July 16, 2007
 

 
TOA President's Update
  

By John T. Gill, MD
President, Texas Orthopaedic Association

Do You Know Your Patient Base?  Take this TOA survey here.

Who are your patients? These questions may help you take a good look at your payers, their systems and the staff time they require. If you do not know the answer to these questions, please ask your clinic

administrator to fill out this TOA survey regarding your orthopaedic practice patient base.

The results of this survey will be published in the TOA E-Connect and it will help us anticipate your practice concerns and issues.

We encourage our members and our clinic administrators to send in a suggestion for anything you think would be of interest to the entire TOA membership.

TOA 2007 Socioeconomic Summit Update: Lt. Gov. Dewhurst will speak to us during the Summit Reception!  Register online here for the Summit or click here fill out and fax the registration form to us.  Click here to reserve your room at The Driskill.
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2006 American Medical Group Association Survey Data
     

In the May 11, 2007 Federal Register we stated that we would be posting on the web, the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) survey data to be used in determining the teaching physician portion of

costs for “all or substantially all of the costs for the training program in the non-hospital setting.”  Since publication of the final rule, we have revised our web posting of the AMGA survey data to include the salary data for both dentists and podiatrists. The AMGA data can be found here.

This information was obtained from the 2006 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey published by the American Medical Group Association® (AMGA) can be found here.

For further information, visit AMGA’s web site.

For more information on how to use this data, see the "Downloads" section of the IPPS Direct Graduate Medical Education (DGME) page by clicking here.
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The Region VI Insider: 07/06/2007

CMS/SC IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

·         ALERT – SPECIAL BIDDERS CONFERENCE FOR DMEPOS COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROGRAM!

·         Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule

·         New Outpatient Code Editor Resources

·         Web Posting of American Medical Group Association (AMGA) Survey Data

·         Participating CAP Physician Training

·         HHS Demonstration to Fight DME Fraud

·         NPI Update ~ New NPI Educational Products Available

·         CMS Release of Modifications to the HCPCS Code Set

·         Reporting on the 2007 PQRI Begins!

·         More PQRI AudioConference Opportunities for Region VI

·         Open Door Forum Updates

·         Tamper Resistant Prescription Pads

CMS PROPOSES POLICY, PAYMENT CHANGES FOR PHYSICIANS’ SERVICES IN 2008
 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) projects that it will pay approximately $58.9 billion to 900,000 physicians and other health care professionals in calendar year (CY) 2008, under a proposed rule released today that would revise payment rates and policies under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS).  This proposed rule is a further step in Medicare’s efforts to ensure that payment policies provide incentives to improve the quality of care.

Comments will be accepted on the proposed rule until August 31, 2007, and a final rule will be published later in the fall.  The final rule will be effective for services on or after January 1, 2008.

The Physician payment adjustment can be found here.  The proposed rule (CMS-1385-P) can be viewed on the CMS Website here.

The Press Release can also be obtained on the CMS Website here, and the Fact Sheet is posted here.

Click here to view the PDF file of all the articles above.  Adobe Reader required!  Click here if you need Adobe Reader to open any of the PDF files.
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One-third of Hospitals Paying for Specialty Coverage of Emergency Departments
    

A survey conducted by the American Hospital Association finds that 31 percent of respondents reported that their institutions paid for at least some orthopaedic on-call coverage in their emergency departments (EDs) during 2006.

According to The 2007 State of America’s Hospitals – Taking the Pulse, which had a 17 percent response rate among approximately 5,000

hospitals contacted, 44 percent of institutions reported increased difficulty in maintaining physician ED call coverage in orthopaedics in 2007. Additionally, 48 percent of respondents reported EDs running “at” or “over” capacity.

For more information click here.  A PowerPoint file of the survey results can be downloaded here.
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2006 Orthopedic Surgeon Salary and Employment Survey
  

LocumTenens.com conducted its Annual Orthopedic Surgeon Salary and Employment Survey in the early summer of 2006. Survey respondents represent orthopedic surgeons who practice on a locum tenens basis as well as those with permanent salaries.

This report includes compensation and employment statistics for the field of orthopedic surgery including:

  • National annual compensation ranges

  • Sources for finding orthopedic surgery jobs

  • Time frame for making next job change

  • Influencing factors for seeking a job change

  • Discussion topics for interviews

  • Insights and remarks about the practice of orthopedic surgery today

Demographics for survey respondents include:

  • Board status

  • Gender

  • Years in practice

Click here to view the survey results. Adobe Reader required!  Click here if you need Adobe Reader to open the PDF file.
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SWATA 53rd Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposium
 

The Southwest Athletic Trainers' Association 53rd Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposium will be held July 19-22, 2007 in Arlington, Texas.

The four day SWATA Meeting and Symposium provides athletic trainers and other health care professionals with opportunities for continuing education and a chance to discuss the concerns and issues faced in our profession. The program committee has once again assembled an

outstanding program. During the conference, you may choose from various sessions covering a wide range of topics. Please check out the professional or ATSA program tab for a preliminary program.  Click here to visit their website.
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