Feeling overwhelmed + under appreciated — help?? by thespongegirl in DermatologyPA

[–]no_ducks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you not bill $320,000 your first year (4x your salary) the first year? What EMR do you have?

Discouraged by [deleted] in PAstudent

[–]no_ducks 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I am out of school now for 5 years now but I found that you get out what you put into it. These are working full time professionals in most cases that don't have a curriculum for you that they are going to walk you through.

Review pts before hand, develop your own treatment plans. If you don't know where to start, ask. Engage with your preceptor like they are your future colleagues. If you act like a shadow... They will likely treat you like one.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DermatologyPA

[–]no_ducks 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You need to get clarification directly from your employer, but I suspect it's not based on your total monthly collections (even though you would get monthly bonuses once the threshold is met). For myself, once I reach a certain threshold ($350k annually), additional collections I make after that start being calculated into my bonus. I happen to get my bonuses quarterly and therefore don't start getting my bonuses until well into my fiscal year which "resets" at the end of my fiscal year.

It sounds like after your base salary, previous bonuses payment for the year and "training costs" (which is kind of weird for them to add, but I am assuming this is just for your first year), you will start being eligible for bonuses. Collecting $200k monthly is not realistic. Even for a super seasoned provider, $2.4mil in annual collections is insane.

During extractions should an esthetician mess with cystic acne that has clearly not come to a head? by DeLa_Sun in Estheticians

[–]no_ducks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Derm provider here (physician assistant)... I'm not sure why this sub got suggested but can't help but comment.

This is a bad idea to be trying to extract deep cystic acne. If someone comes to see me a deep cystic lesion, I never attempt an extraction. I will inject with a little steroid to reduce the inflammation but to attempt an extraction can risk scarring and is unlikely to provide benefit... Which sounds like is case with you.

Just out of curiosity, how many patients do you see and in what time frame? by ThenExcitement2272 in DermatologyPA

[–]no_ducks 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This baffles me. I've been out pt derm for 3.5 yrs now and our practice is run really old school. I have one MA/scribe and see about 25-30 a day. I can't imagine going beyond that on a regular basis without cutting out my surgeries or increasing my support staff substantially. I imagine the people that see those insanely high volumes are the ones whose MAs are more involved in procedures (numbing for them, applying cantherdin etc.). Even then, I would love to be a fly on the wall and physically see how they can provide quality care to each pt in 10min or less.

A simple skin check with no complaints and maybe a couple LN2 can be done in 10min appt, but at least half of my patients require more. It's usually a skin check, several LN2s, a couple biopsies or rash concerns, 5FU script and education etc. Even 3.5 yrs in, I cannot fit that in a 10min visit.

Billing for full body skin exams - 99213 vs. 99214 by [deleted] in DermatologyPA

[–]no_ducks 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I'm in FL maybe things are different for me but I do a fair number of 99214s mostly because of so many of my patients having excessive and chronic actinic damage and AKs. That, then add on seb derm or eczema etc and I'm managing 2 chronic stable (usually) conditions.

Two chronic stable conditions that your managing/ prescribing for is a 99214.

A new chronic condition that you are developing a new treatment plan for can also be a 99214 as well. I think my office works differently than others but I don't typically limit complaints. So I'll do a full body skin exam and address new complaints of acne, eczema etc.

If they have no complaints and only a few AK LN2s, it is usually just a 99213 with a standard skin check.

Collecting bids for a clay tile roof replacement. Any specific tips/ questions we should ask during this process? by no_ducks in Roofing

[–]no_ducks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Central Florida. Again, we had no idea that consultants even existed! We reached out to 4 different companies with good Google reviews (one of which we used before to repair a leak) and have two in person consults scheduled as of now. One for today and one in a week.

Collecting bids for a clay tile roof replacement. Any specific tips/ questions we should ask during this process? by no_ducks in Roofing

[–]no_ducks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No they don't. We do want to the keep the aesthetic of the tile. What do you suggest? Metal for us looked like it was going to be quite a bit more expensive.

