Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Danny Petrasek, MD, PhD Guest: Jeffrey Kaye, MD Dr. Jeffrey Kaye, professor of neurology and biomedical engineering, and director of the Oregon Center for Aging and Technology at Oregon Health and Science University, provides his perspective on where recent advances in technology will guide health care for the elderly over the next several years. Dr. Danny Petrasek hosts.

Host: Danny Petrasek, MD, PhD Guest: Jeffrey Kaye, MD Our best evidence suggests that nursing homes and other assisted-living facilities will likely not be able to keep up with the demands of our rapidly aging population, which today stands at more than 40 million, a number that is expected to more than double by 2050. As a result, a premium is being placed on new remote monitoring devices that al...

Host: Michael Greenberg, MD Guest: Katrina Hedberg, MD Who chooses to participate in Oregon's Death With Dignity Act? What's their education level? What type of diagnosis is required? How does religion come into play? In further exploring Oregon's Death With Dignity Act, epidemiologist, Dr. Katrina Hedberg, from the Oregon Department of Human Services addresses the facts and figures with your host...

Host: Michael Greenberg, MD Guest: Katrina Hedberg, MD Is Oregon's Death with Dignity Act a violation of the Hippocratic Oath or a humane solution? ReachMD's Dr. Michael Greenberg discusses this originally citizen-led initiative, and current law with epidemiologist, Dr. Katrina Hedberg, from the Oregon Department of Human Services. Dr. Hedberg addresses the requirements for patients to opt for thi...

Host: Susan Dolan, RN, JD Guest: Anne Louise Peters, MD Athletes with diabetes face particular challenges. Dr. Anne L. Peters, author of the book Conquering Diabetes: A Cutting-Edge Comprehensive Program for Prevention and Treatment , has treated diabetic Olympic and other competitive athletes. Dr. Peters discusses issues and protective measures with host Dr. Susan Dolan.

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: William Gahl, MD, PhD Guest: Stephen Groft, PharmD Some patients wait years for a definitive diagnosis. Using a combination of scientific resources and medical expertise at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Undiagnosed Diseases Program now provides a place for physicians to refer patients when a diagnosis eludes them. In this segment, host Dr. Maurice Pi...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Bert Mandelbaum, MD It's an array of sporting events, many occurring simultaneously, in sites and cities across a nation. The 2008 Summer Olympic Games in China presents an extraordinary challenge, in terms of providing health care to injured athletes and suddenly-ill spectators alike. Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, a practicing orthopedic surgeon and president of the Santa...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Bert Mandelbaum, MD Intense competition and year-round scheduling demands are now common trademarks of adolescent sports. As a result, we see more and more sports-related injuries, including the all-too-frequent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, president of the Santa Monica Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Research Foundation in Santa M...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Bert Mandelbaum, MD We're making great progress in the diagnosis and treatment of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries suffered by young athletes. It's no longer the injury that ends a sports career, but an ACL tear can still quickly end a season. Taking our work a step further, how can we equip our athletes with strategies to prevent ACL injuries before they...

Host: Matthew J. Sorrentino, MD, FACC, FASH Guest: John Buse, MD, PhD What went wrong with the glucose-lowering arm of the ACCORD (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes) Trials? Intensive therapy was expected to reduce cardiovascular events in Type 2 diabetics at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Instead, it appears to have led to an increase in mortality. Dr. John Buse, president o...

Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Guest: Phil Harvey, PhD The treatment goals for schizophrenia have evolved from merely managing symptoms to improving our patients' real-world functionality. How can we best evaluate what patients can do versus what they actually do? Do some symptoms have a stronger association with poor functioning? Dr. Phillip Harvey, professor of psychiatry at Emory University School o...

Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Guest: Jeffrey Kaye, MD Patients around the world looking for the Holy Grail in staving off cognitive impairment have been using ginkgo biloba for years, to the tune of $1 billion in annual sales worldwide. How strong is the data to support this use? Dr. Jeffrey Kaye, director of the National Institute on Aging's Layton Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Center and the Oregon...

Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Guest: John Nance, JD We all know that our healthcare system is far from perfect. But where should we begin to make repairs? Host Dr. Leslie Lundt welcomes John Nance, author of Why Hospitals Should Fly: The Ultimate Flight Plan to Patient Safety and Quality Care , to outline the major dysfunctions of the system . The first step to solving the problems is understanding wh...

Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Guest: John Nance, JD In 2006, 3 babies in Indianapolis died when they received adult doses of heparin. The same mistake happened at the same hospital 5 years earlier. Recently, media attention has focused on the same thing - this time in Los Angeles with the twins of actor Dennis Quaid. Why can't we seem to learn from our mistakes? Attorney John Nance, author of Why Hosp...

Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Guest: John Nance, JD John Nance in Why Hospitals Should Fly: the ultimate flight plan to patient safety and quality care writes, from 2001 to 2006, passenger deaths aboard major US airlines hit a total of zero. During that same time frame, American hospitals killed an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 patients with medical mistakes. That's the equivalent of crashing 1400 full...

Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD Guest: William Rich, MD Is the Resource Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) responsible for the looming physician shortage? Our Guest Dr. William Rich, medical director for Health Policy for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and chairman of the American Medical Association RUC Committee speaks to host, Dr. Bill Rutenberg about the relationship between RBRVS and physicia...

Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD Guest: William Rich, MD Our Guest Dr. William Rich Medical Director for Health Policy for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Chairman of the AMA RBRVS (RUC) Committee says the entire medical profession is under pressure especially those dependent on public sources of compensation. In this segment Dr. Rich takes a historical and present day look at the forces a work...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Maria Simbra, MD It's not uncommon for someone to change careers after many years in one field. Not too many physicians, however, make the weighty decision to change professions, particularly to become a full-time medical television journalist. But that's exactly the trajectory which Dr. Maria Simbra has set for her career. As a board-certified neurologist transiti...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Maria Simbra, MD Have you ever encountered a medical professional working as a medical reporter and thought, "I could do that?" Many of you probably have, but it's not as easy as it looks. Dr. Maria Simbra, medical reporter for KDKA-TV, the CBS network station in Pittsburgh, and a board-certified neurologist, talks about the challenges of becoming a medical journal...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Maria Simbra, MD Our patients often approach us with health-related articles from the Web, or advice from medical stories they saw on the evening news. Many of these stories are reported by certified medical professionals. Dr. Maria Simbra, medical reporter for KDKA-TV, the CBS network station in Pittsburgh, and a board-certified neurologist, talks about the proces...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Ted Schettler, MD, MPH Guest: Gary Cohen Imagine a cancer center built without any of the toxic carcinogens commonly used in construction. It’s a concept that many experts in the health care industry believe could soon become a reality. In hospital architecture and building, what are other promising examples of environmental responsibility that might apply to your...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Ted Schettler, MD, MPH Guest: Gary Cohen As society progresses toward greater levels of environmental sustainability, the healthcare industry will play a leading role. From major public institutions to smaller private practices, every contribution matters. How can solo practitioners incorporate these projects into their practice, and what are the pervasive benefits...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Ted Schettler, MD, MPH Guest: Gary Cohen Energy estimates project America to be among the leaders in energy consumption for years to come. Coupled with our dependence on modern chemicals, there is a lot of room for us to improve our approach to environmental responsibility. From waste disposal to indoor air pollution, how can we set ourselves on a path toward makin...

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Ted Schettler, MD, MPH Guest: Gary Cohen The modern hospital setting exposes our patients to a vast array of chemicals, some of which are therapeutic, others which can be particularly harmful. What are we doing to limit exposure to these harmful chemicals, for vulnerable patients and for those of us who work in hospitals every day? It may seem like an intrinsic goa...

Host: Matthew J. Sorrentino, MD, FACC, FASH Guest: Dariush Mozaffarian, MD Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian from the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Harvard Medical School will discuss his research on the association of fish in the diet and fish oils as a cardio-protective therapy and as a possible anti-arrhythmic agent especially in patients following a myocardial infarction.