Trauma Surgery

Posted on September 10, 2015

Trauma Surgery

On this episode of Top Docs Radio, I sat down with Dr. Doug Lundy, an orthopedic surgeon with Resurgens Orthopaedics to talk about trauma surgery. Dr. Lundy shared the fact that he initially had plans to have a career in the military as an officer in the Army.

We talked about the fact that during their training and work, the soldiers were frequently experiencing orthopedic injuries, necessitating care by orthopedic surgeons. In that time he began to have an interest in the field of medicine and ultimately went that direction.

Dr. Lundy explained that motor vehicle accidents, motorcycle wrecks, and falls from height tend to be the main causes of injury leading to a patient needing his help. These injuries are often very complex and involve both the bony and soft tissue, and lead to extensive rehabilitation.

In many cases patients are left with a fair degree of pain or loss of function after traumatic injuries like these. Lundy said that the way to get the best recovery usually means starting rehabilitation soon after repair of the injuries which means the patient has to endure significant discomfort and effort to achieve it.

It is clear in speaking with Dr. Lundy he has a passion for his work and appreciates the opportunity to help patients who are experiencing these life-changing injuries, helping them get their lives back as close to normal as possible.

Special Guest:

Dr. Doug Lundy, MD, of Resurgens Orthopaedics

Medical College of Georgia; Augusta, Georgia
Residency, Orthopedic Surgery, Georgia Baptist Medical Center
Orthopaedic Trauma/ Foot & Ankle Fellowship; Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Nashville, Tennessee
Board Certified, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery

Dr. Priyah Rudolph

Posted on August 30, 2015September 1, 2015

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Dr. Priyah Rudolph

On this episode of Top Docs Radio I hosted Dr. Priyah Rudolph, medical oncologist with Georgia Cancer Specialists. Dr. Rudolph practices in the Athens, GA office for the group and has expertise with several forms of cancer. She shared her poignant story about how she came to choose oncology as her specialty of practice.

Dr. Rudolph described how several members of her family experienced cancer in their lives, including her mother. In speaking with her it’s clear she has a very personal connection with patients she sees in her practice and clearly understands the stress and concern they feel.

For this conversation, we focused on breast cancer. According to breastcancer.org, in the US, roughly 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. Nearly 300,000 new cases will be diagnosed this year.

Priya shared the importance self-breast exams, conducted at least monthly, paired with annual mammograms annually after the age of 40 or sooner if direct descendants of breast cancer patients. Early detection helps give the patient more options for treatment, as well as the likelihood of successful treatment.

She talked about various treatments available and what to expect should the troubling news come that a finding is indeed cancer. On a positive note, we talked about the fact that breast cancer is very survivable with today’s technology and medical advancements.

Special Guest:

Dr. Priyah Rudolph, MD, of Georgia Cancer Specialists

Doctor of Medicine, Coimbatore Medical College
Residency, Yale University School of Medicine
Fellowship, Yale University School of Medicine
American Society of Clinical Oncology
American Society of Hematology
PhD in Physiology at The Ohio State University

Radiation Oncology

Posted on August 21, 2015August 22, 2015

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Radiation Oncology

On this week’s show I sat down with Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Chad Levitt. We talked about how he decided he wanted to go into radiation oncology as his chosen field of practice. He shared how he enjoyed the fact that the specialty allowed him to call on his liberal arts schooling, helping him to be able to be perceptive to his patients’ needs and concerns, and allowing him to communicate effectively with them in a period of significant stress.

Chad explained how important it is for oncology physicians to make time to insure their patients’ questions are answered and that their concerns have been addressed. He believes the patient needs to be well-informed so they can hopefully experience less anxiety and allow them to make educated choices about their care. He stated the patient should be the “Captain of the Ship” and the health team the crew that helps them get to where they want to go.

We talked about the importance of getting 2nd and even 3rd opinions when facing life-changing illnesses such as cancer. Chad shared that it is vital to do so before engaging in treatments that cannot be undone. Given the political and personal alliances that can be present in a given hospital ecosystem, it is wise to seek 2nd opinions in hospitals or systems that are outside that of the primary physician to allow for likelihood of a more objective opinion.

