Using the FDA’s MedWatch program

Jennie McKee

Orthopaedic surgeons—unlike medical device manufacturers and facilities such as hospitals and surgical centers—are not legally required to report adverse events associated with medical devices to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). And yet, reporting these problems through the FDA’s MedWatch program is something all orthopaedists can do to help improve patient safety, according to the authors of “Reporting and Notification of Adverse Events in Orthopaedics”.

Understanding the RUC

R. Dale Blasier, MD, MBA; Matthew Twetten, MA

The AMA’s multispecialty Relative Value Update Committee is under scrutiny For a 26-person advisory body variously described as “secretive,” “little known,” and “hardly ever heard of,” the American Medical Association’s (AMA) multispecialty Relative-Value Update Committee (RUC) has been receiving a great deal of attention in recent months.

Rules, reforms, and regulations—Part 2

Mary Ann Porucznik

NOLC symposia spotlight issues of concern The American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) 2011 National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference (NOLC), held in Washington, D.C., in April, focused on several issues of concern to orthopaedic surgeons.

FOS holds EMR demonstration program

Fraser Cobbe

Designed to help members select EMR software Funded in part through a grant received from the AAOS Board of Councilors State Orthopaedic Society Committee, the Florida Orthopaedic Society (FOS) held a 2-day demonstration program in 2011 to assist members who have yet to adopt an electronic medical records (EMR) system. The event was held in Orlando, Jan. 21–22, and was enthusiastically received by FOS members.

CMS issues proposed rules for ACOs

Madeleine Lovette

On March 31, 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed guidelines for doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers who want to establish Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Healthcare experts hope that ACOs will put an end to fragmented care methods by creating a “shared savings program” that provides an incentive for caregivers across all care settings to work together to provide high-quality, coordinated care for Medicare beneficiaries.

Is a provider antitrust exemption possible?

Simit Pandya

Federal antitrust regulations not only cover the country’s largest corporations, they also apply to the healthcare sector. But while current law does not allow healthcare providers to work together to pursue fair reimbursement rates from health insurance plans, health insurers enjoy broad exemptions under the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945.

A Medicare primer

Manish K. Sethi, MD, William T. Obremskey, MD, MPH; A. Alex Jahangir, MD

Where are we? How did we get here? Where are we going? As America finds itself burdened with $14.3 trillion of national debt, legislators are under increased pressure to find ways to balance the budget. Although cuts have been proposed in various areas, one thing is certain—controlling mounting Medicare costs will be a central flash point in the budget deficit battle.

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.

NOLC Participants Report on Outcomes of Hill Visits

Madeleine Lovette

As part of the 2011 National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference (NOLC), approximately 400 orthopaedists visited their legislators on Capitol Hill on April 7, 2011. NOLC participants scheduled more than 200 meetings to lobby their senators and representatives on key orthopaedic issues, including repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), preserving patient access to in-office ancillary services, achieving meaningful medical liability reform, and increasing Congressional awareness of the large and growing prevalence of musculoskeletal diseases.