Posts

8 Ways to Improve Hospital Patient Safety

December 13, 2016/5779 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Health Care /by John Trader

Protect patient safety in healthcare by following these 8 simple steps.

The following gust post on patient safety in healthcare was submitted by Gracy Liura.

There are very few experiences in life that cause more anxiety than having to be admitted into the hospital.

Take Legal Measures Ahead of Time

Coming up with a plan of constraints, requests, and procedures ahead of time can challenging and might even seem impossible. Knowing what to prepare for and who is going to be in charge, should you become incapacitated, appears to be an overwhelming task with so many emotions that can impede logic. At the same time, almost all aspects of life require a certain amount of planning, especially in relation to medical care and hospitalization. At this point, you (and your spouse or chosen “next of kin”) should pay a visit to the local hospital and request copies of the paperwork that need filling out upon admittance. Every hospital in every region is going to differ, but some of these forms usually include the following:

• The Wishes—place a number before the word “wishes,” and then, this document might sound familiar. This form covers a broad range of issues or topics related to a stay in the hospital, including which difficult decisions will need to be made and by who. You might pick up a copy at your local hospital or healthcare facility to take with you for legal consultation. In other words you (and your spouse, if applicable) can discuss and fill out the paperwork and talk with a lawyer who can offer valuable advice about upholding your requests. More than likely, the document might have to be notarized.

• List of Visitors (including clergy or ministers)—usually, in the stack of forms, there is a section, if not one page, where you make a list of visitors who would be allowed in the room for just a short time and who you would wish to stay for a longer period beyond visiting hours, if allowed by the hospital. This also includes any pastors, clergy, and/or laypersons should you wish to have some spiritual support for yourself and your family.

• “Next of Kin”—this list is similar to the one that is previously mentioned, but applies more to an extreme emergency situation when a family member needs to get to the hospital quickly and possibly notify anyone else. Again, if this list and the list of visitors is established ahead of time, then there might be less chaos for you and whoever is in charge of notifications, which means less chance for a family conflict to erupt that distracts the staff away from quality patient care (not to mention disturbs the other patients).

• Power of Attorney and/or Guardianship—you will most definitely need to seek legal counsel when establishing who will have power of attorney or assume guardianship if you reach the point of losing all capacity to make important decisions. Normally, spouses would act on each other’s behalf, or one of the older (or most responsible) of the adult children would be designated for this role. For single, young adults, often a parent is asked to take on this job in the event of a severe medical episode. Either way, you should ideally talk with the person who you would like to fulfill those duties before speaking with an attorney and going through all the legal procedures to make sure that he or she is in agreement with you. After all, this is the person who will be in charge of some of the most difficult decisions concerning your care.

• List of “tasks” for immediate and extended family members—this document, if you wished to create such a document, probably has no legal bearing, but it would help to not just ask for help from loved ones but to specify what exactly you need—for example, someone to ask questions, someone to take your belongings home, someone to look after children during your stay, etc. Having an informal family meeting for the sake of discussing the “what if” scenarios and how to address them can help dispel some of the fear that goes along with being hospitalized.

Ask a Relative or Friend to Stay

No, you are not being a “coward” if you ask your spouse, significant other, parent, or even your best friend to stay with you for a night or two after your procedure. After all, you are still “coming out of” anesthesia while taking pain medication and would definitely need the immediate help to get out of bed if necessary.

Invoke the Help of Family and Friends as Witnesses

When you are ill or injured, the brain is frantically processing all sorts of stimuli—from the physical symptoms to the emotional impact. Thus, you might consider asking family and friends to “rotate in shifts” to stay with you and observe the care that the staff is giving and to be able to take notes and pose questions when the doctor checks on you. Also, you will need to consider that possibly only one to two visitors at a time would be allowed.

Meet with the Hospital’s P.R. Rep

If you are having a procedure scheduled ahead of time, then visiting with a public relations representative could result in gaining some valuable information about the hospital’s policies on visitors, shift changes (remember you will be dealing with multiple care givers) and other pertinent topics as well as to ask some questions of your own.

Protect Personal Belongings

In the event that you have to go to the Emergency Room, the person who takes you there should collect your personal items, like wallet, keys, and cell phone right away. If you are going to the hospital for a pre-scheduled surgery, then ideally, you will have already made arrangements with the family member or friend who accompanies you when you register. This is extremely important because most hospitals post their policy that they are not responsible for stolen or missing items.

Try to Stay Observant

When you are on medication or just not feeling well at all, keeping watch over your surroundings can be difficult. Nonetheless, during the waking hours, some vigilance would be beneficial. This is not to encourage paranoia, which would impede your healing and recovery, but just simply being coherent and maintaining communication with nurses and doctors can make a difference in the safety factor.

