Today’s Top Story
CMS seeks comments on quality measure for ASCs.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeks public comment on a new quality measure of surgical procedures performed at ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs). Although the measure specifically targets general surgery procedures, the agency is developing a related quality measure for orthopaedic ASCs. The measure assesses the quality of ASC procedures using the outcome of hospital visits, including emergency department presentation, observation stays, and unplanned inpatient admissions within 7 days of the ASC procedure. Read more…(registration may be required)
Read the report (PDF)…
Submit comments…

Other News

Proposed FDA pact could delay reporting of issues with certain medical devices.
The New York Times reports that a proposed agreement between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the medical device industry may alter the reporting period for adverse events linked to certain high-risk medical devices from 30 days to 3 months Critics of the rule change argue that it could harm patients by increasing the amount of time before a product issue is identified. The agreement is renegotiated every 5 years, and among other things specifies the fees that device makers must pay FDA to review their products. The agreement must be approved by the U.S. Congress. Read more…

FDA: Opioid manufactures must offer prescribing education to physicians
According to The Washington Post, the FDA plans to implement requirements that manufacturers of immediate-release opioids provide education to physicians and other prescribers. Currently, only makers of extended-release products are required to provide such training The agency does not currently mandate that prescribers undergo prescriber education, but according to remarks made by the FDA commissioner it may consider doing so in the future. In addition, the agency plans to require drug manufacturers to broaden information provided to prescribers to include more on pain management and to detail non-medication therapies as well as drug treatments. Read more…

Study: Alendronate may help reduce risk of hip fracture for certain patients taking prednisolone.
Findings from a study conducted in Sweden and published in the July 11 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that, for older patients using medium to high doses of prednisolone, alendronate treatment may be associated with reduced likelihood of hip fracture. The authors conducted a retrospective, cohort study of 3,604 patients with a mean age of 79.9 years. At 132-year median follow-up, they found that the incidence of hip fracture was 9.5 per 1,000 person-years in the alendronate cohort and 27.2 per 1,000 person-years in the no-alendronate cohort. In addition, alendronate treatment was not associated with increased risk of mild upper gastrointestinal tract symptoms or peptic ulcers. The authors state that there were no cases of incident drug-induced osteonecrosis and one case of femoral shaft fracture in each cohort. Read more…
Read the abstract…

Study: Combination antimicrobial prophylaxis may not reduce risk of SSI for joint arthroplasty patients.
A study published online in the journal PLoS Medicine finds no association between use of combination antimicrobial prophylaxis and a reduction in incidence of surgical site infection (SSI) for joint arthroplasty procedures. The research team reviewed data on 70,101 surgeries from a multicenter, U.S. Veterans Affairs cohort of patients who underwent cardiac, orthopaedic joint arthroplasty, vascular, colorectal, and hysterectomy procedures. Overall, 52,504 patients underwent antimicrobial prophylaxis with beta-lactam only, 5,089 with vancomycin only, and 12,508 received combination prophylaxis with both beta-lactam and vancomycin, and there were 2,466 SSIs. After adjustment for SSI risk, the research team found that, compared to single-agent prophylaxis, combination prophylaxis was associated with a lower incidence of SSI only for cardiac surgery patients. For all other types of surgery—including joint arthroplasty—they found no link between receipt of combination prophylaxis and reduced likelihood of SSI. Read the abstract…

AAOS to host free webinar on congressional advocacy.
The American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) will host a webinar designed to help AAOS congressional ambassadors and other interested parties effectively engage their U.S. senators and representatives during the August recess. The webinar will explore various outreach activities, including meetings in congressional district offices, fundraiser hosting and attendance, and inviting congressional members to tour orthopaedic practices. The webinar will take place Monday, July 17, from 7:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. CT. Register for the webinar…

Act now to nominate future AAOS leadership!
The 2018 Nominating Committee is actively soliciting member suggestions for individuals who might serve in the following positions:

  • Second Vice President
  • Treasurer-Elect
  • Member-at-Large [Age 45 or Older] (on March 8, 2018)
  • Member-at-Large [Under Age 45] (younger than age 45 on March 8, 2018)
  • Nominees to the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS)

The nominations period closes Friday, July 28. Members may submit nominations electronically and access partial descriptions of the responsibilities, desired experience, and time commitments associated with each position at: Read more…(member login required)

Members may also submit nominations to Frederick M. Azar, MD, chair, 2018 Nominating Committee, c/o AAOS Office of General Counsel, 9400 West Higgins Road, Rosemont, Ill. 60018.

Call for volunteers: Performance Measures Committee.
Aug. 1 is the last day to submit your application for a position on the Performance Measures Committee. This committee oversees and participates in the development, validation, dissemination, and implementation of AAOS performance measures. The following openings are available:

  • Chair
  • Member-at-large (four openings)
  • Resident-at-large (one opening)

Applicants for chair must be active fellows; applicants for member-at-large must be active fellows, emeritus fellows, or candidate members; applicants for resident-at-large must be PGY-2, PGY-3, or PGY-4. All applicants must have an understanding of evidence-based practice principles, performance measures, and value-based healthcare models. Learn more and submit your application…(member login required)