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5-Features-of-an-EMS-Computer-Aided-Dispatch-System

5 Features of an Excellent EMS Computer Aided Dispatch System

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5-Features-of-an-EMS-Computer-Aided-Dispatch-System

Time is of the essence when your organization is in the business of saving lives. To improve response time and promote clear and concise communication between all parties involved, you need to make use of a customizable yet reliable computer-aided emergency dispatch system to coordinate with the rest of your team members. 

5-Features-of-an-EMS-Computer-Aided-Dispatch-System

If you’re in the market for emergency dispatch software specially designed to meet the needs of your EMS organization and improve the services that you provide your clients, there are a couple of things that you can do to make your selection process much faster and easier. One of these is listing down all the features that you want your ideal solution to have. Exactly what features should a dispatch software include so that it can help your institution provide high-quality service during stressful and critical situations? Here are a few that you should consider:

Mobile-Ready

Almost everyone owns a smartphone these days, and more often than not, your staff members access their daily schedules through their smartphones. When you’re dealing with medical emergencies on a daily basis, it is simply not ideal to rely solely on a computer or website to find out what your next schedule or assignment is. Therefore, it makes sense for your dispatch system to feature a mobile app that your team members can access in a heartbeat. 

Once they have the app installed on their mobile phones, your personnel won’t have to log in using a browser every single time just to see their updated tasks. Also, they can receive real-time notifications for urgent assignments. These features, in turn, will help your organization maximize the use of technology and minimize the time you need to provide your services. 

Visual Dispatching

The act of organizing a dispatch can take up a lot of time. Some systems will require you to manually input the time, location, situation, type of vehicle, personnel, and other details that are needed to carry out a proper response, and this can eat up precious minutes. 

Visual dispatching is a much faster alternative to this dated method. Simply put, visual dispatching allows you to click, drag, and drop a crew member’s details to a schedule grid, and your crew member will know about their current tasks or upcoming schedule changes. This method will make it easier for your dispatchers to manage both scheduled and unscheduled assignments that pass through your system. Also, because you can readily see everyone’s timetable, you’ll have an easy time identifying and filling up available slots. 

Multiple Manager Access

Companies that focus on maintaining public health are often open 24/7. EMS organizations typically have to change the schedule of their personnel every now and then to ensure that there are enough staff members to respond to the needs of their clients. This is true with both the EMS crew members on the ground and the dispatchers who coordinate their efforts. 

Patient-data-accuracy-can-be-ensured-with-RightPatient

RightPatient enhances patient identification.

Your online scheduling application, then, should allow more than 1 person to work in an administrative capacity. The system should feature multiple levels of access rights to ensure security. While one person can serve as the system’s primary administrator, the others can be given administrative privileges that they can use when the primary manager is out of their workstation. This way, your organization can continue providing its services even if there’s a sudden change in your staffing schedule. 

Active UHU Percentage

Your dispatch system effectively records the time that your team members are on the clock. This puts it in a unique position to report on Unit Hour Utilization (UHU). This key metric is what most EMS organizations monitor frequently when they have profitability in mind.

Using this metric, EMS organizations can track whether their ambulances are being utilized effectively and whether their crew members are being put to work. To maintain or increase profits, some EMS organizations set a minimum UHU goal to achieve. Besides profitability, this metric also helps dispatchers to allocate resources effectively so crew members are not stretched too thin. That way, crew members can provide better quality care and service even during stressful and critical situations.

Integration with Other Modules

Last but not least, your dispatch software should have the ability to easily integrate with other modules. When every module is sitting on an independent island, numerous IT resources and API calls are needed to get all data in one place. Headaches and frustration arise when you get data integration errors.  Your staff will then have to either fix the issues or key in those data, a highly inefficient process.

At the minimum, your computer-aided dispatch should integrate with ePCR and billing. If that’s the case, then you can improve cash flow dramatically because your billers can bill the dispatch as soon as it is finalized. Also, when your dispatch system is integrated with employee scheduling, you can eliminate the mistakes of assigning someone who is on PTO to a dispatch. These are just a few benefits when you use an all-in-one solution for EMS organizations. 

Conclusion

In order to provide people with quick, efficient, and life-saving services, your EMS organization should be supported by a computer-aided dispatch system that’s designed to meet today’s growing demands. To start, sit down with your team members to list down the essential and nice-to-have features as well as functionalities that you want to see in your next dispatch system. Then, use this list as a guide when checking out your options, or use it to formulate questions when you’re shopping for software providers. Doing so allows you to easily narrow down the vendors that offer concrete solutions to the dispatch system issues that you are facing today.

5 Benefits of Technology in the Healthcare Industry

5 Benefits of Technology in the Healthcare Industry

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5 Benefits of Technology in the Healthcare Industry

Implementing technology into medical enterprises has enriched the lives of many individuals all across the globe. Ranging from the invention of X-ray machines to advancements in surgical techniques, technology has heightened our life expectancy rates by making us healthier.

5 Benefits of Technology in the Healthcare Industry

Through platforms like Lecturio, information technology is formulated to offer personalized, affordable, and adaptive digital medical pedagogy. This will play a significant role in assisting you in acquainting yourself with how technology has upped healthcare.

How Has Technology Promoted Better Healthcare

There are multiple benefits of technology in the healthcare industry, which brings about a rapid shift in improved healthcare. The following are ways technology impacted healthcare.

Genome Sequencing

Genome sequencing is essentially decoding an individual’s genome. For this reason, it is referred to as the future of health care. Medical specialists’ ability to be equipped enough to sequence the human genome is one of the most tremendous in medical technology. The sequence informs scientists on the type of genetic progression carried by a particular segment of DNA.

The provision of genomic information is beneficial in instantly extracting powerful indications and storing them for future detection. This genetic data is used to find the causes and origins of diseases and how to bring about good health. 

Remote Monitoring Tools

If patients could monitor their health in their own homes, unnecessary doctor visits will be eliminated, and a lot of money will be saved. Tools such as pacemakers for patients who suffer from heart diseases are programmed to send data to health centers. There are also tools customized for patients living with chronic illnesses, and with them, the patients’ health can be monitored from hospitals irrespective of the distance.

