Health Care Services For the Elderly

Home health care can be for medical needs, but it can also be just to help you with day-to-day activities. For many people, it is those activities that are the hardest. Your friend may love going shopping, but he or she can no longer drive. That can be very frustrating. It is important to get your friend the right help.

Even though your friend may not need medical home health care at this point, it is a good idea to be familiar with it. It is wonderful for your friend to have someone come in and tidy up his or her room so that he or she can find the things needed. It is also nice to just have someone there in case there ever is a medical problem. Even though the help will not have complete medical training, he or she should know what to do in a medical emergency.

Some people who can no longer shop can still cook. Some groups will cook meals. If your friend needs this help, you might suggest this in addition to helping with shopping and just around the house. Even if your friend still loves to cook, he or she might still like the help during the meal in case a bottle needs to be opened or something heavy needs to be lifted.

Make sure to talk to your friend carefully about calling health care services. It is important that he or she not feel like you are not being kind. You just need to explain that you think he or she could use some help. Tell him or her that you wish you were able, but you are not. Explain that there are people who can help, and that his or her doctor should be able to get a referral.

If you explain it in the right way, hopefully your elderly friend will not mind. He or she should understand that help is something that is needed.

You might have more than home health care company near you. You might be able to help your friend by checking into the various ones. You should ask how they regulate their employees and whether they do background checks before hiring. Find out whether those going into the homes are CNAs or have no nursing training at all. These are important areas to consider as you think about home health care for a friend. You will not regret checking these things out if it helps your friend to have a better quality of life.

Health Care Services

There are many health services and a proper range of health care services needs to be provided under a proper healthcare system. The United States does not have the best health care services in the world but it can be said that it has the best emergency care system around the globe. The fact behind this is that America is having highest level of poverty and income inequality among all the rich and developed nations and it affects the reach of the people to the proper health services.

Health systems are designed to fulfill the needs of the health care of some targeted nation or population. Health care planning and its proper system implementation are much more necessary for any country or government. According to the World health report 2000 "Improving performance are good health, responsiveness to the expectations of the population, and fair financial contribution." Duckett (2004) proposed a two dimensional approach to evaluation of health systems: "quality, efficiency and acceptability on one dimension and equity on another."

To have a best health care facilities UNICEF advises that there must be three primary steps which can then systematically improve the health services and to complete a health system.

1. Standards
2. Assessment and Accreditation
3. Support Materials

Seven years ago World Health Organization made the first major effort to rank the health systems of 191 nations. The following parameters were taken in consideration for the best care services;

· Insurance Coverage
· Access
· Fairness
· Health Lives
· Quality
· Life and Death
· Patient Satisfaction
· Use of IT
· Top of the Line Care
· Walk in clinic

Health is a state of well being, physically, mentally, socially and psychologically. Health services are fundamental part of any community, therefore financial stability and proper coverage of medical through insurance or some other way is very much necessary for a human to live and stay normal. There is a proper process oriented structure is required, implemented by the government to provide the health services to each and every of their citizen. The health care industry is responsible to provide the proper health care services to the people with their arm namely health services providers. These health services are paid and could be paid by the patient, by insurance plan, or by the government. Charities and volunteers also play their role to provide the health services to those who are unable to afford. There could be various ways to provide health services to the patient, normally can be categorized into two main;

· Face to Face:

This is the most common way, where the provider, interacts with the patient physically and after having the checkup and understanding of the issues, diagnoses the problem or suggests some tests or medication.

· Non -Face To Face:

Telecommunication is the latest emerging facility, which is now in use to provide healthcare services as well. The practitioner can interact with the patient using, phone, email, text message, or video conferencing and then can provide further suggestions to him / her.

Health services are also provided at schools where the children could be taken care of. UNESCO has published a set of tools to provide the guidance to school healthcare services providers. Following are the basic parameters which must be catered;

· HIV/AIDS
· Food and nutrition
· Helminthes and hygiene
· Malaria
· Violence
· Drugs, tobacco and alcohol

In any health services providing system there could be the following three types of health services.

1. Primary Health Care Services:

Whenever someone needs a health care service in normal and routine life, who could be a family doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, physiotherapist, pharmacist, etc. Primary health services often include prevention and treatment of common diseases and injuries.

2. Secondary Health CareServices:

Whenever someone needs a special care he/she is referred to a specialized care unit, like hospital, or nursing home to provide secondary level of health facilities.

