President Obama has made an astonishing discovery: We’re not producing enough primary care doctors, he recently told Congress. Although this may be news to the president’s minions, physician groups, legislators, insurers, and patients are all well aware of the dearth of generalists.
PHOENIX-As James D. Smith, MD, took his place behind the lectern to prepare to speak about what America’s role should be in the instruction of physicians in underprivileged and disease-stricken countries, a question was posed on the screen next to him: Do we have a responsibility to help?
PHOENIX-Performing salvage surgery after chemoradiation or radiation treatment for laryngeal cancer patients, rather than just performing primary surgery right away, appears to lead to more complications with patients’ tracheoesophageal voice prostheses, according to a retrospective study reported by researchers here.
Laryngeal biopsies are being performed more commonly as in-office procedure. ENT Today asked two otolaryngologists about the ins and outs of performing the procedure in-office.
PHOENIX-The speciality of head and neck surgery has come a long way. But, along with huge advances in the types of treatments available and the technologies used, the profession is facing challenges-such as the recruitment of good candidates into the field and issues related to the regionalization and globalization of care.
PHOENIX-Laryngology is enjoying a resurgence in the world of endoscopy and the future of the field is promising, outgoing American Laryngological Association (ALA) President Roger L. Crumley, MD, MBA, said in his presidential address at the 130th annual meeting of the association, an address that touched on the discipline’s past as well as challenges it is facing.
Although eustachian tuboplasty is in its infancy and specific criteria and indications for its use have not yet been established, researchers hope that it might provide a viable alternative to using pressure equalization tubes or tympanostomy for chronic eustachian tube dysfunction.
Implementing electronic health records (EHRs) for all 633,000 physicians and 5708 hospitals in the United States is a daunting task, and one that is being nudged forward by Team Obama’s $19 billion stimulus plan earmarked to help health care providers to switch to EHRs.
PHOENIX-With the election of President Barack Obama and with lawmakers in Washington poised to overhaul the health care system, with patients’ faith in their doctors faltering, and with health costs continuing to rise and quality becoming ever more questionable, Gerald B. Healy, MD, took the lectern for his keynote address here as if he were taking the helm of a ship at risk of being capsized by stormy seas.
PHOENIX-Doctors have a duty to encourage the hospitals and clinics they work in to go green because helping create a cleaner environment will improve the health of the very patients they are supposed to be caring for.