INTERVIEWS

Guest: Toni Riley

Presenter: Tabetha Moreto

Guest Bio: Toni Riley is a pharmacist and has for many years practised as a community pharmacist and a consultant pharmacist, providing medication review services to the community and in Aged Care. She has been the national project of the National Return and Disposal of Unwanted Medicine Project (the RUM Project) since 2015 and during this time has commissioned a National Audit and General Population Survey, and most recently a public awareness campaign for the RUM project.

Segment overview: The RUM Project is a Commonwealth funded program, providing all community pharmacies in Australia a method of environmentally safe disposal of unwanted and expired medicines returned to the pharmacy by the consumer. This program has been in operation continuously since 1998 and today incinerate in excess of 700,000kg of unwanted medicines annually. Anyone can return their household medicines to any community pharmacy. The returned medicines are put in a secure bin and then collected and disposed of by high temperature incineration in accordance with regulatory and EPA requirements.

Guest: Kylie Ward

Presenter: Henry Acosta

Guest Bio: Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward has had a successful and celebrated career as a Nursing Leader and Health and Aged Care Executive in Australia for over 20 years. She has held positions of Managing Director, Director of Clinical Operations, Director of Nursing and Midwifery, Director of the Division of Medicine, Associate Director of Women’s and Children’s Health and Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery in three major health services in NSW and Victoria. She has been a NUM, After Hours Coordinator, Campus Manager, Bed Manager and Patient Flow Manager. Her clinical background is in intensive care and aged care.

Kylie has enjoyed a long history with ACN and the organisations that ACN is founded upon, RCNA and the College of Nursing. After years of membership and involvement in both organisations including RCNA Chapter Chair of Sydney West Kylie was awarded Fellowship of both organisations in 2007. In 2009 Kylie was awarded a Wharton Fellowship from the University of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Understanding the history and commitment of these two great organisations to nursing professionalism in Australia Kylie is committed to honouring the past to lead the Australian College of Nursing as a dynamic and influential key professional organisational well into the future.

Segment overview: In today’s Health Supplier Segment, we are joined by returning guest Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward from the Australian College of Nursing here to discuss the topic of Electronic Health Records of Patients and their safety. According to Kylie, a national shared electronic health record means that as people move between health care providers, or even move between states, clinical professionals have a single trusted source of information. This information that could be vital such as a person’s allergies or medications, they can quickly and easily access. She also said that the ACN supports moves towards a national op-out approach to My Health Record and wants to ensure the vast majority of Australians take up this opportunity to improve their health care. Kylie mentioned that security concerns could play a factor in people choosing to wait to participate. She believes that nurses must be involved in the development, implementation and ongoing maintenance of My Health Record.

Guest: Genevieve Nolan

Presenter: Henry Acosta

Guest Bio: Gen has worked at MOVE since September 2011 in the role of Programs Manager, Policy, Information and Programs Unit and has principal responsibility for the coordinati0on of MOVE’s  suite of training and education programs. Prior to MOVE, Gen worked in various roles within the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. With her extensive experience in project and program management, Gen has the overall responsibility for the successful implementation of the professional webinar series.

Segment overview: In today’s Health Supplier Segment, we welcome MOVE Manager, Victorian Active Ageing Partnership Genevieve Nolan here to talk about the free webinars they are offering health professionals in October and November this year. MOVE muscle, bone and joint health is the new voice of Arthritis and Osteoporosis Victoria. Their work is actively supported by people with arthritis, osteoporosis, back pain and other muscle, bone and joint conditions, as well as our members, volunteers, health professionals, peer support groups, corporate and research partners. At MOVE they undertake a range of initiatives and events to achieve their vision of being a leader in promoting excellence in musculoskeletal health and wellbeing. On October 12 the topic of the webinar will be about the diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis while on November 30 the discussion will be about the diagnosis and management of psoriatic arthritis.

Guest: Kylie Ward

Presenter: Henry Acosta

Guest Bio: For over 20 years, Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward has had a successful career as a Nursing Leader and as a Health and Aged Care Executive in Australia. She is passionate about advancing professionalism in the field of nursing and acknowledges the significant contribution of nurse leaders to health, aged care, and community.

Kylie’s approach to leadership is modern, ethical, progressive and focuses on humanity and building mental and spiritual resilience to meet organisational challenges and lead people through change. Her expertise is in transformational leadership and management, organisational culture, change management, models of care, redesign and clinical informatics.

Kylie wears multiple hats. She has been a lecturer for Masters Degree and undergraduate Masters Degree nursing students at Monash University. She has held positions of Managing Director, Director of Clinical Operations, Director of Nursing and Midwifery, Director of the Division of Medicine, Associate Director of Women’s and Children’s Health and Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery in three major health services in NSW and Victoria. She has been a NUM, After Hours Coordinator, Campus Manager, Bed Manager and Patient Flow Manager. Her clinical background is in intensive care and aged care.

Segment overview: For Kylie Ward of Australian College of Nursing, “To be a nurse is to be a leader.”  She is passionate about advancing professionalism of nurses and acknowledges their contribution to public health. In this interview, Kylie talks about National Diabetes Week, Choosing Wisely Australia Campaign, and the importance of people living with diabetes to self-monitor their blood sugar level. The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) is the national professional organisation for all nurse leaders and its aim is to ensure that the Australian community receives quality nursing care now and in the future. ACN is a membership organisation with members in all states and territories, health care settings and nursing specialties. 

