August 5, 2011
One Question
Did You Know?
Thank You for Your Contribution to the 2011 Members Business Meeting Agenda
1st Combined Meeting of the ASSH and Australian Hand Surgery Society
August Issue of the Business of Hand Surgery Newsletter Is Now Available
Thank You to Our AFSH Donors
Providers Line Up to Fight Possible Medicare Cuts – from the AAOS
This week we want to know if you read non-medical publications over the course of the year and which you would recommend to your colleagues. Answer this week’s
One Question.
...that the Hand Society often gets requests from the media to speak to a hand surgeon for local news stories? We need media-trained members willing to speak to reporters, so at this year’s Annual Meeting, the Public Awareness Committee is hosting an ICL on media training for hand surgeons. Former news anchor Debby Davison and media consultant Alexia Vernon will cover topics ranging from when and how to get your story on the news to polishing your message and diverting away from off-point questions.
Learn more.
Thank you for your feedback and suggestions for topics to discuss at the Members Business Meeting during the Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. We compiled a topic list based on many of your suggestions and invited you to indicate your interest level for each topic. Your early suggestions and participation in the topic ranking survey, allowed Dr. Nagle has narrowed the topic field for the agenda.
We will announce the final agenda next week. In the meantime, add the 2011 Members Business Meeting to your calendar on Thursday, September 8th from 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM in Mandalay Bay E. Again, thank you for your participation. It helps shape the agenda.
Call for Abstracts!
Proposals due September 30, 2011
The ASSH is partnering with our Australian friends at the AHSS to host a combined meeting in Kauai, Hawaii from
March 22-25, 2012. Hand care professionals from around the world will come together to share and discuss breakthrough techniques and procedures to advance the care and treatment of hand and upper extremity. We invite you to submit an abstract for consideration as a Paper, Poster or Instructional Course.
Learn more by visiting the abstract submission site.
The August issue of the Business of Hand Surgery Newsletter is now available. This issue features the article “Ambulatory Surgery Centers A-Z” by ASSH members Gregory Horner, MD and Anne Miller, MD.
Read more about maximizing reimbursement in the OR.
Rocco A. Barbieri, MD
Miguel E. Cabanela*
Ned B. Chase*
Mark A. Deitch, MD
David P. Green, MD*
Christopher D. Johnson, MD
D. Kay Kirkpatrick, MD*
Charles P. Melone, Jr., MD*
James F. Nappi, MD
Peter J. Stern, MD*
Thomas W. Wright, MD*
* Indicates contributions made in memory of James H. Dobyns, MD.
A memorial fund has been established to honor the life and work of James H. Dobyns, MD. If you wish to make a donation in his memory, click here to
donate online and scroll to the James H. Dobyns, MD Memorial Fund. You can donate in
other ways including by check or by stock.
The Hill reports that the healthcare industry is working to avoid a potential double round of reductions to Medicare reimbursement due not only to the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula but also due under the Budget Control Act of 2011, the debt reduction agreement enacted earlier this week. Physicians already face a January 1, 2012 pay cut of 29 percent under the SGR, and the debt ceiling law will apply an automatic 2 percent cut to Medicare reimbursement unless members of a 12-person joint congressional committee come to agreement on $1.5 trillion in additional federal budget cuts by November 23, 2011. Of additional concern is that any proposal produced by the joint committee is likely to recommend reductions in the Medicare budget.
The American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is monitoring the situation and will provide comments to members of the joint committee once it is formed.
Read more.