Public Health: Recent Episodes

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Guest: Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH
To ensure comprehensive care for atopic dermatitis, it’s essential to be aware of cultural differences and barriers to care in underserved populations. Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, highlights the need for increased awareness and collaboration between generalists and dermatologists to ensure better atopic dermatitis care.

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Guest: Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH
Limited education, research, and access to care contribute to disparities in atopic dermatitis care among diverse populations. Hear from Dr. Ruchi Gupta, a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, as she discusses gaps in care among different racial and ethnic groups.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: Stephen I. Pelton, MD
In the last two pre-pandemic flu seasons, approximately half of hospitalizations from influenza in the US were in adults 65 and older.1,2 A recent real-world study evaluated the relative effectiveness of adjuvanted influenza vaccine versus high-dose vaccine in preventing test-confirmed influenza hospitalizations in this age group across three flu seasons between 2017 and 2020.3 Dr. Charles Turck sits down with Dr. Stephen Pelton, an author on this study, to explore the findings and their implications for influenza vaccination strategies in older adults. Dr. Pelton is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine.

References:

  1. Pelton SI, Nguyen VH, Mould-Quevedo JF. The value of influenza vaccination in the older adult population. A stochastic model estimation of the benefit of vaccination to prevent the severe outcomes in the U.S. Poster presented at: IDWeek 2023; October 11-15; Boston, MA.
  2. Pelton SI, Mould-Quevedo JF, Nguyen VH. The impact of adjuvanted influenza vaccine on disease severity in the US: a stochastic model. Vaccines. 2023;11:1525.
  3. McGovern I, Chastek B, Bancroft T, et al. Relative vaccine effectiveness of MF59-adjuvanted vs high-dose trivalent inactivated influenza vaccines for prevention of test-confirmed influenza hospitalizations during the 2017-2020 influenza seasons. Int J Infect Dis. …

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Guest: Rasheed A. Gbadegesin, MD, MBBS
A new study by the H3 Africa Kidney Research Network found that APOL1 variants are a major risk factor for chronic kidney disease. Additionally, these variants are particularly prevalent among West Africans. Dr. Rasheed Gbadegesin dives into these findings and explains how they could contribute to preventive measures and improved outcomes in patients of African ancestry. Dr. Gbadegesin is the Director of the Office of Physician-Scientist Development at Duke University School of Medicine.

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Guest: Ryan Maves, MD
Guest: Susan Corbridge, PhD, APRN, ACNP-BC, FAANP, FCCP, FAAN
Although there have been several advances in vaccine technology and safety the past few years, the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy among patients is increasing. Since vaccine hesitancy heightens the burden of potentially life-threatening viruses like RSV and influenza, Dr. Ryan Maves speaks with Dr. Susan Corbridge about why patients might be reluctant to get vaccinated and how we can use the First 5 Minutes approach to provide individualized counseling on the importance of vaccines. Dr. Maves is a Professor of Medicine and Anesthesiology in the Sections of Infectious Diseases and Critical Care Medicine at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Dr. Corbridge is a Professor Emerita at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing.

This episode is supported by an educational grant from Moderna.

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Host: Mary Katherine Cheeley, PharmD, BCPS, CLS, FNLA
Guest: Alissa Kanowitz, Founding Member Families Fighting Flu
Mrs. Alissa Kanowitz became a patient advocate after experiencing the absolute worst-case scenario: losing her four-year-old daughter Amanda to the flu. And now, she’s here with Dr. Mary Katherine Cheeley to share her and Amanda’s story as well as her experience working with the Families Fighting Flu organization. This is so we can all better understand the seriousness of influenza and work to stem the tide on this tragic disease.

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Guest: Paul Hunter, MD
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recently updated their recommendations for the 2024-2025 flu season. Here to give us a breakdown of the key updates so we can protect our patients from the flu is family medicine physician Dr. Paul Hunter.

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Host: Mary Katherine Cheeley, PharmD, BCPS, CLS, FNLA
Guest: Jill Foster, MD
Guest: John Russell, MD
According to recent studies, co-administering the flu, RSV, and COVID-19 vaccines is generally safe, which is why both the CDC and Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices support this approach. However, there are some important considerations to keep in mind when co-administering these three respiratory vaccines, which is why Dr. Mary Katherine Cheeley speaks with Drs. Jill Foster and John Russell about best practices for co-administration and improving vaccination rates. Dr. Foster is the Director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Minnesota Medical School, and Dr. Russell is a family medicine physician at Jefferson Health System in Abington, Pennsylvania.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: John Russell, MD
According to the CDC, flu vaccine coverage for all adults is about 47 percent, and there’s been a continued decline among pregnant patients and children since 2020. These reduced vaccination rates can have serious consequences for our patients and the healthcare system as a whole, which is why it’s so important for primary care providers to embrace their role in reversing this trend. To help in this mission, Dr. Charles Turck speaks with family medicine physician Dr. John Russell about strategies for boosting flu vaccination rates in the primary care setting.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: Darvin Scott Smith, MD
Vaccines play a crucial role in preventing the flu itself, but there are a lot of lesser-known benefits of flu vaccination as well, including its impact on reducing illness severity, hospitalization rates, and co-infections as well as its importance in managing chronic diseases and enhancing public health outcomes. Joining Dr. Charles Turck to examine the comprehensive advantages of flu vaccination is Dr. Darvin Scott Smith, who’s an infectious disease consultant at San Mateo Medical Center in California.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: Laila Woc-Colburn, MD, DTM&H, FACP, FIDSA
Since annual flu shots help alleviate the severe disease burden on patients and the healthcare system as a whole, it’s important to make flu vaccination a part of every patient visit. Fortunately, tools like appointment reminders, in-office discussions, and infographics can help us integrate this preventative measure into routine patient care and protect them from the flu. To learn more about these strategies, Dr. Charles Turck speaks with Dr. Laila Woc-Colburn, Associate Professor at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: Norman Beatty, MD
Guest: Marvin J. Bittner, MD
Pretravel consultation is essential for a lot of patients with upcoming travel plans so that we can anticipate and mitigate any risks they may encounter. Each conversation is unique to the health aspects of the patient's travel plans. To dive in for best practices when preparing patients for international travel, join Dr. Charles Turck as he speaks with expert panelists, Dr. Norman Beatty, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine, and Dr. Marvin Bittner, Interim Program Director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program and Special Professor in the Department of Medicine at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

Valneva did not contribute to the educational content.

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Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO
Guest: Michael Barnish, DO
Guest: Norman J. Bizon, PA-C, CTH
Before traveling abroad, it’s important that patients schedule a pre-travel health consultation with their doctor to go over their itinerary and talk about potential risks at their destination. There certainly are patients who are more at risk, such as those with immune-compromising conditions. To learn how to best collaborate with your patients before they travel internationally, dive in with Dr. Jennifer Caudle as she speaks with expert panelists, Dr. Michael Barnish, Infectious Disease Specialist at Rowan Medicine, and Mr. Norman Bizon, Physician Assistant who focuses exclusively on travel medicine at Travel Bug Health.

Valneva did not contribute to the educational content.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: David Hamer, MD
Cases of dengue have more than doubled since 2023, especially in endemic areas like Latin America, the Caribbean, South and Southeast Asia, and the coastal areas of Africa. This increasingly prevalence underscores the importance of knowing how to protect patients traveling abroad to those areas, which is why Dr. Charles Turck speaks with Dr. David Hamer about essential prevention strategies for dengue fever. Dr. Hamer is a Professor of Global Health and Medicine at the Boston University School of Public Health.

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Host: Robert Walker, PharmD
Guest: Nic Garner, PharmD
Travel vaccines are becoming increasingly common as they play a key role in protecting travelers abroad, but they’re only effective if patients actually receive them. That’s why Dr. Robert Walker speaks with Dr. Nic Garner, who shares best practices for counseling patients on travel vaccines. Dr. Garner is the District Support Pharmacist Leader at CVS Pharmacy in Texas with more than 10 years of community pharmacy management experience.

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Guest: Darvin Scott Smith, MD
For optimal protection, the most prevalent flu strains are assessed every year and included in the vaccine. Here to talk about this process and the recent decision to exclude the B/Yamagata lineage from flu vaccines is Dr. Darvin Scott Smith, Infectious Disease and Geographic Medicine Consultant at San Mateo Medical Center in California.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: Jill Foster, MD
For optimal protection, the best time for patients to receive a flu shot is between September and October, but some patients may be hesitant. In fact, flu vaccination rates have been declining since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic according to the CDC. That’s why Dr. Charles Turck speaks with Dr. Jill Foster about how we can help ensure patients receive timely and annual flu vaccinations. Dr. Foster is the Director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: Christina Madison, BS, PharmD, BCACP, AAHIVP
The World Health Organization and the Vaccines and Related Biologics Products Advisory Committee recently recommended transitioning from quadrivalent to trivalent flu vaccines that exclude the B/Yamagata lineage. Explore the epidemiological data that led to this decision and counseling strategies that can help patients understand this new recommendation with Dr. Charles Turck and Dr. Christina Madison, founder and CEO of the Public Health Pharmacist.

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Host: John Buse, MD, PhD
Guest: Mary de Groot, PhD
The prevalence of diabetes-related stigma is alarmingly high. In fact, four in five adults have reported experiencing some form of diabetes stigma at some point in their lives. To learn how we as healthcare providers can help reduce this burden for our patients with diabetes, Dr. John Buse speaks with Dr. Mary de Groot, Professor of Medicine and the Associate Vice Chair for Wellness at Indiana University School of Medicine.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: Tomasz Beer, MD, FACP
Guest: Betsy O'Donnell, MD
Recent estimates show that only 14 percent of cancers are detected through routine screening, meaning the majority of patients are diagnosed after the onset of clinical symptoms. But multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests offer the opportunity to potentially expand our ability to detect cancer through a single blood draw. Explore how MCED tests might help bridge the gaps that exist in today’s cancer screening paradigm and the recent studies on these tests with Drs. Tom Beer and Betsy O’Donnell. Dr. Beer is the Chief Medical Officer for Multi-Cancer Early Detection at Exact Sciences Corporation, and Dr. O’Donnell is the Director of Early Detection and Prevention of Malignant Conditions at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

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Host: Pranshu Mohindra, MD
Guest: Melissa Teply, MD
Guest: Judith Paice, PhD, RN
Guest: Fionnuala Crowley, MD
This enduring program of the live-virtual symposium will focus on the challenges of managing cancer pain using the Evolve KOL Knockout™ case-based format. The key opinion leaders (KOLs) will be challenged by the host/moderator to diagnose and manage patient scenarios with varying levels of difficulty. Learners will vote on the winner of each case presentation round and the moderator will declare a match winner at the conclusion.

There will be learning, laughter, and only one KOL left standing!

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Guest: Natalia Castillo Almeida, MD
感染流感会增加住院和罹患严重疾病的风险,尤其对高风险患者而言。幸运的是,接种流感疫苗可以帮助个人有效应对此类情况。在本节目中,内布拉斯加州大学医学院传染病系助理教授 Natalia Castillo Almeida 医生分享了关于住院率的关键数据和流感疫苗的接种建议。

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: Keith C. Ferdinand, MD, FACC, FAHA, FASPC, FNLA
Vaccines are essential in reducing death and disability related to influenza, but unfortunately, not all patients have equal access to these life-saving resources. In fact, many barriers exist, like misinformation and lack of public awareness and education. That’s why Dr. Charles Turck speaks with Dr. Keith Ferdinand about ways we can break down barriers and improve vaccination rates among members of racial and ethnic minority communities.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: John J. Russell, MD
Guest: Darvin Scott Smith, MD
Hospitals and health systems face several economic and logistical challenges due to low rates of flu vaccination. Fortunately, there are policies, programs, and initiatives that can be implemented in health system environments and at the community level to increase flu vaccination rates. Learn more with Drs. Darvin Scott Smith and John Russell. Dr. Smith is an Infectious Disease Consultant of Public Health Works, LLC in Northern California, and Dr. Russell is a family medicine physician at Jefferson Health System in Abington, Pennsylvania.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Darvin Scott Smith, MD

There are several benefits associated with using real-world evidence to assess vaccine effectiveness, especially in the context of flu vaccines. Find out why and what the real-world evidence says about the effectiveness of flu vaccines with Dr. Charles Turck and Dr. Darvin Scott Smith. Dr. Smith is an infectious disease consultant of Public Health Works, LLC in Northern California.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Jill Foster, MD

The clinical and economic burden associated with the flu is particularly heavy for our youngest patients. Learn more about this burden and how influenza vaccines can help reduce it with Dr. Charles Turck and Dr. Jill Foster, Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis.

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Host: Mary Katherine Cheeley, PharmD, BCPS, CLS, FNLA

Guest: Sarah Bauerle Bass, PhD, MPH, FSBM

Although the rate of new HIV diagnoses in the United States is steadily declining, people in prisons are still disproportionately living with the virus, which is why researchers at Temple University are now developing an app aimed at improving HIV prevention and substance use treatment access for incarcerated women in Philadelphia. To learn more about this research, Dr. Mary Katherine Cheeley is joined by Dr. Sarah Bauerle Bass, Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Director of Risk Communication Laboratory at Temple University.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Kamel Khalili, PhD

Scientists at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine have identified a novel gene-editing strategy aimed at eliminating HIV-1 infection with no adverse effects on cell mortality. Find out how this recent discovery could get us one step closer to a cure for HIV with Dr. Charles Turck and Dr. Kamel Khalili, the Laura H. Carnell Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Inflammation.

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Guest: Natalia Castillo Almeida, MD

Influenza can increase the risk of hospitalization and disease severity, specifically for high-risk patients. Fortunately, the influenza vaccine can help combat this. Join Dr. Natalia Castillo Almeida, an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Nebraska School of Medicine, as she shares key data on hospitalization rates and recommendations for vaccination.

