HEALTH CARE

Reliable Radiology Transcription Service to Medical Services

2012-04-22T22:34:00.000-07:00

Medical transcription companies are gaining wide acceptance in the health-care industry. It has not only created job opportunities for transcribers, but has made the task of maintaining medical records easy. While some transcribing services are quite common, few like radiology medical transcription are in high demand. Earlier, maintaining radiology reports was a herculean task due to the increase in the number of patients seeking radiology services, because all most all specialties in health-care required the assistance radiology department for diagnosis, but it is not so in today's world. Internet has made the task easy because transcription companies specializing in radiology transcription services are able to transcribe all your electronic radiology scanning online. Once you're scanning and observations dictation are transcribed, the records will be delivered to you and you can retrieve them any time and from anywhere.

What Factors To Consider While Choosing Radiology Transcription Services?

• Simplicity of the recording, transfer and delivery procedures and technology
• Accuracy of reports
• Quality control procedures
• Turnaround time
• Security of records
• Cost of services

Assured Security:

On line medical transcription companies follow very stringent methods of security. Their radiology transcription service facilities can be gained access only by authorized staff that is highly trained and aware with regards to all transcription services. The entry is controlled by a valid log in key and password and all incoming ports are protected by firewall and filters. As part of safety assurance, only encrypted files are sent across the internet to avoid unauthorized decoding of files even if they are intercepted en-route. Online radiology medical transcription companies comply by the standards and needs of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that assures complete security of information.

Transfer and Delivery:

Medical transcription companies are a great boon to the health-care industry. It helps hospitals to have an organized system of maintaining and gaining access medical records without investing too much capital on record keeping. The time that a doctor spends with a patient depends on the nature of the diagnosis and treatment which may involve several visits till the treatment ends. During the process of treatment, the doctor can record all his observations, diagnosis and prescriptions on a voice recorder or into a telephone dialed into a central server of the radiology transcription service provider. Once the company receives the recording, an authorized transcriber will transcribes the voice recording into a text format and deliver it back to the doctor. The doctor can call for the reports when the patient visits him once again.

Total Med Transcription provides best Service. For more details: click here Radiology Transcription Service and Medical Transcription Services

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Fewer Medical Test Procedures and More Wellness Promotion To Save Money and Boast Societal Wellbeing

2012-04-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

A recent medical foundation identified 45 common medical tests or procedures judged by a dozen medical groups to be unnecessary or overutilized. Now a campaign has been launched by the Foundation of the American Board of Internal Medicine to persuade doctors and patients to be more circumspect about recommending/undergoing test procedures.

I, too, recommend such precautions - and I believe such advice should be on offer from every health educator, fitness coach and other health professional. I'd like to go further than the Foundation, however, by recommending a positive remedy that not only solves a problem but does affirmative good.

My advice is to do more than avoid unnecessary medical tests; I propose wellness assessment by all doctors and other caregivers. After all, why stop with ceasing to do harm? The time is ripe to promote health, as well as prevent waste.

I have a few starter tips for medical practitioners concerning a wellness assessment. There are ways doctors can encourage patients to self-assess if they are well in positive ways, and to consider whether they would be willing to put in time and do the work in order to become healthier in the future.

Before mentioning a few such ways, let me be quite clear about something concerning medical testing. Most, perhaps all 45 overused testing procedures identified by the medical study group can be useful, if employed wisely under optimal circumstances. System reforms that promote provider scrutiny can prevent overuse-but selective testing can be beneficial. Furthermore, informed consumers skeptical of tests can save themselves and society money and grief by being vigilant about medical testing. However, the big gains will come from wellness assessments that necessarily raise consciousness about health beyond the margins on non-sickness, not just reducing unproductive medical tests.

Wellness assessments by doctors can serve three purposes:

Raise positive health consciousness.
Assess patient interest in and capability to do more for their own health.
Spark wellness initiatives that can lead to better health and higher quality of life.

Good news: some of this is underway, in a limited sense. A recent Wall Street Journal article described wellness enhancement initiatives in U.S. corporations that are being conducted under the guise of fun gaming. (See Anna Wilde Mathews article "Playing for Wellness" in Family Finances, Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2012.)

The stated goal of such company programs is to encourage employees to take better care of themselves. This is a clear shift from medical testing to wellness promotion. It should be welcomed. Using digital gaming tactics, enjoyable consciousness-raising efforts are introduced in the form of online team competitions. Departments compete for virtual and real-world rewards by doing things that improve their health. Wow-compare that with CAT scans and colonoscopies!

Why the change in emphasis? Because "insurers are under pressure to show they can bring down costs by improving consumers' day-to-day health." Evidently, some employers are realizing that health improvements will not come from more medical testing. Such offerings are also being developed to appeal to persons who self-insure.

