Category: Editorial

Signs That Show You Should See A Neurologist Immediately

Trauma prompts brain to focus on survival, not 'peripheral ...

There are so many signs that should make you book an appointment with a neurologist. But first, let’s understand who a neurologist is. A neurologist is a medical professional who can diagnose and treat conditions that affect the brain and the nervous system.

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3 Applications of Light Therapy In Healthcare

Infrared Therapy Uses and Applications

Innovation is at the heart of the healthcare sector as technology brings new tools and approaches to the table. For this reason, practitioners and healthcare providers are always looking into methods that revolutionize the way they detect and treat certain diseases.

One of these innovations is light therapy. Although controversial, this approach has been the subject of numerous studies that vouch for its effectiveness across different fields.  Also known as phototherapy, this method has encouraged further research into the usefulness of artificial light in the medical sector. So far, experts have identified a number of ways in which light therapy could be applied:

  1. Treating seasonal affective disorder

In countries where there are extensive periods of no sunlight, seasonal affective disorder or SAD is mostly common. Weather changes and changes in the light-dark cycle are also important factors that contribute to SAD. While antidepressants are usually administered to people experiencing this mood disorder, light therapy can also provide an alternative approach.

According to an article by the Harvard Medical School, patients with SAD can be exposed to artificial light for a certain amount of time depending on how drastic the weather changes in their location. Although there has yet to be a significant link between light exposure and winter depression, light therapy can still help with optimizing the effects of medication and reduce a patient’s reliance on antidepressants.

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No More Low T

When men start to reach the age of 40, their testosterone level can start to decline by 3 percent almost every year. However, testosterone is still an essential hormone when it comes to men’s health and although this decline will not always mean that you will be in need of therapy, there are still symptoms and conditions that can emerge and will ultimately make testosterone replacement necessary.

Good thing there are Testosterone Replacement clinics that are qualified to provide you with the testosterone replacement that you are going to need. By being able to maintain the necessary testosterone level, you will also be able to maintain a healthy sex drive and it can increase your overall energy.

When a man is still in his adolescence stage, he still has adequate testosterone levels and this will continue to produce largely through the ages 20 to 30. However, after that certain age range, men will then tend to suffer testosterone deficiency thereby leading to a lot of issues that can be resolved easily through testosterone replacement treatments.

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What Is Psychiatry?

Psychiatrists - Your Psychological Specialists - Ground Report

While it may seem an ignorant question, understanding psychiatry is more complicated than one might think. Yes, it’s the practice of helping individuals define, understand, and categorize mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. Still, these same healthcare professionals also determine the best treatments for individuals experiencing mental health issues.

In simple terms, “psychiatry” is the medical specialty that expands and experiences the human brain’s complexity challenges. Still, they also research a broad spectrum of mental conditions, correlated treatment options, and contribute to the new approaches and fields of study.

What Does A Psychiatrist Do?

Psychiatrists are mental health professionals. Mental disorders cover many categories, including:

  1. Mood disorders, including depression and bipolar disorder;
  2. Anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, among others;
  3. Personality disorders;
  4. Psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia; and
  5. Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia.

Psychiatry is always changing as approaches to care, and medication responses evolve. In the not-too-distant past, mental health conditions and those afflicted with them often experienced a stigma or public disgrace. This is becoming less and less true.

Psychiatrists should not be confused with psychologists. Psychiatrists require more schooling. They are medical doctors, not just providers with a master’s or a doctorate. They also can prescribe medication.

Treatment of patients

Psychiatrists must address several questions about their patients’ struggles, such as:

Current medical diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions rely on tools ranging from neuroimaging to transcranial stimulation. Psychotropic medications remain the most commonly sought and prescribed treatments, but the psychiatric landscape increasingly includes more than drugs and pharmacotherapy.

