8 Ways to Improve Hospital Patient Safety

December 13, 2016/6521 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Health Care /by John Trader

Protect patient safety in healthcare by following these 8 simple steps.

The following gust post on patient safety in healthcare was submitted by Gracy Liura.

There are very few experiences in life that cause more anxiety than having to be admitted into the hospital.

Take Legal Measures Ahead of Time

Coming up with a plan of constraints, requests, and procedures ahead of time can challenging and might even seem impossible. Knowing what to prepare for and who is going to be in charge, should you become incapacitated, appears to be an overwhelming task with so many emotions that can impede logic. At the same time, almost all aspects of life require a certain amount of planning, especially in relation to medical care and hospitalization. At this point, you (and your spouse or chosen “next of kin”) should pay a visit to the local hospital and request copies of the paperwork that need filling out upon admittance. Every hospital in every region is going to differ, but some of these forms usually include the following:

• The Wishes—place a number before the word “wishes,” and then, this document might sound familiar. This form covers a broad range of issues or topics related to a stay in the hospital, including which difficult decisions will need to be made and by who. You might pick up a copy at your local hospital or healthcare facility to take with you for legal consultation. In other words you (and your spouse, if applicable) can discuss and fill out the paperwork and talk with a lawyer who can offer valuable advice about upholding your requests. More than likely, the document might have to be notarized.

• List of Visitors (including clergy or ministers)—usually, in the stack of forms, there is a section, if not one page, where you make a list of visitors who would be allowed in the room for just a short time and who you would wish to stay for a longer period beyond visiting hours, if allowed by the hospital. This also includes any pastors, clergy, and/or laypersons should you wish to have some spiritual support for yourself and your family.

• “Next of Kin”—this list is similar to the one that is previously mentioned, but applies more to an extreme emergency situation when a family member needs to get to the hospital quickly and possibly notify anyone else. Again, if this list and the list of visitors is established ahead of time, then there might be less chaos for you and whoever is in charge of notifications, which means less chance for a family conflict to erupt that distracts the staff away from quality patient care (not to mention disturbs the other patients).

• Power of Attorney and/or Guardianship—you will most definitely need to seek legal counsel when establishing who will have power of attorney or assume guardianship if you reach the point of losing all capacity to make important decisions. Normally, spouses would act on each other’s behalf, or one of the older (or most responsible) of the adult children would be designated for this role. For single, young adults, often a parent is asked to take on this job in the event of a severe medical episode. Either way, you should ideally talk with the person who you would like to fulfill those duties before speaking with an attorney and going through all the legal procedures to make sure that he or she is in agreement with you. After all, this is the person who will be in charge of some of the most difficult decisions concerning your care.

• List of “tasks” for immediate and extended family members—this document, if you wished to create such a document, probably has no legal bearing, but it would help to not just ask for help from loved ones but to specify what exactly you need—for example, someone to ask questions, someone to take your belongings home, someone to look after children during your stay, etc. Having an informal family meeting for the sake of discussing the “what if” scenarios and how to address them can help dispel some of the fear that goes along with being hospitalized.

Ask a Relative or Friend to Stay

No, you are not being a “coward” if you ask your spouse, significant other, parent, or even your best friend to stay with you for a night or two after your procedure. After all, you are still “coming out of” anesthesia while taking pain medication and would definitely need the immediate help to get out of bed if necessary.

Invoke the Help of Family and Friends as Witnesses

When you are ill or injured, the brain is frantically processing all sorts of stimuli—from the physical symptoms to the emotional impact. Thus, you might consider asking family and friends to “rotate in shifts” to stay with you and observe the care that the staff is giving and to be able to take notes and pose questions when the doctor checks on you. Also, you will need to consider that possibly only one to two visitors at a time would be allowed.

Meet with the Hospital’s P.R. Rep

If you are having a procedure scheduled ahead of time, then visiting with a public relations representative could result in gaining some valuable information about the hospital’s policies on visitors, shift changes (remember you will be dealing with multiple care givers) and other pertinent topics as well as to ask some questions of your own.

Protect Personal Belongings

In the event that you have to go to the Emergency Room, the person who takes you there should collect your personal items, like wallet, keys, and cell phone right away. If you are going to the hospital for a pre-scheduled surgery, then ideally, you will have already made arrangements with the family member or friend who accompanies you when you register. This is extremely important because most hospitals post their policy that they are not responsible for stolen or missing items.

Try to Stay Observant

When you are on medication or just not feeling well at all, keeping watch over your surroundings can be difficult. Nonetheless, during the waking hours, some vigilance would be beneficial. This is not to encourage paranoia, which would impede your healing and recovery, but just simply being coherent and maintaining communication with nurses and doctors can make a difference in the safety factor.

