Meet the New www.aapmr.org—Your Home for Everything PM&R!
We’ve redesigned www.aapmr.org with you in mind. Explore the new site to find the content you need to positively impact your patients’ lives and advance your practice.
Visit www.aapmr.org and click to:
- Access resources to meet regulatory, certification, and licensure requirements.
- Advance your career and clinical skills.
- Advocate for the specialty.
- Manage your practice through the transitions occurring in health care.
- Stay up-to-date on Academy and PM&R news.
- Get involved through volunteer opportunities and Member Councils.
Bookmark www.aapmr.org now and keep everything PM&R at your fingertips!
Order the 2016 PM&R Coding Companion
Avoid audits and help your office staff save time and money with AAPM&R’s 2016 Coding Companion. The Companion includes the 2016 CPT® code set specific to PM&R in an easy-to-use format.
What’s New for 2016?
- Facet Injection Guideline Changes
- EMG Evaluation Exam Templates
- E/M Audit Tool
- MSK Exam Audit Tool
- Access to AAPM&R Coding Articles
- Code Index for Quick Referencing
Learn more about the Coding Companion in the mē® Catalog. Members save 40% off the regular nonmember price.
The Physiatrists’ Job Board Will Soon Use Your AAPM&R Login!
The AAPM&R Physiatrists’ Job Board is the premier electronic recruitment and leading job search resource for physiatrists only. In order to simplify your experience, your Academy is in the process of making changes that will allow you to log in to the Job Board using your www.aapmr.org credentials. Once you are logged in to any area of your Academy’s website, you will be able to access the Job Board without having to log in a second time. Stay tuned for these updates coming soon!
If you haven’t already visited jobboard.aapmr.org, explore it today! Looking for a new job? Post your CV and view positions across the U.S. Looking to hire a physiatrist? Post your open position, browse the resume database, and search for your ideal candidate(s). Job seekers also receive new job alerts delivered to your inbox. Take advantage of this member benefit today!
AAPM&R Career Corner Enewsletter to Debut on January 17
Your Academy offers a variety of career and professional development resources to help PM&R physicians meet new challenges and build successful careers. On January 17, we’ll introduce AAPM&R Career Corner—a professional development enewsletter to help connect physiatrists to their dream jobs. Watch for this new communication vehicle—coming to your inbox soon!
Annual Assembly
Moving Physiatry Forward in the “Big Easy!”
Join us for THE largest gathering of PM&R physicians in the country—AAPM&R’s 2016 Annual Assembly, October 20-23 in New Orleans. If you’ve never attended an Annual Assembly before, make this the year you join us. The 2016 conference will be even bigger and better than before!
You’ll hear from exciting plenary speakers, including:
We’ll also introduce our Interactive Pain Arcade, a hands-on experience for attendees to learn more about pain management. Activity topics include: responsible opioid prescribing, how to reduce opioid-related harm, and ensure public safety.
Visit www.aapmr.org/assembly for details!
Call for Abstracts and Abstract Reviewers Opens Tomorrow
Your Academy will soon be inviting you to submit your clinical and basic scientific research findings to be considered for inclusion in AAPM&R’s 2016 Annual Assembly, October 20-23 in New Orleans. All abstracts selected for inclusion in the scientific paper and poster presentations during the Annual Assembly will also be published in PM&R—your Academy’s official scientific journal.
We’ll be opening our Call for Abstracts and Abstract Reviewers tomorrow, January 7. Stay tuned to the Academy’s volunteer web page for more information!
Education
The ABPMR Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Exam is 1 Month Away
Are you taking the American Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (ABPMR) MOC exam on February 11? Prepare using resources in the mē® Catalog.
Visit mē® to find all of our MOC resources that help you meet current, fundamental mandates set forth by ABPMR.
*The MOC|3 Online Review Courses and the MOC|3 Online Mock Examination are not endorsed by ABPMR nor was ABPMR involved in the creation of these study tools.
