Diana Keough Archives - Page 3 of 4

Exercise is Medicine

May 7, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Exercise is Medicine

00:00 / 01:00:37

Exercise is Medicine

This week we focused on the value of physical activity to our overall state of wellness. We were joined in studio by Dr. Felipe Lobelo of Emory University, Mike Tinney, of Fitness Interactive Experience, and JP Matzegheit, of Wahoo Fitness. We talked about the physiologic importance of physical activity along with innovative technologies that facilitate inspiring people to get moving.

Physical inactivity now ranks as the 2^nd leading cause of mortality in the world. However, too few health systems and health care providers include physical activity (PA) as part of the prevention and management of obesity and chronic diseases. For 5 years, the Exercise is Medicine (EIM) initiative of the American College of Sports Medicine has helped build local networks to support the systematic inclusion of PA in health care in the US and more than 40 countries in 5 continents via the “EIM Solution”, an evidence-based approach to assessing patients, prescribing appropriate PA and developing community-based PA resources linked to health services and public awareness. The

Large-scale implementation of the EIM Solution across different populations, settings and health care systems is a complex process. The EIM-GRCC serves as a coordinating center for EIM implementation projects by offering state-of –art consultation research and evaluation support, training, policy, cross-national networking and management dimensions of EIM programming to support the initiative.

Fitness Interactive Experience (FIX) has developed a tech platform that incorporates a video game-inspired approach to motivating people to walk and engage in brief periods of other physical activities. FIX provides their application to businesses seeking to improve the health of their employees for use over 6-8 weeks as a fitness challenge. The application uses the popular zombie theme to get the user to walk more each day.

The application interfaces with wearable fitness devices such as FitBit to track physical activity such as walking/running. In order for their character to survive in the game they’ll have to walk while wearing their fitness device to “walk/run” their character to safe zones. The early data from their initial challenges has shown promising statistics regarding the level of participation and engagement by employees using the application.

Wahoo Fitness produces a range of wearable fitness devices designed to give feedback on a variety of physical activities and bio data. The sensors enable athletes to become more efficient runners, swimmers, and riders through the use of accelerometers in the sensors. Additionally, users can train smarter by monitoring heart rate instead of subjective rating of perceived exertion (RPE).

Users are able to compare current training session against previous sessions to evaluate number of reps, cadence, and other training data.

Special Guests:

Dr. Felipe Lobelo, MD, PhD, Emory University, Global Health Department, Exercise is Medicine

Associate Professor, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
Previous Lead Epidemiologist, CDC
Doctor of Medicine, Universidad del Rosario
PhD Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia

Mike Tinney, CEO/Founder, Fitness Interactive Experience/ A Step Ahead Challenge

Previous CEO, White Wolf
Former President, CCP America
Nearly 20 years of experience in the video gaming industry from developer to leadership roles

JP Matzigkeit, CEO/Founder of Wahoo Fitness

MBA, University of North Carolina, Kenan Flagler Business School
Previous Advisory Board Chair, Founder and President, Chastain Park Conservancy
Former AVP Compensation, Cox Enterprises
Avid cyclist

ADHD

May 1, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

ADHD

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ADHD

This week I was pleased to sit down with ADHD expert, Elaine Taylor-Klaus of ImpactADHD.com. As a parent of three children who each have experienced some measure of ADHD in their lives, and as a patient who subsequently discovered that she, too, was an ADHD patient.

CDC.gov lists these statistics about ADHD:

Approximately 11% of children 4-17 years of age (6.4 million) have been diagnosed with ADHD as of 2011.
The percentage of children with an ADHD diagnosis continues to increase, from 7.8% in 2003 to 9.5% in 2007 and to 11.0% in 2011.
Rates of ADHD diagnosis increased an average of 3% per year from 1997 to 2006 [Read article] and an average of approximately 5% per year from 2003 to 2011.
Boys (13.2%) were more likely than girls (5.6%) to have ever been diagnosed with ADHD.
The average age of ADHD diagnosis was 7 years of age, but children reported by their parents as having more severe ADHD were diagnosed earlier.

With just over 1 in 10 children experiencing ADHD or one of its sub-types, it’s a significant disruptor of quality of life for many, many people. We talked about how frustrating it can be for parents of hyper-active ADHD children and how she, herself, learned first-hand how challenging it can be to keep calm and avoid yelling to reign in their high energy kid(s).

Given her experiences in her own home, Elaine and a business partner, Diane Dempster, decided to start ImpactADHD.com. The website serves as a resource for parents struggling to find answers for questions on how to better handle the stresses that comes with ADHD children.

