Effect of Private Equity Ownership on Access to Outpatient Urologic Cancer Care in Medicare Recipients.

Objective: To compare appointment availability and wait times between private equity-owned and non-private equity-owned urology clinics for 2 common urologic complaints.

Methods: We identified all PE-owned urology clinic locations as of June 2022 (n = 390). For each PE-owned location, a geographically matched, non-PE-owned clinic was identified.

Stereotactic Body Radiation Adoption Impacts Prostate Cancer Treatment Patterns.

Objective: To investigate stereotactic body radiation (SBRT) adoption for prostate cancer. As evidence supporting SBRT mounts, its utilization and impact relative to other prostate cancer treatments is unknown.

Methods: We used SEER-Medicare to identify patients diagnosed with localized prostate cancer from 2008 to 2017.

Predictors of persistent opioid use in bladder cancer patients undergoing radical cystectomy: A SEER-Medicare analysis.

Purpose: To evaluate patient and provider characteristics that predict persistent opioid use following radical cystectomy for bladder cancer including non-opioid naïve patients.

Methods: Patients undergoing cystectomy between July 2007 and December 2015 were identified using the SEER-Medicare database. Opioid exposure was identified before and after cystectomy using Medicare Part D data.

Patient Reported Outcomes of Transperineal Prostate Biopsy With Tumescent Local Anesthesia.

Objective: To report the outcomes of performing transperineal prostate biopsy in the office setting using the novel anesthetic technique of tumescent local anesthesia. We report anxiety, pain, and embarrassment of patients who underwent this procedure compared to patients who underwent a transrectal prostate biopsy using standard local anesthesia.

Materials And Methods: Consecutive patients undergoing either a transperineal prostate biopsy under tumescent local anesthesia or a transrectal prostate biopsy with standard local anesthetic technique were prospectively enrolled.

Partial Nephrectomy Drives the Association Between High-volume Centers and Decreased Mortality: A Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare Analysis.

Objective: To better understand the association between high-volume surgical kidney cancer centers and decreased mortality. To identify quality metrics that mediate this association.

Methods: We designed a cohort of 14,044 patients who were diagnosed with kidney cancer between 2004 and 2013 and underwent a partial or radical nephrectomy using SEER-Medicare data.

Large Variations in the Prices of Urologic Procedures at Academic Medical Centers 1 Year After Implementation of the Price Transparency Final Rule.

Importance: Patients with urologic diseases often experience financial toxicity, defined as high levels of financial burden and concern, after receiving care. The Price Transparency Final Rule, which requires hospitals to disclose both the commercial and cash prices for at least 300 services, was implemented to facilitate price shopping, decrease price dispersion, and lower health care costs.

Objective: To evaluate compliance with the Price Transparency Final Rule and to quantify variations in the price of urologic procedures among academic hospitals and by insurance class.

Endothelial regulation of calmodulin expression and eNOS-calmodulin interaction in vascular smooth muscle.

Calmodulin (CaM) is a Ca sensor protein that is required for numerous vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) functions. Since CaM is not expressed enough for its many target proteins, factors that modulate its expression and interactions with targets in VSMCs can have extensive effects on vascular functions. VSMCs receive many regulatory inputs from endothelial cells (ECs).