Healthcare Review

Videx designs and manufactures CyberLock access control products

CORVALLIS, OR – CyberLock(r) offers versatile, cost-effective access control solutions for hospitals, healthcare facilities, and pharmacies that are challenged with ensuring HIPAA/HITECH and JCAHO compliance. The CyberLock System of electronic lock cylinders and programmable keys provides the flexibility and customization a facility needs to manage and audit traffic to areas that contain confidential records, financial data, narcotics, and expensive lab equipment.

CyberLock saves thousands of dollars at the door because it uses a facility’s existing mechanical lock hardware and no wiring is required for installation. Within minutes, a mechanical lock can be retrofitted with a CyberLock electronic cylinder. The electronic cylinders can be installed nearly anywhere controlled access and auditing is needed, including server cabinets, drug dispensaries, computer carts, supply rooms, pharmacy cabinets, and more.

CyberLock eliminates incidents of unauthorized entry. Each authorized employee’s key can be programmed with the specific access permissions they need to do their job: what locks they may open, and when they may open them. Both the electronic key and lock record key activity and lock openings.  The system’s email alerts and audit reporting keep management informed of each person’s activities so they can stay out in front of potential security issues.

With CyberLock, a healthcare facility will no longer face the inconvenience and expense of re-keying. A key’s access rights can be changed electronically without mechanical re-keying and a missing key can be quickly deactivated from opening any locks. To further minimize risk, a contractor’s electronic key can be set with a time to begin operation and a time to expire by the hour, day, week, and month.

About Videx

Videx designs and manufactures CyberLock access control products that are made in the U.S.A. and shipped worldwide directly from their headquarters in Corvallis, Oregon.  For information about CyberLock, please contact Videx by phone at (541) 738-5500, by fax at (541) 738-5501, by email at sales@videx.com, or visit our web site at www.videx.com.

Dedham MA – AliMed(r) announced the release of the Motion Sensor Night Light, a new product developed to lower the high incidence of nighttime falls in nursing homes due to low visibility. The device’s LED lights automatically turn on as soon as motion is detected in the sensing field.

“Fall risks can be more easily avoided with improved lighting conditions,” said Senior Product Manager Alan Bingham. “The Motion Sensor Night Light provides the visual recognition needed to avoid slip and trip hazards in otherwise darkened walk areas.”

AliMed Senior VP Jon Bretz said, “Patients who get up at night may not readily see mats, blankets, fluids, or other slip and trip hazards that may be on the floor. So having an automatically triggered night light that illuminates the area where the person will walk just makes sense.” According to Bretz, the Night Light carries out three main functions: it illuminates the walking area, supplies soft light with no added glare, and works without disturbing other patients in the room.

The Motion Sensor Night Light is a set of three wireless, battery-operated sensors that can be strategically placed where optimal illumination is needed. They each contain energy-saving LED lights that reduce battery drain. Further details can be found at www.AliMed.com.

Kevin McNally

By Kevin McNally

The rapid and recent advancement of technology has benefitted many industries, and perhaps none more than the medical field.  From research to preventative medicine to discovering new therapies and remedies, technology is the foundation of a wide range of remarkable medical advances.

But despite the prevalence of these amazing new tools, many hospitals, doctors, and others within the healthcare community remain in a technological stone-age when it comes to developments in digital communication.

The Internet in particular has transformed the way in which most people gather information, making it vital for businesses across the board to increase their search-engine visibility and efficiency of online services. It is essential for every institution to not only maintain a comprehensive website, but to keep up with technological enhancements that will provide the public easy access to the information they desire.

In the past few years there has been a sharp increase in the use of cell phones with Internet connection.  The advent of “smart phones” such as the iPhone, Blackberry and Droid has prompted the exploration of new technological avenues, leading to the creation of “mobile websites.”  According to industry reports, the current mobile landscape can only broaden due to the unprecedented growth of mobile platforms.

Appetites for the most up-to-the-minute and speediest mobile device are never satisfied, with manufacturers working against the clock to continually release more efficient upgrades.  Expectations are steadily on the rise for easy to use mobile websites that offer immediate loading times…for when a website doesn’t deliver, chances are that visitors will quickly disappear.

In essence, a mobile site is a streamlined website, configured to easily fit a smart phone screen.  This technology allows people easy access to information from their cell phones without the inconvenience of small, hard to read type or incorrectly rendered layouts.