The site provides recommendations for identifying suitable physicians and other professionals who can help with diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, the organization provides a coaching approach to help parents learn other ways to communicate and how to deal with stress, among others.

ImpactADHD.com describes what they do this way, “ImpactADHD.com helps parents help their kids with ADHD and ADD, anywhere, anytime. ImpactADHD uses a combination of training, coaching and support resources, online and on the phone, to provide the “how to” that parents really need, whether they are new to the world of complex kids, or worn-out from years of management. By helping parents put strategies into action, and teaching them to make those strategies work best for their families, we guide parents to radically improve family life and empower their kids for independence and success.”

Special Guest:

Elaine Taylor-Klaus, CEO/Certified Coach, ImpactADHD

Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, The Coaches Training Institute
Professional Certified Coach, International Coach Federation
BA, College of Social Studies & Sociology, Wesleyan College
Parent of 3 children who have experienced ADHD, along with herself, who was diagnosed as an adult
Member, National Board of Directors, Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. CHADD.org

Pediatric Health Technologies

April 24, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Pediatric Health Technologies

00:00 / 00:53:01

Pediatric Health Technologies

This week we had experts on the show talking about developments in Pediatric Health Technologies. We were joined in studio by Leanne West, Principal Research Scientist at Georgia Tech Research Institute, and Paul Spearman, Chief Research Officer with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. They came by to talk about the innovative collaboration between academic research institutions, Emory and Georgia Institute of Technology, that help accelerate the rate that important technologies can be made available to the pediatric patient population in need. Carly Kiseleczynk, CEO/Founder of BrainChild Technologies also came by to talk about the intriguing technology that allows parents to have more interactive interaction with young infants through their pacifier-controlled device that interfaces and can control applications and toys through non-nutritional sucking patterns.

We discussed the goals of these important Atlanta research institutions of helping pediatric health providers to treat the unique needs of very young patients. They have what they call a “Quick Wins” program where they engage with promising technology companies to help them bring their solutions to market within a very-fast 18 months.

Carly talked about how they were able to advance their work on developing an interactive technology that allows infants to learn how to control toys and tablet-based applications with their sucking patterns. The infants are able to turn on a mobile or night light, or make remote-controlled toys move. And they’re able to advance language skills through interacting with special tablet-based applications that can provide data on certain developmental milestones.

Both of these initiatives can benefit from financial support to allow them to hasten the pace of their research and make these helpful technologies available to pediatric patients in need sooner.

Special Guests:

Leanne West, Principal Research Scientist with Georgia Tech Research Institute

Education, Vanderbilt University
Former High School Physics Teacher
17 years as Research Scientist Georgia Tech Research Institute
Recipient, 2014 Woman of the Year, Georgia Women In Technology

Paul Spearman, Chief Research Officer with Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta

Doctor of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
Residency, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, The Ohio State University
Residency, Infectious Disease, Washington University in St. Louis
Professor, Emory University School of Medicine

Carly Kiselyczynk, CEO/Founder, of BrainChild Technologies

PhD, Medical Sciences, Neurosciences, Karolinska Institutet
Published research author
Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale Depression Research Group
Recipient 2012 Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award

Eating Disorders

April 15, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Eating Disorders

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Eating Disorders

This week we focused on eating disorders. I sat down with experts from Eating Disorders Information Network, a non-profit organization aimed at outreach to increase awareness/prevention among students in grade school to high school, and helping people identify resources for treatment. According to the National Anorexia Nervosa Association, eating disorders are a serious problem, with as many as 24 million Americans suffering with some form of disorder from anorexia, to bulemia, to binge/purge, and more.

The problem affects both men and women, children and adults, across all demographics. And according to Dr. Dina Zeckhausen, founder of EDIN, eating disorders are more deadly than other mental illness. When you consider dysfunctional eating habits such as overly-restrictive dieting, comfort eating, and others, as many as 80-90% of us are impacted at some time by potentially-problematic attitudes about food.

EDIN is working to engage young people beginning in grade school through high school to promote self-acceptance and to share information about the dangers of risky behaviors such as “clubs” that foster unhealthy choices such as eating crackers and water only for lunch with a group of peers. Their website describes their mission in this way, “The Eating Disorders Information Network (EDIN) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of eating disorders through education, outreach, and action. EDIN is committed to addressing the problem of eating disorders on a societal level. We are devoted to:

Preventing eating disorders
Increasing public awareness of the personal, familial, and cultural/media influences which contribute to eating disorders
Helping those already suffering to find the therapeutic services they need

The organization strives to serve as a comprehensive resource and educational guide for those wanting to learn more about eating disorders, those seeking help, and those gathering and distributing information about available treatment options both in the Atlanta area and nationwide.”

Special Guests:

Dina Zeckhausen, PhD, Founder of Eating Disorders Information Network

PhD, Clinical-Community Psychology, University of South Carolina
Active private practice psychologist
Well-known public speaker on the topic of eating disorders
Published author and playwrite

Hallie Udelson, Eating Disorders Information Network

BA, Psychology, Emory University
2016 Candidate, Master of Public Health, Emory University
Developing curriculum for school outreach initiatives for EDIN

Sara Pannell, Incoming Director, Eating Disorders Information Network

Licensed Family and Marriage Counselor, Trillium Springs Counseling
MS, Family & Marriage Counseling, Fuller Theological Seminary
Previous Bi-lingual Clinician I, San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

April 9, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

00:00 / 00:58:22

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

This week we sat down with internationally-known expert on the subject of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Dr. Helen Gelly. This treatment modality has been available to patients with poorly-healing wounds, thermal injuries, decompression sickness, late effects of radiation, and several other problems for decades. And while there is a quality body of evidence supporting the use of this treatment for clinically-appropriate patients, many of the patients who could benefit from access to it never get to know it’s available.

This is due in large part to the fact that of ~159 US medical colleges, only ~30 offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy and wound resolution as taught specialties. That means that approximately 85% of graduating physicians have had very little (if any) exposure to academic information about the modality. The result is that they often miss opportunities to add the treatment to the patient’s care plan, which in turn delays (or even prevents) these problem wounds from healing.

Dr. Gelly shared information about the history of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and we talked about the physiology of what’s happening during the course of therapy. We discussed a couple of major groups of patients whose clinical outcomes tend to be significantly improved with access to hyperbaric medicine, diabetic ulcer patients and patients experiencing persistent late effects of radiation. The aim is to get credible information to the public so that both physicians and patients in need can educate themselves about it. Atlanta is unique in that both inside the city and in numerous suburbs, patients can receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy in hospital-based or UHMS accredited free-standing programs. It’s also paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance companies for these evidence-based indications.

Special Guest:

Dr. Helen Gelly, MD of HyperbaRXs

Doctor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
Internship/Residency: Pediatrics/Emergency Medicine at Emory University Affiliated Hospitals
Board Certified in Emergency Medicine
Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians
Fellow of the American College of Certified Wound Specialists
Subspecialty Certified Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine

Intellimedix and Life University

April 1, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Intellimedix and Life University

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Intellimedix and Life University

This week we sat down with experts from Intellimedix and Life University. Intellimedix is an Atlanta-based company that uses high-powered computing algorithms, coupled with genetic testing to identify existing medications that could potentially be re-purposed to effectively treat illnesses other than the ones they were originally designed to treat. One of the company’s founders has a child who suffers from a severe form of epilepsy. Unfortunately, there are limited treatments known to be available that will provide relief from this debilitating condition. His daughter’s story influenced the decision to focus the company’s initial efforts on uncovering existing medications that could be successfully re-purposed to help folks dealing with this type of epilepsy and other neurologic disorders.

Chief Science Officer, Jeff Skolnick shared the example of how a blood pressure medication (Viagra) was re-purposed to treat erectile dysfunction. He went on the discuss the physiology/chemistry behind why this is possible and why it makes sense to look for existing, approved medications that have the ability to improve quality of life for patients dealing with illnesses different from those the medications are initially intended to treat. This approach saves a great deal of time and money over the years-long, massively-expensive process of developing a medication from ground zero to treat a particular condition; allowing patients in need to receive access to an effective treatment sooner.

Dr. Gilles LeMarche, VP of Professional Relations at Life University came by to talk about the undergraduate and graduate programs available at their Marietta, GA-based campus. They offer a number of health, wellness, and sports-related degrees ranging from chiropractic medicine, to vitalistic nutrition, functional kinesiology, and others. He shared their approach to wellness, applying the philosphy of “vitalism” allows their graduates to help their clients/patients by helping the body to heal itself; as it is ideally capable of doing when interfering factors are removed.

Special Guests:

Steven Hickson, CFO, Intellimedix

MBA, Global Executive MBA Program, IESE Business School, Barcelona Spain
BA Accounting, NC State University
Previous Senior Auditor, Turner Broadcasting System
Former SVP, New Media & Premium Channels, Fox International Channels- Asia

Jeff Skolnick, PhD, Chief Science Officer, Intellimedix

Director, Center for Study of Systems Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology
PhD, Chemistry, Yale University
Mary and Maisie Gibson Chair in Computational Systems Biology
Associate Director, Integrated Biosystems Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology

Gilles Lamarche, DCM, VP, Professional Relations, Life University

Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College
Certified Six Advisors Coach, 6 Advisors Coaching Academy
Former Vice President, Parker College of Chiropractic
Fluent in French

Some backing music provided by: www.pacdv.com/sounds/

Liv2BGirl

March 18, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Liv2BGirl

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Liv2BGirl

We’ve all heard the news stories about young people who have been victims of cyberbullying through social media. In some cases, kids have even gone so far as attempting or committing suicide over the experience. This week we sat down with Cindy Abel and Tosha Marks, co-founders of Liv2BGirl. It’s a social media environment they’re building as a mobile app that will give girls a social media environment exclusive to them. The site will be free from cyberbullying and negative, attacking/abusive behaviors—these being clearly prohibited when a user sets up their profile.

A recent article by Cindy and Tosha published on Momeomagazine.com states these statistics cited from dosomething.org:

Nearly 43% of kids have been bullied online
68% of teens agree that cyberbullying is a serious problem
81% of young people think bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person
90% of teens who have seen cyberbullying ignored it
Girls are twice as likely as boys to be victims of cyberbullying
Only 1 in 10 victims tell there parent or trusted adult of the abuse.

In this short clip, Tosha Marks shares why they are building the Liv2BGirl app:

The concept proved to have traction with girls when they launched their beta website to evaluate interest and content offerings, gaining roughly 700 users who tested the site. Cindy and Tosha quickly found that the idea of a social media space free from hurtful, hateful behaviors is appealing to girls—enough so that average time per visit was ~30 mins.

We talked about some of the troubling statistics around cyberbullying as well as negative experiences Cindy and Tosha saw their own daughters face in various social media platforms. We also discussed the resources they need to bring their app to full realization and how folks can get involved to get this source of positive peer pressure and encouragement for our daughters into their hands.

Special Guests:

Tosha Marks, Co-founder, Liv2BGirl

BS, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Middle Tennessee State University
Previous Sole Proprietor, The Silver Sak
Former Sales Representative, Dixie Packing and Seal Company

Cindy Abel, Co-founder, Liv2BGirl

BS in Management Information Systems, University of Dayton
Co-President, North Springs Charter High School
Member, Advisory Board, Hands On Atlanta
Co-founder/Owner, Abel Solutions
7 years as information technology consultant, Accenture

This program made possible by ShareWIK Media Group

Telemedicine

March 12, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Telemedicine

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Telemedicine

This week I sat down with the founder of MedZed, a hybrid telemedicine platform that enables parents with sick children to receive care for their child with an in-home RN who establishes a remote link with a physician. Today, there are a growing number of urgent care centers available, along with after-hours pediatric care centers. These care centers are typically better options than being seen in an emergency room where wait times and exposure to very ill patients are a concern.

However, urgent care centers also frequently come with a long wait and exposure to numerous sick persons in the waiting room as well. Telemedicine is a health care delivery model where patients interface with a provider via phone and/or face-to-face video conferencing platform that allows patient and doctor to see each other. This week’s guests joined us to talk about how they are innovating with this technology to deliver quality health care in a patient’s home.

With the MedZed platform (and soon a mobile app) parents with sick children can request an in-home examination of their children. After a phone triage conversation, a registered nurse or nurse specialist is dispatched to the home to conduct the exam. The in-home clinician links up with the patient’s physician (when that practice is a MedZed participant) or a thoroughly-vetted, experienced pediatrician on the MedZed medical staff (when the patient’s physician office is NOT a MedZed participant).

Once in the home the nurse establishes an internet connection using either the family’s connection if available or by cellular wi-fi if in-home internet is absent or inadequate. Via the communications link, the physician is able to view the results of otoscopic exams, listen to their stethoscope, and see vitals all in real time. This portal also gives the patient and family the ability to also see what is being visualized by the exam, offering educational opportunities and a decreased measure of anxiety.

We talked about the fact that as more diagnostic equipment such as radiographic devices become more mobile, the scope of care that will be able to be delivered in the home will expand dramatically. This will serve to reduce use of ER and urgent care for more acute, complex complaints. The service is offered as fee-for-service—patients pay using credit cards when the care is delivered. In some cases third party insurors will reimburse for part or all of the visit, depending on plan.

Special Guests:

Scott Schnell, CEO, Co-founder of MedZed

BGS, Accounting & History, University of Michigan
Former CPA
Previous SVP/ CFO of Simply Floored
Previous Chairman/CEO of Pike Family Nursing

Tiffany Holland, RN at MedZed

Katarina Quinterno, Parent, MedZed client

Population Health Management

March 4, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Population Health Management

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Population Health Management

The notion of working to improve a population’s awareness of wellness and disease is not new. For decades we have sought to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including reduced smoking rates, early detection for cancers, and decrease obesity (not to mention containing healthcare costs) But with improving data capabilities, interoperability between EMR’s and data systems, changing laws, and an over-arching goal of improving the general health and wellness of our population we are beginning to see ever-greater emphasis on population health management as a strategy to both contain costs and improve outcomes. Check out this week’s episode to learn more about how your company can save long-term costs while at the same time improving quality- and length of life to their employees.

As a health strategy, population health management focuses heavily on preventive care measures, coupled with making such care delivery as convenient as possible for the population involved. Additionally, procedures around work place injuries are assessed and if needed, modified to include triage that can prevent the use of ER to initiate care when such injuries/exposures occur.

We talked about how Dekalb Medical restructured their approach to their own employees’ wellness and work place injuries, successfully reducing their spend on high cost claims, ER visits, and work place injuries. They are now collaborating with businesses in the community to collaborate with them to improve the wellness/safety of their respective employees and helping them achieve the same sort of cost savings on health/risk in their enterprises. These efforts are steadily improving the aggregate health of the Dekalb Medical catchment area patients through more consistent, integrated delivery of preventive/wellness-focused care.

Dekalb Medical, a long-standing pillar of the Atlanta health systems, serving the eastern half of the metro, has proven to be an innovator and thought leaders in the concept of population health management. After a multi-year effort to reduce cost and improve outcomes for their own ~4000 employees, including decreasing work-place accidents and ER visits, they have an impressive list of successes to talk about.

And as a well-established health system with the full complement of services from acute to tertiary, diagnostic and procedural services available, Dekalb Medical is uniquely positioned to exert positive effects on the health of the large metropolitan population they serve.

About DeKalb Medical

Founded in 1961, DeKalb Regional Health System, Inc., known as DeKalb Medical, is comprised of more than 800 doctors skilled in 55 medical specialties across three campuses. The 627-bed system includes DeKalb Medical at North Decatur (451 beds), DeKalb Medical Long Term Acute Care at Downtown Decatur (77 beds), DeKalb Medical at Hillandale (100 beds), DeKalb Medical Physicians Group and the DeKalb Medical Foundation.

This week Diana Keough and I sat down with Dr. Shealynn Buck and Jim Forstner from the health system. We talked about population health management as a concept and how it was put to work as a strategy to the benefit of both its employees and the bottom line of the organization.

Dekalb Medical is now providing similar population health management services to employers within their catchment area around the east perimeter of Atlanta and beyond. They are engaging employers’ employees through gameficiation, on-site services, consulting regarding workplace safety, narrow network benefits that save costs and improve outcomes, and more. We talked about how the notion of population health management is a move from transactional, disease-focused care to a relational, wellness-focused model and how that can save both money and improve lives of employees. We also discussed some positive unintended consequences that can come through offering such a health initiative to an employee population.

The not-for-profit health care system is a HealthGrades® Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Attack in 2013 and Five-Star Recipient for Peripheral Vascular Bypass in 2012, and earned the Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke Silver Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart/American Stroke Association. Their Maternity Center was selected as a participant in the Best Fed Beginnings project as part of UNICEF/WHO’s Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. The Dekalb Medical Cancer Center received the Outstanding Achievement Award and is granted three-year approval by The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons as a community hospital comprehensive oncology program. Their Joint Solutions Center is a metro Atlanta leader in joint replacement.

In addition, The Dekalb Medical LTAC earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for acquired brain injury, wound care and respiratory failure services. Their WorksWell® program is dedicated to supporting employers with solutions to maximize the health, safety and well-being of their employees while improving performance and the bottom line.

Special Guests:

Dr. Shealynn Buck, MD, Executive Director, Dekalb Medical WorksWell and Medical Director of Dekalb Medical Wellness Center

Doctor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
Residency, Pathology, Emory University School of Medicine
Fellow, Transfusion Medicine and Cellular Therapies
Former Assistant Medical Director, American Red Cross

Jim Forstner, SVP & Senior Strategy Officer of Dekalb Medical

>10 years service on Dekalb Medical executive team
Previous Executive Director for Contracting, Physician and Ambulatory Ventures, Dekalb Medical
Previous Director, Patient Financial Services, Dekalb Medical