Become Ambulatory as Quickly as Possible

Getting on your feet is not just a matter of safety, but also an important factor in the recovery process. (Again, you should abide by orders from your doctor.) With help from a nurse, physical therapy assistant, or whoever is staying with you, you can periodically stand up and perhaps even walk around for a few minutes at a time. This will not only prevent fluid from settling in your lungs, it will also help you to get a look at your surroundings, specifically exits as well as to familiarize yourself with care givers and security staff.

Maintain an Updated List of Medications and Dietary Restrictions

It is important to adopt the practice of keeping a list of your prescriptions and supplements, any restrictions and allergies in your wallet for a number of reasons. Granted, if you are going into the hospital for a surgery that has been in the planning for a while, then you would have already provided that information upon pre-registering, but in the event of an unexpected illness, then having that information handy can mean the difference between life and death. A copy of this information should also be given to your designated helper (or spouse) in the event that you are not able to advocate for yourself.

Gracy is a dedicated and qualified nutritionist with over six years of experience in the Indian food industry, currently blogging at hCGdropsratings.com. On this website, she gives honest and detailed reviews on the world’s best HCG diet drops based on Google trends and Amazon, Ebay ratings. Gracy has earned a MSc degree in Human Nutrition at Chinmaya degree College (BHEL) in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. You can contact her any time you’d want if you’ve got any questions regarding her guest posts.

4 Ways to Utilize Technology to Protect Your Patients

December 10, 2016/4093 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Patient Safety /by John Trader

The following guest post on how to protect patient safety in healthcare was submitted by Kara Masterson.

Healthcare technology has continued its rapid change over the last few decades. This impacts every level of healthcare. Physicians and office staff must work to integrate the appropriate improvements into every day practice, while continuing to provide excellent patient care. Hospitals must increase the effectiveness and efficiency of staff and offices while treating patients with acute and chronic conditions. Evaluating and utilizing applicable technology in each setting assist in protecting patients in the organization.

Learn more about how to better protect patient safety through healthcare technology.

In the Laboratory

Hospital laboratories are filled with opportunities for errors. For the most part, microscopes and slides have been replaced with sophisticated diagnostic machines that are able to conduct several individual tests from the same sample at the same time. Unfortunately, the danger of misidentification of specimens remains. Utilizing the most up to date equipment possible and having a reliable identification and reporting system go a long way in having confidence in the accuracy of test results. A study published by the National Institute of Health (NIH) suggests using bar codes on containers to “link specimens to identifying electronic information.”

Patient Engagement in Care

A relatively new area of health care technology can be found in interactive patient engagement systems. Generally used with in patient care or for patients with chronic diseases, the systems connect health care staff with patients through a cloud based service. With a patient-centered approach to health care, these systems are designed to keep patients and their families engaged and participating in their care leading to a positive outcome for the patient. The systems provide information, education and entertainment options for in patients. The systems can be monitored by nurses and staff and are designed to promote communication and interaction between the patient, family and hospital doctors and nurses.

Time-Sensitive Collaboration

The NIH reports that one of the greatest barriers to effective health care is effective communication between health care professionals. In order to improve this and get the best care possible for patients, doctors and software companies are teaming up to develop communication tools that allow such varied business operations as specialist collaboration, remote access and staff training. The cloud-based service uses the lessons learned from social media to improve health care for patients. Through video conferencing, patients can be evaluated and diagnosed by a remote specialist. A hospital system with multiple offices can bring staff together to learn more about the most recent health regulations. The software involved can be utilized on a variety of device types with nearly unlimited access points.

Remote Tracking Tools

More and more, doctors are utilizing remote tracking tools to assist in patient care. Caring for patients with multiple, chronic conditions continue to be one of the greatest concerns in health care. With remote tracking, patients with diabetes and kidney disease can be closely monitored in the home. Elderly patients also benefit from this technology through mobility monitoring and check in services. Other benefits of these tracking tools can be found in diagnostics where laboratories can “observe” patient statistics over a period of time to better understand reported symptoms. Patients are able to be at home, improving quality of life and reducing health care costs.

Technology that has a direct impact on diagnosis and treatment are constantly improving. The offices and companies that understand and embrace the innovations that work for their situations will improve patient care by being more accurate and efficient. Each tool comes with a price tag, so it will be incumbent on organization administrators to determine which will work best for the clientele the organization serves.

Kara Masterson is a freelance writer from Utah. She graduated from the University of Utah and enjoys writing and spending time with her dog, Max.

6 Most Common Injuries To Healthcare Workers

December 6, 2016/9628 views / 1 Comment/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Patient Safety /by John Trader

Patient safety is a main theme of our blog, but what about healthcare worker safety? Enjoy this guest post from Patient Handling addressing common safety risks to healthcare workers.

