PQI PODCAST

The PQI Podcast, presented by NCODA, Inc., hosts clinical and administrative experts in oncology providing insight on important industry topics and how they value the Positive Quality Intervention (PQI) resource for their practice. In addition, the podcast highlights patient stories of hope, determination and how patient-centered care has impacted their cancer journey. 
Hosted by NCODA’s Senior Manager of Clinical Initiatives, Ginger Blackmon, PharmD.

Season 5 Ep. 9: Health Advocacy with Kafilat Salawu, DNP, FNP-C, AOCNP, BCPA

On this week’s episode of The PQI Podcast, we sit down with Kafilat Salawu, DNP, FNP-C, AOCNP, BCPA, and delve into the vital role of healthcare advocates, explore how Kafilat’s personal experiences were influenced by the complexities of navigating healthcare systems with cultural variances and language barriers. Additionally, we uncover how Kafilat’s dedication to healthcare advocacy was ignited by witnessing a sibling battle with a serious illness and another diagnosed with cancer.

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Kafilat is a compassionate healthcare pioneer with a profound commitment to transforming lives and advocating for health equity. Born in Nigeria and later migrating to the USA, her journey was marked by the challenges of navigating healthcare systems with cultural and linguistic variances. However, it was a life-altering moment, witnessing her close family member’s severe illness and another’s cancer diagnosis, that kindled her enduring passion for becoming a healthcare professional and advocate.

Drawing from her multifaceted background as a caregiver, patient, and healthcare professional, Kafilat possesses a unique perspective that fuels her dedication to addressing disparities in healthcare. She keenly recognized the pressing need for culturally sensitive care and equitable, quality treatment, inspiring her to establish Fides Health Advocates, LLC. Fides stands as a beacon of hope in the healthcare landscape, bridging the gap between patients and the healthcare system. Their unwavering mission is crystal clear: to provide steadfast support, guidance, and advocacy deeply rooted in trust, understanding, and compassionate care. For more information about Fides Health Advocates, please visit their website:     

https://fideshealthadvocates.com.

Season 5 Ep. 8: Childhood Cancer Awareness Month with Jessie Huisken

This week, in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we sit down with Jessie Huisken to discuss her daughter Phinley’s story and her book, Surviving to Thriving, Living Your Best Life with a Hospitalized Child

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Jessie has a BSW and worked extensively in child welfare and hospital settings before earning her credentials as an Infant Toddler Developmental Specialist. She worked as an independent developmental therapist until her daughter Phinley’s cancer diagnosis in 2021. For the following year, Jessie lived with Phinley in multiple pediatric hospitals across the US until Phinley’s passing in 2022, just hours before her 5th birthday.

You can find Jessie’s book here
You can find more information on Phinley’s Phund here.
You can connect with Jessie via Facebook through Jessie Huisken or Living Life Phinley-Kate Style.

Season 5 Ep. 7: Healthy Cancer Comeback with Fitz Koehler

On this week’s episode of The PQI Podcast, we sit down with Fitz Koehler to discuss her personal story and her book Your Healthy Cancer Comeback: Sick to Strong

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Fitz Koehler of Fitzness.com is the author of multiple books, including My Noisy Cancer Comeback, Your Healthy Cancer Comeback: Sick to Strong, and the Healthy Cancer Comeback Journal. She’s one of America’s most exciting keynote speakers, a premier race announcer, a fitness innovator, and a bonafide cancer crusher. Her company, Fitzness International, has a global reach, as Fitz is a regular on television, radio, and stages worldwide.

You can visit her website here.
You can purchase her book on Amazon here.

Season 5 Ep. 6: Patient Navigation and Triage Cancer with Joanna Fawzy Doran, Esq. and Amy Terhune, RPhT, CPhT, PACS

On this week’s episode of The PQI Podcast, we sit down with Joanna Fawzy Doran, Esq. and Amy Terhune, RPhT, CPhT, PACS to discuss patient navigation and Triage Cancer.

