Author: Lauren Schulz

March 19, 2019

Understanding Telemedicine & How It Is Used in the ICU in Corbin

Baptist Health Corbin: Understanding Telemedicine & How It Is Used in the ICU

Telemedicine allows Corbin ICU staff to provide advanced medical care and services to patients remotely. Learn about the advantages of telemedicine and how it is used in critical care and emergency medicine.

Understanding Telemedicine & How It Is Used in the ICU in Corbin HealthTalks Transcript

Praveen Vijhani, MD, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine:
Telemedicine in the ICU in Corbin is the use of telecommunication and information technology to provide clinical healthcare from a distance. It has been used to overcome distance barriers and to improve access to medical services that would often not be consistently available in distant rural communities. It is also used to save lives in critical care and emergency situations.

Although there were distant precursors to telemedicine, it is essentially a product of 20th-century telecommunication and information technologies. These technologies permit communication between patient and medical staff with both convenience and fidelity, as well as transmission of medical, imaging and health information from one side to another.

Early forms of telemedicine achieved with telephone and radio have been supplemented with video telephony, advanced diagnostic methods supported by distributed clients or server applications, and additionally, with telemedical devices to support in-home care.

Apart from having intensivists 24/7 in the ICU, telemedicine also can eliminate the possible transmission of infectious diseases or parasites between patients and the medical staff. This is particularly an issue where more sides are concerned.

Additionally, some patients who feel uncomfortable in a doctor’s office may do better remotely. For example, white coat syndrome may be avoided. Patients who are homebound and would otherwise require an ambulance to move them to a clinic are also a consideration.

March 19, 2019

Managing COPD Symptoms & Treatment in Corbin

Baptist Health Corbin: Managing COPD Symptoms & Treatment

COPD is a condition that can’t be cured, although it can be treated and maintained with the help of medical experts. Learn how Baptist Health helps patients live a full life with COPD.

Managing COPD Symptoms & Treatment in Corbin HealthTalks Transcript

Praveen Vijhani, MD, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine:
COPD is a progressive, irreversible inflammatory disease in your lungs, which makes it hard to breathe. Common symptoms include a chronic cough, wheezing, production of phlegm, shortness of breath, and a feeling of tightness in your chest, though these symptoms may not be noticeable until you are in the later stage of the disease. COPD is not curable, but it’s a preventable and treatable illness.

Kristen Wells, PA-C, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine:
It’s important to make a plan for managing COPD. That way we can work together to better assess the severity of your COPD in order to make a specific treatment plan for you. As your pulmonology specialists, we’ll work together with respiratory therapists and pharmacists, as well as your primary care provider, to assess all our treatment options.

Some of the options for COPD treatment include inhalers, supplemental oxygen, expectorants such as Mucinex®, and also just pulmonary rehab and breathing exercises.

Whitney Barton, APRN, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine:
It’s important to quit smoking because it is one of the most significant and preventable risk factors for COPD. Habitual smoking can cause an increase in inflammation in the airways of your lungs, which leads to a decrease in elasticity of your lungs.

Baptist Health offers a smoking cessation clinic in which patients can meet with a pharmacist one-on-one to better plan treatment. They also have access to information on support groups and other community resources that would be beneficial to help them quit smoking.

January 9, 2019

Surviving a Heart Attack in Richmond

Baptist Health Richmond: Surviving a Heart Attack in Richmond

Baptist Health Richmond supports the treatment process for heart attacks before, during and after the attack. Learn more about the benefits of being treated locally.

Surviving a Heart Attack in Richmond HealthTalks Transcript

Larry Todd Breeding, MD, Interventional Cardiology:
Time is a critical factor when treating a heart attack and other medical conditions like a stroke. If you’re having symptoms that you even remotely suspect could be heart related, we urge you to call 911 as soon as possible, because every minute that you delay is another minute that heart muscle has died.

Ananth Kumar, MD, Interventional Cardiology:
Emergency services are the most important link in the chain of treatment. We work with each other before, during and after the heart attack has happened. They do an EKG, they actually transmit it to us, and they activate the cath lab right from the spot where they see the patient having a heart attack. We come in by the time they get in here and cut the amount of muscle lost because of the time saved here.

Dr. Breeding:
We very quickly perform a procedure called coronary angiogram, which is a dye test looking at the circulation to the heart arteries. Once we identify where the blocked artery is located, we then open that blocked artery with a balloon angioplasty procedure. It stretches the artery open in a way that it restores normal blood flow to the heart. By coming to Baptist Health Richmond for treatment of a heart attack, you can save 45 minutes of additional travel time, and that is time that can be spent salvaging heart muscle by virtue of the fact that you’re being treated at a closer location, in a more timely fashion.

