Offering real hope for people with hepatitis C

Peter Huskinson, and  Professor Graham Foster, set out ongoing work to improve treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis C: NHS England announced last summer the single biggest new multi-million-pound treatment investment of the year by the NHS would be in hepatitis C. The new treatments this funding allowed us to roll out offers real hope for patients. In many cases they can effectively be cured of the virus, and the drugs are much easier to take than older treatments.

Spotlight

Sleepio

Sleepio is the digital sleep improvement program clinically proven to help overcome even long-term poor sleep. Created by world sleep expert, Professor Colin Espie and entrepreneur, Peter Hames, Sleepio features proven Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques. The six-week online programme is clinically proven to help those with long-term sleep problems fall asleep, stay asleep and feel better during the day without using any pills. Sleepio is part of Big Health, the behavioral medicine company.

OTHER ARTICLES
Health Technology, AI

Why Medical Drones Are Taking Off in Healthcare

Article | July 18, 2023

With their speed and maneuverability, drones have long captured attention for their potential to deliver shopping orders and photograph the world from above. But the machines can also serve a medical purpose by shuttling drugs, defibrillators and other equipment to emergency sites or care facilities. Improvements in battery life, GPS navigation and artificial intelligence functions are making drones a more practical option in healthcare, says Dr. Daniel Kraft, faculty chair for medicine and neuroscience at Singularity University, an executive education program that also serves as a business incubator and consultancy service. Theft is also a concern, says Will Stavanja, chief technical officer at AirBox Technologies, which is testing its DroneX fleet for medical deliveries in the Caribbean. “Right now, most drones land, drop the package and leave,” says Stavanja, whose team has developed smart mailboxes for secure delivery. Addressing that risk will be key to determining whether drones can handle sensitive cargo. “You want a very high degree of certainty,” Kraft says. “It’s one thing if you lose a urine sample or a blood sample; you can get another one. It’s another to lose an organ.”

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Health Technology, Digital Healthcare

Managing Your Fearful and Negative Thoughts

Article | September 7, 2023

There are times that we encounter negative thoughts that can be overwhelming. For some people, the more they try to get rid of their thoughts, the stronger they become. As a result, here is a brief list of techniques that a person can use to help manage their negative thinking. 1. Do not focus on your fearful thinking: The first thing a person must do is not to dwell on the fear provoking thought when it comes. The more a person tries to reason out on the fear behind the thought, the stronger it becomes. The next time you encounter a negative situation, get into the practice of not dwelling on it. 2. Think of a red stop sign: At times, a person might encounter a fearful thought that may be difficult to manage. When this happens, visualize a red stop sign which can serve as a reminder to think about something else. Regardless of how scary your negative thinking may be, do not dwell on it. This technique is great in dealing with your negative situations and depression. 3. Its only fear: The difference between an obsessive thought and a regular one is that an obsessive thought is based on fear. With this in mind, try to find the source of the fear behind your negative thinking and then find ways to get rid of your worries. 4. Your thoughts are exaggerated: Sometimes, a person may encounter a lot of scary thoughts coming at them all at once. Instead of getting upset, remember that your negative thinking is exaggerated with worry. Ignore the fear behind these obsessive thoughts, regardless how the strong the fear may be. 5. Challenge your negative thinking with positive statements and realistic thinking: When encountering thoughts that make you fearful or depressed, challenge them by asking yourself questions that will maintain objectivity and common sense. Focus on the reality of your situation and not on your negative thinking. 6. Carry a small notebook of positive statements with you: A person should keep a small notebook of positive statements that makes them feel good. Whenever they come across a positive and uplifting verse that makes them happy, write it down in a small notebook. A person can then carry this notebook around in their pocket and whenever they feel anxious, they can read their notebook. 7. Take it one day at a time: Instead of worrying about how you will get through the rest of the week or month, try to focus on today. Each day can provide us with different opportunities to learn new things and that includes learning how to deal with your situation. In addition, you will not feel overwhelmed with everything if you focus on one thing at a time. 8. Get help: Take advantage of the help that is available around you. If possible, talk to a professional who can help you manage your fears and anxieties. They will be able to provide you with additional advice and insights on how to deal with your current problem. By talking to a professional, a person will be helping themselves in the long run because they will become better able to deal with their problems in the future.

