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What is all this hype about a gluten free diet? Why do some people lose their weight after switching to a gluten free diet? What are the health benefits of avoiding grains? Read on to find out what doctors and nutritionists have to say about a gluten free diet plan.

You must have heard of a gluten free diet on the TV or from a friend. There is a lot of hype in the press about gluten free diets for people who have been diagnosed with Celiac's disease. At the same time, there are those who wish to go gluten free because of the health benefits involved.

Who doesn't want to look perfect? And if you don't have it naturally, take the help of your doctor. Going under the knife was once considered a taboo. There was always a hush-hush talk about it. But things have changed and so has the mindset, people are now more comfortable in accepting their flaws and making the necessary correction. Cosmetic surgery is a voluntary medical procedure that is performed on usual body parts with the sole purpose of correction or removing any signs of aging. Cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is a slight alteration of a body part which one is unhappy about.

Understanding Medical Identity Theft and ways of preventing it Medical Identity Theft is a common phenomenon in today's situation, where most health records are digitized. Although a lot of precaution goes into the security and protection of these records, Medical Identity Theft is a cause for worry. medicalIdentityTheft The most common types of data that are stolen are Social Security Number (SSN), name and the Medicare number, the most potent tools with which to impersonate and manipulate data. Why do crooks steal medical data? Medical Identity Theft happens mainly because hackers and mischief-makers access protected data to lay hands on confidential information about patients, using which they obtain medical care on behalf of the person/s whose records they steal or purchase expensive medicines. In many cases, a Medical Identity Theft is detected only after one gets a bill for a purchase or service that was never made. medicalIdentityTheft Medical Identity Theft is also committed to buy drugs and obtain fake bills that are then submitted to Medicare in the name of the original holder of the medical record. These acts can significantly dent a person's credit rating. More importantly, when wrong information or fictitious diagnosis is made into the medical record, it can lead to dangerous consequences. Ways of protection of medical data The Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which comes under Health and Human Services (HHS), realizing the gravity of the problem of Medical Identity Theft, has formulated the "3D" approach to protect medical data and prevent Medical Identity Theft. These are: Deter: One of the ways of protecting medical data is to prevent Medical Identity Theft. Users should be cautious about parting with information to anyone who claims, over phone, to have a new scheme whose enrolment requires the Social Security Number. Detect:Many fraudsters accost people at accessible public places to announce supposedly "new" medical schemes. Governm

Social media and healthcare: The advent of the social media into the healthcare industry has thrown open a hitherto unknown dynamic. It presents the industry the kind of opportunities that were hard to come by till now. Yet, it is full of challenges. It is now an inescapable fact and a given: the onslaught of the social media into the healthcare industry cannot be reversed. The wave is too strong to resist. The explosion in the use of social media has impacted the healthcare industry on a scale that is unprecedented. The universal pervasiveness of the social media Social media and healthcare have become great buddies mainly because of the sheer power of reach of the social media. What started out essentially as services that shared photos and messages has turned out to be a giant opportunity for the healthcare industry. Today, it is something that no one in the healthcare industry -or those outside it, such as the lay young population that seeks medical information - is insulated from. Now, not only patients, but also physicians and everyone of any significance in the healthcare industry use the social media to disseminate information. Social media and healthcare have become strongly paired also because they help in keeping the patient in close contact with the healthcare provider. It is no surprise that the social media have broken the barriers of age and geography in reaching out to the highest and widest range of users. Some trends about social media and healthcare: It is estimated that a fifth of the entire American population exchanged medical information over the social media in 2010 About three-fourths of all patients use the social media for some information before reaching a healthcare provider At least a thousand top US hospitals use social media for communicating with patients and providers Globally, up to half a billion people could be linking social media and healthcare by using the former Now, the challenges: Despite social media in t