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Prostate Cancer: Most Common Causes In The 21st Century

Prostate Cancer Diagnosis | Johns Hopkins Medicine

If you’re a man in your mid-40s or older and have not undergone a prostate exam, you should consider doing so as soon as possible. To understand why such testing is critical for men in these age groups, we only have to look to a study published by the American Cancer Society. According to the study data, by the end of 2021, roughly 250,000 men are likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Of those, an estimated 34,000 are likely to lose their life to the disease.

The data further notes that these new prostate cancer cases and associated deaths will consist primarily of men in their 40s and older. While we are on the topic, it seems only appropriate to note that prostate cancer is the second-most-common cause of death among men in the United States when it comes to cancer-related deaths, lung cancer being the first. Colon, pancreas, and liver cancer make up the third, fourth, and fifth of the most deadly cancers among men, respectively.

Who Is Most at Risk of Developing Prostate Cancer?

Before delving into what prostate cancer is and why it is so common, let’s take an even closer look at just how prevalent the disease is in America. In terms of scale, the over 34,000 men expected to die from prostate cancer by the end of 2021 is about the same number of people that could fill a Major League Baseball stadium. And that averages out to roughly 91 deaths each day or about one man dying every 16 minutes. Of course, this is all based on future projections. Currently, some 3 million men in America are reportedly living with this life-altering disease. While all men are at risk of developing prostate cancer as they get older, the risk is higher for some than others. And several things go into explaining why this is the case.

Firstly, some men never undergo a digital rectal exam (DRE), which can help detect prostatic nodules that sometimes turn into cancer. Second, prostate cancer can be hereditary for some men, which means that they have inherited gene mutations that make it highly likely that they will fall victim to the disease. And this is backed by a study published by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which revealed that 5 to 10 percent of all men diagnosed with prostate cancer inherited gene mutations that predisposed them to the disease.

Along with inherited gene mutations and forgoing routine prostate exams, a man’s race can also increase their likelihood of developing prostate cancer. Studies show that African-American and Hispanic men are at a higher risk of developing and ultimately dying from prostate cancer. Asian men, when compared to their Caucasian counterparts, African-American, and Hispanic men, are less likely to develop or die from prostate cancer.

What Is Prostate Cancer and Why Is It So Common?

The long and short of it is that prostate cancer, aside from targeting the prostate gland, specifically, is not too dissimilar from other cancers in that it occurs as a result of changes in DNA, which is precipitated by cells within the prostate dividing uncontrollably. Along with age and race, hormone imbalances can trigger this out of control cell division that ultimately gives way to prostate cancer. For example, a study published by Science Daily revealed that men over 40 with high testosterone levels, meaning 1,100 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL) and above, are at risk of developing prostate cancer. High testosterone levels in men can result from any of the following:

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Profits of Using CRM For Healthcare

The quality of personal health is more important to patients than any other thing. This is why most hospitals prefer scheduled or periodic follow-ups with their patients. However, for large hospitals, this may come with some challenges as the number of patients to be handled may be bigger than the health care teams. Besides, hospitals also face stiff competition as patients easily find alternative health care providers who offer better treatment options.

To be able to beat the competition, many hospitals develop more effective marketing outlets. These web-based outlets help patients with answering health care questions before they can proceed to seek treatment. In fact, according to Creatio, of all the health questions, three-fourth of them begin in search engines. This is why hospitals need healthcare CRM.  But what is a healthcare CRM? Let’s begin with the definition.

Healthcare CRM

This is a software in the healthcare industry that allows medical centers to manage all the patient’s data together with other health information more efficiently. Healthcare CRM comes with significant components some of which are similar to other CRM systems. The general modules of healthcare CRM are:

These modules are very specific for the health industry and provide great support to the health provision process. However, not everybody will benefit from a healthcare CRM. See who can benefit from a healthcare service industry CRM:

4 Key Benefits Of Healthcare CRM

Mailing and marketing campaigns

Healthcare CRM helps healthcare providers to know their patients, understand what they are looking for or what they need to be able so that they are able to improve quality of services and improve relationships with patients. This tool is able to track the satisfaction of patients as well as check their likelihoods of referring other patients to the facility. Besides, this software helps you to efficiently filter patient contacts. You therefore get a targeted list of patients with more interest in upcoming products or offers.

