Health Technology
Article | September 12, 2023
Everybody deals with stress and anxiety however our anxieties can sometimes get the best of us. It’s important to know how to cope with your anxieties and fears if they get out of control.
With this in mind, here are some tips that a person can use to help manage their daily stresses and anxieties.
1. Take a break: Sometimes, we get stressed out when everything happens all at once. When this happens, a person should take a deep breath and try to find something to do for a few minutes to get their mind off of the problem. A person could take a walk, listen to some music, read the newspaper, or do an activity that will give them a fresh perspective on things.
2. Carry a small notebook of positive statements with you: Whenever you come across an affirmation that makes you feel good, write it down in a small notebook and carry it around in your pocket. Whenever you feel anxious, open up your small notebook and read those statements.
3: You can’t predict the future: While the consequences of a particular fear may seem real, there are usually other factors that cannot be anticipated and can affect the results of any situation. We may be ninety-nine percent correct in predicting the future, but all it takes is for that one percent to make a world of difference.
4. Challenge your negative thinking with positive statements and realistic thinking: When encountering thoughts that make you fearful or depressed, challenge those thoughts by asking yourself questions that will maintain objectivity and common sense. Focus on the reality of your situation and not on your thoughts.
5. Divide your activities into separate steps: When facing a current or upcoming task that overwhelms you with a lot of anxiety, divide the task into a series of smaller steps and then complete each of the smaller tasks one step at a time. Completing these smaller activities will make the stress more manageable and increases your chances of success.
6. Take advantage of the help that is available around you: If possible, talk to a professional who can help you manage your depression and anxieties. They will be able to provide you with additional advice and insights on how to deal with your current problem.
BIOGRAPHY
Stan Popovich is the author of the popular managing fear book, “A Layman’s Guide To Managing Fear”. For more information about Stan’s book and to get some free mental health advice, please visit Stan’s website at http://www.managingfear.com
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Healthtech Security
Article | November 29, 2023
Introduction
Top Upcoming Healthcare Supply Chain Trends to Know About
Immediate Access to Medical Supplies
Emphasis on Visibility and Tracking
Investment in Technologies
Artificial Intelligence
Cloud Computing
Data Analytics
Healthcare Supply Chain Management Solutions: Features and Significance
Why Is Supply Chain Management Software Gaining Prominence in Healthcare?
Closing Thoughts
Introduction
With the ever-evolving and changing nature of the healthcare industry, organizations are discovering new methods to eliminate waste, reduce costs, and prioritize patient concerns.
Despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the vulnerabilities of healthcare supply chains and caused shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other essential medical supplies, it has served as a catalyst for innovation and digital transformation in healthcare supply chain management solutions.
Healthcare and medical organizations have learned the hard way to let go of the traditional ways of thinking, such as a mindset that prioritizes just-in-time supply chains and logistics optimization over everything else.
Tight, fragile supply networks and lousy inventory management have caused severe shortages of pharmaceutical and medical supplies in the past. However, with the emergence of innovative technologies and trends, now is the time to adopt a new mindset that emphasizes supply chain resilience, flexibility, and agility, making supply chains stronger and adaptable. This will enable healthcare spaces to handle unexpected spikes in demand and survive unpredictable disruptions brought on by pandemics, natural disasters, or cyberattacks in the future.
Top Upcoming Healthcare Supply Chain Trends to Know About
In recent years, healthcare providers have been concentrating on supply chain management solutions not only to increase the effectiveness of supply chain networks but also to gain more visibility into the entire supply chain.
With the goal of streamlining the ordering process, enhancing demand planning & inventory management, and informing purchasing contract decisions, healthcare providers have started to understand the potential of advanced healthcare supply chain solutions. Since then, these organizations have recognized the value of an efficient and dependable supply chain as a critical competitive differentiator.
A substantial rise in medical and healthcare spending is being witnessed across the globe due to the rapidly increasing number of various diseases and conditions, such as chronic ailments, infectious diseases, and genetic disorders. According to a study, the national health expenditure in the U.S. reached US$ 4.1 trillion in 2020, including the spending of US$ 829 billion on Medicare and US$ 671 billion on medical aid.
Hence, healthcare organizations, manufacturers of medical devices, and other entities participating in the medical supply chain are investing in innovative supply chain and logistic solutions to provide optimal and timely treatments to patients.
Innovation is not only crucial for lowering operating expenses and simplifying business processes, but it is also necessary for providing superior care to patients and enhancing clinical outcomes. Let's see some of the top healthcare supply chain trends that are revolutionizing the healthcare sector.
