Boulder City Hospital

Archive for June, 2010

Every profession has a dedicated language; those words, terms, phrases and concepts that serve as both a short-hand for practitioners and as a filter to keep outsiders at bay. In most cases these vocabularies are created or policed by professional bodies much like the medieval guilds protected the trade secrets and prerogatives of their members.

The best example of this can be found in any hospital where the medical argot is a mix of Latin, tech terms and centuries of practice, study and innovation. Doctor’s language is a great wall of China for patients and their families; a barrier that instills fear and confusion as it fosters dependency which is further complicated by the methodology of medical practice driven by hospital’s need and third-party insurers needs for efficiency, economies of scale, brad building and repeat business.

A visit to anyone in the hospital offers several clear directives to marketers:
Expose the Process. Everyone needs to understand the basic rules of the game. In the hospital you are on your own. Doctors, specialists, nurses, students, aides and schelpers of many stripes traipse into the room and do stuff. The plan, the sequence and the goals are rarely understandable or clear and nobody is incented to tell you. Finding out what is wrong with the patient, who is managing it, what are the issues and considerations and what is going to happen next is much harder than the most complicated video game and more frustrating than the best mystery novel.
Loose the Lingo. In real life most people get it and most things can be explained simply or by analogy. Consumers and patients aren’t as dumb as we look. The professional nomenclature which marks guild membership is a turn-off and a barrier to effective care, especially in cases where the patient’s family or friends need to give the medical team data, context or information. Without understanding what’s going on and what the doctors are thinking about, patients and their loved ones edit the data they share which in turn can complicate or frustrate effective treatment. This holds true across many service businesses where professional ego and distance creates an unnecessary and counterproductive adversarial situation.
Consider Context. Every message to a human brain is processed through the state-of-mind filter. The hospital, by its nature, is a scary and disease filled place. Anxiety is ubiquitous. Add the scary visual of a loved one confined to a bed, near naked and uncomfortably hooked up to honking and beeping machines and your target customer is lost in a sci-fi world. You must factor in the emotional context of your target audience since all medical and stressful communication has to start with the understanding that the audience is disoriented, fearful, ignorant and anxious. Too often the medical professionals’ cool, professional and familiar context rather than the patient/family context drives the message and the communications style.
Get Real. Humans are physically and emotionally sturdy. Evolution has wired us to nimbly handle threats and to instinctively process information. There is little or no point in withholding information or attempting to guild the lily, especially to people supporting patients with chronic or persistent ailments. Nobody thinks medicine is a precise science. Everyone understands that there are multiple variables at play. But few of us have the patience to slog through dis-information or the knowledge to piece together the real story from fragments and snippets of data and opinion parsed through a large and unknown cast of characters.
Tackle the Topline. Take charge of the communications burden and tell customers or patients the topline. You have the affirmative, proactive communications burden. It’s not okay to hide, duck or wait till the customer or patient is red-faced, screaming or homicidal before sharing information. Everyone needs to understand where they are, what is happening next and what are the possible outcomes of the game. This is true if you are selling socks online, undertaking an eLearning exercise, or supporting a chronically ill relative.

The worse thing than childhood asthma is asthma in toddlers. Most children who have asthma developed the disease while they were still toddlers. With a reported 5 million American children suffering from asthma, 173 thousand of them hospitalized for severe symptoms and 864 thousand receiving emergency treatment annually, it is important that your toddler be evaluated for asthma as early as possible.

Since it is more difficult to diagnose asthma among infants and toddlers, it would be best to look for signs or symptoms that characterize the disease. Many cases of asthma deaths were due to the parents’ failure to recognize the severity of the toddler’s condition. Common colds and respiratory diseases such as bronchitis can exhibit asthma-like symptoms. But this does not mean you should ignore your child especially when he has difficulty in breathing or a wheezing cough.

When your toddler is diagnosed with asthma, it does not mean he will be forever afflicted with the disease. On the contrary, there are lots of documented cases where the toddler’s asthma no longer persisted into adulthood. It can also be deduced from this observation that toddlers are more susceptible to asthma triggers but develops immunity as they grow older.

A toddler with asthma will have persistent cough that is hacking and congested. Sometimes the toddler may have wheezing cough and sometimes have none. In addition to this symptom, your toddler will display muscle retractions and flaring nostrils. He would also experience difficulty in breathing making feedings impossible. You will also observe your toddler rapidly breathing even while he sleeps. If you think, your toddler is breathing too rapidly, you should take him to the nearest hospital.

