Cartoon Video of What Happens After Decision for Surgery Made

A very common question our practice gets from patients is what happens next after a decision is made to pursue surgery. What do or should they do next? What do we do?

Well, our office created a video cartoon to describe this somewhat intimidating process in a way that is understandable and benign.

Watch it here!

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Robotic Surgery for Oral Cancer

I encountered these amazing pictures in the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery Dec 2010 edition in an article titled "Transoral Robotic-Assisted Surgery for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma". This surgery was performed at Mayo Clinic as well as University of Alabama.

Of note, there are also some YouTube videos of robotic surgery for thyroidectomy you can watch below or here.

Reference:
Transoral Robotic-Assisted Surgery for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Archives of Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 136(12):1248-1252; 2010

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Physician Marketing Using Groupon

For those not in the know, Groupon is a website that offers coupons and other savings on local merchandise and services. Groupon also has recently rejected a takeover bid by Google.

I recently encountered this amazing deal on Groupon offered by an ENT colleague, Dr. Ghaheri:

"$149 for Four Laser Hair-Removal Treatments at The Center for Aesthetic Medicine at The Oregon Clinic (Up to $1,000 Value)"

I wonder if such marketing and medical discount offerings like this will become the future. Clearly, procedures and other types of medical treatments that are not covered by insurance will be applicable.

For example... here are some medical treatments/services I am considering to discount on Groupon:

1) Injection snoreplasty for snoring
2) Botox injections for facial wrinkles
3) Hearing services and products including hearing aids
etc

Click here to check out Groupon and create an account!

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Making Twitter Work for a Specialty Medical Practice (Like ENT)

I've been asked by a few ENT colleagues how I got Twitter to work for my practice and how in the world I managed to get more than a few dozen followers.

I've been at it for about 1 year now (up to 355 followers @FauquierENT) and here are a few tips to making it work for a medical practice... Just an opinion... And it may not apply to everyone...

• When you tweet something, always back it up with a useful link to a webpage using a link shortner like bit.ly or goo.gl.
• Tweet about topics that the LAY-PERSON would find interesting. Twittering about "Outcomes of Vascularized Bone Graft Reconstruction of the Mandible in Bisphosphonate-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaws" is NOT going to garner you fans even if you personally as an ENT find it riveting reading. An example of a good tweet I recently posted is "Do Cell Phone Makers Secretly Know Cell Phones May Cause Health Problems? http://ht.ly/3bBUZ"
• Follow people you find interesting. They will follow you back typically and their followers will slowly start to follow you. Given I twitter about ENT topics, I make it a point to follow ALL otolaryngologists, respected medical journalists, and health related newspapers.
• Write a blog and use twitter to "advertise" your blog article.
• ADVERTISE on your website that you have a twitter account.
• Be active with tweets. Potential followers will not be that excited to follow you if you have something interesting to say only once every few weeks.
• IF you come across something interesting in a medical journal, tweet it, and support it with a link.

So there you have it... Now go sign up with twitter and don't forget to follow my tweets!

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