Published: February 6, 2015

Innovation at its best

I wish I could say I am a savvy early adopter of innovation. In 1972, I won a microwave oven as a door prize and wondered what I would ever do with such a thing. When endoscopic sinus surgery appeared on the scene, I was skeptical. And electronic mail? I initially thought it would never be an adequate means of communication.


Gayle E. Woodson, MD, AAO-HNS/F PresidentGayle E. Woodson, MD,
AAO-HNS/F President

By Gayle E. Woodson, MD, AAO-HNS/F President

I wish I could say I am a savvy early adopter of innovation. In 1972, I won a microwave oven as a door prize and wondered what I would ever do with such a thing. When endoscopic sinus surgery appeared on the scene, I was skeptical. And electronic mail? I initially thought it would never be an adequate means of communication.

So when ENTConnect emerged, I dutifully signed on as a “beta tester,” but did not expect much. I figured this was just one more information stream.

entconnect.entnet.org/homeentconnect.entnet.org/home

In recent months, however, I have been amazed with how rapidly Member concerns posted on  ENTConnect can reach all of us—and how quick the response can be. For example, a physician despairs over the need for quality measures to submit to Medicare. This physician could have taken valuable time from his or her practice to search the Internet, call the Academy office, pore over old issues of the Bulletin, or craft an email to AAO-HNS staff.

This physician would have eventually learned that AAO-HNSF has been hard at work developing two performance measure groups (one for external otitis and one for adult sinusitis), which have already been accepted in the 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Appropriate use of these measure groups can substantially reduce the reporting burden for physicians, since only 20 patients are required in an annual period as opposed to the requirement for reports on 80 percent of patients when individual measures are used.

So if this physician invested sufficient time and effort, all information would be obtained.

Instead, this physician posted a “distress call” on ENTConnect and a targeted response was promptly posted. Not only did this physician get the prompt feedback with minimal hassle, anyone who had similar concerns about quality reporting and happened to check ENTConnect received the same valuable information—and also could provide concerned colleagues with the latest update.

ENTConnect is a vibrant bulletin board of  the hot-button issues in our field: legislative alerts, insurance company challenges, coding alerts, educational opportunities, etc.

If you have not yet used ENTConnect, explore it today.


More from February 2015 - Vol. 34 No. 01