3. Additional / Supplementary Health Care Services:

The services which are normally provided to the senior citizens, children or to whom which do not have their proper medical coverage or paying capabilities and the expanses are covered through government funds or through some volunteer or charity organization.

Home Health Care Insurance

There are various insurance policies that help pay for or totally cover the costs of home health care. Consumers are reminded to be very cautious when shopping, comparing and buying home health care insurance policies because coverage is often limited. Considering the limitations and loopholes that home health care insurance has, they may be more expensive than other insurance policies. Home health care may only be accounted for by comprehensive insurance policies with pay benefits for nursing homes, assisted living communities, and adult day care.

Types of Home Health Care Insurance

The different types of home health care insurance depend on each policy's extent of coverage when paying for home health care services. Private insurance usually only pays for part of the home health care costs which include personal and hospice care. Managed care insurance plans may offer some help with home health care costs if the home health care provider is Medicare-certified, these plans also require hefty premiums.

There are also existing home care policies which actually pays for the excess amounts that your original insurance policy does not cover. These supplemental insurance policies cover additional payments on home medical equipment as well. Long-term care insurance cover most medical and nursing services including licensed home health care costs. They may even include personal care as well as services incurred for the upkeep and maintenance of the policyholder's home. Long term care insurance is paid for in monthly installments based on the individual's age and health conditions. Many times, the benefits may only be reaped after a pre-defined waiting period, or when the insurance company decides the financial assistance is actually necessary.

Originally, long term care insurance policies were intended to pay for a lengthy stay in a nursing home, yet because of the public demand and preference for home health care, a lot of long term care insurance policies now cover in-home services which may vary greatly according to plans. Considerations regarding pre-existing health conditions and prior hospitalizations usually limit the coverage of these insurance policies.

Benefits of Training in Health Care Courses

Do you have the heart to help other people? Do you enjoy taking care of your grandparents more than going out with your friends? If you do, then maybe health training courses are just for you. In this article, you will learn the different ways on how to become a professional health care service provider and how it could benefit you.

Training in health means that you are prepared to face necessary tasks such as waking up early and sleeping late at night. You also have to prepare yourself in long hours of work with your patients only to make sure that they're on a stabilized condition. In order for you to become an eligible health service provider, you must first possess educational qualification and of course experience. You must also be able to pass all written exams that certain governing bodies in health care provide. All health care staff has to undergo classroom training and field testing to gain more knowledge about certain procedures and laws. Another important thing is gaining certification from trusted governing bodies as proof of their eligibility. Although, it's not really required to have certification if you only want to help in taking care of a sick person but having one can put the client at ease. Having a certification lets your client know that they will be taken cared by a professional and that they are in good hands.

Training in health also requires having an up to date knowledge about health services. It is advised that one should take classroom training at least once a year to keep them informed of the new laws and management of the facility. These classes keep health training officers about workplace safety, protection, industrial hygiene, waste safety, indoor air quality, and proper waste management. You will also learn about the basics like maintaining the bed of the client, keeping the room clean and other housekeeping procedures. You will also learn about the proper ways on how to keep your client safe at all times and perform correct procedures in case of emergency. You will also be taught how to transfer a patient from one place to another without the risk of injuring them. You will also be able to read vital signs and become aware of the patient's condition as early as possible.

Care training can be very difficult when you think about the sacrifices that you need to make just to graduate, but once you do, you will learn that it's really rewarding. Professional health care providers get up to 200 dollars per day. You may also be employed by some of the best hospitals and earn more money.

Applying Restoration Industry Techniques to Health Care Facilities

Others have written about the subject in my title. I want to take it one step further and propose a solution to help automatically clean and disinfect a whole room at a time. First I would like to define the following terms so there is no misunderstanding. Sanitation is reducing micro organisms to a safe level. Disinfecting is killing all micro organisms and viruses. All actually means to a high level, close to 100 %. No procedure is perfect. Autoclaving is subjecting items to be sterilized to high pressure steam for about 15 minutes. Air is removed from the chamber during this process and this makes for faster sterilization. Sterilization kills all micro organisms, viruses and their spores.

I would like to point out that employees of Hospitals and other Health Care Facilities are doing their jobs. They are using the equipment and chemicals they are told to use. Micro organisms can become resistant to the cleaning agents being used to kill them. One basic suggestion I think would help this situation, is to make health care facilities smaller or as small as possible. The benefit of having smaller more numerous health care facilities would be the following. In the event an MDRO (Multiple Drug Resistant Organism) or Superbug becomes resistant in one facility the others may be unaffected.. If all attempts to rid a health care facility of a MDRO, Virus, or other contaminant, then the facility can be vacated and isolated. Temporary modular structures can be used in the interim. If these modular structures become contaminated and cannot be made safe, then they can be incinerated and replaced with new ones.

