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:

•	Neurology Student of the Year, 1999, UTHSCH Medical School, Department of Neurology, Houston, Texas
•	Community of Caring Award, 2000, Ochsner Foundation Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana
•	Hero of Hermann/Memorial Hospital, 2001, Houston, Texas

CLINIC PROCEDURES

POLICY STATEMENT

We must live and work in a healthcare system complicated by many factors including: skyrocketing costs; a mixed private and socialized 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. Busy 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 family doctor and specialists. 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 solo practice can spend around $200,000 per year or more 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 some guidelines to help streamline and hopefully improve the doctor/patient relationship

Optional Services:

1)    Optional phone counseling appointments may be scheduled during normal business hours at a fee of $75 every 15 minutes.


2)    Optional after-hours and weekend counseling by phone and eventually encrypted email may be made available directly with NSC doctors and nurse practitioners. Access to this service will require a non-refundable $200 yearly administration fee, and a refundable deposit of $300. The deposit will be deducted at $5.00 per minute of message review plus counseling time. The deposit must be fully replenished when exhausted. NSC reserves the right to respond to emails by telephone. NSC reserves the right to terminate optional phone counseling services at any time for any reason. Patients and families may also terminate optional phone counseling 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