Participants are assessed in terms of how well they are at the start (the procedures are called "Vitality Age" at Humana, "Get Active" at Aetna, "OptumizeMe" at UnitedHealth Group and "DailyFeats" at Cigna) of quality of life programs. Employees then engage in virtual positive initiatives, including exercise and healthy eating and so on. Health coaches are enlisted by department teams. Earn enough points and you not only look and feel better-you will also score cool electronics, sports equipment and/or a prize in a monthly drawing. Of course, you have to play along (i.e., participate in and progress toward a healthier lifestyle) to be eligible for these extrinsic payoffs.) Again, while none of this is ideal, it beats the usual reliance on (often redundant) medical testing.

I realize that most medical practices do not have the time or resources to investigate and adapt sophisticated corporate social programs such as pioneered by the above-noted leading companies. The wellness gaming initiatives highlighted in the referenced Wall Street Journal article would not be suitable in any event, given that all require social support. Medical groups looking for health-enhancement substitutes for discredited medical tests found inappropriate or overused have other options for individuals they treat. The simplest and least expensive would be to offer a fifteen-minute REAL wellness mini-assessment. This positive "test" of sorts simply raises health consciousness. It is designed to assess patient interests in exploring a healthier lifestyle and his/her capability to do so. If the doctor or other medical professional thought there was any chance of success, the patient could be guided to identify alternative paths to better health and a higher quality of life.

At this point, the patient can be referred to a wellness coach or other resource facilitator for getting started with a little help from friends-and for other supports available.

As noted throughout, compared with the unnecessary tests, such a brief wellness overview assessment would be more cost effective and might lead to improved states of well being. That's the idea, in any case.

Be well and make a best effort to look on the bright side of life.

Publisher of the ARDELL WELLNESS REPORT (AWR) - a weekly electronic newsletter devoted to commentaries on current issues that affect personal and social well being from a quality of life perspective. The emphasis is on REAL wellness, which is also the topic of Don's latest book. Read about it here - https://www.createspace.com/3478226 - The "REAL" acronym reflects key issues embraced and advanced in Don's philosophy, namely, Reason, Exuberance, Athleticism and Liberty. Sample copy of Don's latest edition by request. If you like it, you can sign up - the price is right - free. Contact Don at awr.realwellness@gmail.com

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4 Ways Medical Bill Review Can Help Your Business

2012-04-22T22:19:00.005-07:00

If you are a business owner, you know the importance of managing workers compensation for your employees accurately and appropriately. Time out of work hurts your business and likely puts an equally large burden on your injured employee. As a workers compensation decision maker there are steps you can take to ensure your employees are treated adequately and return to work as quickly, and more importantly as healthy as possible. By utilizing medical bill review services, you'll be able to help your business and employees. Here are four simple ways these services can help.

Accuracy of Treatment

Far too often the process of getting workers compensation treatment is complicated and sometimes inaccurate for your employee's needs. Utilizing a quality medical bill review provider will ensure that your employees are treated with a return to work focus. That means patients will undergo only the treatment needed to return them to full health and not undergoing unnecessary treatment health providers might normally try to provide. This saves care providers, employees and businesses money getting accurate treatment and eliminating the often unnecessary steps toward treatment.

Accurate Payment

Considering bill review takes strong steps to ensure your employees are treated accurately and effectively, a quality provider expedites the payment process. Health costs are a reality for any business owner or insurance provider when it comes to workers comp treatment. What doesn't have to be a reality is overly complicated, long-running payment processes. Medical Bill review companies should manage both the accuracy and timeliness of treatment and payment. The sooner proper payment information is provided to employers and insurers the more up-to-date they are, and the more satisfied care providers are. Every party benefits from the bill review process.

Focused on Returning to Work

Far too often workers compensation treatment is a slow, drawn out process of specialist visit, after specialist visit. This can take considerable amounts of time from employees, and lose focus on returning them to work. Most quality medical bill review specialists manage treatment through specialized national or regional PPO's. These PPO's can manage specific treatment processes, and refer individual's to other specialists in network to maximize treatment from a return-to-work focus other care providers simply can't provide.

Appeal Management

The final way medical bill review providers help your business is through appeal management. Like anything, medical billing can often contain mistakes. This can be anything from inaccurate coding, to missing information about the patient. In cases such as this the providers will work for you and your employee to resolve the issue. Because medical bill review companies are specialized, they are able to communicate directly to care providers on the issues and resolve them in a timely fashion. There's no need to spend valuable time and energy trying to reach care providers when the review company will manage that for you.

Medical bill review companies can be a true asset to you as a business owner or insurance provider. Attempting to manage the intricacies of return-to-work treatment for workers compensation patients is a complicated process that if not managed properly can lead to unnecessary costs. The only way to fully ensure accurate treatment, accurate payment, and appeal management with a return-to-work focus is with a medical bill review provider. Containing healthcare costs simply and efficiently doesn't have to be hard.