Basically, these tools oversee the supervising improvements and breakdowns of patients with preexisting conditions requiring keen and close monitoring, which cuts in half the workload that would have otherwise been involved. Their ability to record this data and billing is an added advantage.

Telemedicine / Telehealth

In remote areas where health care services and hospitals are a bit easy to access, patients can communicate with doctors virtually through their phones and computers. This way, the medical expenses are a lot more substantial.

  • Telemedicine: this refers to the utilization of electronic communication and IT to provide medical services for patients situated in remote areas. Remote medical evaluations and diagnoses, virtual consultations, and digital transmission of medical imaging are all illustrations of telemedicine.
  • Telehealth: telehealth technology allows the remote review and diagnosis of patients and the proficiency for distant detection of oscillations in patients’ medical conditions to alter the specific therapy and medications accordingly. Telehealth also facilitates e-prescribe treatments remotely.

Wearable Technology

Technology has introduced wearable medical tools, and they are rapidly taking root in the medical market. These wearables are a category of electrically powered devices that could be implanted in the user’s body, accessories, tattooed on the skin, or embedded in clothing.

They do not require any manual operation and are microprocessor powered and can receive and transmit data through the internet to allow users to monitor their health. Wearable devices are used to gather data that will aid patients, and doctors will need to assess and regulate the wearer’s health. These devices are featured to notify the authorities of acute medical crises.

Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

Any medic will confess that electronic health records are an immensely significant advancement in the healthcare field. It promotes a myriad of upgrades in medical treatment and diagnostics. Unlike in the past, where medical records were clumsily handled, EHRs enable fast information, recording, storage, and transfer of medical files and efficient care integration.

However, many healthcare providers have to use additional solutions in order to use EHRs effectively. Proper patient identification is still a huge issue within the healthcare system due to the lack of an effective patient identifier. As a result, patient mix-ups, duplicate medical records, and patient safety issues are quite common. To prevent all that, responsible caregivers are using innovative solutions like biometric patient identification platforms and RightPatient leads the pack. It is a touchless solution that prevents HAIs (hospital-acquired infections), protects patient data, and enhances patient safety effectively.

To Sum it All Up

Over time, we continue to formulate strategies to promote the quality of our lives and cure ailments. Advancements in the field of medicine through technology have certified numerous life-saving strategies. Imagine being able to have an appointment with your doctor virtually with thousands of miles between you when a few decades ago, it was entirely impossible. Technology is nothing but an asset in the healthcare industry.

Tips For Improving Patient Satisfaction In Surgery Centers

Tips For Improving Patient Satisfaction In Surgery Centers

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Tips For Improving Patient Satisfaction In Surgery Centers

Are you an administrator looking to expand or improve your hospital’s ambulatory surgical center’s operations? One critical component to every healthcare facility’s success is positive feedback. Use these practical tips to improve your patient’s satisfaction.

Tips For Improving Patient Satisfaction In Surgery Centers

What Is an Ambulatory Surgical Center?

Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) were created to administer a variety of low-risk surgeries. Some routine procedures performed at an ASC include:

  • Arthroscopy.
  • Cataract surgery.
  • Cesarean section.
  • Dental restoration.
  • Gastric bypass.

What Are the Benefits of an ASC?

ASCs are becoming an increasingly accessible option for many patients. These centers offer a variety of benefits such as:

  • Same-day discharge.
  • Lower out-of-pocket costs.
  • Higher nurse-to-patient ratios.
  • Lower risk of infection.
  • Improved recovery.

What Is Patient Satisfaction?

Patient satisfaction measures how pleased a person is with their level of care. This accounts for services both inside and outside the surgeon’s office. A patient’s feedback provides administrators with valuable insights into the effectiveness of the medical staff’s care and empathy level. 

How Is It Measured?

Patient surveys are an integral way to measure their overall satisfaction. Whether it’s in person, written, or over the phone, obtaining this information helps healthcare administrations identify gaps and develop quality improvement initiatives. Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) is the industry standard for reporting patient experiences and their perspectives of the care they receive.

Tips for Improving Patient Satisfaction in Your ASC

A patient’s satisfaction level affects many areas of your ASC, such as patient retention, clinical outcomes, and medical malpractice claims. Healthcare executives and physicians can institute a few easy strategies to improve patient experience at ambulatory surgical centers across their system. 

Use Your Patient’s Name

For many patients, their hospital experience is often impersonal. Doctors may forget about one of the most important tools in their arsenal — a friendly hello. More than merely greeting your patients, use their first name.

Ensuring Accurate Patient Identification

One of the biggest pain points faced by any healthcare provider, whether health systems or ASCs, is patient identification errors. In the case of ASCs, these errors lead t mix-ups, wrong surgeries, and worse. Many healthcare providers are preventing these issues with touchless biometric patient identification platforms like RightPatient. By identifying patients accurately at any touchpoint within the care continuum, RightPatient enhances patient safety and personalized the experience – improving patient satisfaction in the process. 

Make Eye Contact

Keeping eye contact with the person you’re talking to shows that you are actively listening to what they have to say. A friendly, sympathetic attitude helps patients feel more at ease. It’s essential for building rapport and is a sign of care and respect. 

Focus on Patient Education

Information is vital to a person’s decision-making process and empowers them to better direct their healthcare. Enlist the help of nurses and other support staff to help educate patients, and remember to use layman’s terms.

Create a Welcoming Environment

Most people think a medical center is a cold and sterile place. Make sure your ASC is tidy, and add some comfortable seating arrangements, soothing artwork, and soft lighting to create an attractive aesthetic.

Upgraded systems

Value stream mapping (VSM) is a business management method physicians can use to analyze and improve patient flow. It gives administrators the tools to identify inefficiencies during any step of a patient’s experience.

Take advantage of these tips to ensure a positive patient experience. Create a welcoming environment for patients and add a personal touch. You’ll soon see your survey results improve.