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Host: Peter Buch, MD, FACG, AGAF, FACP

Guest: Marianna Arvanitakis, MD, PhD

Consuming ultra-processed foods can pose many risks to your health that go beyond the GI system. Explore the risks associated with ultra-processed foods with Dr. Peter Buch and Dr. Marianna Arvanitakis, Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatopancreatology, and Digestive Oncology from the HUB Erasme Hospital in Brussels, Belgium.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: Eric Klein, MD
Cancer remains the second-leading cause of death in the U.S., creating an urgent need to detect cancer at earlier stages when outcomes are better. With the emergence of novel multi-cancer screening technologies, the potential public health impact may be substantial. Given these advances, is it time to rethink the way clinical trials are designed to assess the effectiveness of these screening technologies? Joining Dr. Charles Turck to discuss how we can utilize surrogate endpoints to evaluate the efficacy of cancer screening modalities is Dr. Eric Klein, a distinguished scientist at GRAIL.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD
Guest: Stanton Miller, MD, MPH, FACS
Patients who live in an environment impacted by gun violence may face lifelong challenges. But addressing gun violence from a public health standpoint may help clinicians manage the biological, behavioral, and social aspects of this disease. Dr. John Russell is joined by Dr. Stan Miller from the Jefferson Center for Injury Research & Prevention to discuss how clinicians can reframe their approach.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP
Guest: Paul Hunter, MD
It’s important to recognize that older adults are more susceptible to influenza infection—as well as increased severity of infection—than younger, healthier populations.1 Fortunately, there are vaccines available that can help prevent influenza in this aging population. But do the relative benefits and harms of higher-dose and adjuvanted vaccines, compared with one another and with other influenza vaccines, favor the use of any one or more of these vaccines over other age-appropriate options for people 65 and older?2 That's the exact question the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) sought to answer and what Dr. Charles Turck discusses with Dr. Paul Hunter, Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

References:
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fly & People 65 Years and Older. Accessed August 16, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/highrisk/65over.htm.
2. National Center for Immunization & Respiratory Diseases. Advisory Committee on Influenza Practices. Influenza Vaccines for Older Adults: GRADE Summary. Accessed August 16, 2022.

USA-FLUD-22-0056 December 2022

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Host: Andrea Singer, MD, FACP, CCD
Guest: Paul A. Anderson, MD
Guest: Susan V. Bukata, MD, FAOA, FAAOS
Since the recording of this CME activity, the following updates have been published:

  • NAMS Position Statement on the Management of Osteoporosis in Postmenopausal Women

    • Menopause. 2021;28(9):973-997.
  • Consensus Statement from the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation, formerly known as the National Osteoporosis Foundation

    • The Clinician’s Guide to Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis. Osteoporosis Int. 2022;33(10):2049-2102.

While there’s growing awareness among orthopedic surgeons that osteoporosis is the underlying cause of fractures, there is often a disconnect between this recognition and action in the form of treatment to prevent subsequent fractures. In this discussion, Drs. Andrea Singer, Paul Anderson, and Susan Bukata address the pathophysiology of osteoporosis and the need to identify patients at risk for additional fractures. Osteoporosis treatment (including pharmacotherapy) can play a critical role in preventing future fractures, but physicians must first recognize that fracture is a sentinel event and treat it as a call to action.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Natalia Castillo Almeida, MD

Patients in urban communities often face challenges when accessing influenza vaccines. But there are ways we can help address those geographic and socioeconomic barriers. Joining Dr. Charles Turck to share key strategies for improving influenza vaccination rates in urban communities is Dr. Natalia Castillo, Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at University of Nebraska Medical Center.

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Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

Guest: Carolyn Bridges, MD

We all know that influenza vaccinations can help prevent serious infections and save lives. But how often do you consider the underrecognized benefits of these vaccines—like how influenza vaccinations can be a cost-effective solution for both patients and the entire healthcare system? Joining Dr. Jennifer Caudle to discuss these underrecognized benefits and how we can educate patients about the benefits of influenza vaccination is Dr. Carolyn Bridges, Director of Adult Immunizations at Immunize.org.

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Host: Kevin Cleveland, PharmD, ANP

Older adults face a variety of unique challenges that increase their risk of serious influenza infections. But fortunately, vaccinations can help address these challenges. Learn more with Dr. Kevin Cleveland, Associate Professor at the Idaho State University College of Pharmacy.

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Host: Christina Madison, BS, PharmD, BCACP, AAHIVP

In the midst of a potential tridemic between COVID-19, RSV, and influenza, it’s now more critical than ever to raise awareness among patients about the importance of flu vaccines. Here to provide counseling strategies for educating patients about flu vaccines is Dr. Christina Madison, Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Roseman University of Health Sciences.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Kimberly McKeirnan, Pharm.D., BCACP

Vaccination rates are much lower in rural communities compared to other regions, which has a big impact on patients and the larger healthcare system as a whole. So what are some of the factors contributing to this disparity, and what strategies can we use to address them? Joining Dr. Charles Turck to discuss how we can increase vaccination rates in rural communities is Dr. Kimberly McKeirnan, Director of the Center for Pharmacy Practice Research at Washington State University.

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Host: John Buse, MD, PhD

Guest: Seth Berkowitz, MD, MPH

Food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can help relieve food insecurity. But can they also lower healthcare spending? To answer this question, Dr. John Buse sits down with Dr. Seth Berkowitz from the Division of General Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

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Host: Mario R. Nacinovich, Jr., MSc

Guest: Richard Kojan, MD

As the fight against Ebola continues, can a new biosecure emergency care unit (CUBE) and therapeutic guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) help combat this disease? Mario Nacinovich joins study Dr. Richard Kojan, President of the Alliance for International Medical Action, to discuss these new guidelines.

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Host: Mario R. Nacinovich, Jr., MSc

Guest: Siwen Wang, MD

Have our patients experienced anxiety, depression, and stress following a COVID-19 infection? Joining Mario Nacinovich to dive into emerging research on post-COVID-19 psychological distress is Dr. Siwen Wang, a researcher in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: William Schaffner, MD

Before recommending the new COVID-19 booster, what do we need to know about this vaccine, and which of our patients fit the criteria for it? To learn the latest on what experts have to say about the new COVID-19 booster, Dr. Charles Turck speaks with Dr. William Schaffner from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

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Host: Mario R. Nacinovich, Jr., MSc

Guest: Charles P. Gerba, MD

A recent case of polio emerging in New York City have clinicians questioning whether or not we need to be concerned about a spread. What do we need to know about this case—and our potential risk—of polio? Joining Mario Nacinovich to take a look at this case is microbiologist Dr. Charles Gerba, a Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona.

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Host: Mario R. Nacinovich, Jr., MSc

Guest: Charles P. Gerba, MD

With rates of monkeypox continuing to rise, what do we need to know about this disease? And how easily can it spread from one person to another? Tune in to hear from renowned microbiologist, Dr. Charles Gerba, a Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona as he explores these topics with Mario Nacinovich.

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Host: Mario R. Nacinovich, Jr., MSc

Guest: Julia Bilinska, MD

Guest: Aatish Patel, MD

Monkeypox continues to spread around the globe, and its clinical manifestations can differ from what we’ve seen. What are the newest symptoms of this disease? Learn more about these manifestations from Drs. Aatish Patel and Julia Bilinska from Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London as they talk about their research with Host, Mario Nacinovich.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Nick Kusnezov, MD

Can you balance locum tenens with a full-time career? To answer that question, Dr. Charles Turck is joined by board-certified orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Nicholas Kusnezov, to walk us through his journey from joining the military to locum tenens.

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Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

Guest: Roni Devlin, MD

As rates of burnout continue to rise in the healthcare community, how can help our female physicians combat it? Dr. Jennifer Caudle joins Infectious Disease Specialist, Dr. Roni Devlin, to discuss how we can prevent burnout for female physicians.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Randy Young, MD

As Monkeypox continues to spread across non-endemic countries more and more, how can we detect it in our patients? And what’s being done to stop the spread? Guest and fellow ReachMD Host Dr. Randy Young, a Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine physician, joins Dr. John Russell to discuss what physicians should be looking out for, and how this virus has impacted public health.

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Host: Michael Greenberg, MD

Guest: Esther Freeman, MD, PhD

Guest: Steven Chen, MD, MPH, MHPEd

With the recent rise of monkeypox cases around the world, dermatologists will be some of the first to evaluate and diagnose patients with the disease. So to help those on the frontlines, Dr. Esther Freeman, Director of Global Health Dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Dr. Steven Chen, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School, share what dermatologists need to know about monkeypox.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Amesh Adalja, MD

Monkeypox is not something we’re used to seeing in non-endemic countries like North America and Europe. Yet its spreading has some experts scratching their heads. Dr. Amesh Adalja, a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, shares with Dr. John Russell what clinicians need to know about monkeypox amid the global outbreak in non-endemic countries.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare field has been hit hard—facing employment challenges, increased burnouts, and more. Yet salaries have been slow to rise, and conditions haven't improved. Dr. Thuy Nguyen from the University of Michigan School of Public Health joins Dr. Charles Turck to share how employment in the healthcare field has changed over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

Guest: Maurice G. Sholas, MD, PhD

After years of serving the New Orleans community, one physician decided to pursue locum tenens work. Dr. Jennifer Caudle joins Dr. Maurice Sholas, a pediatric physical rehabilitation physician, to share his experiences with locum tenens and in New Orleans.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Trevor Cabrera, MD

What’s it like becoming a locum tenens physician right out of residency? Dr. Charles Turck joins Dr. Trevor Cabrera, a Board-Certified pediatrician who trained in Houston, Texas, to share his firsthand experience and offer advice for residents.

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Host: Paul P. Doghramji, MD, FAAFP

Guest: Samantha Conroy, MD

Locum tenens can improve quality of care around the globe—especially in remote and underserved communities. To share how, Dr. Paul Doghramji joins Dr. Samantha Conroy, a family practice obstetrician to share her experiences working as a locum tenens obstetrician in underserved communities.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Amy McGorry PT, DPT, MTC

Guest: Catherine C. Crowley, PhD, CCC-SLP

COVID-19 has led to several unexpected challenges, impacting several parts of the body, including our patients' voices. What do we need to know about these impacts to better care for our patients? To answer this question, Drs. Amy McGorry and Catherine Crowley of Long Island University in New York join Dr. Charles Turck to share their clinical experience with vocal fatigue and dysphonia related to COVID-19.

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Guest: Claresa Levetan, MD

How can we better communicate lifestyle changes and glucose monitoring levels with our diabetic patients? Dr. Claresa Levetan, an endocrinologist at Grand View Health in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, shares key communication strategies she uses with her patients.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Drew Weissman, MD, PhD

Guest: Katalin Karikó, PhD

As mRNA technology continues to emerge and evolve, Penn Researchers Dr. Drew Weissman and Dr. Katalin Karikó join Dr. John Russell to take a deep dive into the future of mRNA technology.

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Guest: Pranay Sinha, MD

Where are we on the path to eliminating tuberculosis? To understand this, Dr. Pranay Sinha, a postdoctoral researcher at Boston Medical Center, discusses what we need to know and shares what’s on the horizon for TB elimination.

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Host: Hector O. Chapa, MD, FACOG

Guest: Dani Dumitriu, MD, PhD

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on all patients, especially pregnant women. Here to walk us through her research on the pandemic's impact on the psychosocial health of mothers and the neurodevelopment of their fetuses is Dr. Dani Dumitriu, a pediatrician, neuroscientist, and pediatric environmental health scientist at Columbia University in New York.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Benjamin Abramoff, MD, MS

Once a patient is discharged from the hospital after battling COVID-19, the war they face with this disease may not be over. In fact, many patients continue to experience long-term effects, which is why some institutions have formed clinics that are solely dedicated to caring for these patients. To learn more about how one such clinic is helping patients manage these devastating effects, Dr. John Russell speaks to physiatrist Dr. Benjamin Abramoff from the Post-COVID Assessment and Recovery Clinic at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: William Schaffner, MD

From widespread variants to the threat of a twindemic -- what has the COVID-19 pandemic taught us? And can we learn to coexist with this virus? Dr. Charles Turck is joined by Dr. William Schaffner from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases to discuss what's on the horizon for the pandemic.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Leana S. Wen, MD, MSc

From immigrant child to public health leader, emergency physician and medical expert Dr. Leana Wen sits down with Dr. John Russell to share her journey. Together, they’ll discuss the personal experiences that have framed her career.

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Host: Hector O. Chapa, MD, FACOG

Guest: Linda Bradley, MD

Medical commentators have stated that medicine as a profession is sick. So what can medicine do to change and better impact the community? That’s the exact question Dr. Hector Chapa explores with Dr. Linda Bradley from Case Western Reserve University. Together, they’ll discuss why social determinants of health exist, the impact they have on communities, and even more importantly, how we can combat them.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Chris Beyrer, MD, MPH

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are also facing high rates of HIV and AIDS prevalence. But after the success of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, could an mRNA vaccine for HIV/AIDS be on the horizon? Here to explore emerging research and the potential role that mRNA technology might have in battling this global epidemic is Dr. Chris Beyrer, a Professor of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland.

