Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Max Brown Though tort reform has been an elusive goal for some state lawmakers and Congress, health reform will bring grants to come up with alternative medical liability reform initiatives. But meanwhile, some medical providers have developed their own answers. Max Brown, Vice President and General Counsel to Rush University Medical Center in Chicago tells host Bruce Japsen about the hospital's mediation program that has dramatically lowered the academic medical center's liability costs and has become a national model followed by others.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Daniel Carlat, MD Is there a psychiatrist in the house? There is often attention to a shortage of doctors, particularly in primary care, but the specialty of psychiatry is also in crisis. Dr. Daniel Carlat, professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and editor-in-chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report, tells host Bruce Japsen about how medical professionals and the healthcare system can cope with and address the crisis facing psychiatry.

Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD Guest: Berish Rubin, PhD Only a few years ago familial dysautonomia (FD) was a fatal disease, but some "Rediscovery Research" from the FD lab at Fordham University in Bronx, New York, is turning this killer into a chronic manageable disease. What have we learned from familial dysautonomia research, and how might this help patients with other diseases? Joining host Dr. Bruce Bloom to provide an update on current FD research and treatment is Dr. Berish Rubin, professor in the department of biological sciences and head of the laboratory for familial dysautonomia research at Fordham University.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Peter Carmel, MD Healthcare reform will bring health insurance benefits to more than 30 million uninsured Americans but the nation's largest doctor group and its new-president elect see more work to be done. Dr. Peter Carmel, elected in June as president-elect of the American Medical Association, tells host Bruce Japsen how he plans to lead the nation's doctors group into a post-health reform era and what additional improvements need to be made by Congress.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: J. Lyle Bootman, PhD Pharmaceutical sales representatives can have great impact on patient care but until now have not always been subject to rigorous certification standards. Dr. Lyle Bootman, chairman of the Medical Representatives Certification Commission and dean of the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, tells host Bruce Japsen about a new initiative that will prepare drug, device and other medical sales representatives to deal with the complex regulator, legal and political environment they face when selling health care products to physicians.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Mark Frohlich, MD The cancer treatment Provenge, known as a "therapeutic vaccine," was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in April, 2010 as a novel way to attack prostate tumors. But this is more than the story of a new treatment. Host Bruce Japsen learns about the long path to FDA approval for this unique therapy that some see as a watershed development in oncology, from Dr. Mark Frohlich, senior vice president of clinical affairs and chief medical officer of Dendreon Corporation, the Seattle-based biotech company that manufactures Provenge.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Steve Miller, MD Doctors know their patients often don't take their medications, whether because they simply forget or procrastinate on obtaining refills. But the lack of compliance with prescriptions has enormous financial ramifications. Dr. Steve Miller, senior vice president & chief medical officer, research and clinical sciences for Express Scripts, one of the nation's largest managers of pharmacy benefits, tells host Bruce Japsen about Express Scripts most recent survey on patient behavior when it comes to pharmaceuticals. He also talks about how, based on this research, improved patient compliance and other factors could save the healthcare system $100 billion a year.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Dennis Richling, MD Employers, insurers and providers are all increasingly focused on keeping patients healthy by encouraging prevention and wellness. Many wellness strategies revolve around behavioral issues, so what is the clinician's role in changing patient behavior, and how does the clinician become more tied to initiatives in the community? Dr. Dennis Richling, senior medical director and vice president at the Trustmark Companies, talks with host Bruce Japsen about the move in healthcare toward wellness initiatives, how the clinician's services are involved, and efforts to make those services reimbursable by insurance.

Host: Maurice Pickard, MD Guest: Andrew Dennis, MD When our guest makes a house call, it's usually because a suspected criminal has barricaded himself, with or without hostages, inside the house. Dr. Andrew Dennis is a sworn police officer and medical director of two Chicago-area SWAT teams. Dr. Dennis is also an attending surgeon in the trauma and burn units at John H. Stroger Jr. Cook County Hospital in Chicago. How is what happens in the emergency department similar to what happens in the field, and how do a surgeon's skills complement the work of law enforcement? Also, host Dr. Maurice Pickard hears how television affects the outcome of gunshot and knife injuries.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Daniel Sulmasy, Dr. While much of the nation's attention has been on expanding medical benefits to millions of Americans under health care reform, President Obama has also taken steps to ensure his medical care delivery is conducted in an "ethically responsible manner." The President does this with the help of a Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. Dr. Daniel Sulmasy, a member of the President's Commission, tells host Bruce Japsen about this panel's role and some of the bioethical challenges the administration may face.