Anyone who has ever attempted to navigate through a traditional website from a smart phone can appreciate the need for streamlining the process.  This challenge can lead to frustration – and sometimes worse – for those in need of immediate contact information for a medical facility.

Some hospitals and medical centers are offering mobile versions of their websites to both attract new patients and build continued loyalty with existing patients.  But others have not yet gone boldly into the 21st century.  And it’s a shame, for according to a study conducted by the Pew Trust in September of 2010 nearly 60% of adults in this country over the age of 18 are accessing the Internet via a laptop or mobile device…and 61% of them are searching for health related information.

Mobile-ready access to websites eliminates the often tedious task of locating desired information by reducing complexity.  It’s not necessary to scroll through large text screens since information on a skillfully designed mobile website is organized by importance and formatted for relevance.

With just a few taps, a mobile website can automatically enter stored data, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and directions, saving time and reducing frustration for smart phone users.

Within the health care industry, optimized smart phone accessibility can open new marketing doors.  For example, a “physician search” button on a hospital or medical center mobile homepage could be designed to provide an organized list of nearby physicians based on the user’s GPS location.  Hospital websites today can also offer online physician referral service for those in future need of a physician; applicants can be matched with appropriate physicians at the facility for treatment and care.

Other applications offered by mobile sites include health information sections where users can search medical conditions and receive information about symptoms and treatments.

A wide variety of online tools are presently available for patients and medical facility personnel. And with website translation ability, these helpful and often critical online services can reach a significantly larger customer base.  In fact, offering content in several languages besides English is fast becoming a crucial component to hospital websites in most regions of this country.

Secure web-based programs now exist that allow patients the ability to contact their doctor’s office online regarding non-urgent matters.  These online medical services benefit patients in many ways, from viewing appointment details to reviewing prescription/refill information to receiving advice about routine medical issues.  But perhaps of most value is a patient’s ability to receive test results in advance of a doctor’s appointment, thereby allowing time to digest the information, pose well-thought out questions and better serve as their own advocates.

Technology and efficiency are integral to the business end of medical treatment.  Real time credit card processing for online payment is now available, providing patients with a simple way to address their health care bills…which translates into medical facilities receiving payment more expediently. A growing number of hospital websites also provide gateways for donors to aid specific programs and services in a secure and confidential manner.
Ultimately, technology is a proven component to building relationships between medical facilities and the people they serve – it is a key that can unlock innovative new methods of communication within the healthcare industry.

(Kevin McNally is CEO and founder of Interactive Palette, www.interactivepalette.com, a web design and hosting firm. kmcnally@interactivepalette.com)

By Matthew Haddad, President & CEO, Medversant Technologies, LLC

In today’s globalized market, it is generally recognized that the talent of an organization’s personnel can make or break a business enterprise in mere moments. Nowhere is this statement truer than within the healthcare industry where entities compete on a daily basis for a limited number of providers, administrators and other vital staff members. As the leaders of personnel and talent management, it therefore falls to the Human Resources (HR) and/or Medical Staff Management (MSM) departments of a healthcare organization to guarantee the competitive caliber and qualified capabilities of not only healthcare providers, but the non-medical staff that support and surround them. This is made even more challenging by healthcare reform legislation, which has led to increased screening requirements for both healthcare providers and non-medical healthcare staff and has placed the responsibility for personnel quality assurance squarely on the shoulders of the individual healthcare organization.

Faced with these increased regulations, along with budget reductions and a more diverse and widespread workforce, many HR and MSM departments are on the hunt for ways to improve efficiency in a compliant and cost-effective manner. One simple solution that organizations are exploring is Web-based Human Resource Management (HRM) via various HR technologies. Through innovative automation, data centralization, and knowledge-based workflows, these technologies are able to improve process efficiency and quality assurance compliance for any HR or MSM department.

Healthcare Human Resource Management-Technology Baby Steps

Generally, Human Resource Management (HRM) is defined as the comprehensive, strategic management of employees to achieve organizational and employee career goals. HRM also typically includes an element of organizational risk management to, at a minimum, ensure legislative or regulatory compliance. In the healthcare industry, basic technology solutions are being progressively used to support and streamline HRM processes including recruitment, day-to-day staff management, performance tracking, and career path development. These systems may also feature rudimentary integration with payroll or accounting systems for further process improvement.

Systems built to serve these functions are typically database systems which improve efficiency through a centralized, electronic employee record, but still require time-consuming data entry by HR or MSM team members. While these are distinct advantages over manual, paper-based processes, these HR technologies are still only the first step toward comprehensive efficiency.