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Guest: Jeniffer Hernandez, PhD

Over 1.5 million viruses could potentially cause a future pandemic. Could antibodies be the key to neutralizing those viruses? Here to share how future vaccination efforts might incorporate neutralizing antibodies and her research on preventing future pandemics is Dr. Jeniffer Hernandez, Associate Professor of Biopharmaceutical Sciences at the Keck Graduate Institute.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Jessica Malaty Rivera, MS

Social media and the ability to quickly spread information across the internet has allowed misinformation surrounding COVID-19 vaccines and the disease itself to spread like wildfire. But the good news is that when armed with effective counseling strategies and data from initiatives like the COVID-19 Tracking Project, we as clinicians can help stop the spread of harmful conspiracies and myths. Joining Dr. John Russell to talk about those essential strategies and the COVID-19 Tracking Project is infectious disease epidemiologist Ms. Jessica Rivera.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Kathryn Gallagher, MS, RN, BSN

Guest: Kate Newcomb-DeSanto, MSN, RN, MSW

What does Penn Medicine’s newly-opened patient room facility have to offer? Dr. Charles Turck is joined by Penn Medicine Clinical Advisors Kathy Gallagher and Kate Newcomb-DeSanto to discuss the new pavilion and how it's revolutionizing patient care.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Sandy Marks

Guest: Kim Horvath, JD

Guest: Kyle Thomson, JD

With telehealth services expanding during the COVID-19 pandemic, has our access to them changed? To better understand this, Dr. Charles Turck meets with Sandy Marks, Kim Horvath, and Kyle Thomson from the AMA to explore what’s been done to provide Medicare coverage during a public health emergency and what’s on the horizon for telehealth access.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Emily Carroll, JD, MSW

The No Surprises Act aims to protect consumers from surprise medical bills. But how exactly does it go about doing that, and what’s the current status of its implementation? Joining Dr. Charles Turck to share progress and challenges associated with the No Surprises Act is Ms. Emily Carroll, a senior legislative attorney for the American Medical Association's Advocacy Resource Center.

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Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

Guest: Sarah Ali, MD

From working in a big city to taking on an assignment in a small mountain village, Dr. Sarah Ali from the Ventura County Medical Center joins Dr. Jennifer Caudle to talk about her adventures abroad with locum tenens and share key lessons she learned along the way.

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Host: Jerome Lisk, MD

Guest: Tissa Wijeratne MD PhD FRACP FRCP FAAN

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers and clinicians alike have strived to address the mysteries surrounding the virus, including its long-term side effects on patients. So what we do need to know about the emerging syndrome pointing to COVID-19’s neurological and cognitive impacts? To find out, Dr. Jerome Lisk is joined by Dr. Tissa Wijeratne, the Director of the Department of Neurology and Stroke Services at the University of Melbourne, to talk about post-COVID-19 neurological syndrome.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Randy C. Miles, MD, MPH

Are enlarged lymph nodes caught on CT scans following mRNA vaccination cause for concern? Or is it just a case of incidentaloma? Joining Dr. John Russell to answer those and other key questions regarding the link between COVID-19 vaccines and abnormal mammogram findings is Dr. Randy C. Miles.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Onyema Ogbuagu MBBCh, FACP, FIDSA

With so many questions and confusion points surrounding booster shots, what do we need to know? Dr. Charles Turck is joined by Dr. Onyema Ogbuagu, Associate Professor in the section of Infectious Diseases at Yale University School of Medicine, to answer common questions regarding the COVID-19 vaccine booster shots.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Animesh Ray, PhD

Getting ahead of the next pandemic may be possible thanks to deep machine learning’s ability to predict the structure of antibodies. And while that may sound like science fiction, this technology is currently being studied, which is why Dr. Animesh Ray from the Keck Graduate Institute joins Dr. Charles Turck to provide insight on where the research currently lies and what we have to look forward to.

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Guest: Randy Cron, MD, PhD

Dr. Randy Cron, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Director of the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology at Children’s of Alabama, shares highlights from his session on “Rheumatology Complications of Emerging Viral Infections and SARS-CoV-2” from the 2021 American College of Rheumatology Convergence.

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Host: Andrea Singer, MD, FACP, CCD

Guest: Paul A. Anderson, MD

Guest: Susan V. Bukata, MD, FAOA, FAAOS

While there’s growing awareness among orthopedic surgeons that osteoporosis is the underlying cause of fractures, there is often a disconnect between this recognition and action in the form of treatment to prevent subsequent fractures. In this discussion, Drs. Andrea Singer, Paul Anderson, and Susan Bukata address the pathophysiology of osteoporosis and the need to identify patients at risk for additional fractures. Osteoporosis treatment (including pharmacotherapy) can play a critical role in preventing future fractures, but physicians must first recognize that fracture is a sentinel event and treat it as a call to action.

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Host: Paul P. Doghramji, MD, FAAFP

Guest: Mojgan Saber, MD

Can Locum Tenens be an option for healthcare professionals just completing their residency? Dr. Paul Doghramji is joined by Dr. Mojgan Saber to share her own experience as well as tips and tricks for residents looking at Locum Tenens right after residency.

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Host: Mario R. Nacinovich, Jr., MSc

Guest: Randy Young, MD

Amid the surge of the Delta variant, critical care physician Dr. Randy Young is traveling to ICUs across the country to help treat patients. Tune in to hear Dr. Young share how this surge is impacting both patients infected with the variant and the healthcare professionals caring for them.

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Guest: Madhukar H. Trivedi, MD

Guest: Steven Shoptaw, PhD

Join Drs. Madhukar Trivedi and Steven Shoptaw as they discuss the evolving landscape of pharmacologic intervention for methamphetamine use disorder. Their focus will be on evidence from the ADAPT-2 clinical trial supporting the combination of extended release naltrexone and high dose bupropion to reduce methamphetamine use for patients with moderate to severe methamphetamine addiction. These important data from ADAPT-2 offer a significant therapeutic advance for methamphetamine use disorder that can be taken into the clinic.

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Host: Brooke M. Faught, DNP, WHNP-BC,NCMP, IF

Our patients express a number of misperceptions about combined hormonal non-LARC contraceptives such as the contraceptive patch, vaginal rings, and oral contraceptive pills. How well do you explain the advantages and disadvantages of these different options to your patients? How often have you prescribed what appeared to be a good contraceptive method for your patients only to have them be dissatisfied and become nonadherent?

Join Dr. Brooke Faught in this Women’s Health 2021 lecture as she tackles these issues and offers insights into how to discuss the full range of combined hormonal non-LARC contraceptive options with your patients using shared decision-making strategies. Remember, each patient’s needs, goals, and cultural background are important factors in a patient-centric approach to the choice of contraception.

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Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP

Tune in to hear pediatrician Dr. Jennifer Shu share what we currently know about the risks and impacts of the Delta variant on our youngest patients and perhaps even more importantly, how we can help keep them safe.

Published September 23, 2021

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Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP

School’s back in session, and that means it’s time we take a look at how we can help keep children safe and healthy both inside and outside the classroom with pediatrician Dr. Jennifer Shu.

Published September 21, 2021

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Pradipta Ghosh, MD

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing how we practice medicine in a variety of ways, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, a recently developed AI model can help us predict the disease course of patients infected with COVID-19, and here to share how that model was developed based on pandemics of the past and how it can be used in the current—and even future—pandemics is Dr. Pradipta Ghosh, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at UC San Diego.

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Guest: Brian Hill, MD, PhD

Dr. Brian T. Hill, a physician in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Cleveland Clinic, explores some of the most recent—and ongoing—impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on treatment decision-making for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Alberto Augsten, PharmD

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many patients turned to alcohol as a way to cope with this sudden and unprecedented global health crisis, and the rates of alcohol dependency are only continuing to rise according to recent studies. That’s why Dr. Charles Turck speaks with board-certified clinical toxicologist Dr. Alberto Augsten to help us better understand the challenges in screening patients for alcohol dependency amid the COVID-19 pandemic and how we can overcome those barriers to get our patients the best—and necessary—treatment.

Published August 20, 2021

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Host: Jacob Sands, MD

Guest: Derek Raghavan, MD, PhD, FACP, FRACP

CT scans have the potential to dramatically improve lung cancer outcomes, but are underserved communities receiving access to these types of screenings? Dr. Jacob Sands joins Dr. Derek Raghavan, President of Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina, to discuss his research presented at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Dustin Sulak, DO

The medical community continues to voice the medical benefits of cannabis. What do we need to know about them? Dr. Charles Turck discusses the benefits of medical cannabis with Dr. Dustin Sulak, an integrative medicine physician with a special focus on osteopathy, mind-body medicine, and medical cannabis.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Shantanu Nundy, MD, MBA

With all of the chaos and changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be easy to focus on the negative impacts of this global health crisis. But for one physician, the same chaos and changes are exactly what forged his unique perspective: one that recognizes the benefits that has come out of the pandemic.

Joining Dr. Charles Turck to share why he believes the COVID-19 pandemic has changed healthcare for the better is primary care physician Dr. Shantanu Nundy, author of a recent article published in The Washington Post titled, “A Surprising Pandemic Side Effect: It Has Improved Healthcare.”

Published June X, 2021

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Guest: Susan Butler-Wu, PhD, D(ABMM), SM(ASCP)

Dr. Susan Butler-Wu, Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology and Director of Medical Microbiology at LAC+USC Medical Center, investigates the differences—and highlights the benefits—of PCR versus antigen testing for COVID-19.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Gail Saltz, MD

The quarantine blues may have come to an end, but as the country continues to reopen, a whole new set of mental health challenges are just beginning. So how can we help our patients who found comfort in social distancing and mask-wearing mandates navigate this change and return to public places? To find out, Dr. Charles Turck speaks with psychiatrist Dr. Gail Saltz, who discusses the lasting effects of the quarantine blues, how we can help patients who are suffering from anxiety, and more.

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Guest: Jeffrey R. Starke, MD

Host: Paul P. Doghramji, MD, FAAFP

Dr. Paul Doghramji joins Dr. Jeffrey Starke, an Infection Control Officer at Texas Children’s Hospital and a Professor of Pediatric Infectious Disease Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, to discuss the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on testing for tuberculosis.

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Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN

Guest: William W. Li, MD

As the number of new COVID-19 infections continues to decrease and the United States begins to open back up, it’s important to note that there are patients who have survived COVID-19 but are still suffering. The newly coined term “COVID long-haulers” refers to those patients who continue to have symptoms even after the acute infection is resolved. Joining Dr. Andrew Wilner to share what we know so far about COVID long-haulers and how we can help them is vascular biologist Dr. William Li.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Paul Farmer, MD, PhD

Dr. John Russell meets with Dr. Paul Farmer, the Chair of Global Health at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Partners in Health, to review past pandemics and outbreaks while discussing things we can do as a community to lower the risk of these events.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Chris H. Cooper

Can new mask technology made with innovative materials better protect us from the coronavirus? Dr. Charles Turck speaks with Chris Cooper, Chief Science Officer and CEO of Airlock389, on improving mask technology after the supply shortage of masks during COVID-19.

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Host: Peter Buch, MD, FACG, AGAF, FACP

Guest: Russell D. Cohen, MD, FACG, AGAF

Are patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) at increased risk for COVID-19 infection? And what should we recommend for an IBD patient in remission who tests positive for COVID-19 versus a patient with active disease? These are just some of the questions that have arisen since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the questions Dr. Peter Buch explores with Dr. Russell Cohen, Director of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center and Co-Director of the Advanced IBD Fellowship Program at the University of Chicago School of Medicine.

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Host: Peter Buch, MD, FACG, AGAF, FACP

Guest: Asher A. Kornbluth, MD

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many questions have arisen regarding the care of our patients with IBD. Are they at increased risk of COVID-19? How should we treat a patient with IBD who has active COVID-19? Should they get vaccinated, and if so, when? These are all questions Dr. Peter Buch addresses with Dr. Asher Kornbluth, Clinical Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, to help us optimize our approach to care amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP

Guest: Ramiz Kseri, MD

What are some factors leading to disparities in care for our LGBTQ patients, and how do we keep them safe amid the pandemic? Dr. Jennifer Shu is joined by Dr. Ramiz Kseri, an Internist and Pediatrician and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Sciences at Florida State University College of Medicine, to discuss how the LGBTQ community is affected by COVID-19 and other health risks.

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Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP

Challenges that have accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic have forced practices to adapt. How has patient care changed? Dr. Jennifer Shu discusses what the pandemic has been like for her and the challenges she’s faced.

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Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

Guest: Kelly Cawcutt, MD

How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed vascular access paradigms in the intensive care unit? Joining Dr. Jennifer Caudle to share her story and lessons learned from the pandemic is Dr. Kelly Cawcutt, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and the Associate Medical Director of Infection Control and Epidemiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

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Host: Peter Buch, MD, FACG, AGAF, FACP

Guest: Andres Nieto, MD

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the effectiveness of telemedicine, but will this approach still be utilized after the pandemic ends? Dr. Peter Buch is joined by Dr. Andres Nieto, Assistant Professor at Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, to discuss the role of telemedicine and its future

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Ping Zhang, PhD, FAMIA

The pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world, but a new deep learning computer model may have discovered ten potential treatment options to combat COVID-19. Dr. Charles Turck sits down with Dr. Ping Zhang, who leads the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Lab and a faculty member at the Translational Data Analytics Institute at The Ohio State University, to discuss his team's findings.

Published March 29, 2021

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Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN

Guest: Jennifer A. Frontera, MD

Although the impact of COVID-19 can be long-lasting, many have had similar effects, even if they aren’t diagnosed with the disease. Dr. Jennifer Frontera, a neurocritical care specialist and professor of neurology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, shares some insight on the neurological symptoms that patients with COVID-19 are facing.

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Host: Neilanjan Nandi, MD

Guest: Folasade P. May, MD, PhD, MPhil

Racial and ethnic bias prevent patients with colorectal cancer from receiving the highest quality of care. Dr. Neil Nandi is joined by Dr. Fola May, Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCLA, to discuss racial inequalities in access to care and screening for patients with colorectal cancer.

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Host: Paul Doghramji, MD

Guest: Sarojini Qasba, MD

With the World Health Organization’s goal to eliminate tuberculosis by 2030 quickly approaching, what can we be doing now to help us meet that goal? Joining Dr. Paul Doghramji to discuss three key factors and how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted this global goal is Dr. Sonia Qasba, an infectious disease specialist at the Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

Guest: John J. Russell, MD

As clinicians on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re among the first to hear about our patients’ fears of the vaccines’ validity and safety. So how can we help address their concerns? ReachMD hosts Dr. Jennifer Caudle and Dr. John Russell sit down together to talk about how we can counsel patients who may be hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Published March 16, 2021

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Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN

Guest: Ken Tyler, MD

Further complicating the COVID-19 pandemic is the emergence of viral variants. Dr. Ken Tyler from the University of Colorado School of Medicine shares with us what we know so far about the COVID-19 variants that are quickly spreading around the world.