Dave Hutton represents CompComplete, a cost containment services company focusing on medical bill review and other managed care services nation wide.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_H_Hutton

The Evolution of Healthcare Mystery Shopping

2012-04-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

Patients answer patient satisfaction survey questions based on their perception, and yet there is limited context for the healthcare provider. It leaves one asking the questions - who were they interacting with, what was said, when did it happen, and how capable and reliable was the patient to make those interpretations? So instead of convening a committee to explore the reasons for poor scores, healthcare mystery shopping provides healthcare clients with the research intelligence needed to make real-time improvements.

In an era of value based purchasing with a focus on inpatient stays, I have estimated that over 80% of the lives touched by health systems in this country are not patients at all, but rather family members, visitors, outpatients, and consumers of everything from equipment to Starbucks. By all means make the patient room environment as clean and silent as possible, communicate effectively with the patient, and ensure that they are fully prepared to be discharged, but the emphasis must still be on the patient's perception. Observations, opinions, and ultimately consumer decisions derive from that source.

The elevated importance of patient satisfaction data means that as the data is digested, more and more questions will arise. For instance, a survey will tell you there is a concern with the friendliness of the radiology staff. Instead of creating a broad-brush customer service program for the Radiology Department, the logical next step is to determine how the department is being perceived by end-users, what the department's behavioral weaknesses are, and who on the staff is exhibiting those behaviors.

Together patient satisfaction data and healthcare mystery shopping can begin to focus on meaningful solutions that cause providers to say, "We know from patient satisfaction there is a problem and from mystery shopping we know what that problem is and who is primarily responsible."

While it is recommended that managers look for coaching opportunities by observing their employees in action, expecting them to alter the service culture is less likely since - for the most part - they created the culture. Because this type of research is strictly consumer perception, it provides an unbiased view of a department or organization's culture. This gives managers a third party perspective that increases coaching opportunities.

Types of Healthcare Mystery Shopping

From those early days of healthcare mystery shopping, healthcare provider requests have gotten more creative, more targeted, and more sophisticated. For example, a client may request something as all encompassing as a 24-hour inpatient stay in which the shopper is admitted for a 24-hour period to evaluate the patient experience from registration to discharge. Or shoppers may be asked to call physician offices to make appointments with the intent of determining how long it will be before they can be seen tying the research to more efficient use of resources.

In 2008, healthcare mystery shopping received significant national press when the American Medical Association attempted to take up a position on the practice. What was not as readily reported was the fact that the issue was tabled indefinitely. In fact, it was already the custom of one of the leading providers (prior to the accusation that healthcare mystery shopping was unnecessarily taking up physician time) to utilize what they call process observations. This form of mystery shopping, which is most effective in Emergency Departments, avoids taking up valuable patient time by having a shopper join a patient as a friend as they go through the patient experience.

Two of the most beneficial types of perception research are: 1) shopping the competition, and 2) evaluating individual employees. Call it spying, many do, but it is important to know your competition's culture. For example, what do they believe in and how is it transferred to the patient, and can the anecdotal stories you've heard be verified?

A great deal of value can be derived from conducting evaluations of individual employees. For a number of reasons - cost certainly being a factor - this works best in a departmental environment and gives managers an apples-to-apples comparison of each employee as it pertains to specific standards, i.e., is Cindy more likely than Jeff to greet patients immediately (setting up a coaching opportunity for Jeff)? Or, does Jeff do a great job of cross-selling services and should be commended?

Healthcare mystery shopping also gives managers concrete examples of the specific behavior that "turns patients on." This sets up the perfect opportunity to present to staff the behaviors the organization would like emulated while giving kudos to the employee who displays them.

Quantitative and Qualitative Appeal

Healthcare mystery shopping appeals to managers and administrators whether they are left brained (numbers focused) or right brained (narrative focused). On the one hand, mystery shopping is about story telling. Fred Lee wrote in If Disney Ran Your Hospital, "What seems to be a major component of both loyalty and dissatisfaction are stories. A satisfied person has no story to tell." Stories are important in articulating the who, what, when, where, and how of the patient or consumer experience. The right brain approach to mystery shopping allows clients to clearly discern the difference between a completely satisfactory experience and all the various facets that went into it, and those elements of an experience that triggered displeasure or frustration. At the same time, healthcare mystery shopping is an effective compliance tool. Standards that are specific to the healthcare industry, and therefore can be benchmarked, are mixed with organizationally specific standards to create a quantitative amalgam that can be data spliced in any way necessary. Healthcare mystery shopping primarily answers the following question - How well does your organization perform on the behaviors and processes you told your people are important? In addition, it lets organizations measure those standards against perception-based goals.

The Flexibility of Healthcare Mystery Shopping

Patient satisfaction surveys are, for the most part, static. They are unchanging for a reason. Conversely, healthcare mystery shopping is much more flexible. It can be designed as a program that measures the same standards or processes over time, or studies can be developed to determine exactly what behaviors or processes are being performed.

