Many a times, you will see that you have incurred substantial amount of debt because of various loans that you had to take. Most of these loans that you have taken are perhaps even important. If you have in your account secured loans such as a car loan and a mortgage and a few unsecured loans such as medical bill payment and loan taken out for financing your children’s education, the total loan amount becomes quite significant. You should remember that a debt incurred no matter for what reason is a negative financial activity. At times you have to take professional debt relief help in order to pay back your unsecured debts. One of the best ways to pay back your loans both secured and unsecured is to practice good finance management activities. Here are some finance management activities that you can follow.

1. Pay down high interest debts first – It is very important for you to pay down the debts which have a high interest rate. This is because the more you have to pay on interest rate, the more money you are losing in the long run. If you pay off your high interest unsecured debts first, then you can save the money that is spent on interest payments.

2. Reduce usage of credit cards – If you mount up credit card bills along with secured loans and unsecured installment loans, then your finances will be in a mess. Having many credit cards is the key to mounting credit card debts. You should maximum have 3 credit cards so that you can keep a record of the purchases you are making.

3. Use coupons for shopping – In order to reduce daily expenditure you should collect as much coupons as you can and use them for grocery shopping and also shopping for clothes. Since these two are the major items on your budget where most of your expenditure occurs, reducing expenses on these and go a long way in saving money.

4. Create a savings fund – Every month put aside some money as soon as you get your monthly salary in a savings fund. It is best to build a savings account with a bank so that your money can grow. This account can help you in emergency cash needs.

Thus you can see how the above personal finance habits can help you in reducing expenditure and making your debt payments.

Are you looking for a way to save money while repaying your credit card debts? No matter which option you choose to repay your debt burden, whether debt consolidation or debt management, continuing with the payments is very necessary to make the agreement continue. Both debt consolidation and debt management offers solutions to credit card debt and they require you to make a single monthly payment to the program so that these can be disbursed among your creditors. Though the aforementioned debt relief options can help you repay credit card debt with ease, you have to make the payments on time to avoid a hit on your credit score. Here are some steps that you may take in order to save money while repaying debts.

• Follow a strict budget: A budget is the main thing that forces a person to remain on the right track with his finances and if you’re someone who isn’t following a budget, you’re perhaps making a blunder. Craft a frugal budget that eliminates all unnecessary things that you can do without. Devote your hard-earned dollars in getting the things that you need and not those that you want. Determine the difference between needs and wants so that you can take the right decision.
• Save enough money rigorously: No one can get back a grip on their finances without saving enough money. Irrespective of the amount that you make in a month, you should save at least 10% and store the money in a savings account. If you choose to save in a high yield savings account, you can make the money beget money. If your money grows with time, you can utilize it while repaying your debts.
• Cut short the usage of credit cards: While you’re going through a debt consolidation or a debt management program, you also have to manage your personal finances so that you can make the monthly payments on time. If you fail to pay the money on time, the entire process will be discontinued and you have to start off again. Moreover if you keep on incurring huge amount on your credit cards, you can’t repay the debt through the program. Cut your cards and use cash instead.

Therefore, if you’re looking for some solutions to credit card debt, you have to first manage your money and then take help of a professional company. Follow the steps mentioned above so that you can easily get back on 

It’s almost pointless to discuss how technology has improved our society today. With a greater knowledge of systems and equipment that can help us explore new aspects of society, science, nature, and so much more, there’s no denying that modern technology has altered the way in which we live and think. With the rise of advanced mobile technology, our cell phones have quickly become appendages of their own.

Providing so much more than just the time and access to a phone conversation, mobile phones are now capable of some pretty amazing things. While Angry Birds and Facebook are wonders for their own right, there are many other applications on the mobile market that have the potential to really improve and protect your life. These three mobile apps can help you monitor and manage your health and wellness in an easy and accessible way.

WellApps
WellApps has developed two different mobile applications that can help patients diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) like Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis better monitor their symptoms, medications, and progress. The two apps, GI Monitor and Colonoscopy Prep Assistant, help patients manage their chronic illness.

The GI Monitor Application allows users to log their symptoms from the ease of their phone, email their monitored information directly to their doctor, track medications, record pain levels, log meals, and more. For IBD patients, it is essential to stay on top of the symptoms and the things that might be triggering the symptoms so as to better control their disease.

