CW Hall Archives - Page 15 of 30

Dr. Priyah Rudolph – Top Docs Radio

August 30, 2015 by angishields

Top Docs Radio

Dr. Priyah Rudolph - Top Docs Radio

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Dr. Priyah Rudolph

On this episode of Top Docs Radio I hosted Dr. Priyah Rudolph, medical oncologist with Georgia Cancer Specialists. Dr. Rudolph practices in the Athens, GA office for the group and has expertise with several forms of cancer. She shared her poignant story about how she came to choose oncology as her specialty of practice.

Dr. Rudolph described how several members of her family experienced cancer in their lives, including her mother. In speaking with her it’s clear she has a very personal connection with patients she sees in her practice and clearly understands the stress and concern they feel.

For this conversation, we focused on breast cancer. According to breastcancer.org, in the US, roughly 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Nearly 300,000 new cases will be diagnosed this year.

Priya shared the importance self-breast exams, conducted at least monthly, paired with annual mammograms annually after the age of 40 or sooner if direct descendants of breast cancer patients. Early detection helps give the patient more options for treatment, as well as the likelihood of successful treatment.

She talked about various treatments available and what to expect should the troubling news come that a finding is indeed cancer. On a positive note, we talked about the fact that breast cancer is very survivable with today’s technology and medical advancements.

Special Guest:

Dr. Priyah Rudolph, MD, of Georgia Cancer Specialists

Doctor of Medicine, Coimbatore Medical College
Residency, Yale University School of Medicine
Fellowship, Yale University School of Medicine
American Society of Clinical Oncology
American Society of Hematology
PhD in Physiology at The Ohio State University

Center for Health Transformation

August 26, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Center for Health Transformation

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Center for Health Transformation

I hosted Steve Fraime, Director of WellStar’s Center for Health Transformation on this episode. WellStar is rather unique in its investment in an internal center for health innovation—that’s a department typically seen at academic medical centers. The WellStar health system engages with their providers to uncover ideas for opportunities to innovate that will improve patient outcomes and patient experience, as well as ideas that will improve work environment for the system.

Steve explained how the Center for Health Transformation initially got its start as a think tank designed to pull together leaders from 20 health systems to identify best practices and facilitate innovation among them. As the initiative got going, it became evident that often, participants were reticent to share information that was perceived to give a particular organization some measure of market advantage.

Ultimately, WellStar decided they would pull the concept within their borders to focus on internal innovations that will improve their overall performance. From there, the organization worked to regularly interface with physicians within the system, along with folks in leadership roles to get suggestions for processes that could be improved upon.

Steve talked about two projects that were suggested by providers. One project that was brought by orthopedic surgeons was to explore the possibility of developing a more reliable means of producing a cast for fractured extremities. Another was to address the challenge for patients to navigate the large, multi-site, multi-building campuses that constitute the WellStar health system.

The Center for Health Innovation chose to collaborate with the Georgia Tech Capstone project.

Special Guest:

Steve Fraime, BSN, Director of WellStar Center for Health Transformation

Previous Assistant Manager, Emergency & Trauma Services, WellStar Paulding
MBA, Georgia State University J Mack Robinson School of Business
Masters of Healthcare Administration, Georgia State University
BSN, Georgia State University

Government Contracting

August 25, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Government Contracting

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Government Contracting

NOWaccount CEO, Lara Hodgson, stopped by the studio to talk about government contracting for small businesses. I also hosted 3 experts who serve our community by helping children and adults in need of foster care, and help/treatment for developmental challenges and/or mental illness. Tom Russell and Lori Brickman of Creative Community Services, and Pat Strode of the Georgia Chapter for the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) joined us to talk about the vital role they play for children in foster care, particularly those who face those developmental issues or mental illness.

Lara discussed a recent event where an SBA representative shared information about doing business with the federal government. Did you realize there’s over $100 BILLION dollars of federal contracts available? And that there’s ~23% are earmarked for small businesses who are able to fulfill the need for goods and services?

We talked about what to do to prepare to do business with the government, where to go to register, where to go for information on contracts available, as well as resources available that can facilitate accepting government contracts even if invoices are paid slowly.