Become Ambulatory as Quickly as Possible

Getting on your feet is not just a matter of safety, but also an important factor in the recovery process. (Again, you should abide by orders from your doctor.) With help from a nurse, physical therapy assistant, or whoever is staying with you, you can periodically stand up and perhaps even walk around for a few minutes at a time. This will not only prevent fluid from settling in your lungs, it will also help you to get a look at your surroundings, specifically exits as well as to familiarize yourself with care givers and security staff.

Maintain an Updated List of Medications and Dietary Restrictions

It is important to adopt the practice of keeping a list of your prescriptions and supplements, any restrictions and allergies in your wallet for a number of reasons. Granted, if you are going into the hospital for a surgery that has been in the planning for a while, then you would have already provided that information upon pre-registering, but in the event of an unexpected illness, then having that information handy can mean the difference between life and death. A copy of this information should also be given to your designated helper (or spouse) in the event that you are not able to advocate for yourself.

Gracy is a dedicated and qualified nutritionist with over six years of experience in the Indian food industry, currently blogging at hCGdropsratings.com. On this website, she gives honest and detailed reviews on the world’s best HCG diet drops based on Google trends and Amazon, Ebay ratings. Gracy has earned a MSc degree in Human Nutrition at Chinmaya degree College (BHEL) in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. You can contact her any time you’d want if you’ve got any questions regarding her guest posts.

4 Ways to Utilize Technology to Protect Your Patients

December 10, 2016/4745 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Patient Safety /by John Trader

The following guest post on how to protect patient safety in healthcare was submitted by Kara Masterson.

Healthcare technology has continued its rapid change over the last few decades. This impacts every level of healthcare. Physicians and office staff must work to integrate the appropriate improvements into every day practice, while continuing to provide excellent patient care. Hospitals must increase the effectiveness and efficiency of staff and offices while treating patients with acute and chronic conditions. Evaluating and utilizing applicable technology in each setting assist in protecting patients in the organization.

Learn more about how to better protect patient safety through healthcare technology.

In the Laboratory

Hospital laboratories are filled with opportunities for errors. For the most part, microscopes and slides have been replaced with sophisticated diagnostic machines that are able to conduct several individual tests from the same sample at the same time. Unfortunately, the danger of misidentification of specimens remains. Utilizing the most up to date equipment possible and having a reliable identification and reporting system go a long way in having confidence in the accuracy of test results. A study published by the National Institute of Health (NIH) suggests using bar codes on containers to “link specimens to identifying electronic information.”

Patient Engagement in Care

A relatively new area of health care technology can be found in interactive patient engagement systems. Generally used with in patient care or for patients with chronic diseases, the systems connect health care staff with patients through a cloud based service. With a patient-centered approach to health care, these systems are designed to keep patients and their families engaged and participating in their care leading to a positive outcome for the patient. The systems provide information, education and entertainment options for in patients. The systems can be monitored by nurses and staff and are designed to promote communication and interaction between the patient, family and hospital doctors and nurses.

Time-Sensitive Collaboration

The NIH reports that one of the greatest barriers to effective health care is effective communication between health care professionals. In order to improve this and get the best care possible for patients, doctors and software companies are teaming up to develop communication tools that allow such varied business operations as specialist collaboration, remote access and staff training. The cloud-based service uses the lessons learned from social media to improve health care for patients. Through video conferencing, patients can be evaluated and diagnosed by a remote specialist. A hospital system with multiple offices can bring staff together to learn more about the most recent health regulations. The software involved can be utilized on a variety of device types with nearly unlimited access points.

Remote Tracking Tools

More and more, doctors are utilizing remote tracking tools to assist in patient care. Caring for patients with multiple, chronic conditions continue to be one of the greatest concerns in health care. With remote tracking, patients with diabetes and kidney disease can be closely monitored in the home. Elderly patients also benefit from this technology through mobility monitoring and check in services. Other benefits of these tracking tools can be found in diagnostics where laboratories can “observe” patient statistics over a period of time to better understand reported symptoms. Patients are able to be at home, improving quality of life and reducing health care costs.

Technology that has a direct impact on diagnosis and treatment are constantly improving. The offices and companies that understand and embrace the innovations that work for their situations will improve patient care by being more accurate and efficient. Each tool comes with a price tag, so it will be incumbent on organization administrators to determine which will work best for the clientele the organization serves.

Kara Masterson is a freelance writer from Utah. She graduated from the University of Utah and enjoys writing and spending time with her dog, Max.

6 Most Common Injuries To Healthcare Workers

December 6, 2016/10504 views / 2 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Patient Safety /by John Trader

Patient safety is a main theme of our blog, but what about healthcare worker safety? Enjoy this guest post from Patient Handling addressing common safety risks to healthcare workers.