The Colonoscopy Prep Assistant helps these patients properly endure the preparations for a colonoscopy, which is a procedure that must be done frequently. Not only do these two applications assist patients in managing their own health, but it also helps health care providers better understand their patient’s disease.

eCBT Mood
Another area of health and wellness that mobile devices have been able to aid in is mental health. Just as it is important for individuals with physical chronic illnesses to track and monitor their symptoms, it is also essential that those with mental illnesses monitor and track their symptoms. Of course, while this application cannot (and should not or dare I say MUST NOT) replace professional help from a doctor, eCBT Mood can help you better understand your mood.

This application will help people learn how to identify and then challenge the distorted thinking they experience that fuels their depression or anxiety. This tool is designed to help patients identify their automatic thoughts that might be flawed, log feelings and thoughts, and assess daily and weekly mood reports generated by the app. eCBT Mood may be the extra boost you need to recognize your problem areas and fix them. Furthermore, this app helps suffers become more conscious of their thoughts and feelings and guides them in ways to remedy the negative ones.

iTriage
This application is a comprehensive and thorough device that helps answer the health questions an individual may have directly from their phone. Enabling users to locate the closest emergency room, search their symptoms, identify the location of their symptoms on a digital avatar, and decide what type of doctor to consult. With the intention of making the process of getting your health attended to run more quickly and with more ease, iTriage is a very useful tool for any individual. While, of course, this application cannot replace professional help from a doctor, it can be extremely useful in helping you and your doctor better understand your symptoms.

Related articles

• WellApps raising $500,000 for mobile symptom tracker for chronic diseases (medcitynews.com)
• iTriage – Healthagen LLC (itunes.apple.com)
• New mobile app for Crohn’s, colitis patients (cbc.ca)

There are many apps in the Mac App store and everyday new ones are listed. As it is with anything that has a lot of choices, there is always that difficulty in choosing what app to download to your Iphone , Ipod touch or Ipad. I have put together a list of some of the apps that I have used and similar ones that I have heard of . Some apps are not listed either because I never used them or I have forgotten that I did and have no recollection what it did or did not do.  You need not worry about them.

The list has mainly free apps and one or two paid apps. They are all available for download at the Mac App Store through your device or from your computer. You must have an apple account to be able to do so.

Epocrates-free: 

Screenshot of Epocrates from Itunes

It is a mobile version of the popular drug and formulary site, Epocrates. The app provides a comprehensive list of medications with details about dosing, side effects and special precautions.

It also has a section on drug-drug interactions which is very important in clinical medicine. It has regular updates and would prompt you for updates in the app. You do not have to download a new app as is common with other apps, but rather it will prompt you when you open it if there are new updates and it will seamlessly update its database.

Killer features: Drug interaction tool, in-app updating, built in calculators and pill color rendering.

Similar app: Lexicomp- Requires subscription, Micromedex

Micromedex screenshot in Itunes

Micromedex-free:

Described by the makers as “The World’s most complete and carefully researched clinical decision support system. The tool is popular among clinicians in their day to day duties in hospital and clinic. It has built in more than 4500 search terms. The app gives details like dosages, interactions and pharmacokinetics. It also talks about breastfeeding and other precautions. This tool is also complete but despite that, there is a separate tool that they try to up-sell you when you use this Micromedex app called Micromedex Drug Interactions for $9.99. I wonder what it will contain beyond what is already in the free app.

Killer features: Clinical teaching for the patient, Toxicology, Drugs by class

Similar app: Lexicomp-Requires subscription, Epocrates

STAT Growth chart

STAT Growth Charts Lite-free:

A simple tool to input a child’s parameters and it will give you the percentile for weight and height with z-scores. It shows you sample graphs, calculates BMI for you and gives you an option of whether your patient is a boy or a girl. You can choose whether your results are calculated in centimeters or inches and for weight whether in kilograms or in pounds (If you are non-U.S.A. reading, yes we still use pounds sometimes over here). There are many other apps made by the same company including the full version which gives you a graph where the patient’s details would have already been plotted. Other products which have have a prcie tag include STAT Growth Chart WHO and STAT BMI Obesity chart.

Killer features: Calculator with unit type selector, BMI reporting

Similar apps: Qx Calculate, Medcalc

Medcalc screenshot

Medcalc-$0.99:

One of the most comprehensive tools for calculating most things in medicine like dosages, Age, A-a-O2 gradient to Urine excretion of sodium. Target height, resuscitation medication doses and Pediatric trauma score among others. It is a great tool to have and it has sections based on specialty like Cardiology, Trauma, ER and ICU.

