May 16-18, 2008

• Review Course in Fluoroscopy
• ABIPP Competency Certification Exam in Fluoroscopic Interpretation and Radiation Safety
• Cadaver Workshop - May 17-18 (Basic and Intermediate)

• ASIPP 10th Annual Meeting Celebration
• Practice Management for Interventional Pain Physicians and Professionals
• Interventional Techniques
• Gala Celebration
• Abstract Presentations
• Legislative Session and Capitol Hill Visits

• Board Review Course
• Coding, Compliance and Practice Management
• Controlled Substance Management
• ABIPP Competency Examinations
• ABIPP Part I Examination

• Review Course and Cadaver Workshop

• Review Course and Cadaver Workshop In Spinal Cord Stimulation

Congress is currently discussing a Medicare reimbursement legislation to address the pending cuts. A decision will be made very soon which means they need to hear form their constituents immediately. Senator Jim Bunning and Rep. Ed. Whitfield has created ASC language that if added on the the Medicare legislation, would save interventional pain management from the drastic cuts we currently face. We can not afford to put this off until a later date. This issue will affect your future as well as the future of your patients.

It is important that we begin contacting the members of the Senate Finance Committee immediately. The language must be added to the Medicare legislation by this committee before it can move forward. For committee members and contact information click here.

We need members who are constituents in the committee members' states to contact their senators as soon as possible. We have also created a new Capwiz letter in an effort to notify our legislators of this situation . We are facing devastating physician reimbursement cuts and even greater cuts to ASC and office-based procedures. While it may seem that ASCs are only the problem of those working in surgery centers, this is not the case. We must face the reality that our true problem is the consistent unfair cuts to IPM procedures ACROSS the board.

It will take a concerted effort on the part of the entire ASIPP membership if we are to get the ears and eyes of Congress and convince them to act. If someone on the committee is your state senator, please take the sample letter provided, place it on your letterhead and send it directly to him or her today. A direct call to their office is also encouraged. (contact information is provided in the links above).

You may send a letter addressing the issues through Capwiz: http://capwiz.com/asipp/issues/alert/?alertid=11058511&type=CO

Our government officals need to hear from our patients as well. This is easy to accomplish; print out the patient letter we have provided and ask all your patients to sign it (the last page of the word document for your state, see link in paragraph above). After you obtain these signatures your staff can send them as a Capwiz letter using the following link: http://capwiz.com/asipp/issues/alert/?alertid=11058731&type=CO

If you have any questions, call the ASIPP office for assistance: 270-554-9412.

Plans are underway for the ASIPP 10th Annual Meeting on June 21-25, 2008. This year marks an important milestone; ten years as "The Voice of Interventional Pain Management."

This year's highlights include:

• ASIPP 10th Annual Meeting Gala Celebration
• Practice Management for Interventional Pain Physicians and Professionals
• Abstract Presentations
• Awards
• Congressional Speeches
• Legislative Session and Capitol Hill visits
  

We encourage you to register soon as we must begin making Capitol Hill appointments. This year it is our desire to have representation for each state. We encourage to plan today to attend. If you have never visited Capitol Hill before, don't miss this opportunity. For those of you who have participated in the past, we don't have to tell you what a wonderful experience this will be.

Brochure and online registraion are now available.

Register Today!

ASIPP, AAPM, ISIS, the American Medical Association (AMA), and more than 70 other medical specialty societies are conducting a comprehensive multi-specialty survey of America's physician practices. From late January through late March, approximately 1,000 interventional pain management physicians have received survey packets from Dmrkynetec. If you recieved a survey ASIPP encourages you to participate.

We need at least 100 surveys to be completed and returned which is only one-tenth of the surveys mailed. To date, it appears that only 38 have been returned. As you know, this survey is conducted in combination by AMA, ASIPP, ISIS, and AAPM.

The results will be used to positively influence national decision makers to ensure accurate and fair representation for all physicians and patients, and to articulate the challenges of running a practice that provides expert patient care, while operating a business that is sustainable. Of particular importance is the section of the study pertaining to practice expenses and the amounts that are attributable to you. The Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services has indicated that it will use the results of this study to help determine physician payment. The survey firm, dmrkynetec, will contact randomly selected physicians and practice managers to collect responses. All responses will remain confidential.

Please inform your staff of your desire to participate in this survey and the importance of accepting incoming calls, faxes or e-mails from dmrkynetec, the firm administering the survey.

