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Tanya Mack

Diabetes Telehealth Network

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Telemedicine education

Tanya Mack of Womens Telehealth

Diabetes Telehealth Network

As patients want more control and visibility to their health data and mHealth (mobile health) and
technology are evolving daily, remote patient monitoring has emerged as a viable way to manage chronic diseases, such as diabetes. Remote home monitoring works by collecting health care data at the
patient’s home and then transmitting this data to health care providers in real time to make modifications if needed, avoid unnecessary hospital visits and prevent some serious long term
complications.

The University of MS has been one of the nation’s leading telehealth providers logging over 500K patient encounters, covering 35 medical specialties and serving 218 locations statewide. In 2014, the university developed the Diabetes Telehealth Network.

It has been estimated that the cost of diabetes in the US exceeds $2.7B/ yr. Real time insights and the ability to talk to patients remotely can lead to improved patient outcomes. The results of their pilot program have been astounding and now serve as a model for other states with access and limited provider resources to follow.

Join us today as we listen to Michael Adcock, Director of Network Strategies talk about this innovative and effective RPM solution.

National Prematurity Awareness Month

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Tanya Mack and Danielle Brown

National Prematurity Awareness Month

The CDC website explains the reason behind National Prematurity Awareness Month this way, “In 2015, about 1 out of 10 babies was born too early in the United States. Learn about the problem, risk factors, and what we can do to reduce premature birth.

About Premature Birth

Important growth and development occur throughout pregnancy—including in the final months and weeks. Premature (also known as preterm) birth is when a baby is born too early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy have been completed. The earlier a baby is born, the higher the risk of death or serious disability. In 2013, about one-third (36%) of infant deaths were due to preterm-related causes. Babies who survive can have breathing issues, intestinal (digestive) problems, and bleeding in their brains. Long-term problems may include developmental delay (not meeting the developmental milestones for his or her age) and lower performance in school.”

Womens Telehealth’s Tanya Mack sat down with March of Dimes’ State Program Manager, Danielle Brown.  Brown explained the extent of occurrence of premature births among Georgia women and how it ranks nationally on the low end of the scale.

We explored some of the reasons behind these troubling numbers, research underway to address it, and strategies being employed around the state to bring needed screening and pre-natal care to expectant mothers.

Danielle talked about why we need to have a National Prematurity Awareness Month and some of the ways it is making a difference.

As Tanya explains, for the first time in eight years, the premature birth rate in the United States increased. Nov. 17 th was World Prematurity Day and this is Prematurity month. Approx. 15 M babies are born annually prematurely and about 1M of these/yr die before their 5 th birthday. Premature birth affects about 1:10  babies in the United States and it remains the leading cause of death in babies in the US.

World wide, it remains the number one reason for infant death as well. Premature birth is defined as a baby born before 37 weeks gestation. Babies born early can not only be at high risk on delivery, but can have health issues such as vision and hearing issues, lung problems and intellectual delays that remain long term problems. Many premature births can be prevented. Join us today as we listen to March of Dimes representatives discuss prematurity and it’s prevention and treatment.

 

 

Talking Allergies With Dr. David Redding

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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

allergies

Dr. David Redding

Telemedicine Education for Healthcare Professionals

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Telemedicine education

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

Minimally-invasive Gynecologic Surgery

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Tanya Mack and Dr. Hugo Ribot of Cartersville OB-GYN

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Minimally-invasive Gynecologic Surgery

The field of women’s health has had some remarkable advancements in recent years – well even recent
months! Although there have been many advancements in women’s health, today’s show will focus on
three areas we have additional resources for here in Georgia: Laparoscopic Surgery, Maternal Fetal
Telemedicine in the OB office and Zika virus recommendations for pregnant women.

In this US, 1:9 women are expected to have a hysterectomy in their lifetime, mostly for benign disease. Technology advancements have now made it possible for MFM specialists to bring high risk care directly into the OB office vs. the patient traveling to a tertiary care center and well – the Zika virus has come to our communities in the US. Dr. Hugo Ribot has been a premier Georgia OB/GYN for over 20 years and has continued to be a top GYN surgeon and forward thinking obstetrician outside of the metro Atlanta area.

Time to get informed on what’s new in women’s health!

Special Guest:

Dr. Hugo Ribot, MD, Cartersville OB/GYN Associates  linkedin_small1

minimally-invasive

Dr. Hugo Ribot

Infertility

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Dr. Dorothy Mitchell-Leef

Infertility

This week Tanya hosted Dr. Dorothy Mitchell-Leef, MD, a long-time expert in infertility.  Respected in her field, she has helped parents give birth to over 8,000 babies.  Tanya and Dr. Mitchell-Leef discussed some of the common causes of infertility, along with treatments available today, which have significantly improved the likelihood of mothers successfully conceiving a child when they were initially having trouble.

More information soon!

