February 23, 2012

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3 Tips to Find Trusted Hospitals

The front entrance of Hartford Hospital in Har...

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When it comes to your health or that of your loved ones, you can never be too careful. You should never simply accept the first name in the phone book or go to an establishment simply because it is located close to you. If you want to ensure that your medical care is handled by professionals with the highest standards and the finest facilities, you need to make sure you find the most trustworthy hospital.

1. Talk to Those You Know

The first thing you should consider when attempting to narrow down your search for superior care is that you already know many people who have probably required the services of a hospital. Your own experiences may have already turned you off of a particular medical facility. Chances are you have friends and family you can ask about their experiences with healthcare institutions.

2. Search The Internet

Another research tool that you should make good use of is the Internet. Visiting an establishment’s website may be a good place to find out which medical professionals have long-standing careers in medicine. Other internet sites provide you with unbiased opinions and reviews from past patients. Of course, you will have to be careful to not fall prey to those who have an axe to grind. Look for trends in reviews to find a balanced picture of a facility’s care.

3. Try a Dry Run

Visit the hospital and have a look around. Ask some of the professionals questions.  Observe how busy they are and the level of care they seem to be able to afford their patients. If you see that they treat their patients with care and respect, you will likely have a good experience when you need to call on their services yourself.

Filed Under: Clinics Tagged With: , , , , ,

How To Prepare For A Stay In The Hospital

MIAMI - JANUARY 18: Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo, ...

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A stay in the hospital can be an overwhelming and stressful experience. After all, it takes a lot of courage to turn your healthcare over to the professionals and give them permission to provide treatment. However, there are some simple things you can do to make your hospital stay a lot easier to bear.

First of all, remember that even though you’re in the hospital, you still have the right to have some degree of control over your medical care. If you have any questions about what kinds of procedures are being done to you, and what their purpose is, don’t be afraid to speak up. This will ensure that you are fully aware of the different elements of your medical care.

Keep a list of any medical allergies and medications that you are taking so that it will be easier for you to fill out forms at the hospital. And, make sure you have someone who has agreed to act as your emergency contact during any hospital stays.

Also, if you have the luxury of having a bit of time to prepare for your hospital stay, try your best to get all your affairs in order beforehand. If you have any pets, children or elderly people living in your home, make arrangements so that they will be well taken care of in your absence.

Finally, pack a bag of items for your hospital stay, and if you’re permitted to do so, include some of your favorite items from home. Small but meaningful tokens of familiarity from home will be very beneficial to provide comfort during times when you are scared, confused or in pain.

Filed Under: Health Care, Remedies Tagged With: , ,

How to Become the Director of a Hospital

With so many career path choices under the umbrella of health care, it can be tough to know which road to take. Choosing to become a hospital administrator can be a great way to be involved in patient care while maintaining an aspect of business management. This job entails managing every part and person within the hospital, on both the clinical side and the administrative side, so a person who is organized and capable of these responsibilities is key to a running a successful hospital.

If seeking this career, individuals must start thinking about the requirements before even entering college. Usually, a bachelor’s degree in business management or public health and excellent grades are both necessary to be accepted into a master’s program for hospital administration. While attending school, students should look for opportunities to volunteer or work in hospitals, since this will help amplify a resume for potential employers, as well as provide a chance for the student to become familiar with the processes and inner workings of a hospital. Hospital administrators often work with children and adults to battle and provide treatment for illness, diseases, addictions, and other health afflictions, so compassion for others is also a necessary personality trait.

Obtaining a degree through Mountain State University is a great way to start the path of becoming a hospital director. For those who are serious about this career choice, there will be a good deal of work involved, but the rewards can be great. With health care jobs consistently on the rise, this is a great option for those thinking about where to go and what to do after high school has been completed.

 

Filed Under: General, Health Care Tagged With: , ,

Hospital Staff Procedures to Prevent MRSA Outbreaks

Hospital Staff Procedures to Prevent MRSA Outbreaks

MRSA or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus is a highly contagious infection that affects those that stay in hospitals and long term care facilities. These infections can spread through bodily fluids and skin to skin contact. This means that all hospital staff needs to take proper precautions to make sure that they do not contract MRSA. Here is a look at the equipment and procedures that hospital staff uses to prevent the spread of MRSA.

The hospital staff will use a wide range of personal care medical equipment to prevent themselves from touching any bodily fluids and possibly catching MRSA. These pieces of equipment include disposable gloves, masks, goggles, gown and shoe covers. It is not uncommon to see hospital staff covered head to toe to prevent the spread of MRSA.

