Getting Health Care Right

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Pulmonary embolism kills more patients than HIV, breast cancer and motor vehicle accidents combined, according TriHealth’s Dr. Chris Hayner, a specialist in critical care and pulmonology,  in the latest episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast. 

“It’s a fairly prominent problem, and for probably 40 years, we really only had two forms of treatment — either to give patients blood thinners or to occasionally use clot busters,” Hayner says. “But within the last 10 years, there’s been a real development of alternative methods and treatment options.” 

Hayner talks with host Jamie Smith, market president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier, and Dr. Douglas Adams, cardiothoracic surgeon with TriHealth, about major advancements in medical treatments and approaches for pulmonary emboli, lung cancer and other conditions. 

Listen to the episode to hear more about: 

·      Results seen by patients who work with TriHealth’s pulmonary embolism response team. 

·      Using low-dose CT scans to detect early-stage lung cancer.

·      What Hayner and Adams see as the benefits of folding AI technology into their health care practice. 

·      Managing health care AI to maximize patient benefit and minimize misuse. 

·      Lessons learned from the implementation of electronic medical records in health care practice. 

·      Integrating AI in TriHealth’s population health model. 

A healthy life begins with truly human care. Learn more at TriHealth.com. 

Never miss an episode of Getting Health Care Right. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The uptick in celebrations around the holiday season can also mean an uptick in stressors for many — and a resulting uptick in employee assistance program (EAP) use, according to Diane Pipes, LISW-S, manager of well-being services for TriHealth, on this episode of Getting Health Care Right. 

Pipes says it’s a good idea to help employees pre-plan for high-stress incidents. “How can I plan for the holiday function where I don’t want to see a particular family member?” she asks. “How can I plan for those occasions where there’s lots of alcohol and food, and I don’t want to overconsume?” 

Listen as Pipes discusses the history and value of EAPs with host Jamie Smith, market president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier, and learn more about: 

·      Advice for employees who may be hesitant about using an EAP. 

·      Resources beyond EAPs for employees whose workplace doesn’t offer them. 

·      ROI estimates for employers considering an EAP as part of benefit offerings. 

·      Reductions in stigma around mental health services today. 

·      The role of behavioral health in TriHealth’s population health initiative. 

TriHealth Corporate Health has helped companies across the region lower costs and improve their workforce health. Learn more. 

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Humans are hardwired to want to belong to groups. Many organizations have widened their inclusivity efforts to prioritize a sense of belonging for employees at every level. 

At TriHealth, this work may be using a newer name (“belonging”), but it is tied to the health system’s value system and has been part of its leaders’ commitment to the community since the mid-1990s, according to Mark Clement, president and CEO of TriHealth, in this episode of Getting Health Care Right. 

“(Belonging) is the product of fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization,” Clement says. “That product is where our team members, our providers and ultimately the patients we serve, feel a sense of belonging and feel welcome in our organization.” 

Dr. Thomas Shockley, who joins Clement and Cincinnati Business Courier Publisher Jamie Smith on the episode, adds to the conversation by sharing more about his role as TriHealth’s chief health equity officer and his goals with the soon-to-launch Health Equity Center. 

“One of the things that I and the Health Equity Center will do will be pulling leaders together, pulling team members together, bringing people out of silos to live that mission for all the people we serve,” Shockley says. 

Listen to the episode to hear more about: 

• Helping patients understand health equity. 
• Specific challenges that come with addressing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the health care space. 
• Differences in life expectancy data from one ZIP code to another. 
• Ways health equity fits into the population health model. 

Learn more about TriHealth’s mission to serve the larger community by mirroring the rich diversity of Greater Cincinnati in its leadership, employed physician population and supplier relationships. 

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On-site health care services can offer many benefits to Cincinnati-area employers, including convenience, cost savings and enhanced employee benefit offerings. 

“It’s a win-win for an employee to be able to seek care in real time during work hours in a convenient location,” says Dr. Malia Harper, medical director for TriHealth, in this episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast. 

That sentiment is shared by Mark Brown, vice president of human resources at one of the oldest employers in the city of Cincinnati — Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum. 

“Providing great (health care) options and benefits that are both cost-effective and convenient for your employees is a great way to broadcast for potential future hires,” Brown says.  

Listen to Harper and Brown’s conversation with host Jamie Smith, president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier, to hear more about: 

·      Who staffs TriHealth’s on-site clinics and the kinds of services they provide.

·      Spring Grove’s decision to open an on-site clinic for employees and the factors that went into that decision. 

·      Employees’ response to the clinic program. 

·      More ways the on-site clinic benefits employers — as well as employees — and how the model fits into a larger goal of population health. 

Leverage a multidisciplinary team of experts and help your organization change for the better with TriHealth Corporate Health. 

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Cooler temperatures mean the respiratory virus season is not far behind. But the incidence of COVID-19  may not be as dramatic as years past, according to Dr. Stephen Blatt, TriHealth medical director for infectious diseases, on the first episode in Getting Health Care Right’s second season. 

“We’re evolving into an endemic period so that over 95% of the people in the country are at least partially immune to COVID now either through vaccination or having had the disease once or twice,” Blatt says. 

Blatt warns host listeners that COVID is still a serious illness, however.  Listen to his conversation with host Jamie Smith, market president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier, to learn more about: 

·      The CDC’s predictions for 2023’s flu season. 

·      Who is most at risk for severe illness. 

·      Flu vaccine protections and effectiveness. 

·      Risks and advantages of the latest COVID vaccine. 

·      Dangers of RSV infection and how to prevent it. 

TriHealth’s Infectious Disease group provides a full array of treatment and consultation to Greater Cincinnati. Learn more. 

Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine has partnered with TriHealth for decades, but last year, the organizations came together as part of a “conversation that was a long time coming,” according to Andy Blankemeyer, CEO at Beacon, in this episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast. 

“We are now co-invested in surgery centers across Cincinnati. Our existing surgery centers as well as TriHealth’s existing Evendale Hospital are now all part of a joint venture, and we have combined our physician groups as well,” says Blankemeyer. 

“The partnership brings together two unique organizations: (Beacon), the regional leader in orthopedic care, and TriHealth, the region’s largest integrated delivery system,” says Mark Clement, president and CEO of TriHealth. “We recognized the commonality of our visions half a decade ago and went to work on figuring out how we could come together to deliver a higher level of orthopedic care across the full continuum, not just in the ambulatory setting.” 

Blankemeyer and Clement share more about the landmark deal with host Jamie Smith, market president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier. Listen to the episode to hear more about: 

• Why an integrated approach to patient care is better than the “push-pull” of independent groups and hospital systems. 
• Ways outpatient orthopedic care can keep health costs down and save employers money.
• Other partnerships that support TriHealth’s goal of optimizing population health. 
• Reactions among area health care payers to the Beacon-TriHealth partnership announcement. 

Patients now have broader access to superior orthopedic care. Learn more. 

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A heart failure diagnosis can be frightening for many patients. But TriHealth’s Advanced Heart Failure program is in the business of offering hope for that diagnosis, according to Dr. Sateesh Kesari, advanced heart failure transplant cardiologist with TriHealth, in this episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast.

“The reality is, there’s a 50%, five-year mortality associated with that (diagnosis), similar to what we see with cancer,” says Kesari. “But there are a lot of great therapies that can help you live many, many years and feel a lot better.”

TriHealth patient Brian Smith can attest to that, as he shares in this episode. He was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy several years ago and has come a long way in his treatment journey.

Listen to the episode to hear about:

• Programs that have been successful in helping TriHealth patients recover their heart function.
• Risk factors that can lead to cardiomyopathy.
• How a multidisciplinary TriHealth team helps heart patients develop a care plan.
• The hard choice Smith had to make to prolong his life — and what his prognosis looks like now.
• Lifestyle modifications and medications that benefit heart failure patients alongside medical therapies.
• How people can tell whether they’re at risk for potential cardiac issues.

TriHealth’s Advanced Heart Failure program, located in the Harold and Eugenia Thomas Comprehensive Care Center on the campus of Bethesda North Hospital, is a recognized a leader in quality and outcomes. Learn more.

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When Ohio House Bill 371 passed last year, insurance companies had to start paying for additional screenings beyond the traditional mammogram for patients with a higher risk of breast cancer.

TriHealth patient Jenny Dermody called the additional imaging coverage “a huge blessing” in this episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast. She took advantage and got a 3D mammogram after her regular one last fall — and the team found lobular carcinoma.

Dermody shares her story in this episode alongside Dr. Kathleen Raque, a surgical oncologist with TriHealth. Listen to their conversation with Jamie Smith, president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier, to hear more about:
•Why patients with dense breast tissue may need additional imaging in their annual cancer screenings.
•Dermody’s treatment plan and takeaways from her cancer journey.
•The percentage of cancers Raque diagnoses that are “more aggressive.”
•TriHealth’s mobile mammography unit.

Schedule the TriHealth Mobile Mammography Van at your business or event.

Never miss an episode. Subscribe to Getting Health Care Right on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

In the U.S., chronic pain is the most common symptom leading patients to their physicians, according to Dr. Sara Nashi, a TriHealth physician who specializes in pain management, in this podcast episode of Getting Health Care Right. 

“Actually, 25% of the population will have back pain in a given year, and up to 80% of the population will have low back pain during their lifetime,” Nashi says. 

In the episode, Nashi’s patient, Brenda White, shares her challenges with back pain in recent years and how she was able to overcome those challenges with Nashi’s help — and with a new therapy called a basivertebral nerve ablation. 

Listen to their discussion with Jamie Smith, publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier, to learn about: 

• Various treatments White tested to address her pain. 
• When a patient is a candidate for basivertebral nerve ablation — and how it differs from other pain treatment procedures.
• White’s life now that she is living without pain and without opioid medication. 
• Advice for people who are suffering from back issues. 

Learn more about pain management at TriHealth. 

There’s a connection between issues like race and ethnicity and how well chronic conditions are managed, according to Terri Hanlon-Bremer, COO of TriHealth, in this episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast. 

“When you look at typical chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and COPD, where people of color are not having the same outcomes as Caucasian (patients), we can actually pinpoint where we have those variances in our own organization,” Hanlon-Bremer says. “What that allows us to do is work directly with that provider and team member so we can understand (whether) there is an education issue going on. Is there an access issue going on? Is there something else we need to adjust?” 

Hanlon-Bremer talks candidly with Tashawna Otabil, chief diversity officer with TriHealth, about the hospital system’s goal of ensuring a sense of belonging among team members, patients and physicians. Their conversation is hosted by Jamie Smith, president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier. Listen to hear about: 

·      How TriHealth works to do its part as a community leader in equity and inclusivity. 

·      Why health care organizations should be concerned about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. 

·      Recruitment for diverse candidates, especially among leadership roles. 

·      The intention behind TriHealth’s BOLD program and the success of its inaugural graduates. 

·      Ways TriHealth promotes healthier behaviors in the community, including partnering with Local 12 News and area churches to offer education and screenings. 

·      How TriHealth leaders are “checking their bias” to ask whether things should be done differently in their policies and procedures. 

Learn more about diversity and inclusion at TriHealth.