Healthcare workers rank at the top of the list of professionals with the most challenging and risky jobs. Despite the fact that research studies and statistics have proved that hospitals are one of the most unsafe and dangerous places to work, healthcare professionals continue to serve humanity regardless of the wide range of threats to their health.

Patient safety is a hot topic in healthcare, but what about healthcare worker safety?

According to International Labour Organization’s database of 1994, almost 51% of nurses and midwives in Australia are at the risk of developing various diseases dur to exposure to contaminated sharps. While the situation has definitely improved since then, the rate is still almost double to that of the whole private industry, including the manufacturing and construction industries. These facts are startling.

Who Is Considered A Healthcare Worker?

Everyone who works within the healthcare industry; in a hospital, clinic, nursing facility, or any other health centre, for protecting and improving the health of the masses in any way, qualifies as a healthcare worker. Doctors, nurses, and paramedics all come under this category.

Most Common Injuries to Healthcare Workers
Healthcare professionals work in a variety of settings and in the most difficult and challenging situations that expose them to unique dangers and risks almost all the time. Since the healthcare industry is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in Australia (more than 610,148 people were working as registered health practitioners, at one position or the other, in 2014), large numbers of people are continuously at risk.

The following types of injuries are most prevalent among healthcare workers:

• Musculoskeletal Injuries

The kind of work healthcare professionals are involved in is not only mentally challenging, but is also physically demanding. According to research studies, healthcare workers face 7 times higher risks for developing Musculoskeletal Injuries (MSDs) than workers working in other industries. Among all healthcare professionals, paramedics and nurses face the highest risk because they are involved in handling patients during rescues and transfers. Sprains and strains in different parts of the body are common issues healthcare workers suffer from as well.

• Fractures

Since healthcare professionals are almost always on the move, they are more prone to slips and falls which could cause fractures. Also, fractures could occur due to attacks by violent patients.

• Back Injuries

The nature of work healthcare professionals do everyday involves a lot bending, twisting, quick movements, and heavy lifting, which can cause back injuries, such as back pain and slip discs.
Rescuing and transferring patients from one place to another, or from one position to another, requires non-neutral postures, rotations, and flexions that put a lot of stress on back muscles and spinal cord.

• Cuts and Incisions

People working in the healthcare industry work with sharp instruments, such as needles and surgical instruments, on a regular basis. Even the slightest mishandling or distraction could lead to cuts and incisions.

• Burns

Paramedics are usually at the risk of burns because they are responsible for rescuing patients in emergency situations, which also includes dealing with fire.

• Infections and Blood Borne Diseases

Airborne micro-organisms and exposure to bodily waste and mucous is common in healthcare facilities. Also, healthcare workers can catch various blood borne infections and diseases if they have cuts and wounds. This puts them at the risk of developing as serious a disease as Hepatitis or HIV.

Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2661/
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20150307/MAGAZINE/303079965

This article is provided by the creative team behind Patient Handling.

A Guide to Digital, Physical, and Legal Patient Safety

November 29, 2016/5004 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Patient Safety /by John Trader

The following guest post on patient safety in healthcare was submitted by Dixie Somers.

Today’s health care consumer is protected by digital, physical, and legal patient safety rules and regulations. Hospitalists, administrators, physicians, nurses, and others in a hospital setting must be aware of the required physical safeguards, rules, and regulations in place to protect patients’ physical wellbeing and digital and legal patient information and records at all times.

Learn more about to protect patients’ physical wellbeing and digital and legal patient information and records.

Physical safeguards also include the physical steps, procedures, and policies required to secure the Covered Entity (CE) or the CE’s Business Associates’ (BAs) electronic data and HIT systems, equipment, and building structures in use. These safeguards should address protection against physical and environmental threats as well as possible unauthorized intrusions in the health care environment.

Physical Safeguards

The hospital is a complex physical environment. It’s important for all hospital staff to implement and practice good health habits on a personal and team level.

The hospital has a myriad of regulatory compliance issues to consider along with patient safety, including HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act), and Medicare/Medicaid payments regulations in addition to its own corporate governance policies.

Of course, it’s the legal and ethical duty of the hospital to protect the patient’s physical body from material harm when he or she is in the hospital. Safety guards and procedures should be strictly followed at all times.

Hospital Environmental Health

Dangers are always present in the hospital, including hazardous chemicals, infectious materials, chemotherapeutic agents, and radioactive matter, among others. Occupational safety and health administrators must work to ensure patient protection from exposure to these elements. A fire or resulting smoke from a hospital fire could be dangerous for the hospital’s most vulnerable patients. Life Safety Codes are in place for that reason. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and local/municipal governments are required to enforce the laws and/or regulations concerning fire safety and hazardous materials in the hospital.

The hospital should review its fire and safety plan, fire drills/alarm notifications, fire safety equipment/maintenance and protective building features, hazardous materials/exposure control plan, waste containment, and personal protective equipment as part of the annual risk assessment.