What is Corporate Governance? In a broad sense, corporate governance can be defined as a set of processes by which corporations are run and administered. These are a collective function of the critical, core decision makers in the organization, such as Directors, CEO, managers, investors, stakeholders, shareholders, creditors, auditors and others. Corporate Governance sets out the methods and rules for making rules that govern corporate entities. Although business is the main concern and task of an organization, Corporate Governance occupies as important a position, because while the financial aspect of a business is all about profits, the Corporate Governance aspect is primarily about its integrity, values and reputation. Corporate Governance takes into consideration all aspects of the governance of the organization from critical standpoints such as ethics, regulatory aspects, policies and mission, etc. History of the growth of Corporate Governance Although Corporate Governance has been around for a number of decades in some or another form, it came to acquire proper shape and direction of late, following the collapse of very big multinationals such as Enron, WorldCom and others. It was felt that their shady dealings, which led to huge losses for their stakeholders and eventually to the businesses collapse, could have been averted if a proper regulatory framework of Corporate Governance were in place. This is the feeling that led to the passing of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, or SOX in the early 2000's. One of the core principles enunciated in SOX related to Corporate Governance. Elements of Corporate Governance As a result of the SOX Act and other legislations in other developed countries, such as the Cadbury Report of the UK and other legislations in the OECD nations; Corporate Governance is now administered through a well-defined set of principles. As a result of these legislations, Corporate Governance is now concerned with the following: Problems areas of Co

Overview: Learn how to improve your healthcare compliance program by using requirements found in corporate integrity agreements (CIAs) issued by the OIG. By proactively incorporating various features of CIAs, healthcare providers of all types can be better assured of meeting compliance standards. While there are many different types of healthcare compliance issues, probably the area of most concern is that of properly filing claims and receiving appropriate reimbursement. The OIG has issued various types of guidance including Federal Register entries, fraud alerts, and issues as listed in the OIG Work Plans. By providing such guidance, the OIG has given healthcare providers notice so that there can be no defense of not knowing about an issue. By organizing your compliance program to detect and then correcting various types of issues is a major objective of having a compliance program. Understanding systematic processes for improving your healthcare compliance program using CIA requirements can forestall possible criminal and civil monetary penalties. The hundreds of CIAs that have been developed when the OIG detects fraudulent activities can be used as a guide for developing and improving healthcare compliance programs for all types of healthcare providers. The process of statistical extrapolation is used by the OIG when conducting studies in order to determine recoupment amounts. Statistical extrapolation can also be used by healthcare providers when determining possible overpayments. However, the proper use of statistical extrapolation is a formal and complex mathematical process that must be properly applied. The OIG CIAs provide another resource for healthcare providers to study, understand, and then apply as appropriate. Why should you Attend: What are the OIG Corporate Integrity Agreements (CIAs)? Why does the OIG issue CIAs? Can I use general requirements from CIA to avoid monetary penalties or even avoid going to jail? Can any healthcare provider use

Overview: This lesson is going to get back to the basics using multiple real life scenarios and "what if's". My goal is to make this very confusing and not well explained law easy to understand for the typical staff member. I will uncover myths versus reality as it relates to this enigmatic law based on over 1000 risk assessments performed as well as years of experience in dealing directly with the Office of Civil Rights HIPAA auditors. I will also point out multiple court cases I have been affiliated with where a staff member of a hospital or clinic has been sued or even imprisoned! I will also speak to real life audits conducted by the Federal government (I've been on both sides of these audits) what your highest risks are for being fined (some of the risk factors may surprise you). In addition this course will cover the highest risk factors for being sued for wrongful disclosures of PHI and the manner in which patients are now using state laws to sue for wrongful disclosures. Don't always believe what you read online about HIPAA, especially as it relates to encryption and IT, there are a lot of groups selling more than is necessarily required. Why should you Attend: Are you confused about HIPAA? Do you just want the basics and in plain English? Do you know there are civil and criminal penalties even for the rank and file staff member! Do you know what you can and can't do with protected health information? It is important to understand the new changes going on at Health and Human Services as it relates to enforcement of HIPAA for both covered entities and business associates as it relates to portable devices, texting, and emailing of PHI. You need to know how to avoid being low hanging fruit in terms of audit risk as well as being sued by individuals who have had their PHI wrongfully discloses due to bad IT practices. I have also been expert witness on multiple court cases where a business or medical practice is being sued for not doing their due diligence