Now back to the problem of automatically sterilizing one room at a time. Ultrasonic cleaning has been a great benefit to the health care industry. During ultrasonic cleaning, compression waves are created in the fluid which destroy life forms by physical means (ripping them apart) rather than chemical means. Life forms and contaminants cannot develop a resistance to ultrasonic cleaning. Ultrasonic cleaning is about 99 % effective and always works. Putting small items into an ultrasonic cleaning machine, takes care of one problem. There are ceilings, walls, floors and other permanent structures in a room that can be cleaned by ultrasonic means. Ultrasonic cleaning introduces high frequency sound waves into water or a medium appropriate for the item being cleaned. A transducer is mounted in the chamber walls or is lowered into the chamber to create the compression waves which do the cleaning. In medical applications the cleaning solution temperature is about 100 degress F ( 30 C).

I am proposing to clean a room having water tight doors, windows, vents and any other openings sealed. The room can be emptied of small items and anything else that's not permanently fixed. A transducer can be lowered into the room and ultrasonic cleaning can be accomplished. The fluid would be pumped into the room before cleaning and be re-cycled for later use. Blowers could air dry the room of cleaning medium. This process or one like it could make cleaning a room less labor intensive and more effective.

Main Advantages of Private Health Care

Reduced waiting period: this is one of the advantages coming with private health care that has made it appealing to all kinds of people. As much as NHS is wonderful in providing medical treatment, it can sometimes take long before the patients are attended to as a result of long queues. With the private health care however, you can be sure to be checked by a health specialist privately as soon as the need arises. This means that you can have the condition well taken care of sooner.

Improved cleanliness: the private health institutions tend to be much cleaner and hygienic compared to the public ones. The establishments do not have any resources limiting and hence are in a position to take care of their cleanliness thus leaving the patients feeling better throughout their time in the health centers.

Numerous health options: private health care caters for different kinds of medical situations. Even though there are areas that it does not cover and they are covered by NHS, you will also find that it has areas that it covers that the NHS would not normally cover. You will also have numerous choices of where to get your treatment from and this is something you would not have enjoyed with other health options.

Privacy: private health care comes with privacy. Unlike in other medical options where you will have to share the room with several other patients, you can be sure to enjoy a private room with amenities such as a television set and a bathroom that is private. This is comfort hard to find elsewhere.

Free visiting hours: the private health care does not have any restrictions when it comes to visiting hours. This means that you can have your friends and family visit you at any given time depending on the times of the day they are free and available or willing to come and visit you. It is a huge advantage that has added greatly to the popularity of private health care. You will find it easy to recover surrounded by friends and family.

Personalized service: you will also enjoy personalized services under private medical care. You will have private time to discuss your condition and symptoms with the doctor without having to wait too long. It is also possible that you will be taken care of by the very first consultant who handles you throughout the treatment thus you enjoy continuity care at its best.

Health Care Industry's Growing Profession

The nursing profession is one of the most needed careers today. There have been shortages of trained and licensed nurses everywhere especially in the United States which is the reason why the nurses working in the health facilities have a lot of responsibilities and take different roles.

The different roles that nurses take include providing bedside care to the patients and ensuring that each patient receives the utmost attention and care. The nurses are also responsible in giving the treatments prescribed by the physician to the patients. These roles that the nurses take are not just limited to hospital settings. A lot of other job opportunities for nurses are already present including nursing job in the military, positions in public relations or health insurance companies, job openings at schools as school nurses or educators and opportunities as travel nurses. Nurses providing service at home, nurses working in the government also known as public health nurses and even nurses becoming writers who write about the industry where they belong are the other careers that a trained and licensed nurse can do these days.

To be a registered nurse and be able to work for the different job opportunities available as mentioned, one should enter a training program specifically designed for nurses. There are different programs available such as entry-level training program, Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Master of Science in nursing (MSN) and a doctorate program (PhD).

The entry-level training program involves a two-year degree of teaching students the essential information a nurse must know to be able to practice nursing effectively and safely. Training courses are also included in this program for the students to develop the important skills that nurses should have.

An entry-level nursing graduate can also be hired in a health facility where he would attend an orientation for a period of six weeks to familiarize him with the job that he should do in the hospital. After the orientation, evaluation in terms of the performance is done. After a good evaluation, he can then be trained again to another aspect of the health care industry. This training/orientation can be repeatedly done until the hospital is sure that he can provide quality health care in any nursing fields.

The BSN program is taken up for four years and is more detailed and has a wider range of coverage than the two-year associate program. Students under this program are expected to gain an extensive knowledge on the medical field and health care. They are also trained to deal with real-time situations where problem solving skills and critical thinking are also developed. Most institutions acquire nurses with a BSN degree thus more people take this program.

The MSN degree can be obtained by already licensed nurses who have been in the profession for a time and still wanted to learn more about their craft. Nurses who have this degree are often given greater responsibilities such as being nurse practitioners or administrators.

Once the MSN degree is obtained, the PhD or the doctorate level can also be acquired through another period of study. Nurses with this degree can be placed in any position in any health care aspect.

Any person who is interested in health care should have a nursing career since it is the most progressive field in the industry and a lot of job opportunities are readily available once you are already a registered nurse.

Medical Tourism in India for Affordable Health Care

Gone are the days when people from less developed nations traveled to developed countries looking for advanced healthcare services. Asia is fast becoming one of the most sought after destinations for medical travel and India stands right up the ladder. The boom in the medical India tourism has been contributed by a host of factors that include affordable medical treatments, high quality medical care, wellness tourism, appealing accommodation options, highly skilled pool of medical professionals and above all, hospitals in India with advanced infrastructure.

Affordable yet excellent healthcare service in India is one of the reasons why people from around the globe choose the country for their medical travel. IVF, cosmetic surgery, infertility, organ transplant and oncology are the various medical arenas that is covered in medical tourism in India. Moreover, the Indian medical services also offers high class treatments in other branches of medical science like Cardiology, dentistry, bariatric, urology, ENT, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, neuro & spine surgeries, gastroenterology, minimally invasive surgery, telemedicine and cancer treatments.

India's popularity as a trusted medical travel destination could also be attributed to the presence of world class hospitals in India. Apollo Group of Hospitals is one such name that has created a niche in medical treatments in India with its clinical excellence. With more than 54 hospitals across the nation, Apollo is the Asia's largest healthcare group. With multiple branches across the nation, hospitals such as Max Hospitals in India, Fortis Group, Baby Memorial, BNWCCC, Columbia Asia, Medanta and Skin Alive are also serving the global populace with their impeccable health care services.

One of the important factors which have made medical India tourism a booming industry is the cost effective treatments available in the country as opposed to the developed nations where similar treatments are way too expensive. Medical tourism in India is rapidly becoming popular owing to the fact that the country has a large pool of highly skilled medical professionals.

Another reason for India being the favored medical travel destinations is the availability of advanced medical treatments and surgical procedures at very affordable costs. Even medicines required for the treatments are considerably cheaper in India than the cost of the same in USA or Britain. The demographic structure of India also insures that cultural and language barriers are almost nonexistent which leads to a hassle free, humane and personalized experience.

Availability of the advanced medical equipments and cutting edge technology in the country at considerably low cost makes India a very affordable medical travel destination. Availability of diverse accommodation options across the country is yet another reason why people prefer India for traveling when it comes to availing healthcare services.

Tourist from around the globe travel to India for cosmetic surgery, dental procedures, bariatric surgery, assisted reproductive technology, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, cardiac surgery, organ and cellular transplantation among others. For those looking for cheap medical treatments without compromising on the quality of service, India may well be the ideal destination for such purpose. Concentrated private sector enterprise, corporate hospitals, chemists, medical consultants and agents are all working in tandem to create an ecosystem that creates, educates and facilitates medical travel to India from around the globe.

Home Health Care: Choose Wisely

Many people don't think about it until it's too late, but home health care is something that you should consider before hospitals or nursing homes become your only option. Realistically, wouldn't you want your children to keep you around after you are unable to take care of yourself, in the comfort of your own home?

If you have not run across the idea of home health care yet in your travels, it combines the best of many worlds of care. The same quality of care a patient would get in a hospital is transferred to a private residence, where the patient is the sole focus of a trained professional on hand.

The person will be trained in many basic and advanced parts of the treatment process, including having knowledge of nutrition, IV's, patient and caregiver processes, occupational and dietary therapy, and a consistent knowledge of anything medically related that specific person needs to be health and safe in the home environment.