Legislative and Regulatory Compliance-A Changing Landscape

While general database systems may prove sufficient for other industries, healthcare organizations have additional challenges that require further technological streamlining. As healthcare reform legislation takes hold, healthcare HR and MSM departments are being confronted by new requirements for non-medical staff to undergo the same level of qualification screening and monitoring that healthcare professionals experience during the credentialing process. Under new rules published by regulatory bodies including Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and The Joint Commission, healthcare organizations are now held responsible for ensuring that both medical and certain non-medical staff meets industry-mandated qualifications and that these qualifications are verified at least monthly. Faced with non-compliance fines, loss of Medicare or Medicaid privileges, or loss of other organizational certification, HRM strategies must be adapted and new tools must be utilized to allow diminished resources to perform these additional activities.

Real-Time, Continuous Monitoring & Integration-The Light at the End of the Tunnel

For HR and MSM departments already stressed under the pressure of current operational requirements, the addition of continuous personnel qualifications monitoring may seem like a burden too big to bear. Luckily, with the advent of innovative, automated verification technologies, a limited selection of HR technologies can now offer automated, continuous monitoring of personnel qualifications. Continuous monitoring of personnel qualifications allows immediate regulatory compliance and offers the HR or MSM department automated notification of any discrepancy in employee information as compared against trusted primary sources (e.g., State License Boards, etc.).

HR technology tools capable of meeting ongoing qualification monitoring requirements are the wave of the future for healthcare HR and MSM departments. Products like Encompass HR from Medversant Technologies, LLC offer HR/MSM offices an integrated, online platform that supports the general HRM functionalities previously described while offering real-time data verification of necessary professional credentials. This automated, continuous verification meets all regulatory requirements and ensures that HR/MSM teams are able to efficiently recruit, maintain, and support personnel of the highest caliber. In addition, systems such as Encompass HR offer further benefits through enterprise-wide centralization of medical and non-medical personnel data and inter-departmental system integration, allowing extensive personnel data sharing for the first time. From hiring and day-to-day management through performance tracking and on-demand reporting, Encompass HR and similar technologies are able to offer unparalleled support to HR/MSM teams through a single, always accurate employee record.

Web-Based Human Resource and Talent Management: Everyone Can Win

In every organization, “intellectual capital” is one of the most important assets of the business. It is a mission-critical function to identify, disseminate, and monitor the skills and knowledge of personnel. Yet the US healthcare industry, which features one of the most highly educated and skilled labor classes in the world, traditionally places virtually no value on the personnel information it collects beyond the avoidance of audit issues. How much could be accomplished if such information were not only efficiently collected and processed but expanded upon and made accessible to all in real time? As regulation increases and reform continues, previously marginalized HR and MSM departments will increasingly turn to innovative tools to help achieve these goals while jettisoning the manual processes that are now obsolete.

Imagine a world where HRM was completely electronic and monitoring of staff qualifications was continuous. In order to effectively deal with the growing number of patients and the ever-increasing levels of regulation, organizations must have real-time knowledge of their providers and non-medical staff shared within one centralized technology platform to mitigate risk and ensure high-quality talent management. This type of technology will provide an effective turnkey approach for achieving continuous credentialing and simultaneously centralizing employee data for enterprise-wide use. Only through HR technology of this complexity can HR and MSM departments finally find the streamlined simplicity they need.

About Medversant

Medversant Technologies, LLC is the nation’s exclusive provider of continuously monitored Web-based credentials verification solutions through its patented AutoVerifi(tm) technology (U.S. Patent 7,529,682) for government, health insurance plans, hospitals and other healthcare organizations. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., Medversant can be reached at (213) 291-6139 or www.medversant.com

Matthew Haddad, J.D., is President and CEO of Medversant Technologies, LLC. Medversant is the nation’s leading provider of automated continuous credentialing and provider data management solutions. He is also a patent holder of Medversant’s AutoVerifi(tm) technology (US Patent No. 7,529,682). Mr. Haddad received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Albany and his law degree from Boston University. He maintains state bar licensure in New York, California and Massachusetts and can be reached at:  matt.haddad@medversant.com

Controlling Acid-Base Status Could Lead to Novel Treatment Strategies

New research shows that febrile seizures in children may be linked to respiratory alkalosis, indicated by elevated blood pH and low carbon dioxide levels caused by hyperventilation, and independent of the underlying infection severity. Febrile seizures were not observed in susceptible children with fevers brought on by gastroenteritis, suggesting that low blood pH levels (acidosis) may have a protective effect. Full findings now appear in Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE).

