NASS International Education Committee Q & A

The following Q & A is with International Education Committee Co-Chairs, Michael Daubs, MD, and Jean-Charles Le Huec, MD. Dr. Daubs is an orthopedic surgeon based in Santa Monica, California. Dr. Le Huec is also an orthopedic surgeon, and he resides in Bordeaux, France.

1.       What is your mission this coming year?

To provide educational programming to our international participants while improving competency and enhancing the performance of spine care.

Goals are congruent with the CME committee as well:

• Participate in meetings focusing on abstract and symposia presentations
• Create online education modules
• Interpret needs assessment and development of needed educational activities to improve competency and enhance performance in the international education arena.
• Recommend symposia and/or networking events for the Annual Meeting
• Review collaborative activities and/or partnerships with other international associations or organizations.
• Participate in regionalized courses and meetings

Medicare e-Prescribing Penalty, Phone Lines Now Open

CMS has confirmed that the QualityNet Help Desk is now prepared to take calls from physicians on the Medicare e-prescribing penalty.  We understand that physicians have already attempted in the past few weeks to contact the Help Desk to discuss their individual situation which resulted in a 2012 penalty, but in many cases were turned away.  CMS has been working diligently with the Help Desk to ensure that a physician’s case is adequately reviewed.  CMS wants physicians to know that the issues they are having are being examined. Attached is a related message from CMS.

As CMS has indicated late last week, although there is no formal appeals or review process for the e-prescribing penalty, they encourage physicians with questions or concerns about their penalty and / or hardship exemption request to contact CMS’ QualityNet Help Desk as soon as possible. CMS is handling all penalty and / or hardship exemption requests and any questions or concerns on a case-by-case basis.

Physicians should continue to contact the QualityNet Help Desk if they have issues relating to the e-prescribing penalty.  If a physician has previously contacted the QualityNet Help Desk and their case has been resolved to their satisfaction, the physician does not need to contact the QualityNet Help Desk again.

The QualityNet Help Desk can be reached M-F; 7:00 am – 7:00 pm CMT at 866-288-8912 or via email at qnetsupport@sdps.org.

NOTE:  If a physician continues to experience problems with the Help Desk, CMS is encouraging physicians to email their concerns directly to Medicare at eRx_hardship@cms.hhs.gov.

NASS Registry Watch 2012—Wanted: Patient Outcomes

Tags

Outcomes, Projects, Registry, Research

In the quest for more and better treatments, process is no longer enough. Everyone is seeking patient outcomes data, which is hard to find and difficult to collect—especially in a field where evidence is already sparse. In an effort to deliver quality outcomes data, NASS has committed to developing a spine outcomes registry. A diagnosis-based, multidisciplinary observational database, the registry would collect data to further understand spine care treatments and their resulting patient outcomes, as well as the natural history of spine disorders.

H.R. 5 Passes in the House

Moments ago, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5, legislation to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board and enact medical liability reform by a vote of 223 – 181.

It appears that 7 Democrats crossed party lines to support the legislation and 10 Republicans crossed party lines to oppose the legislation. It is unlikely that the Senate will consider the measure. President Obama has also threatened to veto the legislation.

NASS in the News

Below is a sampling of recent news stories involving NASS, or the spine industry in general.

• Becker’s Orthopedic, Spine & Pain Management
• TCPalm
• Memphis Daily News

The Evolution of NASS’ Ethics Policies and Procedures: A Brief Review of the How and the Why

by Michael H. Heggeness, MD, PhD, NASS President

Professional ethics is much in the news today, and appropriately so.  In my heart and in my mind, I strongly believe that the overwhelming majority of spine practitioners conduct themselves—and their practices—to  deliver appropriate, ethical and compassionate patient care.  Unfortunately, our profession does occasionally come under scrutiny because of ethical issues.

Over the last several years, NASS has embraced the importance of ethics and professionalism in our societies’ educational and other activities. As we have come to understand the complex science behind  conflict of interest, unintended bias and transparency, many more changes have come about. The history and intent of these changes are important to understand.

Advocacy Update: IPAB Repeal, Sebelius Testimony, Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health

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advocacy, SGR

House Subcommittee Approves Bill to Repeal IPAB

On February 29^th the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee approved the Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2011 (H.R. 452) with no amendments and a bipartisan vote of 17-5. This legislation will repeal the 15 member Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) which was created during the development of PPACA to reduce Medicare spending.

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Joe Pitts reiterated earlier sentiments asserting that IPAB “is the exact opposite of transparency and accountability and merely another example of valuing centralized decision-making by government appointed experts over judgments that should be made between a doctor and patient.”

H.R. 452 has a bipartisan group of cosponsors, including members of the full committee from both sides. Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Edolphus Towns (D-NY) joined their Republican colleagues in supporting the bill, but were determined to differentiate their rationale; “My vote in support of abolishing IPAB is not related to my support for the ACA, it is based on my belief that Congress must stop ceding legislative power to the executive branch. For me, this is about Congressional prerogatives being limited,” said Ranking member Frank Pallone.

The bill passed by a voice vote in the full committee March 6.

NASS in the News

Becker’s Orthopedic, Spine & Pain Management: Scoliosis Research Society Letter Protests BCBS of Minnesota 

Boston Globe: Jenks alleges mistake in back surgery

Becker’s Orthopedic, Spine & Pain Management: 6 Points Comparing Spine Surgeon Compensation

In TSJ: OPA Winners

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Abstracts, OPA, TSJ

NASS members receive The Spine Journal (TSJ) as part of their benefit package. Highlights from a recent TSJ issue include the publication of the 2010 Outstanding Paper Award Winners. Links to abstracts appear below.

Basic Science: Injection of AAV2-BMP2 and AAV2-TIMP1 into the nucleus pulposus slows the course of intervertebral disc degeneration in an in vivo rabbit model

Surgical Science: Morbidity and mortality of major adult spinal surgery. A prospective cohort analysis of 942 consecutive patients

Nonsurgical Science: Utilization characteristics of spinal interventions

Value: Cost-utility of lumbar decompression with or without fusion for patients with symptomatic degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis

Spine in the Media Update

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FDA, injuries, news

Below are four articles recently reported about NASS physicians, spine care or the health care industry. If you would like to contribute an article to the NASS Blog or SpineLine, please email nheller@spine.org.

Stemming the Tide of Overtreatment in US Health Care (Reuters)

Dr. Stephen Hochschuler: 8 Changes to Ensure a Brighter Future for Spine Surgery (Becker’s Orthopedic, Spine & Pain Management)

NCCAM’s Advisory Council welcomes six new members (NIH)

Experts torn on Penguins captain Crosby’s injury (Pittsburgh Live)