Making Up the Difference: Otolaryngologists find ways to provide care for under- and uninsured patients

Doctors Rima and Robert DeFatta, married otolaryngologists who work at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, spend about an hour each day dealing with insurance-related hassles. About 20 percent of their patients are un- or underinsured, so the two physicians spend time dashing off letters to insurance companies, re-jiggering treatment plans and helping patients access available resources. Recently, Rima DeFatta, MD, had to figure out how to diagnose a patient who presented with symptoms that suggested possible neurologic involvement.

How Will You Score? ABOto to launch MOC quality component

The American Board of Otolaryngology is preparing to launch the final component of its maintenance of certification (MOC) program this year. In addition to the goals of lifelong learning and quality improvement, the last of this four-part program should help otolaryngologists comply with performance incentives from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Time to Retire Your White Coat? Plan your exit strategy carefully

As the physicians of the baby boomer generation approach their golden years, many have achieved career and financial success and are looking for an arrangement that will allow them to ease into retirement. While you may not be ready to hang up your white coat permanently, you may be interested in working fewer hours and taking less call. Retirement requires more than simply removing your name from the office door, however. If you are a physician nearing retirement, it is important that you plan, discuss and make contractual agreements that will allow you to accomplish your goals and changing needs.

Turn a Fellowship Into a Career: How to match up with the right program

The opportunity to gain more surgical experience as a facial plastics fellow was enticing to Hussein Samji, MD, MPH, as he finished his residency at Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, Calif., in 2010. But after exposure to some of the more mundane aspects of the subspecialty during screening interviews, Dr. Samji said he knew it wasn’t the career path for him.

Health Reform 101: Use this primer to navigate the changes ahead

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) is described as the most sweeping health care legislation passed in the U.S. since Medicare’s implementation in 1965. The health reform law is already changing the health care system, but the most profound modifications are yet to come. The law will affect otolaryngologists’ practices in many ways, both direct and indirect. Here are some areas of the law to consider.

Drug-Eluting Sinus Stent Hits the Market: May help maintain patency after FESS

Maintaining sinus patency after functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) has long been an issue; as many as 23 to 47 percent of patients require revision surgery after FESS. Now, a new drug-eluting, bioabsorbable stent manufactured by Intersect (Palo Alto, Calif.) is being billed as a “breakthrough treatment [that] improves outcomes for sinus surgery,” according to a news release from the company. The device, which received pre-market approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August, has been studied since 2008. It is currently available in Texas, New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Atlanta, Ohio and Kentucky.

In Memoriam: Patrick Edgar Brookhouser, MD

Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Patrick Edgar Brookhouser, MD, grew up in Missouri Valley, Iowa, where he graduated valedictorian from the local high school. His intellect and natural curiosity earned him numerous academic awards, and he graduated from Creighton University summa cum laude and from Johns Hopkins Medical School as a member of Alpha Omega Alpha.