Telehealth in the Covid era - from coordinating care to saving lives

Telehealth in the COVID Era – From Coordinating Care to Saving Lives

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Telehealth in the Covid era - from coordinating care to saving lives

How telehealth evolved due to Covid

Even before the novel coronavirus pandemic broke out across the world, technologies like telehealth video conferencing were penetrating more and more institutions with the promise of new efficiencies for doctors and patients. 

Telehealth in the Covid era - from coordinating care to saving lives

The COVID‐19 emergency disrupted even the most stable healthcare systems, speeding up the introduction of new care modalities. Multiple telehealth solutions got the green light in clinics and hospitals to permit the delivery of comprehensive, high-quality care in new conditions.

Training and care coordination for pandemic responders

In the hectic first months of the pandemic, when governments and health systems were working out a response to an unprecedented situation, telehealth proved to be an indispensable tool for training and collaboration. 

Thanks to specialized telecommunications solutions, doctors from different institutions and even countries have been able to carry out distance education courses, deliver critical COVID-19 training for rural providers, and streamline real-time collaboration with out-of-hospital providers.

Addressing the needs of vulnerable groups

Domestic violence victims

Recent surveys have shown that the pandemic has had an impact on domestic violence victims as well, with people in abusive households facing a higher risk of isolation, depression, and suicide due to widespread social distancing and lockdown measures. 

Telehealth can go a long way in providing domestic violence victims and survivors with important psychological services whenever and wherever it’s comfortable for them. One example is The Zepf Center, a non-profit behavioral health center in Ohio that is now partnering with Bethany House and the YWCA of Northwest Ohio to install telehealth systems on-site and run an awareness campaign. The project will enable abuse survivors to connect with much-needed psychiatric, therapy, and case management services. 

Elderly patients

Out of all at-risk demographics, the coronavirus has especially heavy consequences among the elderly. In a situation where seniors have to minimize close contact with other people and postpone non-urgent medical visits to avoid contagion, their healthcare routines are being disrupted and key services become unavailable.  

New telehealth initiatives are now targeting care delivery to elderly patients that stay at home for their safety or experience poor availability of care due to hospitals predominantly treating COVID-19 patients. In Maine, elderly residents will get access to wellness services and advanced care planning with the help of telehealth in a program coordinated by the University of New England.

Within the program, osteopathic medicine students and family medicine practitioners will be trained to deliver their services, such as annual and routine preventive care for seniors, via telehealth platforms.

Rare disease patients

Before COVID-19, people with rare diseases already routinely turned to telehealth to reach specific experts without traveling a long way. In the last months, the same technology turned from convenience to a life-saver, since many rare disease patients take medications that adversely affect their immune systems and increase the risk of infection. By moving face-to-face consultations online, users are able to receive the care they need regularly and safely. 

For example, hemophilia patients in Ireland benefit from a well-developed EHR system that simplifies the use of telemedicine for managing hemophilia treatments. Surveys among such patients have shown that 94% are satisfied or very satisfied with telehealth physical therapy, and 63% express interest in a remote exercise class by video or via an app.

Tackling emerging challenges of telehealth delivery 

Despite multiple advantages and high levels of motivation among stakeholders, telehealth video conferencing initiatives still face many hurdles in their implementation. Let’s have a closer look at some of them. 

Accessibility

Not all telehealth solutions that are currently in use accommodate well for people with visual impairments, motor impairments, and language barriers. The pandemic has also highlighted the inequalities in access to a stable phone or broadband connection, especially in rural areas. For example, among elderly Americans, just 55% own a smartphone or have broadband access at home. 

A related factor is the lack of familiarity with telehealth technologies among patients and doctors alike. Most elderly patients are comfortable with telephone consultations, and a much lower number can confidently use video conferencing. 

A concerted effort is needed to tailor telehealth solutions to the needs of patients and, on the other hand, to improve digital health literacy among affected patient subgroups. 

Scalability

Quite simply, the pandemic has put all digital systems in healthcare under increased pressure, and scalability has become an issue for many telehealth providers. 

Developers introduce highly available architectures to help doctors reach geographically distributed patients and support a larger number of concurrent connections. Another way of addressing the issue is cloud-based autoscaling – an approach that leverages the flexibility of the cloud to ramp up resources in real-time depending on the performance and current demand.

Regulation

To address the migration of multiple healthcare services to online platforms, regulatory bodies in many countries had to ease the existing restrictions around telehealth. In March 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in the U.S. reduced barriers to telehealth access. 

Among other changes, CMS dropped the rule that stipulated telehealth recipients needed a prior relationship with their healthcare professional of choice, which allowed doctors to offer consultations to new patients using telehealth. The easing of HIPAA requirements in telehealth also enables physicians to use popular videoconferencing platforms like Zoom and Skype for remote consultations.

Security

A lot of experts have been concerned about security issues that lead to cases of telehealth fraud and medical identity theft. Many hackers have even forced themselves into telehealth sessions, showing that an extra layer of security is required. 

Fortunately, medical identity theft is preventable if a robust patient identification platform is used to validate patients’ identities, and that is exactly what RightPatient does. It is a touchless biometric patient identification platform that uses patients’ photos to verify their identities and can be used across the care continuum, making it ideal for telehealth sessions. 

Conclusion

According to a report by The National Organization for Rare Disorders, before the pandemic, only about 0.01% of healthcare appointments in the U.S. were done via telehealth. By mid-April 2020, that number had risen to 69% of total appointments.

For many, a shift from in-person visits to telehealth in the current period improves safety and accessibility of qualified medical assistance. However, healthcare providers and regulators should take into account that for certain populations, the benefits of this transition also create new barriers and limitations. As we all work to minimize the COVID-19 risks, the efficiency and equitability of care delivery with telehealth should be examined in relation to various patient demographics.

6 Healthcare Technology Trends Accelerated By COVID-19 You Should Know

6 Healthcare Technology Trends Accelerated By COVID-19 You Should Know

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6 Healthcare Technology Trends Accelerated By COVID-19 You Should Know

Technology is the need of time. This era is moving, or you can say running on technology. Think for a while, is there any field that is performing its tasks without this gift of science? The answer is a big NO! And if every field is dependent on technology, why health lags?