Guests: Carolyn Thompson & James LaFlamme

Presenter: Neal Howard

Guest Bio: Carolyn Thompson is Board Chair for BioPharma Global.  A graduate of Kansas State University, she is Founding Board Chair of the Washington Women’s Leadership Initiative (WWLI.org), a board member at The Girl Scout Council of the National Capital Area and My Sister’s Place in Washington, DC. As Principal of Merito Group, Carolyn leads a team of talent acquisition professionals providing client services to a wide range of industries including Big 4, Fortune 1000 companies and small business owners alike. A creative entrepreneur and a credentialed career coach, she is regularly published on topics relating to employment, careers, job search, business strategy, social media, organizational and professional development and executive recruiting in various national magazines, trade journals, and on the Internet.  An alumnus of Kansas State University, Carolyn is the author of TEN EASY STEPS TO A PERFECT RESUME, TEN STEPS TO FINDING THE PERFECT JOB, and TEN SECRETS TO GETTING PROMOTED.

James LaFlamme has more than 30 years of healthcare operational experience and has held a variety of senior positions including CEO, Chief Operations Officer, Vice President of Clinical Services, and Administrative Director at several hospitals and health systems. In his current role as Chief Executive Officer he is responsible for leading global operations for BioPharma Global.  This encompasses overseeing the development and delivery of all advisory opinions and client deliverables as well as a full complement of Client Development activities on a worldwide basis.  James earned a BS degree in Pharmacy from the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy and a MS degree in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University. He serves on the Deans Advisory Board at the UCONN School of Pharmacy and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Segment overview: Carolyn Thompson, Board Chair, and James LaFlamme, President & CEO of BioPharma Global discuss rare diseases, the trends in rare disease research, and the FDA and EMA approval processes.  

Guest: Marjorie Brook  

Presenter: Neal Howard

Guest Bio: Marjorie Brook is an internationally-recognized bodyworker and pioneer in the field of Scar Tissue Release. She travels globally offering seminars and lectures on the S.T.R.A.I.T. (Scar Tissue Release And Integrated Therapies) Method, an innovative and ground breaking therapy that works with the body, not against it.  Her mission is to bring awareness to the public about the damaging effect of scar tissue and adhesions.

Segment overview: In this segment, Marjorie Brook, returns to talk about Integrated Therapeutic Stretching™, one of the most effective stretching therapies that she developed based on Aaron Mattes Active Isolated Stretching.

Guest: Tristan White

Presenter: Henry Acosta

Guest Bio: Smart Company has described Tristan White as “one of Australia’s next generation of business leaders.”

Tristan is the Founder & CEO of The Physio Co, a unique healthcare business, that in 2014 ranked No. 1 on BRW’s list of Australia’s 50 Best Places to Work.

Tristan is a qualified physiotherapist from The University of Melbourne who started his career with a dream to become a sports physiotherapist and work with the mighty Richmond Tigers in the AFL. After a short stint in private practice, Tristan left the glamorous world of sports physio and created himself a job helping oldies in a few nursing homes across Melbourne. He loved it and very quickly had more aged care clients than he was able to treat himself. That’s when, in 2004, his new job became a business and The Physio Co (TPC) was born.

As TPC has grown, Tristan has obsessed over creating the best business he possibly can, he figured out a way to create a strong culture that not only worked at TPC but can be systemised and tailored to other businesses. His experiences have led him to believe culture is everything. He has also recently published a book called Culture is Everything, which quickly became #1 best seller on Amazon.

Segment overview: Tristan White have always dreamed of having to work in a job that inspires him. He failed to find that job, so he created it himself. He believes that the best workplace grows with a systemised company culture. With more than a decade of learning, testing and refining, he finally wrote his book, “Culture is Everything” which demonstrates how you can  build and sustain a thriving company culture in your own team or business to achieve remarkable success.

Guest: Lou Pascuzzi, CEO of TLC Healthcare

Presenter: Henry Acosta

Guest Bio: Lou Pascuzzi is a well-known and respected executive with a demonstrated track record in both the entrepreneurial and corporate sectors. He began his career in the healthcare industry almost 20 years ago when he founded Peak Health Management. Over 13 years he built Peak Health Management to be Australia’s largest and most successful corporate health management company. In 2010 Peak Health Management was successfully acquired by BUPA Australia Ltd. Lou moved to Healthscope to head up their Medical Centres (Primary Care) Division. During his time at Healthscope, he transformed the Healthscope Medical Centres brand, making it the leading provider of chronic disease specific primary care in the Australian market.

Based on his achievements at Healthscope & Peak, he was invited to institute the same strategies at Australia’s largest primary care provider, the Independent Practitioners Network (IPN) owned by Sonic Healthcare. The initiatives he implemented have proven to be a resounding success on multiple levels.

Lou arrived at TLC Healthcare in 2013 tasked with utilising his entrepreneurial primary care background to rejuvenate the aged care industry.

Segment overview: TLC Healthcare is one of Victoria’s largest integrated healthcare providers with residential aged care at its core. TLC owns and operates community medical centres that are conveniently co-located with their residential aged care homes. With facilities across Melbourne and the Geelong region, TLC‘s mission is to be leaders in innovative and integrated healthcare renowned for providing wellbeing to their communities. The organisation’s core values are respect, accountability, excellence, collaboration, integrity and innovation. In this interview, CEO Lou Pascuzzi talks about their innovative approach in their services, focusing on the integration of primary care into residential aged care.