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Health Technology, Digital Healthcare

Healthcare Marketing Tips for 2021

Article | September 8, 2023

2020 was very challenging for those working in the healthcare sector. As Covid-19 is looking unlikely to go away anytime soon, healthcare marketing strategy is crucial in 2021. Do you know that one in every 20 Google searches is health-related? Also, almost 90% of 18-24-year-olds trust the health information they get on social media channels. Consultations and appointments are being carried out online. Information on all medical things is available digitally and things in the medical industry are changing rapidly. Updating yourself and adapting healthcare marketing trends is more than a necessity. This blog provides some of the useful healthcare marketing tips for you in 2021 in light of Covid-19. These tips will help you stay ahead of the competition in these chaotic times. Be Aware of the Covid-19 Impact on Healthcare Marketing Due to the unexpected effect Covid-19 had in the healthcare sector, healthcare marketers have to integrate the latest healthcare marketing trends in 2021 in their campaigns. Here are some tips: Demand for Healthcare Information There is a huge demand for healthcare information, especially related to the pandemic. Engaging people with relevant informational and educational content is crucial. This content can be made on handwashing, mental health, being safe, staying healthy at home, etc. Reputation is Key The key to healthcare marketing is reputation building. Encourage and make patients leave positive feedback online. Learn and improve if you get any negative feedback. Almost 90% of patients use online reviews before consultation or booking an appointment. So, it is vital to have a safe and robust reputation in 2021. Be Transparent Being transparent, you can become a trusted source of information. You can achieve it by keeping your patients updated on any scaling back of operations and policy changes. Answering the queries of patients online will also increase your reputation. Invest in SEO The demand for relevant user-generated content and organic searches has not gone away during the pandemic, it has just shifted. Many businesses reacted to the pandemic by pausing marketing campaigns. In 2021, you will have to keep adapting to the new normal in your healthcare marketing. Since the pandemic outbreak, most consumers are using search engines to look up symptoms, checking reviews of various healthcare providers, and making appointments. Here are some tips for ranking highly on search engines in 2021: Link Building Linking the business website with other quality websites of the same category will increase your reputation and rankings on search engines. Mobile optimization Mobile optimization of your healthcare business website is essential in healthcare marketing. It is more important than ever in 2021 to stay connected with your patients on the go. So, if your website is not mobile-friendly, you will miss out on a massive number of patients, especially during this pandemic time. Blogs Another essential thing in healthcare marketing is to create engaging and relevant content for your potential clients. Engaging, informational, and educational blogs will increase your online visibility in the healthcare industry and rankings in the search engines. Local SEO People searching for something, including healthcare providers, ‘near me’ is a trend. Optimizing your healthcare marketing content and being visible on Google My Business platforms will help you get ranked in search engine result pages. Create a Seamless Patient Experience The global pandemic has drastically changed the way the world works during 2020. These practices expect to be with us in 2021, too, perhaps even beyond. Therefore, the patient experience also has changed hugely. The pandemic has brought out new customs like online appointments due to recent social distance and other safety measures. As an effective healthcare marketing practice, it is essential to communicate with your patients in time to make any changes to your healthcare procedures. Update your website Ensure you update all the essential information about scheduling, appointments, new procedures, and phone consultations clearly on your business website. You can even add a Covid-19 section with FAQs on your website. FAQs can be about what patients can expect and how you are operating safely. Personalize email and text notifications Sending out new safety protocols, appointment reminders, and any changes to your policy via email or text is the best way to communicate with your patients. It can be an effective way of healthcare marketing during the pandemic. It will also ensure that you do not leave out any patients. Mobile app experience Creating an app for your healthcare business will provide your patients with an excellent customer experience. It allows patients to see test results, schedule appointments, chat with consultants, and upload images. Moreover, it will be a great healthcare marketing initiative as it will be valuable in the future of healthcare marketing too. Update your social media Updating your social media channels regularly with how you are operating during the pandemic will create a clear communication channel with your patients. Healthcare content is key Creating reliable, educational, and informative content for meeting user demand is critical for healthcare marketing in 2021. The best way to engage and inform patients is through video content. Video content is also easily accessible for potential customers to consume. It can be in the form of explaining a healthcare issue, what to expect at your appointment, or a Q&A with an expert. Educational, informative, and engaging video creation and distributing it in various channels can be an effective healthcare marketing tactic in 2021. You can also publish statistics, studies, blogs, and news articles to project yourself as an expert in the healthcare industry. Healthcare marketing is all about building a strong reputation and driving up potential customer engagement. The priority in 2021 is to stay on top of your healthcare marketing. We at Media 7 offer bespoke services for the healthcare industry. We generate leads, convert them, and make them your happy customers forever. To know more, visit Media 7 website. Frequently Asked Questions How does social media help in healthcare marketing? Social media is a practical means to establish and manage public awareness and reputation. As part of an overall healthcare marketing plan, social media helps healthcare marketers interact with the public to attract new patients. How do you create a successful healthcare marketing strategy? The first step in creating a successful healthcare marketing strategy is to understand your target audience. After understanding the audience, you can have a step-by-step online marketing process, such as building a website, making your presence on social media, etc. What are the benefits of healthcare marketing? Some of the benefits and advantages of healthcare marketing are improved competitive advantage, networking, visibility, absence of misinformation, creating, communicating, and providing value. It also helps in building up a sustainable relationship with patients.

