Mental health is a serious issue, and it affects all of us. Modern technology has made many advances in this field, including telehealth apps that make therapy more accessible to people living in rural areas, wearable tech that can help identify PTSD symptoms and make treatment easier for veterans suffering from them, and even virtual reality therapy that uses VR headsets to treat anxiety disorders. These innovations might seem like small changes on the surface, but they are part of an overall trend toward making mental health care more easily available to everyone who needs it. Here are some of the trends.
Online Diagnostic Tools
More and more people are using online sources to self-assess and diagnose mental health concerns. The internet is full of online resources that can help you understand what mental health issues are, how they can affect your life, and what you might be experiencing. Using these resources should be the first step in seeking out mental health treatment for those who need it. It’s best to work with a medical professional who understands the condition you have and can help you work through a crisis.
Smart Medication Reminders
When people are on medications for mental health conditions, it can be easy to forget to take the pill or pills at the right time. Using a smart medication reminder can ensure that the medication is taken at the right time each day. This is a device that alerts patients to take their medications at the right time or even at all. These devices are also great for reminding patients to refill their prescriptions when they are due, reducing the risk of forgetting to do so. This is especially helpful for rehab patients receiving outpatient treatment because these reminders can help them better manage their mental health conditions without needing to stay long-term in a rehab facility.
Digital Medical Records Create Continuity of Care
Digital medical records can help people access their medical history and other information between providers. This is especially helpful for people who may have trouble remembering when they went to the doctor, or who have multiple providers and need to keep track of all their appointments with different doctors. Digital medical records also make it easier for professionals to share information about patients among themselves, meaning that a patient’s treatment plan can be more effective.
Mental healthcare providers are facing a crisis. The growing number of Americans seeking mental health care is putting a strain on psychologists, and it’s affecting those who need help the most.
In fact, according to the 2022 COVID-19 Practitioner ImpactSurvey by the American Psychological Association (APA), roughly 53% of psychologists agreed that they work more than they did a year ago. Moreover, the same survey revealed that 60% of psychologists are unable to take on new patients because they’re already at capacity.
Mental health care providers need help to handle this influx of patients. This is where healthcare IT comes in. By helping providers manage their schedules and keep track of patient information, healthcare IT can help ease the burden on psychologists and allow them to meet their patients’ needs more effectively.
Mental disorders are a serious social problem, as they impact the lives of millions of people worldwide. They are one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, and their prevalence is increasing at an alarming rate.
In the United States alone, one in five adults experiences a mental illness each year, as revealed by the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This is a worrying trend, especially for mental health providers who are tasked with treating these patients. As the burden of mental diseases increases, so does the need for effective treatment options.
Moreover, it’s clear that mental illness poses a serious threat not only to individual well-being but also to national economic growth and stability. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the United States spent an estimated $280 billion on mental health services in 2020.
But what can providers do about it? How can they overcome emerging challenges?
Utilize Technology to Your Advantage
In the past decade, mental health has been on the rise. According to Mental Health America (MHA), 4.91% of American adults suffer from a severe mental illness in 2022. The prevalence of serious mental health problems has led to increased demand for treatment.
Unfortunately, providers often struggle to keep up with the demand, especially since many of them are not equipped with tools that can help them better manage their patients.
One such tool ismental health practice software. It’s an electronic health record (EHR) system designed specifically for mental health professionals overburdened with a growing number of patients and unprecedented challenges associated with dynamic mental disorders.
It offers features that make it easier to manage patient data and streamline communication between providers and families. In addition, it also helps mitigate challenges related to privacy laws because it allows providers to store patient information electronically instead of on paper files.
With Mental Health Practice Software, providers can access all of their patient data in one place, including medical records, billing information, and treatment plans. This enables them to spend more time focusing on patients’ needs than on paperwork or billing errors.
By Ken Perez, vice president of healthcare policy and government affairs, Omnicell, Inc.
