AAPM&R Connection E-Newsletter

It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of our friend and colleague, William M. Fowler, Jr., MD. Dr. Fowler, founding chair of the UC Davis Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R), passed away February 23, 2017 at the age of 90 at his home in El Macero, California surrounded by his loving family.

Dr. Fowler served as AAPM&R president from 1980-1981, and is also a past recipient of the Krusen Award, the Academy's highest honor. He deeply impacted the field of PM&R by counseling PM&R department chairs throughout the country to develop improved research capacity of their junior faculty, and inspiring PM&R academicians in a variety of rehabilitation subspecialty areas to develop a more scientific and evidence-based approach to their practice. 

He is remembered for his great wit, vision, leadership abilities, attention to detail, and compassion for his patients, students, and junior faculty mentees. His life was a life well lived and we are all grateful for having known him. Read the full remembrance from Dr. Craig McDonald.

Every 23 seconds, one person in the U.S. sustains a brain injury. The Brain Injury Association of America leads the nation in observing Brain Injury Awareness Month, to help educate the public about the incidence of brain injury, the needs of people with brain injuries and their families, empower those who have survived, and promote the many types of support that are available. Learn more and be sure to read your March issue of The Physiatrist.

In July 2016, we kicked off a unique and bold initiative to develop a unified vision for the specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation—Visioning PM&R Bold. After 7 months of gathering input from more than 1,000 physiatrists, a group of distinguished physiatrists from different backgrounds and practice settings across the specialty gathered February 25–26 to review your input and work toward developing a future vision for the specialty. Learn more.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Review Committee for Anesthesiology is beginning the process of revising the program requirements for graduate medical education in pain medicine. These requirements govern the ACGME-accredited multidisciplinary pain fellowships. The Academy has been concerned with the restriction to 1 pain fellowship per institution, and other existing requirements since they were first introduced. Please send your comments, concerns, and ideas to education@aapmr.org by March 8. Learn more.

AAPM&R’s 2017 Annual Assembly is meeting October 12-15 in Denver, Colorado. To help you Thrive Through Transformation, we’re making big changes to our program to give you the content you need:

• Ask and you shall receive! The Assembly will have more free, hands-on content this year than ever before.
• Experience the new Learning Center with complimentary education in 4 popular areas! Three-hour hands-on learning sessions will focus on: emerging technologies, ultrasound, electrodiagnosis, and chemodenervation.
• Denver brews 200 different beers daily, so why wouldn’t we have our President’s Reception at a brewery? Attendees will taste craft brews and enjoy live entertainment and games at the Wynkoop Brewing Company.
  

Mark your calendar to be part of this transformation. Registration opens May 15.

The 2017 Annual Assembly will feature our inaugural Call for PhyzTalks! Held during the new Sunday plenary session, the Call for PhyzTalks seeks impactful stories, similar to TED-style Talks, which reflect new and innovative topics within physical medicine and rehabilitation. Stay tuned for more details.

In recognition of Brain Injury Awareness Month, take some time to enhance your skills in this clinical area by visiting mē^® for our collection of peer-developed resources:

• Concussion and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury SAE-P—earn 8 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
• Spasticity and Dystonia: Case-Based Learning Course—new!
• Brain Injury Medicine Subspecialty Exam Prep—earn 2.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
• MOC|3 Stroke Rehabilitation Online Review Course—earn 1.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
• Brain Injury PM&R Journal articles—earn 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ per article. These are free to members!
• Various podcasts.
  
  

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have requested review and revision of 2 injection codes: 20551 Injection(s); single tendon origin/insertion; and 64405 Injection, anesthetic agent; greater occipital nerve. AAPM&R will send surveys for these 2 codes to a random selection of the AAPM&R membership during the month of March. If you are selected to participate in an AMA/RUC survey of physician work and you have direct professional knowledge of the service, we ask that you complete the survey.

This survey will help our society to assure that relative values will be accurately and fairly presented to CMS during this revision process. Your input is vital to obtain estimates of the time and complexity required in performing these procedures, and we appreciate your time and effort. If you are inappropriately contacted regarding this survey, please notify AAPM&R immediately. If you have any questions, please contact Carolyn Winter-Rosenberg, Manager of Reimbursement and Regulatory Affairs, via email at cwinterrosenberg@aapmr.org immediately.

We need your input! We're hosting a virtual town hall on Wednesday, March 8 regarding the CMS HCPCS G-code to improve payment accuracy for the care of people with mobility-related disabilities. 

We'll be discussing:

• What are the specific elements of a visit with a mobility-impaired patient that make the visit more costly to the provider?
• In addition to mobility impairments, are there any other specific disabilities physiatrists address that add cost burden on the part of the provider and potentially cause access to care issues for patients?
• If we helped CMS with data collection on the cost of treating mobility-impaired patients, what type of data would you be willing to provide to help CMS better value this service and/or ascertain the need for a code for providing care to mobility-impaired patients?

Sign up now. We'll bring input gathered in this virtual town hall to a meeting with CMS on March 15.

The Spine Quality Outcomes Database (SQOD) is a clinical data registry created by AAPM&R and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). Michael Hatzakis, Jr., MD, currently serves on the AAPM&R/AANS Joint Registry Steering Committee for the SQOD, and we had an opportunity to connect with him. Read your February issue of The Physiatrist for the full interview.

A 2016 report, A National Trauma Care System: Integrating Military and Civilian Trauma Systems to Achieve Zero Preventable Deaths After Injury, presents a vision for a national trauma care system and seeks White House involvement in setting a national aim by achieving zero preventable deaths after injury and minimizing trauma-related disability. Learn more and read the full article.

• Deitrick L. Cox, MD, recently joined OrthoAtlanta Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Specialists in Austell, GA. Dr. Cox provides non-surgical orthopedic care, including non-surgical spine, musculoskeletal medicine, and functional medicine to patients suffering muscular, nerve, joint, and tendon injuries. Congratulations on the new position, Dr. Cox! Read more.
  

Do you have a newsworthy story to share with your peers? Send us an email at: pressinquiries@aapmr.org.