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Ear, Nose & Throat Associates |
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 | June 2006 Articles:
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June 2006 News Archives
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June 26: Medical One-Stop Shopping, The State (SC)
Doctors' offices across the nation increasingly are becoming one-stop shops for both medical and cosmetic services, offering procedures generally done by plastic surgery specialists.
Cosmetic services bring new patients and more money into doctors' offices. Americans spent $12.4 billion on cosmetic procedures last year, says the American Society for Plastic Surgery. Doctors say they offer cosmetic services so they can better meet the needs of their patients. But plastic surgeons find the trend disturbing.
They understand the motivation, though: As doctors face reduced reimbursement rates from insurance companies, they look for ways to bring in extra money.
Whatever the doctors' reasons, patients say they like the familiarity, convenience and discreetness of going to their own doctors for cosmetic services. And more and more people are asking for them.
In 2005, close to 11.5 million surgical and nonsurgical aesthetic procedures were done in the United States, according to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
But that figure is conservative; it is based on a survey of only plastic surgeons, dermatologists and ear, nose and throat specialists. Those specialties represent just a fraction of physicians who now offer cosmetic services. More than 80 percent of cosmetic procedures in 2005 were nonsurgical, and almost half were done in an office facility.
Dr. Stephen Izard, who runs First Care family practice in Columbia, S.C., said he started offering cosmetic procedures after several patients approached him.
"I saw that there was a need, and so I decided to give it a try."
So did Columbia gynecologist Lilly Filler, who thought about cosmetic services after treating a young woman who had excessive hair growth on her face and body.
"I began to see that the care of the skin and the care of women overlapped a lot with what we were doing in our office," said Filler, who 15 years ago founded Women Physicians Associates.
TRUST AND CONVENIENCE
Miriam Harrison, a patient of Izard's for 21 years, turned to her doctor for treatment for wrinkles, enlarged pores and things "sagging a bit here and there."
"I came here because this is where I've always come," she said. "I trust these people. They won't do (something) to me if it's not right."
Robert Austin, a Columbia businessman and seven-year patient of Izard's, also felt comfortable having brown spots removed from his face at his doctor's office.
"It made it very convenient. They were right there where I go for my medical needs," Austin said. "And it was discreet. No one knows what you're there for."
Filler's gynecology practice offers laser treatments for removal of unwanted hair, spider veins, scarring and discoloration.
"As a woman, I know what I want in a doctor's office," Filler said. "We try to provide that for our women."
New Jersey gynecologist Marco Pelosi II, founder of the International Society of Cosmetogynecology, said, "The gynecologist is probably in the most ideal position to provide cosmetic service."
Gynecologists treat women through their various life stages and have surgical skills transferable to procedures such as those aimed at making scars inconspicuous, said Pelosi, who seven years ago started offering liposuction in his office. He also offers mesotherapy for "body-sculpting," as well as cosmetic fillers such as Restylane, and Botox injections for smoothing the skin.
GOOD BUSINESS, BUT IS TRAINING ADEQUATE?
Cosmetic services bring new patients and more money into doctors' offices. Americans spent $12.4 billion on cosmetic procedures last year, says the American Society for Plastic Surgery.
Insurance companies don't cover cosmetic services, so clients pay the full cost. Prices can range from $100 to more than $4,000, depending on the service. The cash flow helps keep doctors' bottom lines in good shape.
"I think as long as physicians have to work as long and as hard as they do," said Columbia plastic surgeon John D. Newkirk II, "the tendency is to do those things that give maximum revenue with minimal work."
The procedures being offered in doctors' offices are relatively quick and easy. In fact, many offices advertise them as "lunchtime" services, since people are well enough to go right back to work afterward.
But for a good outcome, the person administering the treatment has to have good training and practice frequently.
"It's when something goes wrong, or something has to be modified, when the training comes into play," said Pelosi, who offers training courses for doctors, one of which Filler attended.
But plastic surgeons worry the short courses and field visits that other doctors take don't qualify them to practice cosmetic medicine.
"I'm not sure the public is well-served by going to anybody whose residency does not include training in those areas," Newkirk said. "A weekend course in liposuction is inadequate training and experience to allow any physician to carry out that procedure in his or her office."
But some doctors say opposition to nonspecialists doing cosmetic procedures is a turf battle.
"It's all politics, and its all about money. It has nothing to do with the practice of medicine," Pelosi said. "The American Medical Association ... states that education, training and experience are the qualifications needed to be able to practice any procedure, whether it's brain surgery or taking a hangnail out."
Reach Reid at (803) 771-8378.
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June 26: Can you hear me now?, Rutland Herald (VT)
Not if you're over 30: This phone rings for young ears only
By PAUL VITELLO The Associated Press
In that old battle of the wills between young people and their keepers, the young have found a new weapon that could change the balance of power on the cell phone front: a ring tone that many adults cannot hear.
In settings where cell phone use is forbidden - in class, for example - it is perfect for signaling the arrival of a text message without being detected by an elder of the species.
"When I heard about it, I didn't believe it at first," said Donna Lewis, a technology teacher at the Trinity School in New York City. "But one of the kids gave me a copy, and I sent it to a colleague. She played it for her first-graders. All of them could hear it, and neither she nor I could."
The technology, which relies on the fact that most adults gradually lose the ability to hear high-pitched sounds, was developed in Britain but has only recently spread to America - by Internet, of course.
Recently, in classes at Trinity and elsewhere, some students have begun testing the boundaries of their new technology. One place was Michelle Musorofiti's freshman honors math class at Roslyn High School on Long Island.
