From the President
From the Statehouse
From the Legal Counsel
Most
Providers Get On-Call Compensation: Survey
FROM THE PRESIDENT...Gregory
Borah, MD
It is my great honor to take over as President of the New Jersey
Society of Plastic Surgeons for 2009-2010. The New Jersey
Society has a long tradition of service to its members and to
the profession of plastic surgery as a whole. I look forward to
building on the successes of my predecessors, especially Hakan
Kutlu, MD, our esteemed Immediate Past President. Happily for
me, the Board of Directors is a dynamic and committed group of
New Jersey plastic surgeons who have much energy and many new
fresh ideas for strengthening the Society in the years to come.
On April 4, the NJSPS 2009 Annual Meeting was a rousing success
with two dynamic speakers -- Dr. Elizabeth Hall-Findlay and Dr.
Tom Krizek. In addition to their invigorating talks about
“Strategies for Breast Reconstruction” and “Sports Ethics for
Plastic Surgeons,” the program included a new feature that was
tremendously well received. The new concurrent program for
plastic surgery nurses, office staff, and administrative
personnel was well attended and warmly received by all who came
to the meeting. Bob Conroy, JD provided excellent insight into
potential pit falls in legal situations for the plastic surgery
office and its staff. In addition, Drs. Chris Godek and Greg
Greco presented their perspectives on the unique characteristics
of massive weight loss patients and management of common office
emergencies. It is planned that this program will be presented
each year at the annual meeting and suggestions for future
topics are welcomed by both Chris and Greg.
In the year ahead, I see a number of challenges for our Society
as well as a number of opportunities. One important challenge is
going to be the changing nature of support for medical education
by drug and implant manufacturers which is undergoing increasing
regulation at the state and federal level. The support for
educational programs for a state society such as ours is largely
dependent on exhibitor income to supplement dues from our
members. Clearly the range of our activities will be markedly
limited if we had only our dues to provide financing for both
education and outreach. Beverly Lynch, our Executive Director,
and Christine Higgins of her staff are actively exploring
options along with the Board of Directors for new opportunities
to seek funding for vital educational programs. As this process
evolves, I will keep you appraised about our strategy for
enhancing our programmatic revenue stream.
One important facet of plastic surgery practice is involvement
by our members in international volunteer surgery programs. It
is my hope that in the coming months that we can highlight
individual members in the New Jersey Society of Plastic Surgeons
who have recently traveled to other countries to provide
volunteer services under the auspices of a variety of different
organizations such as Interplast, Op-Smile, and Smile Train. I
welcome a brief letter or email from any member who has recently
taken a trip so that we can have you describe your experiences
in a brief report. I want to include photographs of your
experience in the Monthly President’s Report and post it on the
Society website to act as a resource for other members.
Acknowledging both the hard work and inspirational qualities of
these kinds of adventures, I think is a unique hallmark of
plastic surgery and should be better advertised to the public at
large.
I look forward to serving as your president for the coming year
and welcome your contact at any time about issues that are of
importance to you. I can assure you that I and the Executive
Committee, along with all the Board of Directors are deeply
committed to being pro-active involving issues that are of
importance to the New Jersey plastic surgeon.
Best wishes for the summer ahead.
Save the Dates!
For physicians and office personnel
We are already planning our Annual Meeting for 2010 and 2011!!
Based on this year’s increased interest, we have changed our
venue --- The Westin Princeton.
Don’t Miss Out!!
Mark Your Calendar!!
2010 Annual
Meeting – April 17, 2010
2011 Annual
Meeting – April 16, 2011
From the Statehouse...Beverly
J. Lynch
On April 8, Governor Jon S. Corzine filed the following direct
appointments to the STATE BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS:
Reappoint Paul T. Jordan, M.D., F.A.C.E.P. (Monmouth Beach,
Monmouth)
Reappoint Karen Criss, CNM, M.S. (Union, Union)
Reappoint Humayun Mahmood Cheema, M.D. (Short Hills, Essex)
Reappoint Daniel Weiss (South Orange, Essex)
Reappoint Paul C. Mendelowitz, M.D., M.P.H. (Park Ridge, Bergen)
Appoint Ilyas A. Rajput, M.D., M.B.A., F.C.C.P., F.A.C.C.
