STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVES IN
en’s Health AUGUST 2014 • PART 1 IN A SERIES
Peyronie’s Disease: An Underrecognized Men’s Health Condition By John A. Welz, MPH
A
s the US healthcare system continues to evolve, physicians in every state and specialty are attempting to comply with new rules, expectations, and costs, and must adapt to meet new healthcare demands. These changes are being driven by a combination of clinical and economic factors, including therapeutic innovation, improved diagnostic and surgical techniques, and perhaps most prominently, a policy environment where purchasers of healthcare are increasingly focused on accountability, quality, and value. For clinicians who manage conditions such as erectile dysfunction (ED), low testosterone, and Peyronie’s Disease (PD), these sweeping healthcare policy changes coincide with remarkable technological and pharmaceutical innovations, which have significantly improved outcomes for men with urologic conditions. Together, however, the combination of comprehensive healthcare reforms and fast-paced clinical advances has resulted in a challenging environment for urologists and other clinicians who treat these conditions. In order to continue to provide state-of-the-art, quality-driven, and cost-effective care for their patients, these specialists must reconsider both clinical and economic aspects of their practices. Business Challenges for Today’s Urology Practice In order to thrive in today’s healthcare environment, today’s urology practices must innovate. Many practices have consolidated to remain competitive, while others have sought to expand their coverage area and attract more new patients. Some of the approaches that have been implemented to mitigate risk, improve financial health, and maximize patient retention for urology practices include: • Increasing patient volume (workload): more patients per day, more surgeries per week, the addition of evening hours • Adding urology staff or consolidating private practices to broaden the catchment area
• Performing new procedures or prescribing newly available therapies • Maximizing referrals from primary care physicians • Partnering with local or regional hospital networks • Expanding the service line, including drug infusion services, pathology, diagnostic imaging, radiation, surgery, and/or clinical research.
Editor’s Note
Urology Practice Management is publishing a series of newsletters about selected men’s health topics that are of interest to the urology community. The newsletters provide relevant, up-to-date, evidence-based information on current topics of interest in a straightforward, concise manner. The series is specifically designed to raise awareness about new treatment approaches that may interest urologists and urology practice administrators from a business as well as a clinical perspective. The first issue of the newsletter focuses on Peyronie’s Disease, an underreported penile disorder (see the article on this page “Peyronie’s Disease: An Underrecognized Men’s Health Condition”). Until recently, treatment options were limited for patients with moderate to severe disease, and a substantial proportion of patients opted for surgery. Although surgery remains a mainstay of the treatment armamentarium, a less invasive option became available in 2013. This new option, XIAFLEX (collagenase clostridium histolyticum), is an injectable agent that has demonstrated the ability to reduce penile curvature deformity and patient bother in randomized clinical trials. This treatment option is explored in the article “XIAFLEX (collagenase clostridium histolyticum): A New Option for the Treatment of Peyronie’s Disease,” on page 6.