Wednesday December 16, 2020
Good news on the third stimulus from HHS. As we may have been keeping you up and also many of you have applied for a third stimulus, checks have been sent since last night and some of you have already received them. This is in addition to the previous Stimulus I, which was 6.2% of Medicare revenues, second stimulus with a total of 2% gross revenues, and the third one is yet to be decided, but checks are arriving. 

As COVID-19 pandemic rages on, there is some good news: Hill leaders close on COVID stimulus deal. The present stimulus deal under negotiations spearheaded by Senator Cassidy on the Republican side and majority leader McConnell, along with other bipartisan senators, provides protections for employment and survival of small businesses including our own practices.

ASIPP has been working tirelessly for passage of this bill. This provides a second PPP, if you meet the criteria, with 30% revenue reduction (a very harsh requirement that we hope to help change) and also low-interest loans up to $10 million or 3 times gross revenue.

Congressional negotiators are on the brink of a coronavirus rescue package that would include a second round of direct payments and boost unemployment benefits, but would leave out state and local funding and a liability shield, according to lawmakers and sources briefed on the talks.
Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, seemed to meet criteria for emergency use authorization (EUA), agency staff said in a briefing document released on Tuesday.

And as with the Pfizer/BioNTech product that won authorization last week, the technical review found few issues with Moderna's trial data.

Similar to last week, the committee will decide whether, based on the totality of scientific evidence, the vaccine "may be effective" in preventing symptomatic COVID-19, and whether the benefits outweigh the risks.

And similar to last week, FDA technical staff did not raise any serious concerns. Notably, Moderna is requesting authorization for the vaccine to be used in adults 18 and older -- unlike the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which was authorized for adolescents as young as 16 despite limited data. That proved to be a sticking point for the "no" voters at last week's meeting.
On November 20, 2020, in addition to new Stark Law regulations intended to accommodate value-based financial arrangements with physicians, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued final regulations that significantly overhaul existing Stark Law exceptions, special rules and definitions. Published in the Federal Register on December 2, these regulatory changes will make it easier for health care entities to comply with the Stark Law.
Hospitals are struggling to decide who should receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine first among their workforce, sometimes having to choose certain teams and personnel over others, according to NBC News.

A CDC advisory committee recommended that healthcare workers be among the first recipients of the new vaccine, approved just last week by the FDA, and that hospitals target those deemed most at-risk. But the committee did not specify those healthcare workers, and it's unlikely there are enough doses to administer to all who want one.
Research into cervical spinal pain syndrome has indicated that the cervical facet joints can be a potent source of neck pain, headache, and referred pain into the upper extremities. There have been multiple diagnostic accuracy studies, most commonly utilizing diagnostic facet joint nerve blocks and an acute pain model, as Bogduk has proposed. Subsequently, Manchikanti has focused on the importance of the chronic pain model and longer lasting relief with diagnostic blocks as illustrated in the September 2020 diagnostic accuracy study.

Automation is now used in everyday healthcare tasks, but it's not as Sci-Fi as one might imagine.
The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) partners with Willow Risk Advisors to create an exclusive policy available to ASIPP members. In an effort to further increase value to its physician members, ASIPP has endorsed Willow Risk Advisors as their professional liability insurance broker. Teaming up with the NORCAL group, Willow Risk has developed an exclusive Medical Malpractice Insurance Program tailored specifically to serve interventional pain physicians.

During these hard times, ASIPP® would like to help our members by offering additional benefits for renewing your membership by December 31, 2020.


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.

Be a part of the ASIPP® 2021 Annual Meeting at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside on June 24-26, 2021.
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