Although it took eight days for most of the dust to settle after the 2022 midterm elections, it is now clear that the following conclusions can be drawn:
The widely predicted “red wave,” in which Republicans were to take back both the House and the Senate, did not materialize.
The Democrats have at least 50 seats in the Senate, and thus will retain the majority in that chamber, with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tiebreaker.
The Republicans have taken back the House, though with a very slim margin.
Divided government
Given the Republican majority in the House, the U.S. will have a divided government for the next two years. A divided government describes a situation in which one party controls the White House (the executive branch), while another party controls one or both chambers of Congress (the legislative branch).
In recent decades, a divided government has become quite common. The U.S. has had a divided government in 20 of the 32 years since 1990.
What’s good and what’s bad about divided government?
Those in favor of divided government contend that it encourages more policing of those in power by the opposition, and it limits spending and the proliferation of undesirable laws. Conversely, critics of divided government argue that it often results in gridlock.
What does the future hold with this latest occurrence of divided government?
In the wake of the 2022 midterm elections, business publisher Kiplinger stated, “After the midterms, expect gridlock to reign on Capitol Hill. A bitterly divided Congress will fight over everything. Plus, a GOP House will be eager to launch investigations.” Investment management company T. Rowe Price predicted, “With Republicans expected to take control of the House of Representatives and Democrats securing control of the Senate in the midterm elections, we anticipate limited legislative achievement in the next Congress.”
By Creagh Milford, DO, MPH, FACOI, senior vice president of retail health, CVS Health.
The massive shift to virtual health and explosion of innovation in the digital space has provided patients with an expanding array of options for care over the past few years. As people search for a new kind of health care experience that’s simpler, more affordable and efficient, providers increasingly feel the onus of coordination and communication falls on their shoulders. According to CVS Health’s 2022 Health Care Insights Study, however, both providers and patients agree that a care team approach and the seamless sharing of data and coordination across providers and sites of care will be a critical element of success as new care models evolve.
The future of care delivery demands a new collaborative care team approach as in-person, virtual and at-home care all become standard options. Patients recognize that care coordination is vital to better experiences and outcomes, with 83% of consumers indicating that coordination among all health care providers is very or somewhat important to their health.
Physicians also see the value of a team-based approach, with 68% of health care practitioners saying that coordinating with their patients’ other care providers had a high to moderate impact on their ability to achieve desired outcomes for patients. In addition, 64% said offering patients access to other health care professionals to help coordinate care had a high to moderate impact.
A new health care solution we’ve created, CVS Health Virtual Primary Care, gives eligible patients access to a continuous relationship with a physician-led virtual care team. The solution provides virtual access to primary care, mental health services and on-demand care, with the option of being seen in-person when needed at an in-network provider. This flexible, innovative product makes it easier than ever for people to access care and get their health information all in one place so they can stay healthy even when balancing the demands of work and life.
Building a technology platform that further integrates the health care journey across clinical and pharmacy locations, virtual offices and the home must be a focus as we seek to achieve truly integrated care. With a growing awareness of holistic, whole-person health, it’s not surprising that 83% of consumers surveyed want their primary care provider to know about their family medical history, genetics and inherited lifestyle habits.
However, with limited time for provider-patient interactions, patients do not want to spend time during an office visit reiterating the same concerns they expressed during a virtual call the week prior. Saving office time for true engagement is top of mind for consumers, with 85% saying provider access to their digital health history/record is very or somewhat important factor when choosing a primary care provider.
Providing omnichannel solutions can help seamlessly integrate in-person and virtual care and digital tools and touchpoints can make it easier for patients to manage their own health. For example, the CVS Health Dashboard is an online platform that houses COVID-19 testing and vaccination history and other health records such as diagnostic lab results and medications, granting consumers a 360-degree view of their health at any time.
Providers have also noted the importance of patient-focused digital and verbal interventions and touchpoints as an effective way to improve care plan adherence. Of those surveyed, 94% agreed that interventions such as pharmacist mentions, text reminders and phone follow-ups help patients successfully follow their care plans.