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Host: Matthew J. Sorrentino, MD, FACC, FASH

There’s no denying that healthcare professionals across all specialties went above and beyond the call of duty during the COVID-19 pandemic. And cardiologists were no exception. That’s why Dr. Matthew Sorrentino is calling attention to those cardiologists who were nominated by their peers for ReachMD’s Heroes in Healthcare initiative.

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Host: Carol Wysham, MD

Guest: Alexis McKee, MD

Patient care has evolved amid the COVID-19 pandemic, causing unexpected challenges in managing diseases such as diabetes. Dr. Carol Wysham joins Dr. Alexis McKee, a practicing endocrinologist and an assistant professor of medicine at Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, to discuss how patients have been overcoming challenges in managing diabetes during the pandemic.

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Host: Jacob Sands, MD

Guest: Lawrence Nathan Shulman, MD

How do challenges in our healthcare system and disparities in access to care impact cancer patients within our communities? Dr. Jacob Sands and Dr. Lawrence Shulman continue their important conversation on oncology around the world.

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Host: Alan S. Brown, MD, FACC, FAHA, FNLA

Guest: Keith C. Ferdinand, MD

Dr. Keith Ferdinand, Tulane University's Gerald S. Berenson Endowed Chair in Preventive Cardiology and Professor of Medicine at the Tulane University School of Medicine, joins Dr. Alan Brown to discuss cardiovascular healthcare disparities among African Americans and what we can do to improve access to care.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Drew Weissman, MD, PhD

Dr. Drew Weissman, Professor of Medicine at Penn Medicine joins Dr. Turck to discuss his new COVID-19 vaccine technology and how RNA and mRNA are being used to provoke an immune response in order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

In honor of our “Heroes in Healthcare” initiative, Dr. Matt Birnholz recounts some of the many healthcare professionals nominated by their peers who’ve bravely helped their patients combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Frank Scott

Dr. Charles Turck is joined by Dr. Frank Scott from the University of Colorado School of Medicine to share some highlights from his session, “Challenges and New Approaches to Managing IBD in the COVID-19 Era,” at Crohn’s & Colitis Congress 2021.

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Host: De De Gardner, DrPH, RRT, RRT-NPS, FAARC, FCCP

Guest: Stephanie Briney, DO

Despite widespread availability, only half of Americans received the flu shot last year. With that in mind, Dr. De De Gardner is joined by Dr. Stephanie Briney, Assistant Professor in Family, Community, and Preventive Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix to discuss why Americans avoid getting the flu shot and how she approaches this in her practice.

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Host: Peter Buch, MD, FACG, AGAF, FACP

Guest: Myron Brand, MD

While many know that COVID-19 can affect the respiratory system, but how can this disease also influence the gastrointestinal tract? Tune in to hear Dr. Peter Buch discuss with Dr. Myron Brand, a Clinical Professor of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, the impact of COVID-19 on the GI system and GI disorders.

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Host: Jacob Sands, MD

Cancer care has evolved since the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. What do we need to know about caring for our cancer patients during this winter season? Dr. Jacob Sands, Thoracic Medical Oncologist at the Dana-Farber Institute in Boston shares what cancer patients can do to take care of themselves during the winter season.

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Host: Hector O. Chapa, MD, FACOG

Guest: Robert Owens Carpenter, MD, MPH, FACS, FASMBS

Burnout is a common response to work overload in the field of medicine. What can we do to best avoid this? Dr. Hector Chapa joins Dr. Robert Owens Carpenter, the Texas A&M University College of Medicine’s Director of Wellness, to discuss the importance of managing mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, not only for patients but healthcare professionals as well.

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Guest: Mariana Chavez MacGregor, MD, MSC

The healthcare disparity crisis in the breast cancer field has prevented the benefits of therapeutic advancements from being equally distributed throughout all populations. What can we do to overcome this obstacle? Dr. Mariana Chavez MacGregor, Associate Professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, talks about the disparities she's encountered in breast cancer care.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Guest: Michael D. Kappelman, MD, MPH

Pediatric care has evolved amid the COVID-19 pandemic. And when it comes to treating inflammatory bowel disorder, or IBD, gastroenterologists are faced with a unique set of challenges. Join us as Dr. Kappelman shares highlights of his presentation at the 2021 Crohn’s & Colitis Congress on what needs to be acknowledged while treating children with IBD during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Host: Neilanjan Nandi, MD, FACP

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a unique set of challenges for healthcare professionals. What are some of the biggest threats to our GI patients, and how should we help them stay safe? Here today is our GI Insights host, Dr. Neil Nandi, to shed some light on his experiences while caring for patients during the pandemic.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Christopher Haines, MD, MA

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the field of medicine. To better understand the science behind this virus while putting this pandemic into historical perspective, Dr. Christopher Haines shares his experiences caring for patients during the pandemic and describes what drove him to write his book: COVID-19 Essays from the Front: The First Six Months.

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Host: Hector O. Chapa, MD, FACOG

Guest: Dave McIntosh, PhD, MA

Large communities of color and low socioeconomic status communities are often faced with higher mortality rates due to disparities in healthcare. How do these factors impact patient outcomes? Dr. David McIntosh, vice president and chief inclusion and diversity officer at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, discusses how social disparities in race and gender affect patients' outcomes.

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Guest: John J. Russell, MD

With so many COVID-19 vaccines in development, new medical ethical questions have been brought to the forefront of the healthcare field. With that in mind, Dr. John Russell takes us through the history of ethics and vaccinations throughout the world.

Published January 4, 2021

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Host: Linda Bernstein, Pharm.D.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization, or EUA, for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The second vaccination to achieve EUA designation, the Moderna vaccine will be distributed throughout the US for patients 18 years and older. In this episode of The Drug Report, Dr. Linda Bernstein discusses this newly-approved vaccine and how it compares to others.

Published December 29, 2020

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Host: Jacob Sands, MD

Guest: Nabil F. Saba, MD

Since head and neck cancer is still to a large extent a surgical disease, the COVID-19 pandemic had an immediate impact on its management. Here to share how he pivoted his approach and how the pandemic might impact the future of head and neck cancer care is Dr. Nabil Saba, a Professor and Vice Chair for Quality and Safety in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine.

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Host: Jacob Sands, MD

Guest: Therese T. Bevers, MD

Fear of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to added safety precautions that have prevented patients from receiving much-needed cancer screenings. How will this impact the field of oncology, and what can we do to encourage patients to get their screenings? Dr. Therese Beavers, Medical Director of the Cancer Prevention Center at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, joins Dr. Jacob Sands to discuss the fatal consequences of missed cancer screenings.

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Host: Linda Bernstein, Pharm.D.

The first vaccine to receive Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration, this authorization allows the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be distributed throughout the US. But what do we know about this vaccine? In this episode of The Drug Report, Dr. Linda Bernstein discusses the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Published December 18, 2020

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Host: Linda Bernstein, Pharm.D.

To prevent the flu from spreading concurrently with COVID-19, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has expanded the approved indication for baloxavir marboxil to include post-exposure prevention of influenza. On this episode of The Drug Report, Dr. Linda Bernstein dives into this oral anti-influenza drug.

Published December 2, 2020

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Host: Linda Bernstein, Pharm.D.

With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer children have received a measles vaccination, and progress towards eliminating this disease has halted. How can pharmacists encourage more pediatric measles vaccinations? In this episode of The Drug Report, Dr. Linda Bernstein takes a look at the vast number of children globally who’ve yet to receive this vaccine.

Published November 30, 2020

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Host: Linda Bernstein, Pharm.D.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC, plans to use pharmacies to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine when it is ready for distribution. In this episode of The Drug Report, Linda Bernstein will explain the CDC’s recently-developed Vaccination Program Interim Playbook.

Published November 17, 2020

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Host: John E. Anderson, MD

Host: John Buse, MD, PhD

Host: Carol Wysham, MD

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed healthcare professionals to adjust the way they treat patients with chronic conditions like diabetes. Tune in to hear Drs. John Anderson, John Buse, Carol Wysham share their experience caring for patients with diabetes amid the pandemic.

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Host: Linda Bernstein, Pharm.D.

The Food and Drug Administration announced that Remdesivir is the first treatment for COVID-19 to receive their approval. To help us better understand this antiviral agent, Dr. Linda Bernstein discusses emerging studies uncovering the benefits and limitations of Remdesivir.

Published November 6, 2020

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Guest: Lauren K. Brooks, MD

During this unprecedented time, finding the best approach to providing treatment for patients with thyroid cancer can be a challenge. Endocrinologist Dr. Lauren Brooks of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health shares some of her approaches to this dilemma and stresses the importance of keeping up on routine practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published September 28, 2020

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Guest: Ann L. Steiner, MD

COVID-19 has encouraged many people to adopt new habits, but some of them can take a toll on a woman’s breast health. Tune in to hear Dr. Ann Steiner, Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Penn Medicine, share what two of those risky habits are and how women can lower their risk of breast cancer while they’re sheltering at home.

Published September 23, 2020

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

Now that we’re several months into the pandemic, many states and counties are turning to the local data gathered on COVID-19 incidence to help inform their plans moving forward. But are those reports really the most accurate sources of information? To find out, Dr. Charles Turck is here to discuss a recent report discussing how disparities in access to COVID-19 testing sites may be skewing case estimates.

Published August, 19 2020

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Saleemah McNeil, CLC, MS, MFT

Both the COVID-19 pandemic and the global protests against racism have had far-reaching impacts on black communities. To vocalize the importance of mental health care, Dr. Matt Birnholz is joined by Saleemah McNeil, a psychotherapist and founder of Oshun Family Center, who shares what her center is doing to help.

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Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN

Guest: William W. Li, MD

How do the lungs of healthy patients differ from the lungs of patients with COVID-19 or the flu? That’s the exact question Dr. William Li wanted to answer, and now, he’s sharing the results of his study that was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Published August 12, 2020

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Host: Kathy King, RDN

Guest: Teresa Pangan, PhD, RDN

Joining Kathy King to discuss the possible benefits and precautions of using supplemental doses of vitamin D to help fight COVID-19 is Dr. Teresa Pangan, a registered dietitian, health counselor, and keynote speaker.

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Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

To give us a better look into how counties and cities across the nation are reacting to the racial disparities in healthcare that were brought into the limelight by the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Charles Turck reviews the declaration made by officials in Ohio’s most populated county that racism is a public health crisis.

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Guest: Gregory J Kubicek, MD

When caring for patients who are at greater risk of complications from COVID-19, what extra precautions are needed to help keep them safe and healthy? That’s what staff radiation oncologist Dr. Gregory Kubicek from the MD Anderson Cooper Cancer Center shares with us.

Published June 23, 2020

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Guest: Michael Greenberg, MD

The chaos and uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic may make us forget the simple actions we can all do to connect with others and make the world a better place. Listen in as Dr. Michael Greenberg shares three of those simple actions.

Published June 15, 2020

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Guest: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP

Tune in to hear Dr. Jennifer Shu describe what her life as a pediatrician is now like due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the steps she has taken to keep her patients and colleagues healthy.

Published June 12, 2020

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Guest: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

As researchers look at the spread of COVID-19 in warm areas of the globe, their findings cast doubt on the idea that the summer heat will help slow the spread. Tune in as Dr. Charles Turck explains recent studies on how heat has very little—if any—impact on the spread of viruses.

Published June 5, 2020

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Carol Vargo, MHS

Guest: Sheryl Hirsch, MD, FAAP

Guest: Thomas Eppes, MD

The American Medical Association is one of the leading medical organizations across the country that have been working to provide physicians with the tools and resources they need to continue caring for patients and to keep their practices financially afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Joining Dr. Matt Birnholz to review the AMA’s guidance for reopening practices during the pandemic and how some practices have begun to reopen are Carol Vargo from the AMA, pediatrician Dr. Sheryl Hirsch, and family physician Dr. Thomas Eppes.

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Guest: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

With the growing amount of illicit pharmaceutical drugs and medical supplies filling the global market amid the COVID-19 pandemic, are we at risk of facing another public health crisis? Listen in as Dr. Charles Turck brings this troubling trend to light.

Published June 3, 2020

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Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

Guest: Todd Askew

What’s being done to address the range of issues like the PPE shortage, lack of testing, and financial shortfalls encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic? Here to share his team’s advocacy efforts to help tackle these and other challenges is Todd Askew, the American Medical Association's Senior Vice President of Advocacy.

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Guest: John J. Russell, MD

Could immunization techniques of the past help us in our current hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine? To find out, Dr. John Russell reviews the history of immunizations going all the way back to the 1100s.

Published May 29, 2020

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Host: Joshua Sharfstein, MD

Host: Stephanie Desmon

Guest: Albert Wu, MD

It’s been a few months since COVID-19 first arrived in the US, so what have we learned? Dr. Albert Wu returns to the podcast with Stephanie Desmon to discuss social distancing fatigue, new symptoms and disease observations, hopes for treatment, and what we should expect in the coming months in terms of a “return to normal.”

Published May 13, 2020

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Host: Victor Test, MD, FCCP

Guest: Andrew Klein, MS, RT

Tune in as Andrew Klein, a clinical nurse specialist in respiratory therapy, discusses his experiences caring for COVID-19 patients in a teamwork environment. Through these collaborations, the best care can be made available during this pandemic.

Published March 26, 2020

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Host: Joshua Sharfstein, MD

Guest: Megan Hosey Mastalerz, PhD

The intensive care unit can be stressful for all patients, but those with COVID-19 face unique challenges when it comes to mental and cognitive health. Clinical psychologist Dr. Megan Hosey of the Johns Hopkins Hospital ICU talks with Stephanie Desmon about ICU delirium, COVID-19 stigma, and what longer term prognosis could look like for patients inside and after the ICU.