Health Policy/Advocacy
Free Webinar in 2 Weeks: 2016 CPT Coding Update
Several changes to payment policy and coding and reimbursement are set to take effect in 2016. The “2016 CPT® Coding Update: What Code Changes Will Affect PM&R Practice?” webinar will focus on coding updates relevant to physiatrists starting in 2016. Learn more and register on your Academy’s website.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
7 pm-8 pm (CT)
Speakers: Scott Horn, DO; Annie Purcell, DO; Barry Smith, MD; Matthew Grierson, MD
2014 Quality Measures Released on Physician Compare
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released newly-available data on the quality of care provided by individual health care professionals, group practices, and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). The data is available on the Physician Compare website.
CMS will also host a series of one-hour webinars to discuss recent updates and the future of Physician Compare, including a publicly-reported benchmark. Registration details will be sent at a later date.
- Tuesday, February 23 at 12 pm (ET)
- Wednesday, February 24 at 4 pm (ET)
- Thursday, February 25 at 11 am (ET)
Coding Error in Billing for Percutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (PENS) and Percutaneous Neuromodulation Therapy (PNT)
One of Medicare’s Administrative Contractors has noted a large number of coding errors in billing for percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (PENS) and percutaneous neuromodulation therapy (PNT).
The following excerpt is from an article posted on their website:
"Providers are required to bill procedure codes that exactly describe the service performed and currently there are no specific Current Procedural Terminology® (CPT®) codes for PENS or PNT. Therefore, unlisted CPT code 64999 (Unlisted procedure, nervous system) should be used to report percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and percutaneous neuromodulation therapy. CPT codes for percutaneous implantation of neurostimulator electrodes (i.e., CPT 64553 - 64565) are also not appropriate given PENS and PNT use percutaneously inserted needles and wires rather than percutaneously implanted electrodes. Additionally, the stimulation devices used in PENS and PNT are not implanted, therefore, CPT code 64590 is also not appropriate."
Read the full article here.
Florida Board of Pharmacy Adopts New Regulation Regarding Filling, Prescribing, and Mandatory Education for Controlled Substances
Effective December 24, 2015, the Florida Board of Pharmacy adopted a new regulation that sets standards of practice for the filling of controlled substance prescriptions, electronic prescribing, and mandatory continuing education for pharmacists. This new regulation intends to, among other things, clarify the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists in Florida who are presented with a prescription for a controlled substance. This rule revision will help ensure that legitimate patients in need of a controlled substance can access their medications. The full regulation can be accessed here.
Physiatry News
Application Deadline Approaching for the USBJI Grant Mentoring Program
The United States Bone and Joint Initiative (USBJI) and Bone and Joint Canada are dedicated to increasing research of musculoskeletal diseases. To that end, the organization has developed a grant mentoring program to provide early-career investigators an opportunity to work with experienced researchers to assist them in securing funding and other survival skills required for pursuing an academic career.
The spring workshop will be held April 29-May 1, 2016 in Chicago. Hurry; the application deadline is January 15, 2016. Learn more and apply today.
AAPM&R Members in the News
- Jaclyn Bonder, MD, is the medical director of women’s health rehabilitation in the division of rehabilitation medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Bonder specializes in women’s health rehabilitation with a pelvic floor and ob/gyn focus and was recently featured in Weill Cornell Medicine’s magazine in the article, “Our Bodies, Ourselves.” View the article here.
- Julie Silver, MD, is an associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and a member of the medical staff at Spaulding Rehabilitation, Massachusetts General, and Brigham Women’s Hospitals. Dr. Silver’s new book, Before and After Cancer Treatment, 2nd edition, is now available on Amazon. Her book aims at helping others recover from the exhaustion and physical devastation that often follows cancer treatment. Congratulations, Dr. Silver! Learn more here.
- Your Academy is featured in an article by actor and writer Michael Ian Black on CBS News. Black shares his thoughts about New Year’s resolutions and mentions AAPM&R in his article, “Resolved: To make easy promises I can keep.” Read the full article here.
About AAPM&R Connection
This newsletter is emailed twice a month to AAPM&R members.
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