An online transcript is available

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On today's program, host Se��n Collins welcomes Dr. Steven Salloway, Dr. Rudy Tanzi, and David Shenk to discuss recent advances in Alzheimer's research and the possibility of early intervention and prevention. They highlight the significance of targeting amyloid plaques in the brain, but also emphasize the need for treatments that can be administered earlier and more widely ��� the way statins are used to forestall or prevent atherosclerotic heart disease. The researchers discuss the role of public funding in drug research and the challenges of developing affordable and accessible treatments. They also touch on the role of imagination in driving scientific discovery and the importance of accurate and responsible journalism in reporting on Alzheimer's research. Overall, they express optimism about the future of Alzheimer's treatment and the potential for significant progress in the coming years.

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Steven Salloway, M.D., MS

Founding Director

The Memory and Aging Program

Butler Hospital��

Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

Professor of Neurology��

Warren Alpert Medical School��

Brown University

Providence, R.I.

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Rudy Tanzi, Ph.D.��

Director��

Genetics and Aging Research Unit

Director��

McCance Center for Brain Health

Massachusetts General Hospital��

Professor of Neurology��

Harvard Medical School

Boston, Mass.

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David Shenk

Author

The Forgetting ��� Alzheimer���s: a Portrait of an Epidemic����

Senior Advisor

Cure Alzheimer's Fund��

Advisor, dementia-related issues

President's Council on Bioethics

Brooklyn, N.Y.

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A transcript is available online

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Today, host Se��n Collins welcomes Dr. Nwando Anyaoku, Chief Health Equity and Clinical Innovation Officer for Providence. They ��discuss the importance of diversity and cultural understanding in healthcare.��

She shares a personal story about a patient from Liberia who felt understood and cared for because Dr. Anyaoku shared a similar background and experiences. Dr. Anyaoku emphasizes the need for healthcare providers to recognize and address disparities in care based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other factors. She discusses the concept of concordance, where patients and providers with similar backgrounds can have better communication and outcomes. Dr. Anyaoku also highlights the importance of cultural humility and building partnerships with community organizations to address health disparities.��

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Nwando Anyaoku, M.D., MPH, MBA

GVP & Chief Health Equity and Clinical Innovation Officer

Providence

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WATCH Dr. Anyaoku's TED Talk from Bellarmine University, recorded February, 2023.

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MORE READING:

Physician���patient racial concordance and disparities in birthing mortality for newborns ��(PNAS)

Association of Racial/Ethnic and Gender Concordance Between Patients and Physicians With Patient Experience Ratings ��(JAMA)

Association of Surgeon-Patient Sex Concordance With Postoperative Outcomes ��(JAMA Surgery)

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A class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide agonists (GLP-1 agonists) is proving to be beneficial for people with chronic kidney disease and atherosclerotic heart disease. These medications are being called game changers because they not only help with weight loss but also provide organ protection and reduce the risk of dying and disease progression.��

These medications have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of deadly conditions and improve population health. However, there are financial pressures and healthcare policies that may hinder access to these medications for patients who could benefit from them.��

On today's program, host Sean Collins talks with two Physician-Researchers working on the front lines of the coming change.

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Katherine R. Tuttle, M.D., FASN, FACP, FNKF
Executive Director for Research, Providence Inland Northwest Health
Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Kidney Research Institute
Regional Principal Investigator, Institute of Translational Health Sciences
University of Washington

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Radica Alicic, M.D., FHM, FACP

Associate Director for Research

Providence Health Care in Spokane

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Management of Chronic Kidney Disease in People with Diabetes��

Read more about Retatrutide, the triple agonist

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Providence Hospice, Los Angeles County has launched a program to provide hospice care for homeless people. The program aims to support those experiencing homelessness and facing a terminal illness by providing them with the option of a safe and secure environment to receive holistic care.��

Homeless people face unique challenges and vulnerabilities, including an increased incidence of mental health issues, frequent distrust of healthcare providers and environments, and often issues of substance dependence. The team at Providence Hospice, LA County works closely with facility care teams to ensure that patients receive the care they need while also respecting their individual needs and preferences.��

Guests include Martina Meier, M.D., medical director of Providence Hospice, LA County; Nycole Snodgrass, director of operation at the hospice; and Marcella Kubalsky, who was chaplain when the program began. This episode also includes audio from an interview Marcella conducted with "Bob," a patient who had been chronically unhoused when he entered the program this past summer.

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Click here for more information on Providence Hospice, LA County.

For an extended excerpt from Marcella's interview with Bob, follow this link. ��

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A transcript is available online

We explore the kind and quality of healthcare available in rural hospitals in an age of growing technological and resource-heavy medicine. Do we risk a two-tiered system where the best care possible is only available in large cities near major medical centers? And are there options available for people who might have to travel hundreds of miles for specialist care? ����

Guests include Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association; Theresa Gleason and Erica Manor from the Providence Hickel House, a hospitality facility on the campus of the Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage; and with Geraldine Picha, who stayed at Hickel House during her son's medical emergency last year.

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N.B. ��Beginning with this episode, we are shifting the release date of the podcast to the first and third Thursdays of the month.

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An online transcript is available

Does it seem counter-intuitive to say that the future of person-centered healthcare is the use of more and more tools utilizing AI, artificial intelligence?

Dr. Maulin Shah is Chief Medical Information Officer for Providence and VP of Informatics and Engineering. He talks with host Se��n Collins about AI and the ways innovative healthcare sytems will make use of it to free-up precious time for human caregivers: doing everything from taking notes during your visit with your doctor, to suggesting that the clinic call a ride for patients who have uncertain transportation.

Saving clinicians 3-hours each day with improvements to the way they practice is like handing caregivers a chunk of their life back -- and that could be one of, maybe the best, solution to healthcare burnout.

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An online transcript is available

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At the end of last year, The New Yorker and ProPublica documented fraud and mistreatment in some for-profit hospices across the country. The expos�� shouted something that has been whispered for a long while in circles concerned with the care of the dying: hospice needs saving.

Begun as a visionary mission run by charities, hospice care has morphed into a 22 billion dollar industry where margin trumps mission. On today's program, host Se��n Collins discusses the state of hospice, its future, and ways to preserve quality of care when caring for people at the end of their lives. Guests are Drs. Ira Byock and Glen Komatsu, longtime hospice physicians and thought leaders in the field.��

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Glen Komatsu, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Providence Hospice, Los Angeles County

Torrance, Calif.

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Ira Byock, M.D., FAAHMP

Emeritus Professor of Medicine

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

Author, Dying Well (1997), The Four Things That Matter Most (2004), and The Best Care Possible (2012)

Missoula, Mont.��

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FURTHER READING

How Hospice Became a For-Profit Hustle by Ava Kofman (New Yorker)

Endgame: How the Visionary Hospice Movement Became a For-Profit Hustle by Ava Kofman (ProPublica)

Joint statement from The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) responding to Ava Kofman's reporting.

Dr. Tara Friedman's response to the New Yorker article (President, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine)

Hospice Needs Saving by Ira Byock ��(STAT First Opinion)

Hospice Industry: Start with Apologies by Ira Byock (STAT First Opinion)

National Hospice Locator ��(Hospice Analytics)

Hospice Compare (medicare.gov)

A simplified description of the person from Dr. Eric Cassell's "The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine."

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