Surgery News - January 2008 - (Page 13) J A N U A RY 2 0 0 8 • SURGERY NEWS NEWS FROM THE COLLEGE Volunteerism, Humanitarian Awards Offered T he ACS, in association with the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative (PMHI), is accepting nominations for the 2008 Surgical Volunteerism Award(s) and for a newly established award, the Surgical Humanitarian Award. The ACS/PMHI Surgical Volunteerism Award is given “in recognition of those surgeons committed to giving something of themselves back to society by making significant contributions to surgical care through organized volunteer activities.” This award is intended for surgeons who are Fellows in active practice, and whose volunteer activities are undertaken above and beyond the usual professional commitments, or retired Fellows involved in volunteer efforts during their active practice and after retiring. For these awards, “volunteerism” is defined as professional work in which one’s time or talents are donated for charitable clinical, educational, or other worthwhile activities related to surgery. Volunteerism does not include pro bono or uncompensated care provided as a matter of necessity in most practices. It should be characterized by the prospective, planned surgical care to underserved patients with no anticipation of reimbursement or economic gains. The ACS/PMHI Humanitarian Award is given “in recognition of those surgeons who have dedicated a substantial portion of their career to ensuring the provision of surgical care to underserved populations without expectation of commensurate reimbursement.” This award is intended for a surgeon who has dedicated much of his or her surgical career to nearly or completely full-time humanitarian efforts rather than routine surgical practice. This may reflect a career dedicated to missionary surgery, the founding and ongoing operations of a charitable organization dedicated to providing surgical care to the underserved, or a retirement characterized by surgical volunteer outreach. Having received a salary for this work does not preclude a nominee from consideration. Please note that there is a separate form to nominate those in this category. These awards honor ACS Fellows who are making significant contributions to surgical care through volunteer actions. Candidates for the volunteerism award may practice their surgical volunteerism either in a domestic, international, or military setting. All surgical subspecialties are eligible for consideration. Nominations will be evaluated by the Board of Governors’ Socioeconomic Issues Committee, with final approval of award winners by the Executive Committee. Nomination forms have been revised in an effort to make them more user friendly. Additional considerations are as follows: Supplemental materials should be kept to a minimum and will not be returned. Self-nominations are permissible but require an outside letter of support. Previous nominees can be resubmitted with an updated application. The deadline for receiving nominations is Feb. 29, 2008. The nomination forms will be available in the Announcements section of the Operation Giving Back Web site in January at www.operationgivingback.facs.org. Those wishing to receive forms by mail may contact Meghan Benson, Operation Giving Back Program Coordinator. Forms should be sent to Michael Dalsing, M.D., FACS, Chair, Board of Governors’ Committee on Socioeconomic Issues, c/o Meghan Benson, American College of Surgeons, 633 N. Saint Clair St., Chicago, IL 60611; 312-202-5458; fax 312202-5021; mbenson@facs.org. ■ Joint Commission Appoints Dr. Chassin as President ark R. Chassin, M.D., MPP, MPH, the organization’s hospital and medical school, using them to enhance patient became president of The Joint safety and the efficiency of operations. Commission on Jan. 1, succeeding Dr. Chassin’s father, Jameson ChasDennis S. O’Leary, M.D. sin, is an ACS Fellow, a general surDr. Chassin was the Edmond A. geon, a renowned teacher, and author Guggenheim Professor of Health Poliof the highly acclaimed textbook, Opcy and chairman of the department of erative Strategy in General Surgery. health policy at Mount Sinai School of As president of The Joint CommisMedicine in New York, and executive sion, Dr. Chassin believes that the vice-president for excellence in patient biggest challenge and opportunity is to care at The Mount Sinai Medical Cenbuild on the momentum of ter. Before joining Mount demands for major imSinai, the board-certified inprovements that will bring ternist served as Commisabout durable change to ensioner of the New York hance patient