Medical and Hospital Business

Here we are again at the season of coughs and colds, you know the feeling, your nose starts to tingle, your throat feels a little dry and raspy and before you know it you have a full blown cold.

There is an old saying that if you treat a cold it will last a week and if left untreated it will last seven days. There is some truth in that saying, colds are what we call a self-limiting illness, usually a cold will go on its own after seven to ten days. But that doesn’t mean that you have to suffer if you do get a cold.

Will it ever happen? Will a cure be found for the common cold? Is there ever going to be a magic bullet that will zap a cold at the first sign? Who knows, scientists have been researching the common cold for a very long time and they are no nearer to finding a cure. That said there are things you can do to help yourself.

There are herbal remedies that are able to boost your immune system so that it is able to fight off the hundreds of different cold viruses that are lurking about just waiting for the opportunity to invade your body.

Once a cold develops, the viruses very quickly reproduce until you have billions in your nose, throat and lungs.

Herbal remedies fight colds in a few different ways, the first is to actually help your body to fight these viruses before they ever get a chance to multiply and develop into a cold.

You may have noticed that you often come into contact with people who have colds but you didn’t develop one, why is that?. How is it that one time you seem to be immune to colds and another time, Wham! you get a cold but don’t remember coming into contact with anyone who had a cold. This is all down to your immune system.

There are a lot of factors involved in having a healthy immune system, one common culprit for suppressing the immune system is stress. So what can you do to try to keep your immune system in top form, some things are just common sense. Eating a healthy diet, getting plenty of rest and exercising regularly, all of these things will help reduce stress and boost your immune system.

There are several remedies that are worth keeping in your medicine cupboard, one of these is Echinacea purpurea. Echinacea can be taken as a tea, capsules, tinctures or tablets, the dose is dependant on the product you take. Do not exceed the recommended dose for the make you are using. Also do not take Echinacea daily as it looses its immune boosting power if taken too often. To help prevent colds take Echinacea for five to six days then have two or three days off, this way you will still get the immune boosting power of this herb.

When you have a cold the strategy is very different. If you are unfortunate enough to develop a cold then take Echinacea every hour or two for at least two days. Depending on the severity of your cold you can take this dose for four days. Then drop the dose down to three times a day until your cold has gone.

So what else can you take to fight your cold. If you have a cough then there is nothing better than garlic, garlic has antiviral, antibiotic and antifungal properties. Unfortunately it is the allicin (the part that makes garlic small) in the garlic that has most of the medicinal properties.

The reason garlic is so good for any chest problems is the fact that the allicin is excreted out of the body via the lungs, therefore taking all of the antiviral and antibiotic properties where it is needed. Don’t worry if you don’t like the taste of garlic, just rub a couple of cloves onto the bottom of your feet, and hey presto in a short time your breath will smell of garlic, wonderful isn’t it.

The mucus membranes of the respiratory tract can get very inflamed when you have a cold, drink ginger tea for this, it will reduce the inflammation and help open up the nasal passages.

There are several supplements that are worth a mention, they are vitamin C, vitamin B complex and a really good multivitamin can all help you fight your cold. After your cold has gone it is a good idea to carry on with these supplements to help build your immune system back up.

It’s not unusual that diabetes is thought of as one of the most deadly diseases that we’re living with today. Diabetes is the primary cause of blindness among adults in the U.S.. Thousands of people are blinded each year because of this disease. Hundreds of thousands of limb amputations have been performed on diabetic patients in order to save their lives. Most of the patients in hospitals that are waiting for liver transplants, need the transplant because diabetes has ravaged their own. And, if left untreated, diabetes can lead to impotency, nerve loss, hypertension, and many more life-threatening illnesses.

Usually when people are diagnosed with diabetes, their doctor prescribes one or more pharmaceutical drugs to help them control their disease. But many people are looking for natural diabetes cures as well. Here are a few that have been used through the centuries:

Bitter gourd - you can find this tropical plant in many health stores. It’s also goes by the names bitter melon and kerela. It was originally grown in the soils of Southeast Asia, China, and Africa. Some health articles recommend taking one tablespoon of bitter gourd daily, on an empty stomach, to reduce your blood glucose levels. Alternatively, you can cook it and eat it as a vegetable along with your meal.

