Podcasts about virginia mason franciscan health

Insomnia affects neurologic health, quality of life, and daily functioning, but effective treatments are available. In this episode, Dr. Brandon Peters-Mathews discusses a practical approach to evaluating chronic insomnia, highlights the importance of identifying contributing conditions such as sleep apnea and mood disorders, and reviews cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), the recommended first-line treatment. Learn how addressing sleep can improve outcomes across a wide range of neurologic disorders. In this episode, Katie Grouse, MD, FAAN, speaks with Brandon R. Peters-Mathews, MD, FAAN, FAASM, author of the article "Insomnia" in the Continuum® August 2026 Sleep Neurology issue. Dr. Grouse is a Continuum® Audio interviewer and a clinical assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco in San Francisco, California. Dr. Peters-Mathews is the Section Head of Sleep Medicine at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in Seattle, Washington. Additional Resources Read the article: Insomnia Subscribe to Continuum®: shop.lww.com/Continuum Earn CME (available only to AAN members): continpub.com/AudioCME Continuum® Aloud (verbatim audio-book style recordings of articles available only to Continuum® subscribers): continpub.com/Aloud More about the American Academy of Neurology: aan.com Social Media facebook.com/continuumcme @ContinuumAAN Host: @BrandonPetersMD Full episode transcript available here Dr Grouse: Insomnia may be one of the most common medical issues experienced by patients, yet our knowledge about how to manage it remains limited. Today, I have the opportunity to speak with one of the world's leading experts on sleep disorders, Dr. Brandon Peters-Mathews, about the latest issue of Continuum on Neurology of Sleep.  Dr Jones: This is Dr. Lyell Jones, Editor-in-Chief of Continuum. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio. Be sure to visit the links in the episode notes for information about earning CME, subscribing to the journal, and exclusive access to interviews not featured on the podcast.  Dr Grouse: This is Dr. Katie Grouse. Today, I'm interviewing Dr. Brandon Peters-Mathews about his article on insomnia. This article appears in the August 2026 Continuum issue on Neurology of Sleep. Welcome to the podcast, and please introduce yourself to our audience.  Dr Peters-Mathews: It's my pleasure to join you, and I'm happy to talk about this article. I think it's an interesting one for most folks. I am a board-certified sleep neurologist. I practice at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in Seattle. I did my neurology training back at the University of Minnesota and my sleep training at Stanford University. I've been in practice for more than thirteen years at this point. It's hard to believe, but it's exciting to be able to speak with you today.  Dr Grouse: This is definitely an important topic for everybody. Certainly, sleep and the lack of it affects all of our patients, and I can't imagine there's a single clinical neurologist who doesn't have to answer questions and help evaluate patients with this problem, so very high-yield topic for everyone. Now, having read your article, I'm curious if you had to choose one key point that you want the readers of your article to take away after reading it, what would it be?  Dr Peters-Mathews: Emphasize for my patients that insomnia is a condition that we can work through and resolve, that if we really can understand the underlying contributing causes and resolve those issues, we can typically improve sleep. It's a process. It takes time. It takes some attention and, and sometimes even testing to figure out what's going on. But if we can dial into these root causes, we can typically help somebody to sleep much better. As part of that, we often employ a therapy called CBT-I, which we'll talk about here a little bit later. But that also helps us to identify some of these contributing factors that are leading to the poor sleep.  Dr Grouse: And I definitely want to talk more about CBT, it's such an important topic. But even before we get into that, I'd love it if you could just walk us through a hypothetical case of a patient with insomnia. I think the type of patient that I think we've all seen in our clinical practice and somebody who says, "You know, I've had poor sleep. I've had insomnia for many years. I've tried all of the things you're supposed to try. You know, I've tried sleep hygiene. I've tried this. I've tried that. I've tried medications. Nothing seems to work." Could you walk us through how you would evaluate a patient like this and start to consider what to recommend? Dr Peters-Mathews: So, some simple information that we can gather, would be information about when they're trying to go to bed, how long it's taking them to fall asleep initially. If they wake in the night and have trouble getting back to sleep, how often they wake in the night. If they're experiencing early morning awakenings, their final wake time, and when they actually get out of bed in the morning. That gives me a sense of the structure of their sleep pattern and whether or not they might be spending an excessive amount of time in bed for their own sleep need at their current age. The other factors that we might consider are sleep disorders, and typically, I would assess for other symptoms that would point me towards sleep apnea or restless legs and occasionally other disorders of sleep. We wanna make sure we're not missing comorbid conditions that might be affecting that person. These often include mood disorders. Sleep and mood walk hand in hand, and so anxiety and depression are important to identify and treat if present. We also want to make sure someone's not suffering from chronic pain or other conditions that might be impacting their sleep. So, I take a broad approach. I ask the same questions to each patient that comes to see me. I wanna make sure I'm not missing some of these details. And then some of these folks will require testing to further understand their sleep. Others may move on to a different therapy, and long-term may require even other interventions, including medications, to fully resolve their condition.  Dr Grouse: You mentioned in your article circadian rhythm sleep disorders. How often are these really a factor in patients with chronic insomnia? And do you think that's something that we as kind of first-line clinicians should be screening for as well?  Dr Peters-Mathews: So delayed sleep phase syndrome is the most common circadian disorder, and these are folks who are night owls by nature. They often develop their sleep patterns, as teenagers, if not before, and they may fade away in the working years but come back in retirement age. I would say that's a very common condition. It may affect as many as one in ten people. The other circadian disorders are pretty uncommon, so advanced sleep phase syndrome, where somebody is sleepy early and waking too early, that may only affect one in three hundred people. There are other conditions that affect specific populations, like non-twenty-four circadian pattern affects blind people. Typically, half of blind people have that condition. There are conditions that affect the regularity of sleep, so an irregular sleep-wake pattern that might occur more in folks with maybe an advanced dementia. So, there are populations where these conditions can be fairly common, but among the general population, that night owl tendency is by far the most common.  Dr Grouse: That's really helpful. And just taking a step back, why is insomnia bad for us? So, we worry about this in our patients. We know it can make neurologic issues worse. But in general, like, what are the reasons that having poor sleep can affect our health? Dr Peters-Mathews: Yeah, and it's not enough hours, certainly quantity, but also quality of sleep that matters. And I tell people that sleep is a pillar of health, just like nutrition and exercise. It's the other main contributor to our health and well-being. And so, it has its fingers in almost every aspect of our health. Insomnia on its own is a risk factor for other psychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety, even disorders like bipolar and schizophrenia. Folks with insomnia are more likely to have alcohol or drug abuse issues and are at higher risk for things like chronic pain, suicide and, and social and occupational dysfunction. So, it's a disorder that has a really profound effect on how someone functions during the day, and again, may take a toll on their health over time.  