Dear Doctor, You're FIRED!!! (How do you know when to fire your doctor?)

It is important that every substantial relationship in your life is based on trust, openness, respect, honesty, and the ability to listen to one another. This premise holds true in all areas of life, and therefore is applicable when it comes to you and your doctor. I don’t want to throw all doctors under the bus here, but there some doctors that, unfortunately, fail miserably when it comes to the criteria for a good ‘relationship’ partner.  Let’s take me for example. Last year, whenever I was sick, I would visit my main doctor, and without fail, it looked like this: I schedule an appointment. I arrive on time for that appointment. I wait for 1-2 hours to see her (yes, hours….this amazes me, seeing how there are not that many people in the waiting room, and few examination rooms too!). My consultation is about 4 minutes, which would be shorter- except I tend to ask a lot of questions, which seems to annoy her….Sorry, I guess I’m just vested in my health and want to know ‘why’ you are recommending to take a certain medicine over another! So, for all of that, I pay $65 (on a high deductible health insurance plan), and they schedule me for a re-exam. Now, to me that exchange lacked respect of my time, the inability to be comfortably communicate openly and listen….and because all of that, I lost trust that she was uniquely evaluating my health issue, rather than jamming me in to a cookie cutter solution!

Total time spent with doctor: 4 minutes (Costing me $65 on top of my monthly insurance)

Total time I spent away from work overall: 2-3 hours (Costing me time off of work).

Worth it? Nope.

That’s when I was recommended by a friend to try Telemedicine for my common daily health issues, such as allergies, sinus issues, flu, mild aches and pains, rashes, headaches, etc…stuff like that. So, in January this year, I did. I was driving from one business appointment to another, and during the commute I called into HealthNation Connect (the name of the product my entire household is covered on, for only $30/m!) During the time it took to drive from one location to the next, I had a diagnostic review with a doctor licensed in my state, he prescribed me a Zpack over the phone and called it in to my local pharmacy. It was amazing!

Total time spent with doctor: 15 minutes (Cost was included in my monthly subscription)

Total time spent away from work overall: ZERO.

Worth it? Yep.

Solution?

My Doctor = Fired.

My Telemedicine Doctor = Hired!

Virtual house calls

Some doctors already use the Internet's ability to provide almost-instant communication to help treat patients.

But as technology improves, advances in  telemedicine are moving more and more doctor-patient consultations into the virtual world. "This is the future of medicine," said Dr. Toby Bond with TMB Medical in Athens. "This is going to be the standard of care." Bond already gives his patients secure access to view lab results and medications online, and soon will start using a program that will allow him to meet with patients through a teleconferencing program known as Smart House Calls. "We're just rolling this out right now," Bond said.

Smart House Calls will allow doctors to meet patients for follow-up exams, give families access to their doctors back home as they travel and allow physicians to give quick advice on medical issues, said Troy Heidesch, the CEO and founder of the company based out of Oconee County. "This is not to replace the doctor-patient exam," Heidesch said.

Heidesch thinks that technology could help lower health care costs and provide more efficient communications between patients and doctors, he said. St. Mary's Hospital already uses technology to help some patients with chronic diseases such as heart failure, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Patients learn to self-manage through daily transmission of their weight, blood pressure and symptoms into a machine that relays that information to home care staff, said Shelley Nichols, St. Mary's stroke coordinator and a registered nurse.

"They're able to get help on a daily basis and many times their medicines or treatment plan can be updated with physician input over the phone to avoid re-hospitalization," she said. "It's like having a nurse in your home daily to keep you well, safe and able to manage your disease without going back into the hospital."  St. Mary's also uses telemedicine to help monitor stroke patients, through a partnership with the Medical College of Georgia's REACH program, said Dr. McCord Smith, a neuro-hospitalist and certified vascular neurologist.  "Our REACH program is without a doubt one of the top three systems in the world as far as how it works and the number of people treated through it," Smith said.  Patients who receive clot-busting drugs within three hours of a stroke can recover faster and have better outcomes than patients who don't receive the medication, he said.  Although the drug works, neurologists must watch the patient for any adverse effects, he said. "The first thing that people discovered was that there weren't enough neurologists around to look over these programs," he said.  REACH gives hospitals, like St. Mary's, the opportunity to augment on-site neuro-hospitalists with virtual neurologists and pool information, assisted by nurses and emergency room staff, Nichols said.  "We really have the best of both worlds," she said.  Neurologists have jumped on telemedicine and developed programs to suit their needs, but it's only a matter of time before other specialties find ways to use the technology for their fields, Smith said.  "I actually think it's sort of hard for us to imagine how much it will be used (in the future)," Smith said.

