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GA SB 158 – Top Docs Radio

July 18, 2015 by CW

Top Docs Radio

GA SB 158 - Top Docs Radio

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GA SB 158

This week we continue our monthly series with Medical Association of Georgia. I hosted MAG CEO/Executive Director, Donald J. Palmisano, Jr., and Cindy Zeldin, Executive Director for Georgians for a Healthy Future. We talked about the challenges Georgians face regarding the lack of information available to them about how inclusive health plans are regarding what physicians, hospitals, etc., are included in the plans.

Donald talked about how on the healthcare exchanges, patients must review every plan one at a time, checking the physician directories for each one to see if the physician(s) they need are there. In many cases, this means going through as many as 30-80 unique plans.

This is complicated by the fact that in many cases, the listed physician directories are incorrect, or change frequently, leading patients to make their choices based on outdated/inaccurate information.

In the Georgia legislature, the senate is considering SB 158, aimed at addressing the issue of transparency in the health insurance space so patients and physicians can make sense out of this important part of how we access healthcare today.

Cindy joined Donald to talk about how Georgians for a Healthy Future has been advocating on behalf of the state’s citizens to help them get signed up for the newly-available health plans on the exchange. She shared how last year, over 500,000 people gained access to new health plans.

We discussed the need for these patients to get educated about how to

Special Guestsplan for the financial obligations they will face regarding co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles, etc. Folks need to learn what each of these are and have a plan for how to handle them. One such strategy is having a health savings account, which allows them to pay for their healthcare costs with pre-tax dollars out of an account that will grow over time.

We also talked about how important it is for physicians and citizens to engage with their state legislators to talk about how these issues affect them in their daily lives. SB 158 is still in the early stages, with decisions being made on it coming next spring.

Special Guests:

Donald Palmisano, CEO, Executive Director of Medical Association of Georgia

JD Law, Loyola School of Law
Board of Directors, Physician Advocacy Institute
Medical Payment Subcommitte Member, State Board of Workers’ Compensation
Treasurer, Board of Directors, Physicians’ Institute for Excellence in Medicine
Former Director, Government Relations/General Counsel/Director, GAMPAC

Cindy Zeldin, Executive Director, Georgians for a Healthy Future

Master of Arts, Public Policy with focus on Women’s Studies, The George Washington University
Master of Public Health, Public Policy, Emory University
Previous Principal Management Analyst, Healthcare Div., Dept. of Audits, State of Georgia
Former Senior Program Associate, Health Policy Program, New America Foundation

Alii Healthcare

July 18, 2015 by CW

Health Connect South

Alii Healthcare

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Alii Healthcare

On this week’s show we hosted experts from the telehealth platform, Alii Healthcare. Dr. Sylvan Waller, Founder/CEO of Alii Healthcare, Dr. Reginald Nesbitt, Christie Sherman, RN, and Alii client, Jennifer Smith joined us to talk about how the technology solution works. They have created a mobile app called, “Bond”, which uses a mobile device’s camera to allow a patient to engage face-to-face with an ER physician to determine best course of action with minor, but time-sensitive complaints.

Sylvan shared how today, the average wait time for patients to be seen by a doctor from time of request for appointment is as much as 18 days. We also talked about the fact that it is not uncommon for less acute complaints such as respiratory infections, minor cuts, sprains, etc, to wait in an ER for 2-4 hours (or more).

Having been an ER physician for a number of years, he saw first hand how these patients can become dissatisfied with their experience due to the fact that they’ve had to wait so long before being seen. He felt there must be a better way.

He and his partners set out to take advantage of telehealth technology to create an application that uses a mobile device’s camera to allow a patient to request to speak with a physician, and within seconds or a few minutes at most, they can “Facetime” with a qualified ER physician. Using the mobile device’s camera, the doctor can view a patient’s throat, swollen ankle, minor cut, etc. From there he/she can make recommendations for medical prescriptions or treatments, or recommend the patient is seen in an urgent care or ER.

The team brought with them, Alii Healthcare client, Jennifer Smith. She talked about her experiences using the Bond app to get diagnosis and prescriptions for minor injuries suffered while running and a respiratory infection.