Healthcare workers rank at the top of the list of professionals with the most challenging and risky jobs. Despite the fact that research studies and statistics have proved that hospitals are one of the most unsafe and dangerous places to work, healthcare professionals continue to serve humanity regardless of the wide range of threats to their health.

Patient safety is a hot topic in healthcare, but what about healthcare worker safety?

According to International Labour Organization’s database of 1994, almost 51% of nurses and midwives in Australia are at the risk of developing various diseases dur to exposure to contaminated sharps. While the situation has definitely improved since then, the rate is still almost double to that of the whole private industry, including the manufacturing and construction industries. These facts are startling.

Who Is Considered A Healthcare Worker?

Everyone who works within the healthcare industry; in a hospital, clinic, nursing facility, or any other health centre, for protecting and improving the health of the masses in any way, qualifies as a healthcare worker. Doctors, nurses, and paramedics all come under this category.

Most Common Injuries to Healthcare Workers
Healthcare professionals work in a variety of settings and in the most difficult and challenging situations that expose them to unique dangers and risks almost all the time. Since the healthcare industry is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in Australia (more than 610,148 people were working as registered health practitioners, at one position or the other, in 2014), large numbers of people are continuously at risk.

The following types of injuries are most prevalent among healthcare workers:

• Musculoskeletal Injuries

The kind of work healthcare professionals are involved in is not only mentally challenging, but is also physically demanding. According to research studies, healthcare workers face 7 times higher risks for developing Musculoskeletal Injuries (MSDs) than workers working in other industries. Among all healthcare professionals, paramedics and nurses face the highest risk because they are involved in handling patients during rescues and transfers. Sprains and strains in different parts of the body are common issues healthcare workers suffer from as well.

• Fractures

Since healthcare professionals are almost always on the move, they are more prone to slips and falls which could cause fractures. Also, fractures could occur due to attacks by violent patients.

• Back Injuries

The nature of work healthcare professionals do everyday involves a lot bending, twisting, quick movements, and heavy lifting, which can cause back injuries, such as back pain and slip discs.
Rescuing and transferring patients from one place to another, or from one position to another, requires non-neutral postures, rotations, and flexions that put a lot of stress on back muscles and spinal cord.

• Cuts and Incisions

People working in the healthcare industry work with sharp instruments, such as needles and surgical instruments, on a regular basis. Even the slightest mishandling or distraction could lead to cuts and incisions.

• Burns

Paramedics are usually at the risk of burns because they are responsible for rescuing patients in emergency situations, which also includes dealing with fire.

• Infections and Blood Borne Diseases

Airborne micro-organisms and exposure to bodily waste and mucous is common in healthcare facilities. Also, healthcare workers can catch various blood borne infections and diseases if they have cuts and wounds. This puts them at the risk of developing as serious a disease as Hepatitis or HIV.

Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2661/
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20150307/MAGAZINE/303079965

This article is provided by the creative team behind Patient Handling.

A Guide to Digital, Physical, and Legal Patient Safety

November 29, 2016/4360 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Patient Safety /by John Trader

The following guest post on patient safety in healthcare was submitted by Dixie Somers.

Today’s health care consumer is protected by digital, physical, and legal patient safety rules and regulations. Hospitalists, administrators, physicians, nurses, and others in a hospital setting must be aware of the required physical safeguards, rules, and regulations in place to protect patients’ physical wellbeing and digital and legal patient information and records at all times.

Learn more about to protect patients’ physical wellbeing and digital and legal patient information and records.

Physical safeguards also include the physical steps, procedures, and policies required to secure the Covered Entity (CE) or the CE’s Business Associates’ (BAs) electronic data and HIT systems, equipment, and building structures in use. These safeguards should address protection against physical and environmental threats as well as possible unauthorized intrusions in the health care environment.

Physical Safeguards

The hospital is a complex physical environment. It’s important for all hospital staff to implement and practice good health habits on a personal and team level.

The hospital has a myriad of regulatory compliance issues to consider along with patient safety, including HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act), and Medicare/Medicaid payments regulations in addition to its own corporate governance policies.

Of course, it’s the legal and ethical duty of the hospital to protect the patient’s physical body from material harm when he or she is in the hospital. Safety guards and procedures should be strictly followed at all times.

Hospital Environmental Health

Dangers are always present in the hospital, including hazardous chemicals, infectious materials, chemotherapeutic agents, and radioactive matter, among others. Occupational safety and health administrators must work to ensure patient protection from exposure to these elements. A fire or resulting smoke from a hospital fire could be dangerous for the hospital’s most vulnerable patients. Life Safety Codes are in place for that reason. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and local/municipal governments are required to enforce the laws and/or regulations concerning fire safety and hazardous materials in the hospital.

