hyperbaric medicine Archives - Business RadioX ®

Dr. Ricardo Duran and Debra Gonzalez, Wellstar North Fulton Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center

July 19, 2022 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

Dr. Ricardo Duran and Debra Gonzalez, Wellstar North Fulton Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center

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North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 473)

Medical Director Dr. Ricardo Duran and Program Director Debra Gonzalez joined North Fulton Business Radio host John Ray to discuss their work at Wellstar North Fulton Wound Care & Hyperbaric Center. This center recently received accreditation with distinction, one of only fifty centers nationwide to achieve this professional honor. It is an integrated practice of both in-patient and out-patient services providing wound care and hyperbaric treatments. Dr. Duran defined what hyperbaric treatment is and how it aids healing. He and Debra Gonzalez talked about how they came to this specialty, the amputation prevention program they offer, what makes this practice unique, and much more.

North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

If you are suffering from a severe or chronic wound, Wellstar North Fulton Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine can help.

Common health problems such as diabetes or poor circulation delay the body’s healing process, resulting in chronic wounds. Their dedicated care team specializes in the evaluation and treatment of wounds. Together, they will create a personalized treatment plan to help you heal and feel better.

Wellstar is one of the largest health systems in Georgia. They know that giving people easy access to their services and locations is an essential part of great care.

As a not-for-profit health system, its passion for people extends beyond its system and into the communities they serve.

Company website | Facebook

Dr. Ricardo Duran, Medical Director,

Dr. Ricardo Duran has joined the Wellstar family as the Medical Director of the North Fulton Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center. Dr. Duran is an Internist Board Certified in Hyperbaric Medicine and Medical Wound Care. He received his medical degree from the Military University Nueva Granada in Bogota, Colombia.

He served in the Colombian Navy as a medical officer, both on land and shipboard, from 1996 to 2004, where his experience as a certified military diver sparked his interest in hyperbaric medicine. His background in combat medicine honed his skill in acute and chronic wounds. After his internship and residency at Yale University’s Danbury Hospital, he received his fellowship training in Sports Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and in Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care from Duke University.

Dr. Duran has extensive experience in the comprehensive medical level management of chronic complicated wounds in the inpatient, outpatient and long-term care settings.

Debra Gonzalez, Program Director,

Debra first began working in the wound care and hyperbaric industry in 1993. She has multiple certifications in wound care and hyperbarics and has held various clinical and administrative positions including Clinical Coordinator, Program Director, Clinical Liaison, and Vice President of Clinical Services.

She is an expert clinician in wound care as well as hyperbaric medicine delivered in monoplace and multiplace chamber environments. Debra has been an advocate of hyperbaric nursing and has promoted the hyperbaric industry by presenting at many national conferences over the years.

Debra is currently the Program Director for Wound Care & Hyperbaric Services at WellStar North Fulton Hospital; serves on the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology and is Secretary of the UHMS Gulf Coast Chapter. Additionally, she is a BNA and UHMS member and is also an Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Accreditation Surveyor.

Questions and Topics in this Interview:

What exactly is hyperbaric medicine?
What types of things do you treat at the Wound Care Center?
Why is your program so great and unique?
Tell us about the latest certification your program has received.
How does someone know they should seek treatment from you for a non-healing wound?
What is something that can be treated with hyperbarics that we might not think of?

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Special thanks to A&S Culinary Concepts for their support of this edition of North Fulton Business Radio. A&S Culinary Concepts, based in Johns Creek, is an award-winning culinary studio, celebrated for corporate catering, corporate team building, Big Green Egg Boot Camps, and private group events. They also provide oven-ready, cooked from scratch meals to go they call “Let Us Cook for You.” To see their menus and events, go to their website or call 678-336-9196.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

April 9, 2015 by angishields

Health Connect South

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

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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

Mitochondrial Diseases and Hyperbaric Medicine – Top Docs Radio

January 30, 2015 by angishields

Top Docs Radio

Mitochondrial Diseases and Hyperbaric Medicine - Top Docs Radio

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Mitochondrial Diseases and Hyperbaric Medicine