Killer features:Dosage calculator in-built, Evidence based medicine tools

Simialr apps: Medical calculators-$0.99, Medical calculator-$0.99,

First Consult-free:

This app supplies evidence based answers to clinical questions at point of care. It is linked to MD Consult and would let you connect and open an account if you use MD Consult at your institution. It has a large collection of first-hand information that could be useful when evaluating a patient. The medical topics are arranged alphabetically and can be searched. Each topic/diagnosis then has Summary, Background, Diagnosis, Treatment, Summary of Evidence Outcomes, Prevention and Resources.

Killer features: Recent folder which stores recently accessed content, In-app updates

Similar apps: Medscape, Pediatric Care Online

STAT Asthma

STAT Asthma NHLB-free:
Red Book-subscription:
Interactive tool to help physicians navigate the complex NHLBI Guidelines for asthma treatment. It has stepwise approach and chart for the different degrees of severity of asthma. It also stratified treatment categories into 0-4 years, 5-11 years and greater than 12 years groups. Excellent tool especially in centers that do not yet have EMRs. There is a paid option which is an upgrade that includes follow-up assessment for adjusting therapy.

Killer features:Interactive tool, based on NHLBI guidelines

Similar apps: AsthmaApps, AsthmaMD

This giant in its own right is one of the most authoritative sources of information about the management of pediatric infectious diseases and with the digital edition, is constantly updated with the latest evidence based research and best practices. This AAP committee on Infectious Diseases with the CDC, the FDA and other bodies created this book. This edition, the 28th, is published by Unbound Medicine and has very good navigation. Also one may save favorites in a folder. It deals with all aspects of the disease entity being discussed in a concise way. It has links to many tables and full-length articles online.

Killer features: Authoritative resource, excellent navigation

Similar apps: Red Book powered by Skyscape – $119.99

Redbook

Breastfeeding Management 2-$1.99:

Breastfeeding App

This tool which is anchored on solid evidence is an application developed by the renowned Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition to help the clinician identify, triage, and manage common breastfeeding problems in the first weeks of life. IT was free initially but has now been monetized with 5 additional calculators. It also includes information on medications as well as a link to LactMed, the comprehensive online resource from the National Library of Medicine. If you support or do not support breastfeeding, this is an app to get so that you can answer your patients’ questions and give good evidence based-advice about the modern practice of exclusive breastfeeding.

Killer features: Two feeding calculators, Weight loss calculator

Similar apps: None

Have I left out your favorite App? Are you a Medical or Nursing student? What Apps have worked for you? Comment below.

A Drop Of Polio Vaccine

A polio free world. Something that we hope to see in our lifetime. Bruce Aylward is positive that they can do this. If we can indeed eradicate polio, the poorest countries will save 50 billion dollars over the following 25 years. Pretty ambitious. But wait a minute. If they save that money then someone will not be making that money, right. Is that something the world is ready for? He talks about GPS tracking tools to make sure the vaccines get to every street and also talks about in-roads in Afghanistan with liaisons. Now also there is a new vaccine that is twice as effective as the previous ones. In fact he talks about the miracles of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, two states in Northern India that have always had paralytic polio. Watch him in this interesting TED video which was highly rated even by his speaking coach.

Breast cancer has been a topical issue for many years now, mainly because it affects all genders, though a lot more women, and the outcome is sometimes dismal despite gruesome treatments. These include surgeries and chemotherapy and palliative care.

Many Americans have lost the battle with cancer and a good number have conquered it. Thanks to intense treatments and screening measures that have aided early diagnosis. New drugs and new treatment regimens have helped us see some success in this arena.

Coverage Not For Male Cancer Patients.

I disagree with the idea of male patients being denied Medicaid coverage for cancer treatment. Medicaid health insurance program was established for low-income and disabled American. It was established by federal law for all American to benefit from and not a selected subgroup.

Limited income and certain eligibility requirements are to be met by applicants. Despite income level being one of the fundamental principles on which Medicaid was set up,  there are people who have limited income but are still being denied Medicaid. A recently in the news the case of Raymond Johnson gained publicity. This is a 26 year-old construction worker who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  He was reported to have been denied Medicaid coverage for the payment of his cancer treatment cost. In the state of South Carolina patients who are ineligible for state or federal health insurance programs are also encouraged to apply for coverage under the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act. The Act was signed into law in 2000 by President Clinton and uses Medicaid funds to cover the treatment of patients with breast and cervical cancer. These patients according to the act are mostly women between the ages of 47 and 64 but not men.

