Congress has been working behind closed doors and during the midnight hour to hastily advance a out-of-network proposal that will deliver even more cuts to physicians during the pandemic. Enough is enough! Now is not the time for Congress to be increasing insurer’s profits at the expense of physicians and patients.

ACT NOW: send a letter to your members of Congress today! Congress is wrapping up their work, and we must ensure that lawmakers make immediate changes to fix this flawed balance billing proposal before they head home for the holidays. ASPS needs every member’s help in stopping this big present for the insurance companies before it’s signed into law!

This will only take a minute because ASPS has written a template letter for you. Click here to submit your letter today.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is now enrolling private practices, independent pharmacies and other facilities that will immunize adults in the NYC COVID-19 Vaccination Program. Click on the links below to review the letter and instructions on how to sign the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Provider Agreement in the online Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR):

General Provider Letter on COVID-19 Vaccines COVID-19 Vaccination Program Provider Agreement and Profile Form. COVID-19 Provider Vaccination Agreement-Access Instructions

Attend a webinar on completing the Provider Agreement in the CIR: Enrollment in the NYC COVID-19 Vaccination Program Tuesday, December 15, 2020, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Register Here For questions, please call the Provider Access Line at 1-866-692-3641 or email nycimmunize@health.nyc.gov. Periodic updates will be sent to keep you informed and the COVID-19 vaccine webpage will be updated.

As the northeast experiences new surges of COVID-19, the Northeast Region COVID-19 Coalition supports specific strategies to mitigate the spread of the virus, while preserving access to essential surgical procedures. We offer the following 4 recommendations and strategies for your consideration based on the lessons we learned in maintaining surgical care during the past nine months:

Recommendation 1: We must focus on data that will help preserve key resources such as hospital and ICU beds as well as PPE and appropriate medical staffing.  To do so, we should look at meaningful data such as hospital bed availability, ICU bed availability and medical staff coverage. We advise against focusing solely on case numbers per region and testing positivity rates.  

Recommendation 2: The last several months have taught us safe and effective ways to treat surgical patients through preoperative testing, perioperative viral precautions and appropriate use of PPE. We must carefully consider the types of surgery patients need so they may still obtain necessary and essential care in this environment and we should avoid a spigot approach to stopping essential surgeries. Recognizing that harm may come to patients whose procedures are delayed, cancer surgeries, trauma care and other acute procedures, should not be stopped during subsequent surges as was done originally in the spring of 2020.

Recommendation 3: While we respect the government’s efforts to keep our residents safe, those on the ground are best suited to make important triage decisions. Hospitals and physicians are the ultimate decision makers regarding the appropriate care and site of service for patients keeping in mind quality, safety, and risks. With the support of state guidance and coordination, hospitals and physicians are the most appropriate professionals to make decisions regarding essential care and services.

Recommendation 4: Hospitals remain the primary facilities to treat those critically ill with COVID-19 and for that reason, the maintenance of their resources is crucial. Additionally, ambulatory surgery centers and office based surgical facilities are safe, valuable settings to help offload the stress that hospitals may face during these difficult times. By looking specifically at projected rates of admission for each type of ambulatory surgery, these facilities can safely and effectively administer elective surgical care without further burdening acute care facilities.

Patients suffering from COVID-19, and patients requiring ongoing medical and surgical care are dependent upon the lessons learned during the past nine months.

We remain ready and willing to discuss any and all of these issues should you so desire. Thank you for your time and consideration of these issues vital to the health and safety of OUR patients.

As the pandemic hits its third nationwide surge, families are gathering for the holidays, and practices are preparing for a potential increase in cases. Medical offices in states that were not strongly affected by the first and second waves of the virus may now be facing an influx of COVID-19 patients. Therefore, medical offices must remain very attentive to the widespread outbreak of COVID-19, continuing to proactively take steps to safely manage patients while protecting clinical staff.

Below, you will find recommendations for this season of the pandemic, such as protective recordkeeping, documentation and follow-up for noncompliance and coordination of care, managing patients who resist infection-control measures, and tracking ongoing guidance from health authorities.

https://www.thedoctors.com/articles/2019-novel-coronavirus-and-patient-safety-in-the-medical-office/

Contact Governor Cuomo and request that he veto legislation (S.6678-A/A.7991-A) requiring every physician's “practice setting” to post a sign regarding how a patient can file a misconduct complaint with the OPMC.

