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Month: January 2016

Cryotherapy for Early Stage Breast Cancer

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cryotherapy

CW Hall and Dr. April Speed

Cryotherapy for Early Stage Breast Cancer

On this week’s episode I sat down with award-winning Atlanta-area breast surgeon, Dr. April Speed regarding treatment options for breast cancers, including cryotherapy.  She shared what motivated her to enter the medical field as her chosen profession and how she is pleased to have brought her expertise in treating cancers of the breast to a community that has limited access to cancer care.

Dr. Speed discussed the process through which she determines best course of action for treating a worrisome lump of the breast, be that a lumpectomy (removing the lump but leaving the healthy breast tissue), mastectomy (removing the affected breast), or a minimally-invasive approach.

Given the short recovery time of the minimally-invasive option, it is desirable when the tumor type and size fall within established guidelines.  In many cases, patients are able to return to work the same day and typically results in less pain for them. One such procedure is the Visica 2 Procedure, made by Sanarus. (Visica 2 is the Treatment system, the Visica Procedure is the procedure.)

This technology allows the breast surgeon to use a small, super-cooled probe that is guided to the abnormal tissue within the breast by imagery.  The probe is below freezing, and is used to freeze the cancerous tissue, destroying it.  Over time, once the procedure is complete, the destroyed tissue is slowly reabsorbed.

I was pleased to talk about this with Dr. Speed, as she is one of fewer than 10 breast surgeons in the state of Georgia who are able to perform this minimally-invasive, early stage breast cancer treatment.

About Sanarus/the Visica Procedure – In 2001, the Visica® Treatment System was the first system available for cryoablation of fibroadenomas. Since then, our systems have been used to successfully treat thousands of patients. Since 2007, the Visica 2 Treatment System has been used to treat cancer in hundreds of cryoablation-assisted surgeries and dozens of cryoablation-only procedures in clinical trials.

Disclaimer:  The Visica 2 Treatment system is FDA-cleared for the ablation of cancerous or malignant tissue and benign tumors. It’s been used in over 5,000 cryo-assisted surgeries and cryo-only procedures.

Special Guest: 

Dr. April Speed, MD, Global Breast Health & Wellness Center; Just Breast, LLC

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cryotherapy

  • Doctor of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine
  • Residency, MD Anderson Cancer Center
  • Board of Directors, Susan G. Komen for the Cure
  • Board of Directors, Southeastern Primary Care Consortium

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia

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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia

Blue Cross Blue Shield of GA CEO, Jeff Fusile

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia

On this week’s episode with our partner, Medical Association of Georgia, MAG CEO, Donald Palmisano, Jr., joined me in studio.  We hosted Jeff Fusile, the recently-appointed President for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia.  Jeff joined the company in the lead role, coming over from Anthem in November of 2015.

Jeff Fusile is president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGa), the state’s oldest and largest health insurance company. He oversees sales, account service, marketing, underwriting, and customer relationships. Jeff is involved in corporate strategy planning and execution, and he serves as the primary contact for state regulators to ensure compliance and manage any state-related matters.

Jeff previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the Commercial & Specialty Business Division of Anthem, Inc., which is Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s parent company. He joined Anthem in 2011 after spending 22 years as a strategic management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Jeff is a licensed CPA. He has qualified as an expert witness in insurance and the broader health care industry. He is widely recognized as an industry leader in health care strategy, corporate governance, compliance, enterprise risk management, HIPAA, and ICD-10.

As the health care landscape undergoes an unprecedented transformation, the traditional relationships between providers and payers are also evolving. With the largest network of providers in the state, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGa) serves more than 3 million Georgians and is the only plan offered in all 159 counties.  BCBSGa President Jeff Fusile will discuss how BCBSGa is developing programs to facilitate better collaboration with providers, make health care more affordable for consumers and simplify the access to care. Reaching out to rural communities and the impact of technology on delivering innovative solutions was also discussed.

Special Guest:

Jeff Fusile, CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia  linkedin_small1  twitter_logo_small-e1403698475314  facebook_logo_small3  youtube logo

Cryotherapy

  • BS, Accounting & Finance, Florida State University College of Business
  • Certified Public Accountant
  • Previous Managing Partner, PriceWaterhouseCoopers
  • Former Senior VP/CFO, Commercial & Specialty Business, Anthem