Breast Cancer Pink Ribbon

Eligibility Criteria Considered.

The use of eligibility criteria such as income level, age, residential status and individual’s assets to help determine a patient’s eligibility  for Medicare is quite understandable. Looking at the case of Johnson, he is a construction worker who earns $9.00 an hour with recently diagnosed of breast cancer.

One cannot help but wonder how would he foot the medical bills coming his way.  He has to pay his rent or mortgage, auto payment if he is a car owner, and take care of his other responsibilities including social and family obligations while in pursuit of the same “American Dream” we all talk about. On a $9.00 an hour income a diagnosis of cancer is a far from pleasant surprise. This situation can usher in an emotional and financial crisis for not just Johnson but for an average American family earning the median salary based on national averages. Take a look at page 5 of this National Census Bureau publication.

Discrimination in Coverage.

The question is why are men not eligible for coverage? In a press release by Jeff Stensland, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services he said ” We are in conversation with the Federal Government on this issue,” Stensland said they saw it as clearly discriminatory, and they believed it was a good example of an overly rigid interpretation a law that was designed to help patients with these cancers.

The press statement was released as more dissent was coming to the fore because of the discrepancy in the law guiding Medicaid coverage for male patients as a whole. There is hope that the Medicaid law will be amended to cover male patients soon.

Since passage of the act in 2000 by President Clinton, there have been one amendment by President Bush. We hope more amendments are coming to address men and their non-inclusion.

Our Cheer Leaders Need to Be Covered too.

In the past years women have pioneered the cause of cancer, they have led large-scale crusades to raise funds, improve awareness and increase research for the cure of cancer.  Men have also been supportive of the cause. With our present disposition towards equality, we should put our money where our mouth is and review this “constitution-violating regulation” so that men would enjoy these same benefits.

Do you think adjustment of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment and Prevention Act should be made to accommodate Male Patients?

Related articles

• Man with breast cancer denied coverage (meridiannurse.wordpress.com)

CDC Logo

Dog bites are one of the most disturbing reasons for emergency room visits in the U.S.A. According to the CDC, there are more than 4.5 million cases every year and of these about half require medical attention. Many parents are at cross-roads when these accidents happen and are at a loss for what to do.

Naturally, the initial reflex is to ignore the incident since about 65% of the perpetrating dogs are owned by the same family, or close neighbours. Unfortunately, this is really the wrong thing to do. Even if Daisy, the docile dog would not do such a thing unless she was provoked, things may be changing rapidly for her. Besides calling the emergency services immediately, these are important steps to take.

1. Clean the Site and remove some germs. Wash the bite site with copious amounts of water, preferably under tap water. This will help reduce any bacteria or other organisms that may have been deposited into the wound with the bite. Both the human mouth and dog mouths contain a lot of micro-organisms (tiny invisible bugs and germs) and these do cause active infection in about 20% of cases.

2. Stop the bleed and save some blood. If the bite site is actively bleeding, look for a bandage or just direct pressure to reduce or stop the bleeding. Facial injuries bleed a lot and if a person bleeds for a long time, they could easily go into shock. That would be a complication that could damage internal organs mortally.

3. Reassure your child. Dog attacks can be scary. Very scary. A large proportion of children bitten by dogs in the United States are aged between 5 and 9 years. These children need reassurance from a trusted adult. They will probably be in shock or close to that mainly because of the often misleading stereotype that we dog-lovers project about man’s best friend. “she is so cute” and so on. The child is shell-shocked that “so cute” has bitten her. So, get close to her, hold her, reassure her and “nurse the wound”. This should have a calming effect on the victim.

4. Call animal control oryour veterinarian. Most counties have animal control departments. The vet numbers may not be easy to come by especially in an emergency, but if you have a dog in the home, it is one of those fridge-front numbers you want to keep close.  Animal control number would be for those that do not have a veterinarian for their dog. If you use any regular search engine and type in [your county name +animal+control], Google and Yahoo as well as many other search engines should point you in the right direction. See example for Minneapolis below.

Search Google Like This

5. Call your child’s Pediatrician or Family Physician. This is an important step because your child’s immunization history is important and will have a strong bearing of what other treatments that your child can/should get. Important things include penicillin allergies. Augmentin is the drug of choice for dog bites and it is likely to be offered in the emergency room so having a heads up/reminder of the allergy from someone in with a cooler head is kind of important at this time. There are other medicines that can be substituted, however getting your child’s doctor in the picture is likely to help especially with coordinating with the Emergency Room as well as with the Animal Control Department.