Hospital staff will place their personal care medical equipment on before entering the MRSA isolated room. They will usually wash their hands before and entering the room to make sure that the virus is not present on their skin. The hospital staff will also promptly remove their safety equipment and toss it out as it could contain the MRSA virus and cause infection.

Hospital staff will also dispose of any items the patient received while they were in the hospital and had the infection. They will dispose of the sheets, bedding, pillows and gowns. If disposal of these items cannot happen right away they are kept in a container that is labeled and then properly disposed of. Anything the patient with MRSA came into contact with is promptly disposed of to prevent the spread of MRSA.

Filed Under: Clinics, Health Care Tagged With: , ,

Preventing the Spread of MRSA Through Isolation

Preventing the Spread of MRSA Through Isolation

When staying in a hospital or medical facility there is always a chance that you could catch a staph infection known as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus or MRSA. This is an infection that is antibiotic resistant. It usually occurs on the skin, body tissues and body fluids. If a hospital or long term care facility suspects that MRSA is present they will test for the disease right away. Should the tests come back positive the hospital will have to take precautions to prevent MRSA from spreading. Here is a look at the two types of prevention methods that hospitals use there is the contact isolation and respiratory isolation.

Contact Isolation. Contact isolation will involve the hospital staff taking the necessary precautions to avoid spreading MRSA to other patients. This usually includes properly disposing of anything that comes in contact with the infected area as well as limited contact with the patient. Those in contact isolation will have roommates who generally also have MRSA so that they do not pass the infection on to others. Signs will clearly be posted so visitors know the room is on contact isolation.

Respiratory Isolation. Respirator isolation is a severe form of isolation that is usually used when people who have MRSA have the virus in their phlegm which means it can spread easily because the infection is located in the droplets when the person coughs. This type of isolation puts the patient in a room by themselves, the person equipment hospital staff uses and proper disposal of items that come in contact with the patient are taken.

Filed Under: Health Care, Medication Tagged With: , ,

Self Examination: Request Itemized Hospital Bills

Hospitals and health care providers charge differently from one location to another. Some of this variation is due to guidelines and profit planning set forth by the head of the facility but some of it is also due to health insurance allowances. Regardless of why the cost is what it is, patients should always request an itemized bill when they undergo a battery of tests, treatments or stay over in the hospital for any amount of time. This advice is helpful for both the insured and the uninsured patient.

It isn’t likely that a hospital or clinic is attempting to defraud its patients but examining an itemized bill may save patients money. It is very common for medical professionals to bill standard fees associated with various procedures. For example, a woman giving birth in a hospital will be charged for full packages of sanitary napkins even if she only uses one. An infant or young child in diapers will be charged for one or more cases of diapers even if the stay was only for a few hours or even a few days. These excessive overcharges add up to big bucks for the medical facility leading them to make a profit on such items. Patients may miss out on the potential savings by accepting a bill that is not itemized.

Once these seemingly excessive charges have been identified the patient can negotiate or discuss them with the medical facility’s administration. Perhaps a “clean up” fee was charged for a routine flu vaccination. If this charge is discussed it may be waived or reduced if it isn’t applicable to the situation. The patient may wonder how these charges are input to begin with. The answer: standardized billing. Instead of charging for what is done to a patient, facilities bill based on the procedure being conducted so every patient receives the same charges.

Filed Under: Health, Health Care Tagged With: , ,

How to Choose a Good Hospital

Finding out that you are in need of surgery can be quite frightening. The length of time you will need to be in the hospital is also something that needs careful attention. Choosing a hospital isn’t always an option, as your personal physician may only work at one, but many times a surgeon will have access to several different facilities, which will enable to patient to choose which one he or she would rather be a patient at.

How do you choose a good hospital? There are many ways to do this if you have time to research them. Just because a certain facility has numerous advertisements on television or boasts of having the latest equipment, does not necessarily mean you will receive good care.

One of the most important items to check for is how surgical infection is controlled. Although this information may not be readily available to everyone, word of mouth can play an important role in finding out how post-surgical infections are prevented. A serious infection called MRSA can be avoided if proper care is given by the staff members to patients, which means making sure the patient is given the proper antibiotic before and after surgery, as prescribed by the physician. The staff should often be seen washing their hands, as this is one way that infection passing from one patient to another can be deterred. A hospitals general rating will include how well they handle post-op infection rates.

Periodically the government will do surveys of patients regarding their experience at a hospital. These results are based on patient satisfaction in general. This includes not only patient care, but the food that was served and the cleanliness of the hospital. Staff communication is usually listed as well, which is important. If you are unable to communicate well with your doctor or nurse, you may have an unsatisfactory and unpleasant hospital stay.