As more and more baby boomers age, there will be a greater need for doctors, Smith said.

"The baby boomers are about to put a big drain on medical resources," he said. "I think telemedicine is ... a creative way to address those problems of inadequate access."

Carson Connections welcomes HealthNation Connect to their team!

Carson Connections is dedicated to helping you create a healthy body and healthy business. Our firm was built on the belief that you deserve the best quality of service and care when it comes to your wellbeing, both physically and financially. Therefore, we have aligned ourselves with professionals in their area of service, in order to connect you to sources which will provide you with tools to achieve your health and wealth goals. The two go hand and hand. Having a successful business is worth very little if you are physically not healthy enough to enjoy it. Likewise, your having excellent health without a great bank account, is equally not enjoyable. Let Carson Connections connect you to a healthy body and healthy business!

Healthy Body: Carson Connections partnered with HealthNation, as a healthcare solution for Americans. Access to quality care at an affordable price, is a huge crisis in the U.S. Telemedicine is a solution to challenge. Very simply put, it connecting doctors with patients using everyday technology such as phone, email or webcam. You can consult with a US Based and Licensed M.D. or Naturopathic doctor, and even receive a diagnostic review and prescription, from the comfort and privacy of your own home. All of this is for only $30/ per entire household! It's health care on your terms, available 24/7/365...our doctors don't take holidays and there are no black out dates! Because of the preventative care opportunities coupled with the immediate access to care when you are sick, it is a no-brainer to add this priced right service now!

Healthy Business: Carson Consulting, LLC (dba Carson Connections), a private business development firm dedicated to helping small businesses create and implement customized strategies around marketing, business process flow, financial analysis and business planning, client management, duplication systems, and more. Your business is unique and cookie cutter solutions are outdated. Bottom line is that we believe Unique People deserve Unique Solutions. So call us to see how we can help you get to the next level.

Report: Telemedicine Promotes Reform

I encourage you to read below- I liked this article so much, I couldn't resist to share it with you! thanks John Pulley!

Written by HNBlogger on June 10, 2011 in

By John Pulley 06/06/11 04:09 pm ET

Telemedicine can help health-reform initiatives to succeed by resolving issues with access to care, resource shortages and escalating health-care costs, yet it remains an underused technology, asserts a report released Monday by a global business technology provider.

That soon may change, CSC says in the report, “Telemedicine – An Essential Technology for Reformed Healthcare. ” Better technology infrastructure and the introduction of more telemedicine solutions tailored to specific types of patients are driving growth in telemedicine usage, says the Falls Church, Va.-based technology company. Even so, widespread adoption “is not yet a reality,” according to the report.

“Globally, the tipping point will be the care model realignment under health-care reform, where payment is value-driven, not volume-driven,” the report says. “Care providers (hospitals, physicians, and ancillary caregivers — all part of the overall care team) are paid for results, and whether the venue is the office or a virtual visit at home will no longer matter.”

CSC says incorporating telemedicine into a medical practice is easier if:

·         practices pick one health-care issue that telemedicine can improve through the use of existing solutions that address access, resource and care-delivery problems.

·         the focus is on “immediate needs and opportunities” while leaving open a path to broader uses in the future.

·         providers understand current challenges and investigate local and regional efforts that remove barriers to telemedicine use, such as new U.S. regulations that enable the credentialing of physicians who care for patients remotely across state lines.

CSC also announced it was launching a Global Institute for Emerging Healthcare Practices to evaluate emerging health-care trends and enhance the company’s commercial products and services.

