A new study from Dartmouth Medical School documents “staggering variations in how hospitals care for chronically ill elderly patients.” The study points to problems with quality and faults Medicare for unnecessary spending.
Gene Therapy: A Promising Role in Otolaryngology
After a hiatus associated with a checkered past, gene therapy is again showing promise in several fields of medicine, and otolaryngology is no exception.
Drop-In Clinics May Help with Patient Care-But Close Oversight is Necessary
Drop-in retail clinics staffed by nurse practitioners or physician’s assistants may represent a fundamental and permanent change in how patients receive minor primary care in this country, providing affordable care and convenience-but do they serve the long-term health interests of otolaryngology patients and the doctors who treat them?
When Dealing with Insurers, Electronic Payment Tools May be an Otolaryngologist’s Best Friend
The business side of medical practice can sometimes be a bigger challenge than ferreting out a difficult diagnosis.
More Employers Switching to ‘Consumer-Directed Health Care’ as Way to Control Costs
Plagued by annual increases in health-care premiums for their employees that regularly reach double digits, some US companies are exploring the role of consumer-directed health care with the goal of fostering healthier workers who are more accountable for their own health, thereby reducing the costs of company-provided health insurance.
Skin Resurfacing and Rejuvenation
Tonsillectomy Techniques: Tradition versus Technology?
The ABCs of CPT Coding
Important aspects of coding and reimbursement for otolaryngologists-head and neck surgeons-including some controversial coding issues-were covered in the American Rhinologic Society (ARS)’s Patient Advocacy Panel here at the 2006 Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meetings (COSM).
AMA’s Opt-Out Provision for Sale of Physician Prescribing Data Seen as First Step
Otolaryngologists agree with their fellow physicians who prescribe drugs-pharmaceutical companies have no business buying or using information on how and when they prescribe particular drugs, nor do they want to be confronted by pharmaceutical company representatives in their office about why they do or don’t prescribe that company’s products.