outcomes. AcState Department of creditation is vital to imHealth. He is a member of provement, but Dr. Chassin the Institute of Medicine of acknowledges that it is not the National Academy of sufficient by itself. He has Sciences and co-chaired its pledged to seek ways to go National Roundtable on Health Care Quality. MARK R. CHASSIN, M.D., beyond measurement and other current accreditation Dr. Chassin’s 12 years of MPP, MPH processes to help organizaexperience practicing emertions achieve real improvements in gency medicine, work as a researcher and as a state and federal regulator, and quality and safety. Dr. Chassin intends to explore ways of providing organizaoverseeing the quality, safety, and riskmanagement activities at a large teach- tions with practical lessons learned that they can adapt to their unique patient ing hospital have shaped his thoughts populations in order move more rapidon quality and patient safety. While at ly toward improvement. The Mount Sinai Medical Center, he During the coming months, Dr. built a nationally recognized quality Chassin will continue to meet with acimprovement program that focuses on credited organizations, regulators, paachieving substantial gains in all astient and safety advocates, and other pects of quality of care: safety, clinical constituencies to build upon The Joint outcomes, the experiences of patients and families, and the working environ- Commission’s tradition of health care leadership and explore new ideas for ment of caregivers. In addition, he led adding greater value to the accreditasuccessful efforts to introduce six sigtion process for all stakeholders. ma quality-improvement methods in ■ CPT Guidebook Updated o stay on top of the latest coding changes, surgeons will find it helpful to peruse the latest edition of the CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) guidebook in the New Year. For example, in 2008 more add-on (+) codes are available for use and are presented in Appendix D of the CPT book. In addition, significantly fewer codes are exempt from Modifier 51 (multiple procedures), as noted in Appendix E; these codes are identified with a Ø. When using the surgical subsection, be aware that many sections have special notes and instructions, and it is extremely important to review those related to your specialty. A complete listing of all subsections is published in the Surgery Guidelines. T M You can also quickly review CPT changes for 2008 in Appendix B. New procedures are bulleted. Slight changes have been made in the wording of some modifiers, including 22, 25, 51, 58, 59, 76, and 78, so be sure to review them to see if they affect your coding practices. Visit www.ACSCodingToday.com, a reliable source for your coding needs. In addition, the College provides a Coding Hotline, which offers 10 free consultation units per member in a 12-month period. For details, go to www.facs.org/ahp/coding/ secoding.html. The updated schedule of ACS Practice Management Teleconferences for 2008 can be found at www.facs.org/ahp/workshops/ teleconferences.html. ■ Coding Workshops Slated for 2008 he ACS will sponsor series of oneday basic and advanced CPT and ICD-9-CM coding workshops in 2008 for all general surgeons, all closely related specialties, and their staffs. “Introduction to CPT, ICD-9-CM, and Evaluation and Management Coding” familiarizes participants with the key principles of ICD-9-CM and CPT coding. “2008 Surgical and Office-Based Coding and Reimbursement” includes discussion of advanced concepts in ICD-9-CM diagnosis coding, CPT surgical coding and modifier use, staged procedures, consultations, and variables that influence the correct reporting of physician services. Both workshops T include hands-on coding exercises using surgical case studies. The ACS is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to sponsor CME for physicians. This activity is designated for up to a maximum of 7 hours of Category I credit. The first basic and advanced coding courses occur on Feb. 28 and 29, 2008, respectively, at the JW Marriott Denver at Cherry Creek in Denver. Other courses in 2008 will be held: April 10-11, Las Vegas Aug. 7-8, Dallas Sept. 18-19, Chicago For additional information, call 202-672-1506. ■ http://www.operationgivingback.facs.org http://www.operationgivingback.facs.org http://www.acscodingtoday.com http://www.facs.org/ahp/coding/secoding.html http://www.facs.org/ahp/coding/secoding.html http://www.facs.org/ahp/workshops/teleconferences.html http://www.facs.org/ahp/workshops/teleconferences.html
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