AAOS Now, November 2015
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Do Bundled Payments Have a Place in the Workers Compensation System?
The Affordable Care Act and other healthcare reform initiatives have promoted bundled payments as an alternative payment model with significant potential for providing value-based care, particularly in orthopaedics. Because approximately 80 percent of medical care delivered through the workers' compensation (WC) system is musculoskeletal, orthopaedic surgeons are uniquely positioned to have a major influence on healthcare outcomes and costs in this area of medicine.
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AAOS Advocacy Profile: Nicholas A. Bonazza, MD
Dr. Bonazza: I completed medical school at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. I am planning to pursue a fellowship in sports medicine and a career that includes being active in orthopaedic leadership, an important part of which is advocacy. Of course, living in Washington during medical school meant I was bombarded with political commentary on the radio every day.
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Resident Involvement in the Orthopaedic PAC
The Orthopaedic Political Action Committee (Orthopaedic PAC), as AAOS President David D. Teuscher, MD, explained in the June 2015 issue of AAOS Now, is a vital tool used to engage and support elected leaders to promote those issues that are most important to us as orthopaedic surgeons. The Orthopaedic PAC was formed in 1999 to help advance the legislative agenda of AAOS and is now among the largest association PACs in the United States.
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AAOS Disappointed in Release of MU Stage 3 Final Rules
On Oct. 6, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for Stage 3 of its meaningful use (MU) program for electronic health records (EHRs), along with finalized modifications to MU Stages 1 and 2. The American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), along with several other healthcare groups, had urged the administration to delay rulemaking for MU Stage 3 and reevaluate the program in light of recent changes to Medicare.