The hospital should review its fire and safety plan, fire drills/alarm notifications, fire safety equipment/maintenance and protective building features, hazardous materials/exposure control plan, waste containment, and personal protective equipment as part of the annual risk assessment.

Hospital Security

All people in the hospital—patients, staff, and members of the public—must be protected from harm in the hospital. Hospital security includes multiple factors. Day-to-day concerns referenced above or major accidents could threaten the hospital environment.

Since many people travel to and from the hospital each day, it’s important to protect individuals from potential altercations and robberies (including robbery of physical goods or stolen identification). Potential events could cause temporary overcrowding in the hospital.

It’s essential for the hospital to consider these and other potential scenarios that affect safety and security. Local, state, and federal laws address many situations but it’s also essential for the hospital to consider coordination with local emergency, fire, and police personnel.

As part of the yearly risk assessment, the hospital should review policies relating to security technology/security personnel, response to disruptive behaviors, monitor of materials in/out of the hospital building, and security of hazardous drugs/material/waste. There should also be an accurate WebID medical license verification system available to make sure that every doctor’s license is accurate.

Digital Privacy and Security in the Hospital

The hospital collects and uses patient information to treat its patients. It also collects personal financial information as part of its billing practices. Digital privacy is the patient’s right. Federal law requires the hospital to establish proper systems and procedures to protect the patient’s private information from prying eyes.

Workstations, devices, computers, and networks in use at the hospital must be secure. Each hospital must have proper security procedures and policies in place. Media controls, disposal of sensitive information, and access of information must be considered as part of the hospital’s compliance.

Patients have the right to sue the hospital and/or individual practitioners when private information is improperly accessed or breached.

Legal Malpractice Risks

Security of electronic health records (EHR) in the hospital and medical practice can advance both patient safety and the practice of medicine. However, it’s important for the hospital to know that, as new technology is adopted, potential liability risks are present.

Hospital staff can access patient information through EHR or via health information exchanges. Patients’ hospital charts, lab results, medication histories, radiology images and reports are accessed, exchanged, and reviewed. Patient injury can result from the hospital’s inability to make patient information available to providers treating him or her. If patient injury occurs from this type of information access error, the patient (or his/her family) may be able to file a legal malpractice claim against the hospital or individual providers.

Dixie Somers is a freelance writer and blogger from Phoenix, Arizona, who loves most to write for health, technology, and business niches. Dixie is the proud mother of three beautiful girls and wife to a wonderful husband.

What’s Happening With All Our Healthcare Data?

November 14, 2016/5281 views / 0 Comments/in Big Data, Guest Blog Posts, Health Care /by John Trader

The following guest post on big data in healthcare was submitted by Keri Lunt Stevens.

Big data — two little words that have monstrous meaning. Big data is a term for a data set that is so large or complex that a traditional data processing application can’t handle it. From every student’s transcript to every hospital’s patient records and even to your own personal social media exchanges, we’re all producing data. All of the time.

The rising use of big data in healthcare promises to fundamentally improve care delivery.

According to IBM, an American multinational technology company, big data is arriving from multiple sources at an alarming velocity, volume, and variety. To extract meaningful value from big data, we need optimal processing power, analytics capabilities, and skills. Most industries struggle with this because the challenges of capturing, storing, sharing, searching, securing and updating this big data are real.

But so are the benefits. With the help of predictive analytics, big data can be used to anticipate future behavior, spot trends, and foresee and even stop potential problems before they spiral out of control. In the healthcare industry, this could have a huge impact on patient care, privacy and more.

Control Epidemics

In a way, predictive analytics isn’t new to the healthcare industry. For years, quantitative data has been used to predict the likelihood of an infectious disease outbreak, including how the disease will spread and how to control it. Some of these formal methodologies include risk factor analysis, risk modeling and dynamic modeling. But while quantitative data has helped us so far, it hasn’t been enough. Currently, there are five U.S.-based outbreaks being investigated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, the Zika virus — for which there is no vaccine — continues to spread. According to a U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health article written by Mark Woolhouse, we need to develop a more holistic framework that captures the role of the underlying drivers of disease risks, from demography and behavior to land use and climate change. For a complete picture, doctors and scientists need to be able to cipher through quantitative and qualitative data to make predictions and act accordingly.

Develop Personalized Medicine

The majority of the human body is made up of six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus, which are divided into simple and complex chemical molecules. The most common medical treatment, drug therapy, is the biochemical interactions between those molecules and the ones in pharmaceutical drugs. And that’s great. This type of treatment has helped heal millions of people worldwide. But it isn’t enough. Too many people are suffering because their bodies aren’t responding to treatments — from depression to blood pressure to cancer treatments.