Hospital Security

All people in the hospital—patients, staff, and members of the public—must be protected from harm in the hospital. Hospital security includes multiple factors. Day-to-day concerns referenced above or major accidents could threaten the hospital environment.

Since many people travel to and from the hospital each day, it’s important to protect individuals from potential altercations and robberies (including robbery of physical goods or stolen identification). Potential events could cause temporary overcrowding in the hospital.

It’s essential for the hospital to consider these and other potential scenarios that affect safety and security. Local, state, and federal laws address many situations but it’s also essential for the hospital to consider coordination with local emergency, fire, and police personnel.

As part of the yearly risk assessment, the hospital should review policies relating to security technology/security personnel, response to disruptive behaviors, monitor of materials in/out of the hospital building, and security of hazardous drugs/material/waste. There should also be an accurate WebID medical license verification system available to make sure that every doctor’s license is accurate.

Digital Privacy and Security in the Hospital

The hospital collects and uses patient information to treat its patients. It also collects personal financial information as part of its billing practices. Digital privacy is the patient’s right. Federal law requires the hospital to establish proper systems and procedures to protect the patient’s private information from prying eyes.

Workstations, devices, computers, and networks in use at the hospital must be secure. Each hospital must have proper security procedures and policies in place. Media controls, disposal of sensitive information, and access of information must be considered as part of the hospital’s compliance.

Patients have the right to sue the hospital and/or individual practitioners when private information is improperly accessed or breached.

Legal Malpractice Risks

Security of electronic health records (EHR) in the hospital and medical practice can advance both patient safety and the practice of medicine. However, it’s important for the hospital to know that, as new technology is adopted, potential liability risks are present.

Hospital staff can access patient information through EHR or via health information exchanges. Patients’ hospital charts, lab results, medication histories, radiology images and reports are accessed, exchanged, and reviewed. Patient injury can result from the hospital’s inability to make patient information available to providers treating him or her. If patient injury occurs from this type of information access error, the patient (or his/her family) may be able to file a legal malpractice claim against the hospital or individual providers.

Dixie Somers is a freelance writer and blogger from Phoenix, Arizona, who loves most to write for health, technology, and business niches. Dixie is the proud mother of three beautiful girls and wife to a wonderful husband.

How to Prevent Your Medical Information from Misuse

November 18, 2016/6614 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Medical Identity Theft, Patient Safety /by John Trader

The following guest post on protecting your medical information from misuse was submitted by Christine DiGangi.

When it comes to personal information, your health records are about as personal as it gets. And while it may not seem as immediately damaging as someone hacking into your bank account, medical identity theft can seriously threaten your physical and financial health.

Medical identity theft can seriously threaten your physical and financial health.

How a Thief Might Misuse Your Medical Information

Think of all the information you’ve handed over at a doctor’s office: Name, birth date, address, Social Security number, insurance information, family medical history — these are all things someone can use to impersonate you. This makes health care providers targets for hackers. What can they do with your medical data? Plenty. They can open fraudulent financial accounts, commit crimes (besides identity theft), file a fraudulent tax return (and get the refund), buy prescription drugs with your insurance (and maybe sell them, which goes back to the crime problem), claim federal benefits like Social Security, use your insurance to get medical care and countless other things, all in your name. The results of such fraud can end up on your criminal record, medical history or credit report.

Say someone got their hands on your medical information and they used it to get medical treatment. That person’s health data could end up in your medical history and affect your future care. What if that person maxed out your insurance coverage, leaving you without the coverage you need? What if medical expenses that person generated don’t get paid? That could result in a collection account on your credit report and cause your credit score to drop until you dispute the error or resolve the identity theft. There’s a lot at stake. We asked identity theft expert Adam Levin, co-founder of Credit.com and author of “Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves,” for his top tips on preventing your medical information from misuse. Here’s what he said.

You Don’t Have to Share Everything

A lot of people provide their Social Security number and other sensitive details to their healthcare provider without asking if it’s necessary, Levin said. Just because they ask for it doesn’t mean they need it.

“Find out how they intend to secure it,” Levin said. “Remember, they already have your medical insurance information and often require a credit card.”

When You Do Share Sensitive Information, Do It Carefully

Once you hand over your information, you no longer control it, so think about the way you’re providing your doctors with records. Levin said you should never send medical information to someone you don’t know unless you’re the one who contacted them.

“Know precisely to whom you are communicating and confirm that their requests are reasonable,” he said. “Remember, you should never send sensitive information by way of email or text. Only fax if you know who is standing next to the machine as you are faxing.”