If medical agencies are smart, they always have an arm of their service that includes the ability of their staff to go on home health care assignments. This is because is can be beneficial to all parties involved, as the correct utilization of resources saves everyone time and money, and people use that to their advantage.

If you are worried about certain conditions for your parent, here are some things that home health care deals with as well - helping them eat and drink properly, basic cooking and cleaning, checking temperature and breathing, if they need assistance getting into and out of bed, if they need a helping hand with things like bathing or using the bathroom.

One of the first things that you should discuss is the plan of care. That is a document that details all of the daily, short term, and long term aspects of the care, from who is going to take care of what, to the types of medical equipment that needs to be on hand, to deciding which treatments are going to take how long and when results should be seen.

Staff should always be determined to improve their service as well. If you have noticed that your home health care provided has become lazy or does not take as much interest in the client as they should, you should immediately start shopping around for a better place to hire from. Improvement is always the key.

It's not an easy decision sending a loved one to a hospital or nursing home, so make the right choice and instead have the hospital come to you. The service can be excellent, and you'll feel more connected instead of guilty as time goes by and your parents are still happy.

Health Care 2.0 Is Truly Underway

What if you could tweet your symptoms to a doctor and receive an immediate diagnosis? With the international medical community expanding their innovative use of Web 2.0, this might not be too far off.

At the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), patients are already conducting a virtual visit to the doctor's office on their iPad or iPhone by accessing the online "HealthTrak" portal established by UPMC a few years ago to serve its 20 hospitals, 400 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, and 1.4 million health plan members. Users can schedule appointments, renew prescriptions and view medical records and test results, and even conduct a virtual visit to the doctor's office. Designated for patients with non-pressing, common place health problems such as back pains, rashes, sinus infections, headaches and colds, an "eVisit" entails answering a series of questions about your condition then awaiting a response from the doctor. With approximately 600 new users joining HealthTrak each week, UPMC expects to have 100,000 users by the end of the year. UPMC's chief medical information officer G. Daniel Martich, MD, anticipates Web 2.0 playing an expansive role: "Eventually, care will evolve using a whole range of technology: chatting, texting, apps."

There are also individuals who are proving just as inventive as mega-hospitals on the social media frontlines. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and researcher at Children's Hospital Boston, invented HealthMap, a website and mobile application that scours the blogosphere, news outlets and social-networking websites to track global disease outbreaks. With the ability to access tens of thousands of web pages in a single hour, HealthMap was able to detect a new pattern of respiratory illness in Mexico in 2009 before public health officials even realized it was there.

Brownstein also created Outbreaks Near Me, a smart-phone application that allows users to enter information such as if a family member falls or if there is a line-up at a local clinic in order to help researchers identify patterns and possible outbreaks.

Use of social media is not only expanding among medical professionals but patients as well. According to the National Research Corp. survey one in five Americans utilize social media (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace and FourSquare) as a source of healthcare information.

With the limits of social media being constantly pushed and pulled, its increasing role in the healthcare, pandemics and emergencies could potentially shape an entire new definition of medical interaction around the world.

Things To Do With Your MBA: Healthcare Administration

A hospital is often a monolithic building, or, if not, a campus of related buildings. Either way, it's big. Not only does it cover a lot of square footage, but there are a myriad of different groups at play, including doctors, nurses, facilities staff, security, volunteers, patients, visitors, etc. All of these people are carrying out hundreds of different tasks all in the same space, and it is essential that all these different actions achieve some sort of working harmony. That is the job of the Hospital Administrator.

The goal of hospital administration is to not only coordinate space, resources and scheduling of different departments, but to also keep an eye on the overall business administration of the entire complex. It's all about organization, efficiency, and controlling chaos. Unlike most other businesses, running a hospital involves constantly being exposed to emergencies and life or death situations. It creates a sense of urgency that few other jobs can match.

Most administrators have a Masters of Business Administration degree with a specialty in Healthcare. Although, there is a new Master of Healthcare Administration that is gaining some market share. The MBA focuses a bit more on the management and business aspects, while the MHA caters more toward overall healthcare policy. Either of these degrees, combined with years of experience, prepare the director for the responsibilities of the job.

The most important aspect of surviving this job is leadership. There are so many passionate individuals with strong personalities involved in the medicine. They all feel that urgency, and as a result, they all push forward the needs of their patients with vigor. It takes a person with strong leadership to be able to keep all these people working together and accomplishing all their goals.

