Wednesday | February 17, 2021

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidance that people who have been fully vaccinated for the coronavirus no longer need to quarantine if they are exposed to someone who is infected with COVID-19.

"Fully vaccinated persons who meet criteria will no longer be required to quarantine following an exposure to someone with COVID-19," the CDC said in the updated guidance.

While some ASC administrators have seen payers become more accepting of outpatient surgeries and drive cases to the ASC, others report continued challenges in contract negotiations.

"The payer landscape for our ASC is very poor," Lynn Winter, RN, BSN, administrator of Advanced Surgical Care of St. Louis, told Becker's. "The payers continue to provide low allowable [charges] along with high deductibles. Often the entire allowable goes to the patients' deductible, and since the patients often are not in a position to pay the day of surgery, the number of patient responsibility aging claims continues to grow. Patients must pay their premiums to the payer, and in turn the payer applies the allowed charges to the patients' responsibility. For the payer it is, more times than not, a win-win. For the insured it is costly, and for the ASC it means low to zero reimbursement."

But still facing substantial challenges to greater clinical uptake

While monoclonal antibody therapy options for COVID-19 are growing, there are still substantial hurdles to clinical uptake, despite improvements.

Eli Lilly's bamlanivimab became the first monoclonal antibody drug for COVID-19 to get an emergency use authorization (EUA) in early November 2020, followed by the combination of casirivimab and imdevimab later that same month. But these and the bamlanivimab/etesevimab combination product approved on Tuesday are limited to outpatient use in mild to moderate cases at high risk of progressing to severe disease.
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.

Abstract
Background: Discal cyst is a rare pathology causing lumbar radiculopathy. Conventional open and microsurgical resection is the most commonly reported surgical treatment for discal cyst. Full-endoscopic surgeries are an efficient but sparsely reported modality.

Case Report: This is a retrospective study that presents the outcomes of 2 patients with lumbar discal cyst (with radiculopathy in the legs and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores of 10 out of 10, classic clinical-radiological presentation features) who were treated with Percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PTELD) under local anesthesia (LA). Validated Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and MacNab scores were used for clinical outcome assessment. Additionally, we conducted a review of the literature on full-endoscopic approaches for discal cyst, namely PTELD, percutaneous interlaminar endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PIELD), and transsacral epiduroscopic decompression (SELD)

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. 

Abstract
Background: The re-engineered definition of clinical guidelines in 2011 from the IOM (Institute of Medicine) states, "clinical practice guidelines are statements that include recommendations intended to optimize patient care that is informed by a systematic review of evidence and an assessment of the benefit and harms of alternative care options." The revised definition distinguishes between the term "clinical practice guideline" and other forms of clinical guidance derived from widely disparate development processes, such as consensus statements, expert advice, and appropriate use criteria.

Objective: To assess the literature and develop methodology for evidence synthesis and development of comprehensive evidence-based guidelines for interventional techniques in chronic spinal pain.

Abstract
Background: Long-term opioid therapy was prescribed with increasing frequency over the past decade. However, factors surrounding long-term use of opioids in older adults remains poorly understood, probably because older people are not at the center stage of the national opioid crisis.

Objectives: To estimate the annual utilization and trends in long-term opioid use among older adults in the United States.

Not the research or the headline we needed

Last week, the CDC announced results showing that when dummy heads were fitted with a cloth mask over a surgical mask, or when a surgical mask had a knot tied near the corner of the mouth, more particulates were captured when the head emitted an aerosol from its plastic mouthpiece during a simulated cough than were captured by a surgical mask alone.

Medicaid fees for physicians have continued to lag those paid by Medicare, a trend that may make it difficult for some patients to find care, according to a new study.

Medicaid physician fees averaged 72% of Medicare physician fees for common procedures in 2019. The ratio for fees for primary care dropped to 67%, and that for fees obstetric care was 80%, report Stephen Zuckerman, PhD, of the nonprofit Urban Institute, and coauthors in a study published February 1 in the journal Health Affairs.

An infectious disease physician in California has been treating patients with COVID-19, and although he knows that he's doing important work, he's also worried about someday facing a lawsuit for potential wrongful treatment, given that medical understanding about COVID is changing almost daily.

We hear similar worries from other clients as well. Other physicians are similarly concerned about protecting assets in the event of a lawsuit, even though they have liability insurance in case of a large judgment.

With the number of new Covid-19 cases dropping 25 percent to 825,000 last week, the largest weekly fall in new infections since the pandemic started, the U.S. has finally gained some momentum in its battle to curb Covid-19. A Reuters analysis found that new cases have now actually fallen for four weeks in a row to reach their lowest level since November. Despite the progress, health officials have urged caution amid the arrival of some new strains of the disease that could undo all of the progress. Quoted by Reuters, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said: " that "I’m asking everyone to please keep your guard up,” before adding that “the continued proliferation of variants remains a great concern and is a threat that could reverse the recent positive trends we are seeing.”
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
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up-to-date news related to you, your practice, and patients!

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.

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!