Overview: The idea of providing health care treatments and insurance coverage according to "medical necessity" determinations seems eminently reasonable. Its obvious ethical thrust is to discourage unnecessary, wasteful or fraudulent practices. As practically implemented, however, "medical necessity" regulations and determinations have proven remarkably controversial and elusive. First of all, the language connected with medical necessity is inherently vague. Language to the effect that a treatment is medically necessary if it is "likely to achieve a significant practical improvement," is "realistic," or "reasonable" will predictably cause disputes between payors and providers of care. Second, the persistence of these disputes calls into question whether evidence based practices have evolved to a point where they are all that reliable and useful. Third, medical necessity determinations incur problems as to who should ultimately make them: payors, health providers or the courts. Obviously, whoever controls the definition of medical necessity controls the flow of health care dollars. While ethical theory can offer important insights about our moral obligations, it remains unable to reliably translate its theoretical principles and rules bearing on harms, benefits and justice into informing medical necessity determinations. Thus, resolving disputes over medical necessity have taken a procedural approach that looks to the interpretation of contractual language in insurance policies, often at the bench of an administrative law judge. This presentation will advance a reasonable set of strategies whereby a convincing case can be made for certain care interventions qualifying as "reasonable and necessary." Why should you Attend: Despite their central importance as a locus for determining reimbursement, "medical necessity" regulations and determinations have proven remarkably controversial and vexing for at least the last 20 years. Yet, whoever controls the definition

Setting up a compliance program in healthcare: Organizations that set up a compliance program in healthcare should go by many voluntary regulations from the OIG, apart from those mandated by HIPAA. Setting up a compliance program in healthcare is about being compliant with standards. This entails having to be compliant with several standards, which cover a wide variety of areas. There are several voluntary and mandatory guidelines from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), apart from standards from HIPAA. Setting up a compliance program in healthcare meeting HIPAA requirements is set out and mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Guidelines from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) The series of compliance program guidance documents from the OIG are largely voluntary, and are meant for the different sections of the health care industry. These include Hospitals Nursing homes Third-party billers, and Durable medical equipment suppliers. These guidelines are issued with the intention of motivating healthcare units to develop and use their own internal controls aimed at helping them adhere to regulations, program requirements and statutes. The OIG issues documents, which act as guidelines for setting up a compliance program in healthcare by providing principles. These need to be adapted when healthcare organizations have to develop their own compliance program that is in tune with their best interests and needs. Another major aim is served in the implementation of these guidelines for setting up a compliance program in healthcare: They help healthcare units to understand the nature of fraud and other risks associated with abuse, when they are setting up a compliance program for their healthcare unit. HIPAA requirements Setting up a compliance program in healthcare while being compliant with HIPAA regulationsrequires a healthcare organization to put in place measures that ensure that health records must: Be confident

