In every issue of Brain & Life, we provide information that helps you take better care of yourself. We do this in the hope that you become a better advocate for yourself and create a good relationship with your doctor. In that spirit, we thought it was important to share some health care news that will have an impact on the care you receive from your physician.

In early November, we neurologists received some good news about taking care of our patients. A few months earlier, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed changes in how it would cover outpatient treatment, which we worried might shorten office visits and leave less time for us to evaluate and treat patients with complex neurologic conditions. In response to these proposed changes, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), among many efforts, organized a coalition of patient and provider groups to sign and submit a letter to the CMS that argued for more time with patients.

In the end, the proposed changes were modified significantly, and their implementation was postponed for two years to give us neurologists a chance to establish a system that protects our time with patients.

In addition, the CMS changed how neurologists use electronic health records, significantly streamlining the process to allow us to spend more time discussing your care and treatment and less time looking at our computer screens.

In another positive development, the CMS adopted and implemented another AAN-led bill, the FAST Act, which removes geographic restrictions on acute telestroke services. This means that no matter where you live, you will soon have access to telestroke services. This is an important development since the key to stroke recovery is getting treatment quickly. (Read more about telestroke services.)

The CMS also agreed to reimburse for virtual check-ins, a service that allows doctors to visit patients remotely using videos and images and to review that material to determine if an in-person visit or additional follow-up is needed. Virtual check-ins may soon help people who can't get to the doctor's office because of mobility or transportation problems.

Those of you who have commercial insurance will benefit as well, since the streamlining of electronic health records will apply to all patients, not just Medicare recipients. These benefits and others are the direct result of advocacy by the AAN, which sponsors this publication and is committed to promoting the highest-quality patient-centered neurologic care.

In this issue, I hope you will enjoy our cover feature on the comedy duo of Jeannie and Jim Gaffigan, who talk about how humor and love helped them navigate the bumps in Jeannie's recovery from surgery to remove a mass from her brainstem. You'll also learn about Daniel B. Grossman, an emergency medicine physician who returned to work within months of a spinal cord injury, thanks to his advocating for rigorous physical therapy.

For strategies about managing symptoms that make social situations awkward, read our Take Charge department. Patients offer ideas for educating others and turning a negative symptom into a positive exchange. For example, one woman with multiple sclerosis uses a cane, which she decorates in interesting ways that provoke conversations. A person with Bell's palsy wears fashionably funky shoes that divert strangers' attention from her facial paralysis.

In every issue, we share stories of people who advocate for themselves and others. Now, thanks to the CMS changes, we neurologists can continue to do the same for our patients.

Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN, Editor-in-Chief