Healthcare mystery shopping can also be redirected 'on the fly' if the desired objectives are not being met. For example, to their surprise, a physician practice that was asking shoppers to make appointments found out they weren't accepting new patients. Another practice that was evaluating the customer service of their registrars discovered that none of the calls were being answered by a 'live' person. In both instances, the practice put on the brakes until they could fix the issue. One hospital was having shoppers go to their website to look for specific information and then having them request a response. What this uncovered was that the requests were accumulating on a PC that was not being used. This finding allowed the hospital to avoid upsetting hundreds of consumers who felt they were being rudely ignored.

How does one know if a service initiative is really working? Healthcare mystery shopping is an excellent complement to any service initiative. It can be directed in such a way that it provides real time verification that the initiative is being effective. Anything from a discharge process to valet service can be shopped at various times to ensure that the initiative's message was received and implemented.

Flexibility does not, however, extend to internal programs. Sometimes in the name of saving money, healthcare providers will launch a do-it-yourself program. They attempt to get employees or volunteers to perform the same function that professional healthcare mystery shopping firms do. This rarely if ever works for any duration for obvious reasons. Insiders have internal biases and, despite their best intentions, are no longer able to be objective. The other reason this is not effective is that employees (and even volunteers) can think of a million things they should be doing or would rather be doing. And the lack of staying power for a do-it-yourself program puts a tremendous burden on the manager assigned to administer the task.

What Clients are Looking For

Hospitals, health systems and physician practices seek out healthcare mystery shopping vendors for a number of reasons. In some cases, they want to validate "good news." For example, one health system client entered into a long-term relationship with the primary goal of proving that their services were superior to the competition that was also shopped. A recent wayfinding study of over 300 'shops' conducted for a large hospital on the east coast concluded that less than 76% of their employees received a top box score of five for greeting consumers with a smile. This finding was indicative of a culture that was not treating consumers in 'a personal and memorable way.' However, healthcare mystery shopping afforded them the advantage of validating their original concern, isolating where this concern is most prevalent, and using the shopper's language to convey to staff why greeting people was critically important to overall perception. Much like satisfaction surveys, healthcare mystery shopping is able to monitor improvement over time, but with the added benefit of story telling to pinpoint issues. It can also be instrumental in determining the specific nature of the concern and identifying where weaknesses exist.

A healthcare mystery shopping executive, who is undergoing therapy for breast cancer, wrote in a blog recently, "What matters to healthcare organizations are things like how many steps it takes to check a patient in, scripted greetings for frontline employees, record keeping for correct billing, and clinical training for new safety measures. However, as a patient, I notice if the person checking me in for chemo is smiling and greets me because she cares, not if she delivers a scripted sentence. Next, I notice if the nurses in the chemo area are working as a team and greet me personally (they should know me after two months). But what is most important to me is whether or not the clinical staff is aligned with my recovery goals."

While this executive may be more attuned to her surroundings than most patients and able to articulate what it means to her, the goal for any healthcare mystery-shopping program is to use the shopper's heightened sense of awareness and their ability to effectively communicate their experiences in a way that is clear and concise.

Kevin Billingsley is founder and president of Perception Strategies, Inc., a healthcare consulting firm specializing in Employee Perception Deep Dives and Healthcare Mystery Shopping. Opening its doors in 1998, Perception Strategies has conducted over 60,000 healthcare mystery shops and 250,000 employee service evaluations providing clients with consumer and employee insights resulting in substantial behavioral and process change. Billingsley is also the co-author of Turn Your Customer On, a customer service how-to book written with Brooke Billingsley and available on Amazon. Discover why many of the leading healthcare organizations in the US call on Perception Strategies to help remove the barriers to consumer satisfaction by visiting the website at http://www.perstrat.com

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Cosmic Nursing?

2012-04-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

It happened again. It's a funny world, whenever you think you're late, you're really just in time for something else.

It was my granddaughter's birthday and I was driving to my mother's house to celebrate and light some candles with my family. There was a ton of traffic that day driving to Jones Beach. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining brightly, and the sky was a clear and cloudless. Merrick Road is a four-lane highway-two lanes East, two West. I had the windows down, and the radio was playing as I sang along. I was marveling at the color of the sky when I suddenly saw what seemed to be a brown paper shopping bag flying across the sky, but I noticed something strange. It didn't tumble or fly lightly enough; it seemed to have direction, to be making an arch.
A seagull? I wondered.

But no, I told myself, there are no khaki brown seagulls-none that I've seen anyway. I was pondering, squinting, trying to make sense out what I was seeing, when suddenly it took a nosedive and landed right on the black pavement road in front of my car-sprawled flat across the yellow line.

It was then I saw the bicycle.

I had to force myself to think rationally. Paper bags and seagulls don't ride bicycles, I thought. Bright, I am.

