Today’s Top Story
Government shutdown may have little effect on physician pay.
According to Modern Healthcare, physicians should continue to receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, even if the U.S. Congress fails to prevent a partial shutdown of the federal government. However, the publication notes that providers who are currently registering to participate or are renewing in a government healthcare network may face reimbursement delays due a lack of available staff to process the requests. In addition, U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) fraud and abuse activities will be curtailed during the shutdown. Congress must pass a $1 trillion spending bill this week or risk triggering a partial government shutdown on Saturday. Read more…(registration may be required)
Other News
Survey finds pay gap for female physicians across all specialties.
STAT reports on a survey conducted by Doximity, which finds that male physicians make more money than female physicians across every specialty and in every metropolitan area surveyed. After adjustment, the survey of more than 36,000 physicians notes an average pay gap of about 26.5 percent nationally. Mississippi and Arkansas displayed the largest pay gap of 47 percent; Hawaii had the smallest at 18 percent. Read more…
MACs to contact clinicians regarding MIPS participation status.
CMS states that Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) will soon send letters to physician practices that describe the status of each clinician’s participation in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). MIPS is part of the Quality Payment Program (QPP), which is designed to shift reimbursement from volume of services provided toward a payment system that rewards clinicians for quality of care. CMS states that clinicians should participate in MIPS for the 2017 transition year if they bill more than $30,000 in Medicare Part B allowed charges a year and provide care for more than 100 Part B-enrolled Medicare beneficiaries each year. Read more…
Learn more about the QPP…
Study: Knee arthroscopy may offer only short-term reduction in pain for middle-aged patients with meniscal lesions.
Findings from a study published online in The American Journal of Sports Medicine suggest little longer-term benefit for knee arthroscopy performed in middle-aged patients with knee pain and meniscal lesions. The researchers conducted a randomized, controlled trial of 150 patients aged 45 to 64 years who were treated with either a 3-month exercise program or a 3-month exercise program plus one knee arthroscopic surgery within 4 weeks. At 3-year follow-up, both intention-to-treat and as-treated analyses revealed no significant difference across cohorts in change from baseline for the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score pain subscore. Overall, a “factorial analysis of the effect of the intervention and age, onset of pain, and mechanical symptoms indicated that older patients improved more, regardless of treatment, and surgery may be more beneficial for patients without mechanical symptoms (as-treated analysis),” the researchers write. They note that a previously published study of the same patient cohorts found a reduction in pain for knee arthroscopic surgery patients at 1 year Read the abstract…
Study: Local clearance of senescent cells may reduce development of post-traumatic OA.
A study published online in the journal Nature Medicine suggests that local clearance of senescent cells may reduce the development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (OA). The authors conducted a mouse study and found that senescent cells accumulated in the articular cartilage and synovium after anterior cruciate ligament transection, and selective elimination of senescent cells attenuated the development of post-traumatic OA, reduced pain, and increased cartilage development. Further, intra-articular injection of a senolytic molecule that selectively killed senescent cells validated the results in transgenic, non-transgenic, and aged mice. Read more…
Read the abstract…
Arizona.
Tucson.com reports that the governor of Arizona has signed into law legislation to set up a review process for patients who receive unanticipated hospital bills from out-of-network providers. The process starts with an informal review, followed by binding arbitration between the physician and the insurance company. The patient’s maximum liability is whatever he or she would normally owe in deductibles and copays. The review process only applies to bills of $1,000 or more. Read more…
Manuscript submission open for 2018 Kappa Delta and OREF Clinical Research Awards.
July 1, 2017, is the manuscript submission deadline for the 2018 Kappa Delta Awards and the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) Clinical Research Award. Up to two $20,000 Kappa Delta awards (Elizabeth Winston Lanier Award and Ann Doner Vaughan Award), one $20,000 Kappa Delta Young Investigator award, and one $20,000 OREF award will be bestowed, provided manuscripts of requisite quality are submitted. Manuscripts should represent a large body of cohesive scientific work, generally reflecting years of investigation. If the submission reflects a single project, it should be of high significance and impact. Manuscripts must be submitted by members (or candidate members) of the AAOS, Orthopaedic Research Society, Canadian Orthopaedic Association, or Canadian Orthopaedic Research Society. Submissions for the 2018 Kappa Delta and OREF Clinical Research Awards will be accepted in electronic format only. A PDF of the entire submission must be emailed no later than 11:59 p.m. CT on July 1, 2017. Late submissions will not be considered. Read more…
kappadelta@aaos.org
NOTE: A number of significant items were turned over to lost and found at the Academy Headquarters Office during the AAOS Annual Meeting in San Diego. Please email Sue Leicht at leicht@aaos.org if you believe you may be the proper owner of a missing item