Using a big data predictive analysis approach to personalized medicine could reduce the financial, social and personal burden associated with the current trial-and-error approach, according to Kateryna Babina, a medical scientist based in Australia. In an article on Budget Direct’s healthcare hub, Babina says integrating clinical, laboratory, lifestyle, behavioral and environmental factors into patient care is the key to helping provide personalized, targeted interventions to the right patients.

Keri Lunt Stevens is a freelance writer and editor who has worked in journalism and content marketing. Her experience ranges from healthcare trends and topics to finance and community news. Her work has been featured in a variety of print and online media outlets.

Big Data and Healthcare – The Present and the Future

November 11, 2016/5536 views / 0 Comments/in Big Data, BLOG, Data Integrity, Guest Blog Posts /by John Trader

The following guest post on big data and healthcare was submitted by Emma Lawson.

Healthcare is one of the largest and the most complex ecosystems that humans as a species have brought to life. With healthcare providers, payers, researchers, patients and additional entities that all have their own needs and agendas, it has grown into a world of its own, governed by its own rules and featuring a perpetual tug-of-war between the different interest groups.

One concept that might help make sense of all of this, provide benefits to all the interested parties and lead to a more stable ecosystem is big data. Big data has been around for some time and in certain fields it has found much use, but in healthcare, we are still seeing it take its very first steps.

The growing us of big data in healthcare promises to fundamentally change healthcare delivery.

Still, it has definitely become a part of the healthcare ecosystem and ind the future, it is more likely than not that it will become one of its most prominent parts.

Big Data Essentials

Big data is a relatively simple idea. It denotes sets of data that are extremely large, created very quickly (often in real time) and which are varied when it comes to their sources, classification and any other criteria you can think of.

Big data is, therefore, different from the more “traditional” data sets that are collected in limited amounts, from very specific sources and which are then organized in relational databases which feature a simple hierarchy and are easy to use.

A certain organization or a healthcare corporate entity might collect data from thousands of different medical practitioners, hospitals, government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, research institutions and patients themselves. They would then try to organize and analyze this data, all in order to come up with insights that would allow them to improve their services or save money.

Big Data Potential for Healthcare

In the perfect world, big data would hold almost limitless potential for everyone involved, from the healthcare providers to patients and even the payers.

For example, healthcare providers can gain much more precise and balanced insights by utilizing sets of data that are larger than any previously analyzed. In combination with data provided by patients themselves, healthcare providers would be able to dramatically increase the chances of full recovery and provide the ultimate healthcare for their patients.

When it comes to patients, smart use of big data would allow them to play a much more active role in their recovery. Furthermore, since their healthcare providers would operate with more data, the patients’ chances of recovery would dramatically increase. In short, more data would, in a perfect world, mean more positive outcomes for the patients.

When it comes to governments and health insurance companies, the use of big data can tighten their budgets by clearly indicating which treatments work and what are the minimum-invasive treatments and habits that would reduce healthcare expenditure.

Proper use of big data could also enhance the data security and other security concerns that the healthcare industry has to deal with.

A Few Current Examples

The best way to illustrate how big data can be used in healthcare is to take a look at a few ongoing projects and adopted practices.

For instance, Blue Shield of California has partnered with NantHealth in order to establish an integrated technology system which will allow for much more streamlined evidence-based care in a number of areas.

Kaiser Permanente has also implemented a system, called HealthConnect, which enables data exchange across innumerable medical facilities through the use of electronic records. Among the early results of HealthConnect are improved cardiovascular disease outcomes and more than a $1 billion saved in lab tests and office visits.

The National Institutes of Health and the National Patient-Centered Research Network have both launched certain initiatives that would allow for a more standardized collection, storage and analysis of big data, which will promote its use in healthcare.

What the Future Holds

While certain involved parties are already doing great things with big data in healthcare, the future is where we should look. The main reason for this is that big data applications are still limited by the lack of experts, certain security issues, and the chaotic nature of the data itself, among other things. Once these problems become the past, big data will definitely become one of the most prominent concepts in healthcare and its advancement.

We are already seeing certain steps being made in the right direction, with hybrid data models which combine the volume and the variety of data with the more structured nature of relational databases. Also, there are some companies that have started utilizing dark data in their data analysis, like Panorama for example. Dark data entails data so chaotic and huge that the standard big data models cannot handle it.

With the proliferation of sensors, wearables and other devices that will provide additional data coming from patients themselves, the amount of big data and its usefulness will only grow.

Closing Word

Big data has already begun to influence healthcare. Barring any catastrophic events, it will become an inseparable part of healthcare systems around the world, helping everyone involved attain their goals more easily.

Above everything else, big data has already started saving lives and it is a trend that will continue.