At Roslyn, as at most schools, cell phones must be turned off during class. But one recent morning, a high-pitched ring tone went off that set teeth on edge for anyone who could hear it. To the students' surprise, that group included their teacher.
"Whose cell phone is that?" Musorofiti demanded, demonstrating that at 28, her ears had not lost their sensitivity to strangely annoying, high-pitched, though virtually inaudible tones.
"You can hear that?" one of them asked.
"Adults are not supposed to be able to hear that," said another, according to the teacher's account.
She heard that, Musorofiti said. "Now turn it off," she said.
The cell phone ring tone Musorofiti heard was the offshoot of an invention called the Mosquito, developed last year by a Welsh security company to annoy teenagers and gratify adults, not the other way around.
It was marketed as an ultrasonic teenager repellent, an ear-splitting 17-kilohertz buzzer designed to help shopkeepers disperse young people loitering in front of their stores while leaving adults unaffected.
The principle behind it is a biological reality that hearing experts refer to as presbycusis, or aging ear. While Musorofiti is not likely to have it, most adults over 40 or 50 seem to have some symptoms, scientists say.
While most human communication takes place in a frequency range between 200 and 8,000 hertz (a hertz being the scientific unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second), most adults' ability to hear frequencies higher than that begins to deteriorate in early middle age.
"It's the most common sensory abnormality in the world," said Dr. Rick A. Friedman, an ear surgeon and research scientist at the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles.
But in a bit of techno-jujitsu, someone - a person unknown at this time, but probably not someone with presbycusis - realized that the Mosquito, which uses this common adult abnormality to adults' advantage, could be turned against them.
The Mosquito noise was reinvented as a ring tone.
"Our high-frequency buzzer was copied. It is not exactly what we developed, but it's a pretty good imitation," said Simon Morris, marketing director for Compound Security, the company behind the Mosquito. "You've got to give the kids credit for ingenuity."
British newspapers described the first use of the high-frequency ring tone last month in some schools in Wales, where Compound Security's Mosquito device was introduced as a "yob-buster," a reference to the hooligans it was meant to disperse.
Since then, Morris said his company has received so much attention - none of it profit-making, because the ring tone was, in effect, pirated - that he and his partner, Howard Stapleton, the inventor, decided to start selling a ring tone of their own. It is called Mosquitotone, and it is now advertised as "the authentic Mosquito ring tone."
David Herzka, a Roslyn High School freshman, said he researched the British phenomenon a few weeks ago on the Web and managed to upload a version of the high-pitched sound into his cell.
He transferred the ring tone to the cell phones of two of his friends at a birthday party on June 3. Two days later, he said, about five students at school were using it, and by June 6 the number was a couple of dozen.
"I just made it for my friends. I don't use a cell phone during class at school," he said.
How, David was asked, did he think this new device would alter the balance of power between adults and teenagers? Or did he suppose it was a passing fad?
"Well, probably it is," said David, who added after a moment's thought, "And if not, I guess the school will just have to hire a lot of young teachers."
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June 27: Physician and Dentist Coalition Announces Support for Health Care Truth and Transparency Act of 2006, PRNewswire
Nationwide Survey Shows Widespread Consumer Confusion Over Differences Among Health Care Providers
WASHINGTON, June 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The introduction of bipartisan legislation to increase transparency in the nation's health care system by making it unlawful for providers to misrepresent their qualifications to patients was applauded today by the new physician and dental Coalition for Healthcare Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency (CHART).
"The Health Care Truth and Transparency Act of 2006 is a significant step forward to end patient confusion about the qualifications and training of their healthcare providers," said American Medical Association (AMA) Board Member Rebecca Patchin, M.D. The AMA is a member of CHART, along with nine other leading physician and dental associations.
New results of a nationwide survey indicate there is significant public confusion about the qualification of health care providers. Highlights from the CHART telephone survey of 1,000 U.S. adults show that the American public is unaware of the differences in education and training between limited license health care practitioners and medical doctors.
-- 72 percent believe a podiatrist is a medical doctor
-- 70 percent believe an optometrist is a medical doctor
-- 59 percent believe a psychologist is a medical doctor
-- 56 percent believe a chiropractor is a medical doctor
-- 33 percent believe a dental assistant is a medical doctor
"All health care providers are of vital importance to our nation's health care system," said Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK), the lead author of the bill. "But people should not be confused about whether or not they are seeing a trained and licensed medical doctor. False and misleading advertising is fueling patient confusion. This bill will protect patients from providers who aren't being clear about their qualifications."
"According to the CHART survey, 86 percent of Americans support federal legislation that would make it easier for patients to understand the qualifications of their health care professionals, and 90 percent believe that someone who is not a medical doctor should make that clear to the patient before they provide treatment," said Dr. Patchin.
The CHART survey reinforces research conducted late last year by the National Consumers League, which found that, in eye care, most Americans believe that medical doctors are the only providers who should perform surgery (91 percent) and inject/prescribe medicines (82 percent).
Members of CHART are leading professional associations representing diverse physician and dental specialties, including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery, American Psychiatric Association, American Dental Association, American Society of Anesthesiologists, American Osteopathic Association, American College of Surgeons, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, and American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
Click on the below link to view examples of the types of representations that this legislation is designed to help address: http://72.32.4.217/AAO/SFX7B6.pdf
The Coalition for Health Care Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency (CHART) supports efforts to provide better information to patients on the training, education, and qualifications of health care professionals.
CONTACT: Paul Skowronek, +1-202-478-3728, pskowronek@apcoworldwide.com, for Coalition for Health Care Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency (CHART).
SOURCE Coalition for Health Care Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency (CHART)
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