Accessibility of Diagnostic Imaging

Part of universal health care is diagnostic imaging such as CT scan and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The availability of such equipment in developing countries varies from region to region. Patients who live in bigger cities where the economies are growing can usually avail of diagnostic imaging because of richer patients. A lot of people have insurance and private individuals have invested on the equipment.

On the other hand, cities of smaller size usually don’t have such equipment. Although, if the economy of such city is growing rapidly, the patients could afford so they have to go to the nearest city to have their diagnostic images taken. This is because private entities do not invest in such equipment and the medical practitioners in these cities do not refer.

Some solutions to this problem are to expand health insurance to cover individuals with lower income, purchasing used equipment, encouraging the private investors & doctors, or the government should invest in health care.

Accessibility of diagnostic imaging relies on being available and affordable. In developing countries like Brazil & Taiwan, patients can afford it because health insurance programs of their governments cover most of them. In India, however, the government insurance covers only some people. Only the affluent can afford such equipment.

The government needs to shell out a large capital for state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging equipment that’s why they couldn’t provide access to most of the people. And private sectors only invest on cities where the economies are fast growing. Doctors don’t prescribe imaging scans very often. And doctors who do prescribe them are residing in bigger cities.

Patients residing in larger cities are more aware and can afford health care insurance, thus, health care services are being provided. Hospitals & other diagnostic imaging centers have invested in these diagnostic equipments. Even hospitals run by the government have invested on such equipment. With greater competition, the pricing for diagnostic scans have lowered making these services more affordable & accessible.

When the competition increases and the bigger cities become saturated, the companies for diagnostic imaging equipment are setting their sights on the cities next in size. They are encouraging hospitals & diagnostic centers of these cities to invest in these equipment. Now the patients from these cities don’t have to travel to the big city to avail of high-end imaging scans.

These diagnostic equipment are really indispensable because they help practitioners concertize their suspicions, every hospital should have them.

Improve Your ROI With a Wellness Diagnostic

Studies have shown that businesses that implement health and wellness programs see improvements in productivity, recruiting efforts and workplace morale, as well as decreases in absenteeism, insurance costs and internal conflicts. Studies typically demonstrate a $4 to $5 saving for every one dollar invested in health promotion. With a well-structured program, employees will perform at their maximum potential because they are more invested in their work and more loyal to the company.

However, every workforce has a different profile when it comes to the health of employees and the health of the business as a whole. Therefore, before implementing a wellness program and making costly investments (such as installing a fitness centre, for example), it is essential to identify the specific issues that are affecting the workforce and the company’s bottom line. Simply put, employers must conduct a diagnostic to assess the wellness of their employees and their organizations. However, not all diagnostics are created equal.

Objectives of a wellness diagnostic

A wellness diagnostic must provide an organization-wide measurement of the health and wellness of employees and determine those employees’ needs. A practical diagnostic will identify the specific health and wellness issues that have the biggest impact on the company. The diagnostic should also generate an accurate picture of the general health-and any health risks-of the company as a whole. In other words, simply analyzing the physical health and lifestyle choices of employees won’t cut it; employers must assess the wellness of the organization itself, by analyzing communication efforts, job satisfaction, workload balance and the causes of stress in the workplace.

If a diagnostic achieves these objectives, it will provide a foundation upon which employers can build a structured wellness program. A corporate wellness diagnostic will allow managers to identify problems, set goals, and measure the results and the impact to the organization. It should also provide a comparison to past initiatives and to the competition.

After understanding the objectives of a diagnostic and the reasons for conducting one, managers must determine what different types of diagnostics are out there, and which particular diagnostic is right for their business.

Elements of a successful diagnostic

Most large companies rely on a health risk assessment (HRA) to diagnose the health of their employees. While this type of diagnostic has advantages, HRAs do have some shortcomings. For instance, employees cannot participate anonymously, because they each take part in a one-on-one health assessment. The upside of this is that each employee is provided with an individualized health report, but their responses are likely to be censored if they know their employer can review them. What’s more, it can be difficult to incite healthy habits among employees when they are each working off of an individual report. For a wellness program to truly be successful, it must focus on the bigger picture, so an HRA needs to be complemented with a more thorough diagnostic.

A good corporate wellness diagnostic must be easily accessible and not overly long or complicated, in order to ensure strong employee participation. Participation should be voluntary and employees must feel comfortable taking part; ideally, they would do so in a calm, non-stressful place, and they shouldn’t find the survey too tedious or too personal. To obtain honest answers about sensitive subject matter such as drug and alcohol use, employer approval and job satisfaction, employees should be assured their responses will remain anonymous. To facilitate maximum participation and honesty, the diagnostic should be conducted by an objective source and the importance of answering honestly must be well communicated to the workforce. This last point cannot be stressed enough.

The diagnostic should provide a global perspective on the health of a business, while also providing detailed statistical analyses of each individual issue addressed. It should be made up of at least three different sections that correspond to the three essential components of health and wellness: lifestyle choices, physical health and psychological health.