6 Healthcare Technology Trends Accelerated By COVID-19 You Should Know

During this pandemic of COVID-19, we have seen drastic changes in our lives. Similarly, healthcare technology trends accelerated by COVID-19 are also one of those changes.

Healthcare needs advancement because the survival of the human race is dependent on this sector. COVID-1 has proved that many developed countries do not have advanced healthcare systems. And their healthcare sectors collapse within two months of pandemic during 2020. 

So, the world has realized the importance of technology. Because it improves the efficacy of healthcare professionals and improves the outcomes of the performing tasks.

Here are the healthcare technology trends accelerated by COVID-19;

E-Hospitals

E-hospitals are established to connect the patients, doctors, and hospitals on a single digital platform that helps in providing services to the citizens with great efficiency. 

This concept is broadly accepted all over the world during the COVID-19 pandemic peaks, as we need social distancing in this pandemic. And E-hospital is the only solution for this.

Through these hospitals, anyone can reach any doctor across the world. The data can be shared through digital media. And consultation can be provided from far distances.

E-Pharmacy

E pharmacy services are the unique way of facilitating the citizens and are provided during this pandemic. As we are using online portals for shopping and home deliveries, medicines can also be purchased through online platforms. 

Websites and Apps are available on which you can find and order the medicines and disposable medical essentials, and order them online.

Telemedicine

Telemedicine is a service through which healthcare professionals provide online consultations through digital platforms. Many websites and Apps are working day and night to connect the patients with the doctors. 

These platforms have a complete database of doctors according to their specialties. You can also search for a health professional according to the disease you are suffering from. 

You don’t need to wait in long queues or waiting areas of the clinics, rather you can book your appointment online and get your consultation while sitting in your homes.

However, there are growing concerns regarding healthcare fraud and medical identity theft cases during virtual sessions. Fortunately, innovative solutions like RightPatient can prevent medical identity theft even during telehealth visits since it can be used at any touchpoint across the care continuum to verify patients’ identities.  

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is enhancing the efficacy and outcomes of different health processes. It improves the diagnosis process, analysis, interpretation, and comprehension of complicated medical and healthcare data. 

It analyzes the data throughout the system. It helps in identifying the risks and infections. The data helps in predicting the future risks and healthcare outcomes.

Cloud Storage System

The storage system is like a cloud of data through which anyone can get information according to their need. A Cloud storage system in healthcare has all the necessary data stored in one place. 

And it can be accessible by anyone in the world. It is helpful in many ways like it is a cost-effective way of using the data and technology.

Wearables and Health-related apps

Covid19 led to wide usage of smart bands and health-related applications. The apps help in tracking your footsteps, workout, menstruation cycle, pregnancy, oxygen levels, heartbeat, and blood pressure, etc.

Similarly, people like to wear different smartwatches and bands to stay fit during this pandemic.

Living with the new normal is not that hard as it seems. If you just go with the flow and adopt the latest technology trends, you can easily survive this pandemic. 

Digital platforms like Marham are helping millions of peoples in connecting them with the best healthcare professionals while sitting in their homes. 

The website provides you a separate section of a health blog, in which you can read about the latest news related to COVID-19, health issues, remedies, best health professionals, and many more.

Now everything is just a click away in this online world. And you need to understand the benefits of these healthcare technology trends to get a better life ahead.

Healthcare and technology

4 Ways Digitization is Transforming the Healthcare Industry

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Healthcare and technology

Technology has benefited almost every industry it has come into contact with. The impact that it has had on businesses is undeniable. Truly, shifting to digital systems has fundamentally changed the way that work is done, vastly improved upon existing processes, and enhanced how businesses engage and interact with their customers.

Healthcare and technologyEven healthcare, an industry known for being traditionally slow to adopt radical changes, is now embracing digital transformation as a response to ever-increasing regional and federal demands. This is done to improve the delivery of its services, operations, and outcomes. Indeed, digitization addresses some of the biggest problems facing healthcare systems all over the world. These include, but are not limited to, the rising cost of care, the poor quality and inaccessibility of healthcare services, inefficient back-office systems and processes, and the lack of personalized patient-specific treatment. 

Though these digital breakthroughs in healthcare may still be in their infancy stages, technology has still significantly transformed the relationship between health systems, healthcare providers, and patients. This can be seen from the digitization of health records to innovations in health insurance technology. Here’s a closer look at how digitalization is directly helping to save lives, greatly improve operational efficiency, and better the experience of both providing and receiving healthcare services:

Health Record Digitalization

Before digitization, patient medical records had to be manually encoded on paper before being transferred from department to department. It would be an understatement to say that it was a burdensome, time-consuming chore for everyone involved.

To make matters worse, the records themselves were inherently insecure and vulnerable to human error, loss, and damage. Simply locating an existing patient’s information could take a while, depending on the size of the institution. A person’s medical records could also be scattered across a variety of healthcare practitioners that offered different services. For example, a person’s dental records would traditionally be kept separate from their psychiatric records, their physical therapy records, and so on, hindering collaboration between a patient’s medical providers.

The introduction of the Electronic Health Record or EHR has been a blessing to both healthcare practitioners and patients everywhere. They allow providers and other authorized users to access accurate, complete, and up-to-date information about patients instantly and securely. EHRs help facilitate faster diagnoses, reduce medical errors, and improve the completeness and legibility of documentation. Additionally, they can bring down the cost of healthcare by avoiding duplicate testing and decreasing the time it takes to do administrative tasks.

Moreover, many healthcare providers are enhancing EHRs by ensuring accurate patient identification with RightPatient. It is a robust touchless biometric patient identification platform that prevents patient misidentification, duplicate medical records, and improves healthcare outcomes. 

Telemedicine

Access to quality healthcare continues to be an issue worldwide, especially in lower-income countries. They may suffer from weak healthcare infrastructure as well as a shortage of providers. Challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have also called for a definitive solution that will allow elderly patients and those with co-morbidities to safely see their healthcare providers without putting them at risk.

