Shingles, Chronic Pain, and Depression

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost one out of every three people in the United States will develop shingles, a viral illness that causes an itchy, burning rash to form on the skin, usually on one side of the body. 

Shingles is caused by reactivation of the chickenpox virus, also known as the varicella-zoster virus, in those who have had chickenpox. The reawakened virus spreads through the nerve cells to the skin, causing complex and often severe symptoms in both the skin and the nervous system.

The pain caused by shingles varies from person to person, with some experiencing only mild itching and others feeling intense pain from the slightest touch. Some cases of shingles can result in a condition called postherpetic neuralgia in which pain persists months to years after the skin lesions heal. Patients who are experiencing chronic pain and severe symptoms as a result of shingles have an increased risk of developing depression.

Shingles, Chronic Pain, and Depression
The link between chronic pain and depression is well-documented. Research suggests that up to 66 percent of patients with chronic pain symptoms may have co-existing major depression.
Chronic pain and depression are intertwined: People become depressed due to constant pain and feelings of hopelessness regarding their condition, and then their depression makes them more aware of the pain they're experiencing, which increases the pain they feel and their chances of slipping deeper into depression. Depression can also make pain harder to treat and lengthen recovery time.
Shingles and Depression Symptoms
People with shingles who have severe or chronic pain and their loved ones should watch out for the symptoms of depression. These symptoms include:

• Persistent feelings of sadness or anxiety
• Loss of interest in pastimes or activities that were once enjoyable
• Fatigue and lack of energy
• Sleeping too little, either due to insomnia or waking in the middle of the night
• Sleeping too much and finding it hard to get out of bed
• Inability to concentrate and focus that affects memory and decision-making
• Hopelessness about your medical condition or about life in general
• Pessimism that your medical condition won’t be cured or a general sense of pessimism
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
• Suicidal thoughts or actions

Shingles and Depression Treatment

Why Health Insurance Software Solutions Need?

The significance of healthcare software has been on the rise especially after Patient Protection Act has come into enforcement. There are different types of software that are being developed to help bring in the reforms in the healthcare industry. Healthcare solutions ensure that the complete process is streamlined by providing an excellent backend support. There are different categories of healthcare solutions available. However, in order to understand them, it is important to determine the kind of role they play in the healthcare industry.

The healthcare software solutions help the insurance industry as they can be customized to meet the expectations of health insurance carriers and health insurance companies.

Need for healthcare software

Ideally insurance companies were using standalone insurance software that would help with the workings of different life insurance products. These software could offer end-to-end solutions at every stage especially when the customer is planning to purchase health plans through an online portal. Individual insurance software target online portals that provide individual as well as family health plans. Another type of software available is called group health administration software and is primarily used by group insurers, multi-employers trusts, third party administrators and self-administered plans.

But with comprehensive software solutions, one need not have different insurance software for different purposes. Under one platform it is possible to meet the needs of both group insurance as well as individual insurance companies. Undoubtedly, comprehensive healthcare solutions make it possible for carriers to manage health insurance portals as they provide one single platform that helps in creating end to end online portal solutions.

Different types of Healthcare industry software

There are different types of healthcare industry software available that help with different functionalities such as billing, management, accounting, enrollment, commissions, fee schedule, claims processing, audits, reporting etc. Some of the most popular common software applications are:

Automation Software: This is considered to be basic insurance software that helps with storing of all kinds of data including different plan details that are available on the portal, people who login as well as details of the customers etc.

Quote Generation: One of the major benefits of this type of software is that the quotes are also generated automatically. There are typically software that provide a couple of plans for the customers based on the information they offer.

Engine for Quote Comparison: Any online health insurance portal needs to highlight the quotes being offered by various insurance companies and carriers. This particular software solution provides an online engine that helps customers compare the quotes from different insurance companies and then select the most suitable health policy.

Healthcare software aids the insurance industry in a significant manner, as they help reduce the load to quite an extent. Health Insurance companies do need to ensure that they continue to maintain a personal relationship with the customers, however with the healthcare software they can concentrate on the core business and not get hassled about managing documentation.

