Skincare is a major part of your personal health, hygiene, and appearance, but it’s difficult to know where to start. Unlike other kinds of self-care, you can’t always rely on a particular routine or product to work for you – luckily, there are still some easy places to start. If you’re completely new to skincare, or just want to try and new kind of product, there are three main ways to get started:
Cleanse Your Skin
The best way to prepare yourself for a proper skincare routine is to cleanse yourself. This isn’t just with water – there is a range of other compounds and formulas you can use, like creams, foams and even oils. All of them are designed to work with different kinds of skin, so try to find something that suits your particular problems or skin type. Once you’ve found a good cleanser, you can start to build a good routine around it.
For example, if you have sensitive skin, you might want to use oils, whereas eczema-heavy skin is better suited to lotions and creams. Regardless of what you use, having clean skin is a good way to start practicing with other skincare products, since you won’t have to work around any natural problems that could make them less effective.
Try Moisturizing
Moisturizing your skin has the obvious benefit of making you look less dry, but it can also be a good way to prepare yourself for more in-depth skincare techniques. Smooth skin on its own looks far better than dry, flaky skin, so you might not even need much further skincare depending on how big of a difference it makes. However, if you’re looking to create a proper skincare routine, you should focus on using it as a blank canvas.
Once your face is looking hydrated and smooth, you’ll be able to tell how effective other solutions are. While it’s possible to stay naturally hydrated by drinking lots of water and washing your face, a moisturizing formula can give you the extra kick you need to avoid drying out on hot days. Not only that, but good hydration can also help with your body health in general, and moisturized skin can improve your confidence in the short-tern.
Buy a Kit
Kits and bundles are a great way to approach skincare since they generally contain everything you’ll need to try out a particular routine or technique. If you’re not very familiar with a lot of skincare practices, or you simply don’t know what you should actually buy, a small kit might be a great way to ‘break-in’ and start getting.
You don’t need to track down individual products and put together your own set, either. Plenty of brands offer pre-made kits that have everything you might need for a single purpose. It can also be a great excuse to go out of your comfort zone and try new things: for example, if you’ve never used a company like Misumi Skincare before, a small kit might be a good way to get a feel for their products.
XRHealth, formerly known as VRHealth, the leader in extended reality and therapeutic applications, today announced a partnership with Allscripts to provide an integrated VR/AR platform, leveraging Allscripts Open APIs. The Allscripts Developer Program partnership enables medical professionals to prescribe and monitor the progress of VR/AR therapies on patient health.
XRHealth offers virtual reality and augmented reality solutions to hospitals, healthcare facilities, and patients and provides an engaging, therapeutic experience that helps alleviate pain, improve motor function, assess cognitive functioning, and encourages overall wellness and health. Both the VRHealth and ARHealth portals offer real-time analytics so that healthcare practitioners could evaluate patient progress and have clear insights on patient data.
“The Allscripts and XRHealth partnership will provide doctors one platform to view all critical patient information,” says Eran Orr, CEO of XRHealth. “All patient health records and data will be in one location so that medical professionals can easily see how therapies are helping their patients and can make necessary adjustments in real-time. The partnership marks the first time, worldwide, that VR/AR apps will be an integral part of an EHR platform..”
“Allscripts is excited about the opportunity to partner with XRHealth. We’re looking forward to bringing their innovative VR and AR applications to market for our clients through the Allscripts Developer Program.” says Tina Joros, vice president and general manager Open and Allscripts Practice Financial Platform.
The Allscripts Developer Program (ADP) offers both proprietary and FHIR enabled APIs to connect third-party applications, devices and other innovative healthcare technologies with Allscripts products. Allscripts has been supporting API integration since 2007 and is enabling over a billion data exchanges each year – the largest documented utilization of APIs in healthcare.