Use Common-Sense Security

Lots of health care providers have gone digital, meaning you can access your records or pay your bills through an online account. While password security is important for all online accounts, it’s especially crucial when you’re setting your credentials for a medical website. And if you do end up with physical paperwork that includes details on your health, insurance or any other personally identifiable information, keep it in a safe place. If you want to discard it, use a cross-cutting shredder, Levin said.

More Resources on Medical Identity Theft

Until a fraud has been corrected (which can take months or even years), you may suffer some credit damage, which is another reason to try and prevent the fraud from happening and act quickly as soon as you detect it. While working toward a resolution, you’ll want to focus on what you can control, like practicing the safety tips we just described or improving other aspects of your credit. For example, you could work on making on-time payments and paying down debt, which are good things for your credit scores. If you’re having trouble accessing credit because of identity theft, getting a secured credit card might be able to help you keep your credit file active, because a secured card generally does not require a credit check.

Monitor your credit reports for unfamiliar collection accounts and other signs of identity theft, in addition to keeping an eye on your mail and insurance for bills regarding care you didn’t receive. The Federal Trade Commission has a guide on how to request and review your medical records for accuracy, as well as how to resolve identity theft.

Christine DiGangi is a reporter and the social media editor for Credit.com, covering a variety of personal finance topics. Her writing has been featured on USA Today, MSN, Yahoo! Finance and The New York Times International Weekly, among other outlets. You can find her on Twitter @writingbikes.

What’s Happening With All Our Healthcare Data?

November 14, 2016/5963 views / 0 Comments/in Big Data, Guest Blog Posts, Health Care /by John Trader

The following guest post on big data in healthcare was submitted by Keri Lunt Stevens.

Big data — two little words that have monstrous meaning. Big data is a term for a data set that is so large or complex that a traditional data processing application can’t handle it. From every student’s transcript to every hospital’s patient records and even to your own personal social media exchanges, we’re all producing data. All of the time.

The rising use of big data in healthcare promises to fundamentally improve care delivery.

According to IBM, an American multinational technology company, big data is arriving from multiple sources at an alarming velocity, volume, and variety. To extract meaningful value from big data, we need optimal processing power, analytics capabilities, and skills. Most industries struggle with this because the challenges of capturing, storing, sharing, searching, securing and updating this big data are real.

But so are the benefits. With the help of predictive analytics, big data can be used to anticipate future behavior, spot trends, and foresee and even stop potential problems before they spiral out of control. In the healthcare industry, this could have a huge impact on patient care, privacy and more.

Control Epidemics

In a way, predictive analytics isn’t new to the healthcare industry. For years, quantitative data has been used to predict the likelihood of an infectious disease outbreak, including how the disease will spread and how to control it. Some of these formal methodologies include risk factor analysis, risk modeling and dynamic modeling. But while quantitative data has helped us so far, it hasn’t been enough. Currently, there are five U.S.-based outbreaks being investigated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, the Zika virus — for which there is no vaccine — continues to spread. According to a U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health article written by Mark Woolhouse, we need to develop a more holistic framework that captures the role of the underlying drivers of disease risks, from demography and behavior to land use and climate change. For a complete picture, doctors and scientists need to be able to cipher through quantitative and qualitative data to make predictions and act accordingly.

Develop Personalized Medicine

The majority of the human body is made up of six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus, which are divided into simple and complex chemical molecules. The most common medical treatment, drug therapy, is the biochemical interactions between those molecules and the ones in pharmaceutical drugs. And that’s great. This type of treatment has helped heal millions of people worldwide. But it isn’t enough. Too many people are suffering because their bodies aren’t responding to treatments — from depression to blood pressure to cancer treatments.

Using a big data predictive analysis approach to personalized medicine could reduce the financial, social and personal burden associated with the current trial-and-error approach, according to Kateryna Babina, a medical scientist based in Australia. In an article on Budget Direct’s healthcare hub, Babina says integrating clinical, laboratory, lifestyle, behavioral and environmental factors into patient care is the key to helping provide personalized, targeted interventions to the right patients.

Keri Lunt Stevens is a freelance writer and editor who has worked in journalism and content marketing. Her experience ranges from healthcare trends and topics to finance and community news. Her work has been featured in a variety of print and online media outlets.

Big Data and Healthcare – The Present and the Future

November 11, 2016/6275 views / 0 Comments/in Big Data, BLOG, Data Integrity, Guest Blog Posts /by John Trader

The following guest post on big data and healthcare was submitted by Emma Lawson.

Healthcare is one of the largest and the most complex ecosystems that humans as a species have brought to life. With healthcare providers, payers, researchers, patients and additional entities that all have their own needs and agendas, it has grown into a world of its own, governed by its own rules and featuring a perpetual tug-of-war between the different interest groups.

One concept that might help make sense of all of this, provide benefits to all the interested parties and lead to a more stable ecosystem is big data. Big data has been around for some time and in certain fields it has found much use, but in healthcare, we are still seeing it take its very first steps.