I also learned that there are over 11,000 children in foster care in Georgia. The folks from Creative Community Services and NAMI, came by to talk about how they serve our community by working to help this vast population of children in need of loving, safe environments, along with supportive care they require as well if they’re facing developmental challenges or mental illness.

We talked about how important getting treatment and medication is for patients who are dealing with mental illness is. We also discussed how important it is for first responders to be certified to be able to identify and handle persons suffering from mental illness rather than simply assuming they’re criminals.

Tom explained that many of these children lack any real positive role models or mentors

The groups have regular events to raise funds to enable them to provide support and treatment for patients in need. Be sure to visit their websites for more information on events as well as opportunities to serve with your time as volunteers or mentors.

Special Guests:

Lara O’Connor-Hodgson, CEO of Nowaccount Network Corporation

Tom Russell, Director of Therapeutic Foster Care at Creative Community Services

Lori Brickman, Volunteer for Creative Community Services and NAMI

Pat Strode, CIT Program Administrator, National Alliance on Mental Illness

Radiation Oncology – Top Docs Radio

August 21, 2015 by angishields

Top Docs Radio

Radiation Oncology - Top Docs Radio

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Radiation Oncology

On this week’s show I sat down with Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Chad Levitt. We talked about how he decided he wanted to go into radiation oncology as his chosen field of practice. He shared how he enjoyed the fact that the specialty allowed him to call on his liberal arts schooling, helping him to be able to be perceptive to his patients’ needs and concerns, and allowing him to communicate effectively with them in a period of significant stress.

Chad explained how important it is for oncology physicians to make time to insure their patients’ questions are answered and that their concerns have been addressed. He believes the patient needs to be well-informed so they can hopefully experience less anxiety and allow them to make educated choices about their care. He stated the patient should be the “Captain of the Ship” and the health team the crew that helps them get to where they want to go.

We talked about the importance of getting 2nd and even 3rd opinions when facing life-changing illnesses such as cancer. Chad shared that it is vital to do so before engaging in treatments that cannot be undone. Given the political and personal alliances that can be present in a given hospital ecosystem, it is wise to seek 2nd opinions in hospitals or systems that are outside that of the primary physician to allow for likelihood of a more objective opinion.

Special Guest:

Dr. Chad Levitt, MD, of Radiotherapy Associates of Forsyth

Yacht Rock Revue and Ignited Entertainment Group

August 19, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Yacht Rock Revue and Ignited Entertainment Group

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Peter Stroud & Dave Sutton talk Emerging Artist Network

Yacht Rock Revue and Ignited Entertainment Group

I sat down with co-founders of Emerging Artist Network, Dave Sutton and Peter Stroud to learn about the cool technology platform they created to pair bands with brands that are looking to integrate music into their marketing efforts.

They brought along Nick Niespodziani, lead singer and co-founder of the popular Atlanta-based, Yacht Rock Revue, and Sonny Del Grosso, founder of Ignited Entertainment Group, and former manager for the Zac Brown Band in their early days. Nick and Sonny shared their stories and how their respective businesses evolved to where they are now.

check back soon for more information!

Special Guests:

Dave Sutton, CEO/Co-Founder of Emerging Artist Network

MBA, Marketing, George Washington University
Published Author
President/CEO, TopRight Partners

Peter Stroud, Co-Founder/ Artist Relations of Emerging Artist Network

Guitarist, Musical Director for Sheryl Crow
Co-Founder/Partner, 65amps
Founder of the band, Big Hat

Nick Niespodziani of Yacht Rock Revue

BA, English, Indiana University Bloomington
Previous Director of Business Development, Camp Jam
Former President, Jamling

Sonny Del Grosso of Ignited Entertainment Group

BA, Communication, Florida State University
Former Manager, Zac Brown Band
Previous Senior Marketing Manager, Turner Broadcasting System/Turner South

Innovative Health Technology

August 17, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Innovative Health Technology

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Bailey Ernstes, Jake Kazlow, and Jim Sullivan talk innovative health technologies

Innovative Health Technology

On this episode of Health Connect South Radio we featured two Atlanta companies developing innovative health technology. We hosted Monitor Med Solutions and HealPros to learn about the respective problems their solutions solve.