A good deal of this work is done with policy setting. Drafting solid policies creates the rulebook for a hospital. Those policies should focus on the promoting the care of the hospital, the staff, and the patients. Like any business rules, in the day to day, they serve more as guidelines than absolutes.

The life of a hospital administrator can be an exciting and a stressful one, but ultimately rewarding. After all, it is the business of caring for the health of others. Beyond that, the position becomes just like any other life or death, high end management position. Every day is filled with a delicate balance of implementing and refining policy, adapting to business needs, dealing with staffing issues, and trying to move the organization's goals forward

Fastest Growing Allied Healthcare Careers

Some of the fastest growing professions in the country are allied healthcare occupations. But what exactly does allied healthcare mean and how is it different from healthcare? Allied health refers to the services outside of the three main healthcare disciplines of medicine, dentistry, and nursing.

Allied healthcare covers a whole gamut of services including physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, home health aide workers, dental assistants, medical sonographers, speech pathologists, laboratory technicians, etc.

The list is by no means comprehensive and there are tons of other allied health professions that are growing in demand. However, there are a few that stand out because of their minimal training requirement and immense potential. Some such fast growing allied healthcare careers are:

Medical Transcription: Medical transcriptionists held about 95,100 jobs in the year 2010.* The medical transcription practice involves listening to recordings of doctor dictations and converting them into factually and grammatically correct written reports. Being able to understand medical terminology, typing efficiency and editing skills are the core competencies required for this job. Medical transcriptionists may work at hospitals, offices of physicians, or firms that provide transcription services. Many of them are also self-employed and work from home.

To start a career in medical transcription, it's important to complete a postsecondary training program in the field. It's also desirable, though not mandatory to have a Registered Medical Transcriptionist (RMT) or Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) certification awarded by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI).

Pharmacy Technician:Pharmacy technicians are professionals who assist licensed pharmacists in performing a number of clerical, administrative and pharmacy-related tasks. A typical work day for a pharmacy tech includes completing tasks like helping pharmacists in filling prescriptions, responding to patient queries, mixing medications, maintaining patient profiles, managing cash register, packaging and labeling bottles, etc.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the projected growth in employment of pharmacy techs in the 2010-20 decade is 32 per cent**, much faster than average for all occupations. Formal training requirements are none, but completing a pharmacy tech course and getting certified will definitely provide aspirants to this career a competitive edge in the job market.

Medical Coding and Billing:Medical coding and billing specialists use various classifications systems to assign codes to treatments, diagnoses, tests, and other clinical procedures performed on patients. These coded documents are used for healthcare reimbursement purposes as well as to maintain patient records, medical histories and hospital databases.

According to the Department of Labor data, the annual median pay of medical coding and billing specialists in 2010 was $32,350.Postsecondary medical billing and coding training and professional certification from organizations like the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) are the credentials typically required for gaining entry in to the field.

Rising Healthcare Costs in the UAE

The UAE has seen tremendous development in recent years, with the largely oil driven economies of the region doing better than many in weathering the challenging financial climate of recent years. Indeed, the UAE saw its economy grow by 4.3 percent in 2011 due in great part to the prices of oil, although certainly helped along by non-oil sectors such as the tourism industry.

However, as many developing and developed countries alike have come to realize, increasing access to modern technology, food and conveniences often brings with it increases in certain diseases and healthcare expenditure in tow. Preventable diseases such as type-II diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer that are often referred to as lifestyle diseases often play a large part in rapidly growing the amount spent on healthcare both by governments and individual citizens seeking care.

The UAE has felt such a pinch quite acutely in recent years, with their expenditures on healthcare rising to approximately US$1,200 per person per year, bringing them into the top 20 countries in the world for money spent on healthcare per capita. While this may be seen as good news for healthcare providers and the pharmaceutical industry, the growing costs and the underlying health problems causing the rapid rise in health spending have serious implications both for the quality of life of the citizenry as well as the financial wellbeing of the countries as they try to ensure access to quality services.

Much of the growing healthcare budget is due to the rapid rise in lifestyle diseases in the UAE and the Gulf region in general. Indeed, 19.2 percent of residents in the UAE have diabetes making it the country with the highest prevalence of the disease in the Gulf region. In 2010, providing treatment for diabetes alone cost the UAE US$5.5 billion annually, comprising 14 percent of healthcare spending in the Emirates.

