Halyard Health Provides Alternative To Opioid Pain Meds

Posted on April 3, 2016April 4, 2016

Dr. Kevin Friedman of Halyard Health

Halyard Health Provides Alternative To Opioid Pain Meds

The current opioid abuse epidemic has been called the worst drug crisis in American history. Death rates now
rival those of AIDS during the 1990s, with overdoses from heroin and other opioids now killing more
than 27,000 people a year. People across the country are asking themselves: why? What are the forces
causing this issue, and what can lawmakers and the healthcare community do to curb it? At the heart of
the epidemic is the shift in opioid prescribing practices: in 1991, doctors wrote 76 million prescriptions
for painkillers.

In 2012, that number tripled, with healthcare providers writing 259 million prescriptions for opioid painkillers – enough for every American adult to have a bottle of pills.1 Most addicts aren’t introduced to opioids through the black market; they are far too often prescribed by their doctors as part of standard treatment protocols for treating postoperative and chronic pain.

On this episode we were joined in studio by Kevin Friedman, medical director at Alpharetta, Georgia-based Halyard Health. The company manufactures two non-narcotic alternatives – COOLIEF Cooled Radiofrequency and the ON-Q* Pain Relief System – for chronic and post-operative pain, respectively. Kevin shared actionable steps to address the opioid crisis and how patient/provider education, coupled with non-opioid therapies such as these for pain management, play a critical role in reducing the rate of occurrence of opioid addiction due to prescription use.

Halyard Health is a global medical technology company focused on preventing infection, eliminating pain and speeding
recovery. Just as a halyard fuels forward movement, Halyard Health’s clinically-superior products and remarkable
service help to advance health and healthcare worldwide. Halyard sells its recognized brands and products in more
than 100 countries, and holds leading market positions in multiple categories across the portfolio. Formerly part of
Kimberly-Clark, Halyard became an independent company on November 1, 2014.

For more information, visit
www.halyardhealth.com.

Special Guest:

Dr. Kevin Friedman, DO, Medical Director, Halyard Health

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, Nova Southeastern University
MBA, IU Kelley School of Business
Former Flight Surgeon, US Navy

Moving Analytics

Posted on March 10, 2016March 16, 2016

Podcast: Download

Moving Analytics

This week I spoke with the co-founder, Harsh Vathsangam, of a technology company, Moving Analytics, that is working to significantly increase participation rates in cardiac rehabilitation. Over 900,000 Americans experience heart attacks each year. Still more will experience heart failure, valvular disease, and other cardiovascular problems that create a diminished tolerance of activity.

We know very well that regular activity and selective behavior choices around such things as diet, alcohol consumption, and smoking, among others, play a large role in stopping or even reversing effects of these conditions. Currently, roughly a third or less of these patients are engaging in a supervised cardiac rehab program. Clearly, there is much room for improvement in this regard.

As a computer scientist, Harsh has long-known the power of computing and analytics data for creating efficiencies and making well-educated strategic decisions. He and some colleagues began to look for opportunities to leverage this power in the healthcare arena, one which we know is actively seeking to reduce cost while at the same time improve patient outcomes.

The Moving Analytics app allows patients to receive frequent feedback regarding their prescribed activities and behavioral choices. Additionally, it provides data regarding the patient’s compliance with their regimen along with some basic health data to the health professional overseeing their cardiac rehab progress. In this way, the patient is able to engage in healthful activities that will improve their condition in the convenience of their home. Additionally it will allow the cardiac rehab professionals to scale their services to a wider patient population, reducing cost of providing care (based on a per-provider cost).

Moving Analytics is looking to partner with hospitals and health systems who are working to improve patient engagement with these important cardiac rehab programs for the post-cardiovascular event patients.

Special Guest:

Harsh Vathsangam, Co-founder, Moving Analytics

PhD, Computer Science, University of Southern California
MS, Computer Science, University of Southern California
Recipient, PhD Award, University of Southern California
Awarded USC Annenberg Fellowship 2008-2012

Sharing Spaces Program

Posted on December 16, 2015December 16, 2015

Podcast: Download

Wende Parker talks Sharing Spaces

Mark Anderson of Cobb County School District

Sharing Spaces Program

On this week’s episode we focused on how the Cobb-Douglas Department of Public Health is working to reduce rates of childhood obesity. The Sharing Spaces program and Power Up for 30 program both aim to facilitate more physical activity among our student-aged populations.