Powerful package lemon punch for Health and Household

Lemons

Lemons are the most valued of all the fruits for their healing, detoxifying, cleansing and rejuvenating properties. Since ancient cultures, lemons have been used for the preservation of health and longevity all around the world to cleanse and cultivate health with its strong phytochemical punch.

Property breakdown

Lemon juice is 6.7-8.6 % citric acid. Lemon juice is rich in Vitamin C, a water-soluble vitamin required for the formation of collagen, a protein found in skin that reduces wrinkles, lessens scare tissue and strengthens and repairs blood vessels and other body tissues. Vitamin C is also a powerful antioxidant. Antioxidants have anti-cancer properties and are responsible for slowing down the aging process, fighting tumors, repairing wounds and warding off inflammatory illnesses and fighting viral and bacterial infections.

Medicinal properties

Citric acid is a powerful chelator that binds to metal ions for heavy metal toxin removal, such as with amalgam cavity fillings. Limonene, the oil found in the citrus peel, contains the highest quantities of the medicinal phytochemicals shown to reduce non-melanoma skin cancer risk. Bioflavonoids in lemon juice strengthen the blood vessels and maintain good eye health. The potassium content is essential for normal kidney function, electrolyte balance and critical for nerve and muscle function. Also, the anti-inflammatory properties in lemon juice is recommended for acute rheumatism.

Historical Fun Facts

Lemon juice was known to counteract narcotic poisoning. Nero, emperor of Rome, was known for drinking copious quantities of lemon juice to prevent any assassination attempts through poisoning and has long been recognized for its value as a hangover cure. The citric acid in lemons is capable of breaking down the proteins in seafood, further aiding in digestion. The initial reason lemons has always been paired with seafood was for its antibacterial properties to make the food safe. Lemon has been widely used for cleaning the house and used internally and externally for cleansing the body and also as a means for preserving food, remedies and any homemade concoctions.

During the 18th century, British Royal Surgeon James Lind discovered that the amount of Vitamin C in lemons was enough to ward off scurvy. In this regard, it has been a British tradition that every ship carry enough lemon juice for every sailor. Indonesian tradition held that for those whose suffered migraines, one should clean with lemons and soak their feet in lemon juice water. Lemons were also the go-to for neuralgia, malaria, rickets, tuberculosis, gout, and chronic rheumatism.

Learn The Art Of Making Pack For Your Surgical Instruments

Surgical packs are very popular amongst surgeons as it includes the necessary items like gauze sponges, sterile drapes that are properly wrapped, the basic instruments, and other similar materials that are usually laid out during surgical procedures on proper fenestrated pans. It is the duty of technicians in hospitals to sterilize and prepare these surgical packs for the E.R and then stock them for future need. The process of sterilization for instruments is very important and has to be done adequately through the use of pressurized steam created in an autoclave, especially if the surgical instruments require sterilization on a low pressure, using plasma or gas sterilization.

Learning how to properly sterilize and pack surgical instruments is really important for the safety of the patient. This is why learning the basic principles that apply in the art of packing instruments should be learned by all doctors and technicians working in hospitals. To start the process you have to first painstakingly clean and then fully dry all the instruments. Then collect all the other materials that you need to add in to your pack. The use of an ultrasonic instrument for cleaning the instruments once you are done washing is preferable. Otherwise you can simply hand wash the instruments using enzymatic solution which is specially designed for cleaning surgical instruments. You should make sure that you properly clean off all rust and debris from the instruments. You have to make sure that the solution you are using for cleaning your instruments is neutral pH otherwise you can end up with stains on your instruments.

Now proceed to lubricating the surgical instruments that need to be lubricated. Again always purchase a lubricant that is specifically designed for this purpose. Give proper time for the instruments to fully dry once you are done lubricating them. You have to make sure that you properly count all the materials and instruments like suture needles, gauze sponges, etc to ensure that you have the count absolutely necessary. This is a very crucial stage because when the pack of instruments is opened, the surgeons count every item before stitching up the patient to make sure that they have not accidentally left any item from the pack inside the surgeon.

Financial Management of Healthcare Organizations

The Healthcare industry is affected by a high level of dynamism. With the advent of technology and emergence of information science, it is facing drastic environmental changes. At the same there major policy changes that make the operation in the field all the more complex. Healthcare organizations have to deal with a variety of issues in face of this changing environment. To add to it, healthcare costs are on the rise and the reimbursements declining. Today, financial challenges are the top concern of majority of hospital CEOs.

Further there are raising concerns regarding reimbursements, bad debt losses, Medicare and Medicaid.

We know that financial management is a decision science. There has been evidence that there are well-developed financial indicators that can be used by boards and management, to improve the organizations' financial management. (research conducted by flexmonitoring)

The following indicators had been used for the research:

Financial viability indicators measure the ability to generate the financial resources required to replace assets and acquire new technology to meet increases in service demands.

Liquidity indicators measure the ability to meet cash obligations in a timely manner.

Capital indicators measure the ability to meet long-term debt obligations and how capital assets (equipment) are being maintained.

Efficiency indicators measure the ability to provide services at the expected cost and to minimize administrative costs.

Human resources indicators measure the effectiveness of human resource management and practices.

The results show that the organizations that made use of these indicators became more profitable, ensured increased utilization of beds and reduced their use of debt over time.

However, there are other difficulties and complexities that prevent the implementations of such proven methods to efficiency. Attempts to increase involvement of clinicians in finance management practices, budgeting, costing and cost management, have met with a constant reluctance. Moreover, majority of the healthcare organizations belong to the non-profit sector. There are limitations to incentive systems that present within the non-profit or government funded healthcare. Systems need to be tightened more so that loss-makers do not continue to operate. This will curb the recurrence of problems within the field. Implementing of better audits to diagnose past inefficiencies would ensure better future performance.

The marketplace for healthcare service is quite unusual with its third-party-payer system. This adds a profound complexity to the financial management of an organization. Attempts need to be made to standardize procedures and cut down the nonessentials. Government introduced third party payer system, Medicaid, Medicare and the policies regarding the same add to the inefficiency of healthcare organizations.

Healthcare organizations employ financial recording methods at will and this causes discord when it comes to budgeting and raising funds. The FASB has issued Accounting standards Update in order to make the financial records more simplified and easy to interpret and infer.

According to the most recent data by PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute, the US spends $2.2 trillion on healthcare. Out of these around $500 billion can be saved from wastage. Doctors prescribe too many tests which are a complete waste of funds. Firms spend enormous amounts in claim forms, 'pre-certifications' etc. The incurred costs can be minimized by standardizing procedures and efficient use of technology. More often than not, the ER is used as the clinic. Data shows that a patient that can be treated for $70 in primary care, costs $700 for the same treatment in the ER. This needs to be corrected, both at the government policy level and internally within the organizations. The advent of technology and lack of efficient use of the same result in medical errors that are costing the industry $17 billion annually. Use of Information Technology and investing in proper training of professionals will lead to major savings for healthcare entities.

CFOs in healthcare entities can use significant research available to employ for their own firm and practice evidence based financial management. Studies show that using benchmarks and financial performance indicators can lead firms to operate at their highest level of performance. Watching out for key indicators such as cash flow margins, cash on hand will motivate to generate revenues. It will prevent reporting of deficits and overspends. Minimum and maximum limits should be set for debt service coverage and long-term debt capitalization. The Medicare output cost to charge ratio should be kept at minimal. These steps will prevent financial failure to a large extent.

Healthcare organizations should focus on improving the revenue cycle and on developing ways to access capital. Healthcare executives and managers need to utilize the power of accounting to make and mold appropriate financial behavior of firms.

It is true that accounting can be used to provide practical answers to increasing efficiency and decreasing failures for healthcare entities, whether it is a for-profit, not-for-profit or publicly-funded. It is also imperative that the design and operation of organizational control mechanisms in the healthcare field still needs considerable further development if effective financial management is to be achieved.

Healthcare Software Solutions

Technological advancements have allowed us to gather, process, and apply information faster than ever before. The development of advanced healthcare software solutions has allowed the industry to turn spreadsheets and raw data into actionable information that has not only benefitted the organizations, but the patients as well. These software solutions are utilized by both small and large healthcare providers streamlining incident reports, patient feedback, infection surveillance, and claims management. Technology has only recently allowed the secure sharing of this data to improve processes, so one can understand how these efficiency improvements may have taken until now to identify!

Incident Reporting

Reporting incidents in the healthcare industry is extremely important. Advanced software solutions have created an environment where it is much easier to both enter and mange incident reporting. Being able to update this in real-time allows for better communication flow across departments and locations. It also allows healthcare organizations to find trends in the reporting and quickly find solutions.

Patient Feedback

Healthcare software solutions have also allowed the industry to improve patient satisfaction on every level. Similar to reporting, you can better track and manage patient feedback ensuring your patients (clients) are happy with your level of service. Guaranteeing that all patient feedback is kept in a central location across the entire organization is very important as it provides an overall picture of what areas need attention. Streamlining patient feedback is not only important to ensuring customer satisfaction but also to help the organizations avoid potentially costly claims.

Infection Surveillance

Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are a serious problem that affects many patients throughout the United Sates. Although hospitals and healthcare organizations are clearly purposed to protect and take care of their patients, whenever you get that many sick people in the same building there is always a risk of infections spreading. Advanced software solutions help these organizations detect and communicate the spread of infections and minimize harm.

Vital Signs: Women's heart health

While fewer Americans overall are dying from heart disease, the death rate from heart disease for women younger than 55 is increasing. One in every two U.S. women will die from heart disease or stroke.

As National Heart Month gets under way this month, here are some of the top unanswered questions about how heart disease affects women – and some steps women can take right now to improve their heart health.

Seeking answers

A recent report from the Society for Women’s Health Research and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease outlined some of the key questions researchers are working to answer.

These questions include:

» Why does heart disease affects men and women differently, and why do women have worse outcomes from heart disease?

» What are the best ways to assess a woman’s risk for heart disease?

» What are the best ways to deal with those risk factors to reduce a woman’s risk for heart disease?

Researchers here at the University of Virginia Health System are seeking answers to many of these questions. For instance, I am involved in a study that uses a small ultrasound device to examine the arteries of 100 women and 100 men who had heart attacks to learn if the arteries of men and women are different. This could lead to different and better treatments for women.

UVa researchers, including Dr. Christopher Kramer, are examining whether MRI is a better tool to diagnose heart disease in women. Women are more likely than men to have abnormalities in the small vessels of their heart, which can be diagnosed more easily using MRI.

Taking charge of heart health

As researchers look for better ways to detect, treat and prevent heart disease in women, there are several proactive steps you can take now to protect your heart health.

The first step is knowing your risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and smoking. Discuss your risk factors and family history with your doctor.

Good health begins with lifelong, maintainable changes to your lifestyle. Some of the most important changes you can make include:

» Get regular exercise. You should get at least 30 minutes of exercise on most days, if not every day.

» Maintain a healthy weight. Aim to keep your body mass index (BMI) below 25.

» Eat fresh foods, and avoid processed foods whenever possible.

» Find time to take care of yourself and reduce your stress level. Helping other people begins with helping yourself.

Free workshop Feb. 23

To learn more about how to make these healthy lifestyle changes, please join the UVa Heart Center’s Club Red Clinic from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23 for a free, interactive workshop.

This session at the Omni Charlottesville Hotel at 235 W. Main St., adjacent to the Downtown Mall, will provide practical tips for healthier eating, stress reduction and ways to include exercise as part of your daily routine, including a Zumba lesson.

Registration is required; to sign up, please visit www.clubreduva.com.

Dr. Angela Taylor is a cardiologist at the University of Virginia Heart Center’s Club Red Clinic.

Source http://www2.dailyprogress.com/lifestyles/2012/feb/05/vital-signs-womens-heart-health-ar-1662137/