| WSOA Leadership |
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John
Adkison MD
President
Lyle
Sorensen MD
First Vice President & AAOS Councilor
Patrick
J. Halpin MD
Second Vice President, AAOS Councilor
Brian
Wicks MD
Secretary/Treasurer
Walter
F. Krengel MD Immediate Past President
Robert
Yancey MD
Director
Chris
Kontogianis MD
Director
Tom
Degan MD
Director
Michael
Thorpe, MD
Director
Doug
Musgrave, MD
Director
Ash
Patel, MD
Director
Robert
Winquist, MD Director
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Residents |
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Did you know your WSOA membership is complimentary?
You'll receive complimentary registration to all WSOA CME/Annual meetings.
Call our office for more information 206-956-3642
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WSOA Offices
2033 6th Ave
Suite 1100
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 956-3642
Fax: (206) 441-5863
Association Executive,
Darla White
Email: ddw@wsma.org |
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Washington Supreme Court Victory for WSOA!
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Victory could set precedent for other states
WSOA
and orthopaedic surgeons across the State have found themselves on the
front lines of one of the most important battles affecting the practice of
orthopaedic medicine throughout the country -- the fight to
preserve physician employment of physical therapists. In fall 2008,
the Supreme Court of Washington decided to hear the case of Columbia
Physical Therapy, Inc. v. Benton Franklin Orthopedic Associates,
P.L.L.C. et al., in which Columbia Physical Therapy challenged the legality
of orthopaedic medical practices employing physical therapists and referring
patients to those employee therapists for physical therapy. This was
the second case to reach a state supreme court on the issue, which is commonly
referred to as physician-owned physical therapy services
("POPTS"). The first case, decided by the Supreme Court of
South Carolina in 2006, held that under South Carolina law orthopaedic surgeons
could not employ physical therapists in their practices.
The
Supreme Court of Washington has now weighed in on the issue. On March 18,
2010, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in favor of Benton Franklin
Orthopedic Associates, making clear that it is legal for medical
practices to employ physical therapists within their practices and to refer
patients to those employee physical therapists. In ruling in favor of
Benton Franklin, the Supreme Court rejected each of the arguments that Columbia
Physical Therapy had made against physician employment of physical
therapists. Specifically, the Court rejected Columbia's argument that
POPTS is barred by the corporate practice of medicine doctrine and the
Professional Service Corporation Act. The Court also rejected Columbia's
claim that Washington's anti-rebate statute bars physicians from referring
patients for physical therapy furnished within a medical practice. With
respect to Columbia's claim under the anti-rebate statute, the Court also made
clear that physician supervision of physical therapists is not required in
order to comply with the anti-rebate statute.
This is a tremendous victory not only for the practice
of orthopaedic surgery, but for all of medicine, as well as for patients who
seek integrated, comprehensive medical care from their doctors. The
victory could not have been achieved without the incredible support of WSOA
members from across the State, as well as from the broader medical community
within Washington and across the entire country. The Washington State
Medical Association took the lead in preparing and filing a "state medical
association" amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief that the American
Medical Association and 18 Washington state medical organizations joined in
support of Benton Franklin. The American
Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons took the lead in preparing and filing a
"national medical association" amicus curiae brief in support of Benton
Franklin that was joined by the American College of Surgeons, the American
Medical Society for Sports Medicine and the American Urological
Association. Special thanks and
appreciation is owed to Dr. Kontogianis and the other members of Benton
Franklin, who have showed tremendous leadership and courage in defending
against Columbia Physical Therapy's lawsuit for the last many years. This is a victory of which all of us can be
proud.
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Save the Date
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Don't
miss the 2010 WSOA Annual Meeting
The
Hyatt Regency-Bellevue
Nov.
19 & 20
Book
your room today! 888-421-1442 Special
rates apply! Be sure to mention WSOA!
All
members attend for FREE!
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Tamper
Resistant Prescription Pads/Paper
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A new law signed by the governor in 2009 requires that
prescriptions written in Washington be on tamper resistant paper or pads (TRPP)
approved by the Washington State Board of Pharmacy. Beginning July 1 this year
all medication prescriptions hand delivered to a pharmacy must have a new look.
While the layout will be much the same as previous forms - with two signature
lines for prescriber and patient information - the forms will include a "seal
of approval." Prescribers, pharmacists, and patients can identify approved
forms by the "seal of approval" printed in the lower right-hand corner of the
prescription form.