Childhood obesity is rising among our young people at alarming rates. The American Heart Association’s website explains: “Today, about one in three American kids and teens is overweight or obese, nearly triple the rate in 1963. Among children today, obesity is causing a broad range of health problems that previously weren’t seen until adulthood. These include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and elevated blood cholesterol levels. There are also psychological effects: Obese children are more prone to low self-esteem, negative body image and depression. And excess weight at young ages has been linked to higher and earlier death rates in adulthood.”

On this week’s episode we focused on two more programs that are part of the Cobb 2020 initiative. Created and implemented by the Cobb Douglas Department of Public Health under the direction of Dr. Jack Kennedy, aims to address a number of public health concerns that erode level of health and quality of life for many of the over 850,000 resident who live there.

One key area of focus is childhood obesity among student aged residents of Cobb and Douglas Counties. Among the 29 public health programs that make up the Cobb2020 initiative are the Power Up for 30 and the Sharing Spaces programs. These are programs focused on getting young students moving more throughout their school day and beyond.

I sat down with District Director for Chronic Disease and Injury, Wende Parker, and Mark Anderson, Supervisor for Health and Phys Ed for the Cobb Co School District to learn more about how these programs work and the resources they’re hoping to identify in the community.

The sharing spaces program seeks to partner with community organizations that have playgrounds, gyms, tracks, and trails, giving area residents access to these resources, particularly young people.

In this way, the community will see declines in rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and others, and students enjoy academic performance upticks to boot.

Special Guests:

Wende Parker, District Director of Chronic Disease & Injury Prevention, Cobb-Douglas Dept. of Public Health

BS Exercise Science, Community Health, University of Southern Mississippi
Previous Program Manager, Child Fatality Review, Eastern GA, State of Georgia Office of the Child Advocate

Mark Anderson, Supervisor, Health & Physical Education, Cobb County School District

AirWatch by VM Ware

Posted on December 4, 2015December 4, 2015

Podcast: Download

AirWatch by VM Ware’s Aamir Siddiqi

AirWatch by VM Ware

On this week’s episode we sat down with Aamir Siddiqi, the Executive Director for Enterprise Sales, Healthcare, for AirWatch by VM Ware. AirWatch is known as an industry leader and innovator in the mobile enterprise security and services space.

The rise and evolution of mobile devices as business tools has been both a boon and a bane for enterprises. While on one hand, they serve as efficient tools that facilitate work flow, collaboration, and productivity, they also create significant security risks for the business.

When you add the additional layer of sensitivity and compliance requirements for handling patient health information, this risk is of high importance to address in the healthcare arena.

With their well-known expertise in mobile security coupled with their recent acquisition by VM Ware, AirWatch plays a large role in helping healthcare organizations, both acute and sub-acute, take advantage of mobile tech’s efficiencies while protecting data across all devices on the network.

Special Guest:

Aamir Siddiqi, Executive Director of Enterprise Sales, Healthcare at AirWatch by VM Ware

BA, Management and Economics, University of Toronto at Scarborough
Previous National Sales Manager, Ultrasound IT Americas, GE Healthcare
Former Senior Business Consultant, CDC Software
Previous Director, Sales Engineering, Raindance

Global Center for Medical Innovation and T3 Labs

Posted on November 2, 2015

Podcast: Download

Andrew Stevenson and Tif Wilson talk healthcare tech innovation

Global Center for Medical Innovation and T3 Labs

This week we hosted experts from the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI) and T3 Labs. These two non-profit organizations are dedicated to providing an ecosystem and an environment that start-up healthcare technology companies can use to develop prototypes for new devices, as well as early stage production for them as they build toward commercialization.

Executive Director for GCMI, Tif Wilson, and Executive Director for T3 Labs, Andrew Stevenson, came by to talk about how their organizations are working to expand and improve the ecosystem for emerging healthcare technology cmopanies.

The Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI) is the Southeast’s first and only comprehensive medical device innovation center, dedicated to accelerating development, building businesses and improving health. GCMI opened its doors in April 2012 and to date has worked with over 40 different startups, clinician innovators, university tech transfer offices and academic researchers to design, engineer, prototype, and facilitate commercialization of a broad range of innovative medical devices.

GCMI’s core team of designers and engineers collaborate closely with startups, clinicians, researchers, new product development teams and medtech entrepreneurs to accelerate time to market while reducing costs. The independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization has a robust and ever-growing network of experts, including intellectual property, regulatory, quality systems and investors, to help bring ideas from concept to market. In addition, through a close collaboration with our development partner, T3 Labs, medical device entrepreneurs and new product development teams have all of the critical resources they need to efficiently bring new products from an idea through GLP preclinical studies, all in Midtown Atlanta.