Any diagnostic must include a focus on lifestyle aspects that strongly correlate with wellness, such as nutrition, exercise, sleep and tobacco, alcohol and drug use. Lifestyle choices have a huge impact on health costs; in fact, preventable illness makes up approximately 70% of the burden of illness and the associated costs. Unfortunately, most people do not prevent these illnesses simply because they are making the wrong lifestyle choices.

Separate from issues related to lifestyle, but equally important, is the assessment of physical health. This section should cover medical problems and physical disorders that may affect employees; it should take into account chronic diseases and other health problems that affect insurance claims. (If you have operations in the U.S., bear in mind that questions related to family medical history are not permitted by U.S. law if employees are given an incentive to take part in an HRA.)

A smart diagnostic will include an evaluation of what is sometimes known as organizational health-that is, all the factors that affect employee productivity and morale in a given workplace.

The next critical section of a good corporate wellness diagnostic is an assessment of the psychological wellbeing of employees. It is not necessary to test employees for mental instability or psychological issues, but rather for their ability to handle stress at home and work, and their ability to maintain healthy relationships with their colleagues. Stress has a huge impact on productivity and insurance claims, and the current trends of layoffs and increased workload are only serving to further increase stress levels.

I should point out that health-related costs and weak productivity are not caused solely by employees and their behaviors. As mentioned earlier, many employers rely on an HRA to diagnose the health of their business, but neglect to analyze workplace issues that are affecting employee health. This can create an environment where employees feel they are under the magnifying glass, and even a sense that they are being blamed. It also leaves employers with an incomplete understanding of health and wellness in their company.

This is a common problem with unsuccessful wellness programs: there is a narrow focus on individuals’ health-related attitudes and behavior, often to the exclusion of job, organization and management factors that affect employee health and wellbeing. A smart diagnostic will include an evaluation of what is sometimes known as organizational health-that is, all the factors that affect employee productivity and morale in a given workplace. These factors could include job satisfaction, workload, stress

Do You Have a Health Problem?

I never met someone who didn’t have a health problem. However this may happen now and then for some people, and may happen more for other people, the difference is, do they know they have a health problem?

Being able to judge your health condition or at least have the sense of any strange symptoms you feel, is a very controversy topic that needs some focus. You can not do this in a random way as this may be a life threatening decision, and consulting some professionals like physician or pharmacist would make a great difference.

On the other hand, knowing the illness and being able to find the problem early is a key turning point in the cure of any health problem, and would be a nice to have knowledge. Some health problems could be known by common sense and would save the patient from panic, and sure identifying the symptoms of a serious health problem early is the best thing ever.

We will handle this topic in a series of articles, trying to pin point some skills that might turn out to make our life better. But first we need to show how people react against medical problems?

Some people deal with medical issues in a proper way, they just think about possible reasons for their health problems, they deal with these problems on their own when it is a simple issue, or they seek the advice from health professionals like doctors when there is a must for that.

Some people have the “wait and see” attitude, which may lead to harmful conditions at the end. They tend to wait for a long time knowing that they are well and everything is going to get better, even if it is already getting worse. They don’t even try to seek help regardless of the advice of people around them to start asking for help.

On the other hand, there are the “Panic” people who overestimate any health problem they might have. They tend to think that minor problems maybe a result of a potentially serious medical condition. The worries of these people are not easy to fade unless they visit a health professional.

Next we will be talking about what we should do about our health problems, and we will get to more details about self-assessment to our own health. So stay tuned.

Mental Disorders – The Importance Of Early Mental Health Diagnosis

Early mental health diagnosis can play a very important role in coping up with most mental disorders. Especially in today’s world when such health problems are common with around 25% of the population believed to be suffering from some form of psychological health problem at any point in time. Poor diagnostic, treatment and care facilities are causing great difficulties for people suffering from such disorders.

Mental health diagnosis videos are a great source of information for patients as well as health care professionals. Timely information as regards the various types of disorders and dealing with them plays a very important role in taking care of the disease. In most cases lack of proper & timely information is the major cause of confusion among people suffering from psychological disorders.

Anxiety, depression and stress are the most prominent forms of mental health disorders that are affecting people in today’s society. Timely diagnosis with the help of modern medical techniques including informative videos can help to deal with many conditions effectively. In fact, the hustle and bustle of modern-day living is exerting enormous pressure on the psychological health of members of today’s society.

There are many different types of psychological disorders, any of which could affect any one of us at any point of time in life; hence, early mental health diagnosis becomes very important. The most common type of disorder is anxiety. However, when the anxiety is so severe that it disrupts our daily lives, then it could be that we are suffering from a psychological disorder. Such conditions need immediate attention, treatment and care.

Paying attention at an early stage of the disease can prove to be of great help for the patients. It will also make it easier for the health care professionals to make accurate mental health diagnosis. In-fact, mental health care is the most neglected area in health care services sector. To have a healthy and fulfilling life, one needs to be psychologically healthy. The mental disorders can be effectively cured with timely medical intervention.

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