Cinnamon - this dried and ground bark has been used as a natural diabetes treatment for hundreds of years. People with diabetes have difficulty processing the glucose in their blood stream. In clinical trials, cinnamon appears to assist the body’s fat cells in utilizing the glucose in the bloodstream which is why it appears to be so effective. Anything that helps the body to process glucose will be beneficial in normalizing blood glucose levels.

Chromium supplements - many wellness gurus conjecture that the soils that crops are grown in these days is seriously lacking in a lot of the trace elements that at one time naturally resided in the earth. One of these trace elements is chromium, which in some tests has shown to provide diabetes patients with substantial improvement from their diabetes symptoms. Chromium is believed to help the body produce insulin as well as to help the insulin already in the body to perform at a greater level of efficiency. As of today, however, there has been no government regulated trials to test the effectiveness of chromium on diabetes.

Kino - This medicinal herb has been used in Indian medicines for diabetes treatment for a long time as a treatment for diabetes.

Exercise - type 2 diabetes has become a real epidemic in this country. Many health experts lay the problem directly on the combination of them eating too much fast foods and lack of exercise. A theory, that many doctors subscribe to, is that too much body fat leads to diabetes in those that have a family history of diabetes. They believe that it is something about the excess fat that triggers the inability of the body to produce insulin or to use that insulin to process the foods they eat.

There’s no doubt that tested pharmaceutical drugs are effective in treating diabetes. With natural herbs and supplements, however, there’s usually no documented history of their effectiveness. Therefore, before taking any herbal treatment for diabetes, make sure you talk it over with your primary health care physician first.

Diabetes now day is not a disease but an associate of one’s life. Some time ago it was considered a rare disease. Have you been diagnosed with it also? In the past, the majority of diabetics are used to be diagnosed at birth or very early in life with what is known as Type 1 diabetes, owing to the body inability to produce enough insulin.

There is to Type 2 diabetes which is as well in the most cases of the disease contribution. This is contracted later on in life. What is it in the general diet that disposes in advance you and me to Diabetes? They are widely known to be a blend of poor diet and need of proper exercise.

One can note them, coming with the proliferation of fast foods of all types. Have you noticed your children gradual loosing interest in the wholesome crucial meat, potatoes and lots of veggies diet? Meals became a culinary challenge in our house with skill and as quietly as possible, merge nutrition and fun food. The exhibition of a taste testing period , where one is more exposed for too many new and nutritious international dishes. Now our girls are much more health conscious than before.

How about you? Are you familiar with someone who may be completely hooked on junk food? Many people grab fast food dinners. This is frequently because of their busy lifestyles, being too tired to cook a proper meal after a hard day work. This, naturally, without knowing influence the younger generation, who soon refuse to eat the good stuff All this is leads to Diabetes.

The most important motive for all those are, the high content of sugar in junk food, sauces and drinks. It is the sugar one gets obsessed to. Soon they are no longer pleased with the natural sweet taste of our great variety of fresh and dried fruit. What about vegetables? Forget it. If you have to wet it with ketchup, marinated pickles or other sweet condiment, the chances are, you will not eat it. If so, you may be obsessed on sugar.

Do you feel it is too late to get the young generation turned around to wholesome nutrition? Anyone with either type of diabetes will make it clear that it is not amusing. Being dependent on needles and constant monitoring is not pleasant. Neither are the consequences of blindness, pain and amputations in severe cases.

It is time to return back to your natural taste for healthy, natural food without additives, especially sugar. By gradually re introducing more and more natural fiber laden food and fruit in one diet and committing to regular exercise, like walking, one is on his way to regaining control of each one health.

Much information is obtainable about the kinds of foods that are the finest for diabetics and those who are main candidates for it. Take the doctor advice. However, do not neglect the fact that proper nutrition can reverse the trend. Doctors have the skill to diagnose and treat the symptoms of Diabetes. As yet there is no medical healing for this. They can only try to stabilize the insulin level in your body.