Emma Lawson is a passionate writer, online article editor and a health enthusiast. In her spare time, she likes to do research, and write articles to create awareness regarding healthy lifestyle. She also strives to suggest innovative home remedies that can help you lead a quality and long life.
Twitter @EmmahLawson

Changes in Technology that are Bringing Healthcare to the 21st Century

October 6, 2016/3924 views / 2 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Health Care /by John Trader

The following guest post on healthcare technology was submitted by Brooke Chaplan.

Everybody knows that technology is constantly evolving, but people often fail to realize how new technology is changing the world of healthcare in particular. Here are five new technologies revitalizing the healthcare industry and making life easier for both doctors and patients alike.

Advances in healthcare technology are radically changing our lives and well being.

Robotic Surgery Simulator

Most people wouldn’t step onto a plane that they knew was being flown by somebody in training, but the only way to teach budding surgeons has been in live operating rooms, until now. A new technology allows soon-to-be surgeons to learn new procedures in a way similar to a flight simulator. They see real footage of a surgery and get to make mistakes without endangering anybody. This new simulator could save countless lives by allowing surgeons to train without operating on a live patient.

Combination Systems

New strides are being made in the field of radiology by combining various image capturing technologies. For example, a PET-MRI hybrid offers all of the benefits of each system without the drawbacks. This allows for clearer images during various body scans and in turn, means easier and more accurate diagnoses. Students getting a radiology bachelor’s degree online and in universities are now being trained in these new systems and technologies.

Wearable Sensors

Almost all of us know someone already using this kind of technology in some way. Things like fitness apps and blood sugar monitors have inspired healthcare professionals to create sensors that can be worn throughout the day. These sensors are ideal for anybody suffering from a chronic condition, as they can broadcast vital signs to a nearby healthcare facility. This ensures that should something change in their condition, they can receive medical attention as quickly as possible.

Injected Bioabsorbable Hydrogel

This new technology has been injected into patients undergoing chemotherapy to protect their vital organs from radiation. While this treatment is not widely available yet, it has been used with great effect during studies of those suffering from prostate cancer.

Miniature Pacemakers

Having a pacemaker installed is unpleasant at best, but new technology may make the process much easier. Miniature pacemakers are 10% of the size of traditional pacemakers, and only take up a single heart chamber. While only 15% of those in need of a pacemaker are eligible for this new model, the technology itself is astounding.

As time goes on, newer and more effective technologies will continue to be developed. For now, however, these five technologies are some of the leading developments in the journey of revitalizing healthcare. Each one is not only stunning to think about but is actively saving the lives of patients.

Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most her time hiking, biking and gardening. For more information contact Brooke via Twitter @BrookeChaplan

5 Ways to Prevent Patient Fraud and Identity Theft

October 1, 2016/5441 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Health Care, Medical Identity Theft /by John Trader

The following post on preventing medical ID theft and patient fraud in healthcare was submitted by Meghan Belnap.

In this digital age, we can purchase anything with a click, transfer money from one bank account to another in a split second, and reconnect with people from anywhere in the world. There are so many great advantages to the internet age but unfortunately, there are serious drawbacks as well.

Preventing patient fraud begins with a thorough understanding of how to protect your identity.

As technology advances, so do the dirty tricks played by criminals in an attempt to commit patient fraud and identity theft. With so much of our medical history available at our fingertips in digital form, it’s easier than ever to have that stolen from us. Here are five simple ways to avoid falling victim:

Password Protection

Hackers are skilled at decoding passwords. If the one you use is not a unique combination of numbers, letters, and symbols, you are putting yourself at a higher risk. If your password is still hacked from one site, it is important that you are not also handing them your password for everything else as well. For example, if your patient portal account password is fraudulently obtained, you do not want that to also be the password you use for your bank account. It requires keeping track of numerous passwords, but it is worth it to use different ones for each site you log in to within your digital health network.

Swipe With Caution

Card skimmers are very popular tools used by crooks to gain access to your account information. Each time you swipe a debit or credit card at a hospital or any other A.T.M. machine or gas pump, the machine reads the information stored on the black strip on the back of the card. This houses important information and it is all a hacker needs to wipe out your bank account. When you approach these machines, look at them closely. Does the area that you insert the card into seem loose or ill-fitting in any way? Does the paint color and material of it match the surrounding area? If not, there may be a skimming device attached to the machine. If you are suspicious, try giving it a tug. Is it loose? If you experience this, contact local law enforcement right away.

Monitor Accounts

If you have access to online banking, take advantage of it. Set up alerts that notify you when funds have been used over a certain amount or in ways unusual for your typical spending patterns.

Be Careful With Your Card

Keep an eye on your cards at all times. Statistics show that on average over 12 million U.S citizens identify as fraud victims annually. Professional FBI experts who are board certified behavior analysts specialize in investigative criminal or terrorist actions. While help is offered to those that are victim of patient fraud and identity theft, take the extra precautions to keep yourself safe by implementing smart daily precautions.

