Massmed Podcast » Medicine

Worcester District Medical Society Forum: Retail Based Health Clinics

ffortin — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:16:05 +0000

The Worcester District Medical Society's member forum on
retail-based health clinics outlined the clinics' potential impact on physicians and some strategies that physicians can use to respond to their entrance in Massachusetts.

William Ryder, regulatory and legislative counsel for the MMS, summarized the two-year struggle by a coalition of concerned providers to ensure that retail clinics’ scope of practice was strictly limited, that the facilities are safe, and that visit records are efficiently transferred. Those efforts culminated with comprehensive DPH regulations in January 2008. Go to YouTube or watch the video below.

Peter Lindblad, M.D., a primary care physician and medical staff president at St. Vincent’s Hospital, noted that pharmaceutical companies are looking to get involved directly with retail clinics, raising conflict-of-interest concerns to a new level. He also said retail clinics will translate into missed opportunities for routine screenings and preventive care. Go to YouTube, or watch the video below.

Mary Philbin, Ed.M., director of faculty development at UMass Medical School, suggested that physicians respond to retail clinics proactively
by:

Adjusting office hours for more convenient patient access
Improving communication with patients for better outcomes and
higher patient satisfaction
Coaching patients on the appropriate use of retail clinics

Go to YouTube, or watch the video below.

Physician Tiering in Massachusetts

ffortin — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:51:39 +0000

In July 2006, the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission,
the agency that buys health insurance for all Massachusetts state employees,
launched the Clinical Performance Improvement Initiative.

This project compiles information on how individual physicians score against various cost and quality standards, then assigns lower co-pays to physicians who score well against the standards.

The program has been controversial since the start. The Mass. Medical Society has have had substantial concerns about the accuracy, relevance and timeliness of the data, and had real worries about whether it would create unintended consequences, such as driving a wedge between patients and their access to care, at precisely the moment when Massachusetts is trying to improve patients’ access to care.

In this podcast, MMS President Dale Magee, MD, discusses the GIC program, and what the MMS has been doing to ensure that it supports the delivery of good health care.

Listen to the podcast (Length 9:42) (This will open your computer’s default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes

Physician Focus, April 2007: Arthritis

ffortin — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 17:00:00 +0000

Forty-three million Americans report that a doctor told them they have arthritis or other rheumatic conditions. According to the Centers for Disease Control, arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States, limiting the activities of more than 16 million adults. In Massachusetts, some 1.2 million people have the condition – nearly 26 percent of the population. And the Arthritis Foundation lists more than 100 different types of arthritis.

What, exactly, is arthritis? What causes these conditions? Are there preventive steps to take to avoid getting the condition? And what treatments are available?

Bruce Karlin, M.D., program host

Martin J. Kafina, M.D., F.A.C.R., F.A.C.P., clinical instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and specialist in the private practice of rheumatology at Emerson Hospital in Concord.

Judith Levine. senior vice president for health education, Arthritis Foundation, Massachusetts Chapter

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length 8:24) (This will open your computer’s default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes

Physician Focus, March 2007: Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementias

ffortin — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:59:40 +0000

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys a person’s memory, ability to learn, reason, make judgments, communicate and carry out daily activities. It is the most common form of dementias, a group of conditions that destroys brain cells and leads to diminished mental function. And it’s a disease with enormous impact on the family as well. There is no cure, but research is leading to new treatments. What may be the causes of Alzheimer’s and dementia? Are there preventive steps to take? What is the latest in research? And what is the role of – and impact on – family members?

Bruce Karlin, M.D., program host

Sanford Auerbach, M.D., Associate Professor, Boston University School of Medicine

James Wessler, M.B.A., President and Chief Executive Officer , Massachusetts Chapter, Alzheimer’s Association

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length 11:15) (This will open your computer’s default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes

Physician Focus, February 2007: Vaccines and Immunizations

ffortin — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:59:17 +0000

Vaccines are some of medicine’s best preventive measures. Some, like the Salk and Sabine vaccines for polio, have eradicated debilitating diseases altogether. Some prevent illness for all ages, like flu vaccines. And many have erased childhood diseases, like mumps, measles, and chickenpox. New ones – like Gardasil for cervical cancer – are added to our protective arsenal. Yet new cases of polio, whooping cough, measles and mumps have appeared, here in the United States as well as overseas. How are vaccines developed and how effective are they? What are the risks of immunizations? Who should be immunized? And how valid is the controversy surrounding some of the vaccines?

Bruce Karlin, M.S., Program Host

Susan M. Lett, M.D., M.P.H., Medical Director, Immunization Program, Department of Public Health, Commonwealth of Mass.

Sean Palfrey, M.D., Founder and Director of the Immunization Initiative, Mass. Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics; Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health, Boston University School of Medicine; Pediatrician, Boston Medical Center.

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length: 9:54) (This will open your computer’s default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes

Physician Focus, January 2007: Obesity

ffortin — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:18:21 +0000

Obesity is now a national medical problem. Data compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics show that 30 percent of U.S. adults 20 years of age and older—over 60 million people – are obese. Also alarming is the fact that the percentage of young people who are overweight has more than tripled since 1980. Among children and teens aged 6–19 years, 16 percent – 9 million young people – are considered overweight. To many, the causes of this American epidemic are obvious. But what are the consequences of obesity – in personal and psychological health, medical costs, and economic terms? How far into the future will they be felt? And what can we do about it?

Bruce Karlin, M.D., Program Host

Stuart R. Chipkin , M.D., Chair, MMS Committee on Nutrition; Physician, Valley Medical Group, Amherst;

Caroline M. Apovian, M.D., F.A.C.N., Vice-Chair, MMS Committee on Nutrition; Director, Nutrition & Weight Management Center , Boston Medical Center

Co-produced with Hopkinton Community Access Television, HCAM-TV, Hopkinton Mass.

Listen to the podcast (Length: 11:15) (This will open your computer’s default media player in a new window)

Download from iTunes