Filed Under: Health, Health Care Tagged With: , , ,

Wrongfully Administered Drugs and Hospital Complications

When someone is so ill that it is necessary to be admitted into a hospital is scary enough. Even more so are the results of a study that show almost all hospital patients have no idea what kinds of medication they have been given there. Patients often believe they are getting one type of medication, but in fact are getting something else.

This same study also said that one in five medication treatments were incorrect. Improper dosages and the wrong drugs were the common mistakes made in these cases. Even after they left the hospital, just a small percentage of people could identify the medications that they were taking, and even fewer over 65 years old could do so.

Patients under the full care of medical professionals put their trust in these physicians to care for them, even in cases where there lives could be at risk. In a hospital setting, doctors are extremely busy and usually don’t spend more than a couple of minutes with each patient. Mistakes in administering pharmaceuticals are realized more and more with each study that is done, and some people go as far as to suggest that the hospital is a dangerous environment and should be avoided if possible.

Solutions to the problem range from having requirements for better communication between hospital doctors and patients, to a need to assess patient awareness and increase knowledge of what they are given when in the hospital. Studies like this of course exclude patients with psychiatric conditions or dementia, so the results are quite staggering when it is considered that normally functioning people have no idea what drugs doctors are administering to them.

It is also known that drug reactions account for a significant percentage of hospital deaths, and that drug side effects cause many complications there as well. These side effects also account for many hospital re-admissions. It is clearly evident that something needs to be done to more precisely administer medications to patients as well as increase their awareness of what drugs they are given during hospital admission.

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Filed Under: Hospitals & Clinics, Medication Tagged With: , , ,

Choosing the Right Hospital

The Department of Health and Human Services he...
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If you need medical care that requires treatment in a hospital, you want to find a hospital that feels comfortable to you. Choosing the right hospital for your situation can impact the level of care and treatment you receive. By making use of modern tools and resources, you can find a top-notch hospital that will result in a positive patient experience.

For the first step, talk with your primary care physician or referring doctor. Most of the time, doctors have privileges at certain hospitals, so they can provide detailed information about how these facilities are run. Your doctor can usually offer feedback about these hospitals based on personal experience, as well as from previous patient comments.

Another factor that will influence the decision-making process is the type of procedure you are having done. Appendectomies and gall bladder removals are more routine surgeries that often take place at local hospitals. If patients need more extensive medical care, such as open heart surgery, neurological evaluation, or cancer treatment, going with a specialty hospital usually makes more sense. Most major cities have hospitals or treatment centers dedicated to these specialty areas.

Friends and family can offer valuable insight, so utilize the word-of-mouth approach in your fact finding mission. People who have spent time at the local hospitals or who work in these facilities can give you the ins and outs on the nursing staff, food quality, cleanliness, and level of service. Getting the inside scoop can help you make a more educated decision.

If you want to gather unbiased data about the area’s hospitals, check with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), the agency responsible for safeguarding the health of Americans citizens and ensuring provision of essential human services. Visit their web site www.hhs.gov, which contains a hospital comparison search tool that lets users compare the quality of listed hospitals based on specific search criteria.

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Filed Under: Medication, Medicines Tagged With: , , ,

Hospitals and social networks

Social network
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Hospitals are the newest institutions to take over social networks to reach to their patients and as a means of advertisement. After the adaptation of twitter by pharma companies, hospitals and FDA are blogging their way to their patients. As more and more people are first consulting the internet for their diseases and disorders, it has become important for hospitals to be where the patients are. Hospitals are coming online with health information. This innovative new method of marketing has been receiving much more attention than other forms of marketing.

More than 367 hospitals in united states are using social media such as facebook, twitter and dedicated hospital blogs and forums to get in touch with their patients. They are also creating youtube channels which have more than 5000 videos in 180 channels from different hospitals. More than 250 twitter accounts have been created that have seen more than 10000 updates. New case studies are emerging where the internet is being used to spread knowledge about the different procedures and techniques specialized in the hospital.

One such example is where a patient who goes through a surgery goes online on facebook with her experience. This attracted so many new interests that the hospital received requests for the same procedure. Another interesting and creative example of the use of social network is when a hospital tweeted answers during a live brain surgery of a 50 year old. Many blogs with specialty in children, psychology, diabetics, etc have been set up that give information to patients on how to deal with this condition. This has showed way to other hospitals. They have realized that the online social media is the next best thing when it comes to get it touch with future potential patients and get as much advertisement as possible through the word of mouth that follows this medium.

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Filed Under: Health Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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