Another sign you should watch out for is your toddler’s lack of stamina and enthusiasm during playtime. This may be because he is associating physical activities with breathing difficulties and naturally gets discouraged to join other children. Having him checked by your pediatrician can determine if your toddler has asthma.

Asthma in toddlers may be more difficult to manage. The best way to do this is to enlist the help of your care provider or his teachers. You can prepare some detailed instructions so they would know what to do in case of an asthma episode. Your toddler’s pediatrician can help you prepare this set of instructions.

You should never take your toddler to a smoky place since cigarette smoke can easily trigger an asthma attack. Your pediatrician can test your child’s sensitivity to dust mite protein. Sometimes, parents overlook the fact that stuffed toys are hosts to these dust mites. During falls and spring seasons when levels of pollen are high, you should limit your toddler’s outdoor activities.

Emotional stress is also considered to be a trigger factor. Not only does it cause an asthma attack but it could also worsen asthma symptoms. Anxiety or panic attacks should be dealt with reasonable calm to help relax your child. The moment your toddler calms down you can administer treatment such as bronchodilator medication.

Keep your children safe and protect them from elements that can lead to long-term damage. These kinds of problems can haunt them through adulthood, so take caution when it comes to your young loved ones.

Sahayatri Nepal is a grassroots level non-profit NGO whose mission is Contribution to the Total Empowerment and Development of Marginalized and Excluded group of people through various activities. Sahayatri Nepal’s odjectives include: 1. to become established as a non-profit, public welfare-oriented social organization 2. to take initiative for peace establishment in society 3. to work from the “ground up” for development activities 4. to run and implement various research and study programmes 5. to contribute to conservation and promotion of natural resources, as well as cultural and social aspects of the community and country 6. to support improvement of the condition of primary and informal education and basic health 7. to contribute to raising awareness against discrimination on various grounds (gender, caste, domination and exploitation of women, women’s trafficking, etc.) and eradication of these kinds of discrimination 8. to encourage the local community and its people to take a pro active and leadership role for the empowerment of the local people’s standard of living utilizing local resources to the maximum level 9. to run the income generating activities for economic development of local community 10. to contribute to capacity development of all governmental, non-governmental and community based organizations along with promoting public participation in all levels of development work 11. to amend it’s (Sahayatri Nepal’s) activities and programme as Nepal develops and changes

Volunteer can assist by doing the following tasks:

Administrative work – proposal writing, findraising initiatives Outreach work – slum area visits, condom distribution Program development and implementation Liaising with other organizations Informal education initiative in the slums

Volunteers with the following specific skills are preferred for this placement:

Nurse
Medical Student
Pre-Med Student
Health & Hygiene Training
HIV/AIDS Awareness Training
Public Health
Child & Youth Worker
At-Risk Youth Work
Leadership Programming
Recreational Programming
Social Worker (BSW)
Grant Proposals / Fundraising
Program Proposal Writting
Social Work Student
Psychologist
Psychology Student
Day Care Work
Addiction Counseling
Crisis Counseling
Report Writing / Data Collection
General Administration
Teacher – English
Teacher – Math
Computers – MS Office Software
Sexual & Reproductive Health Training
Social Worker (MSW)

Basecamp International Centers welcomes all the interested volunteers from around the world to volunteer and make a difference. If you are interested in this placement then please contact us for the details:

Email: info@basecampcenters.com
Website: www.basecampcenters.com

Mailing Address

298 Bagot Street,

Kingston, Ontario,

Canada, K7K 3B4

Phone: 613.541.7862

Toll Free : 866.646.4693

Fax: 613.541.1604

Modern hospitals depend heavily on medical technology to diagnose, treat and prevent diseases. A typical mid-sized hospital has hundreds of items of medical equipment, from simple stethoscopes and blood pressure monitors to highly sophisticated MRI machines and linear accelerators. Hospitals are complex enterprises with entire departments dedicated to technology planning, assessment, acquisition, maintenance, upgrade and replacement at the end of the product life cycle. They have elaborate systems, programs, policies, procedures and protocols in place for purchasing new medical equipment.