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) sent a joint letter to Congressional leaders today voicing concerns that certain provisions of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC’s) recent 21st Century Cures Act (Cures) proposed rule on information blocking jeopardizes goals to foster a healthcare system that is interoperable, patient-engaged and reduces burdens for those delivering care.
The letter, co-signed by seven organizations representing the nation’s clinicians, hospitals, health systems and experts in health informatics and health information management, outlines several recommendations aimed at furthering the objectives of Cures, while ensuring that the final regulations do not unreasonably increase provider burden or hinder patient care.
“We support the intent of the Cures Act to eradicate practices that unreasonably limit the access, exchange and use of electronic health information for authorized and permitted purposes that have frustrated care coordination and improvements in healthcare quality and efficiency,” said AHIMA CEO Wylecia Wiggs Harris, PhD, CAE. “However, in light of the lessons learned from the meaningful use program, we believe it is crucial that we get this right. We look forward to discussing the details of these recommendations with congressional staff and ONC.”
Recommendations outlined in the letter include:
Additional rulemaking prior to finalization: ONC should seek further input from impacted stakeholders on issues including modifying the information blocking proposal to ensure that the requirements and exceptions are well-defined and understandable, and clinicians, hospitals and health information professionals are not inappropriately penalized if they are unable to provide a patient’s entire electronic health information through an application programming interface (API).
Enhanced privacy and security: The proposed rule does not sufficiently address Cures’ directives to protect patient data privacy and ensure health IT security. It is imperative that the Committee continues its oversight of privacy and security issues that fall outside of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulatory framework. This includes ensuring certified APIs include mechanisms to strengthen patients’ control over their data—including privacy notices, transparency statements and adherence to industry-recognized best practices.
Appropriate implementation timelines: ONC should establish reasonable timelines for any required use of certified health IT (CEHRT). Providers must be given sufficient time to deploy and test these systems, which must take into account competing regulatory mandates.
Revised enforcement: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should use discretion in its initial enforcement of the data blocking provisions of the regulation, prioritizing education and corrective action plans over monetary penalties.
For additional information on these recommendations, click here.
Signatories of the letter include:
American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)
American Medical Association (AMA)
American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)
College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME)
Federation of American Hospitals (FAH)
Medical Group Management Association (MGMA)
The American Medical Association (AMA) and six other organizations have asked two congressional committees to use their oversight of the 21st Century Cures Act to improve interoperability and empower patients with meaningful health information while ensuring data is safe and secure. The letter arrives as the administration is drawing up its plans to implement the law and adopt information blocking rules.
The AMA appreciates several of the administration’s proposals, particularly related to electronic health record (EHR) certification, EHR application programming interfaces (APIs), and modifying EHR vendor business practices and behaviors.
There are, however, numerous complex, counter-intuitive proposals that jeopardize the goals Congress outlined in the Cures Act. Concerningly, many of the administration’s proposals will dramatically affect patient privacy and safety as well as as data security. The proposals also will add to physician burden and burnout.
“The administration owes it to patients, physicians, Congress and our nation to listen and act on these concerns,” said Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, M.D., chair of the AMA’s Board of Trustees. “We still have a chance to get these policies right. It is possible to improve access to medical information while promoting privacy and transparency.”
By Anish Sebastian, CEO and co-founder, Babyscripts.
Collaboration is at the heart of successes over history — in Darwin’s words, “those who learn to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”
Yet the healthcare space has been slow to learn that lesson. Far from functioning as a team focused on a single goal, healthcare stakeholders operate on a fractured playing field, each one trying to get to the goal on their own. From that perspective, everyone becomes a competitor — and the ability to reach the goal line becomes nearly impossible.
Nowhere is the tension more obvious than in the struggle to integrate technology and healthcare.
On the surface, they are unlikely partners. Healthcare isn’t exactly a profession for risk-taking, and rightfully so — in every decision, the safety of a patient is at stake. A new drug or tool has to run the gamut of regulatory burdens and clinical validation before it gets anywhere close to adoption. Adoption and implementation is arguably even more challenging, including everything from integrating new solutions into legacy systems, convincing practices to abandon the sunk cost of preexisting solutions, or overcoming the lack of financial incentives — without practice reimbursement, the challenge of adoption becomes that much more daunting.
