AANEM Practice News Express

SPORT and Spine: Long-term Outcomes of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

    6/17/2015
Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT) is a very large randomized trial with a concurrent observational cohort study that involved 13 spine centers in 11 US states. Part of the study compared the outcomes of surgery (decompressive laminectomy) with non-operative care for symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis. This study points out the possibility that surgical treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis may not have long-term benefit past 4 years. 

JAMA Study: Steroid Injection Not Helpful for Knee Osteoarthritis

    6/2/2015
Knee OA is a frequent cause of pain and disability, with one of the standard treatments being IA steroid injection. This JAMA study showed no clinical benefit of 40 mg methylprednisolone acetate compared to placebo of saline with lidocaine when combined with exercise, raising doubt about the standard of care and presumed benefit of steroid injection for knee OA. 

Interesting Results Found in Study on Cervical MRIs of Asymptomatic People

    5/19/2015
Ever wonder what you would find if you did cervical MRIs on asymptomatic people? The results of this study from Japan alert us to the fact that interventional decisions made by judging degenerative changes on MRI alone can be mistake-ridden and dangerous, and that clinical decisions should be prudent, correlating MRI findings with clinical signs and symptoms. 

New White Paper: ICD-10 Testing for Small Practices

    3/24/2015
The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange released a white paper to advise small practices on ICD-10 testing. Does your practice have less than six physicians? You’ll want to take a look at this. 

CMS Extends Reporting Deadlines for EHR and PQRS Programs

    3/10/2015
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) extends EHR Attestation and certain aspects of the PQRS program reporting deadlines. 

ICD-10 Testing With CMS

    3/10/2015
ICD-10 testing can be the key to success during the transition from ICD-9. CMS offers two types of testing for providers. 

Global vs. Technical Billing

    2/24/2015
Are you a physician who performs electrodiagnostic (EDX) and neuromuscular (NM) testing in a hospital setting? If so, the difference between global and technical billing could be especially relevant to you.