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University Hospitals celebrates milestone implant

2011; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 64; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/01.hj.0000407433.33083.be

2333-6218

Matthew Coleman,

Global Health Workforce Issues

Figure: Gail Murray, PhD, with pediatric cochlear implant recipient Nicole Carroll at a celebration of University Hospitals’ 600th implant.As cochlear implant programs across Nevada close due to insufficient reimbursement, Cleveland's University Hospitals (UH) has managed not just to survive but to succeed, recently celebrating its 600th cochlear implant surgery. Gail Murray, PhD, Director of Audiology Services and Clinical Director of the program, credited careful management for the program's longevity. “We review every claim before it is sent out to make sure that we have captured all charges appropriately,” she said. “We also track all of our costs and our reimbursement by payer. This allows us to readily identify reimbursement challenges, and address them before they become larger issues.” The University Hospitals cochlear implant program only served children when it began in 1995, but it included adult patients within its first two years. Currently, the program treats an almost even split of adult and pediatric patients, but the numbers are trending more toward older patients because of publicity about the procedure. UH also established a universal newborn hearing screening and diagnostic program. “We had a peak year in 2010, and performed 91 cochlear implant procedures. We are on target to exceed that number this year,” Murray said. UH added a fifth programming location this year, and plans to add another site next year as well as cochlear implant surgery at a third community hospital so patients can be seen close to home. The expansion will help bring cochlear implants to more individuals in need, Murray added. At UH, cochlear implantation is about more than helping people hear, it's about helping patients stay connected to their communities. “Our five-hundredth cochlear implant recipient required treatment for life-threatening cancer, and she lost her hearing as a result of the chemotherapy. Thanks to the cochlear implant technology, she has regained her hearing, been able to reconnect with family and friends, and has re-entered the workforce.” Seventy-five implant recipients, including the 500th patient, were on hand to celebrate the 600th cochlear implant at the Cleveland Institute of Music at Severance Hall in Cleveland. “Four pediatric cochlear implant recipients in attendance not only understand speech well enough to succeed academically in their mainstreamed school environments, but they also hear melodies and lyrics that enable them to play musical instruments in their school orchestras and bands,” Murray said. UH also celebrated the opening of a new Ear, Nose, and Throat Institute, marking its eighth center of excellence. “The most exciting opportunities presented by this institute model are those that [benefit] our patients,” Murray said. “The UH cochlear implant program, of which I am very proud to have been a part of from the point of its inception, has been a model ‘pilot’ program for the ENT institute model.” HJ Return to thehearingjournal.com