Course "Texting and E-mail with Patients: Patient Requests and Complying with HIPAA " has been pre-approved by RAPS as eligible for up to 12 credits towards a participant's RAC recertification upon full completion. Overview: With the recent advances in portable technology, more and more organizations and their users are taking advantage of mobile devices to save time and get work done more efficiently. Texting, portable e-mail, and Apps are revolutionizing the ways health care providers interact with their patients and get their work done. But the use of these devices comes with hidden costs of compliance, especially if they lead to a reportable breach under HIPAA or state laws. HIPAA Privacy and Security Officers have been struggling to keep up with the use of the devices to protect patient privacy and avoid compliance issues. Even if these devices aren't in formal use in your organization, you need to act now to anticipate their use and make sure they are used properly. This session is designed to provide intensive, two-day training in HIPAA compliance as it relates to the use of mobile devices, including how to use them with Protected Health Information, the policies and procedures you need to have in place to use them securely, and how to manage issues of the "BYOD" phenomenon. The session provides the background and details for any manager of health information privacy and security to know what issues to look for with mobile devices, what needs to be done for HIPAA compliance, and what can happen when compliance is not adequate. Audits and enforcement will be explained, as well as privacy and security breaches and how to prevent them. Numerous references and sample documents will be provided. The session will be valuable for both newcomers to HIPAA compliance as well as seasoned veterans. HIPAA compliance will be explained and discussed in detail, from the basics through the latest changes and new technology issues, so that the attendee will have a coherent u

Overview: Mental health care practitioners work in today's diverse, fast-changing, multidisciplinary health care environment. Nowhere but in mental health is there such diversity of clinicians who provide the same or similar services of counseling and therapy. A potential client has a wide choice of mental health providers from whom to choose. Yet each individual mental health profession has a unique education, training, and experience requirement for practice. While similarities exist, requirements differ from state to state and even from profession to profession with a single state. What are these requirements and how do they apply? The state's authority and power over mental health practitioners often presents challenges to these mental health professionals that are not easy to navigate. Differing sources of legal and ethical authority govern each respective health care practitioner in ways that are similar but not the same. Ethics and law are similar, but not the same. All mental health practitioners must adhere to standards of state law which govern their professional practices, including the very core of the doctor-patient relationship. Codes of ethics and state law may both apply to govern the conduct of this clinician. Even some state laws are referred to as ethical codes. Complaints as to alleged misconduct or ethical failings are received and investigated by a state agency and leave the mental health practitioner with an uncertain process to handle and to defend the state action against them. With this background, this seminar empowers the full understanding and application of ethics and laws for mental health practitioners. Learn to identify and understand an ethical framework for a sound mental health practice. An ethical framework is essential to having the right perspective to examine mental health dilemmas. Compare and contrast regulatory laws and codes of ethics to understand their differing applicability. Know the difference between laws and ethics,

Hospital Management : The growth and development of hospitals has led to an altogether specialized discipline -hospital management. Hospital management is about coordinating the various functions of a hospital and ensuring optimal healthcare to patients and other stakeholders. Hospital Management has come a long way from being a supplementary duty that senior doctors handled with ease, to being a full-fledged specialization in itself. Hospital management is an altogether fully developed specialist profession whose managers are well qualified. Many institutions today offer courses on hospital management. The relationship of hospital management to the area of management rather than to the medical field can be understood from the fact that many hospital managers are from a purely management background, and have little knowledge of medical science. Many hospital management institutions offer an MBA. They also offer courses on specialized subunits of hospital management, such as hospital financial management, healthcare system management, hospital human resources management, etc. This is because hospitals have evolved over time. They are now ultra-specialist healthcare providers that use the latest technologies. A hospital could use anything from billing software to highly sophisticated technology used in its medical devices. A hospital management specialist needs to be not only aware of these uses; she also needs to be/have all these: A good administrator who handles staff; A deep knowledge of the information systems; A good grip on all the systems that need to be coordinated thoroughly if the hospital needs to function smoothly without any hassles; Dealing with facilities for patients. Hospital Management can thus be understood as being the facilitator between a healthcare setting and those who need these services. It is about ensuring that all the administrative elements of a healthcare setting function in unison to ensure provision of accountable healthcare.