Telemedicine is the digital solution that can address all of these problems. Video conferencing allows medical professionals to see patients that may not be physically able to come to them. It also enables them to reach those who reside in rural or remote locations. They can even conduct one-on-one appointments with patients who live in other countries. Additionally, telecommunication is a valuable educational tool that helps facilitate training and collaboration opportunities between healthcare institutions and providers separated by long distances. 

Big Data Analytics

Many of us have freely embraced technology as a way to proactively keep tabs on our own health. Our smartphones can automatically track how many steps we’ve taken in a day, while wearable electronic devices can provide insights into our resting heart rate and blood oxygen levels. There is also an abundance of health apps out there for a variety of use cases, from meal tracking and calorie counting to meditation and mental health improvement. 

This means that there is an ever-expanding pool of data that can be collected from these sources, the importance of which simply cannot be overstated. Big data, when harnessed effectively, can be used to create a more personalized approach to patient care. Analytics can also empower healthcare professionals in providing faster, more accurate diagnoses and making better treatment decisions. Most promising, though, is the possibility that, in the near future, big data can be used in conjunction with artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict a patient’s medical trajectory. 

Modernized Insurance Claims Processing

Health insurers are also benefiting from digital technologies, especially with regards to claims processing and adjudication. Claims management has long been considered a major pain point in the healthcare lifecycle. Nowadays, consumers are paying more than ever for premiums and out-of-pocket costs, but do not feel that they are getting their money’s worth from their insurance providers. Most of their dissatisfaction comes from delayed claims payments caused by inefficient claims processing. 

Digitizing claims processing and adjudication addresses the root of the problem. Going digital enables health insurers to streamline claims management and offer claims processing in real-time, thus vastly improving the experience for their customers.

Even now, the future is looking particularly bright for technology in healthcare. There are always exciting new developments to look forward to, and we can expect this digital revolution to continue in the years to come.

Exploring-the-Top-Healthcare-Tech-Trends

Exploring the Top Healthcare Technology Trends 

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Exploring-the-Top-Healthcare-Tech-Trends

Technology advancement has revolutionized the healthcare industry. Latest technologies are innovated to diagnose and treat lethal diseases. People have also become health conscious and they try to use the latest technologies to know about their health conditions. As the pandemic has hit the world badly, it has changed the landscape of the healthcare market. People used to visit doctors before, but now they prefer to take a doctor’s assistance online while maintaining social distancing. 

Exploring-the-Top-Healthcare-Tech-Trends

Along with telehealth, many other tech trends are revolutionizing the healthcare industry. Let’s take a look at the top healthcare technology trends in 2021.

TeleMedicine

COVID-19 has given a great boost to telehealth resources. According to the statistics of April 2020, 43.5% of people followed telehealth methods rather than in-person visits. In the pandemic, people are asked to avoid social contact so telehealth methods help to take medical assistance while staying at home. It is expected that telehealth methods will continue to proceed even after the pandemic is over. Statistics show that 50% of people had already used virtual appointments and 71% of patients in the US used telemedicine at the start of the pandemic. 

The best part of Telemedicine is that people are comfortable with this service and they are adopting it without any hesitation. Thus, the future of Telemedicine is very strong. 

One of the important devices used in healthcare is fitness trackers. Through fitness trackers, they also check the overall wellness of the people. The pandemic has given a great boost to telehealth service and it is expected to reach $185.6 billion by 2026. 

The advanced telehealth service is telemedicine apps.  One of the famous apps is WebRTC, it uses the API system to connect web-browsers with mobile applications. This app is famous among patients because of its versatility. It provides features like video chat, screen sharing, text, and file transfer. Electronic health records EHR are integrated into your telemedicine app. It helps healthcare providers and patients to watch their medical records in this app. 

Interactive Voice Response is used to interact with the patients through digital speech. Apple Health Kit and google fit can be integrated with the app so that people can check the health information on their smartphone. While developing this app, it is essential to consider what features they should have. The features that should be looked upon are appointment management, location services, security, secure messaging, audio-video communication, visitors’ history, healthcare provider reviews, and virtual testing through wearable integration.  The accessibility and security of this app make it a great need for healthcare technology.

However, experts are worried that hackers will turn their attention to telehealth sessions and steal patient information. Healthcare providers need to ensure that patient information is protected even during remote sessions.

Fortunately, RightPatient can help with that. It is a touchless biometric patient identification platform that attaches patients’ photos and their biometric data to the EHRs during registration. RightPatient is also versatile enough to be used at any touchpoint – even during telehealth sessions, protecting patient data and preventing medical identity theft.

Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

Many mobile apps and various devices are used to track and prevent chronic illness in patients. The development of IoT with telehealth and telemedicine technologies has resulted in the emergence of the new internet of medical things (IoMT). This includes the use of wearables like EKG and ECG monitors. They help in detecting blood pressure readings, glucose levels, and skin temperature.

It is expected by 2025, the IoT industry will be worth $6.2 trillion. In this time of the pandemic, IoT technology is widely used and 30% of the market share for IoT devices is derived from healthcare. The first delivery method in IoT took place in 2017 by the FDA when they approved the smart pill. IoMT is also giving effective options to their patients. Providing different options with different devices is full of challenges.

Manufacturers are using proprietary protocols while communicating with devices. This can create a problem when you have to collect large data from the servers. Connectivity issues can also prevail in smartphones and microcontrollers because of many environmental factors. The Buffering problem needs to be addressed to maintain a better connection. Security concerns also need to be taken care of. The report from the Ponemon Institute’s sixth annual benchmark study on the security and privacy of healthcare data says that 89% of healthcare operations are the result of the data breach.