Jennifer talked about how intuitive the application’s interface is and how quickly she was able to speak directly with a physician without having to leave her home.

Special guests:

Dr. Sylvan Waller, MD, CEO/Founder of Alii Healthcare

Doctor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine
Residency, Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
Former Assistant Professor, Emory University School of Medicine
Previous Entrepreneur-in-Residence, ATDC

Dr. Reginald Nesbitt, MD, President, Bond House

Doctor of Medicine, University of Texas, Galvaston
Residency, ER, University of Chicago Hospitals
Board Certified, Emergency Medicine

Christie Sherman, RN, Director of Physician Engagement, Alii Healthcare

RN Diploma, George Brown College
BSN, University of Phoenix
MSN, Nursing Science, University of Phoenix
Previous VP of Client Operations, Schumacher Group

Jennifer Smith, Alii Healthcare client

Juris Doctor, Georgia State University College of Law
Previous Director of Reimbursement, Resurgens Orthopedics
Senior Associate, Ken David & Associates LLP

Bruce Kasanoff

July 15, 2015 by CW

Midtown Business Radio

Bruce Kasanoff

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Bruce Kasanoff

This week I sat down with author and social media ghostwriter, Bruce Kasanoff. I became familiar with Bruce through his frequent featured posts on LinkedIn Pulse. It was through one of those posts I learned about his book, “How To Self-Promote Without Being a Jerk“. We talked about how he got into ghostwriting for businesses looking to improve and expand their social media content, as well his two of his books.

Bruce shared how he had spent several years in marketing, becoming somewhat jaded with the process of the status quo of typical marketing methods. He described how he had been a writer for the paper at Wharton School and how he enjoyed the process of creating well-written content. We talked about how, as LinkedIn began to develop contributors for Pulse, their public published content platform, he decided to reach out and inquire if he could provide posts. His inquiry was accepted and, over 300 posts later, he’s a regular feature on LinkedIn.

Bruce described how he was exposed to the concept of Service First while in business school and how that notion really resonated with him. He enjoyed the opportunity to be able to write about how to incorporate the idea of being a “successful giver” into personal and professional interactions. We talked about his book (which I really enjoyed) “How To Self-Promote Without Being a Jerk”, which explains how self-promotion is a natural (and necessary) activity we all engage in throughout our interpersonal interactions.

The caveat of doing self-promotion without being a jerk involves the concept of contemplating how you can help the individual(s) you are interacting with in a given moment before engaging in attempts to achieve your more self-serving goals such as “The Sale”.

We discussed his more recent publication, “Givers Deliver: Grow Your Career By Helping Others“. Bruce talked about how it’s possible to consider the needs of others while at the same time addressing your own needs, resulting in win-win situations and interactions that ultimately end in greater success in your career.

Bruce’s writing style is very conversational and unpretentious and has elements of humor that keep the reader turning the pages. It’s clear in speaking with him that he embraces the concepts of “How can I help this person?” and being a successful giver in his daily life. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk to him about his writing and I look forward to digging into more of his works. You will too!

Special Guest:

Bruce Kasanoff of kasanoff.com

MBA, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Former Commissioner, Westport Planning and Zoning Commission
Author of multiple published titles
Previous Partner, Pepper & Rogers Group

Pain Management – Top Docs Radio

July 10, 2015 by CW

Physicians Spine and Rehabilitation Specialists of Georgia

Top Docs Radio

Pain Management - Top Docs Radio

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Pain Management

This week I sat down with 3 of the physicians from The Physicians Spine & Rehabilitation Specialists of Georgia, Dr. Randy Rizor, Dr. John Porter, and Dr. Charlie MacNeill. Since 1995, The Physicians Spine & Rehabilitation Specialists of Georgia has provided innovative, effective, and comprehensive treatment of pain with special emphasis on spinal pain and care of the injured worker.

The practice has offices and surgery centers at convenient locations around the Atlanta metro area in Sandy Springs, Marietta, and Rome, as well as an office in Calhoun. Their eight physicians have all earned additional qualifications in pain management, the only pain management certification recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties.