The tamper resistant prescription paper and pads now in use won't
comply with the new law. Only board-approved forms are to be used for hard copy
given to a patient or patient designee, including prescriptions printed from an
electronic medical record system.
A few helpful tips will assure prescribers are using the proper
forms in the correct way. The seal of approval, for example, should always
appear in the bottom right corner of the prescription form. The seal consists of
a mortar and pestle watermark with the Washington State map centered over the
top. The state is green thermo-chromic
ink that changes from green to yellow when exposed to heat or friction, and
goes back to green when cooled. Don't use tamper-resistant prescription paper
or pads when faxing directly to a pharmacy. The fax machine may activate the
pantograph, making it appear that the prescription is invalid or void.
It's okay for vendors to provide legitimate requestors
with blank stock of the board-approved tamper resistant paper, with the seal,
to be print in the office. Remember, prescribers are always responsible to
safeguard prescription pads and paper from theft. It's a good idea to check
with your supplier to be sure tamper-resistant prescription paper or pads are
board-approved. Check the Board of Pharmacy Web page
(www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/Professions/Pharmacy/default.htm) for a list of vendors
that have received approval. Your supplier or print distributor may not beon the list if they are
using products that have received prior-approval by the board.
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Reducing medical
errors
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Electronic prescriptions reduce errors sevenfold
Clinicians
using an electronic system to write prescriptions were seven times less likely
to make errors than those writing prescriptions by hand.
To evaluate
the effects of e-prescribing on medication safety, researchers looked at
prescriptions written by clinicians at 12 community practices in the Hudson
Valley region of New York. The authors compared the number and severity of
prescription errors between 15 clinicians who adopted e-prescribing and 15 who
continued to write prescriptions by hand. The study was
published online Feb. 26 by the Journal
of General Internal Medicine.
Researchers
conducted a prospective, non-randomized study using pre-post design of 15
clinicians who adopted e-prescribing with concurrent controls of 15 paper-based
clinicians from September 2005 through June 2007. Authors reviewed 3,684
paper-based prescriptions at the start of the study and 3,848 paper-based and
electronic prescriptions at one year of follow-up.
For
e-prescribing adopters, error rates decreased nearly sevenfold, from 42.5 per
100 prescriptions (95% CI, 36.7 to 49.3) at baseline to 6.6 per 100
prescriptions (95% CI, 5.1 to 8.3) one year after adoption (P<0.001). For
non-adopters, error rates remained at 37.3 per 100 prescriptions (95% CI, 27.6
to 50.2) at baseline and 38.4 per 100 prescriptions (95% CI, 27.4 to 53.9) at
one year (P=0.54).
Examples included incomplete directions and prescribing a medication but
omitting the quantity. A small number of errors were more serious, such as
prescribing incorrect dosages. Although most errors would not seriously harm
patients, they'd likely result in callbacks and lost time.
E-prescribing
completely eliminated illegibility errors (87.6 per 100 prescriptions at
baseline for e-prescribing adopters, 0 at one year).
All the practices that adopted e-prescribing received
technical assistance from a health information technology service provider. The
study noted that, without extensive technical support, it is difficult for
practices to implement e-prescribing.
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| Renew Your 2010 Membership Dues Online |
| Simply login to www.wsoa.org and pay your 2010 Membership dues conveniently and securely. |
Supplier Sponsorships
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As
an ongoing effort to offer our members value added benefits, the WSOA is in the
process of creating an on-line directory of medical suppliers. We will also be offering sponsorship
opportunities in our monthly newsletter.
Each monthly sponsor will receive article space to draw attention to
their goods or services. Please feel
free to pass this information on to suppliers you think might have an interest
in this opportunity. For information
contact Darla White at 206-956-3642 or email at ddw@wsma.org
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Update Your Contact Information
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| The WSOA feels it is critical to be able to keep its members up to date on important issues affecting your practice and patient care. Please be sure your contact information is current with our office. You may email contact information updates to Darla White, WSOA Association Executive at ddw@WSMA.org. |
Physicians Assistants Join WSOA today!
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| The WSOA Board of Directors has approved the membership of physician assistants in the WSOA. Please encourage your PA staff members to join. Go to www.wsoa.org and download the application. Fax completed applications to 206-441-5863 or mail to WSOA, 2033 6th Ave. Suite 1100, Seattle, WA 98121 |
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In Memoriam |
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Please forward
information regarding the passing of any WSOA members to Darla White at
ddw@wsma.org so that we may share the information with your fellow colleagues.
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