Dr Grouse: That makes sense, and I would assume that there are certain populations within our neurology practices where we should really be attuned to the risk of insomnia. Are there specific populations you'd recommend really make it a habit of screening for insomnia?  Dr Peters-Mathews: I was joking with someone recently that anyone with a neurological nervous system can have issues, impacted by poor sleep. There are certain groups, so chronic headache patients are perhaps one that might warrant a further evaluation and management. Folks with multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's may have physical conditions that lead to more discomfort in sleep, fewer movements of their body in sleep, issues around nocturia that would disturb their sleep. Certainly, those with dementia, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Parkinson's and Lewy body dementia overlap a lot, as does multiple system atrophy. That can point us towards other conditions like REM sleep behavior disorder, but also insomnia can be an important feature of those disorders as well. And then folks with stroke often have disturbance to their sleep and may develop insomnia after experiencing a stroke. So those are specific populations where I think the yield is high to be looking for insomnia and other sleep disorders.  Dr Grouse: Yeah, that makes sense. I think a lot of us think of insomnia as almost like, make sure we're not missing this as sort of a mimic of the problem, when in fact it's probably just more part and parcel of the problem and something we need to be thinking about treating as part of their disorder. So helpful to think about it in that light, at least in my own mind. Now, I want to get a little bit back to some of the therapies you've recommended, and I think first just stopping again at sleep hygiene. Your article has a really great list, I think, of sort of like a checklist of actions that people should be taking to make sure that they are managing their sleep hygiene well. And I definitely recommend our listeners look to that. How often do you think that focusing on sleep hygiene helps when you get a patient who says, "Hey, I have got terrible sleep. You know, what do I do?"  Dr Peters-Mathews: It's pretty common for people to have access to this information through their own reading online, and most folks have worked through this by the time they've come to see me, and often a primary care provider or specialist may have given some of this guidance as well. It's pretty rare for them to not recognize something as obvious as having caffeine too late in the day by the time they're coming to my attention. The sleep hygiene generally is used as a control when we do research to look at how something like medication is working or CBT-I might be working. It's the comparative control. It's almost like the null intervention. So, it's not highly effective, and if folks are not finding it helpful, they've made those adjustments to their sleep environment or their habits, and they're continuing to have issues, there's typically more that needs to be done, and that's where CBT-I really comes in as a strong intervention for those people.  Dr Grouse: And then getting on the topic of CBT-I, so helpful. I'm really glad that your article spent a lot of time talking about it as really a truly high-yield, great intervention for insomnia. And I really felt that the question shouldn't be: When is cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia helpful? But like, when isn't it helpful? What are your thoughts about that?  Dr Peters-Mathews: Yeah. I always point out that the American College of Physicians has recommended CBT-I for adult patients as the initial treatment for chronic insomnia even before the use of a medication for nearly ten years. That recommendation came out in July of 2016. So, there are folks who may not be good candidates for it, who may be screened out because of other conditions that they have, and there certainly are folks who don't do as well with CBT-I. And adherence is important. Somebody needs to be able to follow the instructions and apply that to their lives. And certainly, there are a number of things that could interfere with that compliance. I would say untreated anxiety and pain are two things that often trip people up. It's like running a race with a broken leg. Despite their best efforts, if those are not addressed, they will continue to have issues around insomnia. And then one thing that often is unrecognized and may be missed is untreated sleep apnea. That is a common contributor to a chronic insomnia, especially in older folks, women beyond the age of menopause and men even starting in middle age, thirties and forties. We don't want to miss sleep apnea. Even insomnia that's, "I can't fall asleep at the beginning of night," that could still be sleep apnea, so that's something I really emphasize with my patients.  Dr Grouse: Really great reminder about sleep apnea for sure. Something that always is beneficial to make sure we are not missing. Oftentimes I'll bring up a CBT for insomnia, and what is that? Like, what would we actually do, and what is a high-level overview of what happens with CBT-I?  Dr Peters-Mathews: Yeah. So, I generally tell my patients that this is a six-week program. It's a structured program, almost like a boot camp for sleep, in which we are addressing underlying causes, recognizing what those are and, and working through those underlying causes. There is often tracking using a sleep log or sometimes wearable data.To guide decisions that are made in the program. It's very goal-directed, science-based therapy. We often introduce concepts around sleep drive, circadian rhythm dealing with a busy mind at night. There's concepts of mindfulness and relaxation training that are introduced. People often are able to taper or stop using sleeping pills as part of this therapy. And the nice thing is they walk away with a set of skills that they can apply the rest of their lives to sleep more normally. And so, there's good research that suggests even years after someone's completed a CBT-I course, they continue to sleep more normally. They have the tools that they need to sleep better even years beyond that education.  Dr Grouse: You know, this just sounds so great. It almost sounds like why wouldn't someone benefit from this? But of course, like I would imagine many institutions experience, I've definitely run into difficulties with access for my patients for CBT-I, and we have long wait lists. And I imagine there's many places where there just aren't even any specialists that patients can get to, to help with this. What are the resources that our listeners can take advantage of for their patients to get access to these types of therapies?  Dr Peters-Mathews: So, one thing I tried to really emphasize in the article is that there are resources that can be drawn in. I'll give you some examples. So, at our institution, we have three sleep specialists, full-time sleep specialists, who trained at Stanford to become CBT-I specialists, and so we have more resources than probably most institutions would have. We do shared medical appointment workshops so that we can manage the number of patients that we have to see. And, and unfortunately, not everybody has that opportunity. You might plug into resources in your community, and one of the resources I point to in the article is the International Directory that's managed by the University of Pennsylvania that has eight hundred and seventy-five CBT-I specialists listed with contact information, et cetera. And I think that's an amazing opportunity to access this therapy. Unfortunately, there are countries and certainly states that do not have a specialist, that there's no one in the state that provides this therapy. And then we need to extend other resources, and that could be online treatment programs that can be done independently, bibliotherapy, so accessing books that could guide people through the therapy, even accessing other apps and maybe even wearables that pair with an app that could provide some of this guidance. The Veterans Administration worked with Stanford and worked with the National Center for PTSD and developed an app called CBT-I Coach that is free and can be downloaded and, and gives, I think, good education, good guidance. So, there are resources that exist. It's somewhat finding what might work for your individual patient, how they're preferring to access this or their learning preferences. Do they want to read a book or not? And getting them into the right pathway.  