Practice Management

“Variation is the enemy of quality. The more streamlined we can do these things and include APPs in the teachings of procedures and understanding different subspecialties of prostate cancer, I think it would be helpful,” says Joy Maulik, CRNP

"It's really critical to recruit and retain diverse talent in urology to improve patient care and our health care system overall," says Alexandra Tabakin, MD.

Some Ascension hospitals continue to divert ambulances to other facilities for emergency treatment, but some of the system’s hospitals are accepting all patients.

Urologist Alex Shteynshlyuger, MD, and others have argued that insurance companies should compensate physicians and their staff for the time spent compiling patient records for payers to review before authorizing treatments.

"In general, risk is related to return: the higher the risk, the higher the potential return; the lower the risk, the lower the potential return," writes Jeff Witz, CFP.

In the world of health care, factors such as remote care, complex IT environments, and connected health care devices are creating new avenues for cybercriminals to target.

"We felt that it was important to again address this topic because we have received numerous questions regarding the correct use of this code and we have had some experience using the code now that it is active and been able to observe some of the initial payment processing by the payer," write Jonathan Rubenstein, MD, and Mark Painter.

"There are opportunities for doctors to become more productive, to see more patients, and to avoid the erosion of their incomes," writes Neil Baum, MD.

"To answer this question, one must know what is and is not included in the global payment for the UDS, and the definition and instructions for appropriate use of modifier 25," write Jonathan Rubenstein, MD, and Mark Painter.

"At a time when patients are increasingly concerned about prescription drugs, this information will provide a useful starting point for making essential medications as affordable as possible," says Ruchika Talwar, MD.

"We can also look at the timing of exposure to urology. Does early exposure spark interest in urology, or does delayed introduction to the field hinder the consideration of the specialty?" says Ashley Appleton.

"At the medical student level, we can provide early exposure to urology to make sure that these students feel properly equipped to apply to urology when that time comes and get adequate exposure to the field," says Ashley Appleton.

"We found that in order to reach racial and ethnic parity in the urology residency graduates, there needs to be an increase of these graduates by 0.845% per year," says Ashley Appleton.

"Use code 51702 for the routine insertion of an indwelling bladder catheter, such as a Foley," write Jonathan Rubenstein, MD, and Mark Painter.

"In the moment, I think it's important to take a deep breath and try not to just be reactive," says Anne M. Suskind, MD, MS, FACS, FPMRS.

"At age 73, you must start taking distributions from the account in the form of required minimum distributions (RMDs), which are typically taxable. This means you must include the RMD in your income and pay income tax on the distributed amount," writes Jeff Witz, CFP.

"Good public and economic policy must align costs, benefits, and incentives; currently, all costs are incurred by physician practices, and all financial savings and benefits from prior authorization accrue to health insurance plans, leading to perverse incentives,” says Alex Shteynshlyuger, MD.

"As most of us know, 1 in 8 couples undergo issues pertaining to fertility, and in about half of those cases, there is a male factor involved, resulting in infertility," says Akash Kapadia, MD.

"The implications for urology, and every specialty, are immense. It does improve care, and it helps the patient. I think this is what it will be, it just may take some time," says Vipul Patel, MD.

"Per CPT coding instructions, when procedures or services performed by physicians do not have a valid or descriptive CPT or Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code, the service should be reported using an unlisted code," write Jonathan Rubenstein, MD, and Mark Painter.

In this episode of Speaking of Urology®, Eugene Rhee, MD, MBA, and Logan Galansky, MD, discuss key topics in health policy and recap the AUA's recent Annual Urology Advocacy Summit.

“What is becoming increasingly evident is that the traditional health care model is falling short for patients in rural regions,” says Ramy Abou Ghayda, MD, MPH, MBA candidate.

The EdgeFlow UH10 bladder scanner utilizes high-resolution ultrasound imaging to non-invasively measure postvoid residual urine in the bladder.

"The happier you are in your personal life, I think, the better you are as a doctor, and the better you are as a doctor, the better you can be in your personal life," says Anne M. Suskind, MD, MS, FACS, FPMRS.

"There's fear that telehealth is going to be abused and overused, and the evidence doesn't necessarily point to that, but because of that fear, it does hold things back," says Chad Ellimoottil, MD, MS.