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How this physician leader helps bring hospital care to the home
The Marshfield Clinic Health System is located in central Wisconsin and offers services to an area of about 45,000 square miles. In those rural parts of Wisconsin and northern Michigan, patients can be forced to spend hours in transport trying to reach the nearest hospital or clinic. Narayana Murali, MD, remembers joining Marshfield Clinic in 2006 and meeting a 67-year-old woman with diabetes who traveled 200 miles four times a year just to titrate her medications and optimize her heath. He figured there was a better alternative. The following year, Dr. Murali was given the opportunity to provide her with virtual care, do exams over video, review vital signs and…
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The best after-Christmas health fitness deals to help with your New Years’ resolutions: Theragun, Peloton, home gym equipment and more
Getty Images If you’re planning to jumpstart your workout routine in the new year or setting some health and wellness New Year’s resolutions, you’ll need the right equipment and accessories. To help you reach your 2023 fitness goals, we’ve compiled the best after-Christmas fitness deals on home gym equipment, activewear, fitness trackers and more. Top products in this article: Theragun Pro, $400 (reduced from $599) Original Peloton Bike, $1,195 (regularly $1,445) Amazon Halo View, $50 (reduced from $80) We’ve found the perfect fitness deals for people who want to kick their outdoor workouts up a notch, transform their living room into a home gym, easily workout while working from home…
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How UVA Health’s Medicine HOME program reduces hospitalizations and readmissions
Recent statistics show more than 20% of healthcare costs resulting from emergency department utilization, hospitalizations and hospital readmissions can be attributed to just 1% of patients. THE PROBLEMIn 2017, University of Virginia Health’s 30-day readmission rate for patients with complex and costly medical conditions was as high as 17% to 18% per year. This put the health system in the 50th percentile of similar academic medical centers nationally and near the bottom among academic medical centers in the state. This was problematic for two reasons. From a strictly business perspective, readmissions penalties cut into revenue. Second, from an operational perspective, readmitted patients may divert beds and resources that could be…
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How to fund home health care if you want to ‘age in place’
Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images Some 70% of people want to age at home, yet only 10% have long-term care insurance, a recent HCG Secure/Arctos Foundation study found. Furthermore, about half of respondents had no idea how much in-home care would cost. With the median annual cost of a home health aide nationally estimated at $61,776, how are folks going to fund this? “The need for help at home is much more common than you think, but people don’t plan for it,” said certified financial planner Chris Chen, wealth strategist with Insight Financial Strategies in Newton, Massachusetts. Scoping out the insurance option landscape People with long-term care insurance…
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Scots environmental health expert warns of home mould risks
The public is being bombarded with energy efficiency advice which could increase the risk of damp and deadly mould, a Scots environmental health expert has warned. Keeping windows permanently shut, sealing trickle vents and turning heating off can create the ideal conditions for the fungus to thrive, said Andrew Campbell, who inspects properties on behalf of Edinburgh City Council. He said it would be very difficult for some households to strike a balance between keeping costs down, staying warm and maintaining a safe living environment. The UK Government announced it is to strip funding from a housing organisation responsible for a property where a two-year-old boy died after prolonged exposure to mould. Awaab Ishak…
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Black Friday deals: Fitness, home health and home tech
Refresh 2022-11-23T14:28:27.111Z 2022-11-23T14:28:22.441Z (Image credit: Joanne Lewsley) Theragun Mini Handheld Electric Massage Gun: Was $199 Now $157.00 (opens in new tab) Save $50 on the powerful but compact Theragun Mini (opens in new tab). It’s small enough to fit into most bags or purses, making it an ideal massage gun for on-the-go treatment or travel. The Mini comes with three speeds (with a maximum of 2400 PPM), but just one head attachment — the ball attachment. We found it effortless to use, sturdy, and an investment that will give you years of great service. Overall, it’s one of the best massage guns (opens in new tab) we’ve tried. 2022-11-23T13:45:19.790Z (Image…
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Seniors home health care crisis deepened by covid labor shortage
While more elderly seek home care to age in place, low-wage workers are finding easier jobs with equal or better pay in retail and restaurants September 25, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. EDT Acey Hofflander, 85, shares sections of the daily newspaper with her husband, Tom, 88, in their Richfield, Minn., home on September 14. (Annabelle Marcovici for The Washington Post) RICHFIELD, Minn. — Racked with nausea and unable to leave the bathroom, Acey Hofflander muttered in confusion. Her husband tried to press a damp washcloth against her neck, his hands trembling and weak from Parkinson’s disease. “What’s happening? What’s going on?” Acey mumbled. Their roles had unexpectedly reversed. At 85,…
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Bob Dean, notorious nursing home owner, is banned from receiving federal health care money | Health care/Hospitals
After Louisiana nursing home magnate Bob Dean sent hundreds of fragile residents to a poorly equipped warehouse for Hurricane Ida, the state shut down his seven nursing homes and revoked his licenses. Now, nearly 10 months after the storm, the federal government has issued its own sanction. Dean has been barred from participating in federal health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, said Christi Grimm, the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services. Nearly all of Dean’s residents have relied on those programs to pay for their stays. “Improving nursing home performance and the care they provide is my number one priority,” Grimm said in a news…
