A movement underfoot in industry is rapidly infiltrating all branches of medicine, and specialties, such as otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, are being encouraged to join the ranks.

This issue’s Special Report is on quality improvement, an increasingly important health care issue not only in this country, but also in many other countries around the world.
Part 1 of a series
With the crisis in the financial markets reaching what many call historic proportions, another crisis long brewing is threatening to surface that, if some experts are correct, could have even greater consequences than the financial crisis for the US health care system.
As of October 1, all audiologists who provide services to Medicare patients must use their own National Provider Identifier (NPI) on claims submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
With the advent of fiberoptic and distal-chip scopes and other innovations, otolaryngologists are now able to perform many laryngeal diagnostic and therapeutic procedures on awake patients in the in-office setting rather than on fully anesthetized individuals in the operating room.
The success of functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) often depends on patient selection and expectations, according to several experts.