CareTalk with Quick and Quack

We talk about one of the most universal - and most avoided - experiences in life: The Final Chapter. Our guest is Maureen Groden, a hospice nurse who has walked alongside countless patients and families at the end of life. Her practical and compassionate book, "When a Loved One is Dying", helps people understand what the dying process can look like and how to navigate the realities and r...

In this episode Evan and Bill have two exciting conversations: 1. Will AI replace your doctor? We discuss the limitations and the benefits of AI use in healthcare. 2. Also we discuss why is healthcare so expensive? what are the driver for the US system? We breakdown the reasons.

Listening and playing music can affect your health in so many ways. We have a very entertaining conversation with fiddler Annika Amstutz, director of the Fiddle Orchestra of Western Massachusetts. We discuss how music has supported her and what the evidence is for music and health. Along the way we listen and even play a few songs together!

The new US Dietary Guidelines have been released. While some things have remained the same, there are recommendations that were controversial. We interview Harvard Nutritional Epidemiologist Associate profressor DeeDee Tobias, ScD who sat on the guidelines advisory committee. DeeDee talks us through the process of how the guidelines are created and what are the recommendations in the new set.

After one year of service we discuss the job RFK jr has done leading the department of Health and Human Services. His ambitious and controversial tenure has created mixed reviews. We give RFK jr a "grade" and talk about his success and challenges. We also take on a recent conspiracy theory that claims Doctors make lots of money to promote vaccines.

The Medicare system represent a universal health system for people over 65, yet sometimes there are barriers to getting the benefits one needs. We interview attorney Alice Bers, the director of the Massachusetts Medicare Advocacy Project whose organization supports medicare beneficiaries as well as polcy to allow for equitable universal health care. We discuss the role of advocacy and the latest i...

We interview Joe McDonough, MSN, MHCDS, CEO and founder of the home care agency, Innovive. Joe and his team have innovated to build a unique care model to care for complex behavioral health patients in their home. He has worked with state Medicaid programs to improve outcomes and save millions of dollars.

Evan and Bill interview local musician Tracy Grammer whose personal experience with health and death make for very interesting listening. Along the way, we hear some of Tracy's music and discuss topics about death, dying, terminal lucidity and the brain's response to pain.

We interview Dr Adam Gaffney, a physician, writer, public health researcher and former President of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP). Dr Gaffney writes about the challenges of and improvements to the US Healthcare System. He has a real interest in building a Medicare-for All program for the US. His book, To Heal Humankind, makes the case for healthcare to be a human right.

How has healthcare delivery changed? What are the tenets and values that a physician in practice should have? In this interview with Dr Charles Wohl, retired internal medicine physician from western Massachusetts, we discuss what life was like practicing in the 1970's and 80's. From starting a community clinic to teaching, Dr Wohl has great insight into how has healthcare changed.

How can one reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive decline? In this show we review what we know about risk factors for dementia and cognitive decline with Dr Mikaela Bloomber, an epidemiologist researcher University College London. Dr Bloomberg has been using a large longitudinal database to tease out risks and associations between behaviors and cognitive decline. this fascinating discussion sh...

The secretary of HHS has finally achieved his vaccine goals of changing the vaccine schedule for children in the US. The new schedule was just released, and after a controversial process, the new schedule has reduced the number of diseases to prevent from 17 to 11. we discuss the process and the implications for health.

We talk with Dr Bruce Finke, former senior advisor to the Primary Care Program at the Medicare Innovation Center about how to improve primary care in the US. From changing the goals to the practice model to the payment model, Dr Finke shares ideas and possibilities to have more patients benefit from a primary care experience.

We discuss two things: 1. New Changes to the way Physicians will be paid that rewards primary care and 2. The nomination of Dr Casey Means for US Surgeon General. We are joined by Dr Mike Miller, health policy expert and we share our initial thoughts about Dr Casey Means as a candidate for surgeon general.

We have a great time taking about the latest updates in cardiology and we add some original music. Our guest is cardiologist Dr John Joelson from Massachusetts. Dr J is a seasoned cardiologist and a musician, singer songwriter who graced us with great cardiac conversation and music!

In this episode we take on three meaty topics: 1. The ACA's role in the current government shutdown, 2. The Medicare Advantage changes now being seen and three the Causes of Autism. Each of these are confusing in their own right, and Evan and Bill do their best to break it down and make some sense out of it all.

We meet the Cancer Connection of Western Massachusetts where Chelsea Kline and Laura Carboni explain the history and model of supportive care services for people with a cancer diagnosis. This unique approach to support patients is a national model that could be expanded or replicated.

We interview Dr Andrew Lam who is a retina surgeon, historian and author about his latest book, "The Masters of Medicine: Our Greatest Triumphs in the Race to Cure Humanity's Deadliest Diseases." The book is a fascinating look into the innovators, mavericks and researchers who- through parts genius, parts courageous , and parts dumb luck - gave us the medical breakthroughs that help so many people...

We lost a real leader in healthcare this year. Dr Lucian Leape - the father of patient safety - helped us be aware of the problem and made us appreciate a different path to improve patient safety. He was an inspiration to us, and we still have a long way to go. How safe is healthcare?

We discuss why health insurance is so expensive and what is the history of insurance in the US. We talk about why health insurance is being linked to employment as we think about medicaid as well as universal coverage. PLUS we discuss the fate of the US Preventive Services Task Force, the committee that has had the respect of so many to help guide our health coverage for preventive care. Will it s...

In this episode we take on 3 topics plus we have our "misinformation nation" segment. We discuss 1. A proposed bill in Massachusetts to create a Medicare For All single payer system, 2. Who decides how much physicians get paid by specialty and a new proposed rule to change it and 3. What will the medicaid cuts impact be on rural hospitals. Plus we discuss PEPFAR as a new topic as part of...

Bill and Evan discuss the administrative changes and the trends in the country that have affect the functioning and reputation of public health.

We have a very special show with guest Naturopathic physician, Dr Amy Rothenberg. We discuss naturopathy, its integration with western medicine and her book, "You Finished Treatment, Now What: A Field Guide for Cancer Survivors", an Amazon Best Seller and recipient of a Nautilus Book Award. 

Physician and Musician Dr Peter Weitzman joines to discuss the role music plays in medicine and vice versa. Peter shares some original songs inspired by his practice of medicine. A slightly different episode for CareTalk but very rich in thought and music

Dr Shahin Tabatabaei is a distinguished urological surgeon and healthcare leader who was inspired to look at creating a new appraoch to healthcare that he calls TABA Health. His model surrounds a patient with layers of care, support and treatments not seen in our "sick" care system. Listen to this inspiring interview!