Clinician's Roundtable

Guest: Sumant Ramachandra, MD Host: Bruce Japsen While drug makers and consumer groups lobby Congress and the Obama administration on the best way to bring cheaper versions of biotech drugs to market, a U.S. company is already doing so overseas. How does this work and what are the prospects for biogenerics in the U.S. Dr. Sumant Ramachandra, Chief Scientific Officer at Hospira Inc. tells host Bruce Japsen about the company's work bringing cheaper biotech drugs to market.

Guest: Laurie Benton, PhD, PA-C, RN Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Charles Foulks, MD Sometimes two heads are better than one. That's the case when it comes to the PA/Physician team of Dr. Laurie Benton PA-C and her supervisor Dr. Charles Foulks. The two working together over the years have been able to slow the progression of kidney disease and keep their patients off dialysis. Dr. Foulks, medical officer at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Dr. Benton an orthopedic hospitalist joins host, Lisa D'Andrea Lenell to talk about the keys to a successful PA/Doctor team.

Guest: Stephen Hanson, PA-C Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA The debate over healthcare reform is on the minds of all medical professsionals these days. What could be different for PAs if new legislation is enacted? How is the American Academy of Physician Assistants assuring that PAs are an essential part of the debate? How can you get involved to make sure your representatives in Congress hear your voice? Steven Hanson, president of the AAPA, joins host Lisa D'Andrea Lenell to sort out what the AAPA is doing to keep PAs in the healthcare reform process.

Guest: Gail Curtis, PA-C Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA The research is yet to be written on the number of physician assistants that face substance abuse issues. Gail Curtis, an assistant professor of PA studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, joins host Lisa D'Andrea Lenell to discuss the reasons PAs may abuse controlled substances, how to get proper treatment and the programs that are available for medical professionals.

Guest: Rear Admiral Michael Milner, PA-C Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA You may understand what PAs do in the five armed services of the military, but do you know about their role in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the largest public health program in the world? Rear Admiral Michael Milner joins host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to talk about the role of the Corps and the role that PAs play within the organization. He also discusses his path to becoming the only physician assistant to hold the rank of flag officer in any uniformed service.

Guest: Bruce Crowther Host: Bruce Japsen The hospital report card is a much talked-about effort to provide transparency about quality information. It's becoming a more important tool for consumers, just as President Obama and Congress prepare to initiate healthcare reforms that demand such information. Bruce Crowther is president and chief executive officer of Northwest Community Hospital in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. Mr. Crowther tells host Bruce Japsen about how Northwest Community Hospital moved beyond worrying about the information they might be disclosing to competitors, to focusing the information patients and lawmakers want. It's a trend that will soon begin sweeping the country.

Guest: Nancy Nowak Host: Bruce Japsen As President Barack Obama travels the country talking about the need for health care reform, hardly a week goes by when you don't hear the Commander in Chief talk about Intermountain Healthcare and its low costs when compared to the rest of the country. What makes this this large healthcare system an example? Nancy Nowak, vice president of clinical operations and chief nursing officer for Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City, Utah, tells host Bruce Japsen about this much talked-about healthcare system and how its work may be replicated across the country.

Guest: David Pearce, PhD Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD Mucopolysaccharidosis I, or MPS I, often presents initially as a child's failure to thrive, and is a diagnosis with devastating effects. How is new research able to help children with this lysosomal storage disorder? Host Dr. Bruce Bloom talks with Dr. David A. Pearce, director of the Sanford Children's Health Research Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, about advances in research into treatment options, including enzyme replacement therapy, for MPS I. Don't miss these other programs on MPS I, with host Dr. Bruce Bloom: Musculoskeletal Aspects of MPS I: Diagnosis and Management Considerations Immune System Irregularities in Lysosomal Storage Disorders Long Term Efficacy and Safety of Laronidase for MPS I

Guest: David Pearce, PhD Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD How is the immune system involved in lysosomal storage disorders, including juvenile Batten disease, Niemann-Pick type C disease and Krabbe disease? Host Dr. Bruce Bloom welcomes Dr. David A. Pearce, director of the Sanford Children's Health Research Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to discuss research into the immune response in these patients. Don't miss these other programs on MPS I, with host Dr. Bruce Bloom: Challenges in Management of MPS I Musculoskeletal Aspects of MPS I: Diagnosis and Management Considerations Long Term Efficacy and Safety of Laronidase for MPS I

Guest: Gregory Pastores, MD Host: Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD What are the musculoskeletal signs and symptoms in children with MPS I? How can we test for MPS I? And how does the disease present in patients as they grow up? Dr. Gregory M. Pastores, associate professor of neurology and pediatrics at the New York University School of Medicine in New York, and director of the neurogenetics laboratory in the department of neurology at NYU, explores with host Dr. Bruce Bloom the diagnostic challenges and management considerations to be reviewed when treating MPS I patients. Don't miss these other programs on MPS I, with host Dr. Bruce Bloom: Challenges in Management of MPS I Immune System Irregularities in Lysosomal Storage Disorders Long Term Efficacy and Safety of Laronidase for MPS I