Today’s Top Story
Survey: Overtreatment often driven by liability concerns.
Findings from a survey published online in the journal PLOS One suggest that many physicians believe overtreatment to be common and often driven by fear of medical liability. The research team surveyed 2,106 American Medical Association physicians and determined that an interpolated median of 20.6 percent of overall medical care may be unnecessary, including 22.0 percent of prescription medications, 24.9 percent of tests, and 11.1 percent of procedures. Most commonly cited reasons for overtreatment included:

  • Fear of medical liability (84.7 percent)
  • Patient pressure/request (59.0 percent)
  • Difficulty accessing medical records (38.2 percent)

In addition, 70.8 percent of respondents stated that they believe physicians are more likely to perform unnecessary procedures when they profit from them. Read more…
Read the abstract…

Other News

Physicians who don’t participate in Medicare APMs will be placed in MIPS.
According to an article from the Association of Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialists, physicians who did not meet the Aug. 31, 2017, deadline to qualify for participation in advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs) under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act Quality Payment Program should expect to be placed into the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) for the 2017 performance year and the corresponding 2019 payment year. MIPS participation requirements are minimal for 2017—the first year of the program—and are slated to increase gradually through 2018 and beyond. Read more…
Learn more about MIPS and APMs…

Study: Hip fracture may increase risk of mortality.
Findings from a study conducted in Australia and published online in the journal Archives of Osteoporosis suggest that older patients with hip fractures are more likely to die within 12 months of hospital admission compared to noninjured individuals. The research team conducted a population-based, matched cohort study of 9,748 patients 65 years and older and who had a hospital admission with a primary diagnosis of hip fracture as well as 9,748 noninjured individuals selected from the electoral roll. The team found that those in the hip fracture cohort were 3.62 times more likely to die within 12 months. The research team writes that hip fracture was likely a contributing factor in 72 percent of mortality and notes that mortality risk was higher in males than in females and in the 65–74 year old age group. Read more…
Read the abstract…

Study: Many osteoporotic spine fractures may go unreported.
A study conducted in the United Kingdom and published online in the journal Archives of Osteoporosis suggests that osteoporotic vertebral fragility fracture (VFF) may be underreported, particularly by nonmusculoskeletal radiologists. The researchers reviewed information on 157 hip fracture patients aged 50 years or older and had undergone a radiological procedure involving the spine in the previous 6 years. They found VFF in 65 patients (41 percent), although only 30 VFFs (46 percent) had been reported. Of 35 unreported VFFs, 32 (91 percent) were from imaging reported by nonmusculoskeletal radiologists. Overall, only 16 VFF patients (25 percent) were documented as undergoing osteoporosis therapy at the time of hip fracture. Read more…
Read the abstract…

Study: Pain severity linked to continued opioid use after musculoskeletal injury.
A study conducted in Canada and published in the August issue of The Journal of Pain examines predictive factors for prescription opioid use after traumatic musculoskeletal injury. The authors conducted a prospective, longitudinal study of 122 adult patients who sustained a traumatic musculoskeletal injury, 115 of whom were using prescription opioids within 14 days of injury. At 4-month follow-up, they found that 35.3 percent (n = 43) of patients were using prescription opioids. After adjustment, the authors found that pain severity and pain self-efficacy were significant factors linked to continued prescription opioid use. Read more…
Read the abstract…

Senate panel proposes $2 billion increase for NIH in 2018.
Science reports that the U.S. Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee has approved a $2 billion increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2018. That amount is nearly double the increase proposed by the U.S. House of Representatives. If passed, the proposal would set NIH funding at $36.1 billion for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, 2017. Read more…
  AAOS ha joined a number of other healthcare organizations to urge Congress to prioritize NIH medical research funding. Read more (PDF)…

Call for volunteers: United States Pharmacopeia Opioid Roundtable.
AAOS seeks to nominate members to the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Opioid Roundtable. USP is a nonprofit, standard-setting organization that strives to improve global health through public standards and related programs that help ensure the quality, safety, and benefit of medicines and foods. The organization is creating an opioid roundtable to support mitigation of the opioid epidemic. Applicants for this position must be active fellows, candidate members, candidate members osteopathic, candidate member applicants for fellowship, or candidate member applicants for fellowship osteopathic. In addition, all applicants must provide the following: an online AAOS CAP application and a current curriculum vitae. All supporting materials must be submitted to Kyle Trivedi by Sept. 20, 2017, at 11:59 p.m. CT, at: trivedi@aaos.org.
Learn more and submit your application…(member login required)