Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) — Robert Doll, vice chairman and chief equity strategist at BlackRock Inc., talks about the outlook for U.S. stocks and investment strategy.
Doll also discusses the U.S. economy, dollar and China’s economy. Doll speaks from Princeton, New Jersey with Bloomberg’s Susan Li. (Source: Bloomberg)

Duration : 0:6:14

Originally posted 2010-08-14 22:34:12.

There are many things to consider when caring for an elderly loved one. Now that people are living well and living longer, elder healthcare has become very important. This relatively new area of healthcare and provider services is often referred to as elder care. It encompasses a wide variety of issues which include: choosing an appropriate physician or physicians to care for an aging patient, setting up home care is possible, and making decisions about moving the patient from his or her home to a residential care setting. Persons age 65 and older are the fastest growing segment of America’s population. Many in this population are living a healthy, active, independent life; however, as more and more people reach their 80s and 90s, the number of people who need assistance with daily living is increasing, as are the responsibilities of those who are providing the care. The statistics on elder healthcare may surprise you.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging, the elder population, (those age 65 and older), numbered more than 35 million Americans in recent reports. Since people are living longer, these numbers are constantly increasing and not expected to dip any time soon.

Also reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging, the number of elders increased 12 percent since 1990, , compared to a 13.3 percent increase of the population under 65 during the same time period. Today, persons who reach age 65 have an average life expectancy of an additional 17.9 years. This calculates out to 19.2 years more for women, and 16.3 more for men than what was estimated in the year 1900.

In 1900, the average life expectancy was 49.2 years, whereas today, it is 76.9. As you can see, this has dramatically increased. While this is greatly attributed to the advances in modern medicine, it is also in part because people are taking an active stance in their own lives and taking better care of themselves. Still, it is crucial to plan for the time when a great health insurance plan will mean good care and improved quality of life.

One of the biggest problems facing many seniors today is their inability to afford medication. Since many people over 65 take medication on a regular basis, most often more than one type simultaneously, it has become necessary in recent years to address this issue. Many healthcare plans won’t cover various medications, while others cover only a small part. This often means choosing the medications, or in some cases medication, the individual can afford, and which one or ones he or she can do without. This can be met with negative results, since it is presumed the person wouldn’t be taking the medication if it wasn’t necessary. There are, however, companies who have begun addressing this problem by offering prescription plans and insurance targeted for the elderly.

While there are many important aspects of elder healthcare to consider, there are steps that are being taken to help make it easier and more affordable. Legislature is addressing some of these issues and trying to come up with solutions to suit a variety of needs. Perhaps one day, seniors can look forward to retirement without having to worry about how they’ll pay for it.

Gordon Petten
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/healthcare-for-elders-issues-and-decisions-53299.html

Originally posted 2010-05-20 19:41:03.

Imagine the hospital of the future where unnecessary expenses will be cut and more patient lives will be saved. Say goodbye to the inefficiencies of the old hospital and welcome the new, highly cost-effective system of asset and personnel tracking, patient care, and billing, the keystone of which will be radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.

GAO RFID envisions such a world, as we are a leading RFID solutions provider. The applications for the healthcare industry are several, asset tracking, patient tracking, staff location, baby monitoring, blood bank distribution, etc. Here we define two such applications:

Asset Tracking:

Healthcare facilities invest millions of dollars in upgrading and maintaining expensive equipment that aid the healthcare professional in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of patients. It is incumbent on these professionals to maximize the use of such machines to maintain cost controls and yet meet the ever evolving and extremely dynamic needs of the patients. When the equipment needed is not readily available this leads to many undesirable outcomes:
(1) Staff are then sent scrambling through many corridors, sometimes over many floors to find the equipment they need,
(2) The Facility procures added machinery that taxes capital resources while existing assets remain under-utilized and
(3) The patients very well being could be at risk without the machine available at the time it is needed.