Published May 6, 2020

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Host: Mario R. Nacinovich, Jr., MSc

Guest: Mark R. Cullen, MD

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, endemic challenges surrounded fragmented data sets and long perspective clinical trials. But now, recently developed data sets are available to public health and policy researchers to not only overcome that challenge, but also to combat this global pandemic. Dr. Mark Cullen, Scientific Committee Chair for the academic arm of the COVID-19 research database at Stanford University School of Medicine, joins Mario Nacinovich to explain.

Published May 13, 2020

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

In the absence of a vaccine, researchers have reported the potential need for long-term social distancing measures through 2021. Tune in as Dr. Matt Birnholz breaks down these findings and what the potential impacts might be if these warnings are ignored.

Published May 11, 2020

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Host: Joshua Sharfstein, MD

Guest: Emily S. Gurley, PhD

Guest: Brooke Jarrett

It might be too late to halt transmission of COVID-19, but contract tracing could help bring the outbreak under control. Dr. Emily Gurley and PhD candidate Brooke Jarrett break down contact tracing and what it would take to get “an army” off the ground in US cities.

Published April 29, 2020

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Host: Mario R. Nacinovich, Jr., MSc

Guest: Renata Schiavo, PhD, MA

COVID-19 is constantly referred to as a global pandemic, but how often do you think of it as an info-demic? Or as a health equity issue? Joining Mario Nacinovich to give us a look at COVID-19 through a different lens is Dr. Renata Schiavo, Senior Lecturer, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Sociomedical Sciences and Founder and President of the Board of Directors of the Health Equity Initiative. Dr. Schiavo discusses common barriers faced by the most vulnerable populations and how we can protect them during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published April 28, 2020

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Host: Paul Doghramji, MD

Guest: Jonathan Stokes

The World Health Organization recently listed antibiotic resistance as one of the biggest threats to global health, causing researchers to search for potential antibiotic candidates to combat this crisis. To find one such candidate, one research team turned to an unexpected source: artificial intelligence.

Here to walk us through the team’s approach and findings is Johnathon Stokes, the lead author of the study that identified a powerful new antibiotic compound.

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Host: Mario R. Nacinovich, Jr., MSc

Guest: Anthony Dragun, MD

Throughout this global pandemic, radiation oncologists are faced with the challenge of finding ways to continue administering the necessary cancer treatments while limiting their patients’ risk of exposure to COVID-19. Dr. Anthony Dragun from the MD Anderson Cancer Center is here to explain how that can be done and why these new approaches should be embraced even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.

Published April 27, 2020

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Host: Linda Bernstein, Pharm.D.

Join pharmacist Dr. Linda Bernstein as she highlights several articles from recent literature describing coagulopathies in severely ill COVID-19 patients in China. She explores the cause and effect theories behind these findings and whether the observed coagulopathies are due directly to the virus, the critically ill condition of the patient that predisposes them to thromboembolism, or some combination of the two.

Published April 24, 2020

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Host: Joshua Sharfstein, MD

Guest: Beth Blauer

The COVID-19 dashboard run by the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering has been a critical source of near real-time tracking of the spread of the novel coronavirus since it first emerged. Beth Blauer, Executive Director of Centers for Civic Impact and an expert on the public’s use of data and analytics, is part of the team that manages the map. Blauer talks to Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how the global dashboard originated, what new features have been added, and how the data can help individuals and officials make informed decisions for COVID-19 response.

Published April 14, 2020

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Host: Linda Bernstein, Pharm.D.

Tune in as pharmacist Dr. Linda Bernstein looks at a few of the novel approaches researchers all over the world are taking to conquer the novel coronavirus in addition to evaluating what these approaches may mean for today and potential viral mutations going forward.

Published April 21, 2020

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Host: Joshua Sharfstein, MD

Guest: Vernon Lee, PhD

Early on in the COVID-19 outbreak, Singapore quickly launched a robust response which included widespread testing, diligent contact tracing and quarantining, and isolation of all sick persons, even those with mild symptoms. Alumnus Dr. Vernon Lee, Director of Communicable Diseases at the Ministry of Health of Singapore, talks to Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how lessons from the 2003 SARS outbreak informed Singapore’s risk-based approach to staying a few steps ahead of the novel coronavirus.

Published April 7, 2020

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Guest: Michael Greenberg, MD

Join dermatologist Dr. Michael Greenberg as he shares his unique view that blurs science and spirituality and how it’s helping him create stronger connections with patients.

Published April 10, 2020

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Diane E Custer, MD

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across our nation and the world, more and more patients are experiencing anxiety and depression. Joining Dr. John Russell to explain how we can console our patients—all while maintaining our own mental health along the way—is Dr. Diane Custer.

Published April 8, 2020

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Host: Michael Greenberg, MD

To help alleviate pressure from hospitals that are experiencing a high influx of patients due to the COVID-19 pandemic, dermatologist Dr. Michael Greenberg decided to keep his doors open and is now sharing what it’s like to see patients during this outbreak.

Published April 3, 2020

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

After the American College of Surgeons and the Surgeon General's suspension of non-emergent surgeries and procedures, Dr. Matt Birnholz explains the new guidelines and their impact on patients.

Published April 2, 2020

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

In the absence of a vaccine or antivirals against COVID-19, controlling its transmission through social distancing has been an essential strategy. And to prove it, a team from the University of Western Australia conducted research using a simulation city which implemented social distancing versus a city without it. Dr. Matt Birnholz summarizes this study's staggering findings.

Published April 1, 2020

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Social distancing is surprisingly not a new concept in the United States. As our country geared up for World War I in 1918, social gatherings and parades to support the military were at an all-time high. But as feelings of patriotism spread at these events, so too did influenza. Join Dr. John Russell as he recounts The Tale of Two Cities: Philadelphia and St. Louis and how the spread of influenza was dramatically different between the two cities due to the actions each took to mitigate risk.

Published March 28, 2020

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Host: Joshua Sharfstein, MD

Guest: Jennifer Nuzzo, MD

Guest: Tara Kirk Sell, PhD, MA

Guest: Lauren M. Sauer, MS

With COVID-19 beginning to spread via community transmission in the U.S. and the WHO raising its risk assessment to “very high,” experts from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine offer insights on the growing global public health concern.

Featuring Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo and Dr. Tara Kirk Sell of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and Lauren Sauer of the Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response; moderated by Dr. Josh Sharfstein, Vice Dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and former secretary of Maryland's Department of Health.

Published March 3, 2020

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

COVID-19 has irreversibly altered the progression track for the next generation of physicians, with cancellations of Match Day events, Board exams, and clinical rotations in effect. Now an increasing number of entities are calling on medical students to join front-line efforts to combat the virus.

Published March 23, 2020

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Kenneth Thorpe, PhD

In today’s polarized political climate, the road toward greater healthcare access, delivery, and cost coverage is still highly uncertain. So to help shed light on some of the merits and challenges of a single-payer model, Dr. Matt Birnholz sits down with Dr. Kenneth Thorpe, the Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management in the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University.

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Host: Mario R. Nacinovich, Jr., MSc

Guest: Charles P. Gerba, MD

The novel coronavirus outbreak that began in late 2019 may be the first global epidemic pronounced in the social media age, with myths and misinformation populating just as quickly and frequently as new cases. But is there any truth behind these claims? Here to shed light on this global health crisis is microbiologist Dr. Charles Gerba.

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Host: Paul Doghramji, MD

Guest: David H. Peyton, Ph.D.

The vaping epidemic is becoming more and more concerning, but could new research prompt people to quit? To find out, Dr. Paul Doghramji speaks with Dr. David Peyton about his recent study that challenges the claim that vaping devices take less of a toll on our health than tobacco smoking.

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Guest: Mary Beth Pfeiffer

With cases being reported in every state and across 80 countries, Lyme disease has become one of the fastest growing vector-borne illnesses in the world. But have you ever wondered how this global health threat came to be? That’s what journalist Mary Beth Pfeiffer investigates in her book, Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change, and with the ReachMD team.

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Host: Eric H. Kraut, MD

Hemophilia A is a rare bleeding disorder caused by deficiency of clotting factor VIII. The current standard of care for patients with severe hemophilia A centers on replacement therapy with factor VIII concentrate, either on demand when bleeding occurs or prophylactically (replacement therapy). Potential complications from replacement therapy include the development of inhibitory antibodies that attack the clotting factor in approximately one-fourth of patients, viral infections from human clotting factors, and bleeding in joints and muscles resulting from treatment delays. According to treatment guidelines from the Medical and Scientific Advisory Council (MASAC), “Inhibitor development is the most severe complication of treatment for patients with inherited hemophilia A.” In addition, the high cost and frequency of infusing factor VIII concentrates can increase the potential for side effects, thereby negatively affecting patient quality of life.

Fortunately, several unique agents have been newly approved or are currently under development. These agents promise to reduce morbidity and improve quality of life for patients. Clinicians will be challenged to integrate these new agents into their clinical practices.

AXIS routinely collects and analyzes data gathered from participants in our live grand rounds programs. These questions provide incredible insight regarding the persistent challenges that clinicians face when …

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Kathleen Blake, MD, MPH

Guest: Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH

Guest: Sheila Savageau

Guest: Michael Seres

How do you define value-based care? That’s the question being asked of some of the most influential stakeholders in healthcare, and to find out their answer, Dr. Matt Birnholz sits down with a few of them, including the AMA’s Vice President of Healthcare Quality Dr. Kathleen Blake, General Motors' U.S. Health Leader Sheila Savageau, North Carolina Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Mandy Cohen, and Michael Seres, the CEO of 11Health.

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Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Guest: Cecilia Van Cauwenberghe

What was once a sci-fi tale is now a reality, but unlike the aliens and monsters common to this genre, artificial intelligence isn’t something healthcare professionals need to fear. On the contrary, it may just be the key to unlocking new solutions in the pharmaceutical industry, as Dr. Cecilia Van Cauwenberghe explains.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Barbara Levy, MD

Guest: Peter A. Hollmann, MD

In response to physicians’ feedback, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed some big changes to the documentation guidelines for office visits. But is there still room for improvement?

Co-chairs of the American Medical Association’s CPT/RUC Workgroup on Evaluation and Management Services Dr. Peter Hollmann and Dr. Barbara Levy join Dr. Matt Birnholz to discuss the Workgroup’s effort to further simplify the work of the healthcare provider and improve the health of patients nationwide.

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Host: Maurice Pickard, MD

Guest: Haider Warraich, MD

Dr. Haider Warraich, author of The New York Times article “Dr. Google is a Liar,” speaks with Dr. Maurice Pickard on the growing pandemic of fake medical news and its startling repercussions for healthcare providers and their patients.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Barbara A. McAneny, MD

There were a lot of changes made to the 2019 Medicare payment policies. Here to review what these updates mean—and what’s being done in response to them—is Dr. Barbara McAneny, President of the AMA.

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Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

Guest: Mark Friedberg, MD

With the use of alternative payment models (APMs) on the rise, the American Medical Association and the RAND Corporation joined forces to investigate the impact of APMs on physicians across the country. So what exactly did the study uncover? Diving into the study’s findings with Dr. Jennifer Caudle is Dr. Mark Friedberg, senior physician policy researcher at RAND and director of its Boston office.

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Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

Tune in as Dr. Jennifer Caudle provides an update on suicide rates in the United States.

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Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Palliative and hospice care both have very important roles in healthcare, but unfortunately, they are often overlooked as resources.

Dr. Brian McDonough is joined by Chief Medical Officer of Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice Dr. Stephen Goldfine, who offers his perspective on the stigma surrounding these two areas of healthcare and recommendations on how to make the conversation easier for you and your patients.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Koryn Rubin

Some big changes are taking effect in one of the performance categories under MIPS. The cost category is now affecting your MIPS score differently, and here to make sure you don’t fall behind is Koryn Rubin, Assistant Director of Federal Affairs at the American Medical Association.

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Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Guest: Lorina Marshall-Blake, MGA, FAAN

Complicating the already-complex issue of the opioid epidemic is the stigma that it often comes with, which defers those who so desperately need help from seeking it. Fortunately, there are organizations like the Independence Blue Cross who are doing their part in humanizing opioid addiction and encouraging those affected to find help through its awareness campaign “Someone You Know.”

To dive deeper into this campaign, Dr. Brian McDonough is joined by the Independence Blue Cross Foundation's President Lorina Marshall-Blake.

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The FDA has made strides in improving transparency and data access, and has implemented tools to allow the pharmaceutical industry and the public to transform raw data into usable information. One of these tools is called the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) Public Dashboard. In this episode, the architects of the FAERS Public Dashboard – Deputy Director of the Regulatory Science Staff Suranjan De, and Acting Team Lead in Regulatory Science Information Sanjay Sahoo—both of CDER’s Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology, highlight their work with this new online tool.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Carol Vargo, MHS

Amid all the changes to quality reporting under MIPS, many hospital-based physicians are unsure about what effects, if any, there will be to their employment and compensation. Luckily, there are experts to help break down everything from performance-based changes to compensation accuracy, and providing a how-to guide for navigating the Quality Payment Program in the hospital setting is Carol Vargo, Director of Physician Practice Sustainability at the AMA.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Richard Wender, MD

From oncologists to primary care, physicians are witnessing an alarming trend in younger patients: the rising risk of colorectal cancer. To investigate this growing threat, Dr. John Russell speaks with Dr. Rich Wender, Chief Cancer Control Officer at the American Cancer Society. Dr. Wender discusses the new colorectal cancer screening guidelines set forth and the methods behind the conclusion. While comparing past guidelines, Dr. Wender considers changes in our society and environment that may be contributing to increased cancer risks in younger generations.

For more information and to review the new guidelines, go to cancer.org

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Alternative Payment Models, or APMs, were introduced as a way to reduce costs and improve patient care, but physicians have been slow to adopt this model. To address this issue, Dr. Matt Birnholz connects with Harold Miller, President and CEO of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, who provides the details that physicians need to know regarding APMs and why Physician-Focused Payment Models could be the solution.

