Today’s Top Story
FDA announces recall of all GE Healthcare MRI systems with superconducting magnets.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a Class I recall of all General Electric (GE) Healthcare magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems with superconducting magnets. The agency states that, at certain sites, the magnetic rundown unit (MRU) may not be connected to the magnet. In emergency situations, a disconnected MRU could delay removal of a ferrous object from the magnet, potentially resulting in life-threatening injuries. The manufacturer has released a four-step test to confirm that the MRU is connected to the magnet. If the MRU test does not perform as described in each step, General Electric Healthcare strongly recommends halting use of the system and immediately contacting the company. Read more…(registration may be required)
Read the FDA recall notice…
Other News
Study: Morbid obesity linked to increased risk of complication after revision THA for PJI.
Data published in the Feb. 18 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery suggest that morbid obesity may be linked to increased risk of complication following revision total hip arthroplasty (THA) for periprosthetic joint infection (PJI), compared to non-obese patients. The authors conducted a retrospective, matched cohort study of 99 patients who underwent two-stage revision THA for PJI, 33 of whom had bone mineral density of ≥40 kg/m2 and 66 of whom had BMI <30 kg/m2. At minimum 5-year follow-up, they found that morbidly obese patients had significantly greater rates of reinfection, revision, and reoperation for any reason. However, mean Harris Hip Scores improved significantly for both groups postoperatively. Read the abstract…
Study: Mortality rate for patients of young surgeons similar to that of experienced surgeons.
According to findings published online in the Journal of the American Statistical Association, overall 30-day mortality rates are not significantly different between experienced surgeons and those performing their first solo procedures. The research team developed a matching algorithm that allowed them to effectively compare data on 1,252 surgeon pairs (new vs. experienced) across 498 hospitals. They found that the mortality rate was 3.59 percent for 6,260 patients of experienced surgeons and 3.71 percent for 6,260 patients of new surgeons. Read more…
Read the abstract…
Survey suggests some physician apathy regarding Open Payments site.
A survey conducted by MedPanel and reported in The Wall Street Journal Pharmalot blog finds that 72 percent of physicians are aware of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments (Sunshine Act) database, but only 53 percent stated that they are familiar or somewhat familiar with the Sunshine Act and the impact it may have on their activities. Overall, 46 percent of respondents said they had visited the Open Payments website, with about half saying that they had gone there to verify that their information was accurate. About 54 percent of those who visited said they found no problems with the information that was reported, although 14 percent thought additional activities should have been recorded, but were not, while 30 percent said they were “previously unaware” of some reported payments. Of physicians who had not visited the website, slightly more than half stated that they did not care if any payments had been reported. Read more…
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 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. CMS plans to publish the 2014 payment data and make any applicable updates to the 2013 data in June 2015. Visit the Open Payments website…
King v. Burwell case may put pressure on Congress to act on alternative to ACA.
An article in Kaiser Health News looks at Republican efforts to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in light of a potentially damaging decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in King v. Burwell. The plaintiffs in King v. Burwell argue that the ACA authorizes insurance subsidies only to purchasers in states that have set up their own health insurance exchanges. If the Supreme Court agrees and finds that subsidies awarded to individuals who obtained coverage through the federal healthcare.gov exchange to be improper, observers say that 5 million consumers could be affected across the 36 states that used the site instead of establishing a state exchange, placing the fiscal structure of the ACA in doubt. The writer notes that Republican lawmakers, as the leading party in both houses of Congress, could face a backlash if they lack a plan to assist those who might be stripped of healthcare coverage. In addition, observers say that a reasonable alternative waiting in the wings could help sway some justices who might otherwise take into account the ramifications of cutting the subsidies. Read more…
Virginia.
According to an opinion letter written by the attorney general of Virginia, under certain circumstances, supervising physicians may prescribe medications to patients based upon the recommendations of a nurse practitioner or physician assistant who are part of the same patient care team. “If the supervising physician has entered into a written practice agreement with a physician assistant, or with a nurse practitioner who is part of the same patient care team,” the attorney general writes, “then the physician assistant or nurse practitioner is considered to be within the same group in which the physician practices. The supervising physician can rely on the assessment of the patient by the physician assistant or nurse practitioner who examined the patient at a follow-up visit and thereby have a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship with the patient.” Read more…
AAOS launches new online Career Center!
Free to AAOS members searching for a position, the new AAOS Career Center website connects job seekers to more opportunities and search options. Job seekers benefit from expanded job search features, links to job search articles, and professional networking tools. Employers benefit from more advertising options, as well as new opportunities to customize and enhance listings. Job seekers and employers are encouraged to visit the on-site Career Center at the AAOS Annual Meeting as well. Visit the Career Center at: www.aaos.org/careercenter
Call for volunteers: Commission on Motion Lab Accreditation board of directors.
AAOS seeks to nominate one member to serve on the Commission on Motion Lab Accreditation (CMLA) board of directors. CMLA is a nonprofit organization established and operated to enhance the clinical care of persons with disorders of human movement by evaluating and accrediting clinical motion laboratories by a set of evaluative criteria. The board is composed of professionals from several disciplines with expertise in clinical motion analysis, and includes two directors from each of four member societies: AAOS, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Physical Therapy Association, and the Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society. 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, current curriculum vitae, a 100-word biosketch, and a letter of interest highlighting his or her expertise in the subject area and a statement that he or she is able to participate in full capacity. All supporting materials must be submitted by March 1, 2015, at 11:59 p.m. CT, to Kyle Shah at shah@aaos.org.
Learn more and submit your application…(member login required)