We talked about a number of the advances in technology and technique such as Tenex TX and Platelet Rich Plasma that allow these pain specialists to more effectively reduce or in some cases, eliminate pain for their patients. This gives their patients the ability to rehabilitate and return to levels of activity and function at or near pre-injury levels. The physicians shared how they had previously been practicing anesthesiologists who were frequently called upon to help relieve intractable pain for their patients, ultimately inspiring them to launch a stand alone practice aimed at helping pain patients.

The doctors explained the difference between simply medicating patients with opioid medications versus recognized pain interventions coupled with rehabilitation measures to achieve pain relief and return of quality of life. This approach helps avoid the pitfalls of using opioid meds, particularly when they would be taken over an extended period of time. The Physicians Spine & Rehabilitation Specialists of Georgia operate under the philosophy of: Diagnose, Treat, Rehabilitate.

Special Guests:

Dr. Charlie MacNeill, MD Co-founder of The Physicians Spine & Rehabilitation Specialists of Georgia

Doctor of Medicine degree from Emory University School of Medicine
Residency in Anesthesiology at Emory and Grady Hospitals
Board certified in Anesthesiology and Sub-specialty board certified in Pain Medicine
Awarded two Bronze Stars during his tour as a Vietnamese linguist and cryptographer

Dr. Randy Rizor, MD Co-founder of The Physicians Spine & Rehabilitation Specialists of Georgia

Doctor of Medicine Degree from the University of Toledo School of Medicine
Residency in Anesthesiology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology
Sub-specialty certification in Pain Management from the American Board of Anesthesiology

Dr. John Porter, MD Co-founder of The Physicians Spine & Rehabilitation Specialists of Georgia

Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Residency in anesthesiology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Fellowship in cardiac anesthesia at Emory University Medical School
Certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology and received Sub-specialty Certification in Pain Management from the American Board of Anesthesiology

Fighting Infections

July 6, 2015 by CW

Health Connect South

Fighting Infections

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GeoVax — Debora Carrier, Michael Hellerstein, Jay Schafer

Fighting Infections

This week we hosted two experts whose companies are fighting infections from different directions. Michael Hellerstein is the Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Systems for GeoVax. They’re a biotechnology company that’s developing vaccines for Ebola and HIV.

Debora Carrier combined her experience as a fashion model and a healthcare provider to think of a better-looking scrub uniform that is both better looking and resistant to spreading infections. She founded Twice As Nice Uniforms to give health workers and physicians a more visually appealing choice while at the same time helping reduce the alarming rate of infections acquired in health delivery environments.

Michael talked about how GeoVax has been fighting infections through innovative approaches to vaccine development, utilizing vaccine-like particles to tackle HIV and more recently, Ebola. He shared how prevalent HIV remains today and that more work is being focused on treating the disease versus developing vaccines to prevent it.

He shared how technology has evolved that allows biotech companies to identify genetic components to viruses, which enables them to incorporate pieces of this material and instill it into a harmless organism. Then, as the organism reproduces, it produces a copy of itself that has some characteristics of the pathogen the vaccine is designed to fight. This “recombinant” vaccine doesn’t make the body sick but it does prompt an immune response from the body against the pathogenic virus, providing protection against infection.

GeoVax is able to create particles that are safer to use than vaccines that contain live pathogen, allowing people who may have some immune compromise to get some protection as well in some cases.

The company has used this technology to get a vaccine that is showing some promise for preventing HIV infection. Michael talked about how the clinical trials are progressing and how long it takes to get a vaccine approved for use in people versus the time it takes to develop a medication to treat disease.

Debora talked about her story as a healthcare provider for over 20 years led her to think of a scrub design that looks much better than the bulky, wrinkle-prone scrubs the health community has been using for decades. She talked about how frequently the environment is very cool, prompting workers to wear long sleeves and/or jackets while delivering care.

We discussed how long sleeves prevent washing the lower arms as is recommended and how the fabric can readily carry bacteria and viral material from one patient to another. Debora investigated various athletic materials that can help regulate body temperature in various climes, while at the same time possessing antimicrobial properties.