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Host: Shira Johnson, MD

Guest: Laura Hoffman

Guest: Matt Reid

If you’re planning on participating in the Quality Payment Program in 2019, you may be wondering what you can—and should—be doing now to prepare for upgrading your electronic health records, or how this update could affect your computers and networks. If so, you’re not alone.

To help guide you through this process, Dr. Shira Johnson is joined by two AMA staff—Senior Health IT Consultant Matt Reid and Assistant Director of Federal Affairs Laura Hoffman—who answer these and other FAQs.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Koryn Rubin

With more and more physicians wondering what the new individual and group reporting measures mean for them and their practice, Dr. Matt Birnholz sat down with Koryn Rubin, Assistant Director of Federal Affairs at the American Medical Association, to break down these options.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that the medicine lamotrigine (Lamictal) for seizures and bipolar disorder can cause a rare but very serious reaction that excessively activates the body’s infection-fighting immune system. This can cause severe inflammation throughout the body and lead to hospitalization and death, especially if the reaction is not diagnosed and treated quickly.

A link to the full communication detailing specific information for health care professionals and a list of FDA-approved GBCAs can be found at www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety

Released 4/25/2018

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Judd Hollander, MD

In the early 1900s, about 40% of doctor visits were made in a patient’s home. Today, with the rise of telehealth technologies, more than 7 million patients are once again receiving care in the comfort of their own homes.

Join Dr. John Russell as he speaks with Dr. Judd Hollander, Associate Dean for Strategic Health Initiatives at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and Professor and Vice Chair of Finance and Healthcare Enterprises in the Department of Emergency Medicine, on the benefits and risks of implementing telemedicine in your practice.

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Host: Kathy King, RDN

With over 720,000 beef producers in the United States, the cattle industry has a huge economic impact on our society. However, many patients have questions regarding beef production and safety.

Dr. Sarah Place, Senior Director of Sustainable Beef Production Research at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, joins Dr. Kathy King in discussing the balancing act of economic, environmental, and social awareness inside the industry.

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Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Tobacco use accounts for nearly half a million deaths in the U.S. each year and is the leading cause of lung cancer, according to the American Lung Association.

However, the economic and societal costs of smoking are also staggering. Every year, Americans spend more than $300 billion, which includes both medical care and lost productivity. Unfortunately, some people will have to pay more depending on the state in which they live.

Host Dr. Brian McDonough chats with analyst Jill Gonzales from Wallethub, a financial website that calculated the true per-person cost of smoking in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

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Host: Alicia A. Sutton

Guest: Camille M. Fung, MD

Host Alicia Sutton is joined by Dr. Camille Fung to discuss two areas of public health in Utah that were not addressed by the Utah legislature: opioid addiction and overdose in pregnant women and newborn infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). Dr. Fung is an assistant professor at the University of Utah, Division of Neonatology.

Tune in to see how Dr. Fung with her colleagues created enduring material to educate healthcare professionals on the unaddressed public health problem of opioid management without any financial resources.

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Host: Maurice Pickard, MD

Guest: Katherine Baicker

In early 2008, Oregon opened a waiting list lottery for a limited number of spots in its Medicaid program. From the 90,000 people who signed up, the state drew approximately 30,000 names of people who were allowed to apply to its Medicaid program. The results of this lottery have been studied over subsequent years, allowing researchers the ability to analyze the effect of expanding access to public health insurance on health care use and patient outcomes.

Host Dr. Maurice Pickard talks with Katherine Baicker, Dean and the Emmett Dedmon Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. She is one of the leaders of the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment, which investigated the effects of the Oregon Medicaid lottery. They discuss some of the conclusions from this study, including how a person’s increased exposure to health care through insurance coverage appears to produce significant, multifaceted, and nuanced benefits to one's health.

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Oncologists Dr. Sanjeeve Bala and Dr. Abhilasha Nair from FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence discuss the recent approval of bevacizumab-awwb, a biosimilar to US-licensed Avastin, marketed as MVASI. MVASI is the first biosimilar approved in the US for the treatment of cancer.

Released on December 21, 2017

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The FDA announced that it is requiring a new class warning and other safety measures for all gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) for magnetic resonance imaging (or MRI) concerning gadolinium remaining in patients’ bodies, including the brain, for months to years after receiving these drugs.

Report side effects involving GBCAs to FDA’s MedWatch program at www.fda.gov/medwatch.

A link to the full communication detailing specific information for health care professionals and a list of FDA approved GBCAs can be found at www.fda.gov/DrugSafety.

Released 12/19/2017

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The FDA announced that a review of four large clinical safety trials shows that treating asthma with long-acting beta agonists (LABAs) in combination with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) does not result in significantly more serious asthma-related side effects than treatment with ICS alone.

A link to the full communication detailing information for health care professionals and the Data Summary can be found at www.fda.gov/DrugSafetyCommunications.

Released 12/20/2017

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Host: Matt Rosenberg, MD

Guest: Aiden Harrington, ANP, CNM

Current CDC Treatment Guidelines include transgender men and women as special populations. These guidelines recommend risk assessment based on current anatomy and sexual behaviors and screening for asymptomatic STIs based on the patient's history and sexual practices.

At a recent live event recorded in Chicago, moderator Dr. Matt T. Rosenberg welcomes Aiden Harrington, ANP, CNM from Howard Brown Health in Chicago, Illinois. Topics covered include health risks in the LGBTQ community, STI screening and treatment, and how to discuss sexuality with your patients.

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Many listeners may be familiar with the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System or FAERS. Data in FAERS supports the FDA's post-marketing safety surveillance program for drug products and therapeutic biologic products. Recently, CDER's Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology created and released a tool that makes FAERS data easier to query and retrieve. This new interactive dashboard is designed to expand access of FAERS data to the general public.

Dr. Janet Woodcock, Director of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, discusses the advantages of the tool as well as its limitations.

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Discover how hearing loss in the US is growing and how it affects young and older people alike. Protect your patients' hearing with these tips and resources in an increasingly noisy world from Dr. John Iskander and Dr. William Murphy in this session of Beyond the Data.

Visit Dangerousdecibels.org to learn how to protect your hearing. Discover “How loud is too loud?”

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

This discussion is dedicated to helping clinicians understand the Pick Your Pace” option for Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) participation.How should physicians navigate these new reporting options to avoid any payment penalties, and what are the most effective first steps?

Host Dr. Matt Birnholz welcomes Dr. Kate Goodrich, Director of the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Dr. Goodrich also serves as CMS's Chief Medical Officer.

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Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN

Guest: Lawrence Loh, MD

Almost two-thirds of medical students expect to join a medical mission during medical school and their medical early careers. Yet despite positive intent, such short-term experiences may exacerbate global health inequities and even cause harm.

Dr. Lawrence Loh, Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health, joins host Dr. Andrew Wilner to talk about the benefits and pitfalls of medical mission work for the communities being served.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is restricting the use of codeine and tramadol medicines in children. Codeine is approved to treat pain and cough, and tramadol is approved to treat pain. These medicines carry serious risks, including slowed or difficult breathing and death, which appear to be a greater risk in children younger than 12 years, and should not be used in these children. These medicines should also be limited in some older children. Single-ingredient codeine and all tramadol-containing products are FDA-approved only for use in adults. The FDA is also recommending against the use of codeine and tramadol medicines in breastfeeding mothers due to possible harm to their infants.

As a result, the FDA is requiring several changes to the labels of all prescription medicines containing these drugs. These new actions further limit the use of these medicines beyond the 2013 restriction of codeine use in children younger than 18 years to treat pain after surgery to remove the tonsils and/or adenoids. The FDA is now adding:

  • FDA’s strongest warning, called a Contraindication, to the drug labels of codeine and tramadol alerting that codeine should not be used to treat pain or cough and tramadol …

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Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Host Brian McDonough talks with Dr. Joel Nitzkin, preventive medicine physician and senior fellow in tobacco policy for the R Street Institute. The two discuss their respective priorities for reducing tobacco-attributable illnesses and death.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

After sitting at the feet of Martin Luther King at the University of Michigan in 1963, Larry Brilliant was swept up into the civil rights movement, marching and protesting across America and Europe. As a radical young doctor he followed the hippie trail from London over the Khyber Pass with his wife Girija, Wavy Gravy and the Hog Farm commune to India. There, he found himself in a Himalayan ashram wondering whether he had stumbled into a cult. Instead, one of India’s greatest spiritual teachers, Neem Karoli Baba, opened Larry’s heart and told him his destiny was to work for the World Health Organization to help eradicate killer smallpox. He would never have believed he would become a key player in eliminating a 10,000-year-old disease that killed more than half a billion people in the 20th century alone.

Host Dr. John Russell sits down with Dr. Larry Brilliant to discuss his book, Sometimes Brilliant and talk about his amazing journey from Detroit to counter-culture San Francisco to an ashram in India and beyond.

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In this session of Beyond the Data carrying forward ideas discussed at CDC's Public Health Grand Rounds, Dr. Phoebe Thorpe speaks with Dr. Bobbi Pritt, Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory and Co-Director of Vector-borne Diseases Laboratory Services at the Mayo Clinic. The two expand on Dr. Pritt's lecture focusing on advances in diagnosing tickborne diseases.

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Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Dr. Brian McDonough chats with Deadly Prescription author Dr. Robert Marx, Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine. The two discuss powerful impacts that corporate conflicts of interest from pharmaceutical companies can have on patient health.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Host Dr. Russell sits down with Dr. Steven Hatch, an infectious disease specialist and author of the book, Inferno: a Doctor's Ebola Story, about his experience in Liberia during the heart of the Ebola crisis.

Dr. Steven Hatch first came to Liberia in November 2013, to work at a hospital in Monrovia. Six months later, several of the physicians Dr. Hatch had mentored and served with were dead or barely clinging to life, and Ebola had become a world health emergency. Hundreds of victims perished each week; whole families were destroyed in a matter of days; so many died so quickly that the culturally taboo practice of cremation had to be instituted to dispose of the bodies. With little help from the international community and a population ravaged by disease and fear, the war-torn African nation was simply unprepared to deal with the catastrophe.

A physician’s memoir about the ravages of a terrible disease and the small hospital that fought to contain it, Inferno is also an explanation of the science and biology of Ebola: how it is transmitted and spreads with such ferocity. And as Dr. Hatch notes, while Ebola is temporarily under control, it will inevitably re-emerge―as will …

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

The new Quality Payment Program, QPP, created by Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, or MACRA, has generated questions from the physician community regarding how to participate, and what that participation will mean for benefiting practices. On this episode, we’ll investigate physician-focused alternative payment models, or APMs, and their emerging role in this new Quality Payment Program. Host Dr. Matt Birnholz welcomes Sandy Marks, Assistant Director of Federal Affairs at the American Medical Association to discuss APMs.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Paul Gionfriddo, CEO of Mental Health America, the nation's oldest organization dedicated to advancing access to mental services for all Americans. He discusses the need to change the nation's response to mental illness from a public safety to a public health approach.

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Host: Prathima Setty, MD

More than one third of US adults are considered obese, and obesity-related conditions including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers are now among the leading causes of preventable death in the United States. How are health care providers tackling this national and global problem?

Dr. Prathima Setty talks with Dr. Neeraj Bhushan, an internal medicine physician with extensive experience in obesity and associated chronic illnesses, about how physicians can approach and counsel their patients in regard to managing obesity and obesity-related conditions.

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In this session of Beyond the Data carrying forward ideas discussed at CDC's Public Health Grand Rounds, Dr. Phoebe Thorpe and Dr. Larry Garber expand on the reasons for medication non-adherence by patients, and priority considerations for helping reduce this risk.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Qualified Clinical Data Registries, or QCDRs, are keys to Medicare’s new payment system in that they collect clinical data for the purpose of patient and disease tracking. But what do we need to know about QCDRs, where to find them, the requirements for successful reporting and why they are so important for clinical practices? Host Dr. Matt Birnholz welcomes a panel of QCDR experts from the AMA. Dr. Kathleen Blake, Vice-President, and Lance Mueller, Manager, both serve as part of the AMA group that works on payment reform and healthcare quality. Koryn Rubin serves as Assistant Director of Federal Affairs at the AMA.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

Three out of four people addicted to heroin probably started on a prescription opioid, according to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the United States alone, 16,000 people die each year as a result of prescription opioid overdose. But perhaps the most frightening aspect of the prescription drug epidemic is that it’s built on well-meaning doctors treating patients with real problems.

Host Dr. John Russell chats with Dr. Anna Lembke, Chief of Addiction Medicine and an Assistant Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Lembke is the author of Drug Dealer, MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop, exploring how the prescription drug epidemic is a symptom of a faltering health care system, the solution for which lies in rethinking how health care is delivered.

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This week, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter talk with President Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Dr. David Shulkin. Dr. Shulkin talks about the challenges he has faced coming from the private sector, the important role of the VA health care system, and ways that other issues such as housing play into health care access and delivery.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with health policy expert Timothy Jost, Emeritus Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law, and frequent contributor to Health Affairs. Professor Jost examines the respective gains made and challenges faced in health insurance coverage and access to care under the Affordable Care Act, and his views on potential losses to millions of Americans with repeal and replacement of the ACA.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Michael Leavitt, an advisor to President-elect Donald Trump's transition team and former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush. They discuss anticipated changes in health policy under the new administration including the future of the Affordable Care Act, the role of community health centers, and the need for bipartisan cooperation.

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Ms. Koryn Rubin provides an overview of the reporting options under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), specifically related to the quality performance category. After listening to this podcast, physicians should obtain a basic understanding between reporting as an individual or reporting as a group practice under MIPS. Ms. Rubin is Assistant Director of Federal Affairs at AMA.

Program requirements are subject to change. The links below are intended to assist with MIPS preparation and are informational only.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010 to provide more Americans access to affordable quality health insurance and to reduce health care spending. But have these goals actually been met, and if not, what will it take to get there?

