Baltimore’s Best and Brightest Breaks Down Barriers in Health

February is Black History Month, and Talk Ten Tuesdays is recognizing it with an appearance by Dr. Crystal Watkins, who shares thoughts about her ascension from an African-American student in the Baltimore City Public Schools to becoming an MD, PhD, neuroscientist, and finally director of The Memory Clinic at Sheppard Pratt Health System.

Dr. Watkins' appearance coincides with news that the American Hospital Association (AHA) this past week announced that it will allow notes from social workers and registered nurses to be considered as social determinants of health (SDoH), this on the heels of a USA Today report this week that Baltimore has the highest per-capita murder rate in the nation.

Using the statistics derived from ICD-10 codes might be a useful way in which data can help combat underlying issues, as you will hear when SDoH advocate Diane Iverson, RN, an emergency room nurse in Baltimore, also joins the broadcast.

Other segments featured in this episode include:

• News Desk: Larry Field, DO, anchors the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk with the very latest healthcare news. Field is the treasurer of the American College of Physician Advisors.
   
  
  
• Focus on Heart Disease: Given that February is American Heart Month, Talk Ten Tuesdays continues its focus on heart disease when nationally recognized healthcare coding consultant, educator, and auditor Terry Fletcher reports on "assumptive" coding – wherein, under certain situations, interpretations can cause confusion in code selection. 

Talk Ten Tuesdays. More than just talk.™