News

If you're feeling sullen after meeting with your business office staff to mull over the challenges of collecting from patients, maybe it's time to explore opportunities to integrate credit card transactions into your collections process.

Achieving meaningful use and avoiding common mistakes in implementing an electronic health record (EHR) system require careful planning and learning from others' experiences, said Michael Doyle, chairman of Medsphere Systems Corporation, at the 70th annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Research continues to elucidate how the human papillomavirus (HPV) contributes to the development of skin cancer, particularly squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), said Eggert Stockfleth, M.D., at MauiDerm 2012: Advances in Cosmetic and Medical Dermatology.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a neuroendocrine tumor of the skin that is very aggressive and potentially lethal. As such, treatment approaches and disease management should also be aggressive and appropriately address the patient's disease and symptoms. Treatment choices depend on the stage of the tumor, however, as well as the general health of the affected patient.

A tangential biopsy performed on melanonychia may often be the superior biopsy technique in exacting an accurate diagnosis of suspect lesions, according to Nilton Di Chiacchio, M.D., department of dermatology, Hospital of Public Service, Sao Paulo.

Physicians' relationships with industry have long been an ethical tug of war, yet they remain commonplace. And with government's increasing focus on transparency - augmented with the U.S. Supreme Court upholding of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - consulting, research and other relationships with pharmaceutical and medical device companies will become even more visible.

Janet Gratner Hickman, M.D., may have retired from full-time private practice more than a year ago, but life since has been anything but leisurely. For Dr. Hickman, the close of three decades in dermatology practice meant more time for giving back to the specialty, to research and to her beloved daffodils.

Recently, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine surveyed their third- and fourth-year residents and found that even though it is not on the official curriculum, the residents are learning defensive medicine. Whether it's an attending mentioning that a particular biopsy isn't necessary or deciding not to offer a patient a particular medication because it of a potential lawsuit, the residents are seeing defensive medicine in practice.

Dermatologists who strongly oppose key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in late June, continue to turn their attention to Congress in the hopes of obtaining some relief.

A new laser approach is proving highly effective in the treatment of onychomycosis, offering patients a new therapeutic option for this sometimes difficult-to-treat condition, said Jill S. Waibel, M.D., at the 2012 meeting of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery.

The use of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) in dermatology is preferable to using synthetic hormones because potential overdose is less hazardous, and bioidentical hormones are not known to be carcinogenic, says Julie T. Hunter, M.D., founder and director of Wholistic Dermatology in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, can be a physically and emotionally distressing condition. In 2004, the United States prevalence rates were estimated to be 1.4 percent (more than 4 million people; Strutton DR, Kowalski JW, Glasser DA, et al. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2004;51(2):241-248).

Social media allow for efficient networking with patients and colleagues, but using these tools successfully with patients requires setting limits and delegating authority.

The hedgehog inhibitor drug vismodegib (Erivedge, Genentech/Roche), approved in January to treat advanced and metastatic basal cell carcinoma, has demonstrated potent clinical activity when used in patients with basal cell nevus syndrome, according to a study published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Treatment with a picosecond 755 nm alexandrite laser (Cynosure) appears to be a significant advance for clearing tattoos and benign pigmented lesions, according to research reported at LASER 2012, the annual conference of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery.

With regard to the surgical treatment of androgenetic alopecia, strip harvesting and follicular unit extraction (FUE) techniques can work very well, but each technique must be used appropriately and for the appropriate patients to ensure optimal outcomes, says Walter Unger, M.D.

There is no doubt that shaving cream is important in preventing pseudofolliculitis barbae. The purpose of shaving cream is to reduce friction between the blade and the skin, prolong the life of the blade, soften the hair, and improve shave aesthetics.

Photoprotection with use of sunscreens is an important strategy for preventing melanoma, and thanks to the new rules on sunscreen labeling that will take effect at the end of 2012, counseling patients on appropriate sunscreen selection will now be easier, says Darrell S. Rigel, M.D., M.S.

A systematic approach helps to guide the workup and management of female pattern alopecia (FPA), according to Mary Gail Mercurio, M.D.

We medical professionals are confronted with our own assortment of believe-it-or-nots and oddities on a daily basis. Unfortunately, they are often more upsetting or frustrating than astounding. I started keeping a list a few years ago, initially as a coping mechanism. But gradually, the list evolved into a collection.

For young women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), dermatologists must diagnose the underlying hormonal issues to best treat the related skin symptoms, explains Helen M. Torok, M.D., medical director, Trillium Creek Dermatology & Surgery, Medina, Ohio.

Dr. Skin hired several people to improve the marketing of his practice. In order to make things simple, he provided them with all of his patients' records to allow them easy access to patient demographic information. Dr. Skin is assured by colleagues that although the involved activity may represent a HIPAA violation, no penalties have been assessed to small practices such as his. Is this true?

In the quest for new vaccines, developers must balance clinical promise with practical concerns, said Kenneth Tomecki, M.D., at the 70th annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology. "The future for vaccines is very encouraging," says Dr. Tomecki, vice chairman, department of dermatology, Cleveland Clinic.

Melanoma researchers may now have a better idea of which genes damaged by ultraviolet radiation actually drive the disease.

Liposuction can provide raw materials for engineers to grow small-diameter blood vessels, new research suggests.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill designed to curtail the unlicensed practice of medicine, particularly medical spas and similar aesthetic procedure clinics.

Methotrexate appears to provide no improvement on synovitis in patients with psoriatic arthritis, results of a recent study indicate.

If you’re like most Americans, you feel less secure about the U.S. economy. Certainly, this is justified. Western European countries have run out of capital, unemployment-based riots have broken out in the streets of Great Britain, and the United States debt shield political debacle has caused our government debt to be downgraded from “AAA” for the first time in history.

Are you the owner of a medical practice taxed as a flow-through entity, such as an S corporation? Most physicians are. We would estimate that 70 percent of medical practices operate as S corporations. As such, you may be paid both as an employee of the practice, receiving a W-2, and as an owner of the practice, through a K-1 distribution.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for management of localized primary melanoma continues to have its critics, but Alistair Cochran, M.D., says that current data supports the procedure as a standard approach for staging patients with clinically localized, intermediate-thickness melanoma.