Use of Artificial Intelligence in COVID-19

Artificial Intelligence is playing a pivotal role in this period of the pandemic. It helps in pandemic detection, analyzing CT scans, facial recognition with masks, vaccine development treatment, and vaccine development. 

a) Pandemic Detection

BlueDot, an application developed in Canada, is the first to detect COVID-19. Bluedot’s system is scanning over 100,000 media sources from around the globe in more than 65 different languages. It helps to identify real dangerous breakthroughs of a pandemic. To know the intensity of the pandemic, the following factors are analyzed:

  • Examining the regional and global climate conditions.
  • Analyzing the data of itineraries and flights.
  • Looking into vaccine development.
  • Examining the animal and insect populations.
  • The capacity of health systems.

As per the Brookings Institution, in the development of the new vaccine, the response of immunogenic viral components is taken from the immune system. Machine learning has assisted immunology. Artificial intelligence helps to identify the properties that are needed to combat the pandemic. Machine learning provides data with great speed, efficiency, and precision that cannot be developed by human work alone. With the help of machine assistance, immunologists have identified over one million fragments of proteins on the cell’s surface.

“SYGFQPTNGVGYQPY” is a portion of COVID-19 that needs to be fragmented to know more about the pandemic. Machine learning is helping in this regard and COVID-19 vaccine development is in process.

b) Thermal Screening

Many thermal screening devices like non-contact infrared thermometers and a variety of thermal screening systems are used to detect the temperature of human beings. AI can detect the temperature of many human beings at once. Thus, it is widely used in the diagnosis of COVID-19

c) Analysis of CT Scan

Humans can make an error in the analysis of CT scans. Artificial intelligence can detect pneumonia caused by COVID-19 in the chest scan. Chest scans are taken by utilizing the data taken from machine learning.

d) Facial Recognition while wearing Masks

Machines used in facial recognition can identify people wearing the mask with 95% accuracy.

Robotics

In surgical departments, many collaborative robots like the da Vinci surgical robot are working to assist doctors in doing surgeries. The use of robots is not limited to the surgical department. They are also used in other healthcare departments. The robotic industry is making progress by leaps and bounds and it is expected to reach $ 20 billion by 2023. The robots are helping the doctors to treat the patients from remote areas with telepresence, for example, helping patients with rehabilitation and prosthetics, disinfecting the hospital rooms, packaging medical devices, and automating labs. Other medical robots include micro-bot. They are used in the therapy of the specific part of the body like clearing bacterial infections or giving radiation to a tumor.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality  

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are very important technologies that are being used to assist telehealth in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. From treating the patients and helping the medical students in procedure simulations, this innovative technology is altering science fiction to reality.

AR and VR technology are helping to treat stroke victims by overcoming motor deficiencies. These stroke patients are taken to such a virtual and simulated environment that can help in regaining their motor skills. They provide the flexibility that cannot be attained by physical therapy. Controlled simulations also help to gather data that can be used to make care plans for patients.

Maplewood Senior Living in Connecticut is successfully using VR headsets to work with those patients that are suffering from Dementia and cognitive impairments. The environment created by augmented and virtual reality produces such medical results that cannot be gathered by the normal environment. This helps patients in reviving their memory and improving their health. Augmented reality also helps healthcare people to provide personalized services. They take information in 3D space according to doctors and surgeon’s vision. This real-time access can help them devise medical procedures. This also made students learn from procedures and doctors compare and use data for an accurate diagnosis. 

5G

To provide healthcare services to the patients that are residing in any remote and under-served area, speed and quality are very important to get desired outcomes. 5G is helping healthcare organizations by providing them with the transmission of large imaging files so that doctors can review and advise on patient care treatment. 

Wrapping Up

The medical and healthcare field is very important for human survival. The diagnosis and treatment should be given to patients on time so that they can combat the disease and start living a healthy life. Telemedicine, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), Robotics, Augmented and Virtual reality, and 5G are technological trends that are used to provide incredible health facilities to billions of people around the globe. These medical technologies are also helping healthcare systems to cope with increasing demands.

What-Makes-PPO-Insurance-So-Interesting

What Makes PPO Insurance So Interesting?

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What-Makes-PPO-Insurance-So-Interesting

If you want a flexible health insurance plan that puts you in control of your coverage, you should consider PPO insurance. PPO insurance comes with more freedom of choice when choosing healthcare providers. These insurance plans are also relatively affordable, making them a good choice for those on a budget or looking for cheap health insurance.

What-Makes-PPO-Insurance-So-Interesting

Let’s take a closer look at PPO insurance and answer the question of what makes PPO insurance so interesting.

How Does PPO Insurance Work?

Let’s begin with the basics and look at how PPO Insurance, or Preferred Provider Organization insurance, works. These insurance plans are insurance products where you get the freedom of choice over primary and specialty care providers. Most policies cover you for all across the United States. Some PPO insurance policies even cover international travel.

As a PPO plan member, you’ll save money when you choose a service provider from within an insurance network. However, you can still get some coverage when choosing a provider outside of the network. Please note that choosing an out-of-network provider means you’ll have to pay more out-of-pocket.

Your insurance provider will give you a list of all of the practitioners and facilities within their network. You can choose from the service providers in your area to get all of the healthcare you need at a preferential price. As the healthcare you get from network providers is cheaper, we recommend choosing a doctor or facility within the network whenever possible to save the most money.

What Makes PPO Insurance Interesting?

PPO Plans are Adaptable

The most-touted benefit of signing up for PPO insurance is the adaptability of those programs. We are confident that you will be able to find a plan that suits your needs and preferences. These plans stand out against other healthcare plans that aren’t as flexible. PPO insurance allows you to search for treatment from any medical provider or physician, no matter your health and needs. You won’t have to obtain permission from a primary care provider to get coverage at a different medical facility. These plans work around you, rather than needing you to work around them.

In fact, one thing that makes these plans exciting is that you don’t even need to have a primary care doctor. PPO insurance puts the power in your hands and lets you take the right course of action for your needs. The adaptability of PPO plans means that you can schedule appointments and get treatments without having to ask for a referral from your primary care provider. The power is in your hands.

