Bring on the Vitamin D

The much-anticipated report from the Institute of Medicine released in November, 2010 boosted the recommended daily value of vitamin D from 200 IUs (international units) to 600 IUs. Many doctors are surprised that the suggested intake wasn’t set even higher. Over the past year, blood tests for vitamin D have become standard with annual physicals, consumers have begun spending over $400 million per year on vitamin D supplements, and “sunshine vitamin” deficiency has made the headlines time and time again.

What exactly do we need so much vitamin D for? Because of its interaction with calcium, vitamin D is critical to the growth and maintenance of strong bones. Vitamin D deficiencies can also lead to diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and depression. With rising concern over UV exposure, Americans aren’t getting enough vitamin D the natural way – by spending time in the sun. The new standard suggests that we consume 600 IUs daily through the age of 70 and 800 IUs per day after that. If you spend very little time outdoors, or live in a region where the sunlight is rarely intense, you may need to increase your vitamin D intake to as much as 4,000 IUs per day.

Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D. While you can get some vitamin D by eating fish, mushrooms, eggs, and meat, your best bet is to drink extra milk, which is fortified with 40 IUs of vitamin D per cup.

You can expect to see the effects of the new Institute of Medicine recommendations on food labels in the coming months. School lunch menus and any federally sponsored nutrition programs will also be redesigned.

Ultimately, the optimal level of vitamin D has yet to be determined. Some health groups advocate a 30 ng/mL level (as measured by blood tests), while the Institute of Medicine is only recommending 20 ng/mL. Some caution needs to be taken, as there are risks associated with extremely elevated vitamin D levels in the blood. At 50 ng/mL, there is a greater chance of developing pancreatic or prostate cancer, and kidney damage has been observed in those using supplements to reach a 10,000 IUs daily vitamin D level. The available data are simply inconclusive, and the Institute of Medicine is waiting on several long-term studies before they reevaluate their nutritional guidelines.

Let’s Get Healthy!

 

Did you know you can have 24/7 access to a doctor via phone, email, or web video for $30 per month? Visit HealthNation Connect to learn more!! #1 in Telemedicine!

INFORMATION BROUGHT TO YOU BY WWW.HEALTHNATION411.COM

www.telmed365.com

Sometimes You Just Need a Doctor

The average wait time at doctors' offices in the United States is 24 minutes, according to a report released in 2010 by Press Ganey, a group that researches health care performance. Unfortunately, some wait times can be as much as an hour or more! Yesterday, I read an article featuring patients that are actually starting to bill their doctors for their wasted time! Elaine Farstad, in particular, waited over 2 hrs for her doctor! She said “If you waste my time, you’ve bought my time!”. She billed her doctor....and actually received $100 check from him- the full amount she requested! This trend is catching on as some doctors are actually giving gifts from $5 bills to $50 credits, for causing their patients to wait past their set appointment time...I guess my doctors are behind the trend here…..hopefully they will read this and catch on! All things aside, it’s not fun to waste your time (and prolong your recovery), waiting in your physician’s office, Urgent Care, or the ER.

Here are the grim facts about wait time:

·         The longer an ill patient has to wait to see a doctor, the greater the chance their sickness will worsen.

·         Wait times places patients’ health at risk and costs hospitals, insurers and patients more in resources and dollars.

·         Doctors overbook patients. Overbooking is usually deliberate because doctors are paid by volume under many health insurance reimbursement systems.

·         Increased demand – the number of patients seeking ER care jumped 26 percent to 114 million in the last few years.

·         Doctor shortages especially in rural areas and certain types of specialties.

·         Hospitals closing the Emergency Room – the number of U.S. emergency departments fell about 12 percent in the last few years. Patients will need to make a decision to go to a nearby doctor or travel a long distance to find an available emergency room.

·         Number of Urgent Care Centers in the U.S. - approximately 8,700
Urgent care centers grew by approximately 330 from 2008-2009 and 304 from 2009-2010
(note, approximate number of EDs in the U.S. is 4,600 - source: AHA Trendwatch Sourcebook 2008)

·         Patient Visits: The average number of visits per week increased to 342

Suggestions:

·         Schedule your appointments after your doctor’s lunch break. Usually they are all caught up prior to taking a break, and you have less of a chance to be a backlogged appointment.

·         Ask the doctor’s office to send you any paperwork to complete via email or mail prior to your appointment. When you schedule your time, tell them that you will have the paperwork filled out already for them when you arrive. Often they schedule 30 minutes just for you to handle documents.

·         If it’s just a normal daily health issue you need to resolve (such as allergies, flu, rash, head ache, cold, pink eye, mild aches and pains, etc….) then use technology to interact and interface with doctors. 78% of all Urgent Care, Emergency Room and Physician visits could have been handled over the phone (American Medical Association.) If more people utilized telemedicine, then waiting rooms and doctors would be more available to service clients with more serious needs. Visit. www.Telemed365.com for more information on Telemedicine.

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.