Nutritionists are experts in counseling for the right food. We need both the medical and nutritional opinion, to fight Diabetes. By adding the right nutritional supplements, along with a more balanced diet than one may have been used to, one can totally get rid of the diabetes. There is no greater feeling of power and relief than when one get a clean bill of health from the doctor. Thanks to your taking nutrition gravely. Yes, it can be done. You can regain control over the trickery of sugar addiction and wrong eating habits. Get back your confidence and remain in control of your Diabetes and well being.

In recent years, corrective laser eye surgery became a staple choice for patients, with more than one million patients opting for such a procedure. But what exactly is it and how does it work? Well, we suggest you put on your landau scrubs and allow us to take you on a tour that will let you explore the world of corrective eye surgery.

For one, it owes its popularity to its effectiveness. First performed by an ophthalmologist in Greek during the late eighties and introduced to American surgeons in 1990, laser eye surgery soon made a name for itself in the medical field. It is often viewed as the best alternative to contact lenses and eyeglasses, and is used to correct astigmatism, farsightedness, and nearsightedness. Also, the said procedure can be done safely and quickly, with the patient experiencing very minimum discomfort.

Things to expect before surgery

Just like any other medical procedure, the patient will have to be educated regarding the whole process by the assigned expert. The information is usually given through a seminar or a free consultation. During this time, you can freely ask the surgery coordinator specific questions about the process and options. Should you decide to proceed with the surgery, the next step is to schedule an appointment for a consultation and comprehensive examination. At this point, your medical and ocular history will be reviewed. You may have to undergo a series of tests in order to assess your appropriateness for surgery. These measurements may include testing of the retina and optic nerves, measuring intraocular pressure, determining your dominant eye, and above all, measuring the thickness of the cornea.

Seeing through the surgery

Conventional eye surgery is done relatively quickly. It is basically a painless outpatient procedure that does no require hospitalization. Yes, you can go home right after undergoing eye surgery. So on with surgery itself…

While you are awake during the surgery, you will be given anesthetic eye drops, numbing your eyes in the process. To keep your eyelashes out of the way, a plastic drape will be used and placed on your eyelids. To hold the eyelids back, a speculum will also be used during the entire operation. A suction cup will then be placed over each eye, creating the flap. After being gently pulled back, expect to feel a little bit of pressure. A laser will take care of the actual correction of the vision impairment by reshaping the cornea. This will usually take about several minutes per eye. Aside from the “clicking” sound made by the machine, expect to smell a slight odor as the laser vaporizes the tissue. After the actual laser treatment, you will be ushered into a recovery room to rest. Expect to feel a slight tingling or burning sensation as the anesthesia wears off. Finally, you will be given a final check up, complete with post-operation care guidelines. You will also be given eye drops and protective eye shields during the final check-up. After that, you can go home to rest your eyes—now you’re on your way to recovery.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my previous post about how to sum up a hospital’s mission statement. What I dislike about most mission statements is that it’s "operations" focused versus "customer" focused. And it’s usually too abstract. It’s too "management-y." Employees can’t sink their teeth into these and take ownership. The example I mentioned last time: Citibank isn’t in the "financial services" business, they are in the "peace of mind" business. I noted that maybe hospitals are in the business of "new beginnings." Still, that’s pretty weak, too.

What’s interesting is that different hospitals think about this mission statement differently. Take a look at some of the great hospitals of the world and their mission statements:

For example, Mayo Clinic’s mission is this:

"Mayo will provide the best care to every patient every day through integrated clinical practice, education and research."

Bumrungrad Hospital, the internationally-renown hospital in Thailand, has this as its mission:

"We provide world class healthcare with care and compassion."

Johns Hopkins’s mission:

* To be the world’s preeminent health care institution

* To provide the highest quality care and service for all people in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human illness

* To operate cooperatively and interdependently with the faculty of The Johns Hopkins University to support education in the health professions and research and development into causes and treatment of human illness

* To be the leading health care institution in the application of discovery

* To attract and support physicians and other health care professionals of the highest character and greatest skill

* To provide facilities and amenities which promote the highest quality care, afford solace and enhance the surrounding community.

Cleveland Clinic’s mission statement (thanks Rita): "The mission of The Cleveland Clinic is to provide compassionate health care of the highest quality in a setting of education and research."

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (thankst theora!): The progressive control and cure of cancer through programs of patient care, research and education."