Dr Grouse: And I think that gets me into a whole other Pandora's box of the fact that they're already out there in the world are tons of different apps, wearable devices, all sorts of things that promise that they can help us with sleep, some that may have more, I think, data and evidence behind them than others. Do any of these apps or wearables in your mind show promise in our patients helping our patients track and diagnose and manage their insomnia?  Dr Peters-Mathews: Yeah, there's a lot out there, and unfortunately, some of these devices actually can make sleep worse. People can develop a condition called orthosomnia or straight sleep, where they're trying to perfect their sleep and their sleep numbers, their metrics, and the wearables feeding them data that they continue to try to improve upon. And that fixation on those metrics can actually make their sleep quite a bit worse. A lot of these wearables and apps and other resources have not been well-studied. There's not research trials showing outcomes comparing to other standards of care. I would say the basic guidance of CBT-I, which many of these programs are based on, I think will be helpful to the majority of folks who are able to engage and complete that education. A lot of these are not dependent on that sort of framework or structure so that we may not actually be using the standards of CBT-I to try to improve sleep. They may be connecting you with other resources, like listen to this sleep story or this relaxation file or do some meditation, et cetera, which again, may be of some benefit, but it is not the same as a structured CBT-I experience. So, I think there are a few good resources that we highlight within the article, and I think there are probably others coming that may give individuals a more individualized, directed approach to managing their sleep issues. But it's almost like going to the App Store and there's thousands of apps. It's hard to know which one might be most based on science or the most beneficial to that individual.  Dr Grouse: Well, I really appreciate in your article that you did have a great list of apps and things along those lines to try, so I do encourage our listeners to check that out as well. Some really, really great resources there in the article in many different areas. Now, I wanted to turn the conversation to a slightly different thing, which is medications for insomnia. Now, when are medications appropriate for treating insomnia? When should we be thinking about turning to these for our patients?  Dr Peters-Mathews: So again, we would suggest that CBT-I would be first, and that failing improvement with CBT-I, that medications would be extended to a person affected by insomnia. And over-the-counter options as well as prescription medications might be used. Unfortunately, that's not how things unfold in the real world. Many people are jumping to medications first, whether that be an over-the-counter supplement or other medication, or they're seeing primary care and other specialists who's providing them a prescription for sleep aid. So there's data from the CDC going back to twenty twenty that suggests that about six point three percent of adults were taking a sleeping medication every day in the months prior to the survey. And women who were older than sixty five, white women, were more likely to be using a sleeping medication every day. That number was 13.5 percent of those surveyed. So, lots of folks are on medications, and certainly melatonin is widely used. Unfortunately, it's not regulated by the FDA in a sense that we don't have exact concentrations controlled. So, people can take melatonin that has no melatonin in it. They might take melatonin that's forty or more times the dose. There's variance within lots from the same manufacturer. There's a lot of trouble knowing exactly what you're getting when you try to take something like melatonin over the counter. Other sleep aids that we might reach to over the counter, like variants of diphenhydramine or doxylamine, and these are often the PM drugs that we think about. They have risks associated with population-based studies which suggest risk of dementia, risk of falling, risk of mortality with these drugs, especially in older populations. So again, that would give us potentially pause. The prescription medications that we go to, there are some that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine would recommend as more beneficial than harmful, and some are good for both initiating and maintaining sleep. Some have such a short half-life that they're really best as initiation drugs. And then others are better for maintenance of sleep, so reducing awakenings and wakefulness in the night. My own individual take, often people are coming to me on medications, typically over the counter, but often prescriptions, and have even tried and failed many of those medications before they finally come to see a specialist. And so, I don't often reach to medications until I've exhausted CBT-I, until we've completed a sleep test to make sure we're not missing something like sleep apnea, until we've ruled out some other potential contributing causes. But there are patients I have who really will not sleep without medication support and sometimes even multiple medications that work in complementary ways to try to normalize their sleep. And so, in some cases it is necessary, but it is not meant to be a first line for anyone.  Dr Grouse: Yeah, and I think all of our listeners can relate to the fact that we often see patients who've been on sleep medicines for many, many years and take them every night. It's good to know that there is sort of a procedure here to consider and perhaps again, back to the plug to CBT-I as being the right starting point to see if there's some that we can help get off of these meds, although, as you mentioned, maybe not always going to be successful. Well, I really appreciate our conversation about this. It's been really great to read this article about insomnia. Again, I encourage our listeners to check it out. Some really great resources for many different therapies, thinking about other alternative diagnoses and different medical conditions where insomnia really needs to be considered. And I really appreciate you writing this article. It's been a pleasure to talk with you today.  Dr Peters-Mathews: It's my pleasure to share this information with folks, and I hope that you find it useful in your clinical practice or even your personal life as the need arises.  Dr Grouse: Again today, I've been interviewing Dr. Brandon Peters-Mathews about his article on insomnia. This article appears in the August 2026 Continuum issue on Neurology of Sleep. Be sure to check out Continuum Audio episodes from this and other issues, and thank you to our listeners for joining today.  Dr Monteith: This is Dr. Teshamae Monteith, Associate Editor of Continuum Audio. If you've enjoyed this episode, you'll love the journal, which is full of in-depth and clinically relevant information important for neurology practitioners. Use the link in the episode notes to learn more and subscribe. AAN members, you can get CME for listening to this interview by completing the evaluation at continpub.com/audiocme. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio. 

