
MISSION AND HISTORY
The mission of Dr. Robert
Izor and the staff of Neurology Solutions Consultants is to provide
innovative care for patients and their families, as well as
sub-specialty consultation to neurologists and internists.
Neurology Solutions
Consultants was founded in Austin, Texas in 2005. The clinic is headed
by Dr. Robert Izor, a board-certified neurologist who
specializes in movement disorders including Parkinson’s
disease, tremor, spasticity and dystonia. Dr. Izor and his staff are
dedicated to improving quality of life through personalized care,
advanced treatments and research.
Robert M Izor, M.D.,
M.S.
NSC Director, Movement Disorders Specialist
Dr. Izor graduated from
the University of Texas at Austin in 1991. He joined basic science
research in immunology at the Bob Hope Eye Research Center, St.
Joseph's Hospital, Houston, Texas. He continued molecular immunology
research at UTHSCH GSBS, Department of Surgery, Division of Organ
Transplantation mentored by Dr. Stanislaw Stepkowski, for which he
earned a Master's Degree in 1995. He achieved a Doctorate of Medicine
from UTHSCH Medical School in 1999 and completed a medicine internship
at the Ochsner Foundation Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana in 2000. He
returned to UTHSCH Medical School and completed his neurology residency
as Chief Resident in 2003. He joined the movement disorders fellowship
mentored by Drs. Mya Schiess and Gage Vanhorn which he completed in
2004.
Afterwards, he established
Neurology Solutions Consultants, P.A., which is a clinical practice of
neurology in Austin, Texas with a primary focus on movement disorders.
His goal is to improve access to advanced interventional neurology
services and increase community awareness about Parkinson's disease,
spasticity and other movement disorders.
He has been professionally
recognized:
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Neurology
Student of the Year, 1999, UTHSCH Medical School, Department of
Neurology, Houston, Texas |
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Community
of Caring Award, 2000, Ochsner Foundation Hospital, New Orleans,
Louisiana |
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Hero of
Hermann/Memorial Hospital, 2001, Houston, Texas |
CLINIC PROCEDURES
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Please
help us prepare for your visit by completing the new Patient History
Questionnaire (PHQ) Click
here to Download New Patient Packet (PDF)
|
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Copays
& Deductibles will be collected at the time of your
appointment. |
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Time
will be recorded for each visit.. |
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A
thorough neurological history and exam will be performed followed by
discussion. New patient consults are approximately 45-60 minutes. |
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Follow-ups are approximately 30-40 minutes. Additional follow-ups will be
offered until the diagnosis and management plan are fully understood and implemented.. |
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Dictation
and/or documentation may occur during the visit. |
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Patients may be video recorded to capture their neurological status as
part of the visit. These recordings may be shown to other medical
professionals for diagnostic or educational purposes. |
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NSC
physicians and staff are not usually available for emergencies at night
or on weekends. Emergencies after hours must be referred to the
emergency room, preferably North Austin Medical Center ER. |
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In
order to limit the risk of emergencies on weekends, please do not start
any new medication changes on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. |
POLICY
STATEMENT
We must live and work in a
healthcare
system complicated by: skyrocketing costs; a private and public insurance system which fails to cover much
of the population; highly commercialized pharmaceutical and medical
equipment industries; and an aging population with only partial
government-regulated insurance. Doctors have had limited capacity
to protect themselves or their patients from powerful interests which
disrupt the doctor/patient relationship. In the past, patients and
families were physically and financially connected to their doctor. In recent decades, doctors have been gradually
constricted by managed/HMO care, government regulations, corporate,
insurance, legal and pharmaceutical interests. Such interests often
profit at the expense of a diminishing doctor/patient relationship.
A small solo practice can easily spend more than $200,000 per year on overhead
expenses. Therefore, a doctor will need to earn about $125 per hour for
a clinic to operate, all before earning a living. Additionally, doctors
are generally expected to cover hospital emergencies which often
represent overtime which is poorly reimbursed by most insurers. Up to
30% of hospital and ER cases are left unpaid by the uninsured without
any charitable tax benefits. These costs partly illustrate why
providing basic and emergency care to patients has become so difficult
for doctors, and why many doctors avoid hospital and ER
coverage
altogether.
Studies demonstrate that patients and families typically remember about
20% of the clinical information provided during an office visit.
However, insurers reimburse doctors for complete care based on the
office visit alone, which is assumed to include all documentation and
any number of telephone encounters. Insurers do not adequately
compensate physicians for complicated cases, even with extensive
documentation. Procedures on the other hand are better reimbursed, but
those payments are also shrinking. Reduced reimbursements prompt
doctors to increase the number of patients seen per day, work longer
hours, and rely on less experienced physician extenders. It is
difficult for patients and families to understand the meaning of a
complex diagnosis and management plan when office visits are brief and
often far between.
All these factors make practicing medicine more difficult, risky, and
less satisfying for patients, families, and doctors. We intend to find
ways of providing the best quality of neurological healthcare possible.
We hope you, your family, and caregivers will help us in our effort. We
want to take excellent care of all our patients, so we will create basic
guidelines to help streamline and hopefully improve the doctor/patient
relationship
(Payments
for optional services will be the financial responsibility of the
patient and family and are not covered by your insurer)
Optional telemedicine consultations
may be
scheduled during normal business hours at a fee of $75 every 15
minutes. NSC reserves the right to respond to
emails by telephone. NSC reserves the right to terminate telemedicine
services at any time for any reason. Patients may also terminate
optional telemedicine services at any time for
any reason. Any remaining deposit balance will be refunded promptly.
Optional
services do not constitute immediate or priority call coverage for
emergencies.
If an emergency occurs and NSC staff are unavailable for whatever
reason, you or your family must call 911 and go directly to the
emergency room at NAMC, or the nearest hospital facility. It is often
impossible to predict the cause of a neurological deterioration over
the phone. Actual hands-on examination, observation and stabilization
by a physician in the emergency room, with appropriate neurological
consultation if necessary, is required. All other urgent calls and/or
any discussions which suggest a need for major medical management
changes may be referred for an actual clinic visit as soon as possible.
If an emergent deterioration is in progress, patients will be referred
to the NAMC emergency center, or the nearest ER, for physical
examination by an ER physician, appropriate diagnostic tests, and
intensive care stabilization when necessary. The ER physician may
consult another on-call neurologist if necessary, especially in cases
where NSC staff are not immediately available.
These guidelines and optional services should allow for increased
physician access for all patients, and will help patients and families
achieve a better understanding of neurological disease and the
management plan. Ultimately this should result in more realistic
expectations and better outcomes over the long-term.
We will also make efforts to sponsor and/or encourage free support
groups. Whenever possible, patients and families will be notified of
free local seminars and invited to participate. Any patients or family
members who would like to volunteer their time organizing and/or
participating in local support groups should please identify themselves
to our staff.
Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to your next visit
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