AAOS Now, August 2012
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AAOS Treasurer Testifies on Behalf of Injury Research
“Dr. Pollak, did I hear you say that 47,000 troops were injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, and of that number, 80 percent had limb injuries?” asked Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) during a Defense Subcommittee hearing on the fiscal year (FY) 2013 Department of Defense (DOD) budget.
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Whose Responsibility Is It to Reduce Healthcare Spending?
Although the rising costs of health care have been a central issue of political debate, no major changes in reducing healthcare expenditures have been made. Unless efforts to reduce healthcare expenditures are enacted, recent national and state-level efforts to increase the scope of medical insurance coverage to the nearly 50 million uninsured Americans will magnify the problem.
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Second Look- Advocacy
Compensation for on-call coverage Hospitals are changing how they pay physicians for on-call coverage, according to data from the Medical Group Management Association’s “Medical Directorship and On-Call Compensation Survey: 2012 Report Based on 2011 Data.” Data indicate that although a daily stipend is the most frequent payment form, the proportion of physicians who receive it dropped from 33 percent in 2009 to 29.1 percent in 2011.
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New Report on Surgeon-Industry Relationships Available
Orthopaedic Institute of Medicine Report includes 16 recommendations The American Orthopaedic Association (AOA) and the Orthopaedic Institute of Medicine (OIOM) have released a report on Surgeon-Industry Relationships in the Discipline of Orthopaedic Surgery. The report is the result of 22 months of study by an OIOM Task Force and includes 16 recommendations. The full report appeared in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery–American (July 16) and is available on the AOA website (www.aoassn.
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August Recess: A Great Time to Connect with Legislators
It’s August, which means that members of Congress have headed back to their districts to meet with constituents and campaign for reelection. Many members of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) recognize that this is a great time to host fundraisers for legislators who have demonstrated their concern for and have been willing to “stick their neck out” for orthopaedic issues.
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New York Overturns Payment Policy on Knee Arthroscopy
AAOS intervention prompts state to reconsider Medicaid coverage decision In November 2011, the New York State Department of Health issued a new coverage guideline for knee arthroscopy. Under the guideline, the department planned to discontinue payments under Medicaid for all arthroscopic knee surgeries. The decision cited the AAOS clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) on treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee as one of the reasons for discontinuing coverage.
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Court Upholds Healthcare Reform Law
Madeleine Lovette On June 28, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The 5–4 decision came as a shock to many, particularly since it was Chief Justice John Roberts who cast the deciding vote.