Top Docs Radio

Infectious Disease

Medicine is becoming increasingly fragmented and complex. The infectious diseases specialty has become especially pivotal in our health care system when it comes to clarifying diagnoses, preserving our antibiotic armamentarium with cautious use of this limited resource, and protecting patients from complications that are associated with these complex treatments.

Unfortunately, the number of young physicians who are going into the infectious diseases specialty is declining. Two years ago, more than 40 percent of infectious diseases training programs (slots?) went

unfilled (i.e., a program seeking three new trainees might only get two and some smaller programs might not get any)  – while last year more than 60 percent of infectious disease training programs were short of fellowship trainees.

It is essential to convince more young physicians to go into the infectious disease specialty if we hope to

ensure that patients have access to the care they need.

After Dr. Dretler graduated from Tufts University Medical School in Boston in 1978, he trained in internal medicine at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital of Tufts University. He completed his infectious disease training at Emory University in Atlanta in 1981. He then started his Infectious Disease Specialists of Atlanta practice at DeKalb Medical where his group is now based.

He has served as president of the Infectious Disease Society of Georgia, as the president of the DeKalb Medical Society, and as both the chief of medicine and the chief of staff at DeKalb Medical. Dr. Dretler also served as the medical chairman of the DeKalb Medical Foundation. He has been heavily involved in medical research and has been a principal investigator for 25 years on more than 100 NIH studies, including clinical research in AIDS, Hepatitis C, Pseudomembranous colitis, and influenza. Dr. Dretler has published more than 25 articles and posters.

Tanya Mack and Dr. David Redding

Talking Allergies with Dr. David Redding

Spring and summer blooms are over so why are you still sneezing? Pollen doesn’t stop at Labor Day! The culprit may be fall and winter allergens such as ragweed, mold and dust. The CDC reports that over 50 million Americans suffer annually from allergies. Almost 75% of people that have reactions to allergens in the spring, also have a reaction in the fall and winter.

There are 17 species of ragweed in the US (and pollen can travel hundreds of miles) and one plant can release 1 billion grains of pollen. Recent studies have shown that increased temperatures have extended the fall allergy season. It may not seem that allergies are not that serious at first blush, but allergy problems can greatly affect the quality of life in terms of sleep, work and school productivity.

Colds are also common during fall and winter months, but many people do not know how to distinguish between a cold and allergies. Dr. David Redding, a board-certified allergist, who has been featured on the Weather Channel and TLC joins us to discuss the triggers and treatments of fall and winter allergies.

Special Guest:

Dr. David Redding, MD, Redding Allergy Center

Dr. David Redding

Louise Labus

Practice Architectural Design

Architectural Interiors for medical practice space is ever changing with new technology, medical developments, more complex patient needs, integrated medical professional work patterns, rising cost of construction, new lighting and finish selections based on health and environmental regulations and more.

Balancing the rising cost in construction and the needs within medical spaces can be challenging. It is critical for the design professional to work hand-in- hand the with physician and practice staff and to employ good communication and listening skills. It is the architect/designer’s responsibility to provide the most appropriate options based on the practice’s objectives in creating aesthetically pleasing and optimal spaces for the patients, physicians and staff.

Louise Labus is a senior associate at Collins Cooper Carusi Architects. She is a licensed Interior Designer with the State of Georgia and Professional Member of American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). Louise has been in the interior architecture and design field for more than 30 years. Ms. Labus has an interior design degree from Michigan State University.

She is focused on medical design, but her background also includes corporate offices, retail space, religious facilities, and educational institutions as well. Ms. Labus strives to understand the needs of her clients throughout the design process – going above and beyond due diligence and programming process to provide a truly customized, comfortable space for every client. She takes a “human-centered” design approach to medical practice interior architecture.

Tanya Mack, Julie Stover, Dr. Matt Gwynn

Telestroke Care

In 2015, the CDC list acute stroke as the 5 th leading cause of death in the US. Those who survive can often face serious long term disability. Yet, there is a mismatch between the patients present with a stroke and the accessibility of expert neurology care. The Census Bureau has estimated that 20% of stroke patients live in rural areas with no access to neurology care in their community.

The first 60 minutes after the onset of a stroke is critical to prevent death and improve the patient’s prognosis. Yet if neurology care is not available, patients are often diverted to the closest large regional center which may be 30-90 min.  away.

New telemedicine technologies are being used to surmount these around the clock access issues

by improving distribution of neurology experts. Today’s segment features, AcuteCare Telemed experts,

one of the nation’s leaders in providing telestroke programs to hospitals.

Dr. John Harvey

Medical Reserve Corps

President George W. Bush created the USA Freedom Corps to foster a culture of citizenship and responsibility. The Citizen Corps is the component of USA Freedom Corps, which creates local opportunities for individuals to volunteer to help their communities prepare for and respond to emergencies.

The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is the component of the Citizen Corps that brings together local health professionals, community volunteers to provide support services, and others with relevant skills. The MRC is a national network of volunteers – organized locally to improve the health and safety of their communities.

It comprises 993 community-based units and more than 200,000 volunteers located throughout the U.S. Georgia has 18 approved MRC. MRC volunteers include medical and public health professionals, as well as other community members without health care backgrounds. The MRC prepare for and respond to natural disasters, such as wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, blizzards, and floods, as well as

other emergencies affecting public health, such as disease outbreaks.

MRC frequently support community health activities that promote healthy habits.  MAG Medical Reserve Corps With the approval of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Medical Association of Georgia (MAG) and the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) developed the nation’s first medical society-sponsored statewide volunteer MRC. The MAG MRC is training physicians to respond to declared emergencies in Georgia.