Immediate Access to Medical Supplies
Medical equipment and component shortages are not new challenges for the healthcare industry. Hospitals and other medical establishments have faced continual disruptions in the supply chain over the last decade, starting from personal protective equipment and medical device shortages to improper management of medical inventory. This was especially witnessed in the past two years, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Healthcare producers previously adopted a strategy to either pay higher premiums for medical equipment or stockpile them on their balance sheets. However, the issue with this strategy was that during the acute and unprecedented shortage, fewer devices and parts were left to acquire and keep in inventory, which has compelled hospitals to adopt a more cautious supply chain strategy.
Medical establishments need a more diverse pool of suppliers and cannot only rely on just-in-time inventory ordering. Hence, a swift rise in inclination toward adopting sophisticated supply chain solutions is being witnessed across the industry to monitor certain suppliers' run rates. This enables modern healthcare organizations to create more resilient and robust hospital supply chains and provide immediate access to medical inventory.
Emphasis on Visibility and Tracking
One of the most prevalent healthcare supply chain trends witnessed across the industry is the growing focus on visibility and tracking. Obtaining medical supplies, equipment, drugs and others safely, timely, and accurately from the factory floor to patients is the responsibility of the healthcare supply chain. As the industry shifts to value-based care models, the healthcare supply chain is experiencing enormous pressure to increase visibility, decline costs, and improve outcomes.
With the advent of online shopping and the introduction of novel medical e-commerce platforms, manufacturers and suppliers of healthcare products are focusing on real-time tracking during transit and logistics operations. As a result, they are increasingly adopting advanced healthcare supply chain management software to enhance visibility, stream operations, and decrease delivery time.
Investment in Technologies
The efficient management of the healthcare supply chain is paramount for proper patient care and inventory control. The implementation of digital healthcare technology is an essential step toward the achievement of a higher level of efficiency in supply chain management.
Digital healthcare logistics and supply chain solutions have the potential to generate long-term value for healthcare providers, which is one of the main aspects driving the transformation away from the conventional healthcare supply chain. It is improving patients' access to care while making it more efficient, cost-effective, and secure. In addition to this, the integration of advanced technologies is assisting hospitals and healthcare providers in reducing operational costs and identifying appropriate growth opportunities. The following are the technologies healthcare organizations are investing in to strengthen their supply chain management
Artificial Intelligence
The healthcare supply chain trend that is paving the way in the industry is artificial intelligence (AI). It is the future of the healthcare supply chain. The integration of the technology assists in improving logistics efficiencies via quicker data processing, continuous process improvement, and accurate demand-supply forecasting.
By connecting historical data with external patterns that affect production, AI presents a chance to greatly increase the speed and precision of healthcare logistics and supply chain activities. In addition, it enables medical equipment manufacturers and suppliers to constantly record crucial operational data and preserve institutional expertise for future use.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing technologies have played a significant role in transforming the healthcare supply chain management that is used today. It reduces expenses, shortens logistics operations, and increases data security by centralizing data and providing access to that data to numerous associated entities.
With technological advancements, cloud computing is anticipated to gain huge popularity in creating a resilient supply chain with a well-knitted network of healthcare providers, manufacturers, and suppliers. And also provides next-generation features, such as transport route optimization and automatic inventory management.
Data Analytics
Data analytics provides a broader range of in-depth information that can be used to make operational processes more effective, inventory management more strategic, and decisions more accurate. It also assists in transforming the healthcare supply chain by providing access to cutting-edge methods like data mining, predictive forecasting, and predictive analytics to foresee future events with precision, assisting healthcare providers in forecasting further demand and supply interruptions.
In addition to the increasing need for declining costs and transit time, drug manufacturers and healthcare aid suppliers are investing in advanced data analytics to assist them in visualizing the whole supply chain, including its pain points, inefficiencies, and strengths.
Healthcare Supply Chain Management Solutions: Features and Significance
The healthcare industry as a whole is thriving, and this growth is reflected in the more sophisticated and digital nature of healthcare supply chain management software. The solution helps medical facilities see the big picture by coordinating and integrating procedures that manage and control the flow of money, data, and items as a product or service, all the way from the point of production to healthcare spaces, allowing for more efficient care.
The primary goals of these supply chain solutions, such as healthcare logistics software, are to improve visibility and efficiency throughout the distribution network. In recent years, these goals have expanded to include the strategic objective of improving supply chain agility and resilience— to cope with times of uncertainty, shortages, and volatility in demand and supply conditions.
Getting supply chain management right in healthcare means that participating players will be able to effectively identify and resolve bottlenecks, possible interruptions, and other issues that arise anywhere along the end-to-end supply chain. As one of the features, these supply chain solutions have the potential to improve patient care and safety while reducing waste and wasteful expenses. Let's see a few more features of healthcare supply chain management software
Procurement Management
Logistics Management
Inventory Management
Order Management
Warehouse Management
Supplier Relationship Management
Why Is Supply Chain Management Software Gaining Prominence in Healthcare?
