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  • February 18, 2019 5:02 PM | Deleted user

    On February 13, 2019, the New York State Department of Health provided the following advisory to physicians: A written treatment plan in the patient’s medical record is required if a physician prescribes opioids for pain that has lasted for more than three months or past the time of normal tissue healing.

    There are exceptions for patients being treated for:

    • Cancer that is not in remission
    • Hospice or other end-of-life care and
    • Palliative care.

    The treatment plan must follow generally accepted national professional or governmental guidelines, and shall include (but is not limited to) the documentation and discussion of the following clinical criteria within the medical record:

    • Goals for pain management and functional improvement based on diagnosis, and a discussion on how opioid therapy would be tapered to lower dosages or tapered and discontinued if benefits do not outweigh risks;
    • A review with the patient of the risks of and alternatives to opioid treatment; and
    • An evaluation of risk factors for opioid-related harms.

    Such documentation and discussion of the above clinical criteria shall be done, at a minimum, on an annual basis.

    For an example of a generally accepted national governmental guideline for prescribing opioids for chronic pain from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), visit https://www.cdc.gov/media/modules/dpk/2016/dpk-pod/rr6501e1er-ebook.pdf.

  • January 24, 2019 5:19 PM | Deleted user

    NYSSPS ANNUAL ADVOCACY DAY 
    Tuesday, May 21, 2019

    Albany, NY 

    On Tuesday, May 21st, 2019 you are invited to advocate for your patients and the profession during the annual New York State Society of Plastic Surgeons Annual Advocacy Day. 

    The day will begin with a legislative briefing of the issues and “asks” as well as a discussion on how to maintain and advance relationships with lawmakers.

     Appointments are scheduled to begin at 10:00am and end at 4:00pm. 

    Why Advocate?

    • Advocacy ensures issues affecting plastic surgeons and patients are recognized
    • If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu 
    • Regardless of your politics, the consequences of state policy affect your daily practice and cannot be ignored

    Registration is open and available


    ASPS Advocacy Summit

    June 17-19, 2019
    Washington Court Hotel
    525 New Jersey Ave NW
    Washington, DC 20001

    Brought to you by the ASPS Legislative Advocacy Committee and the PlastyPAC Board of Governors

    • Meet with your U.S. Senators and Representative
    • Participate in workshops to learn more about the state, federal and regulatory issues facing the specialty
    • Shape the Society's advocacy agenda by determining ASPS's federal and state policy priorities
    • Learn first-hand from congressional staff, administration liaisons and political analysts about the future of healthcare
    • Network with leaders from ASPS and local, state and regional plastic surgery societies

    As a board-certified plastic surgeon and an ASPS member, you have the experience, knowledge and ideas to inform Congress before they craft and vote on public policy matters affecting the practice of medicine and the care your patients receive.

    Speak with one voice in Washington, D.C. at the 2019 ASPS Advocacy Summit!

    Register Today!

  • November 15, 2018 12:53 PM | Deleted user

    On November 15, 2018, the New York State Society of Plastic Surgeons (NYSSPS), sent a letter to Marcus Friedrich, MD, Chief Medical Officer at the NYS Department of Health, citing concerns regarding the vagueness of the recently released regulations seeking to mandate procedure reports for office-based surgical practices. 

    As written, the Society noted that the proposed regulation does not meet the standards of rule making and lacks specificity in how, when and what the NYS DOH will require of practices, making the opportunity for plastic surgeons to provide meaningful comment as to the impact this will have on their practices null and void.

    NYSSPS appreciates the opportunity to continue to work with the New York State Department of Health in furthering quality improvement while protecting patients.  However, as written, does not support efforts by the DOH to grant itself broad discretion to define what information OBS practices must report, as well as the form, format and timing of such reports. 


    The Society urged DOH to re-publish a proposed regulation that provides the public with a meaningful opportunity to clearly understand the expectations of the department.

