Today’s Top Story
1. Registration now open for CMS Open Payments system.
March 31, 2015 is the deadline for all applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to register or recertify their registration in the Open Payments (Sunshine Act) system and begin data submission for any payments or transfers of value that occurred in the 2014 calendar year. Physicians and teaching hospitals may also now register in the system so they can be prepared to review any data that submitted about them. The review and dispute period for physicians and teaching hospitals is planned to begin in April. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to publish the 2014 payment data and make any applicable updates to the 2013 data in June 2015. Read more… Learn more about the Open Payments timeline… Visit the Open Payments website…
Other News
2. Is the transition to EHRs happening too quickly? An article in USA Today reports on federal efforts to transition healthcare providers to electronic health records (EHR) systems. The publication notes that providers will soon be penalized for not using EHRs, even as some critics point out that the mandates push the use of a technology that even some government officials agree needs improvement. Some stakeholders have argued that it is premature to levy penalties until EHR technology is further developed. The paper states that a 2-day conference is currently underway in Washington, D.C. to discuss safety, privacy, and ways to make the systems actually communicate to improve health. Read more…
3. Study: Hand dominance may affect outcomes after hemiarthroplasty for fracture. Data from a study published online in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma suggest that hand dominance may have a significant effect on outcomes following hemiarthroplasty for fracture. The authors conducted a retrospective cohort study of 61 patients treated at a single center. At mean 49-month follow-up, they found that patients affected on their dominant side (n = 25) had significantly worse scores for ASES, DASH, and SST, compared to the non-dominant affected cohort (n = 36). The authors note that the dominant-affected group also had consistently higher correlations between self-reported and objective outcomes than the non-dominant group. There were no significant differences between groups for gender, age, follow-up time, or VAS pain. Read the abstract…
4. Study: Use of allograft preservation system may extend viability. According to a canine study published in the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, use of a preservation system may extend the viability of donor chondrocytes used in osteochondral allografts. The researchers implanted adult dogs with 8-mm cylindrical osteochondral allografts in the lateral and medial femoral condyles of one knee. The allografts had been preserved for 28 or 60 days, using either the current tissue bank standard-of-care (SOC) or a new system—the Missouri Osteochondral Allograft Preservation System (MOPS). No significant difference in infection frequency during storage were found, with no infected grafts implanted and no infections occurring in vivo. However, at 60-day follow-up, MOPS grafts had greater chondrocyte viability compared to SOC grafts. And for 60-day storage, the researchers found that MOPS grafts were as good as or better than SOC grafts with respect to all outcome measures assessed 6 months after implantation. Read more… Read the abstract…
5. Physician burnout program aims to help providers manage stress. An article in HealthLeaders Media looks at a program designed to help physicians deal with burnout. The writer cites survey data that finds that nearly half of physicians report burnout, with those who specialize in critical care emergency medicine and family medicine reporting the highest burnout rates. The program, based at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, aims to help physicians manage stress while de-stigmatizing the problem of burnout. Under a pilot project associated with the program, physicians who are involved in serious adverse patient events are given the option of being paired with a peer who is available to talk with them about what happened in a non-judgmental, empathetic way. Read more…
6. FDA approves new formulation of hydrocodone extended-release medication. Medscape reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new formulation of hydrocodone extended-release medication with properties that are expected to reduce—but not totally prevent—abuse of the drug. Transition to the new formulation is expected to occur during the second quarter of 2015 for all prescribed strengths. Read more…
7. Could muscle stimulation device treat AIS? Information in Medical News Today profiles a European consortium working to develop a minimally invasive muscle stimulation device to treat adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). The device is designed to address neurological dysfunction that may be linked to an imbalance of paraspinal muscle forces acting on the vertebral segments. The consortium states that the program has met its initial objectives, and aims to develop an operational prototype in concert with proposed phase II and phase III clinical trials. Read more…
8. February AAOS Now is online now and in your mailbox soon! AAOS members will soon receive the print edition of the February issue of AAOS Now, but the online edition is already available on the AAOS Now website. This month’s issue includes a look at the tension between the orthopaedic and dental communities regarding the use of antibiotic prophylaxis prior to certain dental procedures, an article from AAOS Now’s incoming editor-in-chief on expected hot topics for 2015, a retrospective on 10 years of Extremity War Injuries research symposia, and much more! Read more… Read “Taking a Bite Out of Dental Prophylaxis Guidelines”… Read “Hot Topics for 2015″… Read “EWI: A Decade of Groundbreaking Combat Injury Research”…