CommonSpirit Health hosted a Grand Rounds session discussing the pharmacotherapeutic approach to obesity care. This is the first in a two-part series on the topic. See Part Two here. Speaker:Layla A. Abushamat, MD, MPH, DABOM, Endocrinologist and Assistant Professor, Section of Cardiovascular Research, Baylor College of MedicineAnila Chadha, MD, Obesity Medicine Internist, Dignity Health Medical Group – BakersfieldPanelist:Thu Le, PharmD, Clinical Pharmacist, Dignity HealthMahmuda Tasneem, MD, Internal Medicine, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health

CommonSpirit Health hosted a Grand Rounds session discussing the treatment of menopausal symptoms in women with cancer. The discussion included strategies on optimizing quality of life with oncologic safety. Speaker:Marina Frimer, MD, FACOG, FACS, Associate Chief, Research and Academic Development, Central Region; Director, Clinical Cancer Research,  Northwell Health Cancer Institute at Rego Park; Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center; Associate Professor, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/NorthwellPanelist:Claire Hoppenot, MD, Assistant Professor, Gynecologic Oncology, Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of MedicineModerator: Amy Brockmeyer, MD, Section Head of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Surgery, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health

In this episode, Dionne Dixon, Region Director of Education Services for the Northwest Region at CommonSpirit Health, shares how Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is accelerating training, expanding early career pipelines, and driving 100 percent retention in key roles through innovative workforce development and resiliency programs.