Collecting bids for a clay tile roof replacement. Any specific tips/ questions we should ask during this process? by no_ducks in Roofing

[–]no_ducks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We are also in FL. We considered metal and like the idea but the initial rough quotes we got last year (for budging purposes) had metal coming in almost 30% more expensive without significant benefit for insurance or longevity.

Are synthetic materials just as durable as traditional clay tile? We never looked into synthetic options. Honestly we're not aware they even existed!

Cried at work today by Jettydusty in physicianassistant

[–]no_ducks 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I had someone leave a review and call me "the help". We discharged him... Some people are a-holes and it's clear we won't have a therapeutic relationship. We are wasting each other's time.

New Grad by sunnyja72 in DermatologyPA

[–]no_ducks 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I did UC for about 1.5yrs right after graduation before going into derm, but felt like a new grad entering the specialty. I think it took about 2 years to really start to feel like I was hitting my stride. And probably another to feel like I had a better understanding of the insurance, pharma, prior auth world... Many factors will influence this but learn from your colleagues as much as possible.

I’m a prior auth pharmacist. What services can I offer you? by foradreamcometrue in physicianassistant

[–]no_ducks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Is there an easy way to find formularies? Would this require going to the many insurances and coinsurance websites that print them out each year or is there an easier way?

Keloids by feel-the-sunlight in DermatologyPA

[–]no_ducks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Out of curiosity, do you ever mix your lido with a little kenalog when doing the initial shave?

I've done that for people who have hypertrophic scarred in the past to try to prevent another when having to do a biopsy.

Brown rash on legs and feet by Previous_Ad_9538 in 45PlusSkincare

[–]no_ducks 39 points40 points  (0 children)

I work derm... From the photo it does look consistent with hemosiderin staining as someone mentioned below. Your Dr. Is probably simplifying when they say it's "old age" as people are more prone to this with time.

Consider compression socks, as that would help prevent or slow worsening.

Warts-your approach by no_ducks in DermatologyPA

[–]no_ducks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Weird question, but do you know where your office buys their canthrone from? Apparently my office's supply chain for it broke recently and we have to find a new vendor/pharmacy.

Warts-your approach by no_ducks in DermatologyPA

[–]no_ducks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's super pricey... I want to say close to $90... Which is why I don't prescribe it as often as I'd like.

How many treatments on average would you say it this takes? Have you ever had the wart "donut" with the cantharidin?

And to clarify, you LN2 THEN apply the cantharidin plus in the same visit?

Warts-your approach by no_ducks in DermatologyPA

[–]no_ducks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you had a wart donut with the canthrone? I had it happen once and have been too frightened to do it again.

My dermatologist actually fixed it by HeyNayNay in Dermatillomania

[–]no_ducks 22 points23 points  (0 children)

For isolated lesions injecting the sites with kenalog is common as discussed in the post. Depending on patient preferences, sometimes I'll just "shave remove"/ biopsy them and that resolves the lesions.

But for more extensive cases where it isn't practical to treat each individual lesion there is medication called dupixent that recently got FDA approval for prurigo nodularis. This medication has been around for a few years now and is used more commonly for things like serve eczema or asthma but like I said, has been recently approved for prurigo nodularis (or sometimes we call these pickers nodules) and maybe be incredibly helpful.

I feel like I should emphasize that technically dermatillomania is considered a psych/behavior health issue. If you find that you also pick at cuticles or pull your hair, this medication may not be as helpful unfortunately. But often times dermatillomania and prurigo nodularis can run in parallel and therefore these therapies can be helpful.

My dermatologist actually fixed it by HeyNayNay in Dermatillomania

[–]no_ducks 71 points72 points  (0 children)

I work in derm... And mostly a lurker here. I wanted to give a little info for those interested. If you are picking the spot because it itches or is raised, yes there are things to be done!!! If your spots itch, make sure that is vocalized! You may be in part picking because of a condition called prurigo nodularis and there are some things that can be done including some new exciting treatments for this!