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The Leading Edge
Maintaining Our Relationships as We Learn in a Virtual Environment
Our Academy meeting is right around the corner and there is an excitement building about (albeit forced by COVID-19) our first-ever all virtual experience. A recent article I read, “Bridging Tradition and Globalism: How to Add Value to Virtual Meetings,” from Aptitude Health, stated, “While traditional engagement paradigms are heavy on live interactions and building personal relationships, the digital landscape often seems to erase these.
Setting Our Course through Collaborative Strategic Planning
The Academy and its Foundation regularly review and adjust priorities of the organization every three-to-five-year period through a multistep strategic planning process. We are beginning preparations for our upcoming strategic planning session to be held in January under the leadership of Carol R. Bradford, MD, who will be our president at the time.
At The Forefront
The AAO-HNS extends its greatest appreciation to the candidates of the 2020 election for their dedication and willingness to run for office and serve the AAO-HNS and its members. The Nominating Committee presented the membership with an outstanding slate of candidates. The AAO-HNS thanks the Committee for its meaningful deliberation. Albert L. Merati, MD, and the Nominating Committee are pleased to announce the results of the 2020 AAO-HNS Annual Election
Humanitarian Travel Grant: Otolaryngology in Uganda
In November 2018, I had the opportunity to participate in a surgical mission trip to Kampala, Uganda, as part of the Head and Neck Outreach (HNO) team from University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. This is a well-established medical and educational exchange with the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) and the Makerere University School of Medicine.
The AAO-HNS extends its greatest appreciation to the candidates of the 2020 election for their dedication and willingness to run for office and serve the AAO-HNS and its members. The Nominating Committee presented the membership with an outstanding slate of candidates. The AAO-HNS thanks the Committee for its meaningful deliberation. Albert L. Merati, MD, and the Nominating Committee are pleased to announce the results of the 2020 AAO-HNS Annual Election.
Private Payer Advocacy: Aetna Sinus Surgery
Over the past several months, members have alerted the Academy’s Health Policy Advocacy team that they have been receiving sinus surgery reimbursement denials from Aetna. In these denials, Aetna states that the procedure is considered experimental/investigational. In response, the Physician Payment Policy (3P) workgroup, supported by Health Policy Advocacy staff, have been working with Aetna to gain insight into these denials.
Coding Update: How to Report CPT 31298
In January 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented significant changes to the functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) and balloon sinus dilation (BSD) family of codes, revising these code sets to bundle frequently reported codes within each family together.
BOG Practitioner Excellence Award: Kathleen C Y Sie, MD
The recipient of the 2020 BOG Practitioner Excellence Award is Kathleen C Y Sie, MD, division chief, Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at Seattle Children’s Hospital; director of the UW Medicine Childhood Communication Center; UW Richard and Francine Loeb Endowed Chair in Childhood Communication Research; and UW professor of head and neck surgery.
The Metro Atlanta Educational Society for Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (MAES/OHNS) is the recipient of the 2020 BOG Model Society Award. The goal of MAES/OHNS is to provide education and scientific programs and seminars to otolaryngologists and other physicians and healthcare workers in a way that can be applied to the day-to-day clinical treatment of patients.
What is the greatest challenge our specialty is currently facing and how would you advocate for action through member engagement?
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Practice Profile
Practice Profile: Working to Improve Healthcare in Our Community
Douglas D. Backous, MD, has a large ear and neurotology practice with Proliance Surgeons at Puget Sound ENT in Edmonds, Washington. He performs inpatient and skull base surgery at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle, as well as outpatient otologic surgery in Edmonds and at a satellite facility, Ear Nose and Throat Associates, in Puyallup.
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Features
SPONSORED CONTENT FROM AAO-HNS ACADEMY ADVANTAGE PREMIER PARTNER: THE DOCTORS COMPANY
While most resources are directed at screening for COVID-19 and treating affected patients, there is another important aspect of the pandemic: the impact on your patients’ mental health. Anxiety is being exacerbated by patients’ mistrust of the healthcare system and fear that they or their loved ones will contract the virus. A recent survey indicated that 67% of people have increased levels of stress since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.