Twice As Nice Uniforms utilize an American-made material that controls moisture and uses a scrub design that incorporates a removable liner that allows the worker to be comfortable when the rooms are very cool.

In looking at the design of the garments, it’s clear she brought her experience in modeling to bear in the style/cut of the uniforms they’re creating.

Special Guests:

Debora Carrier, CEO/Founder of Twice As Nice Uniforms

AS, Dental Hygiene, William Rainey Harper College
Professional Fashion Model
Registered Dental Hygienist
Founder, CPR Sisters

Michael Hellerstein, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Systems

AB, Biology, Harvard University
Previous Assistant Scientist, Pfizer
Co-Founder, BlueSky Biotech
President, Hellerstein Consulting

Brought to you in part by:

Functional Neurology – Top Docs Radio

July 3, 2015 by CW

Top Docs Radio

Functional Neurology - Top Docs Radio

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Functional Neurology

This week on Top Docs Radio I sat down with Doctors of Chiropractic, Dr. Gilles LaMarche, and Dr. Jake Shores. Gilles is the VP of Professional Relations for Life University, in Marietta, GA. The college is home to the largest chiropractic medicine schools in the world.

Jake is Clinical Director for Carrick Brain Centers, with offices in Dallas, TX, and Marietta, GA. Carrick Brain Centers employs a functional neurology approach to treating patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBI), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and other neurologic problems.

We talked about how the body has an innate capacity to heal itself if it’s given proper nutrition and when therapeutic approaches tap into that self-healing power. The Functional Neurology Society defines functional neurology this way: “Functional Neurology is based on the principles of neuroplasticity. The various parts of your nervous system can be altered to work more efficiently and even regenerate. The goal of a Functional Neurologist is to optimize this remarkable ability.”

Jake shared how the Carrick Brain Centers utilize the concept of neuroplasticity to help their patients work around previous neurologic injuries and challenges through a variety of movements and activities that help activate pathways in the brain that reawaken areas that have not been functioning to their capacity.

We talked about some patient examples that highlight how this approach can help people gain or regain function that was thought to be improbable elsewhere.

Gilles discussed the various health-related fields of study Life University offers, ranging from kinesiology to functional neurology, vitalistic nutrition, business, and others, including some masters-level degrees.

Life University also offers a number of men’s and women’s athletic sports and they’re competing on a high level—the men’s 15 man rugby team won the National Championship this year. The school is working to nearly double their enrollment by 2018 from 3000 students to at least 6000.

Special Guests:

Gilles LaMarche, DC, VP of Professional Relations at Life University

Doctor of Chiropractic, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College
Author, The ART of Responsibility, Insight Publishing 2012
Certified Six Advisors Coach, Six Advisors Coaching Academy
Previous Vice President, Parker College of Chiropractic

Jake Shores, DC, Clinical Director at Carrick Brain Centers

Doctor of Chiropractice, Life University
Functional Neurology, The Carrick Institute
Diplomate, American Chiropractic Neurology Board
Board Certified Specialist in Neurology

Amirakal Marketing

June 30, 2015 by CW

Midtown Business Radio

Amirakal Marketing

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Amirakal Marketing

We talked about marketing your business with Amirakal Marketing’s Brandon Adams and Your Video Viewer’s Louis Rosas. Amirakal Marketing offers a full suite of services for businesses seeking to increase their brand awareness in the community, including PR, promotional products, logo design, marketing services, videography, and others.

Brandon explained how Amirakal Marketing created their unique name by combining the names of his children, playing on the fact that he views them as miracles. We talked about how the company started out focusing on providing promotional products as a business, but saw an opportunity to expand on that as customers asked if they could help in other aspects of marketing.

Since expanding to be a full-service marketing and PR company, Amirakal Marketing has worked with numerous well-known celebrities, helping them craft their logos and market themselves and their work. The firm has worked with notables such as Tony Terry and Tanya Bush.

