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3 important things to know when choosing a telemonitoring provider

Irina Gorovaya Healthcare Administration

Telehealth encompasses a broad spectrum of technology focused on various aspects of patient care. Telemedicine allows for a real-time patient-physician interaction, while telemonitoring allows for a distant collection of vital patient data that includes blood pressure, pulse oxymetry, heart rate, weight and blood glucose.

Last act: Final days of a rural hospital

Mark Huber Healthcare Administration

It was the final, ignominious insult. Our little, local rural hospital had been abandoned, snapped up online for $50,000 at auction by an enterprising scrapper, a scavenger of discarded structures. Most of the good stuff already had been cleaned out of the 38,000 square-foot structure. Over the last 20 years scenes like this one, particularly in rural America, have played out frequently. Small country hospitals are going away. By 2020 as many as one-third of U.S. hospitals may be gone, predict healthcare futurists David Houle and Jonathan Fleece.

Online physician reviews mostly positive, but reliability questioned

Pamela Lewis Dolan Healthcare Administration

A new survey finds a large number of doctors regularly monitor reviews written about them online. But that may not equate to an overwhelming endorsement of physician review websites.

ICD-10-CM from an optimistic coder’s perspective

Elizabeth Morgenroth

In my discussions with coders in the past 18 months, I have found that each coder has a reaction to ICD-10-CM as unique as the person expressing it. The emotions associated with ICD-10-CM cover the complete spectrum — from joy to grief, happiness to rage, doubt to certainty. I have experienced each of these emotions, depending on the subject matter and situation.

Brainstorming: Knowing when it’s safe to return to athletic activity

Colleen Butler

Colleen Butler, author of "Concussion Recovery: Rebuilding the Injured Brain," is offering practical advice to help with the recovery from brain injury. In the fourth edition of Brainstorming, readers have asked about returning to athletic activity as well as biofeedback and brain mapping.

Research: Old cancer drug may help prevent rejection after transplantation

Joy Burgess

According to new transplant research in Sweden, an old cancer drug, Zebularine, may help to prevent rejection after transplantation. Rejection of the new tissue or organ has long been a problem for patients after receiving a transplant from an organ donor. However, this new discovery may help scientists to develop new anti-rejection treatments that will provide excellent results for transplant patients.

When to send your patient to urgent care

Becky Bicks

Patients suffering from serious health conditions that need quick treatment during off-hours often find themselves in a predicament. How do they get the most effective care for their condition in the shortest amount of time?

British air medics team up with design company for new flight suits

Joy Burgess

Yorkshire Air Ambulance medics in the United Kingdom are no strangers to dealing with trauma patients, offering rescue services in many difficult situations. To better deal with emergencies, these air medics have teamed up with workwear and safety company Arco to design new flight suits. Arco and the medics worked closely, with Arco designers visiting the air support unit to get a firsthand look at what the medics and flight doctors are facing.

Efforts to reduce waste in healthcare lead to job loss for many

Pamela Lewis Dolan

Job reports indicate hospitals and health systems are laying people off in quantities not seen since 2009. But the news should not be viewed as a cut in services. Rather, an effort to improve efficiencies and reduce waste, industry insiders say.

Informed decisions when choosing a healthcare provider

Mike Wokasch

Most would agree that healthcare is a major purchase. Whether it is for insurance or for out-of-pocket expenses, you are usually talking about hundreds, if not several thousand dollars per year. So how do healthcare customers make good, informed decisions about how to get the most out of their healthcare purchases?

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