The growing us of big data in healthcare promises to fundamentally change healthcare delivery.

Still, it has definitely become a part of the healthcare ecosystem and ind the future, it is more likely than not that it will become one of its most prominent parts.

Big Data Essentials

Big data is a relatively simple idea. It denotes sets of data that are extremely large, created very quickly (often in real time) and which are varied when it comes to their sources, classification and any other criteria you can think of.

Big data is, therefore, different from the more “traditional” data sets that are collected in limited amounts, from very specific sources and which are then organized in relational databases which feature a simple hierarchy and are easy to use.

A certain organization or a healthcare corporate entity might collect data from thousands of different medical practitioners, hospitals, government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, research institutions and patients themselves. They would then try to organize and analyze this data, all in order to come up with insights that would allow them to improve their services or save money.

Big Data Potential for Healthcare

In the perfect world, big data would hold almost limitless potential for everyone involved, from the healthcare providers to patients and even the payers.

For example, healthcare providers can gain much more precise and balanced insights by utilizing sets of data that are larger than any previously analyzed. In combination with data provided by patients themselves, healthcare providers would be able to dramatically increase the chances of full recovery and provide the ultimate healthcare for their patients.

When it comes to patients, smart use of big data would allow them to play a much more active role in their recovery. Furthermore, since their healthcare providers would operate with more data, the patients’ chances of recovery would dramatically increase. In short, more data would, in a perfect world, mean more positive outcomes for the patients.

When it comes to governments and health insurance companies, the use of big data can tighten their budgets by clearly indicating which treatments work and what are the minimum-invasive treatments and habits that would reduce healthcare expenditure.

Proper use of big data could also enhance the data security and other security concerns that the healthcare industry has to deal with.

A Few Current Examples

The best way to illustrate how big data can be used in healthcare is to take a look at a few ongoing projects and adopted practices.

For instance, Blue Shield of California has partnered with NantHealth in order to establish an integrated technology system which will allow for much more streamlined evidence-based care in a number of areas.

Kaiser Permanente has also implemented a system, called HealthConnect, which enables data exchange across innumerable medical facilities through the use of electronic records. Among the early results of HealthConnect are improved cardiovascular disease outcomes and more than a $1 billion saved in lab tests and office visits.

The National Institutes of Health and the National Patient-Centered Research Network have both launched certain initiatives that would allow for a more standardized collection, storage and analysis of big data, which will promote its use in healthcare.

What the Future Holds

While certain involved parties are already doing great things with big data in healthcare, the future is where we should look. The main reason for this is that big data applications are still limited by the lack of experts, certain security issues, and the chaotic nature of the data itself, among other things. Once these problems become the past, big data will definitely become one of the most prominent concepts in healthcare and its advancement.

We are already seeing certain steps being made in the right direction, with hybrid data models which combine the volume and the variety of data with the more structured nature of relational databases. Also, there are some companies that have started utilizing dark data in their data analysis, like Panorama for example. Dark data entails data so chaotic and huge that the standard big data models cannot handle it.

With the proliferation of sensors, wearables and other devices that will provide additional data coming from patients themselves, the amount of big data and its usefulness will only grow.

Closing Word

Big data has already begun to influence healthcare. Barring any catastrophic events, it will become an inseparable part of healthcare systems around the world, helping everyone involved attain their goals more easily.

Above everything else, big data has already started saving lives and it is a trend that will continue.

Emma Lawson is a passionate writer, online article editor and a health enthusiast. In her spare time, she likes to do research, and write articles to create awareness regarding healthy lifestyle. She also strives to suggest innovative home remedies that can help you lead a quality and long life.
Twitter @EmmahLawson

How Can Healthcare Professionals Effectively Manage Infection Control?

October 28, 2016/3650 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Infection Control /by John Trader

The following guest post on improving infection control in healthcare was submitted by Rachelle Wilbur.

Healthcare-associated and hospital-acquired infections are a major concern for facilities, healthcare workers and especially patients. Central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI), Surgical Site Infection (SSI) and Ventilator-associated Pneumonia (VAP) are all infections that patients can acquire while under treatment. Managing all of the factors involved in patients getting unnecessarily ill with these infections is an ongoing struggle, but the professional healthcare worker that takes a stand can make a difference.

Learn more about practical tips healthcare facilities can adopt to improve infection control.

Infection Facts

The CDC reports a steady decline in CLABSIs from 2008 to 2014. CAUTIs had no change from 2009 to 2014 in the infection rates. SSIs also declined from 2008 to 2014, and other common hospital-acquired infections, such as Clostridium difficile and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), also have declining rates of infection. Overall, the data looks toward improved protection for patients from infections they can get at a hospital or other healthcare facility, including long-term acute care hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities. However, individual facilities need to be forever vigilant of protocol disciplines and providing infection protection materials and medication. Every facility should reach for a zero infection goal.

