The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) is a not-for-profit organization that represents nearly 4,500 interventional pain management specialists. It has its headquarters in Paducah, Kentucky. Its current Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer is Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD and its current president is Ramsin Benyamin, MD. President Elect is Peter Staats MD MBA.
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Founding
ASIPP was founded by Laxmaiah Manchikanti, MD in 1998. Originally called the Association of Pain Management Anesthesiologists, the name was changed in 1999 to include other medical specialties that practice interventional pain management.
Mission statement and goals
ASIPP's Mission Statement is, "To promote the development and practice of safe, high quality, cost-effective interventional pain management techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of pain and related disorders, and to ensure patient access to these interventions."
ASIPP's listed goals are to preserve coverage for interventional pain management; to advance patient safety, cost effectiveness, and accountability; to provide state of the art interventional pain management services; to communicate with legislators, patients, the public, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and third party payers; to uphold high principles, policies, and practices; to pursue excellence in education in interventional pain management; to improve practice management; to improve compliance; to eliminate fraud and abuse; to provide the best possible interventional pain management.
Education activities
ASIPP sponsors and conducts educational activities related to basic, intermediate, and advanced interventional pain management procedures. ASIPP's comprehensive cadaver workshops give physicians hands-on training in these procedures. Other educational courses conducted by ASIPP include Pain Medicine board reviews; comprehensive courses in controlled substance management as well as coding, compliance, and practice management; and courses in fluoroscopy and radiation safety. These activities grant physicians Continuing Medical Education credits and Continuing Education credits for nonphysicians.
Through a sister organization, the American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians (ABIPP), certifications are offered based on ASIPP's educational content. ABIPP offers competency certifications in controlled substance management; coding, compliance, and practice management; and fluoroscopic interpretation and radiological safety.
The Annual Meeting features world-renowned speakers on interventional pain management and public health policy. The General Session includes the Raj-Racz Distinguished Lecture Series in honor of Phulchand Prithvi Raj and Gabor Racz.
Publications
Through ASIPP Publishing, ASIPP publishes Pain Physician, a bimonthly peer-reviewed journal. It is indexed and included on Excerpta Medica, EMBASE, Medline, PubMed, and Index Medicus. The journal has a print component as well as online content. All content, including print, is freely available online at the Pain Physician website. The journal features medically related manuscripts and articles on public health policy.
Books published by ASIPP Publishing include Interventional Techniques in Chronic Non-spinal Pain For Interventional Pain Physicians; Interventional Techniques in Chronic Spinal Pain For Interventional Pain Physicians; Essentials of Practice Management: Billing, Coding, and Compliance in Interventional Pain Management; Low Back Pain: Diagnosis and Treatment; Foundations; Clinical Aspects; Board Review Self-assessment.
ASIPP also publishes systematic reviews and guidelines every two years for interventional pain management. The guidelines are An Update of Comprehensive Evidence-Based Guidelines for Interventional Techniques in Chronic Spinal Pain and American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians Guidelines for Responsible Opioid Prescribing in Chronic Non-cancer Pain. Pain Physician publishes these guidelines.
Advocacy
Through its political action committee, ASIPP promotes interventional pain management and contributes to the dialogue on public health. ASIPP was instrumental in having interventional pain management recognized as a medical specialty with its own specialty designation (09). ASIPP also achieved membership on Medicare Carrier Advisory Committees for interventional pain management. Interventional pain management practitioners have also benefited from the payment codes supported by ASIPP for interventional pain procedures.
ASIPP's major political achievement was passage of the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting (NASPER) Act. Signed into law by President Bush on August 11, 2005, this legislation helps control the diversion and abuse of prescription medication. NASPER is designed to protect patients and physicians from the harmful effects of controlled substances through their misuse and abuse. No physician organization had ever originated a law before NASPER.