This week I sat down with experts in the fields of mitochondrial diseases and hyperbaric medicine. Each cell in our body has an “engine” where the nutrition we consume through eating is converted to the energy we need to function and survive. These engines are known as “Mitochondria”. These cellular components use genetic code to function and on occasion there will be problems with the genetic code or with how it is decoded. In these cases, a variety of health problems can reveal themselves, depending on what sort of tissue is made up by these cells in question. These can range from challenges with learning, developmental problems, or disease states such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Muscular Dystrophy, and others. Dr. John Shoffner, neurologist and geneticist of Medical Neurogenetics came by with Laura Stanley of the Foundation for Mitochondrial Medicine.

We talked about the research Dr. Shoffner is doing in an effort to find medical therapies that could help patients who are dealing with the variety of disorders caused by mitochondrial dysfunction. We talked about how challenging it can be to identify a health problem(s) that are caused by mitochondrial disease unless a patient’s family is fortunate enough to be seen by a physician familiar with the genetic tests that can be utilized to diagnose them.

As described by the Foundation for Mitochondrial Medicine, “Every aspect of our beings – seeing, breathing, thinking, moving – requires energy. Mitochondria, often called the cells’ “powerhouses,” supply that energy by turning raw materials found in the food we eat and in the air we breathe into a substance called ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which our cells can use as fuel. ATP is, quite simply, vital to life. Without enough ATP, children cannot appropriately develop, grow, learn, move, or even sleep. Adults without enough ATP are unable to sustain brain, muscle, and other vital organ function. A deficit of ATP can also cause invisible damage in some disease states, leading to early failure or dysfunction of organs, or just a chronic state of inefficiency leading to pain, fatigue, changes or limitations in thinking and learning, and increased susceptibility to acquired diseases.”

Laura and Dr. Shoffner shared how they are working to improve awareness of mitochondrial diseases and through research, uncover treatments to halt or at least slow the effects of these diseases. The ultimate goal is to find a way to prevent or reverse these problems.

Dr. Helen Gelly joined us to talk about a recent article she co-authored with Dr. Caroline Fife in Today’s Wound Clinic, called, “Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Wound Care: A Service Under True Pressure“. In the article, Dr. Gelly and Dr. Fife talked about how numerous Medicare Administrative Contractors and Commercial insurers are making changes to indications they are willing to reimburse hyperbaric oxygen therapy for. That means that patients with wounds that place them at risk for amputation or for degraded quality of life due to previous radiation therapy may not be able to receive this evidence-based, effective treatment. We talked about how in some cases where the providers in a given MAC were asked for clinical documentation of their HBO treatments provided, as many as 30% failed to respond. Dr. Gelly shared how this lack of response leads to suspicions of fraud.

It was clear from the Today’s Wound Clinic article and from our conversation that hyperbaric medicine specialists must begin to activate and collaborate to protect this evidence-proven treatment modality. HBO providers need to not only be responsive to requests for data but ACTIVE as it relates to advocating on behalf of educated decisions being made as it relates to the availability of the modality for tomorrow’s patients in need.

Special Guests:

Dr. John Shoffer, MD, CEO of Medical Neurogenics

Former Associate professor of neurology and molecular medicine at Emory University
Former Director of the molecular diagnostics program at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Discovered some of the first gene mutations causing mitochondrial diseases and one of the first genes causing epilepsy
Finalist, 2012 Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Health-Care Heroes Awards

Laura Stanley, of Foundation for Mitochondrial Medicine

IMBA, University of South Carolina Darla Moore School of Business
Former Senior Associate, Korn Ferry
Former Vice President, EzGov
Parent of a child with mitochondrial disease

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

Midtown Business Radio Powers B2B Foward With New Media

August 19, 2014 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio

Midtown Business Radio Powers B2B Foward With New Media

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Midtown Business Radio, Business Radio X Drives B2B, Harnesses Power of Earned Media

New Business Radio X studio affiliates, Dave Schwegman and CW Hall talk about the power of new media in creating relationships and driving B2B companies’ businesses forward. The internet-based radio station takes on the Big Boys with an elegant approach that harnesses the power of earned media to extend the reach of each guest’s message. Traditional media outlets focus on monetizing every available moment of air time. They are also very resistant to giving access to the editorial real estate they have available to Joe Business owner to tell their stories. Midtown Business Radio gives B2B companies the opportunity to have a forum uninterrupted by commercials, traffic, and news to talk about how they help their clients’ businesses move ahead. We don’t determine the agenda for the guests nor do we tell them what they’re going to talk about. Guests don’t pay to appear so the information is real and not “posing” as an interview.

