Top Docs Radio

Sleep Disorders It is estimated that as many as 35-40% of Americans experience poor quality of sleep secondary to a variety of sleep disorders.  We continued our series with Northside Hospital this week as I sat down with Sleep Medicine specialist, Dr. Robert Albin.  We talked about the statistics around sleep disorders and Dr. Albin […]

Sleep Disorders

It is estimated that as many as 35-40% of Americans experience poor quality of sleep secondary to a variety of sleep disorders.  We continued our series with Northside Hospital this week as I sat down with Sleep Medicine specialist, Dr. Robert Albin.  We talked about the statistics around sleep disorders and Dr. Albin discussed the serious accidents that have occurred that are thought to be related to sleep deprivation.  Some of those include:  Three Mile Island, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Chernobyl, a recent ferry accident in NYC, and more.

Dr. Albin shared how poor quality and low quantities of sleep can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, poor mental function, depression, and others.  We talked about the process sleep specialists go through to determine the source of a person’s sleep disorder.  In many cases, the issue is borne out of mental or emotional stress rather than a physical/neurological  issue.  In those cases the sleep specialist will collaborate with a psychology/psychiatry specialist to help work through those causative issues.

For patients who have a sleep disorder related to brain chemistry/function or an obstructive process such as obstructive sleep apnea, the specialists have specialized tests they can conduct to determine the quality of sleep and determine the cause of the problem.  The sleep specialty team at Northside offers a variety of diagnostic studies/treatments and it was the first sleep center of its kind in the city.  For our listeners who are themselves or their loved ones are experiencing difficulty sleeping please take a listen to this week’s show and share it!  You might help someone you care about.

Special Guest:

Dr. Robert Albin, MD, of North Atlanta Pulmonary and Sleep Specialists

* Board Certified, Pulmonology, Internal Medicine, and Sleep Medicine

* Doctorate of Medicine, Cum Laude, Emory School of Medicine

* Associate Medical Director of NAPS Center for Sleep disorders

* Medical Director for Peachtree Road Race and Atlanta Marathon

* Past President and current Board member of the Medical Association of Atlanta

Medical Association of Georgia’s 2015 Legislative Priorities This week I sat down with Dr. Michael Green and Marcus downs of MAG to discuss Medical Association of Georgia’s 2015 legislative priorities.  We talked about several issues that have a serious impact on both patient outcomes as well as Georgia physicians’ ability to provide care.  Some key […]

Medical Association of Georgia’s 2015 Legislative Priorities

This week I sat down with Dr. Michael Green and Marcus downs of MAG to discuss Medical Association of Georgia’s 2015 legislative priorities.  We talked about several issues that have a serious impact on both patient outcomes as well as Georgia physicians’ ability to provide care.  Some key areas of focus this year include Physician Autonomy/Scope of Practice relating to physician-extending providers such as optometrists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, Third Party Payers, Tort Reform, and Patient Access to Care/Physician Shortage.

Dr. Greene and Marcus shared important information about how the year’s priorities are decided upon from how they’re raised as issues, to how they are elevated through committee to final discussion/determination.  They also talked about how valuable it is to have active participation in the process by the members of MAG.  We discussed the ways that MAG members are able to contribute input on the process and identification of issues for the association to consider.

Marcus and Dr. Greene also talked about some important legislative issues MAG has been able to provide input on that helped shape or revise laws affecting how physicians provide care within the state of Georgia.

Special Guests:

Dr. Michael Greene, Chairman, Council on Legislation, MAG       

* Doctorate of Medicine, Mercer University School of Medicine

* Former President of MAG, 2003-’04

* Board Member, Secure Health Plan of Georgia

* Practicing Family Practice Physician, Macon, GA

 

Marcus Downs, Director of Government Relations, MAG   

* Recipient, 2012, Outstanding Advocate Award, National Association of School Psychologists

* National Institutes of Health Research Fellow, 2000

* Former Director, Government Relations/External Coalitions/Research, Georgia Association of Educators

Complex Patients This week I sat down with our colleague, Dr. Andrew Pugliese, Infectious Disease specialist of Infectious Disease Consultants in Johns Creek.  He stopped by to talk about complex patients.  He shared how medical studies focus on single illnesses, disqualifying certain age groups and patients with multiple disease states.  Dr. Pugliese talked about the […]

Complex Patients

This week I sat down with our colleague, Dr. Andrew Pugliese, Infectious Disease specialist of Infectious Disease Consultants in Johns Creek.  He stopped by to talk about complex patients.  He shared how medical studies focus on single illnesses, disqualifying certain age groups and patients with multiple disease states.  Dr. Pugliese talked about the fact that in the real world medical office, rare is it that a patient walks in to be treated for a problem who is only dealing with that single disease.  More commonly, patients present with obesity, and/or diabetes, heart disease, or any number of other health problems that can affect the way the body responds to a given disease state and treatments for them.  Dr. Pugliese shared how these “multi-morbid” (having more than one health issue) patients are very complex and often do not respond to therapies as studies suggest they will.  He offered advice for providers to help them be better able to manage patients when they need care for a given problem when other health issues are present.  Check out Dr. Pugliese’s blog at http://sinusitisblog.com/.