Overview: With the recent advances in portable technology, more and more organizations and their users are taking advantage of mobile devices to save time and get work done more efficiently. Texting, portable e-mail, and Apps are revolutionizing the ways health care providers interact with their patients and get their work done. But the use of these devices comes with hidden costs of compliance, especially if they lead to a reportable breach under HIPAA or state laws. HIPAA Privacy and Security Officers have been struggling to keep up with the use of the devices to protect patient privacy and avoid compliance issues. Even if these devices aren't in formal use in your organization, you need to act now to anticipate their use and make sure they are used properly. This session is designed to provide intensive, two-day training in HIPAA compliance as it relates to the use of mobile devices, including how to use them with Protected Health Information, the policies and procedures you need to have in place to use them securely, and how to manage issues of the "BYOD" phenomenon. The session provides the background and details for any manager of health information privacy and security to know what issues to look for with mobile devices, what needs to be done for HIPAA compliance, and what can happen when compliance is not adequate. Audits and enforcement will be explained, as well as privacy and security breaches and how to prevent them. Numerous references and sample documents will be provided. The session will be valuable for both newcomers to HIPAA compliance as well as seasoned veterans. HIPAA compliance will be explained and discussed in detail, from the basics through the latest changes and new technology issues, so that the attendee will have a coherent understanding of not only the rules, but also how to think about compliance and make sound compliance decisions on a day-to-day basis in the context of mobile devices. Agenda Day One Day one sets the stage with an ov

Overview: This webinar will provide up to date information about what constitutes blood borne pathogens from infectious materials, as well as other potentially infectious materials. The webinar will provide answers about how to prevent exposures, deal with spills or exposures should they occur, and the how to recognize the hazards of blood borne pathogens. A thorough description of the types of infections of concern for blood borne pathogens, how one might be exposed, the differences between blood born infections and other potentially infectious materials, methods for dealing with potential exposures or spills, and the requirements from OSHA to protect workers from exposure or to track exposures if they occur. Areas Covered in the Session: Infectious materials Other potentially infectious materials Prophylactic techniques that might be available Use of personal protective equipment Policies and procedures required by OSHA to protect workers Who Will Benefit: Safety Professionals Administrators Lab Workers Those who might be exposed to blood borne pathogens Speaker Profile Kenneth S. Weinberg is an independent consultant in environmental health and safety. Dr. Weinberg has consulted for several companies in the areas of OSHA Injury and Illness reporting, as well as auditing for OSHA inspections. He has worked as the Director of Safety at Mass. General Hospital in Boston for almost twelve years, and has written several books on the topics of health care safety, OSHA, and Indoor Air Quality. He has also written several articles for prominent national safety publications, and serves on the editorial advisory boards for safety publications. He Also has been Administrator of the Health Care Divisio0n of the American Society of Safety Engineers, and is a member of several panels that advice on safety related matters. Price : $139.00 Contact Info: MentorHealth Phone No: 1-800-385-1607 FaX: 302-288-6884 support@mentorhealth.com Event Link: http://bit.ly/Blood-B

What is HIPAA ? Compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a core requirement of the stakeholders involved in health information. HIPAA has prescribed standards with which to protect critical data relating to patients. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are important documents that contain sensitive patient data, and are thus considered Protected Health Information (PHI). Since this data is accessible to a number of players involved in the field of healthcare; it extremely important to set regulatory guidelines aimed at ensuring that patient information remains protected. HIPAA compliance is essentially about staying in compliance with these guidelines. Measures needed to show compliance with HIPAA HIPAA requires a healthcare organization dealing with PHI to implement all of the following measures and comply with them: Physical measures Network measures, and Process security measures The role of HIPAA Privacy Rule and HIPAA Security Rule HIPAA has set out two important rules that pertain to compliance. These are the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the HIPAA Security Rule. While the Privacy Rule relates to how the medical information of a patient is saved, accessed and shared; the Security Rule is about how to implement national security safeguards for protecting electronic PHI, or ePHI. Who all need to be HIPAA compliant? Since the aim of HIPAA compliance is to ensure complete safety of patient data, it has requirements for every stakeholder in the EHR process. These stakeholders comprise: Covered Entities (CE): Anyone involved in the treatment, payment and operations in healthcare Business Associates (BA): Any person who has access to patient information and is involved in supporting treatment, payment or operations. These include third-party administrators and private sector vendors Those with whom BA's work, or those that are called subcontractors Hosting providers. These typically include healthcare software pro