1st intermission full interview as Mike Benton sits down with Mel O'Brochta (Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena) on the impact of Hockey Fights Cancer Night presented by Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This Grand Rounds session discusses delirium among older adults, the first in a series of age-friendly initiative sessions discussing the care approach for aging patients.Moderators:John Morelli, MD, System VP Acute Care Clinical Service LineThomas Frederickson, MD, FACP, SFHM, MBA, System VP Hospital Medicine OperationsSpeaker:Rajesh Tampi, MD, MS, DFAPA, DFAAGP, Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Creighton University School of MedicinePanelists:Nikhil Seth, MD, Assistant Professor, Baylor College of MedicineConnor Rowan, PharmD, Clinical Pharmacist with Geriatric Expertise, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health

Dr. Philip Louie, Spine Surgeon and Medical Director of Research and Academics at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, shares why he is pursuing an MBA and the value of continuous learning in medicine. He discusses his approach to patient education and professional engagement through social media, how he is adapting his strategy to shifting algorithms and a potential TikTok ban, and his thoughts on the future generation of spine surgeons.

Dr. Philip Louie, Spine Surgeon and Medical Director of Research and Academics at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, shares why he is pursuing an MBA and the value of continuous learning in medicine. He discusses his approach to patient education and professional engagement through social media, how he is adapting his strategy to shifting algorithms and a potential TikTok ban, and his thoughts on the future generation of spine surgeons.

This episode launches the first part of a 3-part mini-series on IBS-C, shedding light on the complexities of this widespread condition that affects millions of people across the U.S. It stresses the importance of a holistic, patient-centered approach to managing IBS-C. We explore the various medications used to treat IBS-C, including both over-the-counter options and prescription drugs, offering a comprehensive review. Our expert guest, Dr. Justin Brandler, a neurogastroenterologist at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, provides valuable insights into the mechanisms and effectiveness of these treatments.Dr. Brandler simplifies the intricate science and treatment of IBS into easy-to-understand concepts. He likens his role in treating IBS to that of both a plumber and an electrician. As a disorder of gut-brain interaction (DGBI), IBS affects how the brain and spinal cord process signals, influencing gastrointestinal symptoms.Different patients respond to different treatment approaches. Dr. Brandler discusses medications that target the "plumbing" aspect of IBS, including pharmaceutical options like linaclotide, tenapanor, and lubiprostone, as well as over-the-counter treatments such as magnesium oxide, senna, and bisacodyl. He also covers treatments that address the altered brain-gut connection in IBS, highlighting various neuromodulators, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), and their role in adjusting the nervous system to help alleviate IBS symptoms.We explore essential tips for making the most of your medical appointments, such as organizing a concise summary of your medical history and symptoms to ensure clear and effective communication, including outlining your goals. Preparing ahead of time can help your healthcare providers deliver the best possible care and make the right referrals for your needs.This podcast was sponsored by Ardelyx.Resources: Living your BEST IBS Life: Practical Tools to Beat the Battle with your Bowels by Justin Brandler, MD via IFFGDMechanisms of Action Considerations in the Management of IBS-CLearn more about Kate and Dr. Riehl:Website: www.katescarlata.com and www.drriehl.comInstagram: @katescarlata @drriehl and @theguthealthpodcastOrder Kate and Dr. Riehl's book, Mind Your Gut: The Science-Based, Whole-body Guide to Living Well with IBS. The information included in this podcast is not a substitute for professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider before starting any new treatment or making changes to existing treatment.

Why is access to health care important? What are the effects of food insecurity on health? What are the benefits of a diverse workforce in health care? Our guest is Ketul Patel, CEO, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, and President, Northwest Region of CommonSpirit. American Medical Association CXO Todd Unger hosts.