Technology, on the other hand, is a high-risk, high-reward market (there’s a reason that billion dollar-valuation startups are called “unicorns”). Many tech startups achieve their success by delivering direct-to-consumer solutions, cutting out the middleman and individualizing experiences for the user. It’s a formula that doesn’t map well onto the healthcare field where the success of patient care and outcomes relies on a web of relationships.
And tech companies that have tried to take these formulas from Silicon Valley and apply them to healthcare learn that really quickly. The graveyard of digital health tools is littered with companies trying to sidestep the problems of the healthcare system by dealing with the patient directly, and removing the care provider from the equation.
When most people visit their health professional, they go in confidence that they are in good hands and the confidentiality of their health issues and personal information is protected. After all, who can a person trust more than their doctor? Unfortunately, while patients are safe a majority of the time, there is the chance that a data breach could result in the release of private information.
This breach could be because of a computer hacker, a system breakdown, or even a natural disaster. In any case, the healthcare organization is responsible for keeping patient data secure. If they fail to do so, then they must do damage control and patients must do what they need to in order to protect themselves. Here is a breakdown of what is expected of these companies and what consumers should do in the event of a medical data breach.
The Responsibility of Health Companies
When the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was officially enacted in 2003, it set a precedent that health organizations must ensure that all patient information is private and confidential. Along with that came the HIPAA security rule, which says that the same organizations must perform risk analysis and have the proper safeguards in place so that data cannot be stolen or leaked to unauthorized individuals.
While many organizations have the proper barriers in place to protect the loss of data, there have been instances where significant breaches have resulted in major leaks. The data leaked in such a breach can include everything from patient names and addresses to Social Security numbers, which can be used to conduct identity theft. If you discovers that a breach has occurred and it affects your patients’ data, then you must take action. You should also prepare for your patients to do the same — often in the form of lawsuits.
Back in 2014, UCLA health was involved in a class-action lawsuit and had to pay out $7.5 million after hackers broke into their system and copied or stole the records of 4.5 million patients. Another such breach took place recently in 2019 when the teaching hospital at the University of Connecticut was infiltrated. In this instance, the hackers accessed employee email accounts, which also potentially contained patient records and Social Security numbers. The related class action suit is still pending.
It’s no secret that cyberattacks are escalating, rising in tandem with the growing sophistication of technology. One industry that has taken a massive hit by cyberattacks in recent years is the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry is increasingly reliant on technology and data connected to the internet, such as patient records, lab results, radiology equipment and hospital elevators. Now imagine if a cybercriminal encrypted an entire hospital’s data with a nasty ransomware. Doctors would be unable to pull up a patient’s medical records, or worse, utilize equipment connected to the internet to make a proper diagnosis.
Unfortunately, this is the reality that healthcare industry professionals are facing today. And while 92% of healthcare organizations are confident in their ability to respond to cyberattacks, there is a plethora of malicious activity that poses a great threat to their networks. Here are the main cybersecurity challenges faced by the industry today:
The Rise of Ransomware
You might recall the WannaCry attack of 2017, the ransomware worm that attacked hospitals as well as other industries by exploiting a weakness in Windows machines. This worm infected thousands of computers around the world and threw the United Kingdom’s National Health Service into chaos. This resulted in the Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force to conclude that healthcare cybersecurity was in critical condition.
Why was the healthcare industry so impacted by this cyberattack? Many hospitals struggle to keep up when it comes to upgrading their operating systems due to the sheer volume of devices on the network. However, much of the software in a medical-specific device is often custom made, making system upgrades difficult. Additionally, manufacturers tend to avoid prematurely pushing out modifications that could potentially impact patient safety. For these reasons, medical machines continue to exist with outdated software, putting them at greater risk of cyberattacks such as ransomware.