Febrile seizures are the most common type of convulsive disorder in children, affecting nearly 1 out of every 25 children and typically occurring between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Previous studies have suggested that a combination of genetic and environmental factors cause febrile seizures which have an incidence of up to 8% depending on geographical region and culture.

To further understand the functional changes associated with febrile seizures, a team of investigators, led by Dr. Sebastian Schuchmann, at the CharitŽ-UniversitŠtsmedizin Berlin in Germany and the University of Helsinki in Finland enrolled and analysed 433 children with similar fever levels who were admitted to hospital for febrile seizure (n=213) or gastroenteritis (n=220). All pediatric patients had their blood pH and carbon dioxide levels measured upon admission.

Researchers found respiratory alkalosis in children with febrile seizures and metabolic acidosis in pediatric patients admitted for gastroenteritis. Febrile seizures did not occur in children with gastroenteritis, except in a subgroup of 15 patients who had an alkaline blood pH level. Additionally, 8 patients were admitted on separate occasions for febrile seizures and gastroenteritis; blood pH was elevated when the child was admitted with febrile seizure, but a more acidotic pH was found when the child presented with gastroenteritis.

“Our findings reveal that febrile seizures are associated with respiratory alkalosis and unrelated to the severity of the underlying infection or fever level,” concluded Dr. Schuchmann. “Further investigation of methods that control the body’s acid-base status may lead to the development of novel therapies for treating febrile seizures.” Based on the study results, the authors suggest an application of 5% carbon dioxide in the breathing air as a possible treatment for febrile seizures.

By Matthew Haddad, President & CEO,
Medversant Technologies, LLC

These days, it seems that everyone is being “credentialed.” Americans are painfully aware of the need to produce credible, current identification each and every time they board a flight. Banks and consumer credit companies use increasingly sophisticated techniques to ascertain identity and eliminate fraud.  For decades, the healthcare industry has relied on the process of credentialing to identify providers and qualify them for practice.  Unfortunately, technology solutions have made little headway in truly improving the healthcare credentialing process, which is still largely manual in nature and symbolized by the paper file. Provider credentialing as the principal source of provider information for the organization as a whole is a source of massive errors and inefficiency. Aside from the human error involved with manual, paper-based processes, provider information changes constantly and without warning-from innocuous changes in demographics to more problematic changes in professional and legal status. Under typical manual credentialing systems, this type of data inaccuracy flourishes and opens the door for the dangerous and destructive consequences of medical provider fraud.

Luckily, with the advent of Web services and other software innovations, this area is poised for dramatic change. With real-time information-rather than updates which can arrive months or even years following changes to a provider’s credentials or profile-healthcare organizations can ensure patient safety, decrease liability, and protect their institutions from financial harm. Continuous monitoring of provider credentials allows immediate, automated notification of any discrepancy in provider information as compared against trusted primary sources (e.g., DEA, State License Boards, etc.)-and finally prepares healthcare organizations to efficiently and inexpensively eliminate provider fraud in moments.

The Manual Credentials Process-A View into an Outdated World

Generally, the credentials process starts with the attempt to acquire provider information, typically through various paper applications. An important exception to this rule is the Web-accessible universal application provided by the Committee on Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH), a bright spot in this dark environment. Once the initial information is received from the provider, it must be checked for completeness and accuracy, often requiring manual follow-up with the provider to complete the application. The information must then be verified against approved third-party “primary” sources, in accordance with standards such as the Joint Commission, NCQA, URAC, CMS and Medicaid guidelines. In most cases, this means a flurry of letter writing, faxing and Web searching to find and record verification results.

Under these paper-based processes, verification can last several months and all too frequently, information initially gathered has expired by the time verification is complete, necessitating new verification efforts and provider involvement. Along the way, there are innumerable opportunities for illegitimate healthcare providers to slip through the cracks and offer fraudulent credentials or identity information.
Once verification is complete, collected information is manually entered into available database systems. Most organizations have separate credentialing, billing, HR, etc. database systems, often leading to duplicative efforts and the creation of multiple discrepant provider records.

While this data entry is occurring, the credentialing file is compiled into a verified profile for committee review. The verified profiles are then printed and duplicated for all committee members who physically meet and decide to grant or deny participation or affiliation. During this entire process, which can last as long as six months, the provider is often continuing to practice and submit claims, offering further incentive to fraudulent providers.