Identity Protection Services

There are a variety of resources available at your convenience which specialize in monitoring your social security number, name, and other personal information that could be used for patient fraud or identity theft. Most companies charge a fee to provide this service but if it prevents even one breach, it will be money well spent.

While there are numerous ways someone can gain access to your personal information, there are by far more things you can do to prevent it. Be cautious with your private details. Keep things secure both online and physically with the proper protection required. Whether it’s a safe box in your closet to keep your social security card, health insurance ID, birth certificates and other documents out of reach, or strong passwords that keep hackers out of accounts, it is possible to avoid patient fraud.

Meghan Belnap is a freelance writer who enjoys spending time with her family. She loves being in the outdoors and exploring new opportunities whenever they arise. Meghan finds happiness in researching new topics that help to expand her horizons. You can often find her buried in a good book or out looking for an adventure. You can connect with her on Facebook right here and Twitter right here.

8 Misconceptions About EHRs That Must Be Dispelled

September 24, 2016/4271 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, HIM /by John Trader

The following guest post on dispelling the myths of EHRs was submitted by Andrea Bell.

Health records, whether electronic or paper-based, are an essential record-keeping tool that supports clinical decision-making at every level of diagnosis and treatment. Concerns about patient privacy and confidentiality are nothing new. The privacy matters of patients’ are as old as the practice of medicine itself.

When it comes to electronic health records of patients, privacy is always top of the list. Tablets, smartphones, and web-enabled devices have totally transformed our daily lives and the way we communicate. The healthcare industry is carefully trying to manage technological innovations and patient’s health records through computerized systems. Individuals and healthcare professionals are working in close collaboration with each other to make health data safer and accessible in order to enhance systems of treatment for patients.

Despite the rising power of electronic health record systems (EHRs), they are still widely misunderstood and often misused.

Electronic health record data banks have stronger prospects for transforming the health care industry. These new systems can provide an extensive amount of information related to the patients’ medical history in a few clicks, thereby completely doing away with obsolete paper systems that delay treatment and diagnoses.

This new tool now helps staffers to process patient record-keeping more promptly than ever before. This swift service was not possible with paper-based systems where administrative officials had to search through piles of files for patient records.

Despite the several intelligent and easy uses of EHRs, there are a couple of misconceptions about the technology and debates about its functionality. Here we have tried to dispel the 8 common myths and misconceptions about EHRs.

1. Electronic health records software is less efficient as compared to paper-based systems

Many practices take great pride in adopting new technologies, but one needs to realize that it’s important to know that paper-based systems are simply less efficient than electronic systems. Its very easy to have access to patient health record information, and you can streamline workflow in general by automating patient records.

2. EHR systems are expensive

Since electronic health records have continued to progress and mature, they have also been developed for a wide variety of uses; from leading government hospitals to part-time private clinics, and everyone else in the field of medicine. With the growing change in needs, there are variations in the cost of an EHR, the quality of software and functionality. Based on the size of your practice and patient turn-over, you are most likely to find an option that perfectly suits your needs as well as your budget.

3. Once you install an EHR system, it can be used without training

Installing a new EHR system at your hospital or private practice is no guarantee that your employees or team members will start doing their jobs more efficiently or process patients more swiftly. Anyone who says they can use the system without elementary training, should be observed carefully. While some EHR systems are relatively easy to learn than others, it’s important to ensure that some basic training is provided to staffers so that they become proficient at using this system. And once you and the team become acquainted with EHR, the efficiencies will increase while redundancies will decrease.

4. EHR software makes communications between patients and employees unfriendly and mechanical

This myth that the staff, providers or other healthcare professionals entering data or transcribing text into an EHR system seems mechanical and ‘cold’ to patients and comes at the risk of deteriorating relations between the two couldn’t be further from the truth.

It can in fact be the other way around. Patients should be made to understand and appreciate at the same time that using an EHR helps secure their medical information minus the errors. In fact, it’s worth a short discussion to let the patient know how much the EHR will help them in terms of safe and secure information, there will be little or no chance of missing charts, flipping test results or anything similar.

Patients should be educated on how the EHR helps avert possible disasters in the event of fire or theft. It has been observed that medical practices nowadays post on their websites and have printed information available that the practice uses an EHR, and why its use is beneficial for patients.

5. EHR systems are a hindrance to accomplishing work

You can say that at one point a decade ago, EHRs may not have been very user-friendly, or designed for specific industries. But EHR technology has traveled a long way and is typically very easy to understand and use, and greatly helps in reducing administrative workload.

Electronic health record systems can save a lot of time from your workday by putting every minute detail from clinical files at your fingertips, while also increasing efficiency, reducing errors, and letting you work anytime and from anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection.

