Podcast appearances and mentions of William S Middleton

Kyle Richards, MD, FACS, is our guest this week on the AUA Inside Tract Podcast. He discusses his experience working as a urologist at an academic institution and V.A. hospital. Dr. Richards is a urologic oncologist with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He is also Chief of Urology at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wisc.

Today’s episode of the VHA Innovation Ecosystem podcast will focus on the recent VHE Aungrial talks that took place on August 29th and 30th of 2018. Over 70 VA employees attended this event and shared their struggles and successes within their respective VA programs. 13 of these professionals gave presentations about their work. Among the presenters was Dr. Ellina Seckel, Associate Chief, Ambulatory and Specialty Care - Pharmacy Service at William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison Wisconsin. Dr. Seckel is in charge of implementing the Increasing Access to Primary Care Through Clinical Pharmacy Specialists program. The doctor will explain why the facility felt the need to create a new pharmaceutical position for their primary care teams and the overwhelmingly positive effects it has done for both physician and patient satisfaction. During this special mini-episode you will learn about: What makes a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist different from a traditional pharmacist? How hiring a pharmacist specialist help care access for veterans? How Dr. Seckel implemented the program and achieved such impressive results! The culture shock that had to be overcome before the program could really work. A Clinical Pharmacy Specialist’s role within a primary care team. The feedback from providers and patients. How Dr. Seckel and her team measure the success rate of the program. Dr. Seckel’s hopes for the next five years. Dr. Seckel’s final thoughts. RESOURCES & MENTIONS William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital The VHA Innovation Experience VA Innovators Network Diffusion of Excellence U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs VHA: IE Podcast Quotes from today’s episode: "Imagine every veteran having same-day access to care. Imagine every veteran being on only the medications they need, and their chronic conditions well controlled, and imagine every veteran feeling well and whole." -- Dr. Seckel "How the pharmacist provider or clinical pharmacy specialist works within the team, we do have weekly team meetings, for example on my team, once a week, I sit down with our primary care provider, our RN, the LPN, and our scheduler and we talk about the patients that might be facing so unique challenges and we strategize together on how each of us can be most supportive to that patient." -- Dr. Seckel "So pharmacist providers in Madison in 2015, recognized that we had an access issue. Wait times were greater than 30 days in primary care and we wanted to do something about it." -- Dr. Seckel "VA pharmacists providers have been able to hold scopes of practices federally since 1995, and in fact, today there are over 4000 pharmacists practicing under scopes of practices allow them these privileges today." -- Dr. Seckel Thank you for joining us for the VHA Innovation Ecosystem podcast. If you know a veteran who may need a little help or you are that veteran, please call the VA’s crisis line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1.

The fifth episode of the VHA Innovation Ecosystem podcast, VHA:IE, focuses on how VA is helping Veterans reflect on and share their stories with their health providers, loved ones, and the community at large. On this episode, you will hear from the team behind a program that personalizes the healthcare experience by including a Veteran’s life story in their medical file, along with a project that aims to address how Veterans may confront death. You’ll also hear from a non-profit dance group that is helping restore Veterans' physical, mental, and emotional strength through workshops and public performances. The first program, My Life, My Story, is building a network of employees and volunteers who sit down with Veterans and then craft written life stories for inclusion in Veterans’ medical records. This allows Veterans to feel seen and heard and enables doctors to better understand the lives of those they care for. The program originated at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, and is being spread across VA as it gains popularity with both Veterans and caregivers. Dr. Ryan Vega, Director of the Diffusion of Excellence Initiative, speaks with Thor Ringler about My Life, My Story, including the challenges with sustaining the program and his future vision for it. Before I Die, the second program featured in the episode, is a worldwide community art project that is being implemented at the Tomah VA Medical Center. The facility will erect an eco-friendly recycled paper wall that will allow patients and visitors to write their answer to the question, “Before I die, I want to…” The project is meant to help patients and their loved ones begin an important discussion about death. John D’Adamo, Acting Director of the VHA Innovators Network, talks with Amanda Meinke about the wall’s ability to connect Veterans with their community and loved ones. The final segment features an interview with Jacques Heim and Chris Loverro from the non-profit dance troupe DIAVOLO. Through the Veterans Project: A Long Journey Home, DIAVOLO helps Veterans reconnect with their bodies and mental and emotional strengths. John D’Adamo sits down to discuss the program with Heim, who is DIAVOLO’s founder and artistic director, and Loverro, who is a performer and Army Veteran. Episode Resources: US Department of Veteran Affairs VHA Innovators Network Diffusion of Excellence Initiative Before I Die DIAVOLO My Life, My Story Key Episode Quotes: "We want you to talk about what's comfortable for you to share with your VA care team. We don't actually have a set of questions that we ask. We have topics that we cover." -- Thor Ringler, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital "Some people look at death as a negative, and this way, people can write down their hopes and dreams and aspirations and build our relationship with death and one another by sharing these things." -- Amanda Meinke, Tomah VA Medical Center "I really believe the more we can bring closer the Veterans and the civilians together, for the civilians to really understand who are the Veterans, what they are about, who are they – the better we can help the Veterans." -- Jacques Hines, DIAVOLO founder and artistic director "Don't be intimidated by the dance component. It's not about learning to be a dancer, it's about coming together in a tribe and learning how to move and create." -- Chris Loverro, Army Veteran and DIAVOLO performer

The William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, was recently recognized as the first Dementia Friendly VA hospital in the country. We hear from Dr. Mary Wyman and Margaret Flood on the importance of Dementia Friendly and what it takes to reach this designation. Guests: Dr. Mary Wyman, Clinical Psychologist, and Margaret Flood, Clinically Licensed Social Worker, VA Caregiver Support Coordinator

Veterans are at a higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease than the general population. A new clinical trial is looking at the effect prescription fish oil has on brain health in veterans and will determine whether the supplement could be used as an effective prevention treatment for the disease. Guest: Cynthia Carlsson, MD, MS, geriatrician, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, and investigator, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center