Geriatric Challenges: Age shouldn’t determine treatment, experts say

One of William Dale’s healthiest patients was working out three times a week, regularly walking two miles, lifting weights, maintaining a stable body weight of 120 pounds and not on any medications when she was diagnosed with a stage IV ovarian cancer. Dale, MD, PhD, section chief of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the University of Chicago, said the patient did fine with both surgery and chemotherapy. The fact that she was 89 years old, he said, shouldn’t necessarily come as a surprise.

Reducing Patient Wait Times: Examine your operations to boost efficiency

Here’s a telling statistic: The average time patients wait in an office to see an otolaryngologist is 24 minutes, according to Press Ganey Associates, Inc., a South Bend, Ind., health care performance measurement and improvement firm. If that doesn’t sound bad, or if you think your practice exceeds that benchmark, consider that otolaryngology ranked 19th in overall satisfaction among 25 medical specialties measured in Press Ganey’s 2010 Medical Practice Pulse Report.

Face Time: Ask the right questions when meeting with EMR vendors

In my last column (ENT Today, August 2011), I explained some of the broader issues regarding electronic medical records/electronic health records (EMR/EHR) selection, centered around the understanding that an EMR is a record that is more practice centered while an EHR is a health record intended to follow the patient through multiple providers. This article is directed toward practices with a large degree of autonomy in selecting their products; therefore, we will be discussing EMRs. If you’re part of a multidisciplinary practice or a university, you likely had little to no input regarding the EHR chosen. This is because larger numbers like primary care drive EHR selection. Don’t stop reading, however; assessment of disease-specific pathways is still applicable for the EHR you have.

Resident Tips: Private and academic practitioners offer career advice

For residents embarking on their professional careers or physicians changing a career, navigating the many issues involved in making a decision that will significantly affect both their professional and personal lives can be daunting and challenging. To provide some guidance, practicing physicians with many years of experience in their respective careers discussed these issues during a session held here Sept. 13 at the 2011 American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) Annual Meeting.

Corticosteroid Confusion: Evidence lacking for most conditions, panelists say

Although steroids are widely used to treat a variety of otolaryngologic conditions, the short- and long-term side effects remain a concern and fuel the need to better understand their proper role. Contributing to the ongoing controversy over their use are gaps in the evidence, panelists said here Sept. 12 at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Annual Meeting.

Payment Shifts: Expect reimbursement structure changes ahead, policy experts say

Although the new U.S. health care law does not specifically alter the current fee-for-service payment structure, changes to how physicians and hospitals will be reimbursed for services are under construction. These changes are reflected by the growing focus on the development and implementation of quality improvement and physician and institutional performance measures on which reimbursement will increasingly be made, panelists said here on Sept. 11 at the 2011 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) Annual Meeting.

Both Endoscopic and External Approaches Needed for ZD

Is the transcervical approach indicated in the treatment of Zenker’s diverticulum (ZD) and, if so, to what extent? Background: According to the literature, the only existing curative approach to ZD is […]