Our study found that 84% of providers said pharmacists help patients with complex conditions and/or specialty medication needs adhere to their health plan. At CVS Health, we can attest to the continued positive impact of touchpoints between doctor visits, such as pharmacist and nurse practitioner interactions. Pharmacists at our more than 9,000 pharmacy locations nationwide offer face-to-face counsel on a walk-in basis, helping to drive medication adherence, close gaps in care and recommend more cost-effective drug therapies. They are joined by the MinuteClinic clinicians in more than 1,100 locations in 36 states and Washington, D.C., who provide preventive care, treatment for minor illnesses and injuries, and management of chronic conditions.
Results from the Health Care Insights Study show that the delivery of health care must evolve into a coordinated and integrated experience, with the pandemic proving to be a catalyst for positive change.
Collaboration and teamwork among health care practitioners and patients are key to people achieving their health goals, with a focus on integration as health care practitioners deliver care to people in the ways that are most meaningful to them – in person, virtually or a combination of both. As we continue to expand health care delivery beyond the walls of a physician’s office, we remain deeply committed to finding new and better ways to build optimal health care journeys for everyone.
By Subhro Mallik, SVP and head of life sciences business unit, Infosys
One in five Americans suffers from chronic pain. Apart from disrupting lives, chronic pain costs the U.S. about $300 billion in productivity every year. Treatment usually involves different types of interventions, such as medication, exercise therapy, cognitive behavioral treatment etc., and the participation of both patients and their healthcare providers. Unfortunately, a highly inadequate pain management infrastructure, which has fewer than 6,000 physicians for treating 50 million patients, is unable to give patients the one-on-one attention they need.
Because they are not supervised, many patients fail to keep up with the prescribed exercise regimen, which happens to be all-important for rehabilitating chronic pain. But now, there is a real possibility for care givers to use digital interventions to remotely monitor and engage with patients to improve compliance as well as treatment outcomes.
Several digital solutions, including mobile apps, sensors, digital medical devices, fitness trackers and wearables, play a role in chronic pain therapy. What’s more, they can be applied across lines of treatment to achieve different purposes – from improving medication adherence to enabling telerehabilitation. A major benefit of digital intervention is that it allows providers to design personalized treatment plans in collaboration with patients, which has been linked to improvement in self-care. Last but not least, these tools help pain management physicians and care givers stay connected to their patients. Here are some scenarios:
Connect with patients to motivate and engage
Providers can deploy a digital platform to gather data from patients’ mobile apps, fitness trackers, and devices to track exercise performance; this insight tells them if they need to personally intervene with feedback or a revised program. The platform itself can also act as a virtual coach, gamifying the exercise routine, supervising patients and motivating them to do better.
Studies show that better engagement makes a significant impact on treatment outcomes. When patients suffering from chronic musculoskeletal pain were given a combination of education, sensor-guided exercise therapy, and one-on-one remote health coaching over a twelve-week-long program, they displayed high engagement and also reported reduction in pain.
Across the United States, hospitals and medical practices serve diverse patients with a wide range of medical conditions. These medical facilities depend on skilled Registered Nurses to provide quality patient care. Regardless of the setting, these respected healthcare workers are known for their professionalism and compassion for their patients.
For decades, United States medical facilities have experienced Registered Nurse staffing shortages. These planned (and often unplanned) vacancies often cause existing staff to scramble to meet patient care needs. The COVID-19 pandemic greatly magnified the existing nurse shortfalls. While patient care needs dramatically increased during this period, many nurses were sidelined by the virus.
Why U.S. Medical Facilities Still Need More Nurses
Today, many United States medical facilities have seen greatly reduced COVID-19 patient care demand. However, rapidly increasing numbers of older adults require care for often-complex health problems. More medical practices and specialists are offering this care, causing a rising need for Registered Nurses. Concurrently, the general population’s medical care needs also continue to grow.