While healthcare expenditures as a per capita amount rising dramatically, it still only comprises approximately 3 percent of the UAE's GDP. While this is expected to rise to close to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2015, it still does not come close to the United States, which spent enough on healthcare to equate to upwards of 17 percent of their GDP. However, much like the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Region, the healthcare system in the UAE is largely subsidized by the government, in fact over 70 percent of healthcare spending in the GCC region comes from public sector funding.

However, with the increasing rapid rise in the cost of providing healthcare to the citizens and residents of the Emirates, there is an increasing push to bring in more private sector participation in funding healthcare. It has led many Emirates in the UAE and also other countries in the GCC to begin to consider enacting compulsory health insurance legislation.

So far, only two Emirates have made concrete steps towards restructuring how healthcare is financed through the implementation of mandatory health insurance; Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Abu Dhabi initially required that employers purchase health insurance for expatriate employees in 2005, although it later introduced laws creating the framework for the state to insure all resident UAE nationals under the thiqa health insurance scheme. Abu Dhabi's initiatives now cover over 98 percent of the population of the Emirate. Dubai on the other hand, had mooted plans for compulsory health insurance in 2008-9, especially for expatriates, although the plans were put on hold with the global financial crisis.

However, in 2012, a draft law for mandatory health insurance at a federal level was briefly published. For the short time that it was available, the draft law conceived of a federal health insurance authority that would work with local health authorities in each emirate and establish how providers would be accredited and regulated. Although it was not laid clear how this would work in practice or how it would interact with existing health insurance regulations at the emirate level.

One thing is certain though, that as healthcare costs continue to rise ever more swiftly, individual Emirates or the UAE as a whole will have to take action in the near future to ensure continued access to quality healthcare services for their citizens. This seems most likely to take the form of requiring employer-provided health insurance coverage, however it remains to be seen how exactly this system would be put into place and managed.

Analysis of Primary Health Care

Introduction:

One of the most essential health problems is cardiovascular diseases, in most developed nations, including Italy, with severe consequences associated with hypercholesterolemia, one of the main risk factors for these illnesses. According to the Nationwide Institute of Research, heart diseases triggered 32.2% of the total deaths in Italy in 2007. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2002, hypercholesterolemia was anticipated as the cause of 18% of international cerebrovascular condition and 56% of ischemic heart problems and 7.9% of world mortality.

Methods:

This was an illustrative observational research, based on details from all digital records of prescriptions in organizations that offer primary health care in the NHS in the northern of Italy, through the detailed program to support medical practice, between Jan 2006 and Dec 2007.By 2007, South Italy had 3,745, 236 population, comprising 35% of Colonial Inhabitants. Nationwide Health Service (NHS) provides worldwide coverage with 108 Main Health care Systems, comprising 31% of Navigator Systems.

Geographical analysis:

We conducted a specific research by nation and NUTS III local departments, to allow adequate information of patterns and asymmetries among local areas regarding fat decreasing agents' solutions.

Discussion:

The outcomes of this research indicate that lipid-lowering agents are a group with excellent pharmacological importance in the international prescription of medication in the northern region of Italy, comprising 4.5% of total prescription medicines. This is according to data on sales of lipid lowering agents in Italy showing that these are the third group of best-selling medication.

This research had some restrictions that were important to note. First, it should be underlined that although extensive data processing and cleaning and appropriate data research techniques were applied, outcomes provided may be partly related to differential prescription details excellent among local areas and heterogeneity in doctor's adherence to the digital prescription system. However they are planning to upgrade this analysis and perform a relative pattern research with more recent details in the near future.

Conclusion:

In summary, this research shows the application of scientific computerized databases to assist in the study of medicines in primary care configurations. The selection of complete prescription details on the examined region had the advantage of including an associate sample of the entire population enabling complete details about medication currently prescribed. Lipid-lowering agents are a team with excellent importance, mainly due to the lots of statins prescribed. This study allowed the analysis of prescription patterns taking into consideration the geographical distribution and characteristics of the populations.

Prescription prices increased from coastal regions to inner regions, and we have proven a wide variation among different areas in the amount recommended, but a clear constant design of statins options among examined areas. The existence of such a high heterogeneity at the regional level calls our attention to the need for National consistent guidelines and suggestions trying to make better ensure excellent and scientific objectives.

Methods to Improve Health Care Customer Service

In any industry, customer service is very important. Businesses that offer good customer service can become more successful. Health care workers have to be particular with how they deal with their clients. These workers have to be trained regularly on what they should be doing in order to deliver proper service.

