Today’s Top Story
FDA issues safety recommendations for use of frameless stereotaxic navigation systems.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a safety communication regarding navigational accuracy errors associated with frameless stereotaxic navigation systems. The agency states that navigational accuracy errors may occur when using such navigation systems, and offers recommendations for surgeons to consider to mitigate associated risks to patients, including repeatedly assessing the navigational accuracy throughout a procedure when using a frameless surgical navigation system. Based on current information, FDA states that overall benefits of using frameless stereotaxic navigation systems continue to outweigh the risks, and the agency has not determined that any particular system carries greater risk than others. Read the safety communication…

Other News

CMS: 500,000 providers to see pay cuts under PQRS this year.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) states that about 500,000 healthcare providers should expect to see a 2 percent cut in reimbursement this year under the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS). According to the report, about 80 percent of penalized providers chose not to participate in PQRS. Although the PQRS program technically ended Dec. 31, 2016, providers are evaluated based on 2-year-old data. The final year providers will face penalties under the program is 2018. PQRS is being phased out as the agency transitions to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Read more…
Read the report (PDF)…

MedPAC report urges changes to MIPS; expansion of Open Payments.
The U.S. Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has released its June 2017 Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System. Among other things, the report recommends that CMS do the following:

  • Redesign MIPS and strengthen advanced alternative payment models
  • Expand the Open Payments system to include additional providers and organizations
  • Transition to a unified payment system for post-acute care
  • Reform payment for drugs under Medicare Part B

The report also offers comments on the medical device industry, stand-alone emergency departments, and provider consolidation. Read more (PDF)…
Read the fact sheet (PDF)…
Read the complete report (large PDF)…

Study: LD-CT may be more sensitive than radiography for monitoring ankylosing spondylitis progression.
A paper presented at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology suggests that low-dose computed tomography (LD-CT) may be more sensitive than conventional radiographs for monitoring disease progression in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. The research team reviewed data on 50 patients from the Netherlands and Germany who participated in the Sensitive Imaging of Axial Spondyloarthritis cohort. All patients underwent conventional radiography and LD-CT at baseline and at 2-year follow-up. Two readers independently assessed all scans. In all comparisons, they found that LD-CT detected more patients with progression. Based on the strictest comparison of consensus scores, the research team states that 30 percent of patients displayed bony proliferation (newly formed and growth) at ≥3 sites on LD-CT, compared with only 6 percent on conventional radiography. Read more…

Study: Could low BMI slow tibial stress fracture healing?
Data from a pilot study published online in the journal Current Orthopaedic Practice suggest a potential inverse relationship between body mass index (BMI) and time to clinical healing for patients with tibial stress fractures. The researchers investigated the relationship between Kaeding-Miller (K-M) grade and time to return to running or practice among 18 female track and field athletes (24 tibial stress injuries). They found that the average time to return to running was 13.7 weeks. Athletes with a K-M grade of V had an average time to return to running of 17 weeks, while patients with K-M grade III averaged 13.7 weeks and those with K-M grade II averaged 11.7 weeks. Among other things, they noted a nonsignificant inverse relationship between BMI and time to clinical healing. Read more…
Read the abstract…

CMS offers tips to help providers prepare for new Medicare card system.
CMS issued an email with suggestions to help providers transition to upcoming Medicare cards that lack Social Security information. CMS is issuing the new cards as part of a fraud reduction initiative. The new cards will use a unique, randomly assigned Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) number in place of the current Social Security-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN). CMS will begin mailing new cards in April 2018, and states that there will be a 21-month transition period, during which providers will be able to use either the MBI or the HICN. Read the CMS email…
Learn more about the transition…

Call for volunteers: Diversity Advisory Board.
Aug. 1 is the last day to submit your application for a position on the Diversity Advisory Board. The Diversity Advisory Board provides resources to assist AAOS members in providing culturally competent care to diverse populations, and develops and implements strategies to overcome barriers faced by minorities when choosing orthopaedics as a career. The following positions are available:

  • Chair
  • Communications Cabinet liaison
  • Education Council liaison
  • Member-at-large

Applicants for the chair and liaison openings must be active fellows; applicants for the member-at-large opening must be active fellows, candidate members, candidate members osteopathic, candidate member applicants for fellowship, candidate member applicants for fellowship osteopathic, associate members orthopaedic, or associate members osteopathic. Learn more and submit your application…(member login required)