Executive Summaries

Screening, Diagnosis, and Management of Chagas Disease in the United States

This presentation is focused on the epidemiology, clinical aspects, diagnosis, and management of Chagas disease within the United States. The presentation aims to equip healthcare providers with the knowledge necessary for effective screening, diagnosis, and treatment of this often-overlooked parasitic infection.

Dr. Clark emphasizes the importance of understanding risk factors to identify individuals who should be screened and provides detailed information on available diagnostic tools and treatment options.

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Cardiotoxicity

This executive summary highlights Dr. Nicolás Palaskas’ research in cardio-oncology, focusing on the cardiovascular complications of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).

Dr. Palaskas explores the critical role of immune checkpoints in maintaining immune homeostasis and examines how ICI therapy, while revolutionary in cancer treatment, can disrupt this balance, leading to adverse effects such as myocarditis.

Care Management in Value-Based Care: Overview of Clinical Programs

This document outlines the concept of care management within a value-based care system. The discussion emphasizes the transition from the traditional fee-for-service model to value-based care, a shift necessitated by escalating healthcare costs and the imperative to enhance patient outcomes. Value-based care prioritizes the long-term health of patients, particularly those with complex chronic conditions, and incentivizes providers for delivering high-quality care and efficient resource utilization.

Physician Enterprise Academic Excellence Paper Presentations

This document provides an executive summary of presentations focusing on crucial aspects of healthcare improvement: enhancing the patient experience during medical procedures, addressing cardiovascular disease risk factors in women with an emphasis on racial and ethnic disparities, and promoting healthcare worker well-being through contemplative medicine. The presentations, followed by a discussion, underscore an overarching theme of valuing the human spirit in healthcare across patient care and the well-being of healthcare professionals.

Navigating the Ethical Frontiers of AI in Healthcare

This document presents excerpts from a panel discussion titled "Navigating the Ethical Frontiers of AI in Healthcare," the sixth session of an eight-week virtual series on AI in healthcare. The speakers share an academic article focusing on policies, screening, and disease management strategies that ensure equitable healthcare access and quality improvement.The central theme revolves around the increasing integration of AI in clinical care and the crucial ethical challenges that arise from its use.

Tackling Climate Change, Our Apex Predator

In in this presentation, Dr. Mark Shapiro discusses the impacts of climate change on human health, how heat and air quality affect overall public health in Houston and elsewhere, and what opportunities exist for physicians and other healthcare workers to affect change. The presenter framed climate change not merely as an environmental issue, but as an "apex predator" threatening the health and well-being of every individual and community. He highlighted that no person, organization, city, region, or country is immune from its impacts.

Improving Ambulatory Quality, Equity, and Collaboration for the Pregnant and Postpartum Patient

In this presentation, Dr. Christina Davidson, Dr. Catherine "Carey" Eppes, and Dr. Jamie Morgan examine the state of maternal health in the United States and review postpartum tools, care transitions, and strategies to improve health equity and patient-centered care in ambulatory obstetrics.

Deciding Alone: Unilateral Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Interventions

The bioethics grand round, presented by the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine, featured a debate on the ethical considerations surrounding the unilateral withdrawal of life-sustaining interventions, focusing particularly on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation). This scenario raised the ethical dilemma of whether to continue ECMO support when it is deemed medically inappropriate, described as a "bridge to nowhere".

Osteoporosis Screening and Management in Primary Care

This executive summary outlines the key recommendations and insights presented during a CommonSpirit Health grand rounds on September 20th, focusing on the recently published system-wide guidelines for the screening, diagnosis, and medical management of osteoporosis. The initiative, driven by the need to standardize care across primary care and specialist settings, incorporated updated guidance from major professional societies.

Secure Storage as a Critical Component in Suicide Prevention

The presentation focused on the critical role of secure storage of lethal means, particularly firearms, in suicide prevention efforts, with a significant emphasis on the veteran population. The speakers underscored the alarming statistics surrounding suicide in the US, the disproportionate risk faced by veterans, and the heightened lethality associated with firearm-related suicide attempts. They advocated for increased awareness and implementation of lethal means safety counseling, providing practical strategies and resources for healthcare professionals to engage in these vital conversations with patients and their families.