform Must be Part of Deficit Committee Package - from the AMA
In a
letter sent this week to the congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the AMA and 98 state and specialty medical societies urge the committee to include reform of the nation's broken medical liability system in the legislative package it is developing.
The committee is charged with crafting legislation by November 23 aimed at reducing federal spending by at least $1.2 trillion. In the letter, the physician organizations ask the committee to adopt a package of liability reforms—including a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages—along with language that allows individual states to maintain or enact their own effective reforms.
Read moreCMS to Alleviate Two Burdensome Medicare Enrollment Requirements - from the 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