To sell successfully to healthcare providers, marketing and sales professionals have to be well versed in the buying processes that healthcare providers use. Medical device marketing is quite different from any other marketing. Typically, hospitals have a review process to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate their medical technology needs. The review’s scope depends on the cost of the technology, and may involve many departments. For expensive equipment, the review most likely will be elaborate. For less expensive and disposable items, the review may simply assess the department’s current needs, and the proposed purchase’s operational and financial impacts. In either case, a market survey and literature search take place to some extent, and this is supplemented with extensive data collection and analysis when needed. This is why white papers and case studies published by medical device manufacturers are very useful during the review process – the decision-makers look for every bit of information they can find. Hence, white papers and case studies can significantly influence the decision-making process. A typical review process includes the following phases:

1. Strategic planning 2. Assessment 3. Acquisition 4. Utilization 5. Repair and maintenance 6. Replacement and disposal

The process starts with strategic planning. In this top-level phase, the relevant stakeholders (e.g., Directors, Professors, Managers, Doctors, Engineers, Purchasing, etc.) review key issues, success factors and resource allocation, and assign responsibilities for sustained improvement in technological performance. They identify the services their facility provides, and the technologies that would complement their existing services. The typical questions to answer are: Where are we? Where do we want to be? How are we going to get there?

Because medical technology greatly impacts the cost and structure of healthcare delivery, hospitals include technology assessment in their planning process, which typically includes cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses.

Cost-benefit analysis calculates the costs of applying the technology and compares them to the benefits resulting from its application. It provides criteria upon which to base decisions of whether to adopt or reject a proposed device. The device is adopted if its benefits exceed its costs. However, one limitation of this analysis is that it expresses all benefits, including therapeutic effects, in monetary terms. Hence, hospitals also conduct cost-effectiveness analyses to quantify therapeutic effects in terms of reduced patient hospital stays, and compare these to the costs of the technology’s implementation. Although at first glance the chosen technology may seem to have limited impact on other facility operations, stakeholders also examine the likely effect of the new equipment on existing services.

Other aspects of cost-effectiveness analysis include assessment of long-term replacement strategies and identification of emerging technologies. Since medical devices have finite longevity, hospitals have replacement plans to minimize the effects of unforeseen capital replacement. By identifying emerging technologies that fit into the projected plans of the hospital’s service area, the hospital tries to avoid investing in nearly obsolete technologies.

Purchase of a new technology is justified only when an increase in equipment’s cost-effectiveness is clearly demonstrated. The typical questions asked during the analysis are:

* Will the new medical device increase the volume of the service? * Will it raise the costs of the service? * Will the device generate additional revenues and, if so, how much? * What is the new device’s expected lifespan? * What is the device’s reliability and the costs associated with its repair and maintenance? * How reliable and reputable is the manufacturer? * What impact will the new device have on routine operating costs? * What will the disposal cost be? * How easy is the device to operate?

Once the technology has been assessed and the decision to purchase has been made, the next phase in the process is technology acquisition, which typically includes the following steps:

* Preparation of general and functional specifications * Clinical, technical and cost evaluations * Review of proposals and evaluations, and making a final decision on a device manufacturer * Contract negotiation for the device’s acquisition * Preparation and issuance of a purchase order * Contract award

A contract award is the green light for the medical device company to deliver and install the product.

Stress is a very common phenomenon in today’s time. This is especially true for office going professionals and corporate executives. The end result has being overworked and fatigued individuals. Therefore a very urgent need is for policies to be adopted by firms in order to work for the physical and mental betterment of the employees. Corporate massage London works just towards this end and helps improve the health of working individuals.

Stress may seem necessary for efficient work. But then that level needs to be monitored and kept in check. Massage at work London provides just that way as it helps you unwind and relax your body and mind right at your workplace and thus maintain a certain standard of work right throughout the day. Thus onsite office massage is incredibly beneficial in maintaining good health standards and also controlling your stress levels. The way a good massage works is that it releases tension from the body thud relaxing the various body muscles that may feel sore and tight. Thus corporate massage helps de-stress and increases work levels.

The chair massage London is a form of seated massage wherein a specially designed chair may be used. Besides keeping in mind the office setting, it is oil-free and specific to various body parts such as back, neck, shoulders and thighs. The service is thus being increasingly employed by firms both to rejuvenate the tired employees and also a reward scheme for great work.