Special Guest:

Dr. Chad Levitt, MD, of Radiotherapy Associates of Forsyth

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Posted on August 15, 2015August 18, 2015

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Dan Huff talks medical malpractice

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

The phrase medical malpractice causes most people’s pulse to quicken. For a physician being named in a medical malpractice case is one of the worst events in their life. This week we discussed medical malpractice in Georgia and how physicians can avoid it.

For the past 23 years, Dan has specialized in representing physicians and hospitals in medical malpractice lawsuits. As one of the founding partners in the Atlanta law firm of Huff, Powell & Bailey, LLC, he has represented defendants in more than 90 jury trials.

Dan has defended and successfully tried cases for every specialty of medicine and numerous hospitals throughout Georgia. His trial record would be a proud career for any defense lawyer and is remarkable because Dan has tried and won this many cases before turning 50. Many of those cases have been against the best plaintiffs’ attorneys in the state. Dan is also a regular contributor to MAG’s quarterly Journal.

Huff shared what malpractice is, and why he chose this area of focus for his legal career. He offered some advice on how healthcare practitioners can avoid a malpractice lawsuit. We discussed his professional advice for how to handle conversations with patient and/or family after a sentinel event has occurred. And we talked about how health professionals need to handle patient records and what to do if served with a lawsuit.

Dan explained how defendants in a suit should behave during the proceedings of the case to reduce the likelihood a jury will rule against them.

Special Guest:

Dan Huff, JD, and co-founder, Huff, Powell, and Bailey

Ketan Patel DPM

Posted on August 8, 2015

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Ketan Patel DPM

For 33 years Ankle & Foot Centers of Georgia has served the Atlanta community. Their nationally-renowned group of doctors specialize in the full spectrum of care for the lower extremity at 22 area locations across Metro Atlanta. As members of The Piedmont Clinic the group is noted for excellence in patient care while constantly providing the cutting edge treatment for all conditions of the Foot, Ankle, and Lower Leg.

I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with several of the specialists from Ankle & Foot Centers of Georgia. And we have collaborated with the practice on numerous occasions as members of the multi-specialty team working to preserve lower extremities in diabetic ulcer patients.

I know first-hand they provide a high measure of expertise and put their patients’ outcomes first. This week I hosted Ketan Patel, DPM, who practices in the Buckhead office of Ankle & Foot Centers of Georgia.

He shared why he chose podiatry as his career, having known most of his young life he wanted to be a healthcare provider. He shared some great information about new technologies he is able to provide access to for his patients, in many cases allowing the patients to resolve their problems without surgery.

We spoke of ways individuals can prevent many of the overuse injuries he frequently sees in his office when we decide to start training, running, or engaging in athletic activities with too much intensity/volume too soon.

It is clear in speaking with Ketan he has a passion for his work and enjoys the positive, collegial culture found across the Ankle & Foot Centers of Georgia practice. I look forward to meeting additional members of the group on the show.

Special Guest:

Ketan Patel, DPM, of Ankle & Foot Centers of Georgia

BS, Microbiology, University of Georgia
Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine
Previous Chief Resident, Podiatric Medicine, Bon Secours Health System
Speaks Hindi, Gujarati, English

Loving Arms Cancer Outreach

Posted on August 8, 2015

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Loving Arms Cancer Outreach

Over the past year we’ve talked about cancer on several occasions. We have hosted physician panels, sharing how to prevent cancers and how they’re diagnosed, and treatment options patients have to choose from.

We’ve also spoken with cancer survivors who have come on the share their stories about being diagnosed, and their experiences during treatment and beyond, as survivors.

This week I hosted cancer survivor, Angel DeJesus, office manager for Loving Arms Cancer Outreach. This non-profit cancer support organization was started by two practicing oncology nurses. They had seen how many patients deplete their financial resources paying for their cancer care.

This leaves them with with limited ability to pay for obligations of daily life such as rent/mortgage, utilities, gas to get them to treatment, and more. They started Loving Arms Cancer Outreach to provide some measure of assistance with these needs along with support group services, education, opportunities to volunteer, and others.