Due to increasing instances of medication and healthcare aid shortages, a strong need for modernizing the healthcare supply chain is being experienced by numerous hospitals, drug manufacturers, and suppliers. In addition, the growing use of medical e-commerce is further increasing the complexities in the inventory and logistics operations, making it difficult for the players mentioned above to provide timely delivery, reduce wastage, and ultimately save patients.
To counter these challenges, medical establishments are emphasizing adopting more advanced and resilient supply chain management solutions, which assist them in streamlining and automating routine manual processes such as logistics operations, planning, forecasting, and others. The following are more reasons to encourage healthcare establishments to adopt resilient supply chain management software
Logistics and Shipping Optimization
Reduce Cost Effects
Enhance Quality Control
Increase Flexibility
Better Collaboration with Suppliers
Reduce Inventory and Overhead Costs
Increase Output
Enhance Transparency
Decrease Delivery Time
Closing Thoughts
In today’s constantly evolving healthcare sector, medication manufacturers and hospitals are looking to adopt innovative solutions, such as healthcare logistics software, to eliminate waste, reduce costs, and improve patient care.
The growing integration of AI, predictive analysis, blockchain, and other technologies is playing a major role in modernizing the healthcare supply chain and streamlining operations by automating and improving decision-making abilities. As the healthcare supply chain trends discussed above keep on creating new roads in the industry, supply chain management solutions, such as healthcare logistics software, are anticipated to become a necessity in the future.
Thus, ahead-of-the-curve healthcare providers are seizing this instance as an opportunity to invest in cutting-edge technologies and shift towards using digital solutions to make their supply chains more robust and improve the flexibility of their logistics operations.
FAQ
What is Healthcare Supply Chain Management Software?
Ans: A healthcare supply chain management software assists medication manufacturers and hospitals in sourcing, tracking, quality control, and logistics by automating operations, enabling them to manage costs, time, and inventory by planning and forecasting trends.
What Are the Types of Supply Chain Management Software Used in Healthcare?
Ans: The most common types of supply chain management software used across the healthcare sector are
Logistics
Sourcing and Procurement
Inventory Management
Warehouse
Order Processing
Shipping
What Are the Key Performance Indicators of Supply Chain Management Software in the Healthcare Industry?
Ans: Key performance indicators of supply chain management software in healthcare are
Reduction in Cost
Enhancement in Customer Service
Time to Customer
Forecasting Accuracy
Flow of Logistics Process
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Health Technology, Digital Healthcare
Article | August 16, 2023
Workers in the healthcare industry are among the most burned out demographics following the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, a report by Medscape on physician burnout and depression in 2022 calculated a five-percentage point increase in burnout overall, from 42% in 2020 to 47% in 2021. Critical care physician burnout was also found to increase from 44% to 51% last year, placing them at the top of Maryville University’s list of physician specialties with the highest cases of burnout. This is closely followed by rheumatology physician burnout, which was 50% in 2021. At the bottom of the list, emergency medicine physician burnout still came in close at a rate of 44%.
Burnout can result in, among other things, exhaustion and a loss of concentration, which can be dangerous in healthcare. With that, advancements in technology have been made to help mitigate stress and reduce the chances of burnout in healthcare.
Maximum Tasks, Minimum Efficiency
Reports show that many technological advancements in the healthcare industry actually aren’t appropriate for managing physician workloads. This is due to the range of tasks physicians need to perform, from creating treatment plans to managing EHRs. Our previous discussion on EHR-Generated Messages highlighted how the misapplication of this algorithm had actually led to these inboxes getting clogged. This has primary care physicians spending more than half their workday interacting with EHRs that only remind physicians to order certain tests, instead of dealing with critical messages from patients or colleagues. This has been counterproductive in terms of efficiency, leading to more burnout symptoms and the tendency to reduce clinical work hours. It is therefore important that technology integrations consistently consider the broader picture of the tasks of physicians.
Tech Developments for Reducing Burnout
Shifts in the industry have thus begun to focus on the quality of efficiency and physician assistance, rather than the quantity of technology available. Here are some notable examples of technology that has become finely integrated within the healthcare industry.
Ambient Technology in Clinical Documentation
Ambient computing streamlines the clinical documentation process by using artificial intelligence to respond to human behavior and needs. This provides front-end speech and computer-assisted documentation, reducing the time needed for physicians to work on admin tasks, and thereby minimizing burnout. Smart hospitals have started leveraging this through sensor-based solutions, and experts from Michigan University believe usage must be made easier and simpler to use for the provider if the healthcare industry is to further leverage ambient computing for CDI. As of 2021, adoption has only started to take off, especially in the revenue cycle.
