2012-08-09

News from Washington

Congress Struggles with the Cost of Preventing Cuts to Medicare Physician Payments
Physicians are scheduled to receive a 27 percent cut from Medicare beginning January 1, 2013, unless Congress takes legislative action to prevent it. The problem to fix is not convincing the Congress that this is bad, but finding the amount of money lawmakers would need to cuts elsewhere, or "offsets" to pay for preventing the cuts to physician payment. It is critical that all Members of Congress hear from their physician constituents about the need to avert the scheduled physician payment cut. Please visit the ASH Advocacy Center to participate in the Society's on-line advocacy campaign today! Read more.

Proposed 2013 Physician Fee Schedule Regulation Comments Due
ASH will submit comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on its proposed 2013 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) rule by the September 4 deadline and would like to incorporate feedback from the Society's practice-based members. Review ASH's detailed summary and analysis of the key issues and potential impact that the proposed rule will have on hematology and please contact ASH Government Relations and Practice Manager Stephanie Kaplan by August 17 with any comments you have about the proposed rule.

News from the FDA

FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Marqibo® for Treatment of Adult Patients with Philadelphia Chromosome-Negative (Ph-) ALL
On August 9, 2012, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for vinCRIStine sulfate LIPOSOME injection (Marqibo®, Talon Therapeutics, Inc.) for the treatment of adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative (Ph-) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in second or greater relapse or whose disease has progressed following two or more anti-leukemia therapies. Read more.

News from ASH

Register for ASH's September Webinar on Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia
Registration is open for the ASH webinar on Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia, scheduled for Thursday, September 20, 2012, at 8:00 p.m., ET. One of the most important issues associated with the early diagnosis and acute management of idiopathic autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is the communication between the blood banker and the hematologist. Diagnosis followed by acute and chronic management of AIHA involves the use of appropriate diagnostics to suspect, confirm, and manage the treatment of patients with AIHA. ASH is grateful to The Henry Loring Masters Foundation for providing support for the development and distribution of this valuable webinar. For more information on this and other ASH webinars, visit the ASH website. 

Register for the 2012 ASH State-of-the-Art Symposium: Recent Advances in Hematologic Malignancies
Register today for the ASH State-of-the-Art Symposium (SAS). SAS is taking place in two locations this year – Chicago on September 28-29 and Los Angeles on October 12-13. This clinically focused meeting has no competing sessions and boasts a small attendee-to-speaker ratio allowing for plenty of interaction with the speakers and your colleagues. Take advantage of this opportunity to ask our distinguished speakers about new treatment approaches, solutions for your challenging cases, or diagnosis and management of hematologic malignancies. This year's program will have a special focus on thrombosis. Visit www.hematology.org/sas for the full program schedule, hotel accommodations, and registration information.

Register for ASH's 2nd Consultative Hematology Course
The American Society of Hematology is pleased to announce the second Consultative Hematology Course, being held this year in Chicago on September 28, prior to the 2012 ASH State-of-the-Art Symposium (SAS). This intensive half-day program focuses on updates in non-malignant hematology designed for practitioners who are trained as hematologists or hematologist-oncologists, but now periodically see patents with non-malignant hematologic conditions. Experts will use case-based presentations to stimulate interactive discussions. Visit the ASH Website for more details about the program and to register.

ASH Offers Tools for ABIM Maintenance of Certification
ASH offers four chart abstraction tools for hematologists to use in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification process. The four tools, focusing on myelodysplastic syndromes, multiple myeloma, perioperative anticoagulation management, and immune thrombocytopenia, can be used with the ABIM's Self-Directed Practice Improvement Modules (PIM) to meet the minimum of 20 practice performance points needed to maintain certification. Read more.

Join us for the premier hematology event of the year!
In a continuing effort to improve and enhance the ASH annual meeting experience, each year the Society adds new sessions and programs. The new and enhanced offerings introduced this year promise to make the meeting exciting and unique. They will include extended schedules for the Education Program, enhanced small interactive sessions with experts, featuring "How I Treat: Bringing Science to Clinical Dilemmas" discussion, and more. Advance registration and housing is now open; register today to join your colleagues for the 54th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition on December 8-11 in Atlanta, GA.

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