Standard Operating Procedures for Clinical Trials: A set of standard operating procedures for clinical trials is absolutely vital for ensuring the effectiveness of the study for a number of reasons. Standard operating procedures for clinical trials are a very potent means to help researchers, principals or sponsors ensure the accuracy and consistency of the procedures needed for the clinical trial. What are standard operating procedures for clinical trials? Standard operating procedures for clinical trials are written instructions that are detailed to provide information about every aspect of the trial. With this set of standard operating procedures for clinical trials, principals seek to bring about a level of uniformity in a particular task of the clinical trial. Consistency in these standard operating procedures for clinical trials has to be ensured so that the clinical trial meets local, state and federal government and global guidelines and requirements. Equally importantly, standard operating procedures for clinical trials have to also meet regulatory guidelines set out by bodies such as the FDA. The purpose of standard operating procedures for clinical trials should be to help the trial achieve consistency in the quality control and quality assurance. In addition, standard operating procedures for clinical trials should be designed to help the trial achieve the quality of auditability. This is because any clinical trial goes through audits from regulatory bodies, making the role of standard operating procedures for clinical trials all the more important. Factors to bear in mind while establishing standard operating procedures for clinical trials: Standard operating procedures for clinical trials should thoroughly document these among other elements: Event Reporting Safety Monitoring Laboratory Management Pharmacy Management Development of Protocols Informed Consent Operations at the site of the clinical trial While these may be considered the core asp

Cerebral palsy is considered a neurological disorder caused by a non-progressive brain injury or malformation that occurs while the child's brain is under development. Cerebral palsy primarily affects body movement and muscle coordination. Though cerebral palsy can be defined, having cerebral palsy does not define the person that has the condition.Cerebral palsy is a condition that affects thousands of babies and children each year. It is not contagious, which means can't catch it from anyone who has it. The word cerebral means having to do with the brain. The word palsy means a weakness or problem in the way a person moves or positions his or her body. Cerebral palsy is a common complication of very premature birth. The condition is a type of brain injury that causes problems with motor function. It's been a baffling disorder for doctors because of confusion over what causes the brain injury. CP Wheelchair: Ultra light weight aluminum alloy frame Epoxy powder coated frame Detachable arm rest provided Height adjustable and detachable head rest Hydraulic reclining high back for a comfortable posture Detachable back and seat pad Extra cushion upholstery provided to under arm, head. Hand brakes provided Safety belt provided Maintenance free rear solid wheels Cloth look like water proof upholstery Seat Width 14" Net Weight: 19.5 kgs An individual with cerebral palsy will likely show signs of physical impairment. However, the type of movement dysfunction, the location and number of limbs involved, as well as the extent of impairment, will vary from one individual to another. It can affect arms, legs, and even the face; it can affect one limb, several, or all. Cerebral palsy affects muscles and a person's ability to control them. Muscles can contract too much, too little, or all at the same time. Limbs can be stiff and forced into painful, awkward positions. Fluctuating muscle contractions can make limbs tremble, shake, or writhe. Balance, postur

There are few positive things to say about Menopause. But sometimes, you have to laugh to keep from crying. Watch this informative and helpful video about menopause from women who are going through it-- change those tears of pain into tears of laughter.

Watch Dr. Lilly-Rose Paraskevas talk about CureMD's Electronic Health Record solution (http://bit.ly/1Jec5Hu) and how it is helping her in daily workflows, appointment schedules, breaks, messages, specialty-specific customizations and so much more. The best part about using CureMD, as per Dr. Lilly, is that she can take her practice with her wherever she wants through the convenience of Cloud. Read more: http://www.curemd.com/testimonials.asp