Computer Modeling in Vaccine Development
The traditional process of designing novel vaccines usually lasts 10 to 15 years and can cost between $200 million and $500 million. However, a feature by News Medical highlights the recent development of COVID-19 vaccines, which uncovered the capabilities of computational modeling systems. This showed an ability to predict which parts of a pathogen may be recognized by the immune system’s B cells and T cells. This allows rapid identification of vaccine targets from a genetic sequence, which reduces the years required for preclinical research. Physicians are thus able to respond faster to vaccine developments, and reduce the overload of health systems during any future pandemics or epidemics in the long term.
Patient Placement Technology
The shortage of physicians is a common setback in the industry, one that staff at the Rice County District Hospital in Lyons, Kansas mitigated using patient placement technology. Patient placement technology coordinated care for patients inside the 25-bed, level 4 hospital, as well as those needing to be transferred to another facility. By integrating local EMS and other transport services with health systems, manual telephone calls were no longer necessary. Hence, physicians were able to quickly and effectively get patients the care they needed while managing time-critical diagnoses. This maximizes the limited resources available without stretching out the workforce. Physicians are able to focus solely on their patients, knowing that the time-consuming logistics are being efficiently handled by technology. The industry needs to continue to look into the practices of reducing burnout among physicians, more so as we continue to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. By emphasizing physician wellness and efficient technology, we can continue to assure the health and productivity of healthcare workers into the future.
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Healthtech Security, Healthcare Analytics
Article | April 3, 2023
It’s no secret that the working world has changed these past few years, but employees have also undergone a lot of personal transformation due to these shifts. Struggles with health, home life, or personal issues can make it hard for them to work. Burnout is increasing worldwide, with 40% of desk-job workers feeling mentally distanced from work, depleted of energy, and increased negativity. Younger workers are already becoming drained by work life, which could spell trouble for future generations of employees.
Despite these challenges, the workplace is the best place to help staff improve their wellness, especially since they spend most of their time working or in the office. Wellness programs can be implemented to help employees feel rejuvenated and respected, which will boost their performance at work. Here are some examples of programs your workers might enjoy
Weight Management Programs
The idea of a weight management program at work may seem like something employees could be offended by, but it can help workers build healthy habits and assess their lifestyle to help them achieve better health. Employees can learn to manage their diet better, leading to weight loss and a lowered risk of certain health conditions.
These programs can also identify the need for medical weight loss strategies. For employees struggling with pre-obesity—a complex disease influenced by several factors often out of an individual’s control—personalized lifestyle changes and FDA-approved medications can be recommended. With chronic weight issues, doctors can prescribe medications that can help produce an average of 15% weight loss, especially when individual biology makes doing so harder. Employees can look for the help they need for wellness and weight loss, which can help them feel cared for by the company. When workers are at their peak physically, they can enjoy a healthier lifestyle and will be more efficient at work.
Quit Smoking Programs
Smoking is usually a means for employees to reduce stress, but it can greatly impact their personal and professional lives. Smokers tend to be more absent or disengaged at work than non-smokers. Presenteeism at work is also associated with heavy smoking. Employees coming to work despite health issues can lead to subpar performances. This can cost workplaces a lot of money in lost productivity, and workers will also suffer from health consequences.
Smoking cessation programs can help employees reduce their tobacco consumption and quit smoking for better health and productivity. These programs can include counseling, suggesting smoking cessation products or nicotine replacement therapy, or other initiatives tailored to individuals. Your staff may need more motivation when trying to quit, so having more support and a community to confide in can help.
Mental Health Programs
Mental health in the workplace was largely ignored for many years, as many saw it as a personal issue. However, work can contribute significantly to employees’ mental health problems or exacerbate mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. Improving these conditions is vital to improving many aspects of life for employees. Workers will better enjoy work and perform well when they know they’re being supported. Mental health is also paramount to sustainable development and plays a significant role in transforming the world as a whole. Treating and monitoring mental wellness should be prioritized at work and beyond.
Though companies may not have the means to properly diagnose or treat workers’ mental illnesses, mental health programs can help give employees and managers the education and resources to help improve mental wellness. Education and training on mental health can aid people in spotting issues and having them addressed or equip people with the ability to provide proper support or encouragement. These programs can also help the business take the initiative and offer other resources to improve mental health. That can be through mental health sick leaves, adding napping or gaming areas to the office, or offering mental health apps or counseling in benefits packages. When your staff is appreciated and taken care of, it’ll improve their overall well-being and life at work and home.
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