January 9, 2019

Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Repair & Treatment in Paducah

Baptist Health Paducah: Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Repair & Treatment

Medical advancements over the past 20 years have allowed doctors to repair thoracic aortic aneurysms with minimally invasive procedures. Learn how an aortic aneurysm is treated at Baptist Health.

Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Repair & Treatment HealthTalks Transcript

Griffin K. Bicking, DO, Vascular Surgery:
The aorta is the largest artery in the body, and it carries oxygen-rich blood to certain parts of our body and all the major organs in our belly, our arms and our brain. Now, when we talk specifically about the thoracic aorta, we’re talking about aneurismal disease. The aneurism is a weakening or a ballooning out of the artery. The worst outcome of this is it rupturing, and most people don’t survive that, when it does rupture.

Things that cause thoracic aortic aneurysm are family history, smoking, hypertension, connective tissues disorders, like Marfan and Ehlers-Danlos syndromes, and bicuspid aortic valves.

Jason Cumbers, MD, Vascular Surgery:
Generally, in the past, the treatment for aneurisms has been an open surgical repair. I think that’s been the standard up until about the last 15 or 20 years, but technology now has advanced in the vascular space quite a bit, and we can perform what’s called an endovascular repair of aneurysms. What that means is us being able to use a minimally invasive approach, coming through the groin using catheters and wires to effectively reline the aorta using a stent graft and exclude the aneurysm.

Dr. Bicking:
Traditionally, when we talk about endovascular surgery and all the advances in vascular surgery, people think that you need to go to the big city into the tertiary care centers. My partner and I have both trained in these big cities and trained at tertiary care centers where we had access to amazing technology. What’s great about being here is we’re able to bring that technology to an area like this, in Paducah, and offer this great service to the community. I think both of us are very well trained in this space, and we can offer patients getting well closer to home instead of going out of town.

January 9, 2019

Surgical Treatment for Scoliosis

Baptist Health Paducah: Surgical Treatment for Scoliosis

Scoliosis can be treated through surgery instead of wearing a brace. Learn more about the surgical treatment option for scoliosis.

Surgical Treatment for Scoliosis HealthTalks Transcript

Lee Titsworth, MD, Neurosurgery:
Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature in the spine. Everybody normally has curves in their spine, but they’re usually all viewed from the side. It’s when people develop curves when you’re looking straight on at them that they becomes something we need to treat, either with conservative management bracing or with surgery.

Allison Smith, Fulton, Kentucky:
I was very active as a teen. I was a cheerleader and I noticed pain. I was kind of like, maybe I need to go to the doctor about this, so I did.

Dr. Titsworth:
Allison is a very pleasant young girl who came to me over several months, and we discussed her treatment options. Because she was in her later adolescence, we elected not to do a brace, but to proceed with surgical correction.

The surgery for scoliosis, basically, involves straightening the spine. We make an incision in the back. We will put titanium screws into the bones of the spine. We’ll use those screws to help pull the vertebral bodies back into alignment, then we’ll secure everything by putting in two large titanium rods and then laying down bone to help the spine regrow into a normal position.

Smith:
I have no back pain now. I have soreness, which is usual, but I don’t have anything compared to what I had before. Everything just seems to be so much easier that I didn’t even realize was hard for me before.

January 9, 2019

What is a Nurse Practitioner & What Do They Do?

Baptist Health Madisonville: What is a Nurse Practitioner & What Do They Do?

Nurse practitioners play a vital role in helping to diagnose and treat patients. Learn about the difference between nurse practitioner and doctor.

What is a Nurse Practitioner & What Do They Do HealthTalks Transcript

Abby Lara, APRN, Family Medicine:
An advanced practice registered nurse or nurse practitioner is a nurse who has obtained at least a master’s degree in nursing to provide healthcare for individuals ranging from children to adults in different specialties. We treat chronic medical problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol. We treat acute illnesses. We also do preventive care, so we do annual physicals, we do immunizations. We can prescribe almost all medications that a medical doctor can. There are a few medications that we’re not able to prescribe. In that instance, normally what I do is collaborate with my collaborative physician, Dr. Fralish, and refer the patient to see him for those medications.

Nurse practitioners benefit the medical practice because we offer more availability. There is a shortage of healthcare providers nationwide, especially medical doctors. It takes a lot of time to come out of school for medicine, so nurse practitioners are there to fill in that gap. We’re able to take care of those patients in family practice. We work as a team with our medical doctors here. We have a great family environment. I feel like we collaborate well together and we’re able to take care of all our patients.

