Health Care Services

Thursday, October 25, 2012
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

Wednesday, October 24, 2012
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.