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ASTRO News
ASTRO News
ASTRO Selects 2008 Gold Medalists Christopher M. Rose, M.D., FASTRO, and Joel E. Tepper, M.D., FASTRO, have been chosen by the Society to receive the 2008 Gold Medal. The Gold Medal is ASTRO’s highest honor. It is bestowed on revered members who have made outstanding contributions to the field of radiation oncology, including through research, clinical care, teaching, and service. Recipients are drawn from any of the scientific disciplines represented by the members of the Society. Drs. Rose and Tepper will receive their medals at a special ceremony during ASTRO’s 50th Annual Meeting in Boston.
Brain Tumor Resources Available ASTRO reminds you that we have resources for patients and their families coping with brain tumors. On www.rtanswers. org, we have information on radiation therapy treatments for brain tumors, which can be found at www.rtanswers.org/ treatment/disease/brain_tumors.htm. ASTRO encourages you to link to this resource from your own facility’s Web site. Translational Advances Abstracts Due August 8 The abstract submission site is now available and abstracts can be submitted through August 8, 2008, for the 2008 ASTRO Translational Advances in Radiation Oncology and Cancer Imaging Symposium. This year we have expanded our collaborative efforts to include the National Institutes of Health, Radiological Society of North America, Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, and SNM and have expanded the program to include sessions on functional and molecular imaging. Residents and medical students are encouraged to attend this meeting and take advantage of several informal opportunities to engage with the faculty, including the Poster Walk and Meet the Professor Lunch. For meeting information, visit www.astro.org/Meetings/Upcoming Meetings/Translational/index.asp.
Clarification for IGRT Supervision Guidelines On February 8, 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services updated its manual instructions for the Outpatient Prospective Payment System through Transmittal 82 (Change Request 5946). Included in the update were instructions regarding coverage of outpatient therapeutic services furnished incident to a physician’s service. The updated coverage requirements have been controversial because they appear to be more restrictive than the requirements specified in long-standing Medicare regulations; they have also created confusion related to the requirements for physician supervision of diagnostic tests. Detailed information can be found at www.astro.org/HealthPolicy/ RadiationOncologyCoding/IGRTSupervisionGuidelines/
Stereotactic Radiotherapy Brochure for Patients Now Available ASTRO has added a new brochure to its award-winning collection of informational materials for patients. The brochure, Plain Talk for Radiation Therapy Patients: Stereotactic Radiotherapy, is now available to help patients and their families understand what stereotactic radiotherapy is and to provide information on what conditions are treated with stereotactic radiotherapy, other names used to describe it, and how the treatments differ. The brochure can be purchased at www.astro.org/shop for $25 per package of 50 for members or $30 per package of 50 for nonmembers; the brochure can also be downloaded for free at www.rtanswers.org.
2008 Spring Refresher Course SAMs Available Online Three new self assessment (SAM) courses repurposed from the 2008 Spring Refresher are now available on ASRO’s Web site. The first, Breast I and II, is a compilation of the two sessions delivered by Welela Tereffe, M.D., and Tse-Kuan Yu, M.D., Ph.D. Our second is the Photon and Electron Dosimetry and Brachytherapy presentation by Indrid Chetty, Ph.D. The third course is the highly successful Prostate and GU-Bladder and Seminoma presentations from Howard Sandler, M.D. Please visit http:// asro.astro.org to register today.
For all the latest ASTRO news, visit www.astro.org.
1606
ASTRO Selects 2008 Gold Medalists Christopher M. Rose, M.D., FASTRO, and Joel E. Tepper, M.D., FASTRO, have been chosen by the Society to receive the 2008 Gold Medal. The Gold Medal is ASTRO’s highest honor. It is bestowed on revered members who have made outstanding contributions to the field of radiation oncology, including through research, clinical care, teaching, and service. Recipients are drawn from any of the scientific disciplines represented by the members of the Society. Drs. Rose and Tepper will receive their medals at a special ceremony during ASTRO’s 50th Annual Meeting in Boston.
Brain Tumor Resources Available ASTRO reminds you that we have resources for patients and their families coping with brain tumors. On www.rtanswers. org, we have information on radiation therapy treatments for brain tumors, which can be found at www.rtanswers.org/ treatment/disease/brain_tumors.htm. ASTRO encourages you to link to this resource from your own facility’s Web site. Translational Advances Abstracts Due August 8 The abstract submission site is now available and abstracts can be submitted through August 8, 2008, for the 2008 ASTRO Translational Advances in Radiation Oncology and Cancer Imaging Symposium. This year we have expanded our collaborative efforts to include the National Institutes of Health, Radiological Society of North America, Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, and SNM and have expanded the program to include sessions on functional and molecular imaging. Residents and medical students are encouraged to attend this meeting and take advantage of several informal opportunities to engage with the faculty, including the Poster Walk and Meet the Professor Lunch. For meeting information, visit www.astro.org/Meetings/Upcoming Meetings/Translational/index.asp.
Clarification for IGRT Supervision Guidelines On February 8, 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services updated its manual instructions for the Outpatient Prospective Payment System through Transmittal 82 (Change Request 5946). Included in the update were instructions regarding coverage of outpatient therapeutic services furnished incident to a physician’s service. The updated coverage requirements have been controversial because they appear to be more restrictive than the requirements specified in long-standing Medicare regulations; they have also created confusion related to the requirements for physician supervision of diagnostic tests. Detailed information can be found at www.astro.org/HealthPolicy/ RadiationOncologyCoding/IGRTSupervisionGuidelines/
Stereotactic Radiotherapy Brochure for Patients Now Available ASTRO has added a new brochure to its award-winning collection of informational materials for patients. The brochure, Plain Talk for Radiation Therapy Patients: Stereotactic Radiotherapy, is now available to help patients and their families understand what stereotactic radiotherapy is and to provide information on what conditions are treated with stereotactic radiotherapy, other names used to describe it, and how the treatments differ. The brochure can be purchased at www.astro.org/shop for $25 per package of 50 for members or $30 per package of 50 for nonmembers; the brochure can also be downloaded for free at www.rtanswers.org.
2008 Spring Refresher Course SAMs Available Online Three new self assessment (SAM) courses repurposed from the 2008 Spring Refresher are now available on ASRO’s Web site. The first, Breast I and II, is a compilation of the two sessions delivered by Welela Tereffe, M.D., and Tse-Kuan Yu, M.D., Ph.D. Our second is the Photon and Electron Dosimetry and Brachytherapy presentation by Indrid Chetty, Ph.D. The third course is the highly successful Prostate and GU-Bladder and Seminoma presentations from Howard Sandler, M.D. Please visit http:// asro.astro.org to register today.
For all the latest ASTRO news, visit www.astro.org.
1606