APWCA
Second Annual Symposium. The American Professional Wound Care Association (APWCA) will hold its second annual symposium, Wound Care and the Related Sciences, from March 27 to 29, 2003, at the Philadelphia Airport Hilton Hotel, Philadelphia, PA. At the first annual Symposium this past April, more than 200 professionals gathered to hear lectures from a variety of speakers, including lectures on techniques in plastic surgery for limb preservation through flaps and grafting; the importance of collaboration among academia, industry, and government; nutritional factors in wound healing; and pain management.
APWCA also recently launched its semiannual newsletter, SYNERGY, to keep members informed of the association's activities and to provide a vehicle for communication that reflects APWCA's multidisciplinary membership.
Information: 215-364-4100; fax: 215-364-1146; E-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.apwca.org.
ADA
New board member. David Armstrong, DPM, Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Tucson, AZ, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Armstrong's appointment to the board not only recognizes his significant professional contributions to the field, but also recognizes podiatrists as an integral part of the interdisciplinary team that cares for patients with diabetes.
Information:http://www.diabetes.org.
UOA
Award for Medicare reimbursement project. The United Ostomy Association (UOA), Irvine, CA, has been elected to the 2002 Associations Advance America Honor Roll, a national awards competition sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Washington, DC. UOA received this award for its Advocating for Medicare Reimbursement project, which began in 1998 and was led by Linda Aukett, Government Affairs Chair. The UOA engaged in consumer and supplier surveys, grassroots educational lobbying of Congress, and analysis of ostomy supply usage patterns and retail market data and met with government regulators and administrators to share findings. In April 2002, Medicare added codes and corresponding fees to improve overall reimbursement, enabling more dealers to provide supplies under the preferred "assignment" method. See the Payment Strategies column in this issue for information about these new codes.
Information:http://www.uoa.org.
NPUAP
National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel Research Award. The National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) is providing grants of $1500 to novice researchers from any health care or basic science discipline whose research aims to reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers and improve pressure ulcer care. The funds are intended to support preliminary research efforts, including dissertations, for young investigators who are likely to have promising academic careers in pressure ulcer research. The awards will be announced at the 8th NPUAP National Conference, which will be held in February 2003 in New Orleans. The deadline for submitting a proposal is November 1, 2002.
Information: 703-464-4849, ext 4110; fax: 703-435-4390; E-mail: rturner@drohanmgmt. com; Web site: http://www.npuap.org.