Unfortunately, United States hospitals and medical practices continue to face nursing shortages in all 50 states. As a result, medical facilities have had to pursue alternative methods of maintaining the required nurse-to-patient ratios. Versatile, adaptable travel nurses continue to be a tried-and-true solution to this nationwide problem.
How Health Carousel Travel Nursing Solutions Can Help
Skilled travel nurses are ready to help resolve short- and mid-term staffing shortages. These nurses often possess varied educational backgrounds and skill sets. When they share their knowledge with their agency client’s nursing staff, this helps to elevate the facility’s standard of patient care.
Travel nurses also enjoy three concrete benefits from their client assignments. First, they can acquire new skills and/or certifications that can help advance their careers. They’ll also enjoy personal and professional connections as they move through their assignments. Finally, these versatile nurses enjoy the freedom of working in interesting places on their own schedules.
Health Carousel Travel Nursing Gains Industry Prominence
Since 2004, Health Carousel Travel Nursing (or HCTN) has been a leader in the travel nursing field. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, this fast-response healthcare recruitment agency regularly fields client requests for Registered Nurses. Although many clinical professionals are generalists, other nurses possess certifications and/or clinical experience that may increase their marketability.
The streamlined HCTN management structure enables a timely response to client requests. Each job listing is quickly routed to an experienced healthcare recruitment professional.
These resourceful recruiters utilize updated recruitment technology and intimate regional market knowledge. Together, these advantages consistently enable HCTN’s recruiters to pinpoint matching candidates for each client assignment.
The Health Carousel Travel Nursing OnDemand Platform
Health Carousel Travel Nursing (or HCTN) coordinates travel nursing assignments for Registered Nurses in all 50 states. As part of HCTN’s services, the company offers a web-based application entitled Health Carousel Travel Nursing OnDemand. This versatile program provides nurses with digital tools to help them find (and manage) upcoming assignments.
How the HCTN OnDemand App Works
The Health Carousel Travel Nursing OnDemand app enables Registered Nurses to search for jobs using very specific parameters. To illustrate, users can filter by factors such as estimated pay, location, teaching facilities, trauma level, and others. Based on each nurse’s search parameters, they can obtain smart job recommendations.
When a nurse is ready to apply for a job, they can upload their licenses and certifications via their smartphones. By placing every document in a central location, they’ll eliminate the need to scroll through endless menus to put together their application. As a bonus, nurses can sort by currently active documents. This rules out the chance they’ll add expired documentation to their application.
Nurses can also set up targeted task management and useful application tracking. Finally, the app enables seamless communications between nurses and HCTN’s highly effective recruiters. Quick message exchanges can often mean the difference between snagging a coveted job and being edged out by someone with faster messaging capabilities.
Regardless of each nurse’s specific needs, the Health Carousel Travel Nursing OnDemand app offers an efficient way to help meet them. To get started, Registered Nurses can create their OnDemand profile at no charge.
Health Carousel OnDemand: Common Q&As
The Health Carousel Travel Nursing OnDemand app serves as a portal to the company’s available opportunities. By obtaining answers to frequently asked questions, nurses can derive maximum benefit from their HCTN OnDemand interactions.
We all love our smartphones for the convenience they bring to our lives and how they keep us better connected to friends and family – as well as giving us access to the content and music we love.
But did you know that there are a number of ways that your smartphone can save your life? And these are ways that go beyond the most obvious: using it to call the emergency services or message for help.
With new tech like VoIP connections now being increasingly deployed as phone systems for healthcare companies, the link between communications technologies and better treatment- including life-saving interventions – is becoming clear. Below are the ways that your smartphone could be your best friend in an emergency.
Early Detection of Stroke and Heart Attack
There are now smartphones on the market that feature an inbuilt ECG monitor. Users simply rest their fingers on their device, and an inbuilt algorithm will monitor users’ vital stats and let them know whether they’re at risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.
Ultrasound information and electrical signals are analyzed, meaning that the device can detect the likelihood of a user developing these conditions even before they’ve experienced any symptoms.
