Navigating the Orthopaedic Maze as a New Patient: A National Mystery Caller Study on Medicaid Coverage and Access to Specialized Surgeons.

Introduction: Medicaid coverage is associated with longer appointment wait times, decreased access to care, and poorer health outcomes compared with private insurance across medical subspecialties. The purpose of this study was to evaluate new patient appointment wait times for subspecialty Orthopaedic care based on insurance type and to identify factors influencing these wait times.

Methods: Orthopaedic physicians were identified using the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons patient-facing database in the fields of Adult Reconstruction, Foot and Ankle, Hand, Sports Medicine, Spine, Pediatric, and General Orthopaedic surgery.

Brain Abscesses in the Tropics.

Purpose Of Review: This review aims to elucidate the etiologies of brain abscesses in the tropics. Despite the similarities in causes of brain abscesses across global regions, tropical settings manifest distinguishing characteristics, prominently observed on computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging.

Recent Findings: In tropical climates, the leading conditions predisposing individuals to brain abscesses are polymicrobial bacterial infections originating from paranasal sinuses, dental sources, and otitis media.

Insurance Status and Access to Otolaryngology Care: National Mystery Caller Study in the United States.

Objective: To investigate potential differences in new patient appointment wait times for otolaryngology care based on insurance types and explore factors influencing these wait times.

Study Design: A cross-sectional audit study, using a "mystery caller" approach, analyzed with a linear mixed Poisson model to adjust for confounding factors.

Setting: A total of 612 physicians across 49 states and the District of Columbia, representing 6 otolaryngology subspecialties, were included.

Novel approaches in the treatment of Hansen's disease (Leprosy): a case series of multidrug therapy of monthly rifampin, moxifloxacin, and minocycline (RMM) in the United States.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends multidrug therapy (MDT) for the treatment of paucibacillary and multibacillary forms of leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD). MDT combinations of dapsone, rifampin, and clofazimine have reduced the prevalence of the disease but are not without adverse effects impacting regimen adherence. Hence, an urgent need exists to consider alternative MDT regimens with an improved safety profile that promotes treatment adherence.

U.S. bound journey of migrant peoples InTransit across Dante's Inferno and Purgatory in the Americas.

Rapid rise of population migration is a defining feature of the 21st century due to the impact of climate change, political instability, and socioeconomic downturn. Over the last decade, an increasing number of migrant peoples travel across the Americas to reach the United States seeking asylum or cross the border undocumented in search of economic opportunities. In this journey, migrant people experience violations of their human rights, hunger, illness, violence and have limited access to medical care.