With 15 years of experience, T3’s mission remains – to provide high-value pre-clinical GLP (Good Lab Practices) compliant testing and training services to medical device, biologics, and pharmaceutical developers and manufacturers. We work with industry and academic sponsors to improve patient care by more effectively and efficiently developing and commercializing their devices and products. Contact them at (404) 251-0600.

T3 Labs is an independently-operated, privately-held, AAALAC accredited, GLP-compliant non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. In 2012, T3 became a wholly-owned subsidiary of a joint-operating company formed by Saint Joseph’s Health System and Emory Healthcare. Emory is recognized internationally as a leading academic medical center. By serving our industry and academic collaborators, T3 Labs is committed to supporting Emory/Saint Joseph’s tripartite mission: enabling discovery and innovation – via Testing; facilitating healthcare provider education – via Training; and enhancing patient-care – via medical product Translation.

Special Guests:

Tif Wilson, Executive Director of Global Center for Medical Innovation

MBA, Management & Strategy, Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business
Previous VP, Business Development & Strategy, ACell, Inc
2012 HBA Women in Healthcare Leadership Award Nominee

Andrew Stevenson, Executive Director of T3 Labs

MBA, International Business, University of Delaware, Lerner College of Business and Economics
Previous Research Scientist, University of Pennsylvania, Departments of Pharmacology & Radiology
Former Senior Scientist, Bristol-Meyers, Squibb
Previous Project Leader/Director, Abbott

Genomics, Precision Medicine, and Big Data in Oncology

Posted on October 26, 2015October 26, 2015

Podcast: Download

Dr. Brion Randolph of Cancer Treatment Centers of America talks genomics, precision medicine, and big data in oncology

Genomics, Precision Medicine, and Big Data in Oncology

We sat down with medical oncologist/hematologist, Dr. Brion Randolph, of Cancer Treatment Centers of America stopped by to talk about the impacts of genomics, precision medicine, and big data in oncology. Dr. Randolph serves as the Chief Hematologist for the Cancer Treatment Centers facility located in Newnan, GA.

Randolph explained how genomics, or the study of DNA material of cancer cells to identify mutations that serve as “drivers” for their tumor cells. The information gained is used to find the genetic information that turns these cancer cells on and off. In some cases this data can reveal factors about the tumor cells that can be used when deciding what medication the physician should prescribe. Often, this genetic data can indicate that another medicine that was originally used to treat another form of cancer in another region of the body could be effective for this particular patient’s case.

We also discussed how oncology is advancing in its use of big data, enabling multiple centers and research studies to leverage results from around the community to advance their work and/or discover trends or commonalities. Dr. Randolph also explained how we still have a distance to go before we have a broad acceptance and participation in big data as organizations seek to protect and leverage their discoveries and results.

Special Guest:

Dr. Brion Randolph, Chief Medical Hematologist, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, GA

MS, Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee
Doctor of Medicine, University of South Carolina College of Medicine
Residency, Baylor University College of Medicine
Fellowship, Baylor University College of Medicine
Board Certified, Internal Medicine and Hematology and Oncology

Cobb2020

Posted on September 9, 2015September 9, 2015

Podcast: Download

CW Hall, Lisa Crossman, Dr. Jack Kennedy, Valerie Crow, Becky Shipley

Cobb2020

A few months ago, I learned about a health initiative coordinated through the Cobb-Douglas Department of Public Health. This far-reaching effort aims to improve the health of this region that hosts over 800,000 residents across a number of health and lifestyle markers such as smoking, obesity, access to primary care, and many more.

Established in 1920, Cobb & Douglas Public Health’s (CDPH’s) mission is, “with our partners, to promote
and protect the health and safety of the residents of Cobb and Douglas counties.” CDPH serves over
800,000 residents. Many of its 30-plus health programs are population-based, although some cater
specifically to particularly vulnerable populations.

Services are delivered through diverse programs provided at several public health clinical locations as well as through several additional partnership sites. One of 18 public health districts in the State of Georgia, CDPH is comprised of two distinct boards of health—the Cobb County Board of Health and the Douglas County Board of Health. Cobb2020, The Partnership for a Healthier Cobb County and Live Healthy Douglas facilitated by Cobb and Douglas Public Health (CDPH), continues to make steady progress on the priorities established in the 2012 Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP).

