Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Donato Tramuto E-sampling is a new way of marketing drugs to physicians that's gaining momentum via the Internet. It's an approach that may reach more doctors and may prove to be more convenient to those who either don't like or don't want the traditional pharmaceutical industry pitches. Donato Tramuto, CEO and vice chairman of Physicians Interactive Holdings, tells the C...

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Cynthia Lord, MHS, PA-C Is the clinical doctorate appropriate for the physician assistant as an entry-level degree, as a post-graduate degree, or not at all? Those are just a few of the questions discussed recently at the PA Clinical Doctorate Summit held in Atlanta. Cynthia Lord, president of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and the pr...

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Cynthia Lord, MHS, PA-C Despite the current economic recession in the United States, the PA profession is growing at a rapid pace. Currently there are 73,000 PAs nationwide and 5000 new PAs are graduating every year. Cynthia Lord, president of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and the program director of the Physician Assistant Program a...

Host: Shira Johnson, MD Guest: Gloria Kuhn, MD When should ER doctors become concerned about burnout? Many physicians show signs of career fatigue but continue to practice year after year. Dr. Gloria Kuhn, vice chair for academic affairs for the department of emergency medicine at Wayne State University, discusses her latest research with host Dr. Shira Johnson. Dr. Kuhn surveyed ER doctors to see...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: John Kreger News of mega-mergers involving the likes of Pfizer and Wyeth or Merck and Schering Plough have turned the pharmaceutical industry on its ear. But what does this mean for you and your patients? John Kreger, a principal with the health care investment bank William Blair & Company, tells the Chicago Tribune 's Bruce Japsen about how consolidation among drug c...

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Leslie Ramirez, MD With tens of millions of people in the United States living without health insurance, lower prices for medicine and tests can mean the difference between seeking care and going without it. Even for those with insurance, lower prices can significantly ease out-of-pocket costs. How can we help patients find these lower prices, and might we also use pr...

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Elizabeth Pector, MD Though healthcare is seemingly one of the more stable sectors of our turbulent economy, many practitioners are still struggling to subdue rising costs. For patients who may be unable to pay up front, can you employ effective payment plans that won't sidetrack your financial outlook? What else can we do to maintain our practice while dealing with t...

Host: Shira Johnson, MD Guest: Angela Gardner, MD Emergency medical care makes up only three percent of the 1.5 trillion dollars the nation spends on healthcare. There are currently two bills before Congress that propose an increase in dollars spent on emergeny medical services. Host Dr. Shira Johnson is joined by Dr. Angela Gardner, president-elect of the American College of Emergency Physicians,...

Host: Shira Johnson, MD Guest: Angela Gardner, MD The practice of emergency room diversion began back in the late 1980s to help prevent overcrowding in busy hospitals. But does it still work? Hospitals across the country are so crowded today that ambulances are turned away regularly. Dr. Angela Gardner, president-elect of the American College of Emergency Physicians and assistant professor of emer...

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Allan Platt, PA-C, MMSc Busy PAs don't have time to stop and look up answers in a reference book or even online from a PC. Answers to new medical treatments, diagnostic tests, medical journals, rapid references are now available on PDA platforms. Allan Platt, clinical instructor at Emory University in Atlanta and author of Evidence Based Medicine f...

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: John Chuey, MD In the city that never sleeps, there's a new physician-staffed medical clinic that, well, doesn't sleep either. We all have a few night owls, night-shifters or insomniacs in our practice; we also have patients who may be bothered by pain or illness in the middle of the night, but will avoid a visit to the emergency at all costs. In New York City, at lea...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Les Paul, MD Evidence-based medicine has been gaining momentum among the medical community, but there are things happening in our nation's capital that could impact this coming trend. Dr. Les Paul, vice president of clinical and scientific affairs for the National Pharmaceutical Council, tells host Bruce Japsen about the economic stimulus, bills in Congress and other init...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Les Paul, MD Comparative effectiveness is gaining momentum as a way to decide what drugs and devices should be used by doctors. But why was it part of the economic stimulus approved by Congress and pushed by President Obama? Dr. Les Paul, vice president of clinical and scientific affairs at the National Pharmaceutical Council, tells the Chicago Tribune 's Bruce Japsen abo...