RFID technology solves all of the above by simply affixing an RFID tag to the equipment and strategically locating readers throughout the area of operations where the hardware is needed. In this way, as the device passes through a read point, it is registered in the applications software in real time to be in that area. In this way, staff will know what area of the facility each piece of equipment is located when they really need to have it. The results are less time wasted for healthcare professionals scrambling to find equipment, better utilization of existing assets that reduces capital expenditures and most importantly, a patient gets the best care available reducing the likelihood of liability because of poor health care services.

Patient Tracking Solutions:

Hospitals and Health Care facilities are more concerned these days about having the ability to accurately track their patients. Whether it’s dispensing medication or identifying the individual for procedures or pulling up a history of treatment on a patient; RFID technology is a way to manage the information much more efficiently.

An RFID system is used for accurately locating and tracking people, equipment and objects in a hospital. The system is designed to track hospital assets, curb excess expenditures, increase safety and ensure security and access control by placing small radio frequency identification devices, or ‘RFID tags’ on people and objects.

Hospitals and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are facing daily challenges especially when responding to disasters, such as severe weather conditions, toxic chemical spills and terrorism. They need to manage a large quantity of patients from the disaster area to nearby hospitals effectively and efficiently.

The responsibility for the safety of patients, who may be missing from hospital beds or emergency wards rests with the healthcare worker. RFID makes tracking patients easier giving care takers the ability for fast, accurate identification and verification.

Encoded RFID Bracelet data can be read through bed linens, so patients don’t have to be disturbed when sleeping. They can be used with fixed readers in doorways and corridors, to help staff keep track of ambulatory patients.
RFID Bracelet solutions can encode patient information in RFID tags to have better tracking performance especially when access to a remote database is not available.
RFID Bracelet solutions provide a convenient, one-step solution for patient IDs. Text or graphics are produced directly on the Bracelet. There is no need for handwritten or typed inserts, or stick-on labels, which saves time and eliminates a potential point of failure.
Newborn Baby Tracking Solutions
For the most part, the Maternity Ward is thankfully a great source for joy and celebration as new family members are welcomed into the world. The ward staff shares some of this joy by playing their part throughout the labor and the post-partum care of mother and newborn child. However anxiety levels rise for the patients, families and staff when there are complications during the labor and/or when the newborn needs neonatal care. In many of these instances the baby and the mother need to be separated, a scenario that creates anxiety. Anxiety can easily turn to anger and a possible law suit when there is a mother-baby mix up; the wrong baby being sent to the wrong mother for the crucial early bonding period, breast-feeding etc.

RFID technology will help both these difficult and challenging situations. At the time of admittance the mother is provided with a patient’s RFID tag that will start the process of tracking all procedures relevant to that labor. Once the child is born, an ankle tag is provided to the baby as well and immediately cross-referenced to the baby’s mother and the mother’s tag.

Family Access to Babies in Neonatal Care:

In the case of the newborn needing neonatal care, family members are almost as anxious as the new mother, to greet and bond with the new family member. When the newborn needs to be in an intensive care unit (ICU) this becomes very difficult due to the restricted access in the ICU. RFID solves this problem by making available to families the ability to view on a computer monitor outside of the ICU the key data about the baby, a photograph, the height, weight, skin color and temperature after keying in, for example, the mother’s family name and first name.

Mother-Baby Mix-ups Eliminated:
Even when the mix up is uncovered moments after the mistake is made, this can cause heightened levels of anger and dissatisfaction with the services rendered. Any mother-baby mix up is a potential liability to the hospital. This scenario can be guaranteed not to happen when staff follows a procedure of reading the baby’s tag and then reading the mother’s tag and re-confirming the match that was initiated at the birth.

GAORFID Solution:
GAO RFID can bring a turnkey RFID solution to your asset tracking and patient tracking challenges for any medical facility including the hardware, software and systems integration services. To learn more about how RFID technology can help solve your patient tracking needs, please contact us at sales@gaorfid.com.

GAORFID Technology Solutions Team
http://www.articlesbase.com/technology-articles/rfid-solutions-for-healthcare-industry-96183.html

Originally posted 2010-05-15 16:38:42.

healthcare staffing

Healthcare Staffing

I am looking for a healthcare staffing agency, and there are lots out there. I was interested in the free housing, travel assignments, benefits and flexibility. Do Healthcare Staffing Agencies offer those benefits?