I stomped on the brake and stopped the car a few feet away from what I could now identify as a middle aged man wearing a khaki shirt and black trousers and jumped out of the car.

I kneeled down next to him and quickly grabbed his wrist to feel his pulse. Nice, strong, regular. Okay, it wasn't his heart. I leaned down and put my ear on his chest to make sure. Nice, strong, regular beat. Okay. But he was out cold, unconscious. Several people began mulling around, and I heard someone shout "Call 911."

The bicycle seemed to disappear.

A few people hovered near, one girl held his other hand.

"He's okay," I said to them. "I'm a nurse." Blood was everywhere. I quickly reached inside my pocket to see if I had something to wipe his face, nothing. I looked down quickly at my tee shirt. I could undress in the middle of the highway but my red shirt was pigment dyed, I was afraid it could infect him. I called for help. "Any of you have a handkerchief?" I asked around. That's when I turned saw something amazing.

Six mini vans had made a half circle to keep the traffic going east from hitting us, and behind us, several other cars stopped the traffic going west. A circle of Angels.

Then, a man came forward holding out his handkerchief. I smiled and thanked him as I took it. When I wiped off the still unconscious man's face, I found the source of his bleeding. He had been wearing glasses which had cut deeply through his right eyebrow making a deep gash, down to the bone. I held the handkerchief with enough pressure to try to stop the bleeding.

"Maybe he has a seizure disorder," I said aloud. He was still unconscious. Then a young man came to kneel next to me. He held out a box of latex gloves and said gently, "I'm an Emergency Medical Technician. You really should put these on."

In that moment, they looked as foreign as the paper bag that only minutes before had been flying through the air. I looked down at my hands. They were covered with blood. I smiled and thanked him but refused. "Sorry," I said. "But I think it's a little late. I'm already a mess..." He stood up and nodded. Suddenly, the man on the pavement began to struggle, began to try to pull my hand away from his forehead, and began to kick. "Grab him," someone shouted. "So he doesn't hurt himself."

"It's okay," I said. "He'll be okay. He's just coming to." After a few minutes, he opened his eyes. "You're okay," I said to him. "You'll be fine."

"I want to sit up," he said, hoarsely.

"If you can, do," I said. "But I can't help you just in case you have a back injury."

He sat up easily. "What happened?" he asked. "Do you have a seizure disorder?" I asked.

"I didn't," he said. "I don't think." "You were riding a bike..." I said.

"I was?" he said. "Whose bike?"

"Don't have a clue..." I said. "But I'm sure it will all come back to you in time. What's your name?" I asked.

"Fred," he said.

"Hi," I said, smiling a reassurance.

"I'm Carol." It was then I heard the sirens and saw the bright red rescue truck and ambulance. Several police women and men circled us, on walkie talkies. I looked around. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. A policewoman came over to me. "I'd better get you something to wash your hands," she said. I noticed she was holding her walkie-talkie in hands wearing latex gloves.

"I'm okay," I said. "I'll wash when I get home." I looked at my watch. Jeez, I thought, I am so late. "I have to go," I told her.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Carol," I said. "Now, can you move those vans so I can get through? I'm late for a birthday party."

She smiled. "Sure," she said, as I hopped back into my car to drive away. Another policeman shouted after me, "Thanks, Carol."

On the drive home, I wondered why that man looked like a paper bag flying through the air...what was going on with me? It all seemed so surreal, and at the same time, just as it was meant to be. And then I remembered how all those vans and cars circled us to keep us safe. I thought, how bad can the world be? I mean, this is New York an nobody even ran over us.

Outside my mother's house, I parked and ran inside. My daughter was standing in the living room. She was the first one I saw.

"Is that your blood on your hands, Mom?" she asked, calmly. She was obviously used to me.

"Nope," I said. "It belonged to a man who was flying through the air like a paper bag and fell on the pavement in front of my car."

"Well, you better go wash off and disinfect them," she said.

One of my granddaughters's asked, "Did he die?"

"Nope," I said, walking toward the bathroom. "I think he's okay."

My son was sitting on the couch, eating, buffet style. "Remind me to stay off the roads whenever you're planning to go out," he said, smiling. "Didn't that happen to you last month?"

"Something like it," I said laughing. "But give me a break, all I did was find him," I said.

Another of my granddaughters said, "Tell us the story?"

But my mother, who had watched without saying a word from the time I walked in the door, just said, "Carol, you can talk later. Finish washing your hands. It's time to eat. The macaroni's getting cold."

That night I called the hospital, and asked about Fred. But the only information the Nursing Supervisor could give me was that he was in the Intensive Care Unit and his condition was critical. When I called the following day, his condition was unchanged.

