(Left) President Vinod Malik welcomes FMA President David Becker to the FAPM conference.

(Below)
Presidents meet with conference sponsor.

Check out more Conference photos on our Facebook page.

Turn the Tide:
The Fight to End the Opioid Crisis

The 16^th Annual Florida Academy of Pain Medicine Scientific Meeting on August 13-14, 2016, features several nationally and internationally known speakers on timely topics of interest to our pain medicine constituents. Here is a brief introduction to some of them.

*Jason Pope, MD

A Fellow of the American Society of International Pain Physicians and active in Mission Trips and International Didactics where he has traveled to Liberia, Kenya, Thailand, Mexico and Peru. He will be speaking on "Advanced Stimulation Techniques".

*Gabor Racz, MD

Professor Emeritus at Texas Tech University of Health Sciences Center and of the

Department of Anesthesiology. He has worked in the field of chronic back pain and complex regional pain syndrome. His topic at the conference will be: "Epidural Lysis of Adhesions".

*Salaheldin Halasa, MD

Has extensive clinical and research expertise in the field of Immuno-Therapy, stem cell therapy, laser therapy and pain management. He has recently been a speaker at the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. His topic for the meeting will be, "Nitromedicine - A New Medical Specialty".

*Farhan Siddiqi, MD

A specialist in Interventional Pain Management, Minimally Invasive Surgery, Laser

Endoscopic Surgery and Major Reconstructive Surgery. His presentation will be, "Use of Stem Cells in the Treatment of Discogenic Pain with Regenerative Injection Therapy".

*Ramsin Benyamin, MD

President and Founder of Millennium Pain Centers and currently serves on the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians. Also a Diplomate of the American Board of Pain Medicine and the American Board of Anesthesiology. His topic will be on, "Implantable Devices and Pump Therapy".

You won't want to miss these and other great speakers at this scientific meeting. Register today online or at the Registration Desk on Saturday, August 13.

 Pre-Conference Workshops Provide Special Certification Recognition

Attendees registering for the Florida Academy of Pain Medicine pre-conference workshops will receive a certificate depicting their special training received in these programs. Specialist certificates will be presented for Musculoskeletal Ultrasound and International Pain Therapies, Interdisciplinary Approaches to Pain Medicine, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Treatments and Therapies. (Complete Program)

The "Musculoskeletal Ultrasound and Interventional Pain Therapies" will include ultrasonography of the shoulder, knee and hips as a correlation of physical findings and clinical anatomy. The Interventional Spine Procedures will teach the use of innovative techniques such as facet joint injections, nerve blocks, neuroaugumentation, spinal fusion and implantable drug delivery systems.

The "Interdisciplinary Approach to Pain Medicine Workshop" features nationally known speakers on pain medicine issues on such topics as: pain, stress, mood, cognitive and memory holographic pain treatments, low level inflammation and fascia stimulation and sensitization, opioid crisis concerns, medical laser applications and much more.

The third workshop deals with PM&R treatments and therapies. Featured topics include updates on subacute rehabilitation, medical marijuana update, intrathecal therapies, treatment and management of spinal stenosis, and multimodal approaches to the treatment of low back pain.

The complete program for these workshops can be found on the FAPM website where you can also register online. Don't miss out on the latest treatments in these special workshops.

Each workshop offers 8 CME hours.

The Florida Academy of Pain Medicine will be holding their 16^th Annual Scientific Meeting at the beautiful and luxurious Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Orlando on August 12-14, 2016. The hotel offers luxurious guest rooms and suites, impeccable service, an exquisite pool with private cabanas, several dining options and a world class golf course.

Located in the Bonnet Creek area, the hotel is surrounded by Disney World theme parks. The hotel provides luxury transportation to and from these parks, along with discounted ticket prices.

FAPM has negotiated a reduced conference rate of $225 per night. With this rate the hotel has waived the $30 per night resort fee and reduced the overnight parking fee. This special conference rate is good through July 19, 2016. After that date the rate will hold if rooms are still available. So, get your reservation in as soon as possible so you can enjoy a few days at this great hotel.

Check it out at www.waldorf-astoria.com  

To receive the discounted room rate at the hotel,
use this reservation code: WFPM

AAPM's 33rd Annual Meeting
March 16-19, 2017 (Preconference Sessions: March 15-16, 2017)
Loews Sapphire Falls Resort
Orlando, Florida

FAPM Board Reviews
CDC Guidelines for
Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain 

The FAPM Executive Board met recently to discuss the CDC Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain. It was noted that the original draft by CDC was not altered, in spite of over 4,000 testimonies from societies, corporations and individuals.

