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" The Voice Of Interventional Pain Management "

celebrating our 10th anniversary
 
June 18, 2008
  • ASIPP Future Meetings
  • ASIPP Board Review and Competency Review Course
  • Patients rarely use online ratings to pick physicians
  • Senators split on plans to avert pay cuts
  • Help prevent cuts - Write, call and join ASIPP on Capitol Hill
  • AMA issues first report card on health insurers
  • Pain Physician journal's Special Topical Issue on Opioids and Opioid Guidelines are now available on PubMed
  • Pain Physician News Articles Addresse ACOEM Guidelines
  • FDA Approves Cymbalta(R) For The Management Of Fibromyalgia
  • State Society News
  • Online Dues Payment Now Available
  • Physicians Wanted

  • ASIPP Future Meetings

    July 28-August 2, 2008
    • Board Review Course
    • Coding, Compliance and Practice Management
    • Controlled Substance Management
    • ABIPP Competency Examinations
    • ABIPP Part I Examination
    October 24-26, 2008
    • Review Course in Fluoroscopy and Competency Exam in Fluoroscopic Interpretation AND
      Cadaver Workshop in Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Intradiscal Therapies
    December 5-7, 2008
    • Review Course and Cadaver Workshop In Spinal Cord Stimulation

    ASIPP Board Review and Competency Review Course


    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


    Patients rarely use online ratings to pick physicians

    For all the concern and mistrust over physician rating sites, recent research shows that, for now, few patients are using them to decide where to get their care (Dolan, June 23/30, 2008 issue, AMNews).

    A Harris Interactive poll commissioned by the California HealthCare Foundation found that although more than 80% of the state's adults turn to the Internet for health-related information, less than one-quarter have looked at physician ratings sites. Only 2% of those surveyed made a change in physicians based on information posted on a rating site.

    amednews.com


    Senators split on plans to avert pay cuts


    At the end of the first week of June, lawmakers introduced legislation that would cancel the scheduled July 1 Medicare payment cut to physicians. But very little time is left to iron out funding disagreements between Democrats and Republicans (Glendinning, June 23/30, 2008 issue, AMNews)

    Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D, Mont.) on June 6 introduced the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. The bill would replace the upcoming 10.6% reduction with a rate freeze for the remainder of the year. In 2009, physicians would receive a 1.1% raise instead of an estimated 5% cut.

    amednews.com


    Help prevent cuts - Write, call and join ASIPP on Capitol Hill


    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.

    You can also join ASIPP on Capitol Hill on July 24 and 25th. This is the perfect opportunity to meet face-to- face with our policy-makers. Call the ASIPP office at 270-554-9412 or e-mail mmartin@asipp.org

    Read more...


    AMA issues first report card on health insurers


    Some health insurance companies rate doctors on their performance. Now doctors are turning the tables.

    The American Medical Association issued its first health insurance report card at the group's annual meeting Monday. The primary focus is on how quickly and accurately doctors get paid. (Johnson, June 16, 2008, Yahoo News)

    Yahoo.com


    Pain Physician journal's Special Topical Issue on Opioids and Opioid Guidelines are now available on PubMed


    Pain Physician 2008: volume 11, number 2S Content includes:

    Editorial —
    Opioid-Related Issues "Popping" Up Again
    Howard S. Smith, MD

    Guidelines—
    Opioids in the Management of Chronic Non- Cancer Pain: An Update of American Society Of Interventional Pain Physicians' (ASIPP) Guidelines
    Andrea M. Trescot, MD, Standiford Helm, MD, Hans Hansen, MD, Ramsin Benyamin, MD, Scott E. Glaser, MD  Rajive Adlaka, MD, Samir Patel, DO, and Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD

    Reviews—
    Therapeutic Opioids: A Ten-Year Perspective on the Complexities and Complications of the Escalating Use, Abuse, and Nonmedical Use of Opioids
    Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD, and Angelie Singh, BS, BA

    Intrathecal Drug Delivery
    Howard S. Smith, MD, Timothy R. Deer, MD, Peter S. Staats, MD, Vijay Singh, MD,  Nalini Sehgal, MD, and Harold Cordner, MD

    Opioid Complications and Side Effects
    Ramsin Benyamin, MD, Andrea M. Trescot, MD, Sukdeb Datta, MD, Ricardo Buenaventura, MD, Rajive Adlaka, MD, Nalini Sehgal, MD,  Scott E. Glaser, MD, and Ricardo Vallejo, MD

    Peripherally-acting Opioids
    Howard S. Smith, MD

    Opioid Pharmacology
    Andrea M. Trescot, MD, Sukdeb Datta, MD, Marion Lee, MD, and Hans Hansen, MD    

    Monitoring Opioid Adherence in Chronic Pain Patients: Tools, Techniques and Utility
    Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD, Sairam Atluri, MD, Andrea M. Trescot, MD, and James Giordano, PhD   

    Effectiveness of Opioids in the Treatment of Chronic Nonmalignant Pain
    Andrea Trescot, MD, Scott E. Glaser, MD, Hans Hansen, MD, Ramsin Benyamin, MD, Samir Patel, DO, and Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD

    PubMed


    Pain Physician News Articles Addresse ACOEM Guidelines


    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


    FDA Approves Cymbalta(R) For The Management Of Fibromyalgia


    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Cymbalta(R) (duloxetine HCl) for the management of fibromyalgia, a chronic widespread pain disorder, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced. Cymbalta is the first serotonin- norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor with proven efficacy for reducing pain in patients with fibromyalgia. The fibromyalgia indication represents the second FDA- approved use for Cymbalta for a pain disorder, demonstrating the medication's analgesic effect.

    Medical News Today


    State Society News


    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.


    Online Dues Payment Now Available


    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


    Physicians Wanted


    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


    All contents Copyright © 2008
    American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians ®
    81 Lakeview Drive, Paducah, KY 42001
    Phone 270.554.9412, Fax 270.554.5394
    E-mail asipp@asipp.org