Wednesday | February 3, 2021

Healthcare workers are indispensable as the country continues its fight against COVID-19 — but many are physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted, according to the Joint Commission report.

It draws on comments submitted by healthcare workers, their families and their patients, and combines them with a study from C+R Research completed on behalf of the Joint Commission in December. And it jibes with other recent findings that show hospital staff are taking a tremendous toll during the COVID-19 crisis.

Almost a year into the pandemic, the C+R research report found healthcare organizations continuing to struggle with shortages of personal protective equipment and other supplies. At the same time, managing frequently changing information remains a challenge, respondents said.

Dr. Robin Larabee was thrilled to start offering coronavirus testing at her pediatrics practice in Denver last fall. Testing for children is often scarce, and her new machines could return results within minutes. 

She quickly discovered an unexpected obstacle: a major health insurer that paid her less than the cost of the test itself. Each kit Dr. Larabee purchased for her machines cost about $41, but the insurer sent back half that amount each time she submitted a claim.

Across the country, some doctors are seeing reimbursement rates so low that they do not cover the cost of the test supplies, jeopardizing access to a tool experts see as crucial to stopping the virus’s spread. “I’ve gone up the food chain, and gotten as far as I can, and they just tell me this is the rate,” she said.

Join the 2021 Annual Meeting in New Orleans,
June 24-26, for the first on-site, COVID-Compliant Meeting
The 23rd annual meeting will be educational (providing much need CME credits), exciting, and will offer the long-awaited ability to leave our homes and attend meetings in person in a safe and responsible manner.

We are working on making the program highly relevant for our changing healthcare system and environment. We will also bring you cutting-edge lectures on exciting new technology, world-renowned speakers, and much, much more. Registration is now open. Topics will include: COVID-19, economics, burnout, social media, metabolic health, regulatory issues, scientific advances in IPM, and much more! 

Mark your calendars, book your room and click here to register!

ASIPP® is pleased to announce the publication of the Comprehensive Evidence-Based Guidelines for Epidural Interventions in the Management of Chronic Spinal Pain. In preparation of the guidelines, an extensive literature review was performed. The 210-page guidelines contains 33 figures, 48 tables, 1,345 references and has 60 authors.

In addition to the review of multiple manuscripts in reference to utilization, expenditures, anatomical and pathophysiological considerations, pharmacological and harmful effects of drugs and procedures, for evidence synthesis, we have included 47 systematic reviews and 43 RCTs covering all epidural. 

People testing positive for the new British variant of the coronavirus are more likely to report coughing, sore throat or fatigue as symptoms of COVID-19, but are less likely to lose their sense of taste or smell, a British survey has found.

The variant, identified in southeast England in December, is thought to be more transmissible, and could also be associated with higher mortality, though data suggesting increased death rates are uncertain and not yet strong.

Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that other differences had been observed between those with the variant from the United Kingdom and others with COVID-19.

A study conducted by physician researchers the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston has found that a new pain management regimen for trauma patients that uses mostly over-the-counter medications reduces opioid exposure while providing a comparable level of pain control as other forms of treatment.


The study, which involved 1,561 patients, was conducted at the Red Duke Trauma Institute at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. The patients were divided into groups to assess the effectiveness of two separate combinations of non-opioid pain relievers. The “original” combination, developed in 2013, included intravenous and oral acetaminophen, celecoxib, pregabalin, gabapentin, tramadol and, as needed, oxycodone. While the strategy reduced opioid exposure by 31%, the use of tramadol made not opioid-minimizing.
After reading the 2021 Abstracts & Poster Presentations guidelines, please complete the form along with the presenter's CV by clicking here. Questions can be directed to Savannah Gold at 270-554-9412 x 4219 or sgold@asipp.org.

  • Selected manuscripts will be presented in electronic poster presentation.
  • Top 25 will be published in the Pain Physician journal. 
  • Top 10 will be selected for abstract presentation at meeting.
  • Top 3 will receive cash prizes.

A $50 submission fee is required, and will be collected at the end of this form.

Proposals will be accepted until April 14, 2021

Click here for Abstract and Poster Presentation Submission Guidelines

FDA in 2018 released its Medical Device Safety Action Plan and draft guidance on cybersecurity considerations for premarket submissions. However, since then, the agency has made little progress on the cyber regulatory front, especially last year as FDA's medical device priorities were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Making matters worse, cyber experts contend the chaos of the coronavirus public health crisis has created the perfect storm for hackers to exploit medical device vulnerabilities, which are potentially easy targets for cybercriminals who see them as entry points into hospital networks.


But overall efficacy falls well short of competitors

Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 one-dose vaccine candidate was 66% effective overall against moderate to severe COVID-19 in a multinational phase III trial, and 72% effective in the U.S. cohort, the company said in a press release on Friday.

Interim data showed 468 symptomatic cases of COVID-19 from 43,783 adult volunteers in the U.S., Latin America and South Africa, who comprised the phase 3 ENSEMBLE trial. The one-dose vaccine met its co-primary endpoints, which was protection against symptomatic COVID-19 at day 14 and day 28 following vaccination.

Since this malpractice insurance program officially launched in November 2018, ASIPP has sign up hundreds of providers with an average savings of 30%. This is a professional liability insurance that is tailored to our specialty and will stand up for us and defend our practices.

Norcal Mutual is 'A' Rated by AM best and is license in all 50 states. To read a few important points to keep in mind about the program, including discounts, administrative defense, cyber coverage, aggressive claims handling, and complimentary award-winning risk management CME activities, click here.
Since this malpractice insurance program officially launched in November 2018, ASIPP has sign up hundreds of providers with an average savings of 30%. This is a professional liability insurance that is tailored to our specialty and will stand up for us and defend our practices.

Norcal Mutual is 'A' Rated by AM best and is license in all 50 states. To read a few important points to keep in mind about the program, including discounts, administrative defense, cyber coverage, aggressive claims handling, and complimentary award-winning risk management CME activities, click here.
Pain Medicine Case Reports (PMCR) and Editor-in-Chief Alaa Abd-Elsayed, MD, PhD would like to invite you to submit case reports and case series to PMCR journal. Your article will be published free of charge.

Open access journals are freely available online for immediate worldwide open access to the full text of published articles. There is no subscription fee for open access journals. Open access journals are no different from traditional subscription-based journals: they undergo the same peer-review and quality control as any other scholarly journal.

Interested in becoming a member of the PMCR Editorial Board?
Editorial board members are asked to review 2-6 manuscripts per year. Please submit your most up-to-date CV to sgold@asipp.org for consideration.

For more information or to submit your articles, click here.

ASIPP has formed a partnership with Henry Schein and PedsPal,
a national GPO that has a successful history of negotiating better prices on medical supplies and creating value added services for the independent physician. Working with MedAssets, PedsPal provides excellent pricing on products like contrast media that alleviate some of the financial pressures you experience today.

All sessions from the September 2020 meeting are available through June 2021 for a reduced fee. On-demand registration also provides access to all of the great resources available in the exhibit hall.

*Recorded sessions are not eligible for CME credits.

ASIPP is now offering our members the benefit of a unique revenue cycle management/billing service. We have received a tremendous amount of interest in the ASIPP billing and coding program. Click here to learn more about the negotiated rate for practices and more!