All News

There are no national or international guidelines regarding penile transplants, raising a question without a concrete answer: What are the rules and the limits?

"[Penile transplantation] is a real advance for patients who have a penile deficiency or penile loss," says Arthur L. Burnett, II, MD, MBA.

Videos demonstrating ureteroscopy techniques, the debate over medical expulsive therapy, and research into ureteroscopy's possible effect on erectile function were among our most-read stone disease articles of 2017.

A 61-year-old female complains of acute-onset right-sided flank and abdominal pain. She describes associated nausea, but denied urinary symptoms, hematuria, fever, or chills.

A look at Urology Times' most-read articles on bladder cancer reveals a variety of topics, ranging from radical cystectomy to the role of protein- and cell-based urinary biomarkers for bladder cancer detection and surveillance.

Giving back. Studying and following AUA guidelines. Getting a scribe in order to spend more face-to-face time with patients. These are just a few of the responses we received when we reached out to our Editorial Advisory Board, Reader Reactor Panel, and you to find out what your professional resolutions are for 2018.

Ray Painter, MD, and Mark Painter address some misunderstandings involving evaluation and management coding.

A 46-year-old male underwent a left laparoscopic radical nephrectomy for a cT1b renal cell carcinoma. Intra-operatively, a rent in the descending mesocolon was made during bowel mobilization but was not closed. Subsequently, the patient presented to the emergency room 4 days later with complaints of sudden onset sharp abdominal pain and nausea. A non-contrast computed tomography scan was obtained. What is the diagnosis?

Bipolar transurethral resection of the prostate offers an economic benefit compared with monopolar TURP that follows from the clinical differences between the two procedures, concluded investigators who presented their findings at the 2017 Western Section of the AUA annual meeting in Vancouver, BC.

"You need to make sure you’re doing the right surgery on the right patient so the surgery does not interfere with longevity," says one urologist.

Dr. Henry Rosevear's most-read blog posts from 2017 cover topics including the AUA annual meeting, physician employment, and pain control.

"While I don’t know if I 'feel the Bern' about a single-payer system, I also don’t think I would have to start looking for a second job if we transitioned to that system," writes Henry Rosevear, MD.

Multiparametric MRI, USPSTF’s updated PSA screening recommendation, and the landmark STAMPEDE and LATITUDE trials were among this year’s highlights in the peer-reviewed literature for prostate cancer, according to Leonard G. Gomella, MD; Stacy Loeb, MD, MS; and J. Brantley Thrasher, MD.

Only one-fourth of urologists report understanding the choices available to them regarding the Merit-based Incentive Payment System and Advanced Alternative Payment Models created under Medicare’s Quality Payment Program, according to the Urology Times 2017 State of the Specialty survey.

Our most-read practice management articles covered topics including reimbursement, personal finance, and EHR fraud.

These videos depict key steps of office-based approaches to hydrocelectomy and vasectomy reversal.

Ranging from advice on telephone triage to reports on cases involving circumcision requiring revision surgery to a missed kidney cancer diagnosis, these were our most-read “Malpractice Consult” columns online from 2017.

Among men undergoing active surveillance for low-risk prostate cancer, biennial biopsies appear to be an acceptable alternative to annual biopsies.

Patients with non-suspicious digital rectal exam findings and total PSA in the 4.0- to 10.0-ng/mL range are far less likely to be biopsied if they’ve undergone Prostate Health Index (phi) testing than if they don’t.

A 16-year-old female presents with irritative voiding symptoms progressing to “urinary retention.” Evaluation with a renal, bladder, pelvic sonogram shows two normal kidneys. What is the differential diagnosis?

Delay to urethroplasty for bulbar urethral strictures is associated with repetitive interventions, stricture lengthening, and more complex repairs that have a greater risk for failure, while scheduling-related delay to reconstruction exposes men to risk for stricture-related complications, according to separate studies presented at the AUA annual meeting in Boston.

"There are direct endocrine consequences of opioid use, including hypogonadism, that adversely impact men’s health," write Michael S. Leapman, MD, and Steven A. Kaplan, MD.

New legislation to modify the Stark antitrust law to remove barriers so independent physicians can take advantage of advanced payment model opportunities provided to accountable care organizations in the Affordable Care Act has been introduced with the backing of the major organizations representing urology.

"The potential GOP tax bill makes it difficult to know exactly how the landscape will look in 2018... nevertheless, there are some items you can take care of before the end of the year that can impact your 2017 taxes and overall financial plan," write Jeff Witz, CFP, and David Zemon.

In this article, we provide a summary of CPT changes for 2018, the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule, and the final rule for the Quality Payment Program.

“If nearly three-fourths of currently practicing urologists become fed up with practice and leave the field, how will we meet patient demand?” asks Jeffrey Kaufman, MD.

"This survey adds to the growing body of evidence that a significant percentage of physicians, including urologists, continue to see shortcomings in their EHRs," writes Robert A. Dowling, MD.

The overall use of active surveillance in men with low-risk prostate cancer is 14.2%, according to an examination of the National Cancer Data Base.

Tissue-based prognostic biomarker assays for prostate cancer are not robust to tumor multifocality and heterogeneity, according to research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago.