healthcare radio Archives - Page 3 of 10

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

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

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

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

Loving Arms Cancer Outreach – Top Docs Radio

August 8, 2015 by angishields

Top Docs Radio

Loving Arms Cancer Outreach - Top Docs Radio

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Loving Arms Cancer Outreach

Over the past year we’ve talked about cancer on several occasions. We have hosted physician panels, sharing how to prevent cancers and how they’re diagnosed, and treatment options patients have to choose from.

We’ve also spoken with cancer survivors who have come on the share their stories about being diagnosed, and their experiences during treatment and beyond, as survivors.

This week I hosted cancer survivor, Angel DeJesus, office manager for Loving Arms Cancer Outreach. This non-profit cancer support organization was started by two practicing oncology nurses. They had seen how many patients deplete their financial resources paying for their cancer care.

This leaves them with with limited ability to pay for obligations of daily life such as rent/mortgage, utilities, gas to get them to treatment, and more. They started Loving Arms Cancer Outreach to provide some measure of assistance with these needs along with support group services, education, opportunities to volunteer, and others.

Angel shared his poignant story about experiencing a cancer that ultimately cost him is right eye and how he, too, lost his home, job, and savings paying for his cancer care. He explained how Loving Arms Cancer Outreach provided him with their support services and even were able to provide rides to his treatment when he was a patient.

The financial expense and logistics of providing rides to cancer patients was too great for the organization to continue that service. But they continue to offer financial assistance and support group services and others. We are hopeful listeners will help with donations, time, or share this message with folks who may be able to do so.

Special Guest

Angel DeJesus, Office Manager, Loving Arms Cancer Outreach

Sleep Technology

August 3, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Sleep Technology

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Sleep Technology

This week we focused on sleep and sleep technology. Lloyd Sommers, General Manager for ReST Performance came by to talk about how their company is addressing what is essentially an epidemic of poor sleep across our population.

The Better Sleep Council cites CDC data on the quality of our sleep, stating that poor sleep contributes to depression, weight gain, more disagreements with partners, and more.

ReST has developed what they call the world’s first smart bed, that uses technology to enable adaptation to the user. The bed is made with a high-tech fabric that is able to detect where there is pressure, how much pressure it is, movement, and temperature. The bed also connects with a mobile device to provide data regarding sleep quantity and quality, allowing users to track their progress toward improved sleep.

The ReST bed uses multiple air cells within the mattress powered by ultra-quiet pneumatic pumps. When a person lays on the mattress, it senses where there is pressure and adds or removes pressure in the various cells, allowing the mattress to minimize pressure. This means the user will be less inclined to need to change position frequently, allowing for longer periods of deep sleep.

Additionally, the ReST bed can interface with smart thermostats such as the Google Nest. So, when the bed senses rising temperature, it can signal the thermostat to decrease the room temperature.

We were amazed by the technology of the materials in this bed as well as the variety of tech features it employs to facilitate more effective sleep patterns. The ReST bed will be coming to retailers across the country over the coming months.

Special Guest:

Lloyd Sommers, General Manager, ReST Performance

MBA, Marketing, Management, & Organizations, Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management
Former Analyst, CBIC World Markets
Previous Marketing Manager, Titanium Technologies–North America, DuPont
Former President, TERRECON

Alii Healthcare

July 18, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Alii Healthcare

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Alii Healthcare

On this week’s show we hosted experts from the telehealth platform, Alii Healthcare. Dr. Sylvan Waller, Founder/CEO of Alii Healthcare, Dr. Reginald Nesbitt, Christie Sherman, RN, and Alii client, Jennifer Smith joined us to talk about how the technology solution works. They have created a mobile app called, “Bond”, which uses a mobile device’s camera to allow a patient to engage face-to-face with an ER physician to determine best course of action with minor, but time-sensitive complaints.

Sylvan shared how today, the average wait time for patients to be seen by a doctor from time of request for appointment is as much as 18 days. We also talked about the fact that it is not uncommon for less acute complaints such as respiratory infections, minor cuts, sprains, etc, to wait in an ER for 2-4 hours (or more).

Having been an ER physician for a number of years, he saw first hand how these patients can become dissatisfied with their experience due to the fact that they’ve had to wait so long before being seen. He felt there must be a better way.

He and his partners set out to take advantage of telehealth technology to create an application that uses a mobile device’s camera to allow a patient to request to speak with a physician, and within seconds or a few minutes at most, they can “Facetime” with a qualified ER physician. Using the mobile device’s camera, the doctor can view a patient’s throat, swollen ankle, minor cut, etc. From there he/she can make recommendations for medical prescriptions or treatments, or recommend the patient is seen in an urgent care or ER.

The team brought with them, Alii Healthcare client, Jennifer Smith. She talked about her experiences using the Bond app to get diagnosis and prescriptions for minor injuries suffered while running and a respiratory infection.

Jennifer talked about how intuitive the application’s interface is and how quickly she was able to speak directly with a physician without having to leave her home.

Special guests:

Dr. Sylvan Waller, MD, CEO/Founder of Alii Healthcare

Doctor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine
Residency, Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
Former Assistant Professor, Emory University School of Medicine
Previous Entrepreneur-in-Residence, ATDC

Dr. Reginald Nesbitt, MD, President, Bond House

Doctor of Medicine, University of Texas, Galvaston
Residency, ER, University of Chicago Hospitals
Board Certified, Emergency Medicine

Christie Sherman, RN, Director of Physician Engagement, Alii Healthcare

RN Diploma, George Brown College
BSN, University of Phoenix
MSN, Nursing Science, University of Phoenix
Previous VP of Client Operations, Schumacher Group

Jennifer Smith, Alii Healthcare client

Juris Doctor, Georgia State University College of Law
Previous Director of Reimbursement, Resurgens Orthopedics
Senior Associate, Ken David & Associates LLP

Fighting Infections

July 6, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Fighting Infections

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GeoVax — Debora Carrier, Michael Hellerstein, Jay Schafer

Fighting Infections

This week we hosted two experts whose companies are fighting infections from different directions. Michael Hellerstein is the Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Systems for GeoVax. They’re a biotechnology company that’s developing vaccines for Ebola and HIV.

Debora Carrier combined her experience as a fashion model and a healthcare provider to think of a better-looking scrub uniform that is both better looking and resistant to spreading infections. She founded Twice As Nice Uniforms to give health workers and physicians a more visually appealing choice while at the same time helping reduce the alarming rate of infections acquired in health delivery environments.

Michael talked about how GeoVax has been fighting infections through innovative approaches to vaccine development, utilizing vaccine-like particles to tackle HIV and more recently, Ebola. He shared how prevalent HIV remains today and that more work is being focused on treating the disease versus developing vaccines to prevent it.

He shared how technology has evolved that allows biotech companies to identify genetic components to viruses, which enables them to incorporate pieces of this material and instill it into a harmless organism. Then, as the organism reproduces, it produces a copy of itself that has some characteristics of the pathogen the vaccine is designed to fight. This “recombinant” vaccine doesn’t make the body sick but it does prompt an immune response from the body against the pathogenic virus, providing protection against infection.

GeoVax is able to create particles that are safer to use than vaccines that contain live pathogen, allowing people who may have some immune compromise to get some protection as well in some cases.

The company has used this technology to get a vaccine that is showing some promise for preventing HIV infection. Michael talked about how the clinical trials are progressing and how long it takes to get a vaccine approved for use in people versus the time it takes to develop a medication to treat disease.

Debora talked about her story as a healthcare provider for over 20 years led her to think of a scrub design that looks much better than the bulky, wrinkle-prone scrubs the health community has been using for decades. She talked about how frequently the environment is very cool, prompting workers to wear long sleeves and/or jackets while delivering care.

We discussed how long sleeves prevent washing the lower arms as is recommended and how the fabric can readily carry bacteria and viral material from one patient to another. Debora investigated various athletic materials that can help regulate body temperature in various climes, while at the same time possessing antimicrobial properties.

Twice As Nice Uniforms utilize an American-made material that controls moisture and uses a scrub design that incorporates a removable liner that allows the worker to be comfortable when the rooms are very cool.

In looking at the design of the garments, it’s clear she brought her experience in modeling to bear in the style/cut of the uniforms they’re creating.

Special Guests:

Debora Carrier, CEO/Founder of Twice As Nice Uniforms

AS, Dental Hygiene, William Rainey Harper College
Professional Fashion Model
Registered Dental Hygienist
Founder, CPR Sisters

Michael Hellerstein, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Systems

AB, Biology, Harvard University
Previous Assistant Scientist, Pfizer
Co-Founder, BlueSky Biotech
President, Hellerstein Consulting

Brought to you in part by:

Elder Care

June 6, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Elder Care

00:00 / 01:00:43

Elder Care

This week we hosted experts whose companies address the care needs of our elderly population. We hosted Maria de la Guardia, of Assisted Living Locators, Chris Foster, of LivHome, and Blaine Warketine, of Vimty.

Assisted Living Locators is a company that provides a free service for families in search of an assisted living facility for their loved one. The company forms relationships with facilities around the community, getting to know them, the services they provide, costs, etc. They then get to know the families who connect with them seeking help through an interview process to be better able to recommend a facility based on location, type of services available, living environment, cost, etc.

We talked about the fact that many online services focus mainly on a few facilities with which they have financial arrangements, leaving out many options in the area that could potentially be a better fit for a given patient. Once they have contact information for the family it is shared with other services who then assail the family with calls and emails trying to sell them on centers they represent. Maria shared some questions families should ask when they contact an online service that purports to be the facility they think they’re contacting.

LivHome is a company that helps seniors be able to live their lives in their own home or their family’s home with the care support and equipment needed to do so. The company conducts an in-depth assessment of the needs of the patient(s) in need of supportive care/equipment through interviews with their nursing staff. From there, they can make recommendations and provide the supportive care providers necessary.

Chris shared his story about having been disappointed in the experience with home care for loved ones in the past and that he wanted to provide a high-quality service for the patients who want to be able to live in their own home. We talked about the fact that it’s actually possible to have an elderly patient live in their own or a family member’s home for less than or similar costs to an assisted living center or nursing facility.

Blaine Warketine shared some impressive statistics about how much of overall healthcare spend each year comes from providing high-acuity care in the last days of life, often for patients who didn’t actually want to have aggressive measures. Vimty is a platform that allows patients to conduct video interviews with counselors and family members wherein they are able to state their wishes for end of life care measures, along with context for why they feel the way they do.

We talked about the fact that this record has much more weight and is much more likely to prevent much of the family drama that can occur with the typical written advanced directive document (or worse, in the cases of NO document). Through the Vimty platform, patients have a permanent record that is part of their EMR that can be referenced when end-of-life measures become necessary.

Special Guests:

Maria de la Guardia, of Assisted Living Locators