However, the board recognizes the challenges involved with prescribing opioids for chronic pain, and the necessity for safety precautions and effectiveness when providing pain treatments.

Therefore, we support the efforts and concerns expressed by the American Academy of Pain Medicine in the following letter: (MORE)

Drug industry on edge for Obama action on prices
Peter Sullivan –The Hill
 The pharmaceutical industry is anxiously awaiting a series of regulatory actions from the Obama administration aimed at combating high drug prices. 

Drug prices have been a major issue on the campaign trail, with Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump pounding pharmaceutical companies.

Martin Shkreli, the ex-pharmaceutical company CEO who made headlines for hiking the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent, also has put the issue of drug prices in the spotlight.

Spending on drugs in 2014 grew by a sharp 13 percent, the most in a decade. The spike was driven partly by new high-cost drugs for Hepatitis C, but it seemed to point to a larger issue.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in August found that 24 percent of the public had not filled a prescription in the past year because of cost. (More)

President’s Message:
February, 2016

 I am often asked the question, “What is the mission or purpose of the Florida Academy of Pain Medicine?” My answer is simple, We are a unique medical specialty society that represents physicians practicing in the field of pain medicine. As such, we are involved with education training, as provided at our annual conference, legislative issues affecting the practice of medicine in Florida, and research of medical issues confronting our members. (More)                         

IMPORTANT NOTICE !!!!
FAPM  annual membership renewal notices have been mailed to our membership list. This year the renewal can be paid online. The renewal fiscal year is January 1-December 31, 2016.
Thanks to each of you for your continued support of the Florida Academy of Pain Medicine.

    December 14, 2015 

Dear FAPM Members and Friends: 

At this busy season of the year, I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season and a wonderful New Year. As we are all involved in the medical profession, may each of us enter the New Year with renewed confidence in our abilities to treat our patients with the best possible care. 

As we face the issues confronting our medical professions, be assured that your FAPM Board Members will continue to address your concerns and interests in dealing with legislative matters, practice management issues, and medical education programs. 

Our “Executive Committee” is planning an excellent program for the annual FAPM Scientific Meeting to be held on August 12-14, 2016, at the beautiful Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Orlando. I hope you all are planning to attend this event. 

Let us all be proud of the profession we serve and strive for excellence in all that we do for our profession, patients and community. 

Fraternally yours,

Vinod Malik, DO

FAPM President

SENATE COMMITTEE TO TACKLE PATIENTS' PAIN MED PROBLEMS

THE CAPITAL: TALLAHASSEE, October 20, 2015 ...... The Legislature may have inadvertently made it harder for legitimate patients to get critical pain medications when it passed a 2011 law aimed at shutting down rogue clinics that branded the state as the “pill mill capital" of the country. But now, a powerful state senator said he intends to fix the problem. (Read More)

The Florida Academy of Pain Medicine is moving the 2016 Scientific Meeting to the beautiful Waldorf-Astoria in Orlando. The dates for this event are August 12-14, 2016. This hotel offers luxurious guest rooms and suites, impeccable service, an exquisite pool, private cabanas, spa and much more.

Surrounded by Walt Disney World theme parks, the hotel provides luxury transportation to and from these parks. The hotel offers a program for kids in the WA Kids Club every day. The Fitness Center features a variety of cardiovascular and weight training machines along with morning yoga classes.

The hotel is home to a wide variety of superior dining locations with celebrity chefs, entertaining family eateries and one-of-a-kind hidden gems including the award winning Bull and Bear Restaurant. This restaurant was named Best Fine Dining by Orlando Home and Leisure, and offers a menu of trend setting fare. It is the only Florida restaurant to exclusively serve certified Angus Beef Prime Grade Cuts.

Now is the time to plan your family vacation at the Florida Academy of Pain Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting at the famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on August 12-14, 2016.

