ENT Today

Article: A Partner in the Business: Practices see mid-level providers as valuable additions

When Winston C. Vaughan, MD, told his Stanford University patients he was leaving academia to establish a private group practice, they had one question: “Are you taking Kathleen with you?” Their concern attests to the integral role that Kathleen Low, RN, NP, fills as a patient-care provider in Dr. Vaughan’s otolaryngology practice.

Article: Health Reform to Insure 32 Million: Are you ready for them?

The new health system reform law is expected to reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 32 million people, and that means more paying patients for physician practices. Many doctors, however, worry that the law’s lack of Medicare payment reform and medical malpractice caps will exacerbate a looming physician shortage. This raises questions about how successful the law will be in increasing health care access.

Special Report: The Great Debate: Canal-wall-up vs. canal-wall-down surgery for pediatric cholesteatomas

During the last 50 years, the debate over the merits of canal-wall-up (CWU) versus canal-wall-down (CWD) surgery for removing pediatric cholesteatomas has shifted focus several times.

Health Policy: Digital Dilemma: Physicians oppose EHR requirements

The federal government’s proposed rule establishing incentive payments for physicians who “meaningfully use” electronic health records (EHRs) is too onerous and would discourage physicians from participating, some otolaryngologists say.

Literature Review: Literature Review: A roundup of the most important recent studies

New OSA Clinical Guideline; Secondhand Smoke Increases Chronic Rhinosinusitis Risk; Trial Assesses Shorter Moxifloxacin Therapy; The Internet Says I’m Attractive; Caution Regarding Elective Neck Dissection During Salvage Surgery; MRI Useful for Identification of Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss Etiology

Viewpoints: A Better Way to Implement EMRs: Why one-size-fits-all won't work

I have been a strong advocate of electronic medical records (EMRs) for almost a decade. In fact, I used the phrases “It is the silver bullet for health care reform infrastructure” and “It is the cornerstone for health care reform infrastructure” to describe EMR plans when President Obama was campaigning. However, technology, like fire, can warm your house or burn it down, cook your food or kill you. Likewise, the wrong EMR will escalate inefficiency and raise health care costs....

Article: Canal Wall Up vs. Canal Wall Down: Symptom of a greater need?

This issue of ENT Today includes an article on the debate over canal-wall-up (CWU) versus canal-wall-down (CWD) tympanomastoidectomy (p. 5). I remember hearing the same arguments when I was a resident at UCLA, which was also the last time I drilled a mastoid bone; my practice focused on head and neck surgery and pediatric otolaryngology. Over the past 32 years, Drs. Bruce Gantz, Rick Chole (two of my otology colleagues on the Board of Otolaryngology), and other otologist friends have suffered through my...