Kelly’s Cervical Cancer Journey
Below are experts from Kelly, author and creator of the blog My Cervical Cancer Journey. In her blog, she details her fight with cervical cancer from 2010 to the present.
My name is Kelly and I was diagnosed with cervical cancer stage 2 in May 2010. I had no idea what I was in for! You hear the word cancer and you have two choices: curl up in a ball or you fight. I am not a doctor but want to share my story from the patient point of view to help others.
I was 41 years old at the time of the diagnoses. I am a single mother of triplets. I was scared. My symptoms were constant bleeding. During the same tim...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - January 31, 2014 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Cancer Chronic Conditions Women's Health Source Type: blogs
Order Workflows
Except for emergent situations, no medical device is used without an order. And if not an order written to accomplish a certain clinical task for a specific patient, then “standing” orders captured in written policies and procedures to handle frequent, routine situations. Consequently, orders are one of the first workflow steps in medical device connectivity. Orders are pervasive, used in all health care delivery environments from acute care hospitals to patient’s homes.
Principal ways connectivity can add value to medical device are enhancing patient safety, improving clinical efficacy and productivity. ...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - January 6, 2014 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Tim Gee Tags: connectivity Patient Safety Source Type: blogs
Medical sources of electromagnetic interference (EMI) to pacemakers / ICD
(implantable cardiovert-defibrillator) include:
a) Electrocautery: Interference can be reduced placing the indifferent electrode as far away from the pacemaker and better still by using bipolar cautery instead of unipolar cautery.
b) Radio-frequency ablation
c) Radiation therapy
d) Electrical nerve and muscle stimulators
e) Dental instruments
f) Spinal cord and deep brain stimulators
g) Defibrillators
h) Capsule endoscopy
i) Electroconvulsive therapy
j) Magnetic resonance imaging (Source: Cardiophile MD)
Source: Cardiophile MD - December 28, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: Electrophysiology Source Type: blogs
Scheduling Workflow
Scheduling is not a workflow one normally associates with medical device connectivity. In some applications, scheduling is handled by software separate from the connectivity solution. Sometimes, scheduling is not done at all. In other applications, as we shall see, scheduling is so much a part of the broader workflow, that it’s hard to recognize as a scheduling task. Two illustrative aspects of scheduling will be discussed, scheduling for diagnostic modalities and scheduling for routine patient care tasks. Because it’s less understood (and frankly more interesting) we will look at scheduling for routine patient...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - December 5, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Tim Gee Tags: connectivity Patient Flow Patient Safety Source Type: blogs
The NHS atlas of variation in diagnostic services
NHS Right Care -This publication features 69 different maps of England and identifies local variations for a wide range of diagnostic services covering imaging, endoscopy, physiological diagnostics, pathology, and genetics. It shows that patients in certain areas are hundreds of times less likely to be offered some tests than in other parts of the country.
Atlas
NHS Right Care - diagnostics
NHS Right Care - news (Source: Health Management Specialist Library)
Source: Health Management Specialist Library - November 27, 2013 Category: UK Health Authors: The King's Fund Information & Knowledge Service Tags: NHS measurement and performance Quality of care and clinical outcomes Source Type: blogs
Weird wheat re-exposure reactions
As the world of people who are wheat-free continues to grow, I am witnessing a range of weird re-exposure reactions when people, intentionally or inadvertently, get re-exposed.
Among the peculiar reactions:
Congestive heart failure–A woman with a clear-cut syndrome of wheat intolerance that was evidenced by diabetes, excessive expression of small LDL particles (around 2000 nmol/L at the start), high triglycerides, gastrointestinal distress, widespread joint pain, and a peripheral neuropathy (impaired coordination, reduced sensation to the legs), and negative blood markers for celiac disease, improved substantially a...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - November 18, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Re-exposure syndromes Source Type: blogs
Patient Context Workflow
This blog post is intended as a high level review of the issues surrounding the creation and management of patient context for data acquired from medical devices. This post is not a definitive explanation of all factors associated with patient context, nor does it provide “the answer” to any particular patient context need. The intent of this post is to describe different requirements, technologies and workflows that impact the requirements and design of optimal patient context management. The goal here is to flesh out a framework to think about and discuss patient context and how it can impact patient safety a...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - November 11, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Tim Gee Tags: connectivity Patient Safety Source Type: blogs
Endochoice Receives FDA Approval for Fuse 1G Gastroscope (video)
Endochoice (Alpharetta, GA) received FDA 510(k) clearance for the Fuse 1G Gastroscope that features a 245 degree field of view. The companion product, the Fuse 1C Colonoscope with a 330 degree field of view, was FDA cleared in May of this year. The Fuse 1G Gastroscope’s wider field of view is a major advancement in gastroscopy technology since traditional gastroscopes have a field of view of approximately 150 degrees and are essentially only forward looking.
