Will there be a modified version of Obamacare or Trumpcare?
Affordable Care Act Latest in Half-Century of Healthcare Reform
Highlights in 50-year timeline of national healthcare legislation, proposals, and policies since the Social Security Act was adopted in 1965
Affordable Care Act By The Numbers
Anticipated impact of government spending tells story of winners, losers in the health reform effort
How Will the Affordable Care Act Impact Otolaryngology?
Analysts predict the influx of insured patients that are expected to flood the healthcare system will likely shrink physician reimbursements, cause some otolaryngologists to flock to larger healthcare systems or limit access to patients with private insurance plans, and exacerbate the shortage of specialists
New Excise Tax Applicable to Otolaryngologist Devices
A provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that places an excise tax on the sale of medical devices would apply to some tools used by otolaryngologists
Where the Presidential Candidates Stand on Key Health Care Issues
President Barack Obama’s and former Governor Mitt Romney’s positions on issues affecting the medical profession.
Experimental Tort Reform: States take different approaches to implement change
The health care reform law passed in March created a $50 million demonstration program to test alternatives to the current medical liability system. But reaction is mixed as to whether the new project will help fix what the physician and medical liability insurance communities view as a flawed and inefficient system.
Health Reform Perks: Employer tax credits could benefit your practice
By now, you’re probably well versed in the clinical aspects of the health reform bill signed by President Obama in March. But what you may not know is that the bill includes a section that could benefit otolaryngologists and other physicians in their role as employers.
A Better Way to Implement EMRs: Why one-size-fits-all won’t work
I have been a strong advocate of electronic medical records (EMRs) for almost a decade. In fact, I used the phrases “It is the silver bullet for health care reform infrastructure” and “It is the cornerstone for health care reform infrastructure” to describe EMR plans when President Obama was campaigning. However, technology, like fire, can warm your house or burn it down, cook your food or kill you. Likewise, the wrong EMR will escalate inefficiency and raise health care costs. The wrong mandates or the wrong incentives have the potential to paralyze the day-to-day practice of medicine.
Canal Wall Up vs. Canal Wall Down: Symptom of a greater need?
This issue of ENT Today includes an article on the debate over canal-wall-up (CWU) versus canal-wall-down (CWD) tympanomastoidectomy (p. 5). I remember hearing the same arguments when I was a resident at UCLA, which was also the last time I drilled a mastoid bone; my practice focused on head and neck surgery and pediatric otolaryngology. Over the past 32 years, Drs. Bruce Gantz, Rick Chole (two of my otology colleagues on the Board of Otolaryngology), and other otologist friends have suffered through my semi-tongue-in-cheek comments on why otologists can’t agree on which procedure is better. Although the technology used in both procedures has evolved, the final product of the two procedures, a dry, safe ear, is, as best I can tell, the same as it was when I was a resident. I have been told that one of the main factors considered in the decision regarding which procedure to perform is where the otologist trained.