(Ventnor, Atlantic)
Appoint Stewart A. Berkowitz, M.D. (Morganville, Monmouth)
Appoint Jeannine M. Bender, Ph.D. (West New York, Hudson)
Appoint Peter Iannuzzi, D.P.M. (Demarest, Bergen)
Legal Report...Kern
Augustine Conroy & Schoppmann, P.C.
Governor Signs Surgical Facilities Self-Referral Bill
Governor Corzine signed S-787 with an effective date of March
21, 2009, changing state law regarding referral of patients to a
surgical facility in which the referring physician has a
financial interest and the regulation of those surgical
facilities. Practices with a one-OR surgical suite meeting the
bill’s definition of “surgical practice” may continue these
services but must register with the NJ Dept of Health & Senior
Services and must obtain Medicare certification or accreditation
from an accrediting agency recognized by CMS. For more
information on the new law, go to
www.drlaw.com and click on New ASC Law.
ASC Infection Control Surveys to Receive Funding
The ASC Association has reported that CMS will use funds
provided in the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
to implement the nationwide application of a new infection
control survey tool for ASCs, developed in consultation with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a case tracer
methodology that tracks a patient's care from admission to
discharge. CMS will use the ARRA funds to survey ASCs at the
rate of approximately once every three years during this
national pilot. The intended primary use of these dollars will
be to expand ASC surveys (both in quality, time and number) and
allow states to hire additional surveyors, increasing a state's
capacity to maintain expected levels of inspections. In recent
years, funding for survey and certification activities supported
re-certification of ambulatory surgical centers once every 10 to
14 years.
Federal and State Health Care Fraud and Tax-Related
Prosecutions Increase
In one of the largest settlements ever negotiated by the US Dept
of Health & Human Services’ Office of Inspector General under
its Civil Monetary Penalty authority, an imaging practice and
its principals have agreed to pay $2 million to settle charges
that they intentionally defrauded Medicare by improperly
providing diagnostic tests without satisfying billing and coding
requirements, including lack of documentation and treating
physicians’ orders. Earlier in April, the Acting US Attorney for
NJ indicted a NJ physician on charges of tax evasion for not
claiming and paying taxes owed on income he gained through an
alleged kickback scheme with a laboratory, a capitation
agreement with a health insurer, and a loan agreement with a
hospital. The physician’s medical practice entity has pleaded
guilty to obstruction of a healthcare fraud investigation and
three other doctors in the practice have pleaded guilty to tax
evasion charges. In another matter, a NJ cardiologist pleaded
guilty to a criminal conspiracy in which he and his partners put
their spouses on the practice’s payroll to render them
independently eligible for Social Security disability and
retirement benefits. In another case, brought by the NJ Office
of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, a pain management physician
pleaded guilty to theft by deception and was sentenced to 5
years probation and over $500,000 in restitution for submitting
claims for nerve block injections while the service actually
provided was intramuscular injections.
MOST PROVIDERS GET ON-CALL
COMPENSATION: SURVEY... Modern Healthcare
Almost two-thirds (62%) of healthcare providers receive some
form of additional compensation for on-call coverage-mostly in
the form of a daily stipend or hourly rate-with compensation
rates varying by specialty, group size and region, according to
a new report by the Medical Group Management Association which
surveyed online 317 medical practices representing 2,536
providers.
The survey, titled the Medical Directorship/On-Call Compensation
Report, marks the first time the MGMA polled its members on this
topic, and it found that 70% of providers in hospital-owned
group practices received additional compensation, compared with
58% of providers in practices not owned by hospitals. At $2,000
a day, neurosurgeons reported the highest daily compensation for
oncall coverage, while pediatricians and urologists received
$895 and $500 respectively.
"Historically, on-call duties have been sporadically compensated
by hospitals, however, we're seeing more hospitals compensating
physicians and we're seeing hospitals paying more," said Jeffrey
Milburn with, MGMA Health Care Consulting Group in a news
release. "Hospitals are realizing they must compensate
group-practice physicians for on-call duties."
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