Monitor Med Solutions was founded by several Georgia Tech students to create a device that would use bluetooth technology to give hydrocephalus patients real-time monitoring data regarding their intracranial pressure via their mobile devices. Bailey Ernstes and Jake Kazlow, two of the co-founders, joined us to talk about their project.

As Bailey shared, as many as 1:500 babies are born with hydrocephalus, an abnormally-high intracranial pressure caused by a disruption in the normal flow of cerebral spinal fluid. These patients require that a shunt be implanted that will facilitate modulation of the intracranial pressure and prevent the numerous neurological problems and even death that can occur when pressure rises or falls beyond certain limits.

The challenge for these patients and their families is that the shunt technology itself has not evolved much since its inception. And, the shunts fail at a rate of roughly 40% of the time, typically due to occlusion. In most cases, the only way the patients discover there is a problem is when they begin to show symptoms of increased pressure.

Monitor Med Solutions, an Atlanta-based start-up has developed a device that interfaces with the intracranial shunt and contains a bluetooth transmitter. This enables the user to get pressure readings via an app on their mobile device, potentially allowing them to seek care before neurologic symptoms occur and/or preventing unnecessary ER admissions to seek care.

Jim Sullivan is CEO of HealPros. This company saw a need for closing the gap in preventive care for patients with diabetes. The diabetic population is at risk for blindness due to retinal damage that is caused by chronically-elevated glucose levels. It can take years of asymptomatic progression of the retinal damage for visual changes to occur. Because of this, many patients do not bother to seek out the recommended annual exams that could identify problematic changes early enough to do something about it.

HealPros utilizes teleimaging capabilities coupled with on-site technologists who can do exams in a physician’s office or even a patient’s home. The company partners with health plans and physician offices to coordinate visits with patients and conduct the necessary eye exam.

They then communicate results to patient, doctor, and health plan company and can help facilitate getting access to appropriate advanced care if an abnormality is found.

Special Guests

Bailey Ernstes, CEO of Monitor Med Solutions

BS Biomedical/Medical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
National Merit Scholar
Campoamor Study Abroad Scholarship Recipient
Previous Research Assistant, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Jake Kaslow, Co-founder and CTO of Monitor Med Solutions

BS Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Jim Sullivan, CEO of HealPros

BA, MA, Economics & Finance, State University of New York at Binghamton
Business Professionals Course, Linguistics and Business Philosophy, The Aji Network
Former Analyst, Goldman Sachs
Previous Owner, Medical Imaging Specialists

Self-funded Health Plans

August 15, 2015 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Self-funded Health Plans

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Self-funded Health Plans

On this episode of Midtown Business Radio I featured two Atlanta area companies that help business from a couple of directions. John Mamon, CEO of mPoweredIT, came by to talk about their outsourced IT solution. He introduced us to Brian Keen, President/CEO of Health Cooperative Strategies.

mPowered IT is an IT support services provider focused on delivering the entire IT value chain to small and medium medical practices and businesses. Offerings include fixed fee IT support, cloud services, backup and disaster recovery, and managed network security.

John shared how he came to starting his service company that enables medical practices and small to mid-sized businesses focus on their core functions rather than spending unproductive time trying to maintain and manage their IT hardware, software, and infrastructure.

We talked about the fact that for most small- to mid-sized businesses it makes sense to outsource the IT management function in order to maximize reliability of vital IT elements, their security, and compliance, while at the same time, spending less than would be required if they were to hire a skilled expert themselves.

Brian talked about how Health Cooperative Strategies collaborates with associations, chambers of commerce, and other large groups such as GPO’s to create self-funded health plans. In this way, these organizations are able to offer large-group-type health plans that in some cases, equals the benefits and member expense as a 10,000+ employee company.

We talked about how, before the ACA, health plans were able to offer discounted rates to organizations such as these for insuring large, mostly-healthy groups for inclusion in the plan. The recent level of implementation of the ACA changed that, making it impossible for companies participating in exchanges to offer such a discounted, minimal-risk group plan.