    NYSSPS Comment Letter
    Proposed Regulations 


  • November 15, 2018 10:47 AM | Deleted user

    Thursday November 15, 2018 | 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM EDT
    Register Here: https://engage.vevent.com/index.jsp?eid=3536&seid=1288  

    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is hosting a webinar on Thursday, November 15, 2018 at 12:00 PM ET to provide information about the final rule for Year 3 (2019) of the Quality Payment Program.

    During the webinar, CMS subject matter experts will:

    • Provide an overview of the Quality Payment Program, Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternative Payment Models (Advanced APMs)
    • Discuss Year 3 MIPS and Advanced APM policy changes
    • Highlight key differences between Year 2 and Year 3 requirements
    • Review ways to connect to the no-cost technical assistance and identify additional resources where attendees can learn more.

    The audio portion of this webinar will be broadcast through the web. You can listen to the presentation through your computer speakers. CMS will open the phone line for the Q&A portion. If you cannot hear audio through your computer speakers, please contact CMSQualityTeam@ketchum.com

  • November 01, 2018 10:15 AM | Deleted user

    DEA is aware that registrants are receiving telephone calls and emails by criminals identifying themselves as DEA employees or other law enforcement personnel.  The criminals have masked their telephone number on caller id by showing the DEA Registration Support 800 number.  Please be aware that a DEA employee would not contact a registrant and demand money or threaten to suspend a registrant's DEA registration.  

    If you are contacted by a person purporting to work for DEA and seeking money or threatening to suspend your DEA registration, submit the information through "Extortion Scam Online Reporting" posted on the DEA Diversion Control Division's website, www.DEADiversion.usdoj.gov.

    Extortion Scam Online Reporting 

    For more information contact:
    Locate DEA Field Office for your area - https://apps.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/contactDea/spring/fullSearch
    Registration Service Center - 1-800-882-9539
    Email - DEA.Registration.Help@usdoj.gov  


  • October 26, 2018 12:20 PM | Deleted user

    The NYSSPS Annual Membership Meeting will take place on Monday, October 29, 2018 from 6:00pm - 9:00pm at the Maloney and Porcelli Restaurant in NYC.  

    Event details can be found here

    Pre-registration for the event is now closed.  

    However, we will accept on-site registrations. 

    Should you have any questions, please contact Babette Grey, Executive Director at nyssps@gmail.com

  • October 04, 2018 11:34 AM | Deleted user

    Together, NYSSPS and ASPS closely monitored legislation regarding physician fee schedules, maintenance of certification, physician advertising, naturopathic scope of practice, single payer and more.

    ENGAGEMENT

    Physician Advertising

    One of the Society’s top legislative priorities is to advance laws that impose stricter regulations on the information that can be displayed within physician advertisements.  Specifically, ASPS calls for state legislatures to pass measures that require advertisements to include the full name of the certifying body and only permits ABMS or AOA boards to include the phrase “board certified.”  ASPS and the New York State Society of Plastic Surgeons (NYSSPS) first started working on this issue in the spring of 2017 when NYSSPS advanced model language through the Medical Society of the State of New York’s House of Delegates.  Following passage in the state’s House of Delegates, NYSSPS began speaking with other specialties to gain full support for the measure.

    Unfortunately, NYSSPS hit a road block in 2018 when a medical specialty asked for amendments to the bill that would seriously weaken the protections in place.  ASPS and NYSSPS coordinated stakeholder conference calls to discuss the value of the bill, as drafted, and the ramifications of the requested amendments to patient safety in New York.  Meanwhile, NYSSPS physicians conducted a lobby day in Albany at the state capitol where they educated members of the legislature about the bill proposal.  The Society met with several key legislators in an effort to secure sponsors in both the Assembly and the Senate.  NY state Sen. Joseph Griffo expressed interest in championing the bill and modified his legislation.  Unfortunately, due to the extensive revisions, a technical oversight occurred and needs to be revised before the Society can garner and show complete support.  ASPS looks forward to working with NYSSPS to advance this measure in 2019.

