January 2025 Newsletter
Presented by Ronda Polansky M.S. CCC-SLP & Patheous Health
Happy New Year!
Celebrate endings—for they precede new beginnings.
Life is about doing, being and becoming and overcoming. Cheers to a new year and another chance for us all to do it better than last year. We look forward to working together with you on all of your dysphagia imaging needs in 2025!
DiagnosTex and Patheous Health are now united as ONE TEAM to be your preferred provider in Dysphagia Imaging!
Combining our strengths and becoming Patheous Health has allowed us to have the opportunity to serve the Dallas/Fort Worth Area with both MBSS and FEES! Make contact with our DFW Account Executive, Misty Stephens, to explore the possibilities and find out how we can support your needs. Let’s enhance your resources together! Please feel free to reach out her for assistance with any services we offer. Contact Misty at mstephens@patheoushealth.com OR 252-676-0952.
NEED CEs?
Patheous Health offers a variety of upcoming courses and live webinars. Classes are offered in a self-study or live webinar format. We know, life happens and all of our live webinars will be available for replay for a specific timeframe. Also, from time to time we offer bundled class offerings which gives you extra knowledge while also bringing some savings to your wallet. Check out PatheousHealth.com for more details. Live Webinar: Visualizing Dysphagia- Insights from Real Case Studies January 14, 2025 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Recording is available January 15th - 31st. More to come!
DiagnosTEX outpatient clinic
Open to ALL ages, call and schedule with us Monday through Friday. DiagnosTEX is changing the standard of care for dysphagia evaluation in DFW for both adults and pediatrics! Come experience the one-of-a-kind customized concierge MBSS experience at our office in North Richland Hills! Visit dysphagiadiagnostex.com for more information on scheduling and other dysphagia resources. You can also contact the office directly at 817-514-6271.
DiagnosTEX QA
The intent of our annual quality assurance is to review the results and outcome measures of the MBS completed by DiagnosTEX during a specific month of the year. In August we did 304 studies, out of those 171 were diagnosed with esophageal dysphagia. Of the 304 studies 76% were given a PO recommendation. Fifty-three patients were previously NPO and out of those patients evaluated, over 50% were recommended a PO diet. Out of 139 who aspirated during the study 86% aspirated on liquids, 52% on solids. Of those 139, 29% were silent aspirators. Compensatory strategies attempted during the evaluation were 33% effective to allow for a PO diet. Dysphagia is responsible for an estimated $7 billion in additional hospital costs per year (Patel et al, 2018) Despite the extensive impact dysphagia has on health and quality of life, not everyone seeks treatment. We are committed to providing you with the highest quality dysphagia imaging so you can provide the highest quality of treatment to your patients.
Helpful Information
Updated Medicare 2025 changes for Speech Pathology
For 2025, Medicare will see a slight decrease in payment rates for speech-language pathology services, with the KX modifier threshold set at $2,410 for combined physical therapy and speech-language pathology services, indicating a slight increase from previous years; however, there are no major policy changes expected to impact speech pathology billing significantly compared to 2024. The AMA strongly urged Congress to stop the 2.83% cut included in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) 2025 Medicare physician payment schedule, but Capitol Hill again failed to do so—marking the fifth straight year of cuts.
Unpredictable Winter Weather in Texas
It’s been a warm winter… so far! Unfortunately, in Texas we typically do not get a beautiful flaky snowfall, we get ice (usually black ice). Our weather can change overnight! This kind of weather obviously becomes a problem for anyone who travels. Most of our daily routine is traveling extensively in all directions! As winter approaches and the threat of severe weather conditions arise, DiagnosTEX owners and drivers will evaluate the conditions of the roads and DiagnosTEX will contact all scheduled facilities immediately if we are unable to meet our appointments for that day. If the weather conditions are unsafe for driving, we will cancel the day and reschedule the studies as promptly as possible. Even though roads may be passable in one area, does not mean passing through another area to get there is possible and we have to take all routes and directions into consideration. We have precious and fragile cargo on board on mobile clinics, most importantly our staff!
Dysphagia Tidbit - Seven out of ten older people with dysphagia are undiagnosed
A study of older people receiving home-based care from primary healthcare teams reveals that dysphagia is much more common than previously thought. According to the study, nearly 72% of people with the serious swallowing disorder did not know they had it and had not been diagnosed. The conclusions of the study indicate the urgent need to implement a systematic dysphagia screening program in other primary healthcare centers in Barcelona and Catalonia, especially in home-based care programs, which serve much of the most vulnerable population. Underdiagnosis is likely a widespread problem in this group’, concludes González de Paz.
Researchers involved in the study: Àngela Fauró, Lorena Montero, Luis González, and Gemma Gomis. The study was led by Luís González de Paz, who works at the CAPSBE (Consorci d’Atenció Primària de Salut Barcelona Esquerra) and is a member of IDIBAPS’ Primary healthcare transversal research group, and Lorena Montero, Gemma Gomis and Àngela Fauró, who are nurses at the CAPSBE. The I3PT (Institut d’Investigació i Innovació Parc Taulí) in Sabadell also participated.
In September 2024, the journal Dysphagia published a study revealing the program’s main conclusions. The study included 1,002 people receiving home-based care and living in Antiga Esquerra de l’Eixample, Nova Esquerra de l’Eixample and Les Corts, three of Barcelona’s neighborhoods with the oldest residents.
The DFW area of Patheous Health/DiagnosTEX will be assisting with further research of the Savorease dysphagia product with imaging
The term “melt in the mouth” is often used to describe food that is soft, airy and delicious. Savorease, started by culinary chef and oral reconstruction specialist Dr. Reva Barewal, is taking things a bit more literally. It is a nutritious plant-based finger food created for people experience dysphagia, esp. with solid foods. This product is different as it addresses people’s cravings, such as real vegetable-based crackers that are in solid form, has a crunch, yet rapidly dissolves in the mouth within seconds. This texture can be classified as a transitional food. It can satisfy, yet also restore the sensation of eating solid food, but without the challenges of an oral dysphagia with solid food. Three research studies have been conducted examining the benefits across acute care, chronic care and the physical properties of this food in comparison to existing transitional food. Dr Barewal states that all of the data is compelling and exciting and she is looking at more studies to continue growing our evidence in many different subpopulations, including children. Savorease’s products are available for sale in the U.S.
New staff at DiagnosTEX office
We would like to welcome Randi Day who will be working both in the office and as a tech on the mobile clinic. She is completing her certification as a medical assistance; she will be a great addition to our office and clinic staff! She will look forward to meeting everyone in the field!
Dysphagia Calendar
We have had many inquiries in the field about the annual dysphagia calendar, this will not be distributed this year. We certainly appreciate all of the support and interest in this annual giveaway over the years.