Travel healthcare staffing agencies are a great way to make money and travel.

There are so many different companies out there.  How do I know which one is best, or are all of them pretty much the same?

Pretty much the same, unfortunately when you are dealing with travel healthcare staffing agencies just like any transaction get their promises in writing! Make sure and get all the information possible in some written form. This will allow you to compare the offers. Healthcare staffing companies offer a career that can be rewarding in many ways.

travel healthcare staffing agencies

Originally posted 2010-05-23 13:49:50.

Healthcare recruitment agencies are becoming all the rage as this specific discipline goes on to become even more popular and full to capacity. There are scores of well-liked Healthcare recruitment agencies that have remarkable associations with the health care centers and hospitals in America and also all over the world in case you are keen on putting your healthcare abilities to use in a foreign country.

In any Healthcare recruitment agency you can come across a diverse range of career choices within the healthcare sector. Whether you are keen on working as a chiropractor, psychologist, nurse, physician, the list is simply endless. Any kind of career position pertaining to the health care industry can be located with the able assistance of the most reliable and esteemed Healthcare recruitment agencies. Now these Healthcare recruitment agencies include:

Gable Recruitment

PACT

GMP

Monster

Health Jobs

Healthcare Recruit

Healthcare Recruitment

In fact, this is an abridged list of the varied kinds of Healthcare recruitment agencies you can make use of in the present times. They are extremely useful for people in search of jobs in the underdeveloped countries. These recruitment firms make available excellent contacts within this industry and you positively can locate paid or volunteer jobs in any country any where in the world. Since you are a healthcare specialist, your services will always be in great demand and hence you can choose to begin your career in a place close to your heart.

There are numerous opportunities available that include temporary, permanent or perhaps internships to meet your current career requirements. It just needs making a simple registration together with posting your resume online to commence hunting for your desired job. All Healthcare recruitment agencies employ identical methods of tallying a prospective candidate with a potential employer. Your resume is immediately uploaded into their online database. Then their internal tallying system acts to tally your resume with the requirements of a potential employer.

Healthcare recruitment agencies are a wonderful alternative for fresh graduates or people seeking a new career transition. Putting you career in the hands of competent professionals is the best thing that you can do. Most of the Healthcare recruitment agencies locate and provide career placements, which are not to be found in daily classifieds and this gives you an added advantage.

Several of these recruitment agencies charge a nominal registration fee since you are obtaining a valuable service, in the absence of which you would be floundering for job opportunities. Select a local Healthcare recruitment agency in case you are seeking jobs in you area. However there are several international agencies like Healthcare Recruit that make available excellent global opportunities.

Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/healthcare-recruitment-agencies-great-way-to-get-medical-jobs-703037.html

Originally posted 2010-02-05 01:57:10.

AARP isn’t comfortable listening to its members, but pretends to represent their interests

Duration : 0:7:59

Originally posted 2010-07-11 12:00:03.

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There is a common misconception that people who have preexisting health problems may not be able to get insurance coverage for serious conditions such as cancer or heart disease. A preexisting condition is a type of condition that relates to a medical issue that was present before obtaining their current health insurance policy. In other words it is a condition that may be stopping a person from receiving full medical coverage from their current provider because the condition was preexisting meaning it didn’t happen under your current insurance. For people who want to purchase health insurance who have preexisting health conditions there is a way to get it, in 1997 the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also called the HIPPA was passed, which gives employees and their families coverage even if you have a preexisting condition. Through companies like United Healthcare, health insurance can be provided up to 12 months after coverage, or if you are HIPAA qualified you may be able eligible to be covered immediately. For people who have had coverage in the past few months that insurance company will be in charge of insuring you. This is great for many people who are suffering from serious conditions who may be restrained from purchasing a serious medical health insurance plan because of preexisting conditions. For people who are looking to purchase health insurance before being provided it you have to go through a medical exam and fill out a questioner. For someone who is sick already it is almost impossible for the person applying for insurance to receive coverage if they show serious illness or a preexisting condition during this step.