What is Electronic Credentialing?

Electronic credentialing involves several features which change the paradigm for how credentialing has been performed.  These features include (1) a provider portal allowing electronic submission of provider information, (2) a centralized provider data repository, (3) automated electronic verification of provider information, (4) virtual committee functionality, and (5) integration of provider information to upstream and downstream systems.  Additionally, not only does electronic credentialing improve efficiency and eliminate error, it lays the foundation for expanding the scope of what can be collected and processed efficiently such as quality information necessary for pay-for-performance programs, ongoing practice evaluation and other required skills assessments for the industry’s changing needs.

A Slow Transition

So why are these paper-based, manual processes still the norm when so much is changing? For one thing, paper-based processes are entrenched in the system and such old habits die hard. In addition, fear of job loss and authority, whether real or imagined, can slow down or even undermine efforts to change. There may even be mission-related bias against capturing more information on providers. Various types of healthcare organizations have viewed themselves as merely providing the space, equipment and support for providers to perform their services. Such healthcare organizations were advised not to dig too deeply into providers’ backgrounds by legal counsel seeking to protect them from liability. Not only is this position legally outdated, it steers an organization directly against the sweeping current of healthcare reform.

In other industries, “intellectual capital” is one of the most important assets of a business. It is a mission-critical function to identify, disseminate, and monitor the skills and knowledge of personnel. Yet the US healthcare industry, which features one of the most highly educated and skilled labor classes in the world, traditionally places virtually no value on the personnel information it collects beyond the avoidance of audit issues. How much could be accomplished if such information were not only efficiently collected and processed but expanded upon and made accessible to all in real time? Instead of marginalizing credentialing departments, industry leaders should bolster them with analysts and quality-focused managers while jettisoning the manual processes that are now obsolete.

Outsourcing: Today’s Real-Time Option

As organizations continue to focus further energies on preventing provider fraud, electronic credentialing will become the dominant credentialing process within the healthcare industry. Unfortunately, as of today, the vast majority of healthcare organizations perform the only type of credentialing they have capabilities for on their own: manual credentialing. Not only is this a massive duplication of effort on a national basis, but the inefficiency of the current methods emphasizes that credentialing is nowhere near the core competency of most healthcare institutions. Credentials Verification Organizations (CVOs) were formed to provide an outsourced alternative for struggling organizations. While many CVOs have the requisite subject matter knowledge, the vast majority are also still utilizing manual, paper-based processes that mimic the healthcare organizations. Cost reduction can only be achieved through lower labor costs. To see drastic improvement, healthcare organizations must find a CVO utilizing a shared Web-based platform with real-time credentialing functionality. This type of partner will provide an effective turnkey approach for achieving continuous credentialing and simultaneously centralizing provider data for enterprise-wide use.

Electronic Credentialing: Everyone Can Win

Imagine a world where credentials verification was completely electronic and continuous. The technology is already there, but the industry is largely unaware of its existence and its immediate applicability. In order to effectively deal with the growing number of patients and corresponding providers, organizations must have real-time knowledge of their providers to mitigate risk and ensure quality care. This means proactively identifying unqualified providers before harm or fraud can occur. Continuous electronic credentialing is a paradigm shift from the laborious credentialing methodologies of the 20th century to the real-time capabilities of the 21st. With this technological transformation, healthcare providers will spend a fraction of the time on credentialing, healthcare organizations will be proactively alerted to issues before they become liabilities, and they and their patients will be empowered with real-time knowledge that defines quality of care.

matt.haddad@medversant.com

Matthew Haddad, J.D., is President and CEO of Medversant Technologies, LLC. Medversant is the nation’s leading provider of automated continuous credentialing and provider data management solutions. He is also a patent holder of Medversant’s AutoVerifi(tm) technology (US Patent No. 7,529,682). Mr. Haddad received a Bachelor of Sciences in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Albany and his law degree from Boston University. He maintains state bar licensure in New York, California and Massachusetts.

The Alliance further enhances its complete personal connected healthcare solution

BEAVERTON, OR – Continua Health Alliance, the international non-profit, open industry organization of leading healthcare and technology companies, announced the release of its 2011 Design Guidelines. The new Guidelines further enhance the pathway for complete solutions based on Continua-certified products and services.