Pain Management Physicians If you are a physician practicing in a Pain Management Clinic and were registered based on the 6th qualification option in Rule 64B8-9.0131, F.A.C ., please keep in mind that as a part of your 40 hours of Continuing Medical Education (CME) required per biennium, you must complete 15 hours of live lecture format, Category I CME in pain management for every year you practice in pain management. These will need to be reported to CE Broker along with the rest of your CME credits in order for the Board to renew your license. Answers to many questions regarding license renewal can be found at the Board of Medicine's website at flboardofmedicine.gov 

Congratulations to
Dr. Felix Linetsky

Tweet Dr. Felix Linetsky, FAPM Board Member and nationally recognized medical education leader, has written a chapter in the Second Edition of Pain Medicine and Management – Just the Facts Textbook published by McGraw Hill. Chapter 71 – Regenerative Injection Therapy (aka – Prolotherapy was co-authored by Peter Peter Staats and Mark Wallace, MD. This book can be purchased from Amazon for the amount of $80.90.

FAPM Represented at Florida Board of Pharmacy’s
Controlled Substances Meeting (see below) 

The Florida Board of Pharmacy’s Controlled Substances Standards Committee recently met at Delray Beach, Florida, to discuss issues regarding the availability of certain medications for patients. They have been receiving numerous complaints from patients and physicians across the state regarding this issue. 

Jeffrey Zipper, MD, the Immediate Past President of the Florida Academy of Pain Medicine, attended this meeting representing the Academy. He noted that those attendees at this meeting made several recommendations for the board to consider. The board will review these matters and report back to the committee at the next meeting. 

FAPM will continue to monitor the activities of the Florida Board of Pharmacy, and report any new developments to the members.

Featured speakers included Alan Harmon, MD, President of the Florida Medical Association and Judy Foreman, author of the bestselling book, “A Nation in Pain". The panel discussions held on the second day featured specialists in various disciplines, a representative on E-FORCE and PDMP issues, and legal and legislative programs. Panel moderators were: Albert Ray, MD, FAPM Past-President, and Jeffrey Zipper, MD, current FAPM President.

Highlights of the annual membership luncheon included FAPM awards. Marla Golden, DO, received the Felix Linetsky, MD, Education Award for her leadership and participation in FAPM educational programs the past few years. The Distinguished Service Award was presented to Jeffrey Zipper, MD, for his leadership in legislative issues affecting the practice of medicine in Florida. Lynne Columbus, DO, from Clearwater, Florida was elected to the FAPM Board of Directors.

Patient Op-Ed: Denying necessary prescriptions to needy patients 

The Florida Academy of Pain Medicine is working diligently to bring attention to our legislature, patients and citizens regarding the problems patients are having getting drug prescriptions filled. The following article was printed in the Tampa Bay Times in support of our concerns over this process of denying necessary prescriptions to needy patients. Please feel free to share this article with you patients, colleagues and staff. We will continue our efforts to help patients across the state to be able to have their physician prescribed drug requests filled. Should you have any similar cases to report of patients not getting their prescribed drugs in a timely manner, please let us know. Together we can help alieviate this problem. (Read OpEd)

Fraternally, Jeffrey Zipper, FAPM President 

ALERT ALERT

Dear Colleagues, 

            The FAPM has hired a public relations firm to help bring media attention to issues of importance and concern to us and our patients. We are presently working on a project to help our patients gain better access to their needed medications from Pharmacies. To that end, if you have any patients experiencing difficulty with getting their prescriptions filled for CS’s please contact Mr. Brian Burgess from Meteoric Media Strategies ASAP at 850-273-2270 or email to brianjburgess@gmail.com. Thank you! 

Regards,
Jeffrey A. Zipper, M.D.
President

Peripheral nerve blocks -- revision to the Part B LCD
LCD ID number: L29258 (Florida)
LCD ID number: L29466 (Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands)

The local coverage determination (LCD) for peripheral nerve blocks was most recently revised January 1, 2013. Since that time, major revisions were made throughout the entire LCD. The ‘Indications and Limitations of Coverage and/or Medical Necessity’ section of the LCD has been revised to clarify indications versus limitations of coverage. In addition, the ‘CPT®/HCPCS Codes’, ‘ICD-9 Codes that Support Medical Necessity’, ‘Documentation Requirements’, ‘Utilization Guidelines’ and ‘Sources of Information and Basis for Decision’ sections of the LCD were revised.
Effective date
This LCD revision is effective for services rendered on or after March 17, 2014. First Coast Services Options Inc. LCDs are available through the CMS Medicare coverage database at http://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/overview-and-quick-search.aspx .

Coding guidelines for an LCD (when present) may be found by selecting “LCD Attachments” in the Jump to Section…” drop-down menu at the top of the LCD page.

