| CLINICAL PRACTICE PRIMER |
| Creative thinking required for marketing your practice |
May 2008: Quality medical care is paramount, but there is a lot involved in keeping patients happy and attracting new ones. |
| When dealing with the boy who cried wolf, it is important to trust your instincts |
January 2008: It may be important to remember your Aesop’s fables when dealing with some patients. |
| The pursuit of happiness vs. the reality of HPV |
November 2007: A girl’s “declaration of independence” had some drastic implications. |
| Electronic prescribing holds both promises and problems |
October 2007: The Institute of Medicine has recommended that all prescriptions be written electronically by the year 2010. |
| Vexing vaccination issues for adolescents |
September 2007: Vaccinating adolescents demands a unique approach for patients and parents. |
| Odd physical findings and a curious pediatrician |
August 2007: A discussion of four unique cases and their resulting diagnoses. |
| The pillars of pediatrics |
July 2007: ‘Ugly Stanley’ asks you to remember – at least annually – to thank your local pediatric chair for all they do. |
| Pneumatic otoscopy: An old diagnostic tool revisited |
June 2007: In one study of otoscopy use, only 21% of physicians always used it and 42% never used it. |
| Making the pediatric office laboratory available and profitable |
May 2007: A well-managed office laboratory can succeed and actually be in the black at the end of the year, even for a small pediatric practice. |
| Beaters and cutters: the underworld of the teenage girl |
April 2007 |
| The bathroom hair dryer has many uses for the new baby |
March 2007: Therapeutic uses for the hair dryer include management of diaper rash, acute otitis externa and acute otitis media. |
| A simple test? |
February 2007: Tread carefully when discussing seemingly routine matters with adolescent patients. |
| The adenoid in children: out of sight, out of mind? |
August 2006: The adenoid can cause problems when it is acutely or chronically infected or when it is too large for the nasopharyngeal space. |
| Pediatric patients: the gray zone vs. the end zone |
July 2006: Exploring the age limits of pediatric practice. |
| Musings on infant swaddling |
June 2006: This month’s column focuses on an ancient nocturnal calming practice. |
| Thoughts for you bookworms
about textbooks |
May 2006: These are the core textbooks I would
recommend for inclusion in every general pediatrician’s library. |
| GERD: the lessons my new
grandchild taught me |
April 2006: What started out as whimpering and
crying ended up in a trip to the pediatric gastroenterologist. |
| The big fish in a little
pond |
March 2006: Three tales from the trenches that
will make you appreciate the solace of your office. |
| Health care changes shift
important decisions from managed care plan to patients |
February 2006: These plans, however, appear to
have a hidden agenda: Divide (the physician from his patients) and
conquer. |
| A
Tale of Two Cities: family warfare and global warming |
January 2006: Some office visits conclude as
“the best of times,” and some as “the worst of times.” |
| The story of Romeo and Juliet:
‘never was a story of more woe’ |
November 2005: As we grow older, I realize we
may not be fully able to understand the impetuous vital self-importance and
irrational exuberance of youthful love. |
| Humpty-Dumpty and the hidden
agenda |
September 2005: Sometimes being a pediatrician
means treating more than just the child. |
| C-reactive protein:
point-of-care testing in the pediatrician’s office |
August 2005: A plea for an inexpensive test for
acute phase reactants to use in the office. |
| Adolescent vaccines: the sting
of making good choices |
July 2005: The vaccine schedule for older
patients appears as though it will become quite complex, and pediatricians will
be feeling the effects. |
| Novel uses for the bulb
syringe |
June 2005: The nasal syringe can be used to
displace thin serous fluid from the middle ear cleft using the Politzer
procedure. |
| The well-child checkup: Bright
futures or dim economics? |
May 2005: Someone’s life may depend on your
due vigilance. |
| Reflections on the AAP/AAFP
clinical practice guidelines |
April 2005: The diagnosis and management of AOM
and OME keep me thinking about how little we really know about permissible
management strategies. |
| The rant: The office zoo,
shooting from the hip |
March 2005: Also, tips for changing the worst