Source: NextGov

http://healthitupdate.nextgov.com/2011/06/telemedicine_can_help_health-reform...

You are Responsible. So, What are You Going to Do?

Awe, that thing? 'Responsibility'!  We can't wait to get it when we were younger, and we can't wait to push it on to others now that we are all grown up! Funny thing, isn't it? Unfortunately, nobody wants your responsibility, so sorry- you are stuck with it! I was thinking the other day about just how many things I am responsible for, and how I go about organizing and prioritizing it all. I thought at first that there was no real method to my madness. Things just come up and I deal with them, and then I move on. What I didn't realize is that there actually is a method- my method- an authentic one, I just didn't realize was happening! I see that a lot with some of the clients I deal with. They have a flow about how to handle and prioritize everything, but since they are not in touch with it consciously, they feel that they are just spinning through one motion to another, and are left with a lot of incomplete tasks, and the weight on their back just seems to get increasingly larger day by day. Simply literally creating a game plan- I mean, actually writing it down, works wonders. It gives you the black and white reality of what you are responsible for, and allows you to see if your expectations of how and when you are going to complete them are actually feasible!

Game plan? "No way!", you say. "There are too many variables, too many 'what if's' throughout my day- I can't possibly plan out all of those unknowns!" I get it. I understand. Trust me! That's why leverage is the key. Look for things to reduce your time spent on those impossible-to-predict situations. For example, look at integrating into your 'technical toolbox' some sort of cloud computing for your work and personal files. An example is DropBox. This fabulous tool allows you to access your docs/videos/photos, anywhere and anytime. It also allows for file sharing- wonderful for when you have group projects or event planning. Personally I use this for the charity I manage, as well as with various clients I work with. It saves tons of times, I’m never wondering if I can access files because it saves to my laptop- and is available in cyberspace for me!  It's real files updating in real time. Another proactive solution to unexpected issues,  is to subscribe to a Telemedicine plan. Telemedicine is simply defined as joining doctors with patients, through the use of everyday technology such as telephone or internet (webcam and email). The American Medical Association said that nearly 80% of all Emergency Room, Urgent Care, and family doctor visits could have been handled over the phone! And don't worry- it's legal to diagnose and prescribe over the phone as well (in 49 states). Since I prefer US based and licensed doctors, and also flip back and forth between Naturopathic care and Western Medicine, I chose HealthNation Connect- to date they are the only company that offers both services (along with many other benefits). See www.Telemed365.com. As a matter of a fact, if you haven't caught on already, I loved their service so much, I accepted a position to work with them as well! Nevertheless- This solves the last minute issues of a sick child, your allergies acting up, a tummy ache, pink eye on Christmas morning, etc.... You know, everything that seems to happen after Urgent Care hours, on weekends and holidays! I was sold on this service when I was used it - I was feeling sick, and on my way from one appointment to another, I called the doctor, had a consultation, and he had a prescription waiting for me to pick up on my way home. In one car ride, I solved an issue that would have lingered for weeks, or taken up half of my day. That's what I mean. Solutions to those 'what-if's' that happen, so that I could finish out my day and handle all the responsibilities that no one else would take care of, but......Me.