Special Guest:

Andrew Pugliese, MD, Infectious Disease Consultants        

* 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

* President of Sinus Solutions

Swift School This week I sat down with two learning specialists and three students from The Swift School in Roswell, GA.  This private school is one that focuses on the learning needs of high-potential students that are challenged with dyslexia, dyscalculia (problems with math), working memory issues, and others.  Their learning environment is designed to […]

Swift School

This week I sat down with two learning specialists and three students from The Swift School in Roswell, GA.  This private school is one that focuses on the learning needs of high-potential students that are challenged with dyslexia, dyscalculia (problems with math), working memory issues, and others.  Their learning environment is designed to help these children achieve their academic potential through smaller class sizes, teaching styles (such as Orton-Gillingham method) that take these various brain types and learning process needs into consideration.

As many as 1 in 5 children deal with some sort of learning challenge such as dyslexia, according to the learning specialists, Lisa Armorer and Carol Madden.  We now know that these aren’t so much learning “disabilities” as “Brain Types”.  As Carol explained, most kids dealing with dyslexia and some of these other challenges are “Right Brain” dominant.  This affects the style of learning that is most effective for them and can have an impact on their behavior patterns to some extent as well.  Many children are misdiagnosed as having behavioral “problems” when in fact they are actually exhibiting responses to frustration and/or anxiety because they are having trouble learning and they don’t understand why.

Lisa explained how Swift School’s learning approach differs from many “traditional” learning settings and how the strategies they employ take the child’s brain type and associated learning techniques into consideration.  This empowers them to achieve academically at a high level and advocate for themselves as students as they return to middle schools and high schools in traditional class environments/teaching approaches.

I got to talk to two 5th graders, Mackenzie Day and Olivia Hall, and 8th grader, Grant Meyer.  They shared their poignant stories about how it felt to be “different” from their peers as young students, watching them excel when certain (or all) concepts seemed so difficult for them.  They talked about their experiences going to visit Swift School and what it was like to become “veteran” students once they’d been there for a while.  Olivia, Mackenzie, and Grant also shared advice for peers in the community who might be considering Swift School as an option when a traditional setting is not helping them reach their academic potential.

Lisa Armorer shared this information with me:

Is your child bright but still struggling in school?  It might not be laziness.  It might be dyslexia.

Dyslexia affects 1 in 5 students today.  Dyslexia is not just seeing words backwards.  Dyslexia is a language-based learning difference and causes difficulty with reading, writing and spelling.

COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF DYSLEXIA:

* Delayed spoken language

* Left/Right Confusion

* Difficulty rhyming words and sounds

* Poor sequencing of numbers and letters

* Difficulty sounding out, identifying, and spelling words

* Slow to memorize alphabet and math facts

* Avoids reading aloud.

* Difficulty with reading and comprehension.

For more information:

The International Dyslexia Association – www.interdys.org

Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators – www.ortonacademy.org

 

Special Guests:

Lisa Armorer, Learning Specialist, Swift School   

  AirWatch by vmware This week on TopDocsRADIO we sat down with Paul McRae of AirWatch by vmware. Healthcare is evolving. As information technology advances and our health laws change, greater importance is being placed on electronic health records.  Today, digital data is flowing between departments in a hospital, to physician offices, to practitioners in […]

 

AirWatch by vmware

This week on TopDocsRADIO we sat down with Paul McRae of AirWatch by vmware. Healthcare is evolving. As information technology advances and our health laws change, greater importance is being placed on electronic health records.  Today, digital data is flowing between departments in a hospital, to physician offices, to practitioners in the patients’ homes.  The result is greater efficiency in coordination of care, easier collaboration across multi-specialty teams, and an increased risk of compromise of sensitive HIPAA-protected information.

AirWatch by vmware provides technology that allows healthcare organizations to protect sensitive data across their enterprise, including mobile devices and laptops that may be in use outside the confines of the building or campus of the health company.  With their solution, the enterprise can determine whether certain data elements can be accessed by a given device (including BYOD), attachments can be included in outbound emails, and more.

If your organization is working to take advantage of the benefits of digital platforms and mobile devices then get to know AirWatch by vmware.  You’ll give your company the strengths that come with digitized information coupled with the confidence your information will meet compliance requirements and stay safe in the hands of those its meant to be seen by.

Special Guests:

Paul McRae, Director of Business Development – Healthcare Solutions, AirWatch by vmware          

* BA Economics, Cornell University

* Board Member, Warrick Dunn

* Presenter, Georgia Healthcare Trade Faire & Regional Conference 2013

* Former SCVP of Healthcare Emerging Technology, AT&T

*