Midtown Business Radio gives a voice to the B2B company that says, “Our product or service speaks for itself! If only we could talk to THESE 50-100 people our business would go crazy!” We don’t need to sell anyone on “Hope” by talking about an audience that’s 400,000 strong. Our listeners tune in specifically to hear OUR GUESTS’ message. That means when you’re on our network you’re talking straight to the very people your business “Hopes!” hear what you’re saying. Enough people listen to our content to rank businessradiox.com among the Top 1% of all websites based on total traffic and visitor behavior (Alexa.com) and >90% of our shows are made possible through contributions from Atlanta-area B2B companies. It’s not an infrequent occurrence that guests of a given show walk out talking about getting together to talk business after appearing together on one of our programs.

If you are a B2B company, particularly one that is hyper-local to the Atlanta area, you’re investing in marketing, and you need to talk to hard-to-reach folks to make your business run we want you join us on Midtown Business Radio! Be our guest and we’ll help you get the word out. We look forward to hearing from you.

Treating Diabetic Ulcer Patients – Top Docs Radio

April 1, 2014 by Mike

Top Docs Radio

Treating Diabetic Ulcer Patients - Top Docs Radio

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Top Docs Radio features healthcare providers and professionals sharing their expertise to “Get the Word Out” about a variety of health problems, treatments and community concerns to elevate our community’s well-being.

Treating Diabetic Ulcer Patients

According to recent data from the CDC, diabetes affects over 25.8 million people in the US (roughly 8% of the population). Coupled with data that shows another 79 million persons in the US have pre-diabetes (A1C levels above normal) or 35% of the population. Obviously, it’s a serious problem. Diabetes is a major contributor to stroke, heart disease and peripheral vascular disease (PAD). Roughly 1:6 diabetics will develop a diabetic ulcer on their foot or lower extremity and many of them will ultimately require amputation of part of the foot or leg. After amputation for an ulcer, studies have shown diabetics’ 5 year mortality rates rise significantly — to as high as 45-60%. It is critical that these patients receive rapid, aggressive care from a spectrum of specialists who must each address the various factors contributing to the ulcer.

Our guests this week include three such specialists who treat diabetic ulcer patients in their practice every day. They will give insight about the role they play in saving the diabetic ulcer patient’s limb (and possibly their life).

The host of Top Docs Radio is Charles “CW” Hall with Hyperbaric Physicians of Georgia.

Dr. Shamir Bhikha, DPM

Doctorate with Honors, Podiatric Medicine, Barry University School of Podiatric Medicine
Residency, Inova Fairfax Hospital 2010-13 & Limb Salvage Center at Georgetown University Hospital 2013
Skilled in Sports Medicine/Trauma to the foot/ankle, Podopediatrics and Reconstructive foot/ankle surgery
Comprehensive training in diabetic limb salvage, plastic surgery and wound care

Dr. Andrew Pugliese, MD

Doctorate in Medicine, St. George University School of Medicine
Fellowship, Infectious Disease, Winthrop University Hospital
Triple Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease
Pioneer in non-surgical treatment of acute and chronic sinusitis and president of Sinus Solutions

Dr. Uthan Vivek, MD

Doctorate in Medicine, Madras Medical College, India
Board Certified in General Surgery and Vascular & Endovascular Surgery
Fellow, American College of Surgeons
Vascular Fellow, Wayne State, Detroit
General Surgery, Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Center, New York
Certified in Vascular Sonography, American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonography
Specialist in endovascular procedures for peripheral arterial disease/varicose veins, management of carotid artery disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm, deep vein thrombosis, diabetic foot ulcers and dialysis access