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Joanna Fawzy Morales, Esq. is a cancer rights attorney and CEO of Triage Cancer, a national, nonprofit organization providing free education on practical and legal issues that impact individuals diagnosed with cancer and their caregivers through events, materials, and resources. Joanna has spent nearly 30 years working in the cancer community as an Adjunct Professor of Law and for the John Wayne Cancer Institute’s Psychosocial Care Program. She has presented nearly one thousand seminars on employment, insurance, finances, and advocacy and co-authored a Cancer Rights Law book for the American Bar Association. In 2010, she was recognized by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the Top 20 Attorneys in California Under the Age of 40.

Amy Terhune, CPhT, RPhT, is a Prior Authorization Supervisor at Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute. She has been in pharmacy for 15 years, specializing in Oncology for the last four. Amy is an expert in obtaining prior authorizations for complex Oral oncolytic medications using up-to-date precision medicine to obtain payor approval rapidly, ensuring patients start therapy to avoid unnecessary delays in patient care.

Resources discussed in this episode can be found here:

https://TriageCancer.org

https://TriageCancer.org/Events

https://CancerFinances.org  

Practical Guide to Cancer Rights

Season 5 Ep. 5: Childhood Illness with Matt Saylor, PharmD, BCOP

This week we sit down with Matt Saylor, PharmD, BCOP to discuss his personal brain tumor story and his career path into pharmacy. 

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Matt has had a passion for healthcare from an early age and developed his interest in oncology based on many of his personal experiences and a fantastic oncology mentor in school.   Matt earned his Doctor of Pharmacy from The Ohio State University and then went on to complete 2 years of training – PGY1 at the VA in Columbus (OH) and then PGY2 Oncology at Emory in Atlanta.   After residency, he practiced at 2 large IDNs in North Carolina – Wake Forest in Winston-Salem and then Novant Health in Charlotte.  

For the past 5 years, Matt has been a Medical Affairs Director for Health Systems Oncology at Merck, where he gets to blend his interest for advancing the oncology landscape and providing medical information to fellow pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.

Season 5 Ep. 4: Fertility Preservation with Alice Rhoton-Vlasak, MD and Lauren Staley, ARNP

This week we sit down with Alice Rhoton-Vlasak, MD and Lauren Staley, ARNP to discuss fertility preservation in oncology patients.

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Alice Rhoton-Vlasak, MD, is a board-certified, fellowship-trained reproductive endocrinologist and a professor at the University of Florida Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology working in the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Many of her clinical efforts have focused on fertility and fertility preservation in cancer patients. She started a program called the UF Health HOPE network. This program has three prongs including research, clinical, and education for all healthcare providers to become familiar with fertility preservation services.

Lauren has worked at the University of Florida in the Division of Pediatric Oncology since 2011, serving as the Pediatric Solid Tumor Coordinator. She completed training through the NIH-funded ENRICH (Educating Nurses about Reproductive Issues in Cancer Healthcare) program. In 2019, Lauren joined the UF Health Reproductive Endocrinology group in the role of Oncofertility
Navigator. Through this initiative, Lauren provides fertility preservation counseling for patients facing a new cancer diagnosis.

Season 5 Ep. 3: The 2% Way with Myron Rolle, MD, MSc

This week we sit down with Myron Rolle, MD, MSc to discuss his book The 2% Way – How a philosophy of small improvements took me to Oxford, the NFL, and Neurosurgery.

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Dr. Rolle is a chief neurosurgery resident and Global Neurosurgery Fellow at Harvard-Massachusetts General Hospital, Rhodes Scholar, author, and former professional football player in the National Football League. He holds a Doctor of Medicine from Florida State University College of Medicine, a Master of Science in medical anthropology from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Science in exercise science from Florida State University.