But by the third day, he was doing much better. He had been moved out of the Unit and was in a room on one of the surgical floors. The following morning when I called, they told me Fred had gone home. It was then I figured there must be some kind of volunteer group like our firefighters that never needs to hear a siren, always is just there when they are needed. Of course, then I understood none of us ever has to be afraid, because as we are there for others, others will be there for us when we need them. Just like a group of Volunteer Cosmic Healers! Nice.

Carol Gino is the Best selling author of The Nurse's Story and Rusty's Story which were both on the New York Times Bestseller's List. She also has other books which are available as hard copies or digital versions. Please visit http://starwater.com/aah-ha-books/ to purchase your copy. Her blog is http://www.hopefulhealer.com where you can join her email list and get free downloads of her books. She is also on Facebook.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carol_Gino

IT Health and Safety Training: Highly Important

2012-04-22T21:54:00.000-07:00

IT health and safety have come a long way and today, regardless of the size of an organisation, employers are required to initiate DSE training for employees who regularly have to work with display screen equipment. DSE includes both conventional display screens and those used in laptops, touch-screens and other similar devices. In fact, it is required by law (The Health and Safety DSE Regulations 1992) that employees who use such equipments should be made to undergo this training program to fulfil display screen regulations. This training not only helps to increase safety and awareness, but it also helps employers and employees to aid compliance with workplace regulations.

Nowadays, the majority of the workforce needs to work with computers, making it essential for them to be aware of computer health and safety procedures. A healthy working environment not only boosts productivity and efficiency in employees, but it also protects them from a lot of problems associated with neck, shoulder, back or arm pain, as well as with fatigue and eyestrain. When employment is started, or health risks increase due to a change in working practices, the training should be repeated. Sometimes slight modification and adaptation becomes important, to accommodate new risks to health and safety.

Some of the display screen equipment regulations involve the proper setting of desk and chair for assured comfort, ideal placement and use of computer screen, keyboard, and mouse so that there is no feeling of strain or fatigue, understanding the importance of maintaining a good posture during work, taking breaks from prolonged use of DSE, and also an awareness of the working environment, which includes lighting, noise, temperature, and anything that can affect comfort, well-being and efficiency at work. These aspects of the working environment can go a long way in enhancing efficiency and safety and reducing stress and health risks of individuals.

Employers should ideally perform health and safety risk assessments of workstations and carry out DSE assessments on a regular basis. They should also ensure that the employees are provided with adequate information regarding all aspects of health and safety relating to their workstations. One important factor that should be kept in mind is that the training program should be made interactive and enjoyable, so that the employees find it a fun and knowledge filled program designed for their well being and comfort, instead of feeling that the regulations have been imposed upon them.

This article is written in association with iHASCO. Having over 19 years experience in the industry, they are one of the best solution providers for all your health and safety training requirements. They produce videos, DVDs, and interactive training programs for various sectors, helping people to cope with the most important health and safety issues. Take a look at their website for the whole range of services offered by them.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Freddie_D_Skinner

Medical Answering Service Improves Patient Experiences

2012-04-22T21:21:00.001-07:00

Insurance plans are one of the top issues that most affects medical practices today, from malpractice insurance for the physicians to the medical provider plans that dictate which doctor a patient can use. Most companies go through an agonizing yearly ritual of vetting which insurance companies will provide the best medical options for the lowest cost to the company, while never taking the individual practice into account. As many patients choose their doctors from a list in a book, it is imperative that medical practices differentiate themselves from the practice down the road or across the hall?

How do they make themselves stand out? Giving great customer service from the initial contact is the single most important aspect affecting practices today. What impression does your practice make? Is voicemail the first thing a patient hears? A recent survey asked "What is the biggest complaint you have with your medical professional?" Most of those surveyed said "leaving a message in voicemail and never getting a call back."

Have patients voiced their discontent? Is office staff complaining that they feel as if they are at the circus performing like jugglers on a tight rope? After all, trying to book an appointment for someone across the desk, at the same time pulling a chart to check prescription dosage for the pharmacy on the phone is pretty hard to manage? What about first thing in the morning when just opening the door? The phones are ringing and the first thing staff has to do is go through voicemails that came in overnight? These calls are for all different aspects of the practice. Appointment calls, insurance and billing questions, lab results, and prescriptions to name a few. They are being hand written and forwarded to the appropriate department. How much time does that take staff to accomplish? During that time, the staff member is unable to handle their own job responsibilities.

There are many solutions that can help staff become a welcomed friend rather than the enemy. One option is hiring a professional medical answering service to handle your calls. A good business answering service can handle inbound calls, overflow, appointment scheduling and many other scenarios that will free up office staff. This then allows them to concentrate on taking care of those patients in the office. Any good answering service can separate out calls and forward them to the appropriate staff member as complete messages. This allows staff to return calls in a quick and professional manner because they already know what the caller needs. An answering service that also provides web based documentation creates a management tool that ensures all calls have been handled and nothing can slip through the crack. With management oversight the practice can operate more profitably.