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Janet Lathrop Every six years, physician assistants are required to take a re-certification exam on primary care medicine. Many PAs question if this test is still relevant, given that more than 70 percent of physician assistants work in more than 60 different specialites. Host Lisa D'Andrea Lenell is joined by Janet Lathrop, president and CEO of th...

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Janet Lathrop Certification for the physician assistant field has come a long way since 1965, when four ex-navy corpsmen were enrolled in the first physician assistant program. Now more than 40 years later, PAs are the most tested profession in medicine. Janet Lathrop, president and CEO of the National Commission on Certification of Physicians Assi...

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Michelle Heinan Primary care is as short of physician assistants as it is doctors. More than half of all graduating PAs go into specialty medicine. But the goal of the newest physician assistant training program at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, is to keep PAs in primary care. They also hope graduates will stay in rural Cumber...

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Robert Lamberts, MD We've heard a lot about the economic stimulus funding for electronic medical records (EMR), but the central question for you is whether your practice or institution is ready to take on the effort to install it, maintain it and flourish with it. Stimulus money aside, it's a major investment of time, energy and other resources. When considering the p...

Host: Shira Johnson, MD Guest: Alex Rosenau, MD Doctors and nurses in the emergency department work under constant stress. So, what happens when a case is so stressful and horrific that it affects medical personnel emotionally? Dr. Alex Rosenau, vice chair of the department of emergency medicine at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network in Lehigh, Pennsylvania, joins host Dr. Shira Johnson to d...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: David Troxel, Dr. The use of online communication and consultation between doctors and patients is becoming so common in everyday physician practice that there is now buzz about "eRisk Guidelines." Dr. David Troxel, medical director of The Doctors Company, tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen about the dangers of using e-mail and other electronic communications with p...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: David Troxel, Dr. Telemedicine continues to increase in popularity, but doctors need to understand the risks when communicating by e-mail or phone. Dr. David Troxel, medical director of the Doctors Company, tells the Chicago Tribune 's Bruce Japsen about potential risks and liability physicians can open themselves up to if they are not careful about how they use telemedic...

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Nicholas Galantino, JD Many of our practices could be more efficient at checking in patients, or perhaps more precise in our record keeping. Insurance claims denials and the process of fighting them can be one source of time-consuming, money-draining aggravation for any practice. But we may be seeing a trend toward technologies that could ease these clerical and finan...

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Brian Morton, MBA Should you be asking your patients for more than just their co-pay at the time of their visit? With an assist from computer software, a patient's share of their health care costs can be estimated at or prior to the visit. Some experts believe this appraisal, known as real-time claims adjudication, will become much more common in the years ahead. Bria...

Host: Michael Greenberg, MD Guest: James Speta, JD For years, people have turned to online review websites before deciding which restaurants or hotels most deserved their hard-earned dollars. Now, a new category of online reviews is growing, as more patients are posting their own editorials about their physicians. This trend towards patients reviewing their physicians online can be helpful at best...

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Marc Hedrick, MD Stem cells are often seen as potential agents in the field of regenerative medicine. What are the realities and what should doctors expect? Dr. Marc Hedrick, president of San Diego-based Cytori Therapeutics, tells the Chicago Tribune 's Bruce Japsen about commercialized treatments already being used, and even more on the horizon.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Robert Harman Although President Obama has favored funding for embryonic stem cell research, the moral debate continues. But that discussion may overshadow the fact that biotech companies have actually made the most early progress, not in embryonic stem cells, but in adult stem cells. Dr. Robert Harman, chief executive officer and founder of Vet-Stem, joins the Chicago Tr...