 

Maternal Fetal Medicine via Telehealth

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Dr. C. Anne Patterson

maternal-fetal medicine

Tanya Mack

Maternal Fetal Medicine via Telehealth

Women’s Telehealth’s Tanya Mack, interviews the company’s CEO and Medical Director, Dr. C. Anne Patterson, discussing maternal-fetal medicine as a specialty, and how they are now able to capitalize on telemedicine technology to deliver high-risk maternity care to a wider patient population.

Maternal fetal medicine is rare sub-specialty of obstetrics which delivers high risk obstetric care. These
specialists manage complex complications of pregnancy such as: multiple gestations, chronic medical
conditions during pregnancy, gestational diabetes and fetal abnormalities. The CDC and March of Dimes both estimate that in 2015 in the US, approximately 1:10 babies in the US are born prematurely.

GA ranks 50/50 for maternal death and 42/50 for infant mortality. Getting access to maternal fetal medicine services is often difficult as there are only about 1200 MFM physicians in the US and most are not located in rural areas.

Clearly, there is a need for many physicians of different specialties in rural areas and maternal-fetal medicine is one of them.  OB practices and hospitals in these areas can engage with Womens Telehealth to be able to help these patients avoid having to spend long travel times in cars to be seen by these needed specialists.  This allows them to stay closer to home and receive care in their local community.

But this solution has value for urban practices as well.  There are very few maternal-fetal specialists nationwide—only ~20 or so in Georgia.  By deploying the Womens Telehealth solution, these city-based groups and hospitals can also provide access to this specialty care for their patients, preventing potential loss of the patient to other facilities/groups in the community that do have maternal-fetal specialists on campus.

Special Guest:

Dr. C. Anne Patterson, CEO/Medical Director, Womens Telehealth

Legal Considerations in Telemedicine

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Bill Boling, Mason Reid

telemedicine

Tanya Mack

Legal Considerations in Telemedicine

This week, Tanya hosted healthcare and telemedicine legal experts, Bill Boling and Mason Reid, of Boling and Company, to talk about legal considerations in telemedicine.

Affordable, quality telemedicine is on almost everyone’s mind! Telemedicine is a tool that is being used more frequently to provide access when and where needed and to decrease costs. One analyst recently predicted that 2020, the telemedicine market would be worth $36B dollars.

Although technology improvements have enable a new generation of telemedicine services, policy makers have been slower to adopt telemedicine.  Recently, however, a number of telemedicine related bills have been introduced that could fuel escalated telemedicine adoption by patients, payers and providers.

Bill and Mason discussed such topics as parity law, telemedicine informed consent, provider licensure requirements, telepresenter regulations, provider-patient encounter requirements, security and telemedicine clinical standards of care.

Special Guests:

Bill Boling, Founder, Boling and Company

 

Mason Reid, Associate, Boling and Company

 

Summertime Pregnancies

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Dr. Winnie Soufi

 

summertime pregnancies

Dr. Rama Rao

Summertime Pregnancies

CW sat down with Dr. Winnie Soufi and Dr. Rama Rao, of Womens Health Associates.  Dr. Soufi is a board certified OB/GYN, and Dr. Rao is a board certified gynecologic surgeon, and they are part of a 7 member practice on the Northside Hospital campus here in Atlanta.

We got into summertime pregnancies and what expectant mothers should think about, from dealing with heat, hydration, nutrition, and more, as well as advances in gynecologic surgery that benefit patients with problems that warrant a surgical approach.

Check back soon for more info!

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Pre-pregnancy and Prenatal Genetic Testing

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Tanya Mack of Women’s Telehealth

Pre-pregnancy and Prenatal Genetic Testing

We continue our twice-monthly series with Women’s Telehealth’s Tanya Mack.  She caught up with Certified Genetic Counselor, Rachel Klein, of GenPath Diagnostics.  The topic of discussion was focused on pre-pregnancy and prenatal genetic testing, when it makes sense, the difference between screening and diagnostic tests, how to deal with results, and more.

Women are routinely offered a variety of genetic tests during the first three months of pregnancy in the US.  Every woman wants to believe their baby is normal and uncomplicated. However, the CDC reports that 1:33 babies born in the US will have a birth defect. Genetic tests, both screening and diagnostic, show the likelihood that a developing baby has a genetic condition that may cause problems with growth, development and bodily functions.

Information from genetic testing plus the mother’s age, the couple’s ethnic background and a family history of a genetic disorder can help calculate the odds that the fetus might have a defect such as Cystic Fibrosis, Tay-Sach’s Disease, Sickle Cell Anemia, Down’s Syndrome or neural tube defects. Joining us for this segment of Top Docs is Rachel Klein, a Certified Genetic Counselor from one of the nation’s leading prenatal genetic testing labs, GenPath.

Special Guest:

Rachel Klein, Genetic Counseling Program Manager, GenPath Diagnostics  linkedin_small1  twitter_logo_small-e1403698475314  facebook_logo_small3  

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