PPO Plans Offer Network Flexibility

To go back to the subject of network flexibility within PPO plans once again, you also have the option of staying within your network of providers or seeking outside help. The good news is that you won’t feel limited by the network of preferred providers. Insurance providers are continually arranging new deals and adding to their networks. Even if you stick to the network every step of the way, you’ll find you still have an excellent selection of care providers compared to other insurance plans. PPO insurance networks tend to cover a lot more ground than the average insurance plan.

It would help if you discussed how a company chooses contracted providers for their network. Ensure that the company performs background checks on providers, including checking for a history of malpractice claims. There are plenty of excellent PPO insurance providers out there that offer great care with greater flexibility, but you should always ask questions and be informed before making a choice.

PPO Plans Put You In Control

The most significant advantage of choosing a PPO insurance provider is that you are in charge of personal health care decisions. You have the power to choose which treatment options you want and who you want to receive it from. Being able to contact doctors and book appointments within your network without having to gain approval combined with the option to seek out-of-network care with partial coverage is what makes these plans so unique and interesting.

You aren’t bound to a primary care physician’s whims and decisions when you choose PPO insurance. You don’t have to spend the time, effort, and money involved with finding a doctor that would be better for you. Instead, you can see specialists when you need one, whenever you want.

Preferred Provider health insurance is interesting because it does away with all of the red tape and referrals involved with standard health insurance. It puts the power back in the patients’ hands and lets you choose the healthcare you want.

Whenever the topic of health insurance arises, medical identity theft is not far behind, unfortunately. When it occurs, a fraudster can gain access to the victim’s healthcare services, obtain medical devices, and drugs, all of which are billed against the victim. Patients not only lose money, but their EHRs are also affected, as the fraudsters’ information gets recorded within their EHRs.

Fortunately, many hospitals are preventing medical identity theft in real-time using innovative solutions – one of which is RightPatient – a touchless biometric patient identification platform. By locking the patient records with their photos and biometric data during registration, it red-flags fraudsters during the verification process where they need to look at the camera. Upon looking at the camera, RightPatient compares the saved photo with the live one, verifying authentic patients and red-flagging fraudsters, preventing medical identity theft in real-time.

Final Words

You have a lot of choices when it comes to healthcare and health insurance. PPO insurance is an option that lets you seek the healthcare you need when you need it. You can save money by choosing an in-network healthcare provider, but you can also get partial coverage for out-of-network care. You’ll never have to foot the whole bill, and you’ll never be caught out without some partial coverage at the least.

Necessities for Your Healthcare Practice in 2021

Necessities for Your Healthcare Practice in 2021

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Necessities for Your Healthcare Practice in 2021

As healthcare moves further into the 21st century, healthcare providers have access to better technologies and opportunities for care than at any point in history. However, with these new frontiers come new challenges and concerns. Properly managing these new obstacles is an essential aspect of modern healthcare, but the possibilities for improved health and patient service are worth the effort. Keep reading to learn about the necessities you should have for your healthcare practice next year.

Necessities-for-your-healthcare-practice-in-2021

Managing Costs

One of the most startling aspects of healthcare is the speed with which costs are increasing. For decades the cost of healthcare and healthcare spending as a percentage of the United States’ GDP have been trending steadily upwards, without any signs of slowing down. The reasons for this increase include an aging population, the cost of machinery and equipment, and inaccurate medical care. As such, it is imperative for your healthcare practice to examine ways to reduce costs for yourself and your patients.

There are several ways to do this. Eliminating paper health records can be an effective way to reduce storage space, reduce the time associated with record-keeping, and reduce the need for resources like paper and printing. All of these benefits can make electronic health records (EHR) as a cost-effective option. Additionally, you can direct your marketing resources in ways that better reflect the current market. This can include incorporating more digital advertising into your marketing strategy as these avenues tend to be cheaper. Make sure to do your research in order to find the best option for your practice.

Integrating New Technologies

A key aspect of your practice must always include staying up-to-date on the latest technologies. This can really help elevate your healthcare practice. In some cases, this is because new procedures or techniques require specialized equipment. In other cases, new technologies can make it easier for you to provide efficient, affordable service to your patients.

EHR is a great example of a technology that has the potential to help you run a more streamlined practice. However, many healthcare professionals have experience with paper-based records. This means that using EHR requires more than simply purchasing a software system. It is essential to invest the time and training to make sure that professionals at your practice understand the software thoroughly to ensure that records are consistent, clear, and easily accessible.

Speaking of EHRs, there are times when patients are misidentified due to a number of reasons – they are assigned inaccurate medical records during registration. Duplicate medical records, medical record mix-ups, and overlays are just some examples, and patient misidentification can severely impact patient safety – jeopardizing healthcare outcomes. Fortunately, responsible healthcare providers are solving patient identification errors with RightPatient, a touchless biometric patient identification platform. It uses patients’ faces to identify their EHRs accurately and can be used at any touchpoint, starting from appointment scheduling.

Likewise, endoscopies and other procedures that rely on cameras can be a valuable tool to improve the health and quality of life of your patients. But, the equipment needed for them can quickly become obsolete, and incorporating such devices into your practice can require a great deal of time and financial cost. As you consider which technologies to use in your practice, pay careful attention to the demands of your patients, how long you plan to use a device, and the capacity of your space. 

Excellent Management and Necessary Care

One of the most important parts of your healthcare practice should be excellent management. It is important to invest in ways to make the experience for patients even better than anticipated every time they visit. For example, excellent healthcare management can be choosing the type of best type of lighting for an operating room or comforting lighting in a lobby for visitors. This can help people to feel more comfortable overall in your office.

Because of the high costs associated with nearly every aspect of the healthcare system, it is essential that your practice recommend and provide the best care possible. According to Forbes, one of the leading factors in the increase in healthcare costs is providers recommending care that is not necessary. In addition to charging patients for care that they do not need, providing unnecessary treatment requires you to purchase supplies and equipment. This can lead to a cycle in which you purchase equipment that might not be a good fit for your practice. In turn, you could continue recommending unnecessary care to pay for that equipment. Moreover, unnecessary treatments cause healthcare costs across the country to increase which will further impact your bottom line.