Angel shared his poignant story about experiencing a cancer that ultimately cost him is right eye and how he, too, lost his home, job, and savings paying for his cancer care. He explained how Loving Arms Cancer Outreach provided him with their support services and even were able to provide rides to his treatment when he was a patient.

The financial expense and logistics of providing rides to cancer patients was too great for the organization to continue that service. But they continue to offer financial assistance and support group services and others. We are hopeful listeners will help with donations, time, or share this message with folks who may be able to do so.

Special Guest

Angel DeJesus, Office Manager, Loving Arms Cancer Outreach

Health IT and Accelerating Innovation

Posted on July 29, 2015September 2, 2015

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Harvey Shuster, Osama Hashmi

John Mamon talks mPowered IT

Health IT and Accelerating Innovation

This week I sat down with experts from the healthcare IT sector. John Mamon is the CEO of mPoweredIT, an outsourced IT company that devotes expertise to the small to mid-sized medical practice, helping them manage their computer hardware, infrastructure, and software needs for far less than it typically costs to employ someone dedicated to these functions within the practice.

John talked about how often, in an effort to save money, small practices place responsibility for managing these facets on a practice manager, a clinician within the office, or even the doctors themselves. Clearly this can take away from the core function of the office—taking care of more patients.

He shared a number of important concerns that can expose these offices to risk such as HIPAA requirements, downtime of equipment, ACA compliance, and others. Each of these can create significant cost or loss of productivity when small offices attempt to handle things on their own.

mPoweredIT is able to scale their services to the needs of the practice, providing the full suite of IT management or taking over particular elements on behalf of the practice. The company also partners with several other health experts who can provide additional support in areas such as billing/revenue cycle management, EMR selection, and others, to allow their clients to maximize productivity and profitability at the same time.

John introduced us to Harvey Shuster, of Emergence, a Georgia Medical Accelerator. Harvey, a multiple-time entrepreneur, was one of the founders of Peachtree Software among others. He and his team work with emerging healthcare technology companies, helping them to commercialize and bring to market their devices/technologies more quickly.

Harvey brought along Osama Hashmi, CEO/Founder of VitaminC. This company adds an additional layer of automation and engagement to EMR systems. Their software allows providers to contact patients and encourage follow-up visits where appropriate to facilitate care/outcomes while at the same time helping the practice to maximize its potential for seeing patients in need.

VitaminC integrates well with numerous EMR systems and has proven valuable to primary care doctors and specialists such as dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and others.

Special Guests:

John Mamon, CEO/Founder, mPoweredIT

Associates Degree, Information Technology, Bryant and Stratton College
Previous VP, Professional Services, BMC Solutions
Former Executive VP, CDI Managed Services

Harvey Shuster, COO, of Emergence Georgia Medical Accelerator

MBA, Finance, Drexell University LeBow College of Business
Bronze Star Recipient, US Army
Published Author
Co-founder, Southeast Medical Device Association

Osama Hashmi, CEO/Chief Product Officer, of VitaminC

Doctor of Medicine, College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University
Master of Public Health, University of Georgia
Previous Policy Director, Roosevelt Institute, University of Georgia
Former Research Assistant, Stanford University

GA SB 158

Posted on July 18, 2015

Podcast: Download

Cindy Zeldin and Donald Palmisano, Jr talk GA SB 158

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

Pain Management

Posted on July 10, 2015

Podcast: Download

Dr. Randy Rizor, Dr. John Porter, and Dr. Charles MacNeill of Physicians Spine and Rehabilitation Specialists of Georgia

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

Functional Neurology

Posted on July 3, 2015July 3, 2015

Podcast: Download

Dr. Gilles LaMarche of Life University

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

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Ketan Patel DPM

Ketan Patel DPM

Loving Arms Cancer Outreach

Loving Arms Cancer Outreach

Health IT and Accelerating Innovation

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Trauma Surgery

Dr. Priyah Rudolph

Radiation Oncology

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Ketan Patel DPM

Loving Arms Cancer Outreach

Health IT and Accelerating Innovation

GA SB 158

Pain Management

Functional Neurology

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