In their meeting last weekend in Rosemont, Illinois, the AAHKS Board of Directors and committee chairs worked together to create a new strategic plan that identifies the association’s priorities for the next three years. The new plan, which will be formally adopted by the Board at an upcoming meeting, places great emphasis on the Association’s advocacy and education… Read More
During its recent strategic planning retreat, the AAHKS Board convened and approved bylaws amendments that would modify several categories of membership in the association. The changes would affect affiliate members, with the intention of encouraging more clinical members of the orthopaedic care team as well as practice managers and hospital administrators to participate in the Association. The amendments… Read More
Joshua M. Kerr has joined the AAHKS team as the Director of Advocacy and International Activities. Josh comes to AAHKS from the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) where he was Director of International Affairs. At the AOA, Josh worked on health policy and with international authorities such as the WHO. He served as the executive officer of the Osteopathic… Read More
A study titled, “Patient-reported outcomes to initiate a provider-patient dialog for the management of hip and knee osteoarthritis” was published in the April edition of Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. The study aimed to “develop a tiered list of recommended PRO’s that could be feasibly applied in common clinical settings, across four domains of pain, function, fatigue, and… Read More
The non-profit news outlet, ProPublica, published a database of “Adjusted Complication Rates” of surgeons performing common surgeries. The data was derived from Medicare claims data and can be searched online. In a statement released by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, President David D. Teuscher, MD said, “We also welcome transparency, and certainly a database on the surgical… Read More
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed an extensive “pilot” of a new Medicare Part A and B payment model, “Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CCJR) Model” under which acute care hospitals in geographic areas covering about 25% of patients will receive retrospective bundled payments for episodes of care for hip and knee replacement surgery. The… Read More
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that they will not deny claims because of ICD-10 miscoding for a period of 12 months when the new code set goes into effect on October 1. The Hill reports that “as long as the code is in the correct broad category,” claims will be approved. AAHKS President, Jay… Read More
President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Mary Wakefield as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and Andy Slavitt as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the Department of Health and Human Services. Mr. Slavitt has served as the Acting Administrator of CMS since March 2015.
Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and St. Jude Medical announced that they will offer guarantees on their heart devices to U.S. hospitals if the devices do not perform as expected. According to Reuters, “Orthopedic implant makers are exploring such agreements for hip and knee devices.” Not only will the guarantees cover the device’s mechanical operation, but it will also… Read More