AAO-HNSF 2020 Virtual Education Program
SPECIAL LIMITED TIME OFFER – Two Education Experiences for the Price of One!
A special thank you to Albert L. Merati, MD, AAO-HNS/F Immediate Past President and Chair of the Board of Directors Awards Task Force. Through the task force’s inaugural work, led by Dr. Merati, the AAO-HNS/F streamlined the application and submission process to identify and recognize individuals for their notable contributions to the profession and the communities they serve.
Corneal Neurotization for Trigeminal Anesthesia
Trigeminal anesthesia may arise as a devastating consequence of extirpation of skull base tumors, such as large vestibular schwannomas. Insult to trigeminal nerve afferents leads to neurotrophic keratopathy (NK), a degenerative disease of the ocular surface characterized by progressive corneal epithelial defects, ulceration, vascularization, and perforation.
From the Education Committees: Facial Reinnervation
For patients with flaccid paralysis, the timing of intervention is critical because reinnervation options require the presence of viable muscle. Once denervated, muscle will begin to atrophy and fibrose after 12-18 months, and axons regrow at ~1 mm per day; therefore, even after a nerve repair is performed, it can still take months for the axons to reach the target motor endplates.
Tech Talk: Work-from-Home Cybersecurity and Performance
Home cybersecurity, like other types of security, requires a layered, in-depth approach. Every device on your home Wi-Fi needs to be secured. The basics include ensuring every connected computer has anti-virus and malware software, all software is updated and patched on a regular basis, and tablets are kept up-to-date with patches and only run trusted apps (no jailbreaking your phone). Following these basic cybersecurity practices is good but not enough.
Eustachian Tube Dysfunction: Evidence and Controversies
Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) is a common diagnosis in general otolaryngology practice. Most patients present with mild symptoms of aural fullness, hearing loss, tinnitus, and otalgia. Despite the prevalence of ETD in children, a standardized approach to diagnosis and management in the adult patient has been lacking.
Challenging Bronchoscopy: Dos and Don’ts for a Successful Procedure
In September 2019, during the AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO Experience in New Orleans, we presented an airway panel titled, “Challenging Bronchoscopy: Dos and Don’ts for a Successful Procedure.” Our target audience was diverse—the resident-in-training, the physician on call and covering for airway emergencies, as well as the airway expert interested in simulation as an educational tool.
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Wellness Series
In the space of a few weeks, the coronavirus outbreak became an all-consuming global, national crisis. Changing day-to-day life in unprecedented ways, it touched all of us and will be the focus for many more months to come. The collateral effect of this pandemic on healthcare providers’ well-being is emerging as clinicians face even greater workplace distress that will likely exacerbate existing levels of burnout.
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Women In Otolaryngology
2020 has certainly been an uncertain and thought-provoking year thus far, with the global pandemic and the recent civil rights movement leading to a great deal of self-reflection concerning the way we “do” medicine and live our day-to-day lives. One constant through all of these ups and downs has been the bright light of the upcoming Women in Otolaryngology (WIO) Section’s 10-year anniversary during the AAO-HNSF 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting & OTO Experience.
2020 WIO Exemplary Sr. Trainee Award
WIO is pleased to announce Leila Jean Mady, MD, PhD, MPH, as the 2020 Exemplary Sr. Trainee Award recipient. As chief resident in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Dr. Mady has distinguished herself as a mentor, researcher, presenter, author, and clinician.
2020 WIO Helen F. Krause, MD Trailblazer Award
WIO is pleased to announce Kathleen L. Yaremchuk, MD, MSA, as the 2020 Helen F. Krause, MD Trailblazer Award recipient. Dr. Yaremchuk is the chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Henry Ford Health System.
Spotlight: ASCENT
Specialty Certification for ENT Managers and Administrators Is Needed Now More Than Ever
The Administrator Support Community for ENT (ASCENT) developed a certification program in 2005, the Certification in Otolaryngology Practice Management (COPM), to set the bar for ENT practice management. The program was developed to test competency and knowledge in six key domains of ENT practice management. They include basic ENT knowledge, finance and accounting, marketing, operations, technology, and human resources.