Both Cobb and Douglas Partnerships were established in April 2011 and utilizing the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnership (MAPP) process, the coalitions conducted a thorough Community Health Assessment. The two Steering Committees, made up of diverse community members, outlined the top health priorities for the counties which included improvement of health lifestyles and access to health services. The teams helped to draft the
CHIP in December 2012 which outlined the MAPP process including the structure for the partnership, Community Health Assessments, Strategic Issues and Community Balanced Scorecards for evaluation.

Using the CHIP, The Cobb2020 and Live Healthy Douglas Implementation Teams (I-Teams) working on Healthy Lifestyles and Access to Health Services selected evidenced based strategies and developed detailed action plans which were published in June 2013. The I-Teams continue to review and revise strategies (with oversight from the Steering Committee) based on evaluation data. An overall assessment and update of I-Team plans was completed in December 2014. The I-Team plans were updated for 2015 to focus on initiatives which have been truly successful, impactful and sustainable.

Since the I-Team plans were completed in 2012, much progress has occurred. Listed below are a few highlights of successful activities from 2014.

Three new Farm Fresh Markets opened in the Spring of 2014 in a food dessert in Austell, GA. An existing Farmer’s Market in Mabelton, GA completed certification to accept SNAP (i.e., food stamps) for produce. Several Cobb2020 partners established regular mini-markets onsite for their employees and clients.

A no-smoking ordinance for parks and cemeteries in the City of Kennesaw passed in June 2014. A new Childhood Obesity Grant was obtained from Healthcare Georgia to support work on joint use agreements and work with school wellness councils. A Cobb2020 partner, Good Samaritan Health Center of Cobb was approved as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) bringing more resources to improve access to health services.

Special Guests:

Dr. Jack Kennedy, District Director, Cobb-Douglas Department of Public Health/Cobb2020

Lisa Crossman, Deputy Director, Cobb-Douglas Department of Public Health

Becky Shipley, MS, of YMCA of Metro Atlanta

Vitamin C and OBMedical Company

Posted on August 31, 2015September 1, 2015

Podcast: Download

Osama Hashmi of Vitamin C

Vitamin C and OBMedical Company

On this episode of Health Connect South Radio we hosted the CEO and co-founder of Vitamin C and President/CEO of OB Medical Company. These two companies are creating technology innovations that help two distinct groups, physician practices and expectant mothers in the birthing process, respectively.

Vitamin C’s Osama Hashmi realized that increasing focus on population health management measures meant a need for greater engagement with particular patient groups. In order to effectively manage chronic diseases such as diabetes or even regular wellness follow up, practices often need to interact with patients to get these visits scheduled. In many cases, patients won’t take initiative to schedule them themselves.

Hashmi and his colleagues decided to create a platform that interfaces with existing EMR’s that allows providers to ID target populations and create a variety of pre-created content for distribution to patients. In some cases, it’s a pre-recorded automated phone call that can encourage the scheduling of a follow up visit. In others, it may be an automated call that queries the patient for particular data such as vitals or blood sugars, quantity of exercise, etc.

In still others, it may be a text or email generated that goes to the patient. In this way, the providers are able to more effectively “scale” their resources to be able to reach what is often hundreds or even thousands of patients with necessary contact to facilitate follow up. The end result is better patient outcomes as well as increased revenue for the practice due to scheduling of necessary, yet high-Revenue visits (based on time/acuity).

OBMedical Company saw an opportunity to improve upon monitoring technology used in the OB delivery room. As I spoke with President/CEO, Weaver Gaines, he explained the technology for the fetal heart rate, contraction frequency/intensity, etc. have not really changed in roughly 40 years.

Today, mothers are tethered to a monitor by wires leading to sensors that are held in place by elastic velcro straps that encircle the mother’s abdomen. They are challenging to keep in position and can provide limited accuracy in cases where the mother is particularly obese.

OBMedical Company has designed a monitoring device that uses wireless electrodes that measure electrical current through the patient’s skin rather than having to rely on skin tension. This allows the mother to be able to ambulate in the room during labor while continuing to be monitored. Additionally, it allows for greater accuracy when the mother is obese.