6. Obtain dog and dog owner’s details. Kind of similar to a car accident in the city where you want vehicle registration and insurance.

• You also want to note the dog’s name and breed. Some breeds are notorious for biting and some counties/communities in the USA and Canada have banned certain breeds. The most notorious are on this list.
• When the last rabies vaccination was given to the dog? Dogs need anti-rabies shots at least every ten years. It may even be shorter in some hunting communities.
• What is the gender of the dog (male or female)
• If male ask whether the dog was spayed/neutered (males are more aggressive and this practice is believed to reduce this aggression).
• Has there been previous attacks by this dog? Does the dog have a history of attacks provoked or not?
• Owner’s name and address. I would demand a photo ID.

If you try to do these things in any order really, then you are less likely to have loose ends if such an unfortunate accident happens to your child.

Below are two soundbites about dog bite avoidance and dog bite prevention. Here also is a link to the American Veterinary Medical Association publication on dog bites.

Preventing Dog Bites part 1 from Dr Lisa Conti, Public Health Veterinarian

Avoiding Dog Bites by American Veterinary Medical Association: Dr Lisa Conti

Have you experienced such before? What other tips do you have that could help?

The significant rise in health care cost for the past few years is no secret (unless you live under a rock) all as a result of the near depression scares and the bail out that served as leverage and saved the nation from a major economy meltdown.

Screenshot of the website

Good News Amidst a Washington Storm

In all this strain on the US finances, I was relieved when the Obama administration announced that there has been a drop in Medicare Part D drug plan. The implications are that beneficiaries of Medicare which are mostly seniors would be paying less in the coming year for drugs. On the back-drop of a strong push to cut federal health insurance program expenses for the elderly, this relief in Medicare part D drug plan is welcome news since many seniors are retired, unemployed (or under-employed) and have cashed out on their savings.

Hole in Doughnut plugged?

The Obama administration officials also released new data which highlighted how much seniors have saved in prescription drugs since the passing of the health care law. It’s also known that as part of the reform law pharmaceutical companies have agreed on an offer of 50 percent cut for brand name prescription drugs, as it relates to the Medicare “doughnut hole”.

The coverage gap in Medicare part D plan that requires seniors to pay out-of-pocket for drugs has been a significant pain for Medicare clients. According to Healthwatch, this means that seniors would pay a lower premium for private Part D benefits which would be an average of about $30.00 in the coming year of 2010 compared to $30.76 in 2011.

Increased compliance with treatment is likely

The reduced out-of-pocket payments surely would be of great help to beneficiaries who have had to skip or postpone permanently needed visits to their healthcare providers. Reduced costs for seniors is also a big plus for medication compliance because if the medications are affordable, compliance would more likely be better.

Seniors are using it

The good news is that with this recent development many seniors are taking advantage of the health care law, which has allowed about bout 17 million seniors to receive medical services. Medical services such as preventative testing have sky rocketed in demand because seniors are able to have them done without paying a co-pay or deductible. Preventative screening is important in  primary care for the early diagnosis and prevention of certain chronic disease such as cancers and heart disease in which early detection is a life saver. Physicians and other providers are very keen on the need for preventative testing and screening.

Seniors now, Pharmaceutical companies later

Pharmaceutical stocks are feeling the hit as a result of the reduction in Medicare Part D drug plan. Since pharmaceutical stocks are often used as a safety net for investors; considering their cartel-like nature. With investors cashing out of the sector and making pharmaceutical stocks vulnerable, hopes are high on a possible time frame of cutbacks in Medicare prescription benefits geared in favor of the pharmaceutical industry. But for the meantime this moment is for seniors.

Sacred cows are no longer so sacred

It’s quite interesting, because for years now pharmaceutical companies have had it their way, calling all the shots and having industry-friendly regulatory guidelines that protect them. They have made astronomical profits through the increased in prices of brand name drugs and federal drug reimbursements. I would certainly want to see them recoup their investments in new drug discoveries, however no company should grow fat on the backs of our most vulnerable.

This recent effort by the US government to have solid control of the nation’s expenditure would be cashing in at the expense of pharmaceutical companies which have been regarded as sacred cows for a long time.

Do you think we will see more responsible policies from the Obama Administration?