The Healthcare Standard

Latest Trends in Medical Monitoring Devices and Wearable Health Technology

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Wearable fitness technology has weaved itself into society so that FitBits and smartwatches are seen as mainstream; and the future of wearable devices shows no sign of slowing down.

Piloted by the increasing demand of consumers to monitor their own health, use of wearable technology has more than tripled in the last four years. According to research from Business Insider Intelligence, more than 80% of consumers are willing to wear fitness technology.

Wearable technology in healthcare includes electronic devices that consumers can wear, like Fitbits and smartwatches, and are designed to collect the data of users’ personal health and exercise. US consumer use of wearables jumped from 9% in 2014 to 33% in 2018, according to Accenture.

The advancement of wearable technology and growing demand from consumers to take control of their own health has influenced the medical industry, including insurers, providers, and technology companies, to develop more wearable devices such as Fitbits, smartwatches, and wearable monitors.

 

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The Healthcare Standard

The Other Drug Problem: Medication Safety

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 60,000 children a year end up in the emergency room from taking medications they shouldn’t take.

You probably understand the importance of taking your medications correctly, but you may not be as familiar with how improperly storing and disposing your medications could be creating another problem.

Although your medications keep you healthy and feeling better, they can be extremely dangerous if they are taken by someone else or in the wrong amount.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 60,000 children a year end up in the emergency room from taking medications they shouldn’t take. In addition, prescription drug abuse among teenagers is on the rise and most teenagers abusing prescription drugs get them from family, friends, and their home medicine cabinet.

 

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The Healthcare Standard

Taisho Pharmaceutical Launches Lusefi For Type 2 Diabetes

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LUSEFI, an oral anti-diabetic for type 2 diabetes mellitus which has just been launched by Taisho Pharmaceutical is expected to provide adequate glycaemic control, which lowers blood glucose and serves as a new alternative prescription.

It is an orally-active second generation sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor that is developed and produced by Taisho Pharmaceutical, Japan. Formulated with a new mechanism of action that selectively inhibits SGLT2 – this treatment lowers blood glucose levels by inhibiting the reabsorption of glucose in the renal tubule, thus increasing urinary glucose excretion and eventually reducing blood glucose levels. Suitable for type 2 diabetes mellitus patients aged 20 and above.

A clinical study on Lusefi that was conducted in Japan demonstrated improvement in the blood glucose level for monotherapy. At the end of the study, it was found that in addition to lowering and maintaining a healthy blood glucose level, the anti glycaemic effect of Lusefi also helped patients decrease their body weight. Throughout the study, Lusefi also demonstrated a good safety profile.

Lusefi, with its active ingredients of Luseoglifflozin Hydrate is available in 2.5mg and 5mg tablets via doctor’s prescription.

 

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The Healthcare Standard

5 Natural Sweeteners That People Think Are Healthier Than Sugar

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Many alternatives are just sugar in another form, experts say.

These days, sugar is often blamed for causing obesity, high blood pressure, poor cholesterol, and even chronic conditions. With all the negativity surrounding added sugar, alternatives are becoming increasingly popular in recipes and store shelves. Stevia, date sugar, and erythritol, a sugar alcohol, are three popular natural sweeteners found in food.

Some of these sweeteners offer added benefits, like fiber, and don’t spike blood sugar levels. In diabetics, high blood sugar can be dangerous, but people without the condition don’t need to stress about the types of sweeteners they eat, says J. Wesley McWhorter, MS, RD, LD, CSCS at UT Health Science Center in Houston.

“It’s better to look at how much sugar you’re consuming as a whole rather than look at specific type of sweetener,” he tells Men’s Health.

McWhorter believes it’s best to pick a sweetener you like and enjoy it in moderation.

 

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The Healthcare Standard

How Florida Hospitals Are Preparing For Hurricane Dorian

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We all expect hospitals to be open and operating when we need them, but extreme weather events like hurricanes are a strain on resources and pose significant challenges.

With more than 300 hospitals and a higher share of older adults than any other state, emergency plans for Florida’s hospitals were a critical issue facing emergency planners during those storms. This is true now as well as Hurricane Dorian approaches the state.

As a professor of urban planning, I have studied emergency planning and evacuation and also co-authored an extensive report on how hospitals coped with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Gustav. Hospitals plan for catastrophic events, but there are always lessons to be learned.

Hospitals try to stay open and to care for patients already hospitalized and for those who suffer injury or illness from a storm. Here’s how they do it.

Each hospital is required to have an emergency plan, usually approved by the hospital’s accrediting body. A hospital director and emergency leadership team are responsible for implementing the disaster plan.