He developed and published the Rolle Scoring System, a public health rating scale used to determine a developing country’s governance around helmet safety to prevent traumatic brain injury. He has been recognized by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons for demonstrating the best operative technique in the reconstruction of upper extremity motor function using intercostal nerve transfers after a traumatic brachial plexus injury.

Dr. Rolle is the chairman of the Caribbean Neurosurgery Foundation – a not-for-profit which houses capacity-building and health system-strengthening initiatives for improved neurosurgical care in the Caribbean. His foundation has impacted over 3.5 million people in the Caribbean through the upscaling of policy, service delivery, infrastructure, and workforce development. He is the best-selling author of The 2% Way – How a philosophy of small improvements took me to Oxford, the NFL, and Neurosurgery. You can find his book here.

Season 5 Ep. 2: Oral Cancer Care with Robert M Haberkorn, DDS, MBA, MLD

This week we sit down with Robert M Haberkorn, DDS, MBA, MLD to discuss
oral cancer.

Dr. Haberkorn has been a huge proponent of early diagnosis and awareness of oral cancer and continues his crusade to make the communities he serves aware of the risk factors.
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Dr. Haberkorn graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and attended a surgical mini-residency at Baylor University for dental Implants. Immediately after graduation, he purchased a dental practice and began his career serving his patients in both metro and rural areas. His interest in treating oral cancer patients began in 1987, and he began his oral oncology career providing diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care for the patients within his own practice, as well as those referred to him by other health care providers. He has been a huge proponent of early diagnosis and awareness of oral cancer and continues his crusade to make the communities he serves aware of the risk factors.

Dr. Haberkorn acquired his first laser in 1990 and has since earned his Master’s in Laser Dentistry therapy utilizing soft tissue and hard tissue lasers as innovative treatment modalities for dental issues and for oral cancer patients needing diagnosis, treatment, and post-operative pain relief.
He has earned an MBA from The University of Notre Dame. Dr. Haberkorn is an alumnus of the Pankey Institute, a member of the American Academy of Oral Medicine, The Academy of Laser Dentistry, The American Association of Facial Esthetics, The Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, The International Society of Oral Oncology, and is currently studying at The University of Florida for additional knowledge for the treatment of patients with Oral Cancer and Oral diseases in their Department of Oral Oncology and Oral Medicine.

You can find more information on the Oral Cancer Foundation here.

Season 5 Ep. 1: About Herbs with Yen Nien (Jason) Hou, PharmD, Dipl.O.M, L.Ac

We’re kicking off season 5 by welcoming Yen Nien (Jason) Hou, PharmD, Dipl.O.M, L.Ac, who shares enlightening insights about the Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Herb information center, a tool for the public and healthcare professionals that can help figure out the value of using common herbs and other dietary supplements.

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Jason is a pharmacist, traditional Chinese medicine herbalist, and coordinator of the herb information center at the Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  He holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from The State University of New York (SUNY), School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and completed a Postgraduate Year 1 community pharmacy residency, both in Buffalo, New York. He received Master of Science degree from the New York College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and a Diplomate of Oriental Medicine, board-certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.  Jason is a registered pharmacist and licensed acupuncturist in New York State.  His expertise is in the use of dietary supplements and botanical products. Because many cancer patients use herbal supplements, there is an urgent need for reliable information on herb-drug interactions. Jason applies his experience in the areas of pharmacy and botanicals to consult and to educate patients and other healthcare professionals about the proper use of herbs and supplements.

You can find the resources Jason references in the podcast below:

https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/diagnosis-treatment/symptom-management/integrative-medicine/membership

http://www.aboutherbs.com/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00520-023-07577-x

https://prezi.com/snygsdsan8mn/acupuncture-as-a-remedy-for-pain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7HMZlPcjBQ

https://www.mskcc.org/departments/division-subspecialty-medicine/integrative-medicine/programs/herbal-formulations-cancer-supportive-care

https://www.consumerlab.com/

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