Western Pennsylvania Healthcare News

Covering healthcare news in the Pittsburgh region and beyond.

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Making Sure Your Child Is Happy

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Most parents put the health and happiness of their children before anything else. However, that is not always easy, and they can be influenced by people from outside the family that you have no control over.

From their point of view, growing up can be an anxious and painful time and some of them suffer from low self-esteem and emotional problems that can manifest themselves as bad behavior. Teaching them coping mechanisms can be useful for them and can help you in your quest for making sure your child is happy.

Could Child Therapy Help?

Every child is different and what works with one of your children could be the worst thing for another. As a parent, you do what you think is best, but sometimes you need help, and that is when you should consider child therapy.

Helping children with difficulties to develop social skills, emotional regulation and increasing their self-esteem takes knowledge and experience.  That is why parents who are experiencing problems often turn to the professionals. At ELEOS child psychology is a specialty and they understand issues from both the parents’ and child’s point of view. [Read more…]

4 Tips for Home Healthcare

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It can be difficult to accept the fact that an elderly relative’s health is in decline. Yet it is essential for their wellbeing that you provide them with the right level of care for their needs so that they can enjoy a greater quality of life. If you believe your parent, grandparent or another aging relative needs additional care, but you want to ensure they can remain at home, read the following tips for home healthcare.

1. The CDPAP Initiative

The last thing an aging loved one might want is for their home care decisions to be made by an outside party. The Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) can, therefore, help qualified patients to choose a family member or friend to become a paid caregiver, if it isn’t their spouse. By using such a program, it could allow you to care for your relative without impacting your finances. Contact FreedomCare NY for more information.

2. Mobility Aids

Mobility aids can be a great support for dependent relatives, as it will allow them to move around their home without fear of falling or burning out. It can, therefore, provide a loved one with greater independence, so they can enjoy a better quality of life and will depend on others less for daily tasks. There are a wide variety of low-tech and high-tech mobility aids on the market, and there are options to suit various lifestyles and budgets. For example, your loved one could benefit from crutches, canes, walkers, rollators, motorized scooters, power wheelchairs, and manual wheelchairs. [Read more…]

Just the Fax: Healthcare’s Critical Lifeline

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By Bill Ho

Every few years, a company tries to make a big push to solve the problem of easy and secure access to our healthcare information. The prospect of getting better access to my medical information — and the ability to share that more easily — has always excited me. On the consumer-facing side, a number of companies have attempted to solve the patient access problem, notably Microsoft (HealthVault in 2007), and Google (Google Health in 2008). Most recently, Apple announced the latest update to its health app, which could make it even easier to see our own health information. Not all have succeeded, however. Google Health, for example, discontinued its service in 2012. The journey to health information nirvana continues to be a difficult one.

While consumer access to health information is important and exciting for all of us as patients, the back offices of healthcare organizations are the workhorses when it comes to sharing patient information. The volume of patient data being shared behind the scenes — from consents and referrals to lab reports, H&Ps, and prescriptions — is several orders of magnitude greater than information shared with patients directly. All of this data are shared between internal departments, among specialists, private medical groups, and across a myriad of institutions and business associates, including insurance companies, laboratories, pharmacies, clearinghouses, law firms, and more.

While the HITECH Act pushed the adoption of electronic health record systems to new heights over the last decade, those systems can be notoriously difficult for sharing information between different EHR systems. And while EHR vendors are ostensibly interested in solving this problem, it seems vendors are more incentivized to have customers migrate to their own system than build a bridge between them. While multiple efforts around a digital highway for better interoperability and communication are currently in play, the one technology that continues to work diligently without any compatibility issues for sharing information is the humble but enduring fax.



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How to Avoid Social Media Whiplash—and Keep Your Job

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By Kim Bassett

Use of social media is a part of our everyday lives and is a widely accepted form of communication for the average American. With familiarity and frequency of use brings more opportunities for misuse. According to a study done by On Device Research, a market analyst firm, 1 in 10 young job seekers have lost a job opportunity because of their social media profiles.

The greatest faux pas or errors will happen when people grow too comfortable and/or confident in the social media environment. I’m seeing this happen more and more on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. We are letting our guards down and have a false sense of security when posting.

Much of the time our posts are harmless, but occasionally something major can go awry if and when the one-off post is seen by the wrong person. Particularly if that post is not inline with your employer or prospective employer’s social media rules and guidelines.



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Daily Symptom Monitoring and Weekly Video Health Coaching

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Key for Costliest Health Plan Members and Employee Claimants

By Pam Greenhouse

The total cost of chronic disease in American between 2016-2030 is projected to be $42 trillion, according to the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, with $8,600 per person in medical and productivity cost if current trends continue.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports that over half of Americans are living with at least one chronic condition and nearly a third have multiple chronic conditions including congestive heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, and depression. Individuals with multiple chronic conditions are also the costliest patients, and costs increase with the number of chronic conditions: In 2010, nearly 40% of all inpatient hospital stays were for those with 5+ chronic conditions.