"Let Your Uniqueness Come Forth"- Joe Bardin

Last Monday I did what I always do on Mondays, attended a People Unlimited Inc. event (www.peopleunlimitedinc.com), and had the honor to be around some of the most amazing people in the world. Joe Bardin (President of Relativity Writing (http://www.relativitywriting.com) was one of the contributors that evening, and he spoke about many awesome things- but the one that stood out was about Extremism.  Extremism is any ideology or political act far outside the perceived norms of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate normal standards. He asked the question “If you aren’t being extreme all the time, then what are you doing?” Well, Joe- that’s a good question! I guess the reverse is true then, being normal… Yikes! How incredibly BORING! It seems that too many people in the world are ready stay away from Extremism, because unfortunately that term has gotten a bad wrap. May be it’s from all the political and religious violators that we coin ‘Extremists’, who  terrorize others and have little to no sense of compassion for human being. Or perhaps it is the result of too many people liking and wanting the ‘norm’ , so much so that can’t imagine stepping so far outside the invisible lines of our society, to actually be different, radical, and extreme.  Whatever it is- it has to stop. Because if we don’t start getting more extreme, we will all end up like cloned robots that cycle ourselves through generations down our family trees… grand-daughter like daughter like mother like grandmother like great-grandmother, and so on and so on. Hey, I’m all for similarities, but if I’m not for the patterns that seem to get passed throughout generations. It takes some major Extremism is step outside of those norms and not get lost in the shuffle. Joe also spoke of how everybody has a signature body language…I love that! Who doesn’t like ‘signature’ clothing, cars, etc…. now add your ‘signature’ body language to the mix! Let that uniqueness come forth- you might just surprise yourself when you realize Extremism is actually fun!

Banks are become more comfortable with economic outlook

Banks are making the shift from ‘post-crisis’ lending, entering into longer periods of loan commitments. Overall, investment-grade loans to U.S. companies have more than doubled year-over-year, to $209 billion. A year ago, a company rated triple-B-minus, the bottom of the investment-grade spectrum, would have paid three percentage points over the three-month London interbank offered rate, what banks charge one another. That rate has fallen to between 1.5 and 1.75 percentage points over Libor.

Stats you may find interesting (according to data provider, Dealogic):

-          U.S. strategic Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity so far this year, excluding private-equity firms, is up 39% over the same period in 2010, at $373.7 billion.

-          Since the start of the year, banks have lent $66.6 billion in five-year U.S. corporate investment-grade loans, some of the longest available, almost 25 times the amount this time last year.

(Source: Bank Lending Goes Long on High Quality.Wall Street Journal. May 17, 2011. Kate Burne)

Connecting doctors and patients through online medical records

When I moved to Arizona, unfortunately my doctor stayed back in California. I had been seeing the same doc my whole life, so, needless to say- I wasn't thrilled about the situation. After several years in my new hometown, I realized that I needed to finally find a new family doctor, and couldn't just keep visiting Urgent Care as a replacement. So, there I was, in the 'new' doctor's office, with a blank file, and no historical medical records, no backlog of my 30+ years of doctor visits, and no prescription history.

Sound familiar?  Well, this does not have to happen again. I decided to put all my medical records on a HIPPA approved electronic medical record platform. Now, all my doctor's visits are uploaded, all my tests are scanned in, and any appointment that I have via telemedicine is fully recorded. If you haven't ever heard of electronic medical records- stay tuned, because you are about to hear more. The federal government is trying to make electronic medical records more prevalent. The Department of Health and Human Services says only 20 percent of doctors and 10 percent of hospitals use electronic medical records. Health care providers can now receive tens of thousands of dollars through Medicare and Medicaid to help pay for the cost of converting to computerized records. Now your medical history will be totally accessible to you, 100% anytime and anywhere!

http://www.9news.com/rss/story.aspx?storyid=145348

"You are who you wake up as in the morning"- James Strole

....This statement is soooo very true! I know that for us grumpy morning people, at first sound, this is not happy to hear. But knowledge is power- so be happy that YOU are the one that can change this! There is much reality behind how your frame of mind effects your day. The questions or statements you say to yourself have the ability to change your focus in an instant. So what are do you saying to yourself when you wake up in the morning? "Why do I have to go to work?" or "I'm so tired...". How do you think this affects your attitude and energy levels? You completely focused your mind on reasons why you are tired and having to do things that you don't want to do! Try replacing those statements with something like "What am I most grateful for today?" or "What can I look forward to throughout my day?". Draw attention to positive and empowering personal conversations, and allow yourself to have the opportunity start off your day in an advantageous way. If you have challenges answering those types of questions, then replace them with statements like "What could I feel grateful for today?". Our minds must be retrained- and fortunately, we are the only ones that can do this for ourselves! So, tonight have sweet dreams, and tomorrow wake up as the amazing and authentic person you are, and leave the old grumpy you- behind!