Mass Gen: "To provide the highest quality care to individuals and to the local and distant communities we serve, to advance care through excellence in biomedical research, and to educate future academic and practice leaders of the health care professions."

Granted, you could argue that hospitals don’t need a compelling mission statement because employees know why they’re there. They can understand how their job impacts patients because everyone is a patient, too.

Here’s a zany idea. I want to see a hospital come out and say that their mission is to create the healthiest communities on the face of the planet. Why stop at "healthcare services?" Why not cast a grander vision. Say Northwestern Memorial Healthcare in downtown Chicago - that their vision is to make Chicago the healthiest city in the world. Wow, now that would be an exciting place to be. If I was an employee there, I would feel motivated - I’m not just making patient’s lives better, I’m making my city better.

Of course, if that really was the vision, a lot of stuff changes, doesn’t it? The hospital would have to go much deeper into preventative care, "wellness" programs, fitness centers, health literacy, partnerships with other hospitals, and maybe even policy/legislative action. Maybe competing hospitals within the same market would have to comprimise a bit - e.g. if you guys develop into a world-class cancer center, we’ll just refer patients to you there - as long as you refer your patients to our newly created cardiovascular program. Pretty soon, competition isn’t hospital vs. hospital, it’s city vs. city.

Nonetheless, how cool would that be? For a band of hospitals not just to treat disease, but to really truly "take ownership" of a city’s or even a region’s health.

Previously I joined with others in predicting that the number of retail clinics will be in the thousands in 18 months or so. Consumerism is too strong of a force. Simple, quick, convenient healthcare is way too compelling to pass up. I’m still a believer.

But, let’s not forget that it’s still a retail business and is ruled by the laws of retail business models - location, location, location.

Case in point: Take Care is in the process of closing down all 10 of their clinics in Portland. I might be reading between the lines here, but it seems like they didn’t want to pilot there to begin with, but their partners at Rite Aid convinced them. Portland is a good-sized 2nd-tier American city. The only problem is that people are really healthy there and have good access to doctors already.

One more thing to consider - Target decided to part ways with MinuteClinic even after a great 2.5 year partnership. MinuteClinic was quickly bought up by CVS. Again, read through the link here, I may be reading between the lines too much. It sounds to me that Target’s not fully bought into the concept yet - it’s still in pilot stage. Did MinuteClinic really want to grow faster than Target was comfortable with?

So, to recap:

- money is still POURING into retail clinics

- hundreds of clinics will be opening within the next 6-12 months

- it smells like a landgrab situation, with lots of clinic operators partnering with national big-box retailers

- Like any retail business, location, location, location still applies

In the 1980s, every hotel trying to just stay in the game had to have a pool (and now in 2006, every decent hotel has to have a spa). Same situation here? Any retailer worth anything will have to have a little health clinic? You live down the street from Target and Wal-Mart. One has one, the other doesn’t? Is that enough to change your mind?

For me, definitely, if I need something there.

So if the retail clinic is like the hotel pool of the 1980s, what is like the hotel spa? In 2010, once most retailers have a clinic, how will they continue to differentiate their stores? "Today, we are offering a $100 winterization treatment, which includes your flu shot, a 15-minute massage, the new designer scarf, a hot chocolate at our in-store cafe, and a discount on this family package of cold medicines."

The asthma is a disease that disables the sufferer more than what we think. It is no doubt a disorder which due to its nasty symptoms like breathlessness and cough makes the patient restless and the patient gasps for breath. The conventional medicine doctors try to suppress the bouts of asthma with the counteracting medicines, which relieve the patient temporarily. However, the long lasting relief is not possible unless patient opts for homeopathic remedies.

Homeopathy is a holistic medicinal science that deals with every patient individually and helps him enhance his resistance to varied allergies and infections. It attacks the root cause of illness and thus eradicates disease completely. No wonder, the patient suffering from asthma gets booster effect with the correctly selected homeopathic medicines and feels better permanently.

The homeopathic doctors however should be chosen wisely considering their experience and ability to handle terminal cases.

Even in children, the homeopathic drugs for asthma work wonders and the child gets rid of gasping pretty soon. Also the homeopathic medicines do not give rise to nasty side effects, thus enabling the child to survive in better environment. You will find that after taking appropriate homeopathic medicines, your child is all the more stable to adapt to the various environmental changes.