In Network's Designing for Health: Interview with Gary Kaplan, MD Host Craig Joseph, MD invites Gary Kaplan, MD, CEO emeritus at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. They discuss how Dr. Kaplan spearheaded a revolution in the patient experience at Virginia Mason, how a car company headquartered on the other side of the world inspired transformational change, and how his organization gained from openness and honesty in the face of adversity. Find all of our network podcasts on your favorite podcast platforms and be sure to subscribe and like us. Learn more at www.healthcarenowradio.com/listen/

Colorectal Cancer Rates Are Rising In Young PeopleGastrointestinal medicine practitioners have noticed something strange in recent years: More and more young people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer.It used to be incredibly rare for anyone under the age of 50 to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Cases were generally limited to people with excess weight who live a sedentary lifestyle. But practitioners are increasingly seeing people in their 40s, 30s, and even 20s without prior risk factors being diagnosed with colorectal cancer.Jennifer Fijor is one nurse practitioner who has seen this rise in cases firsthand at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in Seattle, Washington. Jennifer has been spreading awareness about this rise on her social media accounts.Jennifer speaks with guest host Kathleen Davis about the warning signs of colorectal cancer, such as sudden changes in bowel movements, and how patients can advocate for themselves to get screened early.What An AI Learns From A Baby's-Eye View Of The WorldThere's a lot to learn in the first couple of years of a child's life—not the least of which is how to talk. But little kids don't sit down and study a vocabulary book. They soak up language from daily experiences, which are often filled with parents and caregivers saying things like “look at the kitty cat.” Scientists wondered whether an artificial intelligence model could learn about language using a similar strategy—not by being fed a curated set of pictures and words, but by eavesdropping on the day-to-day activities of a small child.They found that associating images and sounds from 60 hours of video captured by a camera mounted on a baby's head could teach a computer model a set of several dozen basic nouns, such as “car,” “cat,” and “ball.” And the learning was generalizable, meaning that the computer was able to properly identify cars and cats that it had not seen before.Dr. Wai Keen Vong, a research scientist in the Center for Data Science at New York University and one of the authors of a study recently published in the journal Science, joins SciFri's Kathleen Davis to talk about the research and what it can teach us about learning.Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. To stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

In Episode 55, (originally released 2/2/2024), Lori, Tee, and EJ talk about the resources they've learned of. They talk about toolboxes and how they have helped themselves and others, and how they've added to their toolboxes and resources over the years. National Institute of Mental Health https://www.nimh.nih.gov/ Mayo Clinic https://www.mayoclinic.org/ Food Pyramid https://www.myplate.gov/ Kaiser https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/washington/front-door MultiCare https://www.multicare.org/ Virginia Mason / Franciscan Health https://www.vmfh.org/ Medical Self-Care (NH) https://www.das.nh.gov/wellness/Docs/Medical%20Self-Care.pdf Johns Hopkins https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ BetterHelp.Com https://www.betterhelp.com/ Know your personalities https://www.16personalities.com/ Life Languages https://www.lifelanguages.com/ Disclaimer: Just a friendly reminder that anything discussed in this podcast is not to be used as a diagnosis or a replacement for conversations with your own doctors, therapists, psychologists, or other medical professionals. We're on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as '@BehindTheMaskPC'! If you're not into social media, you can contact the podcast through our email, 'BehindTheMaskPC@gmail.com'! Podcast Merchandise: https://behindthemaskpc.creator-spring.com You can find EJ on Twitter and Instagram as '@EJ8302'! EJ's other links: https://beacons.ai/ej8302 & check out EJ's Downtime: https://beacons.ai/ejsdowntime;  Tee has started another podcast! It is called 'Our Journey With Jesus Podcast' on Facebook, where you can find more information. The link for it is here. LinkTree - https://linktr.ee/ourjourneywithjesuspc Lori is on Twitter as '@CarpeSperoLoriL'. She's also on Facebook as '@CarpeSperoLoriLeigh' and Instagram as '@CarpeSperoLoriLeigh'. If you enjoyed what you've heard so far, we'd love to hear what you think. Feel free to review us on Anchor, leave feedback on the platform you listened to us on, or message us through our social media or email. Royalty-Free Music - Intro & Outro: 'Winter Morning AR' by IJUNIJUN from Pixabay --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/behindthemaskpc/support

James Terwilliger, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health joins the podcast to discuss his background, top priorities right now, how his organization will evolve over the next couple years, and one change that he or his team has made that yielded great results.

Recorded live at the 11th Annual Becker's Healthcare CEO + CFO Roundtable, this episode features James Terwilliger, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.  Here, he discusses mitigating rising costs, the regulatory environment, and more.This episode is brought to you by R1 RCM, a leading provider of technology-driven solutions that transform the financial performance of hospitals, health systems, and medical groups. R1 delivers proven, scalable operating models that power sustainable improvements to net patient revenue, while reducing operating costs. To learn how you can build a future-ready revenue cycle today, visit us at www.r1rcm.com/beckers 

Puck and Jim open the show discussing what types of trees they'd like to be thanks to one of our commercials that was played before they got on air. Today is Hockey Fights Cancer Day, November is Hockey Fights Cancer Month, and TODAY is our day to spread that message! Make a play for your health with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health by getting screened. Screen for breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, prostate, and skin cancer. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health locations are across Seattle and the South Sound. You can easily find a screening location near you. Frank Sabereux who was diagnosed w/ prostate cancer four years ago and shares his story.

