Clinician's Roundtable

Guest: Phil Harvey, PhD Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD The treatment goals for schizophrenia have evolved from merely managing symptoms to improving our patients' real-world functionality. How can we best evaluate what patients can do versus what they actually do? Do some symptoms have a stronger association with poor functioning? Dr. Phillip Harvey, professor of psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine, joins host Dr. Leslie Lundt to discuss current tools for assessing and treating schizophrenia.

Guest: Jeffrey Kaye, MD Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD Patients around the world looking for the Holy Grail in staving off cognitive impairment have been using ginkgo biloba for years, to the tune of $1 billion in annual sales worldwide. How strong is the data to support this use? Dr. Jeffrey Kaye, director of the National Institute on Aging's Layton Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Center and the Oregon Center for Aging and Technology at Oregon Health and Sciences University, joins host Dr. Leslie Lundt to review key points of current research on ginkgo biloba.

Guest: John Nance, JD Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD We all know that our healthcare system is far from perfect. But where should we begin to make repairs? Host Dr. Leslie Lundt welcomes John Nance, author of Why Hospitals Should Fly: The Ultimate Flight Plan to Patient Safety and Quality Care, to outline the major dysfunctions of the system. The first step to solving the problems is understanding what they are.

Guest: John Nance, JD Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD In 2006, 3 babies in Indianapolis died when they received adult doses of heparin. The same mistake happened at the same hospital 5 years earlier. Recently, media attention has focused on the same thing - this time in Los Angeles with the twins of actor Dennis Quaid. Why can't we seem to learn from our mistakes? Attorney John Nance, author of Why Hospitals Should Fly: the ultimate flight plan to patient safety and quality care joins host Dr. Leslie Lundt to discuss how we may avoid similar mistakes in the future.

Guest: John Nance, JD Host: Leslie P. Lundt, MD John Nance in Why Hospitals Should Fly: the ultimate flight plan to patient safety and quality care writes, from 2001 to 2006, passenger deaths aboard major US airlines hit a total of zero. During that same time frame, American hospitals killed an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 patients with medical mistakes. That's the equivalent of crashing 1400 fully loaded 747s with no survivors. John joins host Dr. Leslie Lundt to discuss what hospitals can learn from the aviation industry about safety.

Guest: William Rich, MD Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD Is the Resource Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) responsible for the looming physician shortage? Our Guest Dr. William Rich, medical director for Health Policy for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and chairman of the American Medical Association RUC Committee speaks to host, Dr. Bill Rutenberg about the relationship between RBRVS and physician pay. "There are income gaps and they are substantial but they are not due to the valuation of services," says Dr. Rich. Find out what he understands to be responsible for income gaps in physician pay and what role they play in the shortage of physicians.

Guest: William Rich, MD Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD Our Guest Dr. William Rich Medical Director for Health Policy for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Chairman of the AMA RBRVS (RUC) Committee says the entire medical profession is under pressure especially those dependent on public sources of compensation. In this segment Dr. Rich takes a historical and present day look at the forces a work in today's physician reimbursement system. Why have physicians had to bear the brunt of decreased payments? What can we hope to see change in the future? Join host Dr. Bill Rutenberg for an interesting segment about the Relative Value System.

Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Guest: Maria Simbra, MD It's not uncommon for someone to change careers after many years in one field. Not too many physicians, however, make the weighty decision to change professions, particularly to become a full-time medical television journalist. But that's exactly the trajectory which Dr. Maria Simbra has set for her career. As a board-certified neurologist transitioning to permanent work as a medical reporter for KDKA-TV, the CBS network station in Pittsburgh, Dr. Simbra has worked very hard to refine her standing as a medical professional. What advice would she give to those of us who have considered, or are still considering, a change in profession? She also talks with host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill about the politics of the newsroom, and how this compares to the politics of medicine.

Guest: Maria Simbra, MD Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Have you ever encountered a medical professional working as a medical reporter and thought, "I could do that?" Many of you probably have, but it's not as easy as it looks. Dr. Maria Simbra, medical reporter for KDKA-TV, the CBS network station in Pittsburgh, and a board-certified neurologist, talks about the challenges of becoming a medical journalist: What lifestyle changes come with medical reporting? How do Dr. Simbra's medical colleagues view her work in journalism? Dr. Mark Nolan Hill hosts.

Guest: Maria Simbra, MD Host: Mark Nolan Hill, MD Our patients often approach us with health-related articles from the Web, or advice from medical stories they saw on the evening news. Many of these stories are reported by certified medical professionals. Dr. Maria Simbra, medical reporter for KDKA-TV, the CBS network station in Pittsburgh, and a board-certified neurologist, talks about the process of developing a dual career in medicine and journalism with host Dr. Mark Nolan Hill. How has Dr. Simbra achieved her success in medical journalism?