Because I was a nurse first, I treat them the same way that I would want my family to be treated. I feel like we’re easy to talk to, or at least I try to be, and we try to take care of them as a whole. I like practicing in Hopkinsville because I was born and raised here. This is my home. The community here means a lot to me, and I find it a privilege to be able to take care of them and meet their needs.

January 9, 2019

The Importance of Family Medicine in Madisonville

Baptist Health Madisonville: The Importance of Family Medicine

Family medicine is important because it helps treat a number of conditions affecting your whole family. Learn more about the family medicine team at Baptist Health Madisonville.

The Importance of Family Medicine HealthTalks Transcript

David Carlos Jamora, MD, Family Medicine:
The role of family medicine is we take care, not only of you, but also your family members and also all your loved ones. Typically, we treat patients ranging from children to adults and even the elderly.

One of the great things about family medicine is that we treat a wide variety of chronic illnesses and diseases, which may be diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, or any lung issues.

One of the main roles of family medicine is preventive health. We order diagnostic tests and screenings, which may include colon, lung, cervical, or breast cancer screenings. We also highly emphasize immunizations, such as your tetanus, pneumonia and influenza vaccinations.

One of the great advantages here in Hopkinsville is that we have this facility that’s close to the city, and it’s accessible to a lot of people. We have our primary care clinics, where they would see me first, and then, if need be, they may see other specialty departments, such as gastroenterology, OB/GYN or orthopedic surgery. We also have physical therapy, in case you have any issues physically that need to be addressed, and we also offer lab services, as well as X-ray and diagnostic imaging.

The reason why I chose Baptist Health is because we all treat each other and work together like family. It’s one of the main reasons why I enjoy coming to work every day.

January 9, 2019

Living with Chronic Heart Failure

Baptist Health Louisville: Living with Chronic Heart Failure

Chronic heart failure is a condition that can’t be cured, although it can be treated and maintained with the help of medical experts. Learn how Baptist Health helps patients live a full life with chronic heart failure.

Living with Chronic Heart Failure HealthTalks Transcript

Anna Laura Trimbur, APRN, Cardiology:
Heart failure is a chronic condition in which the heart cannot for some reason supply enough blood to meet the needs of the body and the tissues in the body. It can be either a pumping problem or a filling problem, or sometimes a combination of both. It’s a chronic disease. There’s no cure for it.

One of the first signs that you’re picking up extra fluid in your body, which is a cardinal sign of heart failure, is when your weight jumps up rapidly. In heart failure, the heart is not able to do its job. The body interprets that as not enough volume in the body, so you retain water and sodium, and your weight goes up.

The important things for heart failure patients to do to take care of themselves are to take medications as they’re prescribed, because those are very important to stop or slow down the progression of the disease. It’s very important for heart failure patients to watch the sodium in their diet. We want to restrict that to about two to three grams of sodium a day. Exercise — when the doctor has cleared you for exercise, it’s important to be as physically active as you’re able and to rest frequently when you need to.

At Baptist Health Louisville, we spent a lot of time educating our patients. It’s very important that patients learn to do what they can to take care of themselves. In that way, we can optimize the quality of life and reduce the symptom burden and sometimes, we can either slow down or stop the progression of the disease.

Have you ever wondered how healthy your heart is? This quick heart health risk assessment can compare your actual age to your heart’s biological age, as well as calculate your risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

January 9, 2019

Female Heart Attack Symptoms

Baptist Health Louisville: Female Heart Attack Symptoms

Bianca Ummat, MD, discusses female heart attack symptoms and what women can do to help prevent a heart attack.

Female Heart Attack Symptoms HealthTalks Transcript

Bianca Ummat, MD, Interventional Cardiology:
Heart disease in women is very common, and cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer for women overall in the United States. The two most important things a woman can do to protect her heart and keep it healthy is to quit smoking and to exercise every day. Heart attack symptoms in women can be varied and atypical from what we consider as the classic symptoms of a heart attack. Often, women don’t have chest pain, but they have a lot of other associated symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, extreme fatigue or exhaustion, pain that radiates into their neck or jaw. Women often present with these atypical symptoms and should be treated with high suspicion, if we believe they might be having a heart attack.

It’s important not to ignore the signs of a heart attack because, if you are having a heart attack, and there is a blockage in one of the arteries, the sooner you are able to get to the hospital, the more quickly we are able to relieve that blockage or open up that blockage in the coronary artery. Our first step is to take that patient to the cardiac catheterization lab and when we find that blockage, we are able to relieve it by deploying a stint inside the coronary artery. The faster this happens, the more likely you are to have a full recovery and avoid having any long-term damage to the heart muscle and its function. The goal is for you to be able to live your life as healthy as possible.