 

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The Healthcare Standard

University of Chicago Medicine Nurses Give Union The OK to Call a Strike

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About 2,300 University of Chicago Medicine nurses are one step closer to walking off the job, after voting Thursday night to authorize their union to call a strike.

The vote allows the union to call a one-day strike at any time, without going back to the nurses for approval, said Talisa Hardin, a nurse at the University of Chicago Medical Center and a chief nurse representative for the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United.

The union must give the hospital 10 days notice before a strike. The nurses work at the U. of C. Medical Center and several of the system’s outpatient clinics.

The hospital’s contract with the union expired in April, and the two sides are in negotiations. “So far we haven’t been making a lot of progress so we’re hoping with this strike vote we’ll see some progress happening at the table,” Hardin said.

The nurses want lower nurse-to-patient ratios and more security officers at the hospital, among other things. “Right now there are days where nurses have to take care of more patients than they can safely take care of,” Hardin said.

 

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The Healthcare Standard

Health: Why It’s Never Too Late to Start Working Out

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Older people who have never taken part in exercise programmes have the same ability to build muscle mass as highly trained master athletes of a similar age, researchers have found.

“Our study clearly shows that it doesn’t matter if you haven’t been a regular exerciser throughout your life, you can still derive benefit from exercise whenever you start.

“Obviously a long term commitment to good health and exercise is the best approach to achieve whole-body health, but even starting later on in life will help delay age-related frailty and muscle weakness,” study lead researcher Leigh Breen from the University of Birmingham said.

The study, published in Frontiers in Physiology, compared muscle-building ability in two groups of older men. The first group was classed as ‘master athletes’ with seven people in their 70s and 80s who are lifelong exercisers and still competing at top levels in their sport.

In the second group, eight were healthy individuals of a similar age, who had never participated in structured exercise programmes.

 

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The Healthcare Standard

Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid To Talk To Your Health Insurer

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Here’s a shocker: Consumers are wary of contacting their health insurers. It’s a good bet they’ve been conditioned by their own experiences, stories from friends, and the seemingly endless news stories about insurers who deny health claims. Whatever the reasons, many of the people who pose questions to me would do just about anything to solve their health problems – except talk to their health insurers.

This may be understandable, but it can be a big mistake. Your health insurer knows more about your coverage than anyone, including the often inscrutable rules about what’s covered and how much you pay for coverage in premiums, annual deductibles, co-pays and the like.

Such confusion can be multiplied in Medicare, which has different deductibles and copays for hospital stays, doctors’ visits, outpatient expenses, medical equipment and prescriptions that are covered by the four parts of Medicare.

Today, I’m sharing what may appear to be a rare “good news” story about a health insurer. I say “appear to be rare” because I’m sure this story is not unusual but is not often publicized.

 

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The Healthcare Standard

How Do Hospitals Know What To Do When Hurricanes Approach?

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We all expect hospitals to be open and operating when we need them, but extreme weather events like hurricanes are a strain on resources and pose significant challenges for hospitals.

Closing a hospital is an extreme action, but several hospitals in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina did just that before the arrival of Hurricane Irma in 2017.

With more than 300 hospitals and a higher share of older adults than any other state, emergency plans for Florida’s hospitals were a critical issue facing emergency planners during those storms. This is true now as well as Hurricane Dorian approaches the state.

As a professor of urban planning, I have studied emergency planning and evacuation and also co-authored an extensive report on how hospitals coped with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Gustav. Hospitals plan for catastrophic events, but there are always lessons to be learned.

Hospitals try to stay open and to care for patients already hospitalized and for those who suffer injury or illness from a storm. Here’s how they do it.

 

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The Healthcare Standard

Apple Watch Series 5: The Health-Boosting Features We Are Hoping For

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From native sleep tracking to fully customizable goals, if it were up to us the next Apple Watch would sport these healthy innovations.

Apple has debuted a new Apple Watch every September for the past four years.

As the fall product-launch season rolls around, all eyes are again on Apple. The Cupertino, CA company has debuted a new Apple Watch every September for the past four years and 2019 doesn’t look to be any different; Apple recently invited reporters to a keynote event on Tuesday, September 10. Rumors and patents point toward Apple releasing Apple Watch Series 5, possibly with a built-in camera, native sleep tracking, and blood pressure and glucose monitoring. But it’s also possible that Apple will only announce an updated version of the Apple Watch Series 4.

Either way, CNET editors have their fingers crossed for some wellness-based innovation. Below, the health and fitness features on our Apple Watch Series 5 wishlist.

 

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