Category Archives: Uncategorized

Ran across this site on otomatch chit chat today.

https://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php?category=2733&order=sjr&ord=desc

Its a great list of Oto HNS journals with H-indexes and other metrics.

I ran across this wikipedia page comparing data rates on different interfaces ranging from RAM to RS-232. Its nice to have all this data in one place when deciding what to do with old hardware.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_interface_bit_rates#Graphics_processing_units’_RAM

For comparison here are the data rates of some common audio and video signals.

8-bit Uncompressed PCM Audio @ 8 kHz = 64 kbit/s
CD Quality Stereo Audio (2 channels) = 1.4 Mbit/s
FM Quality MP3 (2 channels) = 256 kbit/s

SD Video (480i) = 16 Mbit/s
DVD (576i) MPEG2 = 9.8 Mbit/s
HDTV (720p) MPEG2 = 28 Mbit/s
1080i Uncompressed HD video @ 24 bit & 60 Hz = 1.5 Gbit/s
1080p Uncompressed HD video @ 24 bit & 60 Hz = 3 Gbit/s

https://toolstud.io/video/bitrates.php
https://toolstud.io/video/bitrate.php?imagewidth=720&imageheight=480&colordepth=24&framerate=29.97

PCR
For PCR testing I cna recommend doineedacovid19test. The name sounds sketchy and the website is very simple. But they can schedule a free, no script test the same day. Results took 3-5 days, which isn’t the fastest, but average or better nationwide right now.
CHS and Kaleida don’t appear to be offering tests for outpatients as of July 8, 2020.
WellNow has convenient testing with reportedly faster results, but pricing and insurance coverage are very opaque. You may not get charged for the test, but may get a bill for an urgent care visit.

• Do I need a COVID-19 Test
• Quest
• Health Now
• WellNow
• Erie County Health Dept – 716-858-2929
• LabCorp – Pixel @ home test – ordered by LabCorp Doctor

Antibody (SARS-2 Cov IgG)

• CHS – 862-1150
• Kaleida
• Quest
• Health Now

EC – STANDING COMMISSIONER’S ORDER FOR ISOLATION OF LAB CONFIRMED COVID-19 – page 3 last paragraph – all doctor’s offices must place conspicuously in place of business and post on website

EC – Standing Order Alert Update 3/13/20

NYS – Health Advisory: Updated Protocols for Personnel in Healthcare – What & when for healthcare workers

Erie County Testing Protocol – Protocol for testing by Erie county DOH

Quest Testing at Cheektowaga Walmart – this includes Quest’s protocol to set up a visit to be tested. PWN Health  is an independent healthcare provider network that provides oversight services in connection with the laboratory testing that patient has requested.

The info below is not medical advice or advice for public health or hospital policy. It is simply a place I’m writing things down during the COVID-19 crisis to keep the 100’s of emails straight in my head. There is no promise that these will be updated and they may be out of date within hours of being published.

Catholic Health System

Kaleida

How they do it at St Elsewhere:

• Stanford ENT and NSG guidelines
  • https://www.enttoday.org/article/otolaryngologists-may-contract-covid-19-during-surgery/
• Columbia

Looks like I need to revise my numbers. The ERAS applicant numbers were released today and they have combined the US and Canadian MD and DO applicant numbers for the 2019-2020 applicant cycle. More to come in the next few weeks.

The 2019 Otomatch survey of the Top 3 from ENT applicants rank list is underway here:

Otomatch Rank List Top 3 Survey

So far there has bee a good response to the survey with over 60 applicants responding. That’s about 15% based on ACGME estimates on the number of applicants. So far the rank order list has a lot of similarities with the Doximity Rank list, but some significant programs that moved up and down the top 25. The Doximity reputation score is a simple “who is the absolute best” vote.

Otomatch’s score is who are the three best for you, in order. It will be interesting to see how this difference shakes out in the Otomatch Composite rank score where each program gets 3 points every time it gets ranked #1, 2 points for a #2 rank and 1 point for a #3 rank. Of course, the Otomatch-One score should be directly comparable with the doximity rank score.

Differencces in these could have a lot of causes including regional preferences, gender equity, felloswhip vs GP alumni, and lots of other “fit” factors that may show up in the comments. It will be particulary intersting to see the comments for programs who jump up or down relative to their Doximity ranks.

It will be interesting to see what percent of rank lists show a regional bias. This could be quantized by computing a travel distance in miles between the cities where the top three programs are located. Bin the distances into 10 bins and plot how many are in each bin as a historgram. This gives you a graphic of what percent of participants have a strong top 3 regional preference.

nationwide #1 rank. This should be basically the same as the doximity rank…differences may be due to population differences (med students vs attendings – age and academimc proximity issues).

Kendall Tau and W may be useful in interpreting the otomatch rank lists versus the other rank lists. Tau will tell if the tests are correlated while W can tell if the lists are concordant (the same).

https://www.researchgate.net/post/When_to_use_Kendalls_Tau_correlation_against_Kendalls_W_concordance_A_bit_confused_on_both_of_their_distinctiveness_on_usage_and_requirement

Tau may need correction for dijointedness since the residents dont have to option to rank every program in the country while doximity does.

ideal test would be to see if the order of ranks on each top 3 is the same as the order of ranks on doximity. Compare number of swaps needed between the otomatch list and the variability in the number of swaps needed to make eachindividual list the same order as doximity. ??? just my try at this.

http://reza-najafi.co.uk/service-manuals-for-medical-equipment/

http://www.frankshospitalworkshop.com/equipment/endoscopy_user_manuals.html