The Fuse system shows images on three screens instead of one, thereby allowing visualization of more of the GI tract along, helping to cover difficult to image ...
Source: Medgadget - October 31, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Gaurav Krishnamurthy Tags: GI Source Type: blogs
Connectivity Workflows
The objective of this list is to capture all of the basic workflows that apply to multiple types of medical devices. The last two as categories are intended to contain the more highly specialized workflows. Let me know how you might revise this list. (Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting)
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - October 28, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Tim Gee Tags: connectivity Product Development Source Type: blogs
Olympus Curvilinear Forward-Viewing Endoscopic Ultrasound Scope
Olympus is proudly announcing the release of the world’s first forward-viewing curvilinear ultrasound gastrovideoscope, the TGF-UC180J, that features a 180° articulation angle. Instruments can be delivered through the main channel and water is pumped through another for improved ultrasound visualization without utilizing a balloon that’s squeezed against the imaging target.
The device received FDA 510(k) clearance and is now being made available by Olympus.
From the press release:
“The forward-viewing therapeutic echoendoscope is a major advance for interventional endoscopy,” said Dr. Kenneth Binmo...
Source: Medgadget - October 15, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Editors Tags: GI Source Type: blogs
Crospon Receives FDA Approval for EsoFlip Dilation Catheter
Crospon, a Galway, Ireland company, has received FDA 510(k) approval for the EsoFlip Dilation Catheter. The EsoFlip catheter is intended to be used to dilate the colon or the esophagus (not at the same time, in case you wondered). The company’s first product was the EndoFLIP (Endolumenal Functional Lumen Imaging Probe) Imaging System, which is used to measure the dimensions and functional measures of viscus organs, vessels and sphincteric structures in the body. Unlike the EndoFlip product, which is used as a measurement tool, the EsoFlip catheter will signal Crospon’s entry into the therapeutic endoscopy acce...
Source: Medgadget - October 15, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Gaurav Krishnamurthy Tags: GI Surgery Source Type: blogs
Alzheimer's Aunt: A diagnosis
Almost two years after Alzheimer's Aunt started showing signs and symptoms of being extremely ill, something has finally been done.
Before I explain that, I want to tell you about my last major encounters with her and her illness. I haven't been writing about her much because frankly it makes me so sad and angry and it's all so pointless when nothing is being done.
Alzheimer's Aunt went on a trip, by herself, cross country, early this summer. Direct flight (the thought of her trying to change planes is terrifying). I ended up going along to navigate when one of my cousins drove her to the airport in New ...
Source: Had a Dad Alzheimers Blog - October 6, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: GBP })i({ Source Type: blogs
Fecal transplants taken up by American Hospital Association in letter to HHS about Medicare/Medicaid
Interesting discussion of Fecal Transplants is this letter from the American Hospital Association to HHS about Medicaid / Medicare: Marilyn Tavenner September 6, 2013 Page 1 of 33 September 6 ...
Key text is below:
"FECAL MICROBIOTA TRANSPLANTATION
Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), also known as fecal bacteriotherapy, or human probiotic
infusion, is a medical treatment for patients with Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) enteritis or
ulcerative colitis. C. difficile infection occurs in patients who have been administered antibiotics
for a long period of time. The antibiotics ...
Source: The Tree of Life - September 7, 2013 Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Jonathan Eisen Source Type: blogs
The EMRs You Don’t Hear About
The best-known EMRs got that way because they target the masses. About a third of the country’s physicians focus on primary care, with the remainder fragmented across dozens of specialties and subspecialties. It’s easy to see, then, why the major EMRs are primary-care centric.
For specialists, the solution is often to use a general EMR and tailor it, with templates and other features, for the field’s common diagnoses and treatments, as well as its workflow. The question is whether the customization is enough. After all, the practice of, say, a nephrologist, who focuses on kidney ailments, doesn’t look much like tha...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - September 4, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: James Ritchie Tags: EHR Electronic Health Record Electronic Medical Record EMR EMR Selection EMR Technology Healthcare HealthCare IT Meaningful Use Practice Management EHR Companies EHR Selection EHR Software EHR Stimulus EHR Vendor EHR Vendors Source Type: blogs
Here, Fishy, Fishy
The skilled ED provider always takes proper precautions before attempting fish bone removal and preparing for patient discharge. And a sensible provider never sends an anxious patient down river without a thorough exam.
Fish bones are usually slightly waxy, bendable, and sharp. These tiny bones lodge themselves in the throat with a vengeance. Common nesting sites of fish bones include the base of the tongue, tonsils, posterior pharyngeal wall, aryepiglottic fold, or upper esophagus. Late complications of leftover fish bones in the throat may cause airway obstruction or rarely esophageal perforation. The patient is alway...
Source: The Procedural Pause - August 29, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