The first thing that any employee needs to learn about customer service is compassion. Patients and family members are experiencing a great deal of stress once they are in a health care facility. As a health care worker, it is your responsibility to treat them with as much compassion as you can. Your coworkers should also be treated the right way. You and your colleagues will be put under a lot of pressure and will experience a lot of stress.

If you are not careful enough, you can make your patients or their significant others feel more upset. Remember that they are going through a tough time. It is up to you to make them feel that you understand their situation.

Whenever your client has questions, make sure that you have ready answers. You have to be responsive to their queries as well as to their needs. This can be very tiring for you but you have to do anything that is possible. When you are able to respond immediately, you can help reduce the anxiety that they might be feeling.

If you are a doctor or a nurse, you have to display professionalism in your every action. You have to act according to your position in the health care system. Pay attention to how other people will look at you. Your job will be stressful but you have to control yourself. Avoid being argumentative with your clients or coworkers. Your actions need to be constructive.

Pay attention to the needs of your clients. You can identify treatments and solutions once you are aware of their needs. Learn how to assess your patients or their significant others. Some clients will not demand things from you. But, you have to know what their needs are even before they ask for your help. Early identification of needs will allow you to avoid complications from happening. For example, if you were able to correctly assess the condition of your patient, you will be able to give the necessary medical measures. You will help avoid the use of extreme measures to revive your patient.

If you neglect to see crucial details, you will be considered a failure in customer service. Make sure that you look at signs and listen to the complaints of your clients.

If you are part of the management, you should plan how your workers will be able to respond to different situations. Trainings and workshops need to be done at a regular basis. Your employees need to know what they are going to do to properly handle complaints and other difficult situations. Experience can be a good factor. With the right training methods and enough experience, you can create workers who will be great at customer service.

Autism Healthcare

The United States has a fragmented healthcare system made of many private health care facilities that are largely owned by the private sector. Primary care doctors are usually the first point of entry when there are any health concerns before referrals to any other appropriate health establishment if necessary. There are thousands of insurance companies that cover private health insurance and up until fairly recently it has been very hard to get health insurance to cover autism because it is risky and treatment is very expensive. This has recently changed due to new legislation but availability can depend on whether a particular State has enacted autism insurance legislation or coverage for government funded health programs such as Medicaid.

The causes of autism are not readily known or available. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that autism and related disorders are more common than previously thought. There is an increase in those being diagnosed and 3-4 times as many boys than girls are affected. On average one in 110 children born in the U.S. have autism. One in 70 boys and one in 315 girls are affected. It is thought by professionals that the increase is due to a wider definition of the spectrum.

It is essential to get an expert diagnosis in order to access the different services and treatments that may be available as it is beneficial to begin an early intervention program. An evaluation and assessment of the child may be done by a multidisciplinary team of professionals. Doctors who specializes in autism will observe the child, ask parents questions about the child's development and behavior and do a variety of tests such as intelligence tests to evaluate the child's strengths and weaknesses.

The following are some examples of the types of people and places listed by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of whom to go to that will make a referral to, or provide diagnostic and treatment services (NIMH):

Family doctors
Mental health specialists such as psychiatrists, psychologists and counselors
Community mental health centers
Health maintenance organizations
Hospital psychiatry departments and outpatients clinics
State hospital outpatient clinics
Local medical and/or psychiatric societies

Once diagnosed, the quest to find affordable health insurance coverage to cover autism can begin. Around half of states currently have enacted autism insurance legislation which makes healthcare insurance coverage for more available, though it can be expensive. Recent laws have increased coverage for government funded health programs such as Medicaid for those on low incomes and disability is covered if it comes within the disability guidelines, so more families now qualify for assistance.

There are all kinds of treatments and interventions available and a treatment plan can be devised and tailored towards the individual child. Different teams of specialists can evaluate such things as speech, communication and motor skills. The main ways of treating the child can be through:

Behaviour Therapies and other types of therapies

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) can be used to shape and modify behavior. Occupational Therapy is available to work on fine and gross motor skills, for example, and there are other therapies such as Speech Therapy.

Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for school age children

Parents are encouraged to be involved with teachers in setting targets or goals to be reached within the particular school year and describes any special support required in meeting them.

Medication

Currently, there are no medications available to treat autism, but there are supplements that can treat and manage some of the symptoms. Ritalin, for example, can be used to treat impulsivity and overactivity and there are other drugs that can be used to treat behaviors such as aggressive behaviors or repetitive behaviors.