Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Matt Budoff, MD In this segment, Dr. Larry Kaskel welcomes our guest Dr. Matt Budoff Associate Professor of Medicine UCLA School of Medicine. They discuss the developments in noninvasive imaging and how these modalities are used in identifying patients with high levels of calcified plaque and high probability of being a vulnerable patient.

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Jeffrey Rudolph, PsyD Your appointments with patients are often brief. You have a lot to accomplish in short time. Beyond diagnosis and treatment, how can you also use this time to better your relationship with patients? Jeffrey Rudolph, PsyD, adjunct assistant clinical professor of psychology in psychiatry at Yeshiva University Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, explains that your office setting, and the questions you ask and how you ask them, can greatly impact your patients’ satisfaction and yours as well. Dr. Larry Kaskel hosts.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Roba Whiteley, MS The role of doctors and other health professionals in helping the uninsured gain access to medicines is critical. But doctors don't always know what is out there to help their patients access prescription drugs. Roba Whiteley, executive director of TogetherRx Access tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen about an effort to link millions of uninsured patients to low cost medicines.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Roba Whiteley, MS As the number of uninsured Americans continues to climb, drug coverage remains an important issue for presidential candidates. Roba Whiteley, executive director of Together Rx Access tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen about the role the drug industry can have through a public-private partnership to spur access to medicines. Together Rx works with some of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies to bring lower cost medicines to the uninsured.

Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD Guest: Ken Brummel-Smith, MD Women live longer than men, even in the poorest countries. This statistic from a 2006 article in The British Medical Journal was the topic of our discussion with guest Dr. Ken Brummel-Smith, Professor in the department of Geriatrics at Florida State University College of Medicine. He and host, Dr. Bill Rutenberg talk about why men live shorter lives and what contributors to their life span may be in their control. What if anything can you do to help your male patients live longer?

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Scott Becker, JD The physician-owned hospital industry is seemingly under attack, despite successes in certain parts of the country. Scott Becker, co-chairman of the McGuireWoods law firm’s health care department, tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen about the ability of doctors to have exclusive control of their own hospitals, particularly specialized facilities. In essence, they're trying to answer the central question: What is the future of physician-owned hospitals?

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Scott Becker, JD Physician ownership of ambulatory surgery centers has been hailed as a successful way to bring more competition to the health care industry and potentially better prices and more efficient care. But Scott Becker, co-chairman of law firm McGuireWoods Health Care practice tells the Chicago Tribune's Bruce Japsen that doctors involved in the surgery center business have several challenges ahead.

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Host: Gary Kohn, MD Guest: Heidi Kraft, MD Dr. Heidi Kraft, clinical psychologist, Deputy Manager for the Navy's Combat and Operational Stress Control Program in San Diego, California, and author of the book, "Rule Number 2: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital", shares some of her remarkable experiences during time spent in 2004 serving as the Navy's Officer in Charge of a combat stress platoon in western Iraq with your host, Dr. Gary Kohn.

Host: Gary Kohn, MD Guest: Heidi Kraft, MD What are the expectations and realities of treatment in the surreal environment of a combat hospital, where 'incoming' is a threat to both doctor and patient? Dr. Heidi Kraft, clinical psychologist, and Deputy Manager for the Navy's Combat and Operational Stress Control Program in San Diego, California, discusses her memoir based upon time spent as the officer in charge of a combat stress platoon in Iraq with your host, Dr. Gary Kohn.