Lack of Investment
Many organizations within the healthcare industry suffer from a lack of investment in cybersecurity solutions. Despite the number of breaches that occur, healthcare is behind other sectors when it comes to taking security measures. Only 4-7% of healthcare’s IT budget is allocated to cybersecurity, while other sectors allocate about 15% to their security practices. However, the finances associated with a cyberattack if these solutions aren’t put in place can take an even greater toll on an organization. Some hospitals and healthcare insurers see estimates of over $5 billion in costs as the result of cyberattacks on their systems. On top of the costs incurred finding a solution to fix these breaches, healthcare organizations then have to deal with fines from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights.
Securing Connected Devices
With the growing adoption of IoT, more and more devices are being connected and used in healthcare systems. However, as connected medical devices become more powerful and widely adopted, they become greater targets for malicious actors to exploit. According to the Cybersecurity in Healthcare report, over 16% of IT professionals can’t patch their own operating systems, leaving the network wide open for attack. Now imagine if a cybercriminal gained access to just one medical device on the exposed network. This could lead to the theft of sensitive patient data or even unauthorized access to an implanted device that could cause physical harm to the user.
By Dr. Chris Hobson, chief medical officer, Orion Health.
Dr. Chris Hobson
For nearly a decade, Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) have been looking for their long-term sustainable business model. This is part of the journey toward the future state of the HIE, which will be a ubiquitous healthcare utility that makes data available to all stakeholders across the healthcare landscape. Today, their work and future plans are driven by a desire to support value-based care initiatives, enhance interoperability, and leverage and manage a wider scope of data.
Representing a broad swath of HIEs, a 2019 Survey on HIE Technology Priorities uncovered various key trends and changing priorities in the sector. To become a sustainable healthcare information provider, HIEs must understand and leverage data to gain insights that improve patient outcomes while containing costs. Additionally, other trends include joining national exchanges, introducing value-added capabilities, enhancing integration of clinical and claims data, and growing payer participation in HIEs.
Participation in various national initiatives is an important driver for HIEs as it requires successful HIEs be more active across traditional geographic and state boundaries. Mechanisms for participation include the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), the national eHealth exchange, Direct Trust and Carequality. Participation in Patient Centered Data Home, an event notification service that includes HIEs across the U.S. led by the Strategic Health Information Exchange Consortium (SHIEC), had the highest level of interest across all surveyed HIEs.
Like a utility, the next generation HIE must fit into the growing “Network of Networks” ecosystem, providing shared services to multiple HIEs (e.g. EMPI/record locator, patient directory, provider directory, data aggregation). This also means bringing together disparate entities into a local HIE network connecting a variety of different end-points – including practices, hospitals, systems, labs, long-term care facilities and more – while simultaneously making the local information shareable with other regional and national HIE networks. HIEs will need to support population-based use-cases and assist safety-net providers and small, independent providers to access larger interoperability initiatives across the U.S., such as TEFCA and the e-Health Exchange.
Collaboration is at the heart of successes over history — in Darwin’s words, “those who learn to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”
When most people visit their health professional, they go in confidence that they are in good hands and the confidentiality of their health issues and personal information is protected. After all, who can a person trust more than their doctor? Unfortunately, while patients are safe a majority of the time, there is the chance that a data breach could result in the release of private information.
It’s no secret that cyberattacks are escalating, rising in tandem with the growing sophistication of technology. One industry that has taken a massive hit by cyberattacks in recent years is the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry is increasingly reliant on technology and data connected to the internet, such as patient records, lab results, radiology equipment and hospital elevators. Now imagine if a cybercriminal encrypted an entire hospital’s data with a nasty ransomware. Doctors would be unable to pull up a patient’s medical records, or worse, utilize equipment connected to the internet to make a proper diagnosis.