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Dermatology practices across the country report a higher percentage of missed appointments than in the past. You may consider appointment no-shows a nuisance, but patients missing appointments may have a greater impact than you or your staff realize. Every appointment no-show is a revenue drain and a missed opportunity to contribute to your bottom line.

A prognostic assay, expected to be available to practices in late 2010, helps to predict melanoma recurrence risk in some of the hardest-to-predict melanoma cases - those patients who qualify for sentinel node biopsy but have negative nodes, according to a new study.

Oral contraceptives can be prescribed as adjuncts to therapies such as topical retinoids or oral isotretinoin to treat acne, and it is up to clinicians to inform their patients of any risks in taking systemic hormonal treatments.

The 2010 annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology was the forum for the first public presentation of data from the Psoriasis Longitudinal Assessment and Registry (PSOLAR), a multicenter, Phase 4 observational study sponsored by Centocor and mandated by the FDA when the regulatory agency granted approval of infliximab (Remicade, Centocor) for the treatment of chronic severe plaque psoriasis.

The idea of hair loss may be off-putting to both genders alike, but for women, female pattern hair loss may be particularly unsettling - and entirely unexpected - despite the fact that as many as 40 percent of American hair loss sufferers are female, according to the American Hair Loss Association.

National report - Decreasing levels of estrogen in menopause are linked to effects on the skin, such as increased skin laxity, wrinkling and poor wound healing, prompting research targeted at topical administration of estrogens.

Recognizable, but not always easily diagnosed, is lichen sclerosus et atrophicus. Occurring more often in prepubescent girls and postmenopausal women, and believed to be an autoimmune disorder, LS presents as white, shiny, atrophic patches and plaques with an erythematous halo.

There is little doubt that every physician in the U.S. has an opinion on the recent healthcare legislation and its impact on medical care in this country. What is less clear is whether or not most physicians understand the tax ramifications of the new law.

Over the last few years, many physicians have re-examined not only their investment assumptions, but also their relationships with investment advisory professionals. Declines in market values, like the recent 40 percent drop, often cause investors to rethink their investment strategies.

International report - Robert E. Kalb, M.D., made giving back a family adventure four years ago, when he, his wife and two college-aged children took their first medical mission trip with Health Volunteers Overseas to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Bridgewater, N.J. - Results of a new study suggest that atopic dermatitis may increase the risk of cancer, including melanoma, Reuters Health reports.

Washington - President Barack Obama has signed a bill that delays until Dec. 1 a previously approved 21 percent cut in Medicare payments, the Associated Press reports.

Bethesda, Md. - National Cancer Institute researchers say the incidence of cutaneous appendageal carcinomas - cancers of the sweat glands and hair follicles - has increased since the late 1970s, MedPageToday.com reports.

Mississauga, Ontario - Biovail, Canada’s largest pharmaceutical firm, plans to purchase Valeant Pharmaceuticals, based in Aliso Viejo, Calif., for about $3.3 billion, according to in-Pharmatechnologist.com.

Weighing The Impact : New healthcare reform law’s omissions, provisions raise concerns, derms say SGR, No fix yet : Congress again delays action on Medicare reimbursement formula Special Report : Fillers & Toxins

Adverse events (AEs) following dermatologic procedures are a real possibility. However, the frequency of these events in dermatologic practice remains an unknown. Only after establishing which AEs occur and how often they appear can dermatologists begin to put forth sound preventive strategies to keep these unwanted events to a minimum, improving surgical outcomes in patients.

Clinicians have to apply different ratios when using Dysport (abobotulinumtoxinA, Medicis) in their patients, according to a clinical professor of dermatology at the University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco.

The approval pathway created for follow-on biologic drugs, also called biosimilars, in the new healthcare reform package raises concerns related to drug prices and quality, dermatologists say. The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act gives originators of biologic drugs 12 years of data exclusivity.

If you've been on the fence about purchasing an electronic health record (EHR) for your dermatology practice, it's time to make your move. The federal government has pledged billions of dollars to finance the automation of medical practices. Also working in your favor now are the advances in the technology behind these sytems; today's systems are much better than what you could find just 12 or 18 months ago.

Payments or gifts of $10 or more to physicians from the pharmaceutical industry will be listed on a public website beginning Sept. 30, 2013, under the recently passed federal healthcare reform law. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will post virtually all payments of $10 or more made to physicians or teaching hospitals by manufacturers of drugs, products or supplies covered under Medicare or Medicaid.

Approved by the Food and Drug Administration, a number of fillers containing lidocaine hit the market this spring and are quickly coming into fairly widespread use. Arielle Kauvar, M.D., director of the New York Laser & Skin Care Center, says she started using them in March, and unless a patient is allergic to lidocaine, she sees no reason now to use fillers without the anesthetic already included.

The newly passed federal healthcare legislation mandates changes that will impact dermatology practices to greater or lesser degrees, depending on practice size, patient base and other factors. But dermatologists say they're most concerned about what the legislation omits: an explanation of how the new Medicare Independent Payment Advisory Board will function, and a fix for Medicare's sustainable growth rate formula.

Efficacy and safety results of phase 2 studies provide support for undertaking pivotal trials investigating an oncolytic vaccine therapy, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)-encoding oncolytic herpes simplex virus (OncoVEX GM-CSF, BioVex), for treating metastatic melanoma (MM) and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization has become an increasingly common occurrence. Most people with frequent MRSA infections harbor the organism in their nose, developing skin infections when the organism is placed into open wounds. The best way to prevent the spread of MRSA when shaving is to eradicate the source of the infection.

With a variety of dermal fillers now available to dermatologists, it may be difficult to choose the right one. When a patient comes it, it is best to discuss what changes he or she is trying to achieve, says Ruth Tedaldi, M.D., who practices in Wellesley, Mass.

Frances J. Storrs, M.D., tells it like it is, sees the humor in it, then laughs a hearty laugh. She was the first woman to complete the dermatology residency at Oregon Health and Science University, graduating in 1968. Now professor emerita of dermatology and director of the Dermatology Contact Clinic at Oregon Health and Science University, Dr. Storrs has undeniably earned respect in a specialty that early in her career was dominated by men.

A six-month plan to forestall Medicare reimbursement cuts yet again - a proposal pending in the Senate at press time - is the latest in a series of delays that continues to leave dermatologists and other physicians frustrated.

New fillers, including even more hyaluronic acid fillers, as well as new toxins are expected to enter the U.S. market within the next year, according to William Philip Werschler, M.D., F.A.A.D., assistant professor of clinical medicine and dermatology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle.

Treating chin dimpling can be a challenge, but a simple therapeutic approach using botulinum toxin coupled with a change in mimicking habits by the patient proves to relax the musculature in the chin area, resulting in signficiant, lasting Aesthetic improvements.

Photoaging of the neck and chest is a common concern among patients. One of the most frequent clinical presentations is poikiloderma of Civatte (PC). First described by French dermatologist Achille Civatte in 1923, it is characterized by brown to pink patches of superficial atrophy, telangiectasia and mottled hyper- and hypopigmentation.