November 20, 2020 | Today’s News

Study: Does State-level Legislation Impact Opioid Prescriptions in Joint Arthroplasty?

A study published in the December issue of Arthroplasty Today assessed how state-level legislation changed postoperative opioid and opioid antagonist prescribing patterns after total joint arthroplasty. Primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients were stratified by pre- (n = 671) and post-legislation (n = 713). Minimum and maximum median morphine milligram equivalents per day significantly changed from pre- to post-legislation. Opioid antagonist coprescriptions significantly increased. Factors associated with increased opioid prescribing were TKA, younger age, male sex, chronic pain disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and prior opioid abuse.

Read the study…

Study Reviews Safe Implementation of Direct Anterior THA

A study published in the Nov. 15 issue of the Journal of the AAOS ® described a safe transition to performing direct anterior THA. A single surgeon’s first and last 100 consecutive direct anterior THAs after seven years in practice were evaluated. In univariate analyses, differences in sex, age, Asian race, and diagnostic cause for THA were observed between the first and last groups. When controlling for these differences, direct anterior THA cases, compared to posterior, were associated with seven-minute longer procedures and 0.7-days fewer lengths of stay. Estimated blood loss and rates of death and surgical complication did not differ between the groups.

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A study published online in The American Journal of Sports Medicine identified risk factors and developed a model for predicting shoulder pain in youth competitive swimmers. The study followed 201 club- to international-level competitive swimmers (mean age, 13.9 years) without pain for two consecutive seasons. Over the study period, 42 new cases of shoulder pain were reported. Predictors in the final model were acute:chronic workload ratio, competitive level, shoulder flexion range of motion, posterior shoulder muscle endurance, and hand entry position error. The model sustained good calibration and discriminative power and had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.71.

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A study published online in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders analyzed spinopelvic sagittal alignment in patients in the sitting position who underwent posterior lumbar fusion. Data from 63 patients (average age, 61.6 years) were assessed. At final follow-up, when moving from standing to sitting, all spinopelvic sagittal parameters were significantly changed, except for pelvic incidence and thoracic kyphosis. The most obvious changes were in the natural sitting position, during which the spine slumped toward a C-shaped sagittal profile.

Read the study…

Apply Before Dec. 31 for the MIPS Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances and Promoting Interoperability Hardship Exceptions

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will be using its Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances policy for the 2020 performance year. This means Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligible clinicians, groups, and virtual groups will be allowed to submit an application requesting reweighting of one or more MIPS Performance Categories to 0 percent due to the current COVID-19 public health emergency. AAOS members who have concerns about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on their performance data should submit an application and cite COVID-19 as the reason for applying. Those who already have an approved application can still receive scores for the Quality, Improvement Activities, and Promoting Interoperability performance categories if they submit data.

Learn more and submit your application…

Read AAOS’ 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule comment letter…

OrthoPAC Provides Post-election Update

Overall, the AAOS Orthopaedic Political Action Committee (OrthoPAC) is very pleased with its win rates for the 2020 election. During this election cycle, 43 members retired or sought another office—almost double the average amount of member retirements in a typical congressional term. Although AAOS did lose some congressional allies and is dismayed that not all of the physician candidates it supported were triumphant in their congressional bids, the Association remains well positioned to tackle its priorities and educate new members of Congress on issues of importance to the musculoskeletal community.

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AAOS Fracture & Trauma Registry Adds Amgen as a Sponsor

AAOS announced that Amgen is the first industry sponsorship for the Fracture & Trauma Registry (FTR), which begins with a limited invitation to key sites in December followed by a full participant enrollment in the spring of 2021. Support from Amgen allows the FTR to further invest in the technology and science that is needed to evolve the registry and better meet the needs of all major stakeholders, including physicians, patients, payers, regulatory groups, and industry partners.

Read more about the Amgen sponsorship…

Read the FTR press release…