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Health Technology

5 Ways AI is Likely to Benefit Medicine & Improve Patient Care

Article | September 12, 2023

Since ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) tools have become disruptive to nearly every industry. While there's been controversy about whether AI would benefit the healthcare industry, it has proven to be just as capable in healthcare as in other sectors. In the medical field, there is reason to believe AI tools may be an even more reliable and useful resource than other sectors. Medical students have been panicking over AI's threat to their career prospects. But as these systems mature, the experts increasingly believe that AI may serve as a counterpart to human medical expertise rather than a threat. How AI Tools Are Expected to Aid Medical Professionals? Again and again, as the debate over modern AI tools rages on, we encounter the analogy of the calculator. No one feels threatened by calculators, not even professional mathematicians. Instead of throwing up their hands, math experts embrace the power of these now archaic computerized devices. If the experts are correct, this may be similar to the future of the alliance between AI and humans. According to the designers and programmers who understand how these systems work as well as how information technology tends to progress, AI can be expected to help the medical profession in the following ways: Cosmetic Surgery Consultations One of the farthest-reaching applications we see develop is in consultations for plastic surgery and similar applications. Perhaps one of the easiest aspects to understand is hair-loss consultations. In our practice, we use a device known as HairMetrix, which uses an AI-driven analytical system to help determine what is causing a patient to lose their hair and which treatment options would be the most effective. Because it is AI-driven, it is fully based on visual scans and is completely non-invasive. Just like this, AI can be used in an abundance of other ways to minimize the use of exploratory surgery and improve healthcare outcomes. Improved Diagnostics Artificial intelligence is already helping medical providers deliver diagnoses more quickly. These tools can identify anomalies that might otherwise take human hours or even weeks to identify. This has improved the rate of cancer detection, among other things, which will predictably improve survival rates. Developing New Pharmaceuticals The development of new medicines is notoriously slow. Not only is testing a painstaking process, but even seeking FDA approval can take years. AI is expected to help the development of pharmaceuticals through simulation on the molecular level, allowing researchers to see how the active mechanisms in a drug will work in the body. Improved Administrative Efficiency In the medical field, administrative tasks are notoriously slow. It is believed that generative AI will be able to automate many administrative functions and innumerable office chores. It could streamline sorting patient files, accelerate the interpretation of data, and much more. Patient Access In an area where information technology is already improving patients' lives, access to medical advice is still a bottleneck in the system. AI tools have the potential to slowly bridge the gap in health disparities. Combined with the power to diagnose, this could dramatically increase the capability of online patient portals. Of course, this list of anticipated AI capabilities is far from exhaustive. Researchers and medical professionals have high hopes for these tools, and some are already proving to be more than mere speculation. In a world where AI is reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace, the healthcare sector stands poised to benefit significantly from this technological revolution. From streamlining administrative tasks to revolutionizing diagnostics, the potential of AI in medicine is vast and diverse. As we witness AI-enabled tools like HairMetrix, enhancing the cosmetic surgery consultations and AI algorithms expediting diagnostic accuracy, it's clear that we are only at the beginning of a healthcare transformation that is set to improve patient care, increase survival rates, and revolutionize medical practices.

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Spotlight

Sleepio

Sleepio is the digital sleep improvement program clinically proven to help overcome even long-term poor sleep. Created by world sleep expert, Professor Colin Espie and entrepreneur, Peter Hames, Sleepio features proven Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques. The six-week online programme is clinically proven to help those with long-term sleep problems fall asleep, stay asleep and feel better during the day without using any pills. Sleepio is part of Big Health, the behavioral medicine company.

