Practice Management

"As a result of the changes and the programmed phase-in of the changes, the cystoscopy code total RVU for the office setting will be 8% lower in 2025 than the current value," write Jonathan Rubenstein, MD, and Mark Painter.

"I hope that [attendees] will be exposed to a community where they feel that they're able to freely ask questions, gain accurate information, and feel heard, validated, and connected," says Lauren E. Corona, MD.

“The other aspects of the waivers and the things that remain in flux and are not fully fleshed out are going to be things like interstate telehealth,” says Juan J. Andino, MD, MBA.

"What's unique about our conference is the focus is not on just showcasing what our institute has to offer; the real focus is on networking and collaborating with the top institutes in the nation," says Raveen Syan, MD, FPMRS.

Chad Ellimoottil, MD, MS, details specific concerns surrounding the future of telehealth as Congress weighs the decision to extend flexibilities.

“Without the ability to do new patient telehealth, by definition, it's really hard to impact access to care,” says Juan J. Andino, MD, MBA.

"I think that there's been a lot of positive momentum to continue coverage for telehealth without geographic restrictions, to continue coverage for phone calls, but there's still some uncertainty as to whether or not that's going to be passed, even though there is a lot of optimism for it," says Chad Ellimoottil, MD, MS.

“Physicians are spending, depending on how much they utilize it, 20% to 30% less time on nights and weekends,” says Ernest A. Morton, MD, MBA, MS.

"Saying 'no' is one of our biggest challenges in our careers as physicians," according to Phillip M. Pierorazio, MD.

"The final rule for 2025 poses several challenges to urology. Lobbying efforts to preserve telehealth access and the CF will continue, perhaps dragging into 2025," write Jonathan Rubenstein, MD, and Mark Painter.

Ernest A. Morton, MD, MBA, MS, spotlights projects looking at the use of AI scribes to assist in notetaking and an AI algorithm to analyze prostate biopsies.

"It's now become one of the more popular conversations I have with people is how to use mindfulness, or at least the principles of mindfulness, in a surgical practice," says Phillip M. Pierorazio, MD.

"This year, we are starting an international rotation with a focus on global health and humanitarian work," says Akanksha Mehta, MD, MS.

"What we found is that it's very difficult to raise your review on these websites, but fairly easy to drop your review," says Jake Miller, MD.

“Put another way, with Apple Vision Pro, what we're hoping to do is have our residents be able to put on a headset and walk through a case before they actually walk into an operating room,” says Vikram M. Narayan, MD.

“I think this is the future, and if we don't go down that path and we don't explore, we're not going to make it better for us and for the patients,” says Geoffrey N. Sklar, MD, FACS.

"I think it would be really nice if we did have standardized guidelines on who could serve as a chaperone," says Ellen Cahill, MD.

"If you tapped into your emergency fund for any reason this year, it is important to make sure the account is replenished," writes Jeff Witz, CFP.

"I think it requires the adequate staff, and then also the development of a practice pattern for how chaperones are used," says Ellen Cahill, MD.

"There are no formal guidelines on whether chaperone use is recommended or is mandatory," says Ellen Cahill, MD.

"If you are going to be an inclusive leader...it's important that you think about those gaps in education and hopefully try to fill those," says Denise Asafu-Adjei, MD, MPH.

"The communication piece is everything," says Amy Pearlman, MD.

"If the documentation supported the use of modifier –22, it should be appended," write Jonathan Rubenstein, MD, and Mark Painter.

"Remember that whether or not it's your first time down the aisle, marriage is a celebration. Don't let all the financial and administrative details that go along with your special day spoil it," writes Jeff Witz, CFP.

"I would say the take-home message is that we found that from a patient-centered orientation, telehealth for new and established patients have comparably high satisfaction scores but provide substantially lower costs compared with in-person visits for patients with urologic cancer," says Daniel Carson, MD, MS.

"When determining which code you should use, you must consider your Medicare carrier’s published rules and commercial payer processing policies," write Jonathan Rubenstein, MD, and Mark Painter.

"My specific career path is really not at all like my mentors, and I think that's fine, actually. It's great, because I'm doing what I want to do and not feeling constrained to go down any particular pathway," says Stacy Loeb, MD, MSc, PhD (Hon).

“I think that there will probably be much more accessible tools within the next 5 years, and almost certainly within the next 10 years,” says Yair Lotan, MD.

"That's probably the biggest thing that I would say to somebody who's interested in urology is, do you think you can get on another patient's level?" says Emily Sopko, CNP.

"I like working alongside the residents, because they've taught me pretty much everything that I know about urology," says Emily Sopko, CNP.