Note: To review active, future, and retired LCD for jurisdiction 9, please click here

FAPM has a “Neutral” Position on Medical Marijuana Amendment:
Florida is facing a pain medicine crisis, and lawmakers must find a way to deliver pain medicine to legitimate patients while still blocking these controlled substances from those who abuse them. No matter how Floridians vote on medical marijuana amendment this November, the real burden must be on lawmakers to overhaul our pain medicine regulations so that patients with legitimate health issues can get the medications they need to have a high quality of life. They deserve to have this access legally and without undue excessive burden.

Congress Reaches Deal on SGR Repeal

Today, February 6, 2014, Congress reached a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on a bill that would repeal the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) and replace it with a pay-for-performance system that would evaluate and incentivize quality health care. All 3 congressional committees of jurisdiction—the Senate Finance Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee—have agreed on 1 piece of legislation that will now move through the legislative process as a consensus bill.

Specifically, the legislation would:

• Repeal the SGR immediately
• Provide positive annual payment updates of 0.5% for 5 years
• Install a Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), which would include prospectively set performance thresholds and offer flexibility in the imposition of performance requirements that are inappropriate for some specialties
• Delay the effective date of the MIPS program 1 year, from 2017 to 2018
• Increase the MIPS funding pool and adjust the phase-in of penalty risks for those who fall in the lowest performance quartile to be capped at a maximum of 9% (as opposed to the previous 12%)
• Sustain a 5% incentive payment for physicians participating in alternative payment models
• Double original funding for technical assistance to small practices of 15 or fewer professionals
• Recognize the development of functional status quality measures as a priority

Many of the provisions of the bill are improvements from previous proposals and current law. AAPM&R advocated strongly to incorporate items that would be beneficial in highlighting the care that physiatrists provide. However, because this legislation is not budget neutral, legislators will now spend several weeks considering budget-cutting options to offset the cost of the repeal. Some options have been leaked, including cuts to postacute care and changes to the in-office ancillary services exceptions to the physician self-referral law (Stark law). 

Your Academy is advocating tirelessly to ensure that the SGR repeal is not achieved on the backs of our physician members. Stay tuned for additional information in the coming weeks. 

 Regards,
Jeffrey A. Zipper, M.D.
FAPM President

ALERT, ALERT, ALERT 

Medicare will deny claims for referring physicians who are not enrolled in PECOS as of January 6, 2014. Physicians must be enrolled to prescribe durable medical equipment. For more information, refer to their website at https:llcms.hhs.gov/. (at the time of this post, this website is down).

Some of our vendors are concerned that prescribing physicians who are not enrolled will not be able to prescribe the durable medical equipment that you have prescribed in the past.  

ALERT ALERT

Dear Colleagues,           

            FSCO the Medicare administrate contractor for jurisdiction J 9 has retracted its previous article titled “Ultrasound Guidance for Needle Placement in the Office Setting”. This retraction was based upon input from your specialty society CAC representatives. Although this article has been retracted there are still some limitations on these services (please see attachment). Please also note, that in the 2014 proposed rule for Revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposes a reduction in the relative value units (RVUs) based on equipment inputs and procedure time assumptions for Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code 76942. 
Regards,
Jeffrey Zipper
President FAPM
Chief Executive Officer 

ALERT ALERT
FY 2014 Medicare OBS Reimbursement Rates for SCS Trials

September President's Message

Dear Colleagues,
            I hope everyone has enjoyed their summer and all are ready to get back into the swing of things. I would like to start off by thanking Dr Albert Ray our immediate past president for his leadership and tireless efforts in serving our organization over the past two years; as well as, Dr. Felix Linetsky, Dr Kenneth Webster and the entire FAPM board of directors for putting on an excellent educational program at this year’s annual scientific conference. If you were unable to attend this year’s conference you certainly missed out and I hope to see you at the conference next year. In fact, place it on your calendar today! (June 20-22, 2014). The Florida Academy of Pain Medicine largely exists to advocate for and to protect the rights of the chronic pain patients and the physician community that serves them within the State. Your membership in this organization is of paramount importance and without your support we would not have a voice in Tallahassee. I personally value your membership in the Academy and believe that together we are making a difference in your practice and patients’ lives. I hope each of you will see fit to renew your membership this year. If you know of a colleague that is not presently a member of FAPM, please encourage him or her to join today!  (READ MORE)

FMA’s Business of Medicine Survey Reveals Florida Physicians’ Top Concerns 

Pictures from Past Conferences