Related News

Aster DM Healthcare opens third hospital in Oman

khaleejtimes | May 16, 2019

Delivering upon its commitment to improve the availability and accessibility of quality healthcare services in Oman, Aster Al Raffah Hospitals & Clinics are now serving patients with its newest 22-bed Aster Hospital located in Ibri. The new facility further strengthens Aster DM Healthcare's offering in primary and secondary care services in Oman. The inauguration of the new facility was officiated by Khalaf Salim Abdullah Alishaqi, Wali of Ibri and Ms Alisha Moopen, Executive Director & CEO of Aster and Medcare Hospitals & Clinics- GCC, in the presence of officials from various ministries, public authorities, staff of Aster Al Raffah Hospitals & Clinics and the residents of Ibri.Dr Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman and Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare said, "Sultanate of Oman is top on our strategic plans. We already have 2 hospitals at Muscat and Sohar with 6 clinics in Oman. The inauguration of the new facility in Ibri reaffirms our commitment to the people of Oman to cater to the growing needs of the population while making quality healthcare easily available and more accessible for people.

Read More

Multimodal machine learning in healthcare aids patient consults

Techtarget | May 15, 2019

Louis-Philippe Morency is on a mission to build technology that can better understand human behavior in face-to-face communication.By using specialized cameras and a kind of artificial intelligence called multimodal machine learning in healthcare settings, Morency, associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, is training algorithms to analyze the three Vs of communication: verbal or words, vocal or tone and visual or body posture and facial expressions.

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Industry Voices 5g and the Potential for Widespread Healthcare Disruption

Fiercehealthcare | May 15, 2019

Historically, the healthcare industry has been slower to adopt new and emerging technologies partially due to regulatory boundaries and legacy IT infrastructure. But as of late, the healthcare industry is rapidly becoming one of the most technologically advanced in the world. New and emerging technologies are becoming established tools that help healthcare companies and professionals provide exceptional customer service and patient care. This is also spurring new startups that are entering the fray with innovative ideas to disrupt this industry with data, analytics, robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence. The range of benefits includes the complete value chain of healthcare, everything from administrative duties, such as triage and payments, to medical diagnostics, advanced medicine, clinical trials and collaborative initiatives at life sciences organizations.

Read More

Aster DM Healthcare opens third hospital in Oman

khaleejtimes | May 16, 2019

Delivering upon its commitment to improve the availability and accessibility of quality healthcare services in Oman, Aster Al Raffah Hospitals & Clinics are now serving patients with its newest 22-bed Aster Hospital located in Ibri. The new facility further strengthens Aster DM Healthcare's offering in primary and secondary care services in Oman. The inauguration of the new facility was officiated by Khalaf Salim Abdullah Alishaqi, Wali of Ibri and Ms Alisha Moopen, Executive Director & CEO of Aster and Medcare Hospitals & Clinics- GCC, in the presence of officials from various ministries, public authorities, staff of Aster Al Raffah Hospitals & Clinics and the residents of Ibri.Dr Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman and Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare said, "Sultanate of Oman is top on our strategic plans. We already have 2 hospitals at Muscat and Sohar with 6 clinics in Oman. The inauguration of the new facility in Ibri reaffirms our commitment to the people of Oman to cater to the growing needs of the population while making quality healthcare easily available and more accessible for people.

Read More

Multimodal machine learning in healthcare aids patient consults

Techtarget | May 15, 2019

Louis-Philippe Morency is on a mission to build technology that can better understand human behavior in face-to-face communication.By using specialized cameras and a kind of artificial intelligence called multimodal machine learning in healthcare settings, Morency, associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, is training algorithms to analyze the three Vs of communication: verbal or words, vocal or tone and visual or body posture and facial expressions.

Read More

Industry Voices 5g and the Potential for Widespread Healthcare Disruption

Fiercehealthcare | May 15, 2019

Historically, the healthcare industry has been slower to adopt new and emerging technologies partially due to regulatory boundaries and legacy IT infrastructure. But as of late, the healthcare industry is rapidly becoming one of the most technologically advanced in the world. New and emerging technologies are becoming established tools that help healthcare companies and professionals provide exceptional customer service and patient care. This is also spurring new startups that are entering the fray with innovative ideas to disrupt this industry with data, analytics, robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence. The range of benefits includes the complete value chain of healthcare, everything from administrative duties, such as triage and payments, to medical diagnostics, advanced medicine, clinical trials and collaborative initiatives at life sciences organizations.

Read More

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