Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Krystie Lennox, PA-C More than 10 million surgical and non surgical cosmetic procedures were performed in the United States in 2008. Many of those procedures were performed by physician assistants. Krystie Lennox, the co-founder of the Aesthetic Extender Symposium, talks with host Lisa Dandrea Lenell about the state-by-state rules related to PAs performing cosmetic procedures, how to become part of this expanding specialty, and how to stay informed in this fast changing area of medicine.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Roderick Hooker, PhD, PA-C How does a doctor know when it's the right time to add a physician assistant to the office staff? There are a lot of factors to take into consideration when making the decision to add new employees. Dr. Roderick Hooker, co-author of the book Physician Assistant Policy and Practice, 3rd Edition, joins host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to discuss the cost effectiveness and productivity of the PA in a primary care practice, as well as how to build a cooperative relationship between a supervising doctor and a PA.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Julian Bailes, MD The National Football League has placed its strictest rules yet on managing concussions. What is the medical profession to make of such a policy and what are its broader implications for players' long-term health and for future medical research? Dr. Julian Bailes is a founding member of the Brain Injury Research Institute, which is affiliated with the Blanchette Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute at West Virginia University and possesses a brain and tissue bank that houses 20 brains for future research. He is also professor and chairman of the department of neurosurgery at West Virginia University School of Medicine. Dr. Bailes tells host Bruce Japsen about important research into the short and long-term impact of brain injuries.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Michael Ong, MD In the healthcare debate, we've heard a lot about the equation between improving quality and cutting costs. But new research takes the opposite view that sometimes increased spending leads to better outcomes. Host Bruce Japsen, who also writes about healthcare for the Chicago Tribune, talks with Dr. Michael Ong, assistant professor of medicine in residence in the UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine & Health Services Research at the David Geffen School of Medicine, about his research.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Phillip Begg, PhD The physician assistant program began in the United Kingdom in 2004 with five students. Today, four universities have a PA program, with more than 200 students expected to graduate by 2012. Dr. Phillip Begg, associate dean at the University of Wolverhampton in Wolverhampton, England, talks with host Lisa Dandrea Lenell about the successes and obstacles to the beginning of this PA program, and why the program is essential to the United Kingdom's national health service.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Bob Nease, PhD Why do Americans choose healthcare options that cost more but may not even do more or be in the best interest of their own health? Dr. Bob Nease, chief scientist at Express Scripts, tells host Bruce Japsen about what appears to be a troubling phenomena researchers are calling the behavioral economics of healthcare.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Ruth Ballweg, PA-C The rate of dental disease in Alaska is the highest in the United States. In order to combat the problem, Medex has started a dental therapy program in the area called DENTEX. Ruth Ballweg, director of the MEDEX Northwest program, discusses with host Lisa Dandrea Lenell how Medex became involved with dental care, the progress of the program and their plans to expand the DENTEX program into other states.

Host: Bruce Japsen Guest: Kenneth Thorpe, PhD The medical home is a concept that it moving from the theoretical and becoming a reality. How has this model of team-based care been piloted in the United States, and how might it change patient care, as well as physician payment? Dr. Kenneth Thorpe, the Woodruff Professor and Chair of Health Policy and Management at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health and former healthcare adviser to President Clinton, joins host Bruce Japsen to discuss these issues, and how the medical home concept is being built into the healthcare reform proposals.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Kevin Chung, MD Guest: Charles Thompson, PA-C, RN The U.S. Army Burn Center at Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston Texas, is one of the five busiest burn units in the country. These patients are out of the ordinary. They are military men and women who have been burned over at least 20 percent of their body while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Kevin Chung an intensivist at the unit and PA Charles Thompson join host Lisa Dandrea Lenell to talk about the process of moving patients from the battlefield to the burn unit, how burn wounds are treated and the emotional toll that it takes on the medical professionals treating these patients.

Host: Lisa Dandrea Lenell, PA-C, MPAS, MBA Guest: Kevin Chung, MD Guest: Charles Thompson, PA-C, RN It takes a team of specialists, social workers, PAs, nurses and therapists to care for the burn patients at the US Army Burn Unit in Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Every day more than 30 medical professionals make rounds checking on the critically injured at the unit. Dr. Kevin Chung, intensivist at the burn center, and PA Charles Thompson explain to host Lisa Dandrea Lenell the mutli-disciplinary team approach that is used to treat more than 500 patients a year.