The release of the 2011 Guidelines is the latest milestone demonstrating Continua’s commitment to cultivate and enrich the ecosystem of personal connected healthcare solutions. This supports the Alliance’s vision of empowering individuals and organizations to better manage their health and wellness by connecting seamlessly with their healthcare providers.

The updated design guidelines outline industry standards and new specifications selected by the Alliance for devices, services and communication standards to ensure interoperability, further elaborate on Continua-specific implementations and clarify options in underlying standards or specifications. The limited release is currently available to members, allowing them first-hand access to the international technology standards that the Alliance is founded upon.

Continua 2011 Guidelines incorporate the following new features:

• Bluetooth(r) Low Energy temperatures sensor device profile.
• ZigBee(r) networking functionality extended to enable a single Sensor-Local Area Network (Sensor-LAN) device to communicate with multiple Application Hosting Devices at the same time.
• Improved user identification guidance on the Wide Area Network (WAN) interface.
• Improved consent management and non-repudiation on the Health Record Network (HRN) interface.

Doctor Reveals How to Manage Depression Without Resorting To Anti-Depressants

In the past, people suffering from depression were often given two choices – medicate it or deal with it. One expert, however, believes there is a third option.

“Those suffering with depression were considered to be self-indulgent and self-obsessed,” said Dr.Gregory Jantz, a licensed mental health counselor and author of Living Beyond Depression www.drgregoryjantz.com. “Their dark moods were responded to with little patience or understanding. People with depression were often counseled to just ‘cheer up!’ When the ‘get-over-it’ method didn’t seem to work, increasing numbers of sufferers turned to medication. The use of Prozac and other anti-depressant medication has recently skyrocketed. But there is another way, and it doesn’t involve prescription medication, or any of the other age-old ‘remedies,’ such as alcoholism, drug abuse, promiscuity, eating disorders, self-mutilation, and other compulsive behaviors. It is also far more enlightened than just telling yourself to get over it. It involves objectively examining your life, and rebuilding it little by little until you are reintegrated as a whole person.”

Jantz’s method does not revolve around just going to see a therapist and talking about your problems. It’s about getting to the root of the disease of depression and fighting it with the same emotions that fuel it. He calls it the Whole-Person Approach, and it incorporates getting a handle on the following concepts that make up the key elements of our lives:

• Emotional Influences – We are emotional beings, and we choose to acknowledge or express those emotions in outward forms. We are never far from our feelings and emotions. They trip us up when we are stressed or tired. They sneak up on us at unexpected moments. They support our expectations, fuel our disappointments, and energize our victories. When depression settles into a person’s life, emotions become confused. Minor daily irritants can become major life hurdles. The joy of others can become a gloomy reminder of inner insecurities. Even if life appears to be going well, our emotional balance can become tilted toward depression.
• Environmental Influences – We live in a world where complexity greets us every morning. What are we going to wear? What are we going to eat? How are we going to arrive at work? Which task are we going to complete? What call are we going to deal with first? Should we answer our cell phone, our home phone, respond to our email, reply to our voice mail-and in what order? From the moment we awake, the assault begins. We are overwhelmed. The assault demands a response, and retreating into depression can be that response.
• Relational Influences – We constantly use relationships to determine our position in life. We observe the world and people around us and make decisions about who we are based on how we believe others perceive us. We define our position by the people with whom we interact. We use this information to triangulate our state of well being, factoring in what we’ve learned or observed in the past, a view of our present circumstances, and the potential outcome for our future.
• Physical Influences – In the past, the answer to a broken-down spirit was a pharmaceutical “fix” that relaxed the physical body. But as we learn more and more about the inter-working of mind, body, and spirit, we are learning that the potential exists for our bodies to act as partner in recovery instead of an opponent.
• Spiritual Influences – Wrestling with questions of worth and purpose are spiritual issues. Who am I? What is my purpose? Where is joy? When will this be over? Why is this happening? How did I get this way? The spiritual component of a person’s life can provide direction toward both the right questions and the needed answers.

About Dr. Gregory Jantz

Gregory L. Jantz, PH.D., is the best-selling author of numerous books including Every Woman’s Guide to Managing Your Anger and Moving Beyond Depression.  He is the founder and executive director of The Center for Counseling and Health Resources, Inc., a leading mental health and chemical dependency treatment facility with three clinics in the Seattle, Washington, area.  Dr. Jantz and his wife, LaFon, have two sons, Gregg and Benjamin.

A commonly used drug may prevent osteoarthritis