Rao VK

[UNLABELLED] Macroeconomic conditions significantly affect consumer spending patterns, including aesthetic surgery expenditures. This study examines the longitudinal relationship between unemployment rates, disposable income, stock indices,…

Integration of artificial intelligence (AI), specifically with natural language processing and machine learning, holds tremendous potential to enhance both clinical practices and administrative workflows within plastic surgery. AI has been …

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 650 million adults are obese worldwide. Recently, antidiabetic medications have rapidly become popular as weight loss medications. With the rising prevalence of obesity and the increas…

Private equity acquisition of independent private practices has grown dramatically in the last decade, with private equity firms increasingly investing in surgical specialties that practice in outpatient ambulatory centers. This trend has s…

[OBJECTIVES] Residency applicant assessment is imperfect, with little objectivity built into the process, which, unfortunately, impacts recruitment diversity. Linear rank modeling (LRM) is an algorithm that standardizes applicant assessment…

[BACKGROUND] Cosmetic surgery is a large portion of practice revenue for many plastic surgeons, and therefore understanding the economic principles of pricing is critical. Although national averages provide a starting point for price determ…

[BACKGROUND] Postsurgical pyoderma gangrenosum is a rare condition characterized by ulcerative lesion development at surgical sites. It is frequently misdiagnosed as infection and mismanaged with surgical debridement, which only worsens the…

[BACKGROUND] Consistently selecting successful, productive applicants from an annual candidate pool is the goal of all resident selection practices. Efforts to routinely identify high-quality applicants involve scrutiny of multiple factors …

[PURPOSE] Plastic surgery procedures, including minimally invasive cosmetic procedures, continue to grow in popularity. Although dermatologic complications following plastic surgery procedures are rare, the authors have encountered several …

[BACKGROUND] Opioid overprescribing is a nationwide problem contributing to the current epidemic. This study evaluated opioid consumption, physician prescribing, and patient satisfaction with pain control following outpatient plastic surger…

Medicare, a federally funded insurance program in the United States, is a complex program about which many physicians may not receive formal training or education. Plastic surgeons, residents, and advanced practitioners may benefit from at …

[BACKGROUND] Use of dilute epinephrine tumescent solution in breast reduction surgery has been shown to significantly decrease operative blood loss without increasing perioperative complications. Lidocaine is commonly added to epinephrine t…

[BACKGROUND] In 2006, a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-accredited multidisciplinary academic ambulatory surgery center was established with the goal of delivering high-quality, efficient reconstructive, and cosmetic services in …

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as Obamacare, was signed into law on March 23, 2010. It represents the most extensive overhaul of the country's health care system since the passage of Medicare and Medic…

The demand for cosmetic services has risen rapidly in recent years, but has slowed down with the current economic downturn. Managed care organizations and Medicare have been steadily reducing their reimbursements for physician services. The…

[BACKGROUND] Gigantomastia of pregnancy is a rare, severely debilitating condition characterized by massive enlargement of breasts and resulting in tissue necrosis, ulceration, infection, and, occasionally, hemorrhage. Typically, resolution…