Let the Governor know that this proposal would create unnecessary distrust in the physician-patient relationship and is unfair to physicians. Moreover, with nearly 10,000 complaints already made each year to OPMC (resulting in only a few hundred actual disciplinary actions), it is clear there is already strong public awareness of this oversight body.

The bill was delivered to Governor Cuomo’s desk which means he has until Wednesday, October 7 to sign it into law or veto.

Send an email today!

It’s been a challenging time but now we need to move forward and build the New York State Society of Plastic Surgeons—we’re only as strong as our numbers.

We need 10 of you to step up!

We’ve got a plan to recruit new members. I hope you’ll be a part of it. We’ve established the NYSSPS Ambassador program. We need one person from each of the 10 regions detailed below to step up.

So, what does it mean to be an Ambassador? You’ll reach out to non-members, talk to them about the Society and ask them to join. You’ll also be instrumental in getting members involved in our policy work—the Legislature is coming back in January, after all. And, you’ll help us maintain the members we do have in your area.

I know everyone has been busy getting back up to speed. The pandemic threw a wrench into everyone’s practice. But through it all, the Society was there for you—with advice, with webinars, with help. Now, we need you to be there for the Society.

Please take a moment and think about becoming a NYSSPS Ambassador. I know there are 10 of you who will be a part of this effort. Email us with your commitment: nyssps@gmail.com 

Thomas Sterry,
President
New York State Society of Plastic Surgeons

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and the New York State Society recognize the challenges faced by our member physicians as well as trainees and support staff in the daily care of patients. Enclosed is this month's featured resource to help you with coping with the challenges. The Society plans to promote Wellness on the first Wednesday of each month to members.

It can be difficult to cope with fear and anxiety, changing daily routines, and a general sense of uncertainty about COVID-19. Although people respond to stressful situations in different ways, there are steps you can take to help manage stress.

Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more information at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus. 

The FDA issued an update to its breast implant safety webpages on Aug. 20 regarding adverse events reported to the Agency related to breast implants, including Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) and data on medical device reports (MDR) the FDA has received on "Breast Implant Illness." The BIA-ALCL update cites a total of 733 unique cases of BIA-ALCL and 36 patient deaths globally, representing an increase of 160 new cases (64 from the United States) and three deaths since the July 2019 update.

The update calls for no changes in recommended routine follow-up care for patients with breast implants.

The FDA also announced that the BREAST-Q – a patient-reported, quality-of-life outcomes measure for breast surgery funded by The PSF and developed by ASPS member Andrea Pusic, MD, MHS – has been approved as a qualified Medical Device Development Tool, which means it may be used in clinical outcomes assessment and regulatory decision-making for breast implant devices.

For the complete story, click here.  

ASPS provides a wealth of up-to-date resources on BIA-ALCL for physicians and the public at PlasticSurgery.org/ALCL. These resources include:

• BIA-ALCL Frequently Asked Questions »
• Collection of PRS articles on BIA-ALCL »
• Informed Consent Language »
• Breast Implant Surgeon to Surgeon Expert Network »
• Sample Informational Letter to Patients »
• ASPS Recommended Insurance Coverage Criteria for Third-Party Payers »
• Educational Brochure for Patients »

Keith M. Blechman, MD, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Reposted with permission from The Doctors Company.  Keith Blechman, MD is a member of the NYSSPS Executive Council and serves as the Treasurer.

Just before New York temporarily banned elective procedures, I looked across the operating table and said, “Leave the sutures long, because the patient is probably going to have to take these sutures out.”

I knew early on that COVID-19 was coming. Through personal connections, I was hearing about events in China, and as the outbreak hit Seattle, I started to prepare. After some rocky early days, leaping the hurdles set by the pandemic has created positive outcomes for my practice, as I have made changes to become more efficient through integrated telemedicine.

So far, my key takeaways for creating a lean, adaptable practice have been:

• Be prepared. I’ve experienced first-hand how practices with remote-work systems already in place have been better off.
• Find efficiencies: Making changes now in light of the pandemic can save your practice time and resources later.
• Choose vendors wisely: This crisis has shown which companies can be counted on to help, and those that fall short. Is it time to reconsider your business partnerships?
• Embrace change: It’s happening (whether you like it or not).

Read the full story

Recently, New York Governor Cuomo had an op-ed in the New York Times that touted the results of labs operating in New York State whereby 85% of the lab tests took a median of 2 days to complete.

However, anecdotes from physicians are identifying instances where it is taking far longer. 

As MSSNY continues to dialogue with the New York State Department of Health and Governor’s office regarding addressing testing delays, we invited you to take just a few minutes to complete this survey