Learning Objectives:- Review best practices in screening and diagnosis- Illustrate treatment strategies- Identify and strategize to overcome common challengesSpeaker:Jyotsna Ranga, MD, FAPA, DFAACAP, Associate Professor of Medicine at Creighton University School of Medicine, Program Director of Psychiatry Residency and Child/Adolescent Fellowship Programs at Creighton University, Vice Chair Child and Adolescent PsychiatryPanelists:Scott Piazza, DO, Medical Director of Informatics, Pacific Central Coast Health Centers, Faculty, Marian Family Medicine Residency ProgramMichael Dudas, MD, Chair of Pediatric Ambulatory Collaborative Steering Committee, Chief of Pediatrics, Deputy Chief of Primary Care, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health

The FTC proposes a new rule that could slow healthcare deals. Georgia's controversial Medicaid work requirements go into effect in just a few days. And, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health will partner with Optum Washington. That's coming up on today's episode of Gist Healthcare Daily. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode features Dr. Philip Louie, Medical Director of Research and Academics at the Center for Neurosciences and Spine at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. Here, he discusses his background, trends he's following in healthcare and ASCs today, value based care in an outpatient setting, and more.

This episode features Dr. Philip Louie, Medical Director of Research and Academics at the Center for Neurosciences and Spine at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. Here, he discusses his background, trends he's following in healthcare and ASCs today, value based care in an outpatient setting, and more.

This episode features Dr. Philip Louie, Medical Director of Research and Academics at the Center for Neurosciences and Spine at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. Here, he discusses his background, trends he's following in healthcare and ASCs today, value based care in an outpatient setting, and more.

Advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in healthcare has become a strategic imperative for all leaders in healthcare. But to make lasting progress, we can't just treat the symptoms; we must address the underlying condition, which is systemic inequity. Learn how leaders at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health have embedded equity into their improvement methods, training, and tools. 

This episode features Kerry Shannon, Senior Vice President, Chief Integration Officer at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. Here, she discusses her 46 year tenure in healthcare, advice for young professionals looking to have a fulfilling career, how she motivates her team to stay positive in challenging times, and more.

Cardiologist and Director of Center for Cardiovascular Health at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health,Dr. Gopi Dandamudi joins the show. Dr. Gopi shares why is heart health important to maintain, what are your recommendations to maintain a healthy heart, lifestyle and diet, the vital work being done at the Center for Cardiovascular Health at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and much more.

Jessamyn is in for Puck today alongside Jim. They recap the interview Chuck and Buck had with Mariners owner John Stanton. It's also a big day for the station as we're making a play for a healthy heart. Dr. Gopi Dandamudi Cardiologist and Director of Center for Cardiovascular Health at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health visits to share the importance of scheduling annual wellness visits to prevent heart disease, and education on maintaining heart health from monitoring cholesterol and blood pressure to dietary habits and exercise.

Leading with Daily Management is an important and foundational component of ensuring patients receive quality, timely care, while providing frontline staff the information they need to effectively manage their work. Our latest episode of Better Never Stops features Neha Patel, Senior Director in Ambulatory Care at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and Clinical Assistant Professor at University of Washington, as she shares how her teams have evolved Daily Management practices to better connect front-line leaders to executives.

In this episode, we are joined by Ketul J. Patel, Division President, Pacific Northwest; Chief Executive Officer, CommonSpirit Health; Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, to discuss his background & what led him to executive healthcare leadership, challenges surrounding workforce shortages, the importance of having a strong workplace culture, and more.Want to network with peers and hear more conversations like this? Apply to be one of our complimentary guest reviewers at our upcoming Annual Meeting April 3-6, 2023 here.

In this episode, we are joined by Ketul J. Patel, Division President, Pacific Northwest; Chief Executive Officer, CommonSpirit Health; Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, to discuss his background & what led him to executive healthcare leadership, challenges surrounding workforce shortages, the importance of having a strong workplace culture, and more.Want to network with peers and hear more conversations like this? Apply to be one of our complimentary guest reviewers at our upcoming Annual Meeting April 3-6, 2023 here.

Genetic sequencing is one of the most rapidly growing areas of diagnostic medicine with uses in primary prevention and surveillance planning across cancers, cardiovascular disease, and more. The session will focus on how to utilize clinical genetic screening and testing as a modality to provide evidence-based, patient-centered care in the ambulatory care setting.Speakers:Jennifer Posey, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular & Human Genetics at Baylor College of MedicineJill Tapper, MHA, CG (ASCP), System Director, Precision MedicineHitashi Bansal, MS, LCGC, Cancer Genetic Counselor at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health

In our second episode of Better Never Stops, Virginia Mason Institute Senior Partner Melissa Lin interviews Dana Nelson-Peterson, Vice President of Nursing Operations at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, who shares what happens when you trust a management system and improvement process to solve your toughest challenges. Dana shares her story of leading a critical part of Virginia Mason's Covid response.

In this episode we are joined by Ketul J. Patel, Chief Executive Officer, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, and Division President, Pacific Northwest, CommonSpirit Health to discuss what he is focused on, what's to come for the future and more.