If you have been selected to participate in this important effort and have any questions about this survey, please call 1-877-816-8940 toll-free and ask to speak with one of dmrkynetec's executive interviewers about the 2008 Physician Information and Practice Expense Survey.

For more information

Starting May 23, physicians must use only their National Provider Identifiers in place of any other IDs when filing all electronic claims and some paper claims with Medicare and other payers. The Bush administration already has extended this deadline by a year, but organizations representing doctors and others warn that even more time is needed before they will be ready to make the final transition. (Glendinning, AMNews,May 12, 2008 issue)

amdnews.com

Identity thieves are using different methods to steal patient information from doctors' offices, clinics and hospitals, lawyers and privacy experts say. Legal experts say the thieves use medical information to get credit card numbers, drain bank accounts or falsely bill Medicare and other insurers. Although hospitals and other medical settings often encrypt data and take other steps to protect privacy, people are acting with increasing sophistication to steal information, attorneys say.

USA Today

More than a quarter of Americans have daily pain, a problem that costs the country more than $16 billion a year in pain remedies and about $60 billion a year in lost productivity, U.S. researchers said. (Reuters, May 2, 2008)

Their random survey of U.S. citizens found pain was fairly evenly divided between men and women, but poorer Americans reported being in more pain than wealthier people.

Reuters.com

Georgia judge struck down the cap on monetary awards in a medical malpractice case, a decision that could undercut a major component of Georgia's tort reform laws. In a recently released order, the Superior Court judge wrote that the legislative cap of $350,000 for noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering was unconstitutional because it gave special protections to the medical profession. For example, this meant people injured by doctors had less protection than those injured by a manufacturer's product, the judge wrote. (Visser, The Atlanta Journal- Constitution, May 2, 2008)

ajc.com

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel on Tuesday did not recommend approval for expanding the use of Cephalon Inc.'s (CEPH) Fentora, a powerful pain reliever, to non-cancer patients. (CNNMoney.com May 6, 2008)

Pain Physician journal will feature three special topical issues this year, in addition to the regular bimonthly publications. The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians' official journal, Pain Physician, will feature these special issues:

Ethics - Topics will cover:

• General issues in normative and applied medical ethics as relevant to the care of pain;
• Clinical ethical issues focal to under- and/or over- treatment of pain;
• Conceptual and practical issues related to informed consent;
• Conceptual and practical issues related to (institutional) review of (experimental, quasi- experimental and/or clinical) studies of pain assessment, and/or therapeutics;
• Ethical issues relevant to medico-legal concerns and/or development and articulation of health policy and law.
  

Health Policy and Practice Management

All written materials should follow Pain Physician manuscript for author's instructions. The topical issues will also undergo peer review. For more information contact Holly Long at hlong@asipp.org

Take advantage of ASIPP's online payment method to renew your dues. It's quick and easy just click on the link below and submit.

No password is required to renew. If you have questions or need assistance contact the ASIPP office at 270-554-9412 Ext. 208

Renew Membership

Massachusetts Society of Interventional Pain Physicians Annual Meeting

The Massachusetts Society of Interventional Pain Physicians Annual Meeting will take place on Saturday May 10, 2008 at the Marriott Boston Newton Hotel.

The meeting will include a luncheon and Dr. David Kloth will be a keynote speaker. A board meeting will take place immediately following the Annual Meeting. See meeting details

Registration Form - For more information contact James Murphy at 508-824-0035 or jmurphy@pain-management-center.com

Connecticut Pain Society to Meet May 15

Location: Sage American Grill & Oyster Bar 100 South Water Street New Haven, CT 06519 203-787-3466 www.sageamerican.com

Agenda: Officer elections, ACOEM, WC, and a new PMP to begin July 1, 2008.

ASIPP is offering a new feature for those who advertise on our Postions Wanted section of the ASIPP Website. As a service to our advertisers and our members, we will list the link to each current job posting.

National Pain Institute — Florida

Fellowship Trained Physician — Northwest Indiana

Outpatient Interventional Pain Physician — Atlanta, Georgia

BC/BE Physiatrist — Shrewsbury, New Jersey

100% Pain Practice — Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Partnership Opportunity — Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Interventional Pain Physiatrist Wanted — Nevada

Interventional Pain Specialist — Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Pain Management Opportunity — Pennsylvania

Interventional Pain Specialist — Paducah, KY and Marion, IL

Interventional Pain Medicine Physician — St. Cloud, Minnesota