Don’t you think this is what we expect from our children? When our children are hale and hearty, we tend to have better energy to cope with our day to day stress. Why not give him a chance with homeopathic treatment to be able to survive optimally?

The asthma is a disease that disables the sufferer more than what we think. It is no doubt a disorder which due to its nasty symptoms like breathlessness and cough makes the patient restless and the patient gasps for breath. The conventional medicine doctors try to suppress the bouts of asthma with the counteracting medicines, which relieve the patient temporarily. However, the long lasting relief is not possible unless patient opts for homeopathic remedies.

Homeopathy is a holistic medicinal science that deals with every patient individually and helps him enhance his resistance to varied allergies and infections. It attacks the root cause of illness and thus eradicates disease completely. No wonder, the patient suffering from asthma gets booster effect with the correctly selected homeopathic medicines and feels better permanently.

The homeopathic doctors however should be chosen wisely considering their experience and ability to handle terminal cases.

Even in children, the homeopathic drugs for asthma work wonders and the child gets rid of gasping pretty soon. Also the homeopathic medicines do not give rise to nasty side effects, thus enabling the child to survive in better environment. You will find that after taking appropriate homeopathic medicines, your child is all the more stable to adapt to the various environmental changes.

Don’t you think this is what we expect from our children? When our children are hale and hearty, we tend to have better energy to cope with our day to day stress. Why not give him a chance with homeopathic treatment to be able to survive optimally?

Asthma has turned into a major health problem worldwide ; medical science hasn’t yet been ready to completely explain this continued rise though some good ideas exist. For sufferers of asthma, this chronic condition is serious as they have difficulty respiring when their air passages react adversely to atmospheric and other allergens. This may be a respiratory condition that when not treated properly can simply result in death, if the attack isn’t attended to in time or is serious. Though drugs can help control your asthma, they also have their fair proportion of complications, including death.

So now, more asthma patients are resorting to natural asthma treatments that do not have any complications.

Dramatic Asthma Relief, on the other hand, uses herbal treatments and all the info wanted to help an individual breath simple without any complications like those that comes with asthma medicine.

The asthma treatment info in the Dramatic Asthma Relief Report completely modified my life and it’ll definitely change yours and your family too.

If you had attempted each drug and treatment available and the asthma only got worse, then this book is an absolute must read book. The Allergy and Asthma Cure is the book we’ve all been waiting for. The book finds a novel and revolutionary experience of the underlying conditions of allergy and asthma.

This book has a complete coverage and readable display, this seriously expanded edition describes the best practical approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of asthma in both adults and youngsters. This book will obviously build its price for people that treat reversible airway disease.

For those of us who were looking for an effective treatment for hypertension, hyperexol has made entry into the market and is creating a revolution because of the success it has shown in treating the problem of high blood pressure. All of us do know the implications of having this problem of hypertension. The entire circulatory system gets affected because of this and if left in this state will affect the condition of the heart adversely causing problems like heart attack. If you think that this is a problem that is unavoidable, you are wrong. There are ways. With medicines like hyperexol there is hope.

Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Magnesium, Garlic, Calcium, Potassium and Selenium are some of the ingredients of hyperexol. Each of these ingredients, work in a manner to control the entire circulatory system, balancing the blood pressure levels. This is a storehouse of antioxidants as this is what is most important for a healthy circulatory system and even a heart that functions properly.

Magnesium present prevents the occurrence of stroke and heart attacks which is very important for people suffering from hypertension. Also the garlic present is very important in controlling the levels of cholesterol, because this is another factor that leads to an improper circulatory system. Hyperexol also contains several herbs in it which is most important in expanding the blood vessels all along the body and thereby improving the blood circulation in the body.

There are other medicines like Hypatrol, Boncardia Forte and Hypevera which also do contain natural ingredients in them. The popularity of hyperexol lies with the fact that it has the best blend of substances in it making it the best possible mixture available to fight against the problem of hypertension.

By giving you an overall support in acting as a health supplement, hyperexol proves that it is one among the best cures that is available for treating high blood pressure the natural way without creating any side effects.