Today’s Top Story
HHS secretary calls for physicians to offer input on payment models.
Bloomberg BNA reports on statements from the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee, a committee called for under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act to consider and recommend alternative payment models. Secretary Tom Price, MD, stated that “one size fits all” Medicare payment models have helped contribute to physician burnout, and called for physicians across the country to submit ideas regarding what payment models would work best for them. He noted that physicians in rural and underserved areas may be negatively affected by models designed for large groups with administrative assistance. Read more…

Other News

CMS Open Payments review and dispute period now open.
Physicians have until May 15, 2017, to review and dispute reports regarding their financial interactions with drug and medical device manufacturers as reported under the Open Payments (Sunshine Act) program. Under the Sunshine Act, drug and medical device manufacturers are required to report their financial interactions with licensed physicians, including consulting fees, travel reimbursements, research grants, and other gifts. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will publish 2016 payment data, along with updates to previous data, on June 30, 2017. Disputes that are initiated before the May 15 deadline will be flagged in the June 30 public release. Read more…
Learn more about the Open Payments system…
Access the Open Payments website…

Study: Preoperative behavioral and pain disorders may increase risk of new persistent opioid use after surgery.
Findings published online in the journal JAMA Surgery suggest that new persistent opioid use following surgery is more likely to be associated with behavioral and pain disorders than type of surgical procedure. The researchers reviewed information on 36,177 adult patients from a nationwide insurance claims database and found that 29,068 (80.3 percent) underwent minor surgical procedures and 7,109 (19.7 percent) underwent major procedures. They noted that rates of new persistent opioid use were similar across cohorts, and ranged from 5.9 percent to 6.5 percent. Incidence of new persistent opioid use in a nonoperative control cohort was 0.4 percent. The researchers found that an increased likelihood of new persistent opioid use was associated with preoperative tobacco use, alcohol and substance abuse disorders, mood disorders, anxiety, and preoperative pain disorders Read more…
Read the complete study…

Study: Low level of serum magnesium may affect fracture risk.
A study conducted in Finland and published online in the European Journal of Epidemiology suggests that magnesium concentrations may affect fracture risk. The authors reviewed prospectively collected data on 2,245 adult men from the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease study. At median 25.6-year follow-up, they found that 123 total fractures were recorded. The authors noted a 2.10 hazard ratio for total fractures when comparing the bottom quartile versus top quartile of serum magnesium. The association remained consistent after adjusting for factors such as renal function, socioeconomic status, total energy intake, and several trace elements; however, the authors found no evidence linking dietary magnesium intake with fracture risk. Read more…
Read the complete study…

CMS issues rule to help stabilize ACA insurance markets.
CMS has issued a final rule designed to help stabilize the individual and small group insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Among other things, the rule:

  • Shortens the annual open enrollment period for 2018 to Nov. 1, 2017 through Dec. 15, 2017.
  • Moves oversight of network adequacy from the federal government to the states.
  • Requires individuals to submit supporting documentation for special enrollment periods.
  • Allows issuers to require individuals to pay back past due premiums before enrolling in a plan with the same issuer the following year.

Read more…
Read the CMS announcement…
Read the rule…

Maine.
According to the Portland Press Herald, a bill under consideration in the Maine State Legislature would, if enacted, prohibit gifts of more than $50 annually to physicians by drug companies, and limit speaking and consulting fees specifically to research. Supporters of the law cite evidence of a trend of increased spending by drug companies on speaking and consulting fees for physicians. Read more…

Last call: Tumor Instructional Course Committee.
April 17 is the last day to submit your application for a positon on the Tumor Instructional Course Committee (two member openings). Members of Instructional Course Committees grade Instructional Course Lecture applications in May and provide input to the Central Instructional Courses Committee regarding course curricula at the AAOS Annual Meeting. Applicants for this position must be active fellows with a practice emphasis in tumor and metabolic disease. Learn more and submit your application…(member login required)