AANEM and BIAA Officially Endorse AAPM&R's Opioid Position Statement

Members & Publications

September 13, 2018

The American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) and the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) have officially endorsed AAPM&R's Position Statement on Opioid Prescribing. These endorsements are essential in uniting health care to combat the ongoing opioid epidemic, and your Academy is proud to be a leader in the movement. 

Developing the Position Statement

At the September 2017 AAPM&R Board of Governors meeting, the Academy approved the formation of the Pain Management and Opioid Task Force, a coordination between the Quality, Practice, Policy & Research (QPPR) Committee, the Medical Education Committee (MEC), and the Pain Medicine & Neuromuscular Medicine Member Council.This joint task force was charged with composing a comprehensive response to the physiatrist’s role in pain management and controlling opioid prescribing as well as crafting an updated position statement.

The task force began their work in January 2018 to reach consensus on their top opioid prescribing concerns and make significant revisions to the 2014 AAPM&R opioid prescribing position statement. The QPPR Committee discussed and revised the draft position statement from the task force during their March 2-3, 2018 meeting.

The task force and the QPPR committee ultimately achieved consensus and submitted the position statement for Board approval. In April 2018, the Board approved the official AAPM&R Position Statement on Opioid Prescribing.

Thank you to our task force members and authors for your diligent work!

  • Erik Shaw, DO, FAAPMR, Chair
  • Diane Braza, MD, FAAPMR
  • David Cheng, MD, FAAPMR
  • Erik Ensrud, MD, FAAPMR
  • Andrew Friedman, MD, FAAPMR
  • Rita Hamilton, DO, FAAPMR
  • Jason Miller, MD, FAAPMR
  • Ameet Nagpal, MD, FAAPMR
  • Saloni Sharma, MD, FAAPMR

Want more tools for combating the opioid crisis? Check out this live course.

Legislation Introduced to Alleviate Impact of Conversion Factor Cut for 2021

Nov 09, 2020

Last month, two bills were introduced in the House proposing solutions to the estimated 10.6% Physician Fee Schedule conversion factor cut expected to go into effect January 1, 2021.  The bills offer some relief to the cut, but do not reflect a comprehensive or long-term solution.  AAPM&R has therefore chosen to remain neutral regarding these bills. 

Your Academy continues to advocate for a permanent solution to the conversion factor cut while maintaining the important payment increases to office and outpatient evaluation and management services.