6. EHR systems are difficult to use

With the boom of electronic medical records, there were EHR systems that were quite difficult and technical to navigate for a layman. However, as the field has progressed, significant improvements have been made in this area. If we go back a decade, the vast majority of electronic health record systems were designed specifically for medical fields or for hospital settings and people who used these systems were aggressively trained.

Since then things have changed significantly. EHR systems are now being designed for different industries such as eye care, chiropractic care, and mental health. Technology is evolving at a remarkable pace and it continues to improve the user-friendliness of EHR systems, and there is a focus on intuitive and easy-to-use navigation in the latest EHR systems.

7. Physicians will be reluctant to learn and adopt a new system

The notion that practitioners or healthcare providers can only be categorized in one of two extremes when it comes to electronic health records, isn’t right. There were a few early adopters of the system who saw its potential, implemented the systems and dealt with the initial trials and errors, and on the other hand, there are also those few who would prefer realy retirement over using a new electronic system.

However, the biggest chunk of healthcare providers falls in the middle category because, at the end of the day, they have practices to run and patients to see. EHRs can’t be a barrier because there’s simply too much work to be done. So the expression that an old dog learning new tricks does not really apply to providers and physicians because their business constantly requires from them to learn new techniques, therapies, and approaches and EHR is one of them.

8. EHR systems cannot be customized for every practice

A lot of healthcare organizations and practitioners who have already implemented an EHR system say it doesn’t really matter what specialty any physician is in. Everyone has different ways of approaching the practice of medicine, but the very basics of clinical medicine are the same around the world. EHRs do require some level of customization for each health care organization and physician, and it is very much possible to do so.

Conclusion

With accurate information and logical reasoning, it’s easy to get over the misconceptions that usually circulate when implementing electronic health records software at government based healthcare organizations or private practices. Similarly, is it also a misleading fact that IT departments in healthcare organizations deploy a software just for the heck of it or just because it is the talk of the town in terms of latest technology. Therefore, with these 8 major misconceptions dispelled, I am sure there will be less ambiguity about electronic health record systems.

Andrea Bell is a Freelance writer and a content contributor at www.computermateinc.com, which provides Medisoft V21 software. She writes mostly on technology related stuff. Live simply, give generously and a sports lover. Find her on twitter @IM_AndreaBell

Healthcare Records: How to Protect Patients’ Sensitive Information

August 18, 2016/5366 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Data Integrity, Guest Blog Posts, Health Care /by John Trader

The following guest post on protecting sensitive healthcare record data was submitted by Rachelle Wilber.

The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 requires that any entity that is privileged to collect or store sensitive patient healthcare information keep the information secured and protected against unauthorized access or use. A violation of the HIPPA law has serious implications to any healthcare practitioner or facility. By being vigilant and taking these action steps, you can help to protect the sensitive information of the patients who visit your healthcare facility.

The explosion of online sensitive healthcare data now available online must be secured to protect patient privacy and advance data integrity.

Cloud Encryption
Cloud-based data storage and applications service providers are allowing healthcare organizations to use their own encryption keys. These keys are unique to your facility and your own information technology officers can create them. By using these customized encryption keys for data that your healthcare facility uploads to the cloud, you can reduce the risk of unauthorized users gaining access to usable information. If a hacker did get into your database, they would be unlikely to be able to break the encryption key.

Coding Sensitive Data

In addition to encrypting data, you can also code it as it is entered. For example, if a patient has HIV, that condition could be given a numeric code rather than the name of the virus. Only authorized users at your facility would know what the code means.

Healthcare Administration

When you are ready to further your healthcare career and learn more techniques on coding and encryption of sensitive data, consider enrolling in one of many healthcare administration master’s programs that many universities offer. These accredited programs help you to master all aspects of administration that are essential to running a productive, efficient and compliant doctor’s office, clinic or hospital. You will learn about data administration as well as coordination of services, billing, communications and data analysis.

Physical Security

The physical security of patient information is also important. If your facility uses or still has any paper medical charts, they should be kept under lock and key and signed in and out when they are used. Laptops, tablets and other electronic devices should be password-protected. The computers and tablets should also be locked and put away when they are not in use.

By employing these measures in your healthcare facility, you can protect the sensitive patient data that you collect. Maintaining the security of the data helps to keep you compliant with the law. These measures also show to your patients that you care and respect their rights to privacy.

Rachelle Wilber is a freelance writer living in the San Diego, California area. She graduated from San Diego State University with her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Media Studies. She tries to find an interest in all topics and themes, which prompts her writing. When she isn’t on her porch writing in the sun, you can find her shopping, at the beach, or at the gym. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @RachelleWilber; https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009221637700