Academy News
AAPM&R’s Annual Assembly is 2 Weeks Away – Preconference Courses and Workshop Seating Still Available!
There’s only 2 weeks remaining before we meet in Boston, October 1-4. Don’t miss the learning, networking, and fun we have planned for you!
Register today and join us in one of the most historic cities in the U.S.
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Spots are Still Available for Select Preconference Courses and Assembly Workshops
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Experience the Live Regenerative Medicine Course from Your Home or Office
Participate in the live course on regenerative medicine without leaving your hometown. This year’s preconference course—Regenerative Medicine: Current Concepts and Brave New Paradigms in the Treatment of Musculoskeletal Conditions—is available to those not attending the 2015 Assembly or those who may be traveling later to the meeting.
The course will be presented live on September 30 at 7:30 am (ET). Register today!
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President’s Reception –limited tickets available!
A limited number of tickets are still available for this fun reception on Friday, October 2 at 7 pm.Tickets for members are only $60 – over 60% off the value price!Transportation will be provided from the Hynes Convention Center to the JFK Library. Learn more and register now!
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Residents: Annual Assembly Workshop Volunteers Needed
Various workshops require the assistance of volunteers and AAPM&R welcomes and appreciates the help of its resident members. Residents who volunteer to assist with a workshop will be given complimentary access to that session, and eligible for remuneration ($100 per day for most). If you are interested in volunteering, please click here to access the 2015 Annual Assembly Workshop Volunteer Survey!Contact the AAPM&R Meetings Team at meetings@aapmr.orgwith any questions.
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Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Hackathon: Hacking Rehabilitation
September 25 and 26
Boston, MA
MIT Hacking Medicine and AAPM&R invite entrepreneurs, designers, engineers, and health care professionals to come together for this 2-day event that focuses on the development of innovative solutions for rehabilitation medicine challenges.
Innovators from all physiatry specialties will come together to exchange ideas, form teams around shared interests, and build solutions to various health challenges. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this cutting-edge concept!
Learn more and register now!
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Interfaith Gathering Room
When selecting dates for the Annual Assembly, we do our best to respect religious holidays. To assist our members attending the Assembly, we’re offering a room that may be used for religious practices.
If you’d like to request a meeting room, please contact meetings@aapmr.orgprior to the Assembly. Please be as specific as possible about your needs. After Tuesday, September 29, please submit your request at the special assistance desk onsite and a member from the meetings team will contact you.
For our members celebrating Sukkot, we will have a Sukkah available in the Interfaith Gathering room.
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Best Research Poster/Podium Presentations
During the Annual Assembly, we'll have 1-hour sessions featuring the top PM&R posters from their respective categories. Sessions are led by an expert discussant who will facilitate a constructive, critically challenging evaluation of the research, as well as lead a question-and-answer session for each poster. Attendees have the unique opportunity to hear from the lead authors themselves and inquire about recent research relevant to physiatrists. Check out a listing of all the scientific poster presentations being held at this year's meeting.
Coding and Reimbursement Virtual Workshop Tomorrow
Attend our 30-minute Fast & Furious Coding Virtual Workshop, available for 0.5AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Experts will be available to answer your coding and reimbursement questions and can provide advice on E/M Coding and Documentation, E/M modifiers, diagnostic testing, and injections and other therapeutic procedures.
Date:September 17
Time:12 pm–12:30 pm (ET)
Cost:$20
Learn more and register today!
Call for Nominations: CMS Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment
If any physiatrists are interested in serving on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment, CMS is currently soliciting nominations (which may include self-nominations.) Nominations must be received no later than 5 pm (ET) on October 27, 2015. They should be submitted to APCPanel@cms.hhs.gov.
Members of the panel generally serve 4-year terms. It is a voluntary position, without compensation. However, for the meetings, CMS reimburses travel, meals, lodging, and related expenses in accordance with standard government travel regulations. Additional information can be found in the Federal Registernotice or on theCMS website.
