Archive for the ‘hospital facility’ Category
June 8th, 2010 | 
Author: 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.
Related items
Posted in 
Is it possible to leave a hospital with worse health than when it admitted you? Unfortunately, it can happen. In theory, hospitals should be clean as a bean. However, that is not always the case. Thus, it is important to follow some basic guidelines, in order to find the cleanest (and perhaps safest) hospital available:
1. Secure a copy of the hospital area’s cleaning instructions, where you will stay.
Regardless of which part of the hospital in which you will stay, these instructions should include detailed descriptions about how personnel keep the area sparkling clean. While this may seem like overkill, remember that bacteria can kill. You are a paying customer, so you have the right to learn how the hospital cleans a certain area.
2. Determine if hospitals are certified and have retained certification
Learn if the hospital has received Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) certification. This is an industry standard. Receiving and maintaining this certification ensures that the hospital has been meticulous in keeping the institution sufficiently clean-for at least the past two years. This ensures that personnel are wearing hygienic clothing, such as cheap urbane scrubs, and are properly sanitizing all medical tools.
3. Ensure that the staff adheres to policies after the hospital admits you
The medical personnel should follow several cleanliness procedures. They must wash their hands with a sanitizer, prior to touching you. Stethoscopes must also undergo this process. Are personnel sanitizing instruments properly and washing their hands frequently? Observe whether the personnel are wearing hygienic clothing, such as scrubs.
Many types of bacteria in hospitals, referred to as “superbugs,” have become resistant to various types of antibiotics. Thus, taking certain precautions can help to reduce the rate at which people transmit bacteria between people.
4. Learn about Medicare/Medicaid’s HCAHPS results
Since March of 2008, hospitals acquiring financial refunds from Medicaid and Medicare, have been conducting HCAHPS surveys through their customers. HCAHPS refers to the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. This survey includes clients’ assessments in various areas, including “Cleanliness and Quietness of the Physical Environment.” You can obtain results of a hospital’s surveys, via the Internet.
5. Verify that the personnel are IEHA educated
IEFHA stands for International Executive Housekeepers Association. Inquire whether the cleaning personnel in the hospital have received AEHA training. This is yet another indicator that a hospital has prioritized cleaning its facilities properly.
6. Request for a tour of a hospital
When taking a tour of a hospital, ask yourself these questions:
• How do cleaning crews clean hospital rooms, and how often?
• Are carpets spotless?
• What hand-washing process does medical staff follow?
• Do breathe in an overall clean scent?
• Is there “hidden” dirt?
Do you want to stay in a clean hospital? If so, then you can follow some basic steps, to ensure that you will be in the cleanest and safest environment possible. For instance, scrubs can reduce the rates of bacterial infections. Make sure that your hospital has a clean bill of health!
Related items
Tags: Dr Sneh Khemka, Bupa International’s Medical Director, tells you what to look out for if you need hospitalisation overseas.
Being admitted to hospital
1. Choose the best option
If you’re being admitted as an emergency or taken by ambulance, you often won’t have much choice in where you go. However, if you can exercise choice, it’s important to select the best hospital for you – does it have the right services (eg a CT scanner), is it clean, can the staff speak your language etc?
2. Let your insurer know
Once there, you should let your insurer know you have been admitted as soon as possible so you can ensure you are covered for all treatments that you receive. If you can let them know before you attend, they may even be able to point you to the best facility in town.
3. Ask questions
Don’t be afraid to ask questions that may seem difficult – it is important that you know what is happening to you, and instead of being offended, medical staff have a duty of care to ensure you are kept up to speed with what’s going on.
4. Provide the right information
You will be asked for your demographic details (age, sex, next of kin etc) and your medical history. It is a good idea to carry with you a list of previous operations and treatments you may have had, along with a list of medications and allergies.
You will also be asked about how you are going to pay for treatment. Without insurance, it can be frighteningly expensive, so you’re best to be covered and you can give them the contact details for your company who should then be able to settle your bills.
What to look out for?
5. Location is important
Hospitals do not have the same standards of care everywhere. Depending on which country you are in, and whether you are in a big city or the rural countryside, hospitals can differ greatly. Many developed countries will have a government regulation committee that will inspect all hospitals to make sure there is a minimum standard of care. However, in other areas it is completely unregulated.
Generally speaking, hospitals in developing countries have less regulation and lower standards than those in developed nations. Sub-saharan Africa is notorious for its underfunded and understaffed institutions and parts of South America have poor legacies for the state of healthcare. However, South East Asia and the Indian subcontinent have some of the best hospitals in the world. It’s all a matter of choosing the right place.
6. Cleanliness is next to…
As a general rule of thumb, cleanliness is a good indicator of the level of safety in a hospital. Word of mouth is also a good way of gauging a hospital’s reputation. However, if you are insured with someone like Bupa International, you will more reliably be able to find out which are the good and bad places, as we have experience and check hospitals around the world for quality.