Your Video Viewer is a software company that gives companies who post video and podcast content online the ability to get user information for everyone who accesses these files. Their platform provides subscribers IP address, email address, and often, phone numbers for each person who clicks the links to check out posted content. The business can then follow up with those users with more direct communication and calls to action.

Your Video Viewer provides its users with a CRM platform through which they can push information to consumers of their video and audio content, whether it’s hosted on Your Video Viewer’s platform or on the company’s website/social media.

Special Guests:

Brandon Adams, Founder of Amirakal Marketing

Louis Rosas of Your Video Viewer

TRU Integrative Health and Wellness – Top Docs Radio

June 26, 2015 by CW

Top Docs Radio

TRU Integrative Health and Wellness - Top Docs Radio

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Katie and Rob Truax of TRU Health and Wellness

TRU Integrative Health and Wellness

This week I sat down with the founders of TRU Integrative Health and Wellness, located in Buckhead. Rob Truax, chiropractor and integrative wellness expert, and Katie Truax, a licensed therapist who focuses her work on couples and relationships.

We talked about how they came to start their practice and place emphasis on a holistic approach to health and wellness, taking into account each client’s mind, body, and spirit.

TRU Integrative Health and Wellness is Atlanta’s premiere health and wellness group, offering comprehensive wellness services to the residents of Buckhead and the greater Atlanta area in a serene, spa like environment. They offer chiropractic care, holistic and natural healthcare, weight loss and wellness coaching, detoxification and purification programs, counseling for individuals, couples, families and groups, hypnotherapy, and energy healing.

The goal of TRU Integrative Health and Wellness is to provide the highest quality care in an individualized, customized, and affordable manner so that our clients and patients receive the care that is best for them and gets the results they are looking for.

Special Guests:

Rob Truax, DC, TRU Integrative Health and Wellness

Doctor of Chiropractic, Life University
Has provided chiropractic and integrative wellness care over 17 years

Katie Truax, MS, NCC, LPC, LMHC, TRU Integrative Health and Wellness

Master of Science, Professional Counseling, Georgia State University
Director of Clinical Operations, TRU Integrative Health and Wellness

Mobiquity

June 26, 2015 by CW

Health Connect South

Mobiquity

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Nirav Desai, Principal Health Strategist for Mobiquity

Mobiquity

On this week’s show, Diana and I sat down with health technology strategist, Nirav Desai, of Mobiquity. Mobiquity is a professional services firm trusted by hundreds of companies to be their mobile engagement provider. On a global scale, the trends, strategy, users, platforms, technology, development, organizational issues of mobile are complicated. Mobiquity eliminates the complexity.

We talked about how important the Mobile component is for all enterprises today, including healthcare. The ACA has created requirements for providing patients with access to portals where they can connect with their health providers and get access to their health data. Mobiquity helps health enterprises create more effective applications and platforms for handling this requirement as well as better outcomes for population health management.

Nirav shared some troubling statistics (~125,000 people/year die due to incorrectly taking their medications). We discussed how mobile technology and applications can promote better adherence to prescribed care by notifying providers if patients are taking meds as directed as well as giving providers access to real time patient data remotely.

Additionally, technology platforms can facilitate making decisions about care plans by showing aggregate data across a practice’s patient population as a whole. In this way, trends may be identified that allow more proactive approaches with the care plan.

We talked about the way mHealth and teleHealth are overlapping now. Previously, telehealth was mainly a way to deliver care to a patient, particularly in mental health. Now, with mobile health, more data can flow from patient to provider and the patient can take a greater part in achieving positive outcomes through engaging with a mobile platform. These mobile platforms can push educational information and reminders to help facilitate care plan compliance. Some telehealth platforms now have mobile components to them that enhance the patient encounter and have more robust data.

Mobiquity is also making available a behavior change platform called Delta IQ, aimed at helping to change patient behaviors such as smoking, alcohol consumption and other health behaviors. The platform “learns” as the user engages with the information, adapting what is displayed to the user to better facilitate effectiveness of suggested interventions.

Special Guest:

Nirav Desai, Principal Healthcare Strategist, Mobiquity