Hot topics for 2015 (AAOS)
Eeric Truumees, MD
In his 2014 wrap-up (“Whatever Happened to 2014?”), S. Terry Canale, MD, suggested that many of 2014’s hot-button issues have been deferred to 2015. After reading his excellent review, one question and one thought arose. First, the question: Which of these deferments are susceptible to further delay? Second, I thought that, although many items, such as the sustainable growth rate (SGR) fix and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 code set, have been deferred or “patched over” a number of times, the past 5 years have ushered in major changes to orthopaedic practice lives.
Online quality ratings will continue to be a hot topic, due to their lack of transparency and the measures used to rate physicians.
Courtesy of ThinkStock
Although I have yet to meet an orthopaedic surgeon who is eagerly anticipating ICD-10, for example, I also know that many have invested heavily in preparing their practices for this change. So far, these investments have been wasted. Isn’t ICD-11 just around the corner? The year ahead will bring additional challenges to orthopaedic practice management from all sides. Wholesale coding changes,...
