IPOD, IPAD . . . IPAB?

John H. Flint, MD; Alok D. Sharan, MD; Ryan M. Nunley, MD

Hint: It’s not a new Apple® product With the swipe of a pen, President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010. The bill not only instituted some much-needed healthcare reforms, it also created the IPAB, or Independent Payment Advisory Board. Much work went into creating the massive healthcare reform bill. But exponentially more work will go into deciding exactly how to implement its provisions.

Making the Price points

Rep. Tom Price, MD, outlines an alternative vision for healthcare reform Orthopaedic surgeon and Congressional representative from Georgia’s 6th District, Tom Price, MD, calls himself a “triple R” guy, who wants to “replace the people that voted for the healthcare reform bill, repeal the bill, and reform it with appropriate patient-centered health care.” Tom Price, MD AAOS Now: What’s your assessment of the healthcare reform bill? Dr.

State societies share strategies

Maureen Leahy

Annual event strengthens state societies The AAOS State Societies Strategy Meeting was held in Washington, D.C., prior to the start of the National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference. More than 125 state orthopaedic society officers, directors, and members of the AAOS Board of Councilors (BOC) attended the educational and planning initiative.

Orthopaedic trauma care options

Maureen Leahy

Solutions that meet the needs of hospitals, providers, and patients When it comes to providing emergency trauma care, hospitals mandate on-call coverage, including specialist coverage, in a manner that best meets the needs of their patients, physicians, and resources. As a result, there is no single “best solution” for providing appropriate orthopaedic coverage. Instead, each hospital and community must consider local, individual requirements when establishing an ED call panel.

Second Look—Advocacy

If you missed these Headline News Now items the first time around, AAOS Now gives you a second chance to review them. Headline News Now—the AAOS thrice-weekly, online update of news of interest to orthopaedic surgeons—brings you the latest on clinical, socioeconomic, and political issues, as well as important announcements from AAOS.

Getting to the top of the political pyramid

John T. Gill, MD

Tips for hosting political fundraisers Do you know the name of your Congressional representatives? More importantly, does your U.S. Senator or Representative know your name? If you answered “no” to either question, read on. To become an effective advocate for our patients and our profession, you need to become a known entity to your elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels.

Congress passes 6-month “fix”

Mary Ann Porucznik

As this issue of AAOS Now went to press, the President had just signed into law the Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act (HR 3962). The legislation provides for a 2.2 percent update to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule payment rates for services provided on or after June 1, 2010, through Nov. 30, 2010.