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| COVID-19 Updates
CMS Announces Relief for Medicare Quality Reporting Program Participants, Issues CHIP FAQs
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced relief for clinicians, providers, and facilities participating in the Medicare quality reporting programs. Among other programs, clinicians and providers will be granted exceptions from reporting requirements and extensions pertaining to measure reporting and data submission for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). The deadline for submitting 2019 MIPS data has been extended to April 30. Those clinicians who fail to submit their MIPS data by that date will receive an extreme and uncontrollable circumstances exemption (i.e., they will receive a neutral adjustment).
CMS also updated its frequently asked questions (FAQs) to help state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies address the COVID-19 outbreak.
Read the quality reporting program relief press release…
Read the CHIP press release… |
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| ACS Issues Bulletin with COVID-19 Resources
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) released a bulletin with information and resources on COVID-19. The first bulletin includes FAQs on managing COVID-19 patients, scholarly resources pertaining to the topic, and government updates.
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| Hospital in South Kora Opens ‘Telephone Booth’ COVID-19 Testing Site
A hospital in Seoul, South Korea, is using “telephone booth” testing sites in its parking lot so patients with COVID-19 symptoms can be tested without coming in direct contact with medical staff.
Read more…
Watch the video… |
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| Your AAOS
Register for AAOS Open Hearings on Wednesday, March 25
The Open Hearings for the Resolutions Committee and Bylaws Committee will be held on Wednesday, March 25 at 1 p.m. E.D.T. via the GoToWebinar platform. As a reminder, the Open Hearings are designed to allow members to share comments on proposed AAOS Resolutions and proposed AAOS Bylaws Amendments that will be further considered by the Resolutions Committee and Bylaws Committee during their deliberations. During the Open Hearings, you will be able to share your comments through the webinar platform. In addition, you may also send your comments in advance of the Open Hearings to governance@aaos.org. Comments received through the webinar platform or the email box will be communicated during the Open Hearing by AAOS staff.
Register for the Open Hearings…
Read the Open Hearings FAQs… |
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| In Other News
Study Assesses Povidone-iodine Lavage Effectiveness in Infection Prevention after TJA
A systematic review and meta-analysis published online in The Journal of Arthroplasty did not observe significant differences in infection between total joint arthroplasty (TJA) patients regardless of whether they received povidone-iodine (PI) lavage. The researchers queried Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for relevant studies published before Nov. 22, 2019. Subgroup analyses were conducted by infection site (overall or deep), surgery type (total hip arthroplasty [THA] or total knee arthroplasty [TKA]), time until infection diagnosis (three or 12 months postoperatively), and primary/aseptic revision arthroplasties. The seven studies included 31,213 TJA cases; 8,861 patients received PI lavage and 22,352 did not. Postoperative infection rates did not differ between the PI and non-PI lavage groups regardless of THA and TKA, time of infection diagnosis, and primary/aseptic revision arthroplasties.
Read the study… |
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| Study: Use of Synthetic Dermal Substitute in Pediatric Syndactyly Repair
According to a study published online in The Journal of Hand Surgery, the use of synthetic dermal substitute for coverage of skin deficits in syndactyly reconstruction yielded satisfactory outcomes. A total of 23 webs in 16 patients were included in the study; two patients were lost to follow-up, leaving 21 webs for final analysis Seven patients were female; median age at syndactyly reconstruction was 27 months. Two webs had minimal creep, three had clinically relevant creep, and 16 had no creep. The average overall Vancouver Scar Scale score was 1.19. Vascularity, pigmentation, and skin pliability were normal in 20, 17, and 13 webs, respectively; 15 webs had flat scar height. The visual analog scale assessment of the webs’ appearance was 8.8. No postoperative complications were reported.
Read the abstract… |
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| AAOS Now
Dr. Weber Hand-delivers Advocacy Issues to Capitol Hill
In January, to advance the AAOS Strategic Plan, AAOS President Kristy L. Weber, MD, FAAOS, traveled to Washington, D.C., to connect with legislators on priority AAOS issues, including preserving the value of hip and knee payment codes and securing appropriations language for musculoskeletal disparities research. Her willingness to advocate on behalf of the musculoskeletal community demonstrated her understanding of and appreciation for the importance of directly influencing federal policy.
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