Osama Hashmi, CEO/Chief Product Officer, of VitaminC

Doctor of Medicine, College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University
Master of Public Health, University of Georgia
Previous Policy Director, Roosevelt Institute, University of Georgia
Former Research Assistant, Stanford University

Weaver Gaines, President/CEO of OBMedical Company

Juris Doctor, University of Virginia School of Law
Director and Treasurer, Dance Alive National Ballet
Chairman, Board of Directors, Florida Research Consortium
Adjunct Professor, University of Virginia School of Law

Center for Health Transformation

Posted on August 26, 2015August 27, 2015

Podcast: Download

Steve Fraime of WellStar’s Center for Health Transformation

Center for Health Transformation

I hosted Steve Fraime, Director of WellStar’s Center for Health Transformation on this episode. WellStar is rather unique in its investment in an internal center for health innovation—that’s a department typically seen at academic medical centers. The WellStar health system engages with their providers to uncover ideas for opportunities to innovate that will improve patient outcomes and patient experience, as well as ideas that will improve work environment for the system.

Steve explained how the Center for Health Transformation initially got its start as a think tank designed to pull together leaders from 20 health systems to identify best practices and facilitate innovation among them. As the initiative got going, it became evident that often, participants were reticent to share information that was perceived to give a particular organization some measure of market advantage.

Ultimately, WellStar decided they would pull the concept within their borders to focus on internal innovations that will improve their overall performance. From there, the organization worked to regularly interface with physicians within the system, along with folks in leadership roles to get suggestions for processes that could be improved upon.

Steve talked about two projects that were suggested by providers. One project that was brought by orthopedic surgeons was to explore the possibility of developing a more reliable means of producing a cast for fractured extremities. Another was to address the challenge for patients to navigate the large, multi-site, multi-building campuses that constitute the WellStar health system.

The Center for Health Innovation chose to collaborate with the Georgia Tech Capstone project.

Special Guest:

Steve Fraime, BSN, Director of WellStar Center for Health Transformation

Previous Assistant Manager, Emergency & Trauma Services, WellStar Paulding
MBA, Georgia State University J Mack Robinson School of Business
Masters of Healthcare Administration, Georgia State University
BSN, Georgia State University

Prescription Medications

Posted on July 24, 2015July 26, 2015

Podcast: Download

Jimmy Godwin, Diana Keough, Charles Stephenson, Dr. Sheila Woodhouse, CW Hall talk prescription medications

Prescription Medications

We talked about prescription medications on this week’s show. It’s true, prescription medications are an important part of the care we need for a number of health-related issues. It’s also true that many of these medications can be very expensive, particularly those that are not yet available as generic options.

There are also some worrisome statistics related to prescription medications that are worth noting:

As much as 27% of ER visits are related to medication-related problems
Up to 69% of all hospital admissions are related to medication-related problems
~11% of hospital re-admissions are related to medication-related problems
~ $140 billion in hospitalization costs are related to medication-related problems
~ 10% of all healthcare insurance expenditures are related to prescription medications

This week’s guests are using technology to address both the cost of these meds as well as working to reduce the amount of problems that can come from ineffective management of the medicines patients are taking.

Charles Stephenson is the founder of AuthentaScripts. AuthentaScripts is a web-based platform that works much like travel bidding sites such as Priceline. The user logs in, enters the name-brand medication they’ve been prescribedc, and, based on where they are geographically, the system displays the expected cost for that med at pharmacies within a 15 mile radius.

The patient has the ability to tell the system how much they’re willing to pay for the medicine and it will display places where it’s possible to find that price.

Dr. Sheila Woodhouse is a practicing Emory cardiologist and creator of DoxMed. DoxMed is a technology platform that becomes a complete database of a patient’s medications, why they’re taking them, how much, etc. The system allows patients to better understand what/why they’re taking what they are and better comply with the recommended regimen.

DoxMed also enables physicians to see the full gamut of meds a patient is taking and why, and make better decisions about what additions/changes should be made to avoid drug interactions, toxicity, etc., when prescribing for them.

Special Guests:

Dr. Sheila Woodhouse, MD, CEO/Founder of DoxMed

Doctor of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine
MBA, Business Administration and Management, Georgia State University J. Mack Robinsons College of Business
Board Certified, Cardiology
CEO/Founder, Sentikon Technologies & Consulting

Charles Stephenson, CEO/Founder of AuthentaScripts

BA, Management, University of Phoenix
Former Phase Team Leader, US Army
Founder, RescuePigeon
Previous Field Engineer, Lockheed Martin

Jimmy Godwin, Pharmacy Intern at Publix

Doctor of Pharmacy, Mercer University
Member, Georgia Pharmacy Association

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Halyard Health Provides Alternative To Opioid Pain Meds

Halyard Health Provides Alternative To Opioid Pain Meds