7. Consider benefits of private vs. public hospitals
Private hospitals are generally as good as public hospitals and in many places often better. Private hospitals tend to have better funding and can therefore afford better equipment and facilities.
However, public hospitals may offer a range of services that private ones cannot, including intensive care units, emergency cardiac interventions and a wider range of staff for paramedical services such as physiotherapy and radiology.
What role does my insurer play?
8. Returning home is not necessarily the best option
It is not always the best option to medivac you home, Bupa International runs a full medivac servicec called WMA (Worldwide Medical Assistance). WMA get calls from all over the world, and because we know the local services and hospitals, we can often find you excellent treatment without having to fly you back home, meaning you can carry on your trip after treatment. We may need to send you to a nearby country, but if you need urgent attention, having you in an aeroplane for an extended period is not the best idea.
In determining whether or not to medivac a patient home, we look at all the medical details of the customer, what medical services they are likely to need, and the level of cover that they have purchased. We also take into account the personal preferences of the customer, and often will pay for a family member to travel with them should there be the need.
Then we look at where will be the best place to send them so they can get the best and quickest access to the treatment they need.
9. Understand the hospital fees and charges
There is an emerging problem amongst certain hospitals that, if incentivised in the wrong way, they are more likely to intervene with a procedure or test which may not be entirely necessary. This is the case with not only foreign visitors, but local patients as well.
We encourage our customers to let us know in advance of any planned treatment so we can talk through the options with both the patient and the doctor, and ensure that they are acting in a medically sound manner, and not just doing things for the sake of a few extra bucks.
For hospital out-patients, you will need to pay the bill when you are discharged and make a claim from your insurer later. For more serious problems or hospital in-patient admissions, your insurer will liase with the hospital directly about the bill.
Avoiding hospital in the first place
10. Take your own first aid kit
An emergency medical kit always comes in handy, but what you can do with one is limited. Kits should ideally contain basic painkillers, antiseptic, anti-diarrhoea and rehydration preparations, bandages and plasters. Customs and prescription laws restrict the amount you can carry around with you.
For any worrying conditions, it is always best to seek expert medical advice – things can be picked up before they develop into major problems and sometimes you need a doctor to give you medications you cannot otherwise access.
If you take any medications, eg insulin, it is essential to keep an adequate supply, and to keep stores in two separate bags in case one is lost. Also, if you are anaphylactic, don’t forget to take adrenaline with you (and give your travelling companion instructions on how to use it).
11. Use your common sense
The biggest single problem that the traveller will face is dehydration (from diarrheoa and vomiting). Access to a plentiful supply of rehydration salts and clean drinking water is paramount.
And making sure you’re adequately insured so that not only will your bills be paid, but you’ll have a ‘friend’ that can help you through particularly troublesome times.
People who looked at this item also looked at…
Related items
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has stressed the importance of evaluating medical facilities for atmospheric contaminants in an effort to ensure the safety of both healthcare workers and patients.
Like homes and commercial buildings, hospitals and other medical facilities have also been built to be more air-tight in order to conserve energy. Because of these energy-saving efforts, air flow rate is decreased, causing an increase in airborne contaminants and even air stagnation. Poor air quality in medical facilities not only affects medical staff, but it is also detrimental to patients, especially those in the postoperative setting where contaminant-free air is absolutely imperative.
Although central air purification systems exist in most operating rooms, patient rooms, waiting rooms, and the general hospital environment is still highly susceptible to airborne biological contaminants such as viruses, bacteria, and microorganisms. Even in operating rooms, debris such as paper fibers from clothing can clog medical instruments and contaminate the air. In addition, drill aerosols, abrasion powder, and mercury vapors are common pollutants released in the air during dental procedures.
Poor air quality in medical environments can foster virus infections such as staphylococci, which can cause complications during patient rehabilitation.
For example, from November 2002 to July 2003, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was a major pandemic that affected several Asian countries. This widespread respiratory disease highlighted the vulnerability of modern healthcare facilities against infectious diseases and infections. Patient-to-healthcare work interactions and the close proximity of infected patients greatly amplified transmission of SARS within hospitals.
The above referenced situation is just one example of how air quality in medical environments is crucial, and medical-grade air purifiers can both enhance air quality and reduce the amount of harmful airborne pollutants that could cause infections and complications. In the medical setting, air purifiers using HEPA technology are excellent at improving air quality because they filter out 99.97% of particulates larger than 0.3 microns. In addition, these types of air purifiers do not emit ozone, which, after prolonged exposure, can be harmful to both patients and staff. In fact, shortly after the September 11th attacks, the CDC endorsed the use of HEPA filtration in post offices to address the increased risk of Anthrax. As well, the CDC also recommends the simultaneous use of HEPA filtration along with
UV technology as the final defense against these diseases. Purifiers utilizing UV light are also important in the medical setting, as they possess enough energy to break molecular bonds, causing genetic and cellular damage to microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and germs, and rendering them harmless.
Because the quality of indoor air impacts the health of both patients and medical staff, medical-grade air purifiers may be able to supplement and improve on existing air purification systems in the medical setting.