habits of your menagerie of patients. |
| Dermatologic and ophthalmic
uses for the office otoscope |
February 2005: Also: some practical tips for
2005 on plantar wart removal and urine/stool collection. |
| Teen pseudo-modesty and
pseudo-rash decision |
January 2005 |
| The pediatrician’s guide
to hearing loss identification and management |
December 2004: Early remediation of hearing
problems helps prevent speech and language deficiencies. |
| Diagnosis of a painful toe:
tophi or too few tofu? |
November 2004: Is this young man just trying to
avoid school, or could he really have a disease never seen in teenagers? |
| 13 coding pearls and a few
trinkets |
October 2004 |
| FluMist: me-too vaccine? Or
latest and greatest? |
September 2004 |
| Objective diagnosis of middle
ear effusion by acoustic reflectometry |
August 2004: A review of the advantages and
disadvantages of acoustic reflectometry. |
| A
testy diagnostic dilemma: the acute scrotum |
July 2004: Doppler flow ultrasound is the
definitive test of choice for the acute scrotum, but in some cases, an
immediate trip to the surgeon is best. |
| Strawberry eardrum: important
sign of treatable acute otitis media |
June 2004: Strawberry eardrum may signal the
presence of a particularly nasty pathogen with a high penchant for
mischief. |
| Improving income in primary
pediatric office practices |
April 2004: Nickel-and-dime pediatrics or a
means to economic survival? You be the judge. |
| Further reflections on the
recent influenza epidemic |
February 2004: A new-school approach to an
old-school problem revisited. |
| Practical suggestions for the
office management of influenza |
December 2003: Some payers refuse to reimburse
us for any costs, some reimburse us for the actual costs of the vaccine, not
including the administration costs or the costs of record keeping, billing and
injection of the vaccine. Others paid a fair amount for this service, but we
still lost about 30% to 40% of our true costs to give influenza vaccine. |
| Tympanometry
and the objective diagnosis of middle ear effusion |
October 2003: This article will review basic tympanometry,
measure the mobility and impedance to mobility of the tympanic membrane, and
improve diagnostic accuracy during the learning curve. |
| Changes noted in
bacteriology of AOM since PCV7 |
August 2003: If these data are confirmed, the major middle
ear pathogen is H. influenzae, followed by S. pneumoniae. |
| There are
many methods for managing earache in acute otitis |
June 2003: Forty percent of children with acute otitis media
will cry because of an earache. |
| Properly defining
what ‘bulging’ of the tympanic membrane means |
April 2003: A non-bulging, opacified, immobile TM in the
neutral or retracted position is not sufficient for a diagnosis of AOM. |
| Laser-assisted myringotomy:
promises and problems |
February 2003: After simple myringotomy or tympanocentesis,
80% of children with chronic mucoid OME will not show any improvement in their
condition when the tympanic membrane heals. |
| Tympanostomy
tubes: Eustachian tube bypass with imperfections |
December 2002 |
| The
Eustachian tube: Function and dysfunction |
October 2002 |
| Examining
eardrum of infants with Down syndrome |
August 2002: Although this can be a frustrating experience,
early diagnosis and treatment of ear problems can improve the hearing of
children with Down syndrome. |
| Optional AOM
therapy: novel strategy |
April 2002 |
| Amoxicillin
treatment of AOM: confessions from a nonconformist |
February 2002: Dosage of amoxicillin for acute otitis media:
40 mg/kg to 50 mg/kg or 80 mg/kg to 90 mg/kg? |
| Routine follow-up
examinations in AOM |
December 2001: Are they necessary? Do they help or confuse
decision-making? |
| Myringotomy
and tympanocentesis (CPT 69420): A lost skill revisited |
October 2001 |
| Odd things
on, in and behind the eardrum |
August 2001: TM casts, intramembraneous cholesteatoma,
tympanosclerosis, implantation cholesteatoma, tympanic membrane retraction
pockets and cholesterol granuloma are discussed. |
| Acute otitis
media: red eardrum, bulging eardrum, or neither? |
June 2001: Most pediatric ID respondents to the survey
believe that bulging should be necessary for the diagnosis of AOM. |
| The
maintenance of the office otoscope |
April 2001: Who is responsible for taking care of this
important piece of office equipment? |
| Gleanings from a professional
lifetime of cleaning out kid’s ear canals |
February 2001 |
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