United Healthcare health insurance is a company that prides itself on its ability to help its customers and wants to do anything in its power to do whatever it can to make it easiest for them. For people who are already suffering from a medical condition the road is already hard enough, they not only have to deal with the daily illnesses and stress of being seriously ill, but they also have to deal with the emotional ups and down of being sick, not even to mention having to deal with the repercussions of their illness with their job and family. For many people having such a serious conditions such as cancer it can be very devastating, for providers like United Healthcare health insurance their main goal is to insure you and your family in the best and most cost effective way that they can. This not only applies to the person’s whose name is on the insurance policy but this also applies to any dependents you may have such as your children or your spouse. This can be very helpful if your spouse is currently unemployed and gets injured or sick.

Ronnie Hamilton
http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/united-healthcare-health-insurance-can-help-with-your-preexisting-health-condition-680959.html

Originally posted 2010-05-25 15:19:47.

Right now my parents are unemployed and our health insurance runs out tomorrow so I am a bit concerned on how my family can get proper healthcare since both of my parents take daily medication.Which canidates healthcare plan would help my family?

Neither, they both have issues. McCains maybe. Obama is just a hand out and it won’t help out at all. With McCain you could at least cross borders between states to find the best plan for them. They should be able to get some form of Medicade. if it is really that bad. But we all can find some kind of job.

Originally posted 2010-04-16 04:45:15.

What exactly does the new healthcare law say? Many people are stating that you can be criminally cited and charged if you fail to have healthcare insurance. Is that the gist of it? Or is there more to it?

Well there’s a whole lot in the law so I’m gonna break it down into sections addressing the main aspects of the bill. For starters, what you’re referring to is the individual mandate. However, there are no criminal charges for failing to get health coverage. The law states that in 2014, everyone must purchase health insurance or face a $695 annual fine. There are however, some exceptions for low-income people.

The main purpose of the bill is to expand coverage to 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured and there are several ways it intends to achieve this.

*HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGES*
The first is a system of health insurance exchanges. The uninsured and self-employed would be able to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges with subsidies available to individuals and families with income between the 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty level. Separate exchanges would be created for small businesses to purchase coverage. These go into effect in 2014. This also includes funding available to states to establish exchanges within one year of enactment and until January 1, 2015.

*MEDICARE*
The bill aims to close the Medicare prescription drug "donut hole" by 2020. Seniors who hit the donut hole by 2010 will receive a $250 rebate. Furthermore, beginning in 2011, seniors in the gap will receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs. The bill also includes $500 billion in Medicare cuts over the next decade.

*MEDICAID*
The bill expands Medicaid to include 133 percent of federal poverty level which is $29,327 for a family of four. Starting in 2014, it requires states to expand Medicaid to include childless adults. The Federal Government must also pay 100 percent of costs for covering newly eligible individuals through 2016.

*INSURANCE REFORM*
Six months after enactment, insurance companies could no longer denying children coverage based on a preexisting condition. By 2014 insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions. Finally, insurance companies must allow children to stay on their parent’s insurance plans until age 26th.

*ABORTION*
The bill segregates private insurance premium funds from taxpayer funds. Individuals would have to pay for abortion coverage by making two separate payments, private funds would have to be kept in a separate account from federal and taxpayer funds. No health care plan would be required to offer abortion coverage. States could pass legislation choosing to opt out of offering abortion coverage through the exchange.

*EMPLOYER MANDATE*
Technically, there is no employer mandate. Employers with more than 50 employees must provide health insurance or pay a fine of $2000 per worker each year if any worker receives federal subsidies to purchase health insurance. Fines applied to entire number of employees minus some allowances.

*IMMIGRATION*
Illegal immigrants will not be allowed to buy health insurance in the exchanges — even if they pay completely with their own money.

Originally posted 2010-09-14 11:21:14.

Here is the first hour and a half of the bipartisan summit on health care between the White House and Congress. Distributed by Tubemogul.

Duration : 1:39:11

Originally posted 2010-03-07 20:17:12.