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Nov 1, 2017

This podcast highlights original research published in the November 2017 issue of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, the official journal of the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) Foundation.

The objective of this study was to characterize the relationship between industry payments and use of paranasal sinus balloon catheter dilations (BCDs) for chronic rhinosinusitis. Physicians with Medicare claims with Current Procedural Terminology codes 31295 to 31297 were identified and cross-referenced with industry payments. Multivariate linear regression controlling for age, race, sex, and comorbidity in a physician’s Medicare population was performed to identify associations between use of BCDs and industry payments. The final analysis included 334 physicians performing 31,506 procedures, each of whom performed at least 11 balloon dilation procedures.

Payments by manufacturers of BCD devices were associated with increased use of BCD for chronic rhinosinusitis. On separate analyses, the number of payments for food and beverages as well as that for speaker and consulting fees was associated with increased BCD use. This study was cross-sectional and cannot prove causality, and several factors likely exist for the uptrend in BCD use.

 

Click here to read the full article.