The MAG MRC coordinates the deployment of physicians during such emergencies. MAG MRC units are capable of setting up mobile hospital systems. And under extreme circumstances (e.g., a shortage of health care providers in a given area), MAG MRC units can perform some of the functions that would otherwise be performed by the full-time emergency medical response personnel in the state.

Physicians and other volunteers must register on the “Georgia Responds: State Emergency Registry of Volunteers in Georgia” (SERVGA) – www.servga.gov – before they can serve as a MAG MRC volunteer.

Tanya Mack, Chris Denson

Rural Medicine

Many states exhibit disparities in rural health vs. healthcare and Georgia is no exception. Georgia has

108/159 counties (68%) defined as “rural.” Most would agree that health should not be determined by

one’s residence or zip code, yet many healthcare challenges are unique to rural settings such as:

community infrastructure, poverty, education, and transportation.

Geographically, Georgia has many “Medical Deserts” where access is severely compromised. There are 54 rural hospitals in GA and many are financially vulnerable. GA’s rural health communities may be losing the capacity to deliver the right care at the right time at the right place.

Conversely, due to these rural healthcare challenges, Georgia has also become an incubator for new policies, programs and collaborative partnerships designed to help decrease healthcare disparities.

Special Guest:

Chris Denson, MPH, Director of Advisory Services, HomeTown Health

Dr. Richard W Cohen

End of Life

End-of- life is a significant issue for patients, families and health care teams. The Institute of Medicine and the book ‘Being Mortal’ have increased the awareness of the public and the health care profession. The key to the issue is the ability of a patient to express their wishes for how they chose to live out their life and the ability of the health care team to honor those wishes.

Those wishes are documented in an ‘Advance Directive’ and, when appropriate, in a ‘Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment’ (POLST). The POLST is a medical order that aims to enable seriously

ill patients to designate the treatments they desire and to ensure that those preferences are honored by medical professionals.

The Georgia POLST Collaborative is a part of the National POLST Paradigm. The Georgia POLST

Collaborative aims to educate patients, families and health care professionals throughout the state about end-of- life planning, advance directives, and the Georgia POLST.

Dr. Richard Cohen recently retired as the medical director of the WellStar Health System’s Ethics Department. He founded Wellstar’s Health System Ethics and Advance Care Planning and End-of- Life programs. Dr. Cohen is the chairman of the Board of Georgia Health Decisions, the chairman of the Georgia POLST Collaborative, and a member of the Executive Committee of the National POLST Paradigm Taskforce.

He practiced total joint restoration in Atlanta for 40 years. Dr. Cohen received he medical degree from the Jefferson University Medical School in Pennsylvania.

 

Tanya Mack of Womens Telehealth

Telemedicine Education for Healthcare Professionals

This week Tanya Mack hosted Aneel Irfan, of Telehealth Magazine, to talk about telemedicine education for healthcare professionals.  American healthcare is transforming and telemedicine will be a critical part of it going into the future.  Research, medical information and consults are now delivered instantly across large geographic distances.

Telemedicine has been transformed from a novelty way to provide patient care to a booming industry. Current healthcare professionals are the 1 st generation of “Digital Natives”, who are well versed in incorporating technology into their daily interactions. They are in a position to apply these advances

into the patient care arena.

However, formal, systematic training will be required to get on pace with telemedicine encounters being “on par” with in-person, traditional patient care. Today, our segment will be exploring the question: “How do we begin training healthcare professionals to maximize the potential of telemedicine?” Listen in as our guest, Aneel Irfan; from the industry’s premier publication,

Telehealth Magazine, discusses his thoughts in this area.

Special Guest:

Aneel Irfan, Contributing Editor, Telehealth Magazine

Dr. Ruth Parker

Health Literacy

Health literacy is focused on what physicians and other health care providers can do to provide their patients with information that is both understandable and useful. Patients often struggle understanding what they need to know and do – and health care professionals often deliver messages that are too complicated for patients to understand.

An Institute of Medicine (IOM) report estimated that nearly half the adult population lacks the literacy skills to understand and use health information. One study found that just 12 percent of U.S. adults have the health literacy skills they need to manage the demands of our complex health care system. In addition, their ability to absorb and use health information can be compromised by stress or illness. Limited health literacy is associated with poor health status, higher use of services, and worse clinical outcomes.

Preventable complications result in more stress on the patient and their family members – as well as increased costs. “Patient centeredness” is a salient theme within the medical profession, but it can be a difficult practice to put into place on a daily basis. Health literacy encourages physicians and other health care providers to practice good listening and communications skills to ensure that their

patients receive information and advice they need in a way that is both understandable and useful.

Ruth Parker, M.D., is a professor of Medicine, Pediatrics and Public Health Department at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. She attended medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Parker completed residencies in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Rochester, and she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Parker has focused on health literacy for more than 20 years.

She is a co-author of the ‘Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults’ (TOFHLA) and the definition of health literacy that is used by Healthy People 2010, the IOM, the NIH, and in the Affordable Care Act. Dr. Parker has served in leadership roles as a health literacy advocate for professional societies, including the AMA and the ACP Foundation.

She has consulted with a number of state and federal agencies, professional organizations, and industry regarding their health literacy efforts. Dr. Parker was a member of the IOM Health Literacy Committee and the Health Literacy Roundtable. She has received a number of national awards for her work.

Special Guest:

Dr. Ruth Parker, MD, Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics and Public Health

Department, Emory University School of Medicine           

 

Dr. Ruth Parker Health Literacy Health literacy is focused on what physicians and other health care providers can do to provide their patients with information that is both understandable and useful. Patients often struggle understanding what they need to know and do – and health care professionals often deliver messages that are too complicated for […]