AAPM&R Submits Comments on Proposed Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Payment Model
Your Academy has submitted comments on the CMS Proposed Rule: Medicare Program: Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Payment Model for Acute Care Hospitals Furnishing Lower Extremity Joint Replacement Services. The full comment letter can be viewed on your Academy’s website.
AGS’ Multimorbidity App is Now Available
The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is looking for champions from all specialties and disciplines to help disseminate their new Multiple Chronic Conditions: Geriatrics and Evaluation Management Strategies (MCC GEMS) App & Online Toolkit. These free resources, developed through funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), address the unique challenges involved in managing multimorbidity issues in older adults. Learn more about participating here.
CMS Responds to AAPM&R Comments on the Inpatient Prospective Payment System Final Rule
On July 31, 2015, CMS issued a final rule outlining fiscal year (FY) 2016 Medicare payment policies and rates for the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long Term Care Hospital. Your Academy sent comments on the Proposed Rule focused on the Bundled Payment for Care Improvement (BPCI) Initiative. In this final rule, CMS did not make a decision of whether or not to expand the BPCI Initiative given that further evaluation of the BPCI initiative is needed to determine its impact on both Medicare cost and quality of care.
CMS Responds to AAPM&R Comments on the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Final Rule
On July 31, 2015, CMS issued a final rule outlining fiscal year (FY) 2016 Medicare payment policies and rates for the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System (IRF PPS) and the IRF Quality Reporting Program (IRF QRP). Based on your Academy’s comments on the proposed rule, CMS is finalizing an IRF-specific market basket to replace the rehabilitation, psychiatric, and long-term care (RPL) market basket.
Additionally, for FY 2016, CMS will continue to hold the facility-level adjustment factors at the FY 2014 levels as we continue to monitor the most current IRF claims data available to assess the effects of the FY 2014 changes. Finally, CMS is temporarily suspending their previously finalized data validation policy. CMS is suspending this policy in order to allow time to develop a more comprehensive policy that potentially decreases the burden on IRF providers, allows us to establish an estimation of accuracy related to quality data submitted to CMS, and facilitates the alignment of the IRF validation policy with that of other CMS quality reporting program policies.
CMS Responds to AAPM&R Comments on the Skilled Nursing Facility Final Rule
On July 30, 2015, CMS issued a final rule outlining fiscal year (FY) 2016 Medicare payment policies and rates for the skilled nursing facility. Based on your Academy’s comments to include 2 high-cost, low probability HCPCS codes used to describe a component of an artificial limb, to the list of codes excluded from the SNF PPS Consolidated Billing program, CMS responded with stating that L5969 (“ankle/foot power assist, including motors”) is already on the exclusion list; L5987 (“all lower extremity prosthesis, shank foot system with vertical loading pylon”) will not be excluded, and customized prosthetic devices are excluded, but customized orthotic devices are not excluded. Your Academy will continue to work with CMS and other stakeholders to ensure that proper exclusions are in place.
AAPM&R Member in the News
AAPM&R Past President Michael Lupinacci, MD, has joined U.S. Physiatry, LLC as its chief medical officer. Dr. Lupinacci is board certified in physiatry and pain management and has more than 30 years of physiatry experience, having served as AAPM&R president from 2010-2011. Dr. Lupinacci currently serves an advisory role on several Academy committees and participates in resident, medical student, and practicing physiatry's clinical education, providing national, international, and regional lectureships and invited publications.
Dr. Lupinacci received his undergraduate degree Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Georgetown University, where he also received his medical degree. He then completed his residency training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where he served as chief resident. Congratulations on your new position, Dr. Lupinacci!
Transformative Exercise Course
The Lakeshore Foundation (Birmingham, AL) is offering a course on October 6-9 to educate rehabilitation professionals on community- and web-based resources to transition people with newly-acquired and existing disabilities from the hospital/clinic to a lifestyle of health and fitness in the community. Learn more here.
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