January 9, 2019

Treating Arthritis in the Shoulder

Baptist Health Lexington: Treating Arthritis in the Shoulder

Learn the symptoms of arthritis and how shoulder arthritis is treated from Daniel Hackett, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Baptist Health Lexington.

Treating Arthritis in the Shoulder HealthTalks Transcript

Daniel Hackett, MD, Orthopedic Surgery:
Arthritis is a progressive disease. When the smooth cartilage on the ends of the joint wear away, this leads to bone-on-bone arthritis. With the case of shoulder arthritis, typically, patients present with pain and dysfunction, either secondary to stiffness and/or weakness within their shoulder joint.

Conservative measures can often prolong a patient’s ability to live with arthritis. It’s more about management of the symptoms initially, common conservative type treatments include rest or lifestyle modifications. Oftentimes, general stretching and strengthening exercises can improve a patient’s functionality, as can the occasional or sparing use of a corticosteroid injection.

I tell patients that they will tell me when the time is right for some type of surgical procedure. Surgical management is very much predicated upon what the patient’s disease process is. It can be something as simple as a minimally invasive arthroscopy, which is where we stick a camera in the joint and clean up areas of arthritis, commonly referred to as an arthroscopic debridement. However, if the disease is a little bit more progressive, then oftentimes, that’s when we will talk about performing a joint replacement. It all is dependent upon a patient’s symptoms and how greatly they’re able to function with living with arthritis.

January 9, 2019

Participating in the CREST 2 Study

Baptist Health Lexington: Participating in the CREST 2 Study

Baptist Health Lexington participates in the CREST 2 study alongside the NIH to determine the best method for reducing the chance of stroke. Learn more about the study from this video.

Participating in the CREST 2 Study HealthTalks Transcript

Michael R. Jones, MD, Cardiology:
Baptist Health Lexington has been designated as a comprehensive stroke center by the American Heart Association. The mission of this program ranges from the prevention of stroke to its treatment. As part of our mission, besides providing the best and standard care for our patients, we are also involved in research initiatives that will allow us to better care for patients in the future.

The CREST 2 study is a National Institutes of Health-sponsored trial that compares medical treatment alone with medical treatment and surgery to reduce the risk of stroke. Patients who have not had a stroke or warning sign of stroke for at least six months and who have a carotid artery blockage of at least 70 percent are eligible for participation in this trial. All patients will receive the best medical treatment for stroke prevention from experts in the field. One-half of these patients will receive surgery, either carotid stenting or endarterectomy, both measures to reduce carotid blockage, in addition to medical therapy.

Patients assigned to surgery may choose, with their physicians, which surgical procedure that they will undergo. The decision to undergo either surgery is, however, decided by the computer flip of the coin. All patients will receive follow-up in order to see whether surgery with medical treatment offers any advantage of medical treatment only for stroke prevention. This is what CREST 2 is all about.

January 9, 2019

Signs & Treatment of Gallbladder Disease

Baptist Health La Grange: Signs & Treatment of Gallbladder Disease

Thomas K. Hart, MD, explains gallbladder disease, including symptoms and treatment. Learn the signs of a gallbladder attack.

Signs & Treatment of Gallbladder Disease HealthTalks Transcript

Thomas K. Hart, MD, General Surgery:
What the gallbladder does is stores and concentrates the bile from the liver, and it’s released into the small intestine to help you digest your fats in your diet.

The signs and symptoms of a gallbladder attack are primarily right upper quadrant pain. The patient may also have some nausea and vomiting, fever or chills. They may notice that their urine is dark in color, or their stool is light in color.

People often look on the internet for answers to their health questions, and sometimes that can be problematic, particularly with gallbladder disease. There are certain diets called gallbladder purges. That is dangerous. It can increase your risk for getting pancreatitis, and I can’t emphasize [enough] that patients should stay away from this kind of self-treatment.

The main treatment for gallbladder disease would be surgical removal. Gallbladder surgery has evolved over the last 25 years. Now, most gallbladder surgeries are done laparoscopically or through the scope, with either three or four small incisions, and it’s generally done on an outpatient basis.

After your gallbladder is removed, there will be no restrictions on your diet. You’ll be able to eat whatever you would like that is healthy. You’ll feel well generally two weeks after your gallbladder is removed. Baptist Health La Grange treats people for gallbladder disease on a daily basis. We have a long history with this type of disease and this type of surgery.