Everywhere from shopping malls to hospitals, companies want feedback. How are we doing? Did you have a good experience? Will you recommend us to friends, family, and social network? The medical community is no different, they must remain engaged or will stop being profitable.

Remember, outsourcing calls to a professional virtual secretary will allow patients a better experience. Those patients will refer the practice to family and friends and staff will have more time to concentrate on the things that are important to the practice and profitability. Everyone wins.

Author writes about a variety of topics such as sales, answering services, call centers and specializes in writing telemarketing scripts and sales tips. For more information visit http://www.profilesandreviews.com

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How To Clean Surgical Instruments Manually And Using An Ultrasonic Machine

2012-04-22T21:05:00.003-07:00

To make sure that patients do not end up with any transmitted diseases or infections, it is imperative that doctors and hospital technicians adopt the proper procedures and rules for adequately sterilizing and cleaning all their surgical instruments. There are various different methods that technicians in hospitals can adopt to ensure that the surgical instruments are always well kept and impeccably clean. Out of all the methods available for cleaning surgery instruments, the method involving ultrasonic cleaning is the most preferable one because it is quite simple to follow and takes less effort and time. However, when it comes to cleaning very hinged and delicate instruments, hospital staff must take the time out to manually clean them. If you are interested in learning about ultrasonic cleaning of instruments, this article will teach you how to do it.

The first thing that you should keep in mind is that surgical instruments should be cleaned immediately after they have been used. If you let the debris and blood get dried on the instruments, it can cause oxidation which severely damages instruments and causes them to clamp and get rusty. Thus, as soon as the surgeon is done using an instrument you should immediately rinse it using warm water to make sure that all the tissue and debris is washed off. From there on then you should place the rinsed surgical instruments into a detergent, again prefer using a cleaning solution that is especially designed for instrument cleaning, and let your instruments remain dipped in this solution for around ten to twenty minutes.

Once you are done cleaning your instruments with a detergent you have to pat dry them with a clean towel and prep them for further cleaning in an ultrasonic cleaning machine. Fill up the machine with its ultrasonic cleaning solution and then using thongs pick up the dried up surgical instruments and submerge them into the ultrasonic cleaning solution in the machine. When submerging your instruments take extra care to ensure that one instruments sharp edges does not rub against another instrument. The thong that you used for submerging should also be left slightly dipped inside for awhile so as to clean the ends of the instruments that were touched by the thongs.

Now you can turn on your ultrasonic cleaning machine and let your instruments be cleaned for around five to ten minutes. Once the machine is turned off, use the same thongs to lift out the surgical instruments and allow them to dry up naturally in air by placing them on to a properly cleaned and sterilized tray.

For manual cleaning of instruments it is best that you use a good scrub brush that will help you reach into small edges and rounds that are hard to get into using your fingers. In this process too, you have to submerge the surgical instruments into a detergent for the time mentioned above. In manual cleaning you also have to submerge your own hands into the detergent and you should scrub well underneath your own finger nails for maximum cleaning. The rest of the procedure is the same. For more further visit Surgical Instruments

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Reduce Medical Errors by Coordinating Care

2012-04-22T21:03:00.004-07:00

The more medical diagnoses or conditions you have and the more complex medications you are taking, the more risk you have for medical error. Just taking two medications can increase the risk for dangerous complications or side effects. As you multiply the number of conditions and medications that need to be balanced, the risk rises.

The average 65 year-old, for example, is taking 5-6 medications a day. As healthcare becomes more specialized, the more likely it is that these drugs are being prescribed by multiple practitioners. The burden of clear and accurate communication between all of these caregivers is on you, the patient.

If you forget to communicate all the conditions for which you are being treated and the correct names and doses of medications you are taking, it is easy for errors to occur. Not only that, you can take something that seems relatively harmless like an over the counter cold remedy or aspirin and suddenly find that it seriously interferes or dangerously interacts with medications you are already taking. Even certain foods can cause interactions. It can be mind-boggling to try to keep all the details straight, especially when you are not feeling your best.

You can reduce the risk of medical complications and errors by assigning one practitioner to manage and coordinate all of the variables involved in your care. A registered professional nurse is an ideal practitioner to carry out this function, since case management and care coordination is a core role for nurses.

As healthcare becomes more specialized and complex, there is an increased need for care coordination and management. The Affordable Care Act attempts to address this important need by requiring health insurance plans to provide coverage for this role.

The nurse is knowledgeable about a wide variety of conditions, drug complications and interactions. Plus, he or she is able to communicate effectively with a wide range of specialists. In this way, your care can be integrated. This may even result in being able to reduce the number of medications you are taking.

I am not suggesting that you give your power and responsibility for being aware of your conditions and medications over to someone else. You always need to be aware of what you are taking and why. What I am suggesting is that you may also benefit from having a knowledgeable professional at your side. This person can oversee the various aspects of your treatment and advocate for you, when your care becomes complex.