In this episode we are joined by Ketul J. Patel, Chief Executive Officer, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, and Division President, Pacific Northwest, CommonSpirit Health to discuss what he is focused on, what's to come for the future and more.

Chris Backous, Executive Partner of Transformation Services, interviews two of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health's improvement experts, Chris Stewart and Jackie Hartke, as they share their experiences overcoming the challenge of supporting the spread of our management method across a newly expanded health system.

In this episode, we are discussing best physiological pacing techniques, which will be the focus of the September 8th session of the Great Debates & Updates in Electrophysiology (GDUEP) conference. Joining us is Dr Aseem Desai and Dr Gopi Dandamudi. Dr Desai is a GDUEP Course Co-Director and the Co-Director of Mission Heritage Heart Rhythm Specialists at Providence Mission Hospital in California. Dr Dandamudi is the Executive Medical Director of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health at the University of Washington. For more information about the GDUEP conference, please visit https://www.ep.greatdebatesandupdates.com/register. This unique, debate-style conference is offered complimentary for clinicians, and all live sessions are also available on-demand through the end of 2022.

This episode features Dr. Donna Smith, President of Franciscan Medical Group and Senior Vice President at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. Here, she discusses her transition from physician to healthcare leadership, advice for emerging leaders, the power of asking good questions, and more.

This episode features Dr. Donna Smith, President at Franciscan Medical Group and Senior Vice President at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. Here, she discusses her transition from physician to healthcare leadership, advice for emerging leaders, the power of asking good questions, and more.

The Prince of Puyallup! Chris Egan is back for his weekly visit. Puck and Jim are then joined by Dr. Jessica Hamerman live from the tournament to benefit the Benaroya Research Institute (BRI) at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. BRI is a world leader in human immunology. Our mission is to predict, prevent, reverse and cure diseases that impact the immune system — from autoimmune diseases to cancer to COVID-19. Kevin Shockey is filling in for the Mayor and he gives us the 411 on what he has in store for the program.

The pressure is on for health systems to make up for lost business during the pandemic, creating big opportunities for physician relation teams. How can physician liaisons seize the moment to help bridge communication gaps and grow meaningful volume?Join Laurel Hopkins, Executive Director of Market Development at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, and host Chris Hemphill as they discuss strategies to gather field intelligence to better inform and influence growth plans.This conversation is brought to you by Actium Health in partnership with the Forum for Healthcare Strategists. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode features Ketul Patel, CEO at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health & Division President of the Pacific Northwest at CommonSpirit Health. Here, he discusses his focus on culture, financial, & health inequity challenges, and more.

AMA CXO Todd Unger discusses the complex issue of vaccine mandates with three health system leaders: Robert Hart, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Ochsner Health; Adnan Munkarah, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer, Henry Ford Health System; and Michael Anderson, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in this special COVID Update feature.

October 1, 2021Physician experts from CommonSpirit Health discuss the latest insights on Colorectal Cancer Screening UpdatesIncluded on the panel: Dr. Tom McGinn, EVP, Physician EnterpriseDr. Gary Greensweig, Chief Physician Executive, Physician EnterpriseDr. Michael T. Anderson, MHA, CPHQ, Division VP, Quality and Pop Health,  Virginia Mason Franciscan HealthDr. Nick Jansson, Medical Director, Ambulatory Quality and Pop Health, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health

This episode features Gary Kaplan, CEO at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health & Senior Vice President at CommonSpirit Health. Here, he discusses lessons learned from his storied career, what he is most proud of, and more.

Guest: Sheila, a career hospice nurse joins the show, sharing her story, and how she is going to lose her job on October 18 because the mandate will get her terminated. // Todd reads off the statement from Virginia Mason Franciscan Health regarding Sheila's situation. // PERSONAL NOTE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This month, Dr. Jessica Zaman and Dr. Daniel Nelson are joined by Dr. Vlad Simianu. Dr. Simianu is a colon and rectal surgeon at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in Seattle, WA who also has a special interest in population health, health-services research and surgical education. In this episode the recent review article published in the July issue of the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery titled "A Cost Effectiveness Evaluation of Surgical Approaches to Proctectomy" is discussed. Dr. Simianu presents his data from a unique decision-analytic model that was used to evaluate one-year costs and outcomes of robotic, laparoscopic, and open proctectomy based on data from a previously published literature. Which approach is more cost effective and how do different variables affect these outcomes? Listen to find out.

Dr. Gary S. Kaplan, MD, FACP, FACMPE, FACPE, chief executive officer of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and senior vice president, CommonSpirit Health, shares reflections on the recent merger between Virginia Mason and CHI Franciscan to form Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, and how leaders in healthcare benefit from being systems thinkers and trained in Lean concepts. Producer: Chris Harrop, MGMA senior editorial manager Intro/outro audio: "Street Walk," Paolo Pavan (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)