Health Cooperative Strategies fills that void. They are able to work with these organizations who seek to provide such benefits to help them create a self-funded plan and/or to combine with other similar groups to forge an even-larger group that helps them offer outstanding benefits for a comparatively low rate.

Special Guests

John Mamon, CEO/Founder, mPoweredIT

Associates Degree, Information Technology, Bryant and Stratton College
Previous VP, Professional Services, BMC Solutions
Former Executive VP, CDI Managed Services

Brian Keen, President/CEO, Health Cooperative Strategies

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits – Top Docs Radio

August 15, 2015 by angishields

Top Docs Radio

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits - Top Docs Radio

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Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

The phrase medical malpractice causes most people’s pulse to quicken. For a physician being named in a medical malpractice case is one of the worst events in their life. This week we discussed medical malpractice in Georgia and how physicians can avoid it.

For the past 23 years, Dan has specialized in representing physicians and hospitals in medical malpractice lawsuits. As one of the founding partners in the Atlanta law firm of Huff, Powell & Bailey, LLC, he has represented defendants in more than 90 jury trials.

Dan has defended and successfully tried cases for every specialty of medicine and numerous hospitals throughout Georgia. His trial record would be a proud career for any defense lawyer and is remarkable because Dan has tried and won this many cases before turning 50. Many of those cases have been against the best plaintiffs’ attorneys in the state. Dan is also a regular contributor to MAG’s quarterly Journal.

Huff shared what malpractice is, and why he chose this area of focus for his legal career. He offered some advice on how healthcare practitioners can avoid a malpractice lawsuit. We discussed his professional advice for how to handle conversations with patient and/or family after a sentinel event has occurred. And we talked about how health professionals need to handle patient records and what to do if served with a lawsuit.

Dan explained how defendants in a suit should behave during the proceedings of the case to reduce the likelihood a jury will rule against them.

Special Guest:

Dan Huff, JD, and co-founder, Huff, Powell, and Bailey

Facilitating Clinical Trials

August 9, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Facilitating Clinical Trials

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Facilitating Clinical Trials

Since we started Health Connect South Radio we have featured several research organizations who are doing research to uncover solutions to several illnesses such as Ebola, HIV, mitochondral diseases, diabetes, and others.

This week we featured two companies who are facilitating clinical trials through their respective solutions. Bethany Bray, CEO of AutoCruitment and Ryan Jones, CEO of Florence Healthcare joined us to share how they are working to help new medicines and devices become available more quickly to the community.

AutoCruitment is a technology platform that interacts with a variety of internet search platforms to acquire particular analytics data. The platform is able to identify internet users who are seeking clinical trials or even ones who appear to be seeking new physicians.

Bethany shared that as much as 40% of the cost of a trial comes from efforts to put out information about the study and recruit appropriate patients for it.

Once a potential patient is identified who might be a match for a clinical trial, AutoCruitment is able to display ads on healthcare related sites that individual visits that will alert them to the availability of the trial. The algorithms work to position the advertisements in what would be contextually-relevant places to avoid the “stalker” feel some cookie driven ads take on.

From the point the patient follows the ad, the process of providing their information and getting linked up with the prospective trial is straight-forward and elegant, making it simple for the patient and the respective trial.

Many clinical trials involve multiple sites for data collection as well as analysis. In spite of the technological advancements around patient data over the past decade, in clinical trials, much of the research data is collected or reported on paper documents.

The process of transmitting this data to the other sites that need to access it to move the study forward is cumbersome at best. In some cases it means analysts and study overseers must physically travel to the study locations to get access to or evaluate the data. In others it means shipping literally truckloads of paper documents to another site.

This logistical logjam is one of the greatest reasons why it can take as long as it does to complete a study, as Ryan explained. Florence Healthcare is working to tackle this problem by developing a secure technology platform that uses existing hardware such as faxes and scanners to be able to quickly and securely convert the paper data to digital forms that can be readily transmitted to the other study sites or evaluated by study reviewers.

Special Guests:

Bethany Bray, CEO of AutoCruitment