Today’s Top Story
President-elect names Tom Price, MD, as secretary of HHS; healthcare consultant Seema Verma as head of CMS.
President-elect Donald Trump has named Rep. Thomas E. Price, MD, (R-Ga.) to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). Dr. Price is an orthopaedic surgeon and has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2005. As reported in The Washington Post, Dr. Price has generally supported an agenda “that includes redefining Medicare, placing ‘personal responsibility’ requirements on low-income recipients of Medicaid, and dismantling the Affordable Care Act.”
“On behalf of 18,000 board-certified orthopaedic surgeons, the AAOS congratulates Chairman Tom Price, an orthopaedic surgeon and AAOS member, on his nomination as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services,” said Gerald R. Williams, Jr., MD, President of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). “Dr. Price has decades of leadership on health care policy issues and firsthand experience caring for patients for nearly twenty years. He has worked closely with AAOS on issues including repeal of the Medicare sustainable growth rate formula, oversight of mandatory bundled payment models, increasing flexibility within electronic health record programs, defending important in-office ancillary services, and protecting the patient-physician relationship.”
Mr. Trump also named Seema Verma to oversee the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Ms. Verma is a healthcare consultant who has worked with a number of states to redesign their Medicaid programs.
Read more…
Read the AAOS response to Dr. Price’s nomination…
Other News
Study: Preoperative frailty screening linked to improved survival following surgery.
Findings from a study published online in the journal JAMA Surgery suggest that use of preoperative frailty screening may be associated with reduced mortality following surgery. The authors conducted a prospective cohort study of 9,153 patients from a single center who presented for major, elective, noncardiac surgery. They found that implementation of a frailty screening initiative (FSI) was associated with a reduction in 30-day mortality from 1.6 percent (84 of 5,275) to 0.7 percent (26 of 3,878). The authors note that FSI was associated with a significant reduction in mortality among frail patients, from 12.2 percent (24 of 1,970) to 3.8 percent (16 of 424). In addition, the magnitude of improvement among frail patients increased at 180 and 365 days, and multivariable models revealed improved survival after FSI implementation, after controlling for age, frailty, and predicted mortality.
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Read the abstract…
Study: Hepatitis C infection linked to increased risk of complication following TSA.
According to a study published in the December issue of the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, patients with hepatitis C may be at increased risk of complication following total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA). The researchers retrospectively reviewed data on 1,466 patients with hepatitis C and 21,502 matched control patients. Compared with patients in the control cohort, they found that patients with hepatitis C had greater likelihood of infection within 3 months and 1 year, revision TSA within 1 year and 2 years, dislocation within 1 year, postoperative fracture within 1 year, systemic or medical complications within 3 months, and blood transfusion within 3 months.
Read the abstract…
Study: NSAIDs may be as effective as opioids for reducing pain following vehicle crash, with less risk of continued use.
A study published online in the journal Pain suggests that opioids prescribed at discharge from the emergency department (ED) may offer no advantage compared to NSAIDs for risk of moderate to severe musculoskeletal pain among patients who have been involved in a motor vehicle collision (MVC). The research team analyzed existing study data on 948 patients who had presented to the ED following an MVC. At 6-week follow-up, they found no difference in risk for moderate to severe musculoskeletal pain between patients who were discharged with opioid analgesics or NSAIDS. However, the research team notes that at 6 weeks, patients who were prescribed opioids were more likely than those prescribed NSAIDS to report continued use of prescription opioid medications.
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Read the abstract…
December AAOS Now is online now and in your mailbox soon!
AAOS members will soon receive the print edition of the December issue of AAOS Now, but the online edition is already available on the AAOS Now website. This month’s issue includes a look at the recently released Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA)/Quality Payment Program final rule, an examination of hospital mergers and how they may impact providers and patients, an article on what may be expected in the wake of the 2016 presidential election, and much more!
Read more…
Read “CMS Releases MACRA/Quality Payment Program Final Rule”…
Read “Hospital System Mergers and Their Impact on Patients and Physicians”…
Read “Republican Sweep Portends Changes for Health Care”…
AAOS Now recently redesigned its landing page to provide more direct access to featured articles and breaking news.
Visit the new AAOS Now home page…
USBJI grant mentoring and career development program accepting applications from young investigators.
Jan. 15, 2017, is the deadline for young investigators to apply to take part in the United States Bone and Joint Initiative (USBJI) and Bone and Joint Canada grant mentoring program. The program is open to promising junior faculty, senior fellows, or postdoctoral researchers who have been nominated by their department or division chairs. It is also open to senior fellows or residents who are doing research and have a faculty appointment in place or confirmed. Basic and clinical investigators, with or without training awards (including K awards) are invited to apply. Investigators selected to take part in the program attend two workshops, 12–18 months apart, and work with faculty between workshops to develop their grant applications. Attendees are given the opportunity to maintain a relationship with a mentor until their application is funded. The next workshop will take place April 7–9, 2017, in Rosemont, Ill.
Learn more and submit your application…
Call for volunteers: Council on Education.
Dec. 16 is the deadline to apply for a position on the Council on Education (one board preparation and MOC course chair opening). The Council on Education plans and evaluates Academy educational programs in accordance with the policies and standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. Applicants for this position must be active fellows with experience as a faculty member in Academy courses.
Learn more and submit your application…(member login required)