Improves Personalization

Apart from just storing private healthcare details of a patient, this system also stores information about birthdays, gender, age, profession among other personal information. The tool will therefore help you send personalized messages or emails to inform patients about discounts, congratulate them on birthdays, remind them to take pills or attend to appointments and many more. All these personalized actions show patients that you care for them and help them recover even faster.

Eliminates Errors

Manual reporting increases chances of administrative errors. Research shows that over 70% of patients repeat cases after the same cases are reported to several other doctors. Besides, many patients are forced to retake tests after initial test results are lost.

However, as the quality of service become more important to the industry, healthcare providers must shift to offering patients increased quality as it affects their revenue directly. By informing healthcare providers about patient information that should be entered and storing all that information, CRM system solves the problems of lost patient interactions and minimizes time spent serving the patients. This eliminates administrative errors and increases customer satisfaction.

Tracks Referred Patients

The process of transferring patients to specialists is not easy to track without CRM. It is not easy to track whether the patients actually visited the specialists or whether they got quality healthcare. Patients are lost as a result, and that also means that profit is lost.

Healthcare CRM helps staff to store referral information as well as track their progress to ensure quality service is offered. If there is an interrupted service, the system communicates with staff and such cases are resumed easily.

ePCR Software Customization In Crisis Situations

By Daniel Frey, vice president of business development and co-founder, FieldMed.

Daniel Frey

Such as we experienced this past year with the COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis can strike at any moment. Frontline workers such as paramedics know this better than anyone. As those on the frontlines of emergency responses, paramedics also know the importance of having the right tools immediately available Customized ePCR (electronic patient care reporting) software helps first responders quickly adapt to any crisis situation with limited interruptions in the field.

3 Benefits of ePCR Software Customization

In an emergency situation, these customized forms and templates are precious commodities. With a customizable ePCR software, responding to real-world crisis scenarios becomes less stressful and more streamlined.

Adaptable fire department record management software provides first responders with three major benefits, including:

  1. Optimized templates and forms
  2. Improved Metric Analysis
  3. Interagency Consistency
  4. Optimized Templates and Forms

Customized ePCR forms and templates make a paramedic’s job easier.  By tailoring EMS charting software to a specific situation, first responders waste less time on data collection and documentation. This allows for first responders to focus their time and resources on what matters most: treating patients. Customized ePCR templates and forms can be crafted — even on the fly — to seamlessly follow along with a paramedic’s workflow.  There’s no more scrolling past long blocks of text or data entry points that aren’t germane to the situation. First responders are able to focus on delivering and documenting treatments, resulting in the overall improvement of patient care.

In non-emergency situations, ePCRs can be adjusted to meet a department’s specific needs, whether it’s responding to a common situation, such as a car crash, or treating a specific population, such as veterans or specific issues, such as mental health matters. 

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What Do Healthcare Administrators Do?

Healthcare Administration Careers

The healthcare sector in the United States is growing at a rapid pace. The combination of an aging population, an ongoing pandemic, and growing numbers of retiring healthcare workers mean that the demand for skilled personnel is at an all-time high.

One particular area that is also burgeoning is healthcare administration. These individuals play a vital role in ensuring that the daily running of a healthcare facility is efficient and working according to standards. If you’re interested in a career in this field, below is a short guide about what it involves.

Description

Healthcare administrators oversee the day-to-day operations of a hospital or healthcare facility. Otherwise known as healthcare managers, these individuals ensure that a medical facility is adhering to the best and most efficient practices. They are often required to plan and supervise all services as well as monitor budgets and update health records. The average salary for a healthcare administrator is $99,000 per annum.

Requirements

If you’re interested in becoming a healthcare administrator, there are a few requirements that you’ll need:

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of healthcare managers can vary depending on their specialization and on the clinic, hospital, or facility they’re working in. Generally, though, healthcare managers are responsible for the following:

Specializations

While healthcare administrators can work in general regions of healthcare management, they can also specialize in a few key areas. These include: