Medical – Page 10 – Medical Michael Jordan

Category: Medical

25
Apr
2018

Medical Identity Theft – One of the Fastest Growing Crimes

categories: Medical

From keeping up with the latest technologies to providing top-notch patient care, there’s no doubt that healthcare industry professionals have a lot on their plate these days. But, would you imagine that one of their major concerns has nothing to do directly with patient care? Healthcare practices are spending large amounts of time and money keeping their practices compliant with the latest HIPAA regulations, and working hard to prevent a new trend in crime – medical identity theft. While it may not be making mainstream headlines, according to Javelin Strategy and Research, fraud resulting from exposure of health data has increased 112% year over year, from 3% in 2008 to 7% in 2009. To put this stat in perspective, medical identity theft is regarded as the fastest growing form of identity theft in America today and it is estimated that each year 250,000 to 500,000 people become victims of medical identity theft. Just like identity theft, medical identity theft is the act of stealing medical records or medical information of a patient. Both the medical facility and the patient suffer great losses once they are victimized by this type of crime. Imagine this scenario – when you check your mail one day, you find a giant bill from a hospital emergency room, yet you haven’t been to the doctor for anything other than a routine visit in years. So where did this five-figure bill with your name on it come from? The answer -someone stole your information and used it to obtain medical treatment and/or prescription drugs. Unfortunately, medical theft is a growing epidemic and is largely attributable to the large volume of paperwork medical providers are required to keep, in order to maintain 100% HIPAA compliance. Instances of medical identity theft are commonly reported when:

* Patients’ records are accidentally faxed or mailed to the wrong person * Medical records are stolen and misused after being disposed of improperly * Laptops containing confidential information or medical records are lost or stolen * Medical files left unattended in file rooms, on staff desks and in door folders; or unrestricted physical access to sensitive medical files.

While these security breaches might sound relatively innocuous, they are a huge concern. Not only does the medical facility face damage to their reputation and restitution fees, but also HIPAA has enacted legislation over the last year that makes such breaches very expensive – and on a punitive scale. Even worse, the victim may not realize the crime has occurred immediately due to lags in billing cycles so the theft is larger and potentially more costly. As if these scenarios aren’t nightmarish enough, add the fact that someone’s medical records could be tampered with, leading to improper medical care or misdiagnosis. With these costs to both victims and facilities in mind, preventing medical identity theft must be a high priority for medical facilities. It’s especially critical for smaller practices to take precautionary measures because they may have fewer internal protocols to protect patients…and shallower pockets to weather such an event. Ways to reduce medical identity theft include:

19
Apr
2018

Biometrics Medical Writing

categories: Medical

Biometrics Medical Writing forms a quintessential part of companies providing biometric solutions & services to pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies. Some of the key Biometric Medical writing services are regulatory and clinical writing, medical writing consultancy, scientific communications, creating survey reports, clinical study reports. Biometrics Statistical Analyses helps companies in supporting the statistical needs right from the clinical development planning phase, clinical trials to the final approval stages. These services facilitate scientists, trainees, trainers, experienced professionals on a broad range of topics like experimental designs, statistical models around biometric applications and experiments, statistical methodology, data monitoring, findings interpretation and also support in regulatory and advisory meeting discussions / orientations.

Biometrics medical writers work closely with statistical and clinical counterparts to write protocols, clinical study report, white papers and publications. An important aspect that the companies providing these services keep in mind is stringent quality checks and proofreading procedures to ensure highest level of quality is maintained and also ensure error free client review. For the projects undertaken, each project is generally assigned with a dedicated team of biometrics medical writers and statisticians who are responsible for managing the writing processes. Typical phases to follow are communicating the plans and approvals from the respective sponsors. It is also ensured that the team has the required documentation and therapeutic expertise to satisfy the client needs. It is also essential that these writers and statisticians must be able to grasp deep level of understanding to allow them to have meaningful discussions with industry experts and subject matter experts.

Biometrics medical writing also plays an important role in documenting the adverse events narratives, consent forms, escalations review which from a pharmaceutical/ biotech or medical equipment companies standpoint is a very critical and sensitive topic to be handled and with the essential expertise that these biomedical medical writers provide, it becomes a job done easy for these clients. Biometrics Statistical Analyses also requires intensive training for the statisticians which includes industry information and policies such as 21 CFR, Good Clinical Practices, ICH standards, programming skills, statistical methodologies etc.

Major challenges in biometrics medical writing are in understanding various countries policies, acknowledging the fact that every country and site are different and adapting to regulatory frameworks designed. The industry demands high quality data management, expert writing services and superior statistical results. In a nutshell the biometrics medical writing services demands right people with the right skills in the right parts of the world.

11
Apr
2018

Medical Negligence Why You May Need Legal Representation

categories: Medical

Some of the stories about medical malpractice are so bizarre that it seems that these occurrences could never happen to you or a loved one. The most peculiar cases in recent history involve:

A doctor using a screwdriver to support a mans spine in place of medical grade titanium rods.
A surgeon removing the wrong leg of a patient in a botched amputation procedure.
A patient having a healthy lung removed due to a misdiagnosis of lung cancer.
A patient left on an IV so long that it damaged nerve cells in her ears and made her deaf.

However rare these circumstances may seem, medical malpractice is unfortunately becoming an epidemic in the United States and has been found to cause up to 98,000 deaths per year. The most common of these medical mistakes are medication errors. These drug-related injuries occur in the hundreds of thousands each year and they can result in extra medical costs, loss of wages, permanent disability, emotional trauma and even loss of life.

How do you make sure that an error or negligence does not happen to you? Firstly, the single most important thing is to be actively involved in your own care. Make sure you tell your doctor all your symptoms. Also, ask questions about treatment and testing that may be administered. Telling the doctor about your medical history is beneficial as well, since some hospitals or clinics may not have access to your personal file. When you visit a hospital you may be in a state of illness or debilitation so staying active in your health care may be difficult for you. If that is the case, make sure to bring an advocate who can articulate your needs and scrutinize the path of your care. Coordination and communication between you and your health care team is critical to preventing the avoidable mistakes and to combating negligence.

However, even after precautions, the standards of care may not be upheld or an error may be made. This could cost you or your loved ones dearly. If this happens, negative physical, emotional and financial effects can be compensated in select cases. To determine if a claim is appropriate the patient should contact an attorney with specialized experience in this part of the law. There are local Fort Worth injury lawyers and Fort Worth wrongful death attorneys available to examine your case and determine the next course of action. You can find them through Hart Laws Texas board certified advocates.

03
Apr
2018

Bringing Back Medical House Calls

categories: Medical

House Call Physician services provide extremely useful resource to residents who need house call doctor visits in their homes. Medical House Call patients will have the luxury of being seen at anytime of the day or night, in the comfort of their own home, office, or hotel. House Call Doctor Staff is comprised of well qualified board-certified house call physicians that will be happy to deliver expedient and effective care in a courteous and compassionate manner through virtue of a modern day medical house call in your home, office or hotel.

Patients can expect to receive excellent House call physician care in an unhurried atmosphere. Receive your evaluations with attention to detail, courteous and respectful attitudes. Develop a trustworthy relationship with your House call physician. These are all important aspects of the doctor-patient relationship that we value, and it is an important philosophy to deliver these qualities to patients when providing Medical House Call services.

In bringing Medical House Call service to patients, essentially the hands of time are turned back. We remember how medicine used to be practiced, before busy doctor’s offices, complicated insurance policies, long lines at clinics, rushed office visits, and crowded emergency rooms. We’ve noticed that somewhere along these channels of frustration, doctors began to lose sight of what mattered most… their patients. Remember when the doctor and patient were able to develop trustworthy relationships through Medical House Calls and had all the time necessary to discuss, examine, diagnose, and treat their condition?

The idea behind developing this type of practice model was to minimize the understandable frustrations that both patients and physicians have grown accustomed to in busy modern day medical practices. Medical House Call makes a doctor visit comfortable and relaxed in your own surroundings.

Medical House Call Staff are equipped with the clinical skills and medical supplies needed to care for you in the comfort of your own home or office. Medical House Call is able to treat any acute or chronic medical issues that you would normally see your primary care doctor for with a House call physician.

28
Mar
2018

Medical Treatments for Erectile Dysfunction

categories: Medical

The 1980s saw a progressive shift away from psychological treatments of sexual dysfunction to an emphasis on surgical and medical solutions for improving sexual health. Simultaneously, there was a progressive shift within the medical community and public at large, towards viewing the etiology of sexual dysfunction as organic, rather than the psychogenic understanding emphasized by sex therapists. Use of improved sophisticated diagnostic procedures, such as duplex sonography and cavernosograms (although not necessarily improving treatment) added credibility and imprimatur to the importance of organic pathogenesis. This was particularly true in the area of erectile dysfunction, where urologists established dominance, with the successful marketing and use of various intracavernosal and intraurethral systems. Although highly touted by urologists, the treatment efficacy of these products was offset by their intrusiveness into the patients bodies and reduction in spontaneity, their patterns of use required.

Initially, there were few oral treatments for erectile dysfunction, being used by urologists, such as yohimbine based products, trazodone, and bupropion. They had only modest proerectile capability. Pharmaceutical companies were inspired to pursue oral treatments with the promise of less intrusiveness and even greater profits. The first visible evidence of fulfilling that promise was the sildenafil launch. Subsequent to Pfizers success, multiple companies simultaneously pursued clinical trials of easy-to-use treatments for male sexual dysfunction. Among others, these included additional PDE-5 type compounds and other oral treatments, such as ixense (TAP Holdings, Deerfield, IL, USA), and topically applied compounds (MacroChem, Lexington, MA, USA). Additionally, PT-141 (Palatin Technology, Cranbury, NJ, USA) is a nasally administered peptide that is under development, which is presumed to work through a central nervous system mechanism.

Currently, there are three highly efficacious PDE-5, FDA-approved treatments for erectile dysfunction: sildenafil, vardenafil, and tadalafil. Reviews of long-term extension studies and published accounts of use in clinical practice show that sildenafils effectiveness was maintained with long-term treatment. “Significantly improved erectile function was demonstrated for sildenafil compared with placebo for all efficacy parameters analyzed (P , 0.02 to 0.0001), regardless of patient age, race, body mass index, erectile dysfunction etiology, erectile dysfunction severity, erectile dysfunction duration, or the presence of various co morbidities. Long-term effectiveness was assessed in three open-label extension studies.” Vardenafil (launched in 2003) “is a potent, selective PDE-5 inhibitor, which improved erectile function in a broad population of men with erectile dysfunction and in characteristically challenging-to-treat groups such as diabetic and post prostatectomy patients.” Tadalafil also launched in 2003, when taken, “as needed before sexual activity and without restrictions on food or alcohol intake, significantly improved erectile function. It allowed a substantial proportion of patients to achieve a normal IIEF erectile function domain score, exhibited a broad window of therapeutic responsiveness and was well tolerated in a representative population of patients with broadspectrum erectile dysfunction.”