Today’s Top Story
CMS posts 2014 Open Payments financial data.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published 2014 Open Payments (Sunshine Act) data, covering approximately 11.4 million financial transactions totaling $6.49 billion, and attributed to more than 600,000 physicians and 1,100 teaching hospitals. Under the “Physician Payments Sunshine Act,” data on payments and gifts made to physicians and teaching hospitals by medical device and pharmaceutical companies must be made publicly available on a searchable federal database. This update to the database includes certain 2013 submissions that the agency states could not be verified before the first publication (September 2014). CMS states that it was able to validate 98.8 percent of all records submitted in the Open Payments system, and that records that could not be verified were rejected and not processed. The agency expects to refresh and publish an update to the full calendar year of 2014 financial data in early 2016. Read more…
Read the CMS announcement…
View the Open Payments website…
Other News
Is copy-and-paste in EHRs a shortcut through a minefield?
An article in HealthLeaders Media looks at the issue of copying and pasting text in electronic health records (EHRs). The authors note that so-called cloning of text may adversely affect patient care and may raise ethical issues if the pasted text misrepresents the work performed. Some Medicare Administrative Contractors have issued policies regarding the use of cloned documentation, noting that cloned documentation does not meet the medical necessity requirements and may lead to a denial of payment and/or recoupment of overpayments. Read more…
Survey suggests some primary care physicians lack complete information on opioid prescribing.
Survey data published online in The Clinical Journal of Pain suggest that some primary care physicians may underestimate the risks inherent in prescribing opioids. The researchers conducted a nationally representative survey of approximately 580 practicing internists, family physicians, and general practitioners in the United States, and found that only 66 percent correctly reported that the most common route of abuse was swallowing pills whole, while 46 percent erroneously reported that abuse-deterrent formulations were less addictive than their counterparts. In addition, 25 percent of respondents reported being not at all or only slightly concerned about the potential for opioid diversion to the illicit market. However, the researchers note that most physicians supported clinical and regulatory interventions to reduce prescription opioid abuse, including the use of patient contracts (98 percent), urine drug testing (90 percent), requiring prescribers to check a centralized database prior to prescribing opioids (88 percent), and implementing greater restrictions on marketing and promotion of opioids (77-82 percent). Read more…
Read the abstract…
Data sharing now required for all trials submitted for publication in The BMJ.
The BMJ has announced a new policy to require upon-request data sharing of all clinical trials submitted to it for publication. “From 1 July The BMJ will extend its requirements for data sharing to apply to all submitted clinical trials, not just those that test drugs or devices,” the publishers write in an editorial. In January 2013, the journal began requiring upon-request sharing of anonymized trial data for drugs and devices. The new policy extends that initiative to all trials, including academic and government-sponsored studies. A report released by the U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) in January 2015 called for “responsible data sharing to become pervasive, sustained, and rooted as a professional norm.” Read more…
Read the IOM report…
Michigan.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed antitrust suits against four Michigan hospital systems that according to the agency “unlawfully agreed to allocate territories for marketing, depriving consumers and physicians of important information about competing providers and other benefits of unfettered competition.” According to the complaint, agreements between the institutions deprived patients and physicians of information needed to make informed healthcare decisions, and patients in Hillsdale County, Mich. were also prevented from receiving free medical services such as health screenings and physician seminars that they would have received in the absence of the unlawful agreements. DOJ states that three of the hospital systems have already agreed to settle the charges, while litigation continues against the fourth. Read more…
Read the DOJ press release…
Call for volunteers to help develop AUC for Surgical Management of OA of the Knee.
The Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) Section seeks AAOS fellows to participate on the writing panel of the Surgical Management of Osteoarthritis (OA) of the Knee AUC. The writing panel is responsible for constructing a comprehensive patient factors list and a treatment list for OA of the knee. Writing panel members will be required to construct and review materials, correspond with AAOS staff electronically, and participate in approximately 5 to 10 conference calls, spanning 1 to 3 months, to produce the AUC materials. Members should have experience in the treatment of knee OA. Nominees for the writing panel may have relevant conflicts and will be required to complete the AAOS conflict of interest enhanced disclosure form online. To participate, please contact Erica Linskey by Monday, Aug. 3, 2015, at linskey@aaos.org.
July AAOS Now is online now and in your mailbox soon; new AAOS Now podcast posted!
AAOS members will soon receive the print edition of the July issue of AAOS Now, but the online edition is already available on the AAOS Now website. This month’s issue includes a report on quality initiatives approved during the most recent AAOS Board of Directors meeting, proposed legislation to delay the implementation of ICD-10, a discussion on communicating with patients after an adverse event, and much more! In addition, a new AAOS Now podcast has been posted as a companion piece to the article, “Talking with Patients after an Adverse Event.” Read more…
Read “AAOS Quality Efforts Continue”…
Read “Legislation to Delay ICD-10 Introduced”…
Read “Talking With Patients After an Adverse Event”…
Listen to the podcast (MP3)…
Call for volunteers: Council On Research and Quality.
July 15 is the last day to submit your application for chair of the Council On Research and Quality (CORQ). The CORQ chair oversees AAOS activities in the areas of basic, translational, clinical and health policy research, evidence-based medical practice, medical device issues, biological implants, patient safety, consensus standards, and regulatory affairs. The chair also holds a nonvoting seat on the AAOS Board of Directors. Applicants for this position must be active fellows with significant experience in orthopaedic research, quality initiatives, or evidence-based medicine. Learn more and submit your application…(member login required)
