General Medicine and Primary Care

Host: Alicia A. Sutton

Guest: Ray Saputelli

Healthcare costs in the U.S. are among the highest in the world, yet health outcomes remain in the bottom tiers compared to other developed countries. How might the care delivery model be changed to affect change in this regard, and who is leading the way?

Joining host Alicia Sutton to examine one state's efforts to replace volume of care with value in care, driving down costs while improving outcomes, is Ray Saputelli, Executive Vice President of the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians.

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Irritable Bowel Syndrome affects an estimated one out of ten people in the US, yet the causes for this disease are multivariate and often unknown from case to case, creating a reputation in practice as a "waste basket diagnosis." Dr. Michael Stierstorfer, Clinical Associate Professor of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and founder of East Penn Dermatology, has been a pioneer in helping clinicians better understand one potential cause of IBS. His own experience as IBS patient led to the remarkable discovery of an allergic contact enteritits underscoring his disease, which has led to new diagnostic and treatment algorithms for IBS patients nationwide. Dr. Stierstorfer joins Dr. Brian McDonough to discuss this unexpected path toward discovery and subsequent career specialization.

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Many of us use online search engines as our primary source for referenced information, but is it a truly reliable source for health information? And which medical organizations are at the forefront for leveraging these information portals to maximum effects for both patients and health professionals? Joining Dr. Brian McDonough to discuss the recent technological advancements, institutional partnerships, and revenue streams underlying search engine-optimized health information is Chris Seper, vice president of healthcare for Breaking Media and founder of MedCityNews.com.

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Joining Dr. Brian McDonough to discuss the state of mental health services in the US, as well as current to emerging care resources for children with developmental disabilities such as autism, is Robert Kreider, JD. Mr. Kreider is President and CEO of Devereux, one of the oldest and largest nonprofit providers of behavioral healthcare in the country.

Guest: Cynthia Kear

Guest: Tom McKeithen, Jr.

Host: Alicia A. Sutton

There is a national public health crisis concerning the misuse and overuse of opioid medications, and despite multiple large scale efforts to stem the tide, negative trends persist. In order to address risk and safety concerns, reduce serious adverse outcomes, and simultaneously ensure that pain patients maintain necessary access to opioids, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has developed a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) that applies to all long-acting and extended-release opioid medications. Joining Alicia Sutton to discuss how REMS programs are being used to help inform and educate the medical community are Cynthia Kear and Tom McKeithen. Ms. Kear is Senior Vice President of the California Academy of Family Physicians, while Mr. McKeithen is Senior Consultant at Healthcare Performance Consulting

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

A new therapy in the form of a vibrating pill-size capsule may help alleviate chronic idiopathic constipation without significant side effects. Joining Dr. Brian McDonough to discuss this innovative treatment method is Dr. Anish Sheth, practicing gastroenterologist at Princeton Medical Group in Princeton, NJ. And, to our listeners, please note that Dr. Sheth was not involved in the clinical trials of the investigational treatment mentioned in this interview.

Host: John Russell, MD

When was it decided that exercise could only be good for you? In his recent book, Exercise Will Hurt You: Concussion, Traumatic Brain Injury, and How the Dangers of Sports and Exercise Can Affect Your Health, leading neurosurgeon Dr. Steven Barrer calls for a change in the way we think about exercise in the United States. His work arises from an extensive career treating exercise-related injuries, anecdotal experiences from his own personal exercise injuries over the years, and scientific data culled from the latest research.

Dr. Barrer is Director of the Neurosciences Institute and Chief of the Division of Neurosurgery at Abington Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia.

Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Dr. McDonough welcomes Dr. Donald Frei, neuroradiologist and Director of Neurointerventional Surgery at Radiology Imaging Associates in Denver, CO. Dr. Frei is working towards establishing state-of-the-art diagnosis and management strategies in treating patients with acute stroke. His procedural specialties include acute catheter directed stroke intervention, angioplasty/stent revascularization of cerebrovascular stenosis and minimally invasive treatment of cerebral aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations.

Host: Alicia A. Sutton

Guest: Destry Sulkes, MD, MBA

The meeting of the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (ACEHP) witnessed a broad spectrum of presentations and dialogues focused on medical education, from big data to quality improvement to social media to patient safety. Recapping highlights from this meeting is Dr. Destry J. Sulkes, President of the Board of Directors for ACEHP and co-founder of Medivo Inc.

Host: Lee Freedman, MD

Given the multitude of concerns a male patient with cancer must deal with, sexual dysfunction and infertility are two such concerns that often gets bypassed by clinicians addressing more "priority" issues. What kinds of challenges do these patients deal with, and how can physicians better assess and manage them? Joining Dr. Freedman to discuss sexual health and fertility in male cancer survivors is Dr. Puneet Masson, Director of the Male Infertility Program and Assistant Professor of Urology at Penn Medicine.