On this episode of Voices From American Medicine, Dr. Matt Birnholz speaks with James Capretta, a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, studying health care, entitlement, and US budgetary policy, as well as global trends in aging, health, and retirement programs. Mr. Capretta has directed several major studies, including one on reforming US healthcare according to market principles and consumer choice.

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Host: Renée Simone Yolanda Allen, MD, MHSc., FACOG

Mid-level providers such as nurse practitioners help fill gaps in health care coverage across the country. Yet while NPs have the ability to work independently in a variety of ways including administering treatments, providing consultations, and authorizing use of medical equipment, several practice barriers impede their efforts to provide highest quality care.

Host Dr. Renee Allen chats with Patrick Washington, a board-certified nurse practitioner in Family Medicine, about the roles NPs play in the healthcare industry and ways to overcome practice obstacles in the era of health care reform.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Robin Zon, MD, FACP

Value-based, patient-centered care has become the destination for all branches of medicine, and is the philosophy driving modern payment reform initiatives like MACRA. But the unique care delivery needs in each specialty challenge the notion that one payment model can serve everyone. And nowhere has this become more relevant than in the field of oncology.

Dr. Matt Birnholz joins Dr. Robin Zon, practicing oncologist and vice president and senior partner at Michiana Hematology-Oncology in South Bend, Indiana. Dr. Zon serves as Chair-Elect of ASCO's Government Relations Committee was Past Chair of the Clinical Practice Committee, which alongside other stakeholders at ASCO developed a Patient-Centered Oncology Payment (PCOP) model. Recently, Dr. Zon presented this information at the recent AMA House of Delegates meeting in June. She speaks to the phases of this model, how it can function as a defined APM under MACRA, and its demonstrated positive impacts on oncology care pathways.

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Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Dr. Brian McDonough welcomes Dr. Charles Pollack, Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of the Jefferson Institute of Emerging Health Professions at Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine. Dr. Pollack's team recently formed the Center for Medical Cannabis Education & Research, tasked with providing expert-developed, unbiased information to clinicians and patients about the medical uses of marijuana and cannabinoid-focused therapies.

The two discuss current clinical recommendations for cannabis based on the available research, and where the benefits and risks collide amidst mass public interest.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Lawrence Kosinski, MD

The advancement of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) has catapulted Alternative Payment Models into the spotlight for identifying new value-based approaches to care. But questions persist as to the roles that specialists can and should play in the design and implementation of APMs, how these models will cut healthcare costs, and which administrative partnerships are needed to make them successful.

Dr. Lawrence Kosinski, a practicing gastroenterologist with The Illinois Gastroenterology Group, is pioneering one such APM that applies an innovative method for tracking patients between clinic visits. The model, called SonarMD, for which Dr. Kosinski is founder and Chief Medical Officer, provides a web-based platform that pings patients beyond practice settings to help get ahead of issues before they become emergencies.

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[Read the Article]

According to a new study, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) in the United States, Canada, and Europe are increasingly being legalized, but remain relatively uncommon. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania examined the legal status of both procedures and available data on attitudes and practices from the late 1940s to present day.

They found that public support for euthanasia and PAS in the United States had increased through the 1990s, but has since plateaued. More than 70 percent of cases of euthanasia and PAS worldwide involved patients with cancer. Typical patients are older, white, and well-educated. Motivations for requesting PAS include loss of autonomy and dignity, inability to enjoy life and regular activities, and other forms of mental distress. Pain is mostly not reported as the primary motivation.

Although the ethics and legality continue to be controversial, cases of these procedures remain relatively rare. Researchers did not find evidence that vulnerable patients have been receiving euthanasia or PAS at higher rates.

[Watch more videos of The JAMA Report]

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

From the floors of the Villanovans in Healthcare event at Villanova University, Dr. Matt Birnholz speaks with Jermaine Bromell, Founder and CEO of Better Health Network, a startup dedicated to providing health support services for underserved communities in partnership with faith-based organizations. The two discuss ways for companies and non-profits to better address health disparities in larger communities through direct support and targeted referral services.

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Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Joe Klest, Chicago attorney and author of The Whole Truth. Mr. Klest has represented victims in over 500 sexual abuse cases. He and Dr. McDonough discuss clinical recognition methods and action plans for child abuse, legal contexts for reporting, and the need for increased awareness by clinicians in primary care settings.

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Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Guest: Daniel Tropeano

How do we manage the rising costs of healthcare while still maintaining a high level and quality of care? With more costs falling on the consumer these days, one of the biggest challenges in healthcare is dealing with these increased expenses.

From the Villanova Healthcare Speaker Event, Host Dr. Brian McDonough chats with Daniel Tropeano, Executive Director of United Healthcare, about the challenges insurance companies are facing with the growing costs of healthcare.

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This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Eric Dishman, newly appointed Director of the Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program at the National Institutes of Health. This initiative seeks to galvanize a million American volunteers to offer their electronic health information to be coalesced in a national database that will advance research in the discovery of disease cures and prevention.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Deven McGraw, Deputy Director for Health Information Privacy at the Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, where she oversees compliance with HIPPA regulations governing portability of patient data, patient privacy concerns and the growing threat of health data breaches.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Joining Dr. Matt Birnholz to discuss the current landscape and future milestones for engaging ACEP's younger cohort of physicians is Dr. Paul Kivela, Vice President of ACEP. Dr. Kivela is managing partner of the Napa Valley Emergency Medical Group in California. Dr. Kivela has been actively involved in the ACEP council for more than 15 years and has worked with the Reimbursement Committee on fair payment issues and has been an ACEP councilor or alternate since 1994.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Katherine Baicker, PhD, the C. Boyden Grey Professor of Health Economics at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard. An expert on the health and economic impacts from gaining insurance coverage, she discusses her noted study of the Oregon Medicaid Experiment as well as the impact of the Medicaid Expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

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Host: Tim Rush

The Veterans Health Administration operates one of the largest healthcare systems in the world, and provides training for a majority of American clinicians across all levels of practice. Joining host Tim Rush to discuss the state of the VA is Dr. David Shulkin, Under Secretary of Health for the United States Department Veteran Affairs. As the Chief Executive of the Veterans Health Administration, Dr. Shulkin leads the nation’s largest integrated health care system with over 1,700 sites of care, serving 8.76 million Veterans each year. Prior to being nominated by President Obama and being confirmed by the United States Senate as Under Secretary of Health, Dr. Shulkin served in numerous chief executive roles including serving as President at Morristown Medical Center, Goryeb Children’s Hospital, and Atlantic Rehabilitation Institute, and the Atlantic Health System Accountable Care Organization. Dr. Shulkin also previously served as President and CEO of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.

For more information on careers at VA, please visit http://www.vacareers.va.gov

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Mary Jo Assi, PhD, Director of Nursing Practice and Work Environment at the American Nurses Association which represents the nation's 3.4 million nurses. They discuss the expanding scope of the nursing work force in the ACA era, as well as the organization's current focus on workforce safety.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Michael Botticelli, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy at the White House. The nation's "Drug Czar" talks about ONDCP's quest to battle the rising tide of opioid addiction and overdoses, now the leading cause of accidental death in America, by targeting resources towards more effective treatments and interventions.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Marc Edwards, MacArthur Foundation Fellow and Virginia Tech-based Civil Engineer who uncovered the Flint water crisis, where residents were poisoned from high levels of lead and other contaminants through the municipal drinking water. Dr. Edwards discusses his efforts to uncover the crisis, and his team's efforts to mitigate the water contamination crisis and related health issues.

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Guest: Anthony S. Fauci, MD

This week on Conversations on Health Care, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Fauci is world renowned for his work battling HIV/AIDS and discusses the current efforts at NIAID, along with other global agencies, to contain and control the Zika pandemic.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Dean Ornish, Founder and President of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute. He analyzes the new USDA nutritional guidelines and discusses the mounting empirical evidence linking sound nutrition and integrative medicine to the prevention and reversal of chronic disease.

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Drug diversion is the illegal distribution or abuse of prescription drugs or their use for unintended purposes. The diversion of prescription drugs may occur at any point as prescription drugs are distributed from the manufacturer to wholesale distributors, to pharmacies, and ultimately to the patient. Though this problem is nearly universal among healthcare instititions, many don't have adequate processes in place to detect it. Moreover, concerns about civil and regulatory liability, as well as negative publicity, often impede healthcare organizations from reporting instances of drug diversion.

Dr. Howard Zucker, New York State Department of Health Commissioner, speaks with noted provider drug diversion expert Kimberly New, JD, BSN, RN about how prevalent the problem of drug diversion is, the signs of potential drug diversion activity, and how to set up a robust facility program to avert potential diversion events.

This program is provided on behalf of the New York One and Only Campaign, a public health effort led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC) to raise awareness among patients and healthcare providers about safe injection practices.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

The model of emergency medicine enshrines the principles of universality, portability, freedom of choice, and equity in care for all those who walk through the door. Yet despite accounting for only 2% of healthcare costs nationwide, emergency departments receives criticism for contributing to the financial crisis of American health care. Are these criticisms justified, or does the ED coversely represent a potential solution?

Joining Dr. Matt Birnholz to discuss emergency medicine's current and future roles in healthcare policy, accounting, and quality improvement is Dr. James C. Mitchiner, attending emergency physician at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor and clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. He is also medical director at Michigan’s federally designated health care quality improvement organization. Dr. Mitchiner received the Colin C. Rorrie Jr., PhD Award for Excellence in Health Policy for a career dedicated to advocating for more efficient, affordable healthcare in America.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Kana Enomoto, Acting Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the division of the HHS dedicated to mental health disorders and addiction. She talks about SAMHSA's initiatives aimed at improving access to treatment, improving treatment outcomes and expanding the nation's behavioral health work force.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Stuart Altman, PhD, Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Dr. Altman is an expert on universal health coverage and discusses his recent work as Chair of the IOM Committee assessing progress on recommendations made in the 2010 Institute of Medicine Report on The Future of Nursing, which advocates for a stronger role for nurses in the expanding health care system.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Neel Shah, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harvard Medical School and Founder of Costs of Care, a global NGO dedicated to helping delivery systems provide better care at lower costs. He's also the co-author of Understanding Value Based Care, which seeks to promote cost awareness in the medical profession.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Harpreet Sood, Sr. Fellow to the CEO of the National Health Service of England. Dr. Sood addresses the strengths of the health systems of both the UK and the US, and discusses innovations in care delivery and public health initiatives that are poised to transform the quality of care in both countries.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Dr. Matt Birnholz is joined by Dean Wilkerson, Executive Director for American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). Mr. Wilkerson provides an overview of ACEP's highest priority initiatives and ongoing efforts from the organization's leadership to help advance emergency medical care nationwide. Topics of discussion include the following:

  • Increasing awareness toward outcomes measures and reporting for improved quality of emergency care.
  • Defining emergency medicine's vital role in the 'Medical Neighborhood' models of patient care.
  • Understanding the controversies over balance billing in emergency departments, how this affects both patients and clinicians, and what can be done about it.

For more information about ACEP's strategic goals and activities, visit www.acep.org.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Gary Cohen, 2015 MacArthur Fellow and Founder and President of Health Care Without Harm. His work is focused on motivating the health care industry to “do no harm” by reducing the use of toxic materials and fossil fuels to positively impact climate change.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Daniel Z. Sands, Founder of the Society For Participatory Medicine which seeks to advance the patient/provider experience through better health IT. Dr. Sands is one of the early developers of secure e-mail systems and patient portals for clinicians as well as patients, and advocates for transformation of the health care system through better integration of health IT.

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This week, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Raymond Hurd, Regional Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on the Medicare Open Enrollment period. He discusses the expanded number of plans available to seniors, and also warns of the threat of fraud and scams targeting the Medicare population.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Mollyann Brodie, Sr. Vice President of Executive Operations and Executive Director of Public Opinion Research at the Kaiser Family Foundation, where she oversees the non-profit's public polling efforts. Dr. Brodie conducts the Foundation's monthly tracking poll which charts the mood of the nation on a variety of health policies and provides unbiased polling data for policy makers.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, on the need to support federal polices that serve to protect population health in the communities where people live.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. John Ball, VP Emeritus of the American College of Physicians and Chair of the Committee on Diagnostic Error in Health Care at the National Academies of Medicine, which determined that diagnostic errors are a major contributor to patient harm and need to be addressed by all stakeholders in the health care system.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Darshak Sanghavi, Director of the Preventive and Population Healthcare Models Group at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation which has launched the "Million Hearts" campaign to reduce cardiovascular disease. The 5-year campaign is CMS's largest experiment to date on pay-for-performance practice models and is supporting practices to follow the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association Risk Assessment guidelines to help patients avoid a million heart attacks or strokes.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Christine Cassel, President and CEO of the National Quality Forum, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to improving health and health care through developing better health quality measures and data-sharing.

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This week, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Foreign Secretary for the National Academy of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences and recent Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Hamburg discusses the changes initiated at the FDA under her leadership and the enormous challenge of keeping the nation's drug and food stream safe in a globalized supply chain.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Susannah Fox, Chief Technology Officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Ms. Fox presides over the HHS Idea Lab and Health Datapalooza, where tech innovators and health policy makers come together to create solutions to healthcare's biggest problems. She previously served for 14 years as Director of the Internet and Life Project at Pew Research Center, analyzing health impacts of an increasingly internet-connected populace.

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This week, Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since 2009. Dr. Frieden discusses the most pressing challenges at the CDC, including antibiotic-resistant infections, the opioid abuse epidemic, and the recent Ebola epidemic, as well as efforts underway to combat these public health threats.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Sean Cavanaugh, Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. He is responsible for overseeing the regulation and payment of Medicare fee-for service providers, privately-administered Medicare health plans, and the Medicare prescription drug program. Medicare provides health coverage to 50 million elderly and disabled Americans, with an annual budget of over $550 billion.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Eric Green, Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, the world's largest organization dedicated solely to genomics research. Dr. Green was on the team that mapped the human genome and talks about new initiatives at NIH to create better platforms for storing and sharing big data in this new era of scientific research.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr Kenneth Brigham, cofounder and past director of the Emory/Georgia Tech Predictive Health Institute, on the future of predictive health. They discuss the use of genomics, biometrics, and nanotechnology to identify disease risks early in life and perhaps prevent the future onset of disease.

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This week, hosts Mark and Margaret speak with Harvard professor Dr. C. Michael Gibson, Founder and Chairman of WikiDocs.org, an open source website designed to facilitate collaborative authoring of medical content within the international community of healthcare professionals.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Jim Daley, Director of IT for BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, and Immediate Past Chair of the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange or WEDI, a leading authority on the use of health IT to improve health care delivery and efficiency. Mr. Daley discusses the industry challenges of switching to ICD 10 coding for health billing, and why the switch is so vital to improving outcomes.

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This week hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. William Dietz, Director of the Sumner M. Redstone Center for Prevention and Wellness at the Milken Institute of Public Health at George Washington University. Dr. Dietz is an internationally recognized expert on nutrition, prevention and obesity. He talks about the threat to public health and the economy posed by the obesity epidemic and efforts to combat the problem.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Leah Binder, Chief Executive Officer of the Leapfrog Group, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving safety in the hospital setting. She discusses the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and the Hospital Safety Score which coalesce patient safety data to rank hospitals for quality and safety across the country.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Margaret Anderson, Executive Director of FasterCures, an action tank dedicated to saving lives by speeding up and improving medical research systems. They discuss the ongoing threat to NIH research due to funding reductions, but also the game-changing potential of new technologies and increased patient engagement to advance biomedical research.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein, President and CEO of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University and Editor-in-Chief of Psychiatric News, the journal of the American Psychiatric Association. He discusses their recent publication, "Understsanding Mental Disorders" which is a layperson's guide to diagnoses listed in the DSM-5.

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Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

Dr. Brian McDonough welcomes Dr. Atul Grover, MD, PhD, Chief Public Policy Officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to discuss the looming physician shortage in the US and what needs to be done now to positively impact that shortage ten years down the road.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Larry Chu, anesthesiologist and Professor at the Stanford School of Medicine. He is also Founder and Executive Director of Stanford Medicine X, a yearly conference created to bring providers, patient groups and designers together to catalyze the development of patient-centered health technologies.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals, having held the same position under former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He is also Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and is co-founder and Chief Strategist of the Millennium Promise Alliance.

Professor Sachs is widely considered to be one of the world's leading experts on economic development and the fight against poverty. His work on ending poverty, promoting economic growth, fighting hunger and disease, and promoting sustainable environmental practices, has taken him to more than 125 countries.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. Robert Wachter, Associate Chair of the Department of Medicine at U.C. San Francisco. He is considered the founder of the "hospitalist" movement and is author of The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine's Computer Age which examines challenges being experienced in the rapid transition to digital medicine.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Rajiv Bhatia, founder and director of The Civic Engine, which assists civic leaders in strengthening the economic divers of health in communities. A physician, data scientist, and former Director of Occupational and Evironmental Health for the City of San Francisco, Dr. Bhatia has spent his career championing economic and environmental justice for low-income workers and families. Dr. Bhatia recounts the trajectory of this work, from the use of health impact assessments for advocacy for minimum wage increases and paid sick days laws to the deployment of environmental inspectors to monitor and enforce labor standards.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Dr. John Lumpkin, Sr. VP and Director of Targeted Teams at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Lumpkin runs the RWJF project targeting childhood obesity and talks about the myriad strategies aimed reducing the obesity epidemic among the nation's children.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Henry J. Aaron, the Bruce and Virginia MacLaury Senior Fellow in the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution. He analyzes the case before the Supreme Court, King versus Burwell, which challenges the legality of the tax subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, and the potential impact of the High Court's decision.

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Host: Lee Freedman, MD

Given the multitude of concerns a male patient with cancer must deal with, sexual dysfunction and infertility are two such concerns that often gets bypassed by clinicians addressing more "priority" issues. What kinds of challenges do these patients deal with, and how can physicians better assess and manage them? Joining Dr. Freedman to discuss sexual health and fertility in male cancer survivors is Dr. Puneet Masson, Director of the Male Infertility Program and Assistant Professor of Urology at Penn Medicine.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with John Nosta, founder and president of Nostalab, a digital health think tank. Mr. Nosta, is also a member of the Google Health Advisory Board and looks at the coming digital health trends, nanotechnology and genomics that are going to transform health outcomes of the future.

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This week, hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter speak with Adriel Bettelheim, Managing Editor for Health at CQ Roll Call/Economist which boasts the largest press corps on Capitol Hill. Mr. Bettelheim discusses the legislative landscape impacting the Affordable Care Act as well as the emerging payment reforms aimed at reducing health care spending.

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Host: Brian P. McDonough, MD, FAAFP

The controversy over vaccinations and whether or not to regulate their administration has reached a boiling point in the United States with the recent measles outbreak originating in Disneyland, and prominent politicians like Senator Rand Paul and Governor Chris Christie have weighed in to support the anti-vaccine community's appeal for individual choice. What are the ethical, sociological, and political ramifications of these developments in the national vaccination debate, and how should the medical community respond? Joining Dr. Brian McDonough to discuss the vaccination controversy is Dr. Arthur Caplan, Professor and founding Director of the Division of Medical Ethics in NYU Langone Medical Center’s Department of Population Health.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Steven Brill, journalist, entrepreneur, and author of Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Back-Room Deals, and the Fight to Fix our Broken Healthcare System. Mr. Brill's work has made national headlines upon its recent release, contending that the American healthcare system is woefully inadequate despite the country's $3 trillion dollar expenditure which outpaces than the next 10 biggest spenders combined.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Eric Green, Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, one of the 27 Institutes at NIH. They have launched a new program called Big Data to Knowledge, or BD2K, which seeks to create better platforms for storing and sharing the large volumes of big data that have emerged in the world of scientific research since the mapping of the human genome. Dr. Green also talks about the threats to future research from young scientists struggling to achieve in a climate of reduced grant funding nationwide.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Robin Guenther, Principal of Perkins+Will and Senior Advisor to Health Care Without Harm. Healthcare Design magazine named her the "#1 Most Influential Designer in Healthcare" in 2010. She co-coordinated the Green Guide for Health Care and co-released the second edition of Sustainable Healthcare Architecture in May 2013. Ms. Guenther has also received the Center for Health Design's Changemaker Award for her leadership and innovation in the design of healing environments.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Indu Subaiya, Co-Chairman & CEO of Health 2.0, an annual leading showcase of the cutting-edge technologies transforming health and healthcare. Ms. Subaiya is responsible for Health 2.0's strategic direction and production values. She started her career in health technology assessment at Quorum Consulting and then served as VP of Healthcare at Gerson Lehrman Group, an investment research firm. When she is not running Health 2.0, she applies her producing and directing skills to making film. In 2013 Indu introduced us to the 7 Deadly Sins of Health Care and this year she will share what she has learned from her investigation into data sources that support a variety of health disparities across the United States.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Russell Branzell, CEO of the College of Health Information Management Executives (CHIME), about being on the front lines of tackling health care's IT issues for hospitals' and providers' Chief Information Officers and Chief Technology Officers.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Carolyn Miles, President & Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children. Save the Children is the leading independent organization inspiring breakthroughs in how the world treats children, achieving immediate and lasting change in their lives. The global Save the Children movement currently serves over 143 million children in the US and in 120 countries. During her senior leadership tenure, the organization has more than doubled the number of children it reaches with nutrition, health, education and other programs. Resources have gone from $250m to almost $700m, with 89.4% spent on programs for children. Carolyn has focused on hunger, learning outcomes, and ending preventable child deaths as her signature issues.

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The Gender, Sexuality and HIV Prevention Center at Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago is the first of its kind facilty for adolescent patients.  Host Dr. Jennifer Caudle welcoms the center's director, Dr. Robert Garofalo. Dr. Garofalo will share the center's mission of supporting multidisciplinary academic subjects including sexual health, gender, sexuality, HIV prevention and health disparities which affect adolescent and young adult populations at risk of acquiring HIV. The Center partners with similar organizations throughout the country in creating an environment where clinicians, academics and scientists can collaborate to design projects with public health significance.

Robert Garofalo, MD, MPH, is Professor of Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He is also an Attending Physician at Lurie Children's, where he directs the Adolescent/Young Adult HIV Program. Dr. Garofalo is a national authority on LGBT health issues, adolescent sexuality, and HIV clinical care and prevention.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene for the State of Maryland, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, who also served as Chief Deputy Secretary of the Food and Drug Administration. Maryland has major reforms underway in hospital pricing and health care funding that incorporate incentives to reduce hospitalizations - and it's working.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Jonathan Gruber, Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has taught since 1992. He is also the Director of the Health Care Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. One of the key architects of the Massachusetts Health Reform legislation, Dr. Gruber also advised the Obama administration on the creation of the Affordable Care Act and has advised several previous presidents on health policy. He has published over 140 research articles and has written several books on the economics of health care.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Erica Frank, President and Executive Director of NextGenU.org, the world's first portal to free, accredited, higher education, including university and graduate-level courses, which she founded in 2001. Dr. Frank is also Professor and Canada Research Chair in the School of Population and Public Health, and the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia.

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Host: John J. Russell, MD

A New Orleans hospital, after Hurricane Katrina, was surrounded on all sides by several feet of water. The power was out, and as time went on without restoration of basic operations, rumors began circulating of the hospital being overrun by looters. It was a period of total chaos with breakdowns in institutional leadership, compromises in patient care, and in some cases, clinical decisions with deadly consequences. Dr. Sheri Fink, author of Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, takes us on a tour of the aftermath of these events, and the public outcries that both villified and defended the healthcare workers involved.

Click here for Part 1 of this fascinating two-part exploration of the disaster, a hospital's response, and the repercussions that have rippled through its affected staff, patients, and families years later.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Humayun Chaudhry, President and CEO of the Federation of State Medical Boards. Dr. Chaudhry has been working to advance the proposed Interstate Compact, a new option for medical licensing that would speed up the process of issuing licenses for physicians who wish to practice in multiple states. The new interstate compact system is expected to facilitate licensure portability and telemedicine while widening access to health care by physicians, particularly in underserved areas of the nation.

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Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Twenty-five years ago CDC played a pivotal role in the discovery of the virus that causes hepatitis C. After the isolation of HCV, implementation of screening of blood products and organs for donation led to a decrease in rates of HCV infection between 1990 and 2009. In spite of these successes, HCV still remains a serious threat, both domestically and abroad. HCV remains the most common chronic blood borne infection in the United States, affecting approximately 3.9 million individuals. However up to 50% of HCV-infected persons are unaware of their infection. Globally, there are 180 million people who are chronically infected with the virus, and 3-4 million new infections occur every year.

Recent therapeutic advances hold the potential to halt the progression of HCV infection and disease. While HCV-infected persons can be effectively treated, more effort is needed to screen, diagnosis, treat and provide continuity of care. This session of Public Health Grand Rounds will discuss how new screening guidelines, testing methods and therapeutic advances will provide us with an opportunity to improve individual outcomes and to eventually eliminate HCV infection.

To view the complete video recording of this and other CDC Public Health Grand Rounds sessions, visit http://www.cdc.gov/about/grand-rounds/

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Host: Alicia A. Sutton

Whether one is a learner or an educator, the current and potential impacts of legistlative trends from Washington are tremendous. As collaborations between academia, industry, and the government become increasingly complex, advocates of quality improvement in medical education must learn to navigate new challenges in key areas such as conflicts of interest, healthcare reform, physician-patient communications, and healthcare technologies. Joining host Alicia Sutton to discuss this important topic is John F. Kamp, Executive Director of the Coalition for Healthcare Communication.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Adam Dole, Presidential Innovation Fellow at the White House and former entrepreneur-in-residence at the Mayo Clinic. Mr. Dole is developing better interfaces between patient information and clinical practice from the unique perspective of consumer design. As such, he is illustrating novel ways in which non-medical professionals are helping to transform the health care system.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Alan Weil, Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs, published by Project HOPE - a leading peer-reviewed journal on health policy thought and research. Before that, Mr. Weil was Executive Director of the National Academy for State Health Policy, a non-partisan organization helping states achieve excellence in health policy and practice. Mr. Weil, an attorney, was director of the New Federalism Project at the Urban Institute. A frequent speaker and author on health reform topics, Mr. Weir co-edited several books including Welfare Reform: The Next Act and Federalism and Health Policy. Mr. Weil served on President Clinton's Consumer Commission on Quality in the Health Care Industry, co-authoring the "Patient's Bill of Rights".

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Elizabeth Bradley, Director of or the Yale Global Health Initiative and Faculty Director of the Global Health Leadership Institute. Dr. Bradley is author of The American Health Care Paradox: Why Spending More is Getting Us Less, which examines reasons for America's extremely high health costs and poor outcomes. Dr. Bradley is a Professor of Public Health Policy at the Yale School of Public Health. She earned her Bachelor's at Harvard, her MBA at the University of Chicago, and her PhD at Yale.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Wendy Everett, CEO of the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation (NEHI). With a breadth of health care experience spanning several decades, Dr. Everett's vision for NEHI since its founding in 2002 has been to create an independent, research-based organization convening diverse members of the health care industry to achieve the common goal of addressing the most urgent health care issues. Under her leadership, this vision has resulted in ground breaking research on medical innovation, patient safety, health care spending and health care information technology, and has influenced significant national policy changes. Dr. Everett works with public and private policymakers to translate NEHI's research findings into long-term solutions that improve health care quality and lower health care costs.

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This week, Mark and Margaret speak with Dr. Karen DeSalvo, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Dr. DeSalvo is leading the nation's charge to promote, adopt, and meaningfully use health information technology in order to achieve better care, lower healthcare costs, and improve the overall health of everyone in America.