• 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

Although we are just over a week away, there is still time to register for the ASIPP Annual Meeting, June 21-25 in Washington, DC. We encourage you to join us in the celebration of 10 years as "The Voice of Interventional Pain Management."

This year we are featuring a special course in Practice Management for interventional pain physicians and healthcare professionals. This course will provide essential information necessary for a successful practice. Take advantage of this educational opportunity by registering your staff to attend.

This year's highlights include:

• ASIPP 10th Annual Meeting & Gala Celebration
• SIPMS 3rd Annual Meeting
• Practice Management for Interventional Pain Physicians and Professionals
• Abstract Presentations
• Awards
• Congressional Speeches
• Legislative Session and Capitol Hill visits
• Washington Tour
  

On Monday afternoon, just following the legislative session, registrants are invited to join us for a tour of some of the great monuments of Washington. The tour will begin at 2 pm and will visit the Jefferson Memorial, the FDR Monument Park, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Wall and Memorials, the Korean Memorial, the WWII Memorial, the Capitol Library (exterior), and the Supreme Court (exterior).

Also we encourage you to attend Capitol Hill. We are currently making appointments and need your registration to secure your appointment. This year our goal is to have representation for each state. To date many states remain unrepresented. The list includes: AK, CO, HI, ID, IA, ME, MS, MT, NE, NM, ND, OR, RH, SC, SD, UT, and VT. If you reside in one of these states, please commit to join us on the Hill.

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 powerful experience this will be. Remember if you attend Capitol Hill, you will receive a $150 discount on your registration.

Brochure and online registraion are now available.

Register Online Today!

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday filed to invoke cloture on a bill (S 3101) that would delay for 18 months a 10.6% cut in Medicare physician fees scheduled to take effect on July 1 and increase payments by 1.1%

The legislation, introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.), would cost about $20 billion and includes a number of other provisions. Among the provisions is one that would promote electronic prescribing and another that would expand rural health care programs. In addition, the legislation would require Medicare to promptly pay pharmacies for medication dispensed to beneficiaries and impose new marketing restrictions for Medicare Advantage plans. The bill also would reduce the copayments that beneficiaries pay for mental health services from 50% to 20%.

Kaisernetwork.org

Congress continues to battle out a legislative resolution to the pending Medicare reimbursement cuts (See article above). As we are near the July 1 deadline for the 10.1 payment reduction, a decision must be made soon.

Interventional pain management faces drastic cuts and this issue will affect your future as well as the future of your patients. But it is not too late to contact Congress and make your voice heard.

Read more...

Starting this fall, doctor of nursing practice graduates will be able to take a certification test that proponents say will set a national standard for DNPs and add to the profession's credibility. But physicians expressed concerns that DNPs will use the test as leverage to seek scope-of-practice expansions that cross into medical practice.

The voluntary test, being created by the National Board of Medical Examiners, is based on the medical licensing exam. It will be offered at a time of growing momentum in the DNP movement: About 200 nursing schools are expected to offer the two-year DNP degree by 2015 -- more than double the programs available today.

AMANews

ASIPP will offer a Comprehensive Pain Medicine Board Review Course for physicians seeking board certification or re-certification for the ABMS Pain Medicine examination or for the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians (ABIPP) Part I examination. The review course will be held on July 28 - August 1 in St. Louis. This five-day intensive Board Review Course is a CME activity geared to prepare physicians for their pain boards but can also serve an in-depth review of the specialty of pain medicine.

ABIPP Part I To Be Administered in August

ABIPP Part 1 exam will be administered in St. Louis on Aug. 2, 2008 at the Chase Park Plaza. You must submit an application to determine eligibility to sit for this exam. The minimum requirements for eligibility are:

• A Primary ABMS or AOA board certification
• An active license to practice medicine in the United States
  

More information and application are avaiable on the ABIPP Web site.

ASIPP Competency Review Course and Exams

Online registration is now open for the 2008 Competency Review Course and Examinations in Coding, Compliance, and Practice Management & Controlled Substance Management.

The course will be held at the Chase Park Plaza in St. Louis on July 28 - August 2, 2008. This intensive review course is planned as a CME activity to prepare physicians seeking competency certification and to provide Interventional Pain Management Specialists and other healthcare providers an in-depth review of multiple areas of interventional pain management.

The Controlled Substance Management course will be held on July 28 - 29 with an optional exam on July 30. The Coding, Compliance, and Practice Management section will begin on July 31- Aug. 1. The examination for this section will be held on Aug. 2.

Brochures, Registration and Hotel Information

According to recent Pain Physician articles, guidelines released by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) may prevent injured workers from receiving the majority of the medically necessary and appropriate pain procedures. According to primary author Dr. Laxmaiah Manchikanti, "the ACOEM recommendations do not appear to have been based on a careful review of the literature, overall quality of evidence, standard of care, or expert consensus. Thus, they may result in reduced medical quality of care; may severely hinder access to appropriate, medically needed and essential medical care; and finally, they may increase costs for injured workers, third party payers, and the government by transferring the injured worker into a non-productive disability system."

The articles can be accessed at http://www.painphysicianjournal.com

To read past articles on this issue click here.

Pain Physician Journal

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today named 12 communities that will participate in a national Medicare demonstration project that provides incentive payments to physicians for using certified electronic health records (EHR) to improve the quality of patient care. The five-year, first-of-its-kind project is expected to improve the quality of care provided to an estimated 3.6 million Americans. (June 10, 2008)

The 12 communities include...

News Release

Increasing Transparency in the Pricing of Health Care Services and Pharmaceuticals. (June 5, 2008)

Read the Economic and Budget Issue Brief

Vanderbilt University has an ambitious plan to revive an old mall by mixing medical and retail. But with shopping center vacancy rates growing, even the smallest practice might be able to do the same by moving into a commercial location.

amednews.com

The Georgia Society of Pain Physicians' (GSIPP) Annual Meeting/Pain Summit will once again be held at Lake Oconee, in Greensboro, GA on August 8-10, 2008.

For the 3rd consecutive year, the meeting will take place at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton at Reynold's Plantation. This year promises to be another wonderful venue at this incredible resort.

The meeting agenda will cover various interventional and pain practice related topics by nationally and internationally renown speakers. To date presentations will be provided by: Gabor Racz, MD, Rick North, MD, Ted Kline, MD, John Nelson, MD, Aaron Calodney, MD, Leonardo Kapural, MD, Jeff Petersohn, MD and Jennifer Bolen, JD.

GSIPP President welcomes all ASIPP members to attend and see firsthand just how beautiful the South really is.

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

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

Pain Management Opportunity — Pennsylvania

Interventional Pain Specialist — Paducah, KY and Marion, IL

Interventional Pain Medicine Physician — St. Cloud, Minnesota