INFORMATION UPDATE August 2005 Number 65 Welcome to INFORMATION UPDATE, a monthly resource for information seekers and users. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ IN THIS ISSUE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ => Do It Yourself - Associations and Societies => Did You Know? - Medical Reimbursement Practices => Notes, News and Announcements => Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information ************************************************************ DO IT YOURSELF - Associations and Societies ************************************************************ How many organizations do you belong to? According to one set of association directories, there are at least 160,000 to choose from, and those are just the non-profits. Associations and societies tend to form when like-minded people come together. Their purpose may be social, pro- fessional, charitable, cultural, religious, or almost any other commonality that draws people together. What matters to us as searchers is that associations tend to be centers of knowledge and information regarding their area of interest. Associations will sometimes share their knowledge on the Web or over the phone. Web sites generally include a Media section with facts and FAQs. These target journalists who need details or background for a story. Web sites sometimes have a Publications Library (or something like it) with reports, white papers, and position papers. Associations are a good place to look for experts or authorities on the topic at hand. The association headquarters or office will often have a library or public information office. If the staff cannot supply the informatin you need, they should be able to point you to someone who does. So, how do we identify associations of interest? Here are a few resources. Internet Public Library: Associations on the Net http://www.ipl.org/div/aon The site includes a directory to browse by subject, or you can enter a keyword in the search box. The American Society of Association Executives has a free searchable directory called the Gateway to Associations. http://www.asaenet.org/ To get to it go to the ASAE home page, click on Directories/Associations. The Encyclopedia of Associations is available online for subscribers, but there are print versions in many libraries. For small or specialized groups you can try Yahoo! Groups http://groups.yahoo.com/ with searchable archives for the open groups. There is a similar option at Google Groups http://groups-beta.google.com/ Depending upon how you count them, I belong to 7 or 8 organizations. That's not so many when you consider there are at least 159,993 that I don't belong to. ************************************************************ DID YOU KNOW? - Medical Reimbursement Practices ************************************************************ How much do the doctor and the lab get reimbursed for doing a prostate cancer biopsy test? On the surface that question seems simple enough. That is, until you try to answer it. As it turns out, there are a lot of factors to take into account, and sometimes the factors have factors. For instance, who is paying the doctor? Is it Medicare, a private insur- ance company, or the patient? In what state does the doctor practice? Will he/she be running the test or sending it out to a separate lab? Will the procedure be performed in a hospital, a doctor's office, or an outpaient clinic? Does the doctor own the ultrasound equipment he/she will use, or does the facility own it? Since reimbursements are based on codes, you need to determine which codes apply to the procedures being used. Coding books are thick and adminstrators who decipher these codes go to "coding boot camp" to learn how. At minimum the biopsy procedure requires ultrasound, anesthetic, the needles, and the doctor's time, and each element has its own code. The answer to the original question does not lie in one number, but rather in a full spreadsheet. It's almost enough to make your head explode trying to put the pieces in place. Fortun- ately you don't have to go to coding boot camp to find the answer. There are people who understand the fine points of questions like these and who have the experience to tease out the data. For more information, contact Shamel Information Services, 858-673-4673 or mailto:cshamel@shamelinfo.com ************************************************************* Notes, News, and Announcements ************************************************************* >>Information Seekers may now subscribe to Information Update using the web form at http://shamelinfo.com. If someone has forwarded this newsletter to you, why not register for your own free copy? Use the form on the Shamel Information Services web site at http://shamelinfo.com. ************************************************************** Shamel Information Services Web Site ************************************************************** The Shamel Information Services web site at http://shamelinfo.com contains Information Update archives. Just click on "Newsletters" and check for any issues you might have missed. Cynthia L. Shamel, editor Shamel Information Services Telephone: 858-673-4673 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Subscriptions to INFORMATION UPDATE are free. Copyright 2005 Shamel Information Services Please feel free to forward this issue to colleagues, in its entirety. Other uses without permission may violate copyright. Online archives at http://shamelinfo.com/newsletter.htm ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^