AAPM&R Connection E-Newsletter

At AAPM&R’s 2016 Annual Assembly in New Orleans, we asked attendees what the Academy means to them. Watch their responses in the video below, and be sure to renew your 2017 Academy membership online or call (847) 737-6000, if you haven’t already. Thank you in advance for your support! You are helping move the specialty forward.

P.S. Renew your dues by December 31 to be automatically entered into a drawing to win an Apple^® iPad^®!

Keep an eye on your mailbox for the latest issue of The Physiatrist. The December/January issue features:

• David Crandell, MD, Works with Quadruple Amputee Patient
• Closing Thoughts on Retiring from The Physiatrist
• Unified, Our Impact is Intensified—Volunteer Members Advance Initiatives for the Specialty and the Patients We Serve
• Why State Advocacy is Important: An Interview with Robert B. Goldberg, DO
• Consider Applying for the Academy’s Leadership Program
  
  

Moving the Call for Abstracts deadline into December is a big change. Recognizing this, for this year only, we’re extending the deadline to January 9, 2017. Take advantage of this extra window of opportunity to submit your research and be published in PM&R—submit here.

Why the big change? We are trying to align research in physiatry with our educational program at the Assembly. For planning purposes, it has to happen early! We hope you understand and are able to submit.

P.S. Consider being an abstract reviewer. Email abstracts@aapmr.org with the subject line “Abstract Reviewer.”

As part of its annual call for future leaders, your Academy is seeking members with leadership experience and encourages you to send us your recommendations for various AAPM&R Board of Governors-elected positions. Nominations are due by 11:59 pm (CT) on February 28, 2017. Learn more.

Are you interested in presenting at an AAPM&R event? Do you have expertise in a physiatry-focused topic? Then nominate yourself to be part of our faculty. Or, let us know what other presenters you would recommend or would like to see again. Complete this survey.

The mē^® Catalog is AAPM&R’s home for the clinical and practice resources you need, including educational and CME activities, tools to meet Maintenance of Certification^® requirements, and more. You can sort resources according to Activity Type and Clinical Topics, as well as enter keywords into the search bar. Take a look at a few activities and browse the full website for more:

• Case studies—1 CME each
• PM&R Journal CME—1 CME each
• Self-assessments—8 CME each, plus you receive a complimentary self-assessment upon your membership renewal
• Online courses, videos, slide lectures—various CME
  
  

The House of Representatives passed the 21^st Century Cures Bill, a $6.3 billion landmark piece of legislation by a vote of 392 - 26 that will accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of new cures and treatments and provide new funding for the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration. Learn more.

If you believe you have been incorrectly assessed the 2017 Physician Quality Reporting System* reporting payment adjustment, submit an informal review by December 7, 2016 requesting CMS investigate your payment adjustment determination. All informal review requestors will be notified via email of a final decision by CMS within 90 days of the original request for an informal review. Learn more.

*PQRS is a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services mandated quality reporting program.

Physician groups or physician solo practitioners may request an informal review of perceived errors in their 2017 Value Modifier calculation during the informal review period of September 26, 2016 through December 7, 2016 by 11:59 pm (ET). Learn more.

CMS has released the amounts for therapy caps for the calendar year (CY) 2017. For physical therapy and speech language-pathology combined, the 2017 therapy cap will be $1,980. For occupational therapy, the 2017 cap will be $1,980. An exception for the therapy caps for reasonable and medically-necessary services has been in place since CY 2006. The current therapy caps exceptions process expires on December 31, 2017.

Effective January 1, 2017, CMS is creating a new point of service (POS) code 02 for use by the physician or practitioner furnishing telehealth services from a distant site. Learn more.