In cases of multiple medical conditions and medications, the risk for adverse drug events, interactions and errors can be radically reduced by adding a professional care coordinator as a member of your personal healthcare team.

Aila Accad, RN, MSN is an award-winning speaker, bestselling author and certified coach, Reiki Master and EFT advanced practitioner & trainer who specializes in quick ways to release stress and empower your life. A member of the National Speakers Association, she is a popular keynote speaker and radio and television guest. Her bestselling book "34 Instant Stress-Busters, Quick tips to de-stress fast with no extra time or money" is available at http://www.stressbustersbook.com Sign up for De-Stress Tips & News athttp://www.ailaspeaks.com and receive a gift, "Ten Instant Stress Busters" e-book.

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EMR - A Boon for Medical Industry

2012-04-22T21:02:00.001-07:00

EMR has played a key role in transforming the medical history of patients into clear and easy to use digital records. Under a system like electronic medical record system, it is not only easy to track the ailment of patients on time, but easy accessibility saves a lot of time.

At one time, each patient's record was filed in documents. Scans, X-rays, medical reports and doctor's notes formed quite a bunch of paper records that were stored in file cabinets. Electronic media record system has eliminated the use of these cabinets, economizing a lot of space.

Space was a huge problem where large numbers of patients were regular visitors in the hospital. For different medical conditions, different records were created and used by different departments. Time long records were difficult to discover. Many hospitals even destroyed these paper records to give way to new entries. EMR system has made it comfortable for hospitals in the country to gain information about the patient. The patients don't have to keep records with themselves. The medical condition could be studied easily and fruitfully without any difficulty.

With the application of electronic medical record system, the doctors find convenient to address various medical issues of the patient. The medical information about the patient could be retrieved within few minutes, sitting in any part of the country or state. Up to date medical history is shared with the panel of doctors. The panel can implement the fastest possible use of medical science by going through the case files for all the years when the patient visited different hospitals for such medical condition. Most importantly, emergencies could be handled in the best possible way if medical records are accessed electronically.

EMR has also boosted the morale of critically-ill patients. The medical conditions often change under different circumstances, which include weather conditions. The diagnosis carried out at different medical centers provides the base for precise medical treatment. The patients might escape the wrath of repetitive medical examinations if case history is well-recorded. The complex situations often require tests now and then. A previous record could comfortably provide the desired solution so that patient survives the worst part of his life.

EMR system has enhanced the medical documentation system by economizing in terms of paper and space. Hospitals are no longer required to create a hard copy (under exceptions) of patient's medical conditions at any point of time. With medical technology advancing at a fast pace, the paperless technology has given an excellent opportunity to medical professionals to examine and conclude about patient's health condition in the best possible manner.

Neerja Mehta is freelance article and content writer. Visit http://www.neerjamehta-healthblog.blogspot.in for regular updates and articles on medical and health industry.

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4 Ways Office Water Dispensers Create A Better Work Environment

2012-04-22T21:00:00.002-07:00

As the administrator of an office, one of your jobs is to create the best work environment possible for the employees. When you are considering the presence of food and beverages, office water dispensers are one of the first things you should consider adding to improve the work environment. They have several benefits that your employees will experience right away.

1. Keep Employees Hydrated
The main role of water dispensers for the office is to provide a source of clean water for the employees to drink throughout the day. Water is an important part of keeping the human body working to its full potential, and dehydration can cause several unpleasant symptoms. For example, dehydrated people often get headaches that can impair their ability to work or make it more difficult to pleasantly interact with other people. Therefore, a water dispenser is an important part of staying hydrated.

2. Reduce Plastic Waste
If there is no water dispenser in your workplace, employees are more likely to bring bottled water to work so they have clean, good-tasting water to drink during the day. This produces a lot of plastic waste, which not only needs to be put somewhere in the office, but also increases your office's environmental footprint. Switching to a water dispenser is a great way to launch an office initiative toward greener habits.

3. Increase Employee Interaction
People have to get up to refill their cups or bottles from the water dispenser, and this is a great way to encourage face-to-face employee interaction. If you have a large office, people may meet others they would never typically see if they run into each other at the water cooler. Yes, it's a stereotype, but there really is socialization around the water cooler, and this can be a good thing to build into your work environment to make it a more pleasant place for your employees.

4. Maintain Employee Health
A hydrated body is a healthy one, and drinking water is a simple way to fend off illness. It's significantly better than soda and juice, and water dispensers for the office increase the likelihood that your employees will choose to drink water. Keeping your employees healthy decreases the stress from having absent employees and can also decrease the cost of your group health insurance plan.

Once you decide it's time to get water in your office, there are several types of office water dispensers to choose from. You are sure to find one that meets your needs and budget.

Jared Harper researched companies that had water delivery services for his home so everyone would be happy. FIJI Water is committed to having the best drinking water and offers water delivery service for both home and businesses.

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