Protocol Discipline

There are proven methods that reduce infections. One is hand washing, and another is wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). Studies have demonstrated that washing hands using soap and running water is better than just using hand sanitizers. Also, even though standard examination gloves are not sterile, they can offer protection against healthcare workers spreading infections to immunocompromised patients. The problem of maintaining standard hand washing and PPE use varies from facility to facility and even from department to department and shift to shift. Enforcing strict infection control procedures across the board in all situations helps protects patients and may help with liability.

Education Benefits Infection Control

Every facility should require annual, or semi-annual, training in infection control procedures. Training should be tailored for each department, but minimizing differences in procedures throughout a facility is beneficial toward ensuring standard compliance. Additional benefits regarding education include assisting employees to advance medical training. Higher education benefits facilities and patient care. Nurses advancing from an RN to BSN degree walk away with increased knowledge that improves their ability to provide care for patients, especially care in specialty areas. An MSN program is typically two years, and some healthcare facilities expect their RNs with bachelor degrees to advance to master’s level within a specified number of years of being licensed.

Simple Devices to Reduce Infections

It is important for healthcare facility administrators and department heads to keep abreast of new technology that can help prevent infecting patients who are having procedures or therapies administered. Devices, such as Curos™ Disinfecting Port Protectors, can help protect patients with central lines installed. The little caps screw onto the port hubs when they are not in use. Inside the cap, 70% isopropyl alcohol is released when it is screwed onto the hub to “bathe” the hub and disinfect it. They are kept in strips that hang from IV poles. However, they are useless if supply lines do not keep them available for every patient with a central line all of the time.

Combining strict infection control protocol adherence with education may help improve compliance. Understanding the why of procedures helps with establishing a mindset of necessity of following protocols better than concern over disciplinary action of infractions. Thorough education gives a deeper understanding and personal meaning as to why certain protocols are in place. Keeping infection control products always in stock and handy for use also makes compliance easy. It is important to remove any impediments that get in the way of eliminating healthcare-associated or hospital-acquired infections.

Rachelle Wilber is a freelance writer living in the San Diego, California area. She graduated from San Diego State University with her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Media Studies. She tries to find an interest in all topics and themes, which prompts her writing. When she isn’t on her porch writing in the sun, you can find her shopping, at the beach, or at the gym. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @RachelleWilber; https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009221637700.

Managing Visitors in a Healthcare Facility – An Impetus to Patient Safety and Recovery

October 19, 2016/5209 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Health Care, Patient Outcomes /by John Trader

The following post on improving patient safety in healthcare was submitted by Donald Raggs.

Healthcare facilities are becoming vulnerable almost every day in terms of patients’ safety and security. They need to be professionally managed. Healthcare facilities are highly prone to risks of security threats posed by intruders, unwanted guests, and temporary visitors. Managing hospital visitors is an important consideration for patient’s safety and recovery. Hospitals are aware enough to know that their visitors are the biggest threat to their patient’s security and infections that they may carry unknowingly from outside while they are visiting a in house patient. You may have heard hospital incidents about visitors who enter into a restricted hospital room without a visitor badge with the intention of harming patients and doing illegal activities. Hospital visitors present a potential risk to the patients and hospital staff if they are not handled precisely by the hospital security management.

Following these simple visitor management tips can help to increase patient safety in healthcare.

It is very important for healthcare organizations to ensure that the visitors who are entering into a facility are authorized and not risky for patients. There are numbers of best practices that should be followed by healthcare organizations to manage and identify authorized visitors. These practices to manage visitors are very important to optimize patient safety and recovery in the healthcare organization settings.

Incorporate a Visitor Management System into the Facility:

Healthcare organizations essentially have to adopt a visitor management system to track the movement of visitors who visit the hospital facility for various reasons. Visitor management system is an ideal tool for tracking hospital visitors in real time. It is hi-tech software that effectively controls record & tracks hospital’s visitor traffic. It monitors each visitor in the facility and keeps records of all relevant information about the visitor in a single database. Visitor management system keeps a tight check on intruders, unwanted visitors and prevents the entry of any unauthorized or unwanted person in the facility. It effectively tracks visitors 24×7 by ID registration, visiting approvals, badge management, record keeping and process management. Visitor management system prevents the risk of crimes and unlawful acts into the facility and ensures that the visitors are good for hospital security.

Decide particular visiting hours to visit patient for relatives:

Rest is very important for the recovery of patients. Hospital authorities cannot let visitors tour 24 hours to meet patients. This increases the chances of spreading infection to the patient by the visitor unknowingly. For healthcare organization it is very important to decide particular visiting hours to meet patients. Limited number of visitors should be allowed to meet a patient at a given point of time. This is to ensure that patients get the rest they need and other patients are not disturbed.