    Single Payer

    In what has become a yearly legislative maneuver, the New York State Assembly passed legislation that would implement a single payer healthcare system. NYSSPS and ASPS engaged the legislature on four different occasions – submitting three letters in the Assembly and one to the Senate – in opposition to the bill.  ASPS and NYSSPS oppose the creation of a single payer system and voiced concern over the impact of the proposed system to patient access to care and overall healthcare delivery.  The societies also identified many shortcomings of the proposal within their comments to the legislature. 

    Passage of the bill in the lower house has become a symbolic move, as this is now the fourth year in a row that the Democratic-led chamber has approved the measure. The Republican-led Senate has quashed any further movement of the bill each time the Assembly has messaged it over to the upper house.  However, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo has suggested possible support for a single payer system.  We anticipate this legislation will be introduced and quickly advance again in 2019. 

    Physician Fee Schedules

    Rep. Gottfried introduced legislation that prohibits health plans from setting reimbursement rates at the lowest price/rate that the provider has charged another patient for the same procedure.  In a letter to the New York State Assembly, ASPS and NYSSPS supported this measure as it protects providers who practice in multiple geographic areas and who therefore experience disparities in fees for those respective regions.  The bill will also protect providers who move their practice to regions with fee disparities and will appropriately promote the use of the most applicable fee for that patient population.  While this bill passed the Assembly Health Committee, it failed upon adjournment of the legislature.

    Maintenance of Certification

    Asm. Schimminger and Sen. DeFrancisco introduced legislation that would allow the government, instead of medical experts, to make determinations about the use of maintenance of certification for credentialing by hospitals and insurance carriers. ASPS and NYSSPS believe the certification provided by the American Board of Plastic Surgery is the best validation of physician knowledge for the specialty, which is why the Society submitted a letter to the bill sponsors in opposition to these measures.  We are pleased to report that these bills failed upon adjournment of the legislature.

    Naturopathic Scope of Practice

    Asm. Ortiz introduced legislation that would allow naturopaths to administer drugs and perform select surgical procedures.  Surgeons train as much as four-times as long as naturopaths, which demonstrates the lack of educational and clinical experience of these holistic providers.  In a letter to legislative leadership, NYSSPS and ASPS opposed this measure as it poses a threat to patient safety and lowers the standard of surgical care.  We are pleased to report that this measure failed upon adjournment of the legislature.

    ADVOCACY SUMMIT

    ASPS extends special thanks to those members who attended the Advocacy Summit on June 26-28 in Washington, DC including: NYSSPS Board members Stephen Coccaro, MD, FACS, Ash Patel, MBChB, FACS, Andrew Kleinman, MD, and Keith Blechman, MD; NY LAC representatives George Kamel, MD, Malcolm Roth, MD, JT Stranix, MD and Paul Weiss, MD; as well as NY plastic surgeons Robert Goldstein, MD, Alan Matarasso, MD, Hina Patel, MD, MPH, Andrea Pusic, MD, MHS and Mark Smith, MD, FACS. 

    While in D.C., these New York plastic surgeons met with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY-07), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-10), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-12), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY-16), Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY-17), Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY-20) and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY-01).  We hope the Summit offered ASPS members with greater insight into the state and federal legislative issues facing the specialty. 

    Save the Date! 

    May 21, 2019
    NYSSPS Annual Advocacy Day
    Albany, New York

  • October 01, 2018 2:05 PM | Deleted user

    ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL – Alan Matarasso, MD, Clinical Professor of Surgery at Northwell Health System/Hofstra University, Zuckerman School of Medicine, and a private-practice plastic surgeon based in New York City, was named president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the world's largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons. Dr. Matarasso took office at Plastic Surgery The Meeting, the Society's annual scientific meeting, in Chicago and will serve for one year.