While these costs have skyrocketed for decades unabated, we have reached a tipping point where the evolution of mobile technology combined with video health coaching can address both the cost and quality challenges this population presents.

In the late 1990s-early 2000s, disease management programs (DMPs) began to proliferate, driven by managed care and capitation, with the aim of lowering the cost of care for chronic disease. But the challenges of patient enrollment and compliance have been significant and DMPs haven’t reached their potential. In fact, a not-insignificant number of companies have given up on DMPs for these reasons.


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Modern Technology is an Activity of Daily Living at Providence Point

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Providence Point is a robust retirement and LifeCare community welcoming residents 62 and older. Residents have access to a revolving calendar of classes, programs and events. The popularity of classes for iPad, iPod and iPhone tutorials are proof that technology is everyday routine and a must for living at Providence Point. The number of visitors to the new website, that features a Google 360◦ virtual tour, has also risen dramatically.

The website was recently relaunched and includes floor plans for Hamilton Tower, and a video ‘fly-over,” an architectural rendering of the planned expansion of 70 spacious one- and two-bedroom residential living apartments. Using technology to gain information is no longer out of the hands of the older generation. Tech-savvy seniors participate in the community’s social media regularly and were thrilled to experience the tour of their community with Google VR glasses.

The virtual tour allows visitors the option to tour the grandeur at Providence Point from the comforts of home, something our tech-savvy residents are sharing with friends to best demonstrate the attributes of living at Providence Point. [Read more…]

Redefining Aging

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A puppy or kitten playing clumsily with a toy is certainly categorized as cute. Babies, with their contagious smiles and giggling squeals, are adorable. But when it comes to talking about older adults, please refrain from talking about how ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ they are.

And, do not refer to them as ‘sweetie’ or ‘honey.’ Terms of endearment can carry different meanings and lead to judgments or assumptions at any age. One of the most damaging behaviors of ageism is to begin treating older adults like children, and words are often part of the problem.

Read more.

Steward Health Care Hosts EMS Stewards of the Community Awards

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Steward Now Accepting Nominations for Exceptional EMS Providers in the Mahoning Valley, Mercer County and surrounding communities

In celebration of National Emergency Medical Service (EMS) week, Steward Health Care System will host its First National “EMS Stewards of the Community” Awards Ceremony on May 24 at The Squaw Creek Country Club. 

Steward, which operates four local hospitals, including Sharon Regional Medical Center, Trumbull Regional Medical Center, Northside Regional Medical Center and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital, will recognize several Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers for going “above and beyond” in their interactions with patients at each of Steward’s community hospitals. To nominate an EMS provider in your community for an “EMS Stewards of the Community” award, visit http://info.steward.org/emsaward2018-OHPA.html Nominations must be received by Friday, April 27, 2018. [Read more…]

Filed Under: EMS

Five Key Benefits of the Early Election of Hospice 

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Rhea-Go-ColomaBy Rhea Go-Coloma

For many, hospice can be a frightening word often associated with end-of-life. When adopted earlier in the individual’s disease trajectory, however, it offers significant benefits for patients and families. Significantly, hospice healthcare specialists help to prioritize the family’s wishes and goals, creating a greater sense of ease and comfort.

While hospice is sometimes provided in healthcare facilities, it can also be provided in the comfort of a hospice facility or home, where the patient is more likely to feel at peace in familiar surroundings. Hospice care functions as a collaboration between the patient, family, hospice team and the physician to develop a care program that benefits everyone.

Keep in mind that hospice care costs are typically covered by Medicare through the Medicare Hospice Benefit, Medicaid (in most states), private insurance and the Veteran’s Health Administration.

Here’s a look at the five most important advantages of early election of hospice care for a loved one: [Read more…]

Dr. Sunjay Mannan Joins Genesis Northern Area Family Medicine Practice

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Dr. Sunjay K. Mannan is the newest addition to the Genesis Medical Associates Northern Area Family Medicine practice in McCandless Township.

A graduate of the West Virginia University Medical School, the Wexford resident most recently service as an Assistant Professor at the WVU Emergency Department and as an Advanced Provider for MedExpress Urgent Care in Monroeville.

A member of the American Board of Family Medicine, American Academy of Family Physicians, Pennsylvania Geriatric Society and the American Medical Association, Dr. Mannan completed his residency at Allegheny Health Network’s Forbes Regional Hospital.  He also serves as a physician for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation physical testing program.

At Northern Area Family Medicine, he joins Dr. Warren S. Smith, Dr. Robert H. Porter, Jr., Dr. Kurt M. Heil and their multi-disciplined staff.

Northern Area Family Medicine is one of 11 offices in the Genesis Medical Associates group of primary care physicians, the largest still independent primary care group serving Pittsburgh’s Greater North Hills with offices stretching north from the city of Pittsburgh to Cranberry Township in Butler County.