Another related concern is providing ineffective or harmful care. Beyond the fact that providing care to fix a medical mistake, or paying a settlement, can cost your practice money, it also erodes public trust. The best way to ensure that patients continue to return to your practice is to treat them as well as possible the first time.

Conclusion

As your practice strives to serve your patients as well as possible, the value of effective planning and conscientious treatment is hard to overstate. By paying attention to cost factors and using your resources well, you can take good care of your patients as well as your practice. In addition to earning the trust of your customers, taking care of these details can help your practice thrive for years to come.

7 Q&As That Shed Light on the Opioid Use Epidemic in the United States

7 Q&As That Shed Light on the Opioid Use Epidemic in the United States

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7 Q&As That Shed Light on the Opioid Use Epidemic in the United States

The past two decades have seen an alarming crisis involving substance abuse in the United States. The number of addiction-related deaths has been consistently rising that in 2018, 67,400 deaths were recorded, a figure that is almost four times higher than the documented 17,500 deaths in 2000. The leading culprit among these deaths includes heroin, prescription painkillers, and opioids.

In 2011, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared an epidemic of overdoses from prescription painkillers, the most common of which are opioids. This opioid epidemic rapidly evolved from a problem concerning the abuse of prescription opioids to a nationwide crisis of illegal drug trafficking. Unfortunately, evidence shows that the ever-growing problem has started creeping beyond opioids to include other drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine.

Read below to know more about the opioid use epidemic in the United States and how you can get help for alcohol and drug abuse today.

When Did the Opioid Epidemic Begin?

The onset of the opiate use epidemic in the US is believed to have been brought about by the upsurge in the use of prescription opioid painkillers. In the 1980s, several medical journals published studies about the effectiveness of opioids as painkillers without the risk of addiction, and this triggered the beginning of the rampant prescribing of opioid painkillers by health professionals. Moreover, what is believed to be the “focal point of opioid abuse issues” was the development and approval of the opioid painkiller OxyContin in 1995.

What Are the Three Waves of Opioid-related Deaths?

In a span of less than 20 years, from 1999-2018, a whopping 450,000 people have already died from substance abuse related to an opioid overdose involving both prescription and illicit opioids. This opioid epidemic can be summarized in three waves.

The 1990s marked the first wave, where an increase in the prescribing of opioids was observed, followed by a rapid increase in opioid-related deaths involving natural and semi-synthetic prescription opioids and methadone.
The second wave took place in 2010 and is marked by exponential increases in heroin overdose-related deaths.
The third wave transpired in 2013, where rapid increases in deaths from overdoses on synthetic opioids, particularly fentanyl, was observed.

What Do National Trends Look Like?

National trends on opioid overdose deaths show the ever-evolving phases of the opioid epidemic described above. Also, death rates due to cocaine and psychostimulant abuse also increased around the same time when an increase in heroin and synthetic opioid-related deaths was seen. Studies show that this relationship is somehow propelled by an increase in death rates involving multiple drug abuse.

What Do State Trends Look Like?

Most US states have experienced considerable increases in opioid-related deaths beginning in 2000, with both the type of opioids involved and the number of deaths varying widely throughout the country. To illustrate, particularly the eastern part of the country has been shown to have high rates of deaths from overdoses on synthetic opioids and heroin. Addiction and deaths related to prescription opioids, on the other hand, tend to be scattered across the country.

Regional variations were also observed in non-opioid drugs such as cocaine, with the highest death rates recorded in the eastern US. In contrast, psychostimulants were responsible for many overdose-related deaths in the western part of the US.

What Are Some of the Most Important Statistics on the Opioid Epidemic?

  • Around 21 to 29% of patients who were prescribed opioid painkillers abused them.
  • Of those patients, about 8 to 12% eventually develop substance abuse disorder.
  • More than 14,000 treatment centers for substance abuse have been established across the United States.
  • Roughly 1.27 million Americans are now undergoing pharmacological treatment for substance abuse.
  • A 142% increase in the number of patients undergoing pharmacological treatment at HRSA-funded health centers was observed from 2016 to 2018.
  • A 4.1% decline in deaths involving drug overdose was seen from 2017 to 2018.
  • From 2016 to 2019, more than USD 9 billion has been granted to various communities to help combat the opioid epidemic.

What Is the Government’s Strategy in Combating the Opioid Epidemic?

The National Institutes of Health laid out five priorities in the fight against the opioid use epidemic in the US:

  • To promote treatment of opioid abuse through the use of overdose-reversing drugs
  • To improve the public’s access to treatment facilities and services
  • To provide support for scientific research on substance abuse
  • To advance better healthcare practices for pain management
  • To strengthen the public’s knowledge and understanding of the opioid epidemic by expanding public health surveillance

The opioid use epidemic in the US began in the 1990s, which marked the first of the three waves of opioid-related deaths. Since then, surveillance of appropriate opioid use has been strengthened to mitigate the crisis, and a decline in death rates is now being observed for the past few years. Hopefully, this is a sign of a reversal in the grim trends that have long been observed in this ongoing epidemic, which has resulted in massive economic, health, and social costs across the United States.

How can healthcare providers address the opioid crisis?

Healthcare providers across the US are facing the consequences of the opioid crisis. For instance, many of those who are addicted to opioids come in and assume the identities of other patients, or can even steal the credentials of others. In either case, they are committing medical identity theft to gain illegal access to opioids. Since there is no effective patient identifier present, many of these bad actors get away with it, hampering patient safety and corrupting the affected patient’s data. While different caregivers are using different strategies to reduce opioid cases, many are doing it effectively by preventing medical identity theft with RightPatient.

RightPatient is a touchless biometric patient identification platform that is used by several caregivers to accurately identify their patients. However, it can prevent medical identity theft in real-time. During registration, the platform locks the medical records with patients’ photos and biometric data. After registration, the patient only needs to look at the camera for verification – the platform runs a biometric search and provides the correct medical record within seconds. Thus, if a bad actor tries to pass off as the patient, RightPatient red-flags the individual, preventing medical identity theft in real-time.