    "I am honored to lead the world's largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons," noted Dr. Matarasso. "As President, I will ensure that ASPS continues to advocate for patient safety and provide members with practice support, educational opportunities and resources to ensure we advance and improve the quality of care for plastic surgery patients."

    A graduate of the University of Miami-Miller School of Medicine, Dr. Matarasso trained in general surgery and plastic surgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Montefiore Hospital. He completed a fellowship in cosmetic surgery at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital/Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery-New York University Medical Center, and he achieved the rank of Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

    Dr. Matarasso has devoted his entire career to the subspecialty of aesthetic plastic surgery, and he is dedicated to improving plastic surgery for all patients and physicians. He joined ASPS more than 30 years ago and has served on several committees in a leadership role, including Board Vice President of Private Practice & Aesthetic Surgery, and associate editor for the journal Plastic Reconstructive Surgery (PRS).

    Dr. Matarasso has authored nearly 200 articles and 60 book chapters and monographs. He has presented almost 600 papers, posters and lectures nationally and internationally. He is on the editorial boards of Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, PRS Global open and Clinics in Plastic Surgery, and he formerly served as a founding editorial board member and senior scientific editor and cosmetic medicine section editor of Aesthetic Surgery Journal.

    A past president of The Rhinoplasty Society and the New York Regional Society of Plastic Surgeons, Dr. Matarasso has served on the boards of numerous organizations and as a traveling professor for two plastic surgery societies. His dedication to medical training, education and scientific research are also manifested in his membership and active participation in more than 20 regional and national medical organizations.

    About ASPS

    The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is the world's largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons. Representing more than 7,000 Member Surgeons, the Society is recognized as a leading authority and information source on aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. ASPS comprises more than 94 percent of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States. Founded in 1931, the Society represents physicians certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery or The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. ASPS advances quality care to plastic surgery patients by encouraging high standards of training, ethics, physician practice and research in plastic surgery.

    Contact ASPS

    Kendra Y. Mims
    (847) 981-5432
    kmims@plasticsurgery.org


  • September 25, 2018 2:26 PM | Deleted user
    Governor Cuomo has called for a series of “listening sessions” across New York State to receive public comment regarding a proposal to legalize and regulate the recreational use of marijuana in New York State.
    There are public health concerns with this proposal including but not limited to the following.  We encourage all physicians to participate in these listening sessions and provide your expertise and feedback.
    • Intoxication
    • Carcinogenic effects
    • Respiratory illnesses
    • Altered mental status
    • Depression
    • Anxiety
    • Addiction

    In the era of narcotic dependence and associated catastrophic outcome, the State of New York is seeking to legalize this substance. It is important to have a consistent and scientifically sound public health policy concerning this issue. 

    • Newburgh – Monday, October 1, 2018 – Register
    • Binghamton – Tuesday, October 2, 2018 – Register
    • Buffalo – Wednesday, October 3, 2018 – Register
    • Rochester – Thursday, October 4, 2018 – Register
    • Syracuse – Tuesday, October 9, 2018 – Register
    • Utica – Wednesday, October 10, 2018 – Register
    • Watertown – Thursday, October 11, 2018 –Register
    • Ronkonkoma – Tuesday, October 16, 2018 – Register
    • New Rochelle – Wednesday, October 17, 2018 – Register
  • August 09, 2018 4:49 PM | Deleted user
    Only July 30, 2018 - ASPS and ASAPS released an advisory update on recent disease developments, government regulatory communications, and consensus recommendation regarding BIA-ALCL (Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma). 
    • The FAQs can be found here.
    • The Complete BIA-ALCL Physician Resources can be found here

The New York State Society of Plastic Surgeons, Inc (NYSSPS) was founded in 2008 on the guiding principle that New York’s plastic surgeons need an entity focused directly on representing its member's interests at the state / federal legislative and regulatory levels.

518-724-2480
nyssps@gmail.com

Address:
NYSSPS
c/o Capital Health Consulting
136 State St., Suite 501
Albany, NY 12207

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