Some of the patients can be kept out of bounds for any visitors specially the ones who have undergone a major surgery or are suffering from communicable diseases that may be spread out to the public. Visitor management system can be useful in ensuring that such patients are quarantined effectively since the visitor management system is not going to issue any badges or visiting slips to these out of bound rooms. Thus only health care workers, doctors and authorized staff of the medical facility will be able to enter these rooms who essentially are trained, dressed and qualified to take of such patients.

Provide Per Visitor a Visitor Badge to Enter the Facility:

Providing a visitor badge to each hospital visitor before entering into the facility should be mandatory. Recording each visitor’s badge number and address details of the visitor with the badge in the database should be made a practice and if possible the health condition of the visitor should also be taken into account before allowing him or her to see a particular patient. Ask visitors to show their ID and purpose of visiting the facility at various check points which will not only control the movement of visitors but will also ensure calm and noise free environment for patients who are recovering there.

Fixing a time limit and letting the visitors know their time limit should be made a practice. How long a visitor has been with a patient in the hospital room can be easily calculated via the visitor management system and a gentle reminder can be sent on his or her phone to adhere to the time limit which of course is beneficial for the speedy recovery of the patient.

A visitor management system not only ensure the safety and security of the patients within a health care facility it also ensures that patients being treated there have a speedy recovery and are not disturbed by the constant flow of visitors. Thus next time you go visiting one of your friends in the hospital which has a visitor management system in place and you are not allowed to visit your patient don’t feel bad; maybe your patient has had quite a few visits that day and you may only be disturbing him instead of comforting him.

Donald is an independent writer and a content specialist from California. He jumped into the digital marketing scene early on. After obtaining masters in integrated marketing from northwestern university, He went to interactive marketing positions with top companies such as GE and Trackforce. As of today he is associated with Trackforce.com a leader in providing software and security management technology. Donald has great interest in technology and security. He loves writing about everything that is related to technology, security and safety.

4 Ways Tech Has Changed How Healthcare Providers Handle Patient ID Protocols

October 12, 2016/7154 views / 0 Comments/in BLOG, Guest Blog Posts, Health Care, Patient Identification, Patient Matching, Patient Safety /by John Trader

The following post on patient ID in healthcare was submitted by Anica Oaks.

Methods of patient identification are critical to matching patients with their intended treatment in busy healthcare facilities. The failure to accomplish this has led to some serious consequences for patients and providers alike, in the form of unnecessary surgeries and wrong patient amputations resulting in a marked rise of lawsuits and malpractice insurance costs. Here are some technical solutions that healthcare professionals are looking at to help solve this problem.

Learn more about patient ID technologies and their impact on patient safety in healthcare.

1. Barcodes
Barcodes offer a convenient and cost-effective approach to establishing patient identity. New patients are entered into the system and issued a bar-coded ID bracelet which can be read by scanners at various locations during treatment, and automatically checked against patient databases. The same barcode can be printed on other documentation to be sure there is a match between the ID bracelet and any medications, test results, or scheduled treatments.

2. RFID Chips
Radio Frequency ID (RFID) chips emitting a unique signal are being touted as a better alternative to barcodes. These can be embedded in wristbands, hospital beds, or patient ID badges. Sensors reading this signal can generate the matching patient records on electronic devices. One advantage over barcodes is that chips can be read from a greater distance; sensors placed throughout the facility can also monitor patient movements for safety and security. RFID chips are also harder to duplicate. For this reason they are advocated by the FDA.

3. Staff Training
Identifying patients and administering ID protocols both upon admission and before receiving treatment typically falls to the nursing staff. Today’s nurses must be technically as well as medically trained to be effective in using the various patient ID technologies. A modern ADN to MSN online program (Associate Degree in Nursing to Master of Science in Nursing) better prepares nurses to understand and apply the technologies in use.

4. Biometrics
Using biometric devices is a fairly new but effective means of positive patient identification. Patient ID in healthcare now offers biometric devices that read iris patterns or even facial structure and are then matched against existing patient data to easily confirm identities. Barcodes or RFIDs leave room for error. A biometric characteristic, however, has only one possible match. Though these systems are more expensive to implement, their reliability and ease of use may be a wise investment.

Healthcare facilities today are faced with the need for stricter standards of patient identification. This is not just to safeguard patient health and professional integrity, but to guard against fraudulent use of ID to obtain drugs or free medical treatment. Today’s technology seems to finally be up to the challenge.

Anica is a professional content and copywriter who graduated from the University of San Francisco. She loves dogs, the ocean, and anything outdoor-related. She was raised in a big family, so she’s used to putting things to a vote. Also, cartwheels are her specialty. You can connect with Anica here.