Resources – Page 2 – Living Well While Surviving Cancer

Getting Your Health Care Provider to Be More Responsive

A resource for getting your medical records.

Have you ever had trouble getting a health care provider to give you the information you asked for? In fact, many people have.

That is why Ciitizen.com created the patient record scorecard.

According to FierceHealthcare,

“As the former head of healthcare privacy policy at the Department of Health and Human Services, Deven McGraw led efforts to issue guidance on the right of individuals to access and obtain a copy of their health information. When McGraw joined technology startup Ciitizen two years ago, she realized the efforts by the Office for Civil Rights to educate patients and industry stakeholders about the “Right of Access” had done little to reduce friction for patients, McGraw wrote in a Ciitizen blog post.”

“But as Ciitizen — which helps patients collect and share their medical records digitally — started helping its initial beta users gather their medical records, the company encountered countless roadblocks from providers refusing to accept requests by fax or email to others imposing fees that are not compliant with HIPAA, McGraw wrote.”

Click the image to read more.

Getting Your Health Care Provider to Be More Responsive — (Getty/anyaberkut)

NEVER Ignore These Aches and Pains

Do NOT be complacent.

Understanding our own bodies is essential. In prior posts, we’ve looked at the immune system and knowing yourself. As well as many other health topics. Today, we suggest that you never ignore the following aches and pains.

As Patrick Sullivan writes for Sharecare:

“Pain is your body’s way of telling you something’s wrong. Sometimes you’ll know exactly why you’re hurting. If you went hard at the gym yesterday, it’s no surprise you’re sore today. But other times, pain is symptomatic of a more serious condition. Be aware of these seven aches and pains that may require immediate medical treatment.”

Click the image below to access the full story and a slideshow of the ailments not to ignore.

Emerging Best Health Care Firms

Lessons from smaller firms.

Recently, FierceHealthcare published a document highlighting lessons from 15 emerging firms:

“One company was formed early in 2018 when a group of hospitals — fed up with drug shortages and price spikes — promised to upend the market. Another raised $45 million to support its quest to transform surgery using artificial intelligence, while yet another is trying to reinvent community cancer care. This is just a taste of the inaugural class of FierceHealthcare’s Fierce 15 honorees. In total, this year’s 15 companies saw more than $700 million in funding rounds and capital commitments. But beyond that, each brought a passion for using their unique solution to truly impact patients. Big and small, high-tech and not, we’re honoring this collection of companies across the U.S. that are trying to change the world by changing the healthcare industry. Check out our inaugural class of the Fierce 15 Healthcare winners below and get inspired.”

Click the chart to learn more.

Videos from Sharecare

Links to SIX video channels on various aspects of health.

As its Web site notes: Sharecare is empowering people to improve their wellbeing and make a positive impact on where they work, live, and play, while helping employers, health plans, and health systems drive measurable outcomes and close gaps in care for their populations.

To help accomplish its mission, Sharecare has an excellent assortment of videos. In SIX channels. Click the images to access them.

Chronic Pain

Diet and Nutrition

Dr. Oz

Fitness and Exercise

Men’s Health

Women’s Health

Do We Really Want Patient Portals?

Do you use patient portals. If no, why not?

A patient portal is a secure Web site where people can see test results, health trends, and more about themselves. Due to HIPAA laws, online medical information must require a login. To protect privacy.

I personally am a big fan of patient portals. They provide me with a lot of medical data and easy appointment setting. And I know it’s private. How about YOU, do you want and use patient portals?

According to recent research for the EY US NextWave Health Survey:

“In the past, health businesses built small bits of an experience to ease particular points of frustration. These point solutions, however, haven’t radically changed the consumer or physician experience, and aren’t highly utilized. Take patient portals as an example. Patients say they want them, and many provider groups have built them. But the vast majority of people (about 70%) haven’t used them either to make an appointment or to pay a bill. Consumers want to be at the center of their care journey, supported by tools that help them manage their health and their relationship with providers. The point solutions of today clearly aren’t delivering that or improving patient engagement.”

Click the image for a larger view.

Knowing YOUR Bone Density

Free testing with Medicare coverage.

According to the National Cancer Institute, Bone density is

“A measure of the amount of minerals (mostly calcium and phosphorous) contained in a certain volume of bone. Bone density measurements are used to diagnose osteoporosis (a condition marked by decreased bone mass), to see how well osteoporosis treatments are working, and to predict how likely the bones are to break. Low bone density can occur in patients treated for cancer. Also called BMD, bone mass, and bone mineral density.”

Do YOU know your own bone density? And your proneness to osteoporosis?

Do you know that Medicare covers bone density testing every two years? Or more frequently if needed? Click on the image to visit the Medicare bone density measurement Web site. And then access the resources.

Understanding Cognitive Aging

Further research on how we age.

Last week, we had a post on How Old Do YOU feel? “The study considered 92 diseases and conditions in 195 countries and territories.”

Let’s continue with that topic. In new research by Lee Ryan, et al., the authors discussed “Applying Precision Medicine to the Field of Cognitive Aging” in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience:

“The current ‘one size fits all’ approach to our cognitive aging population is not adequate to close the gap between cognitive health span and lifespan. In this review article, we present a novel model for understanding, preventing, and treating age-related cognitive impairment (ARCI) based on concepts borrowed from precision medicine. We will discuss how multiple risk factors can be classified into risk categories because of their interrelatedness in real life, the genetic variants that increase sensitivity to, or ameliorate, risk for ARCI, and the brain drivers or common mechanisms mediating brain aging. Rather than providing a definitive model of risk for ARCI and cognitive decline, the Precision Aging model is meant as a starting point to guide future research. To that end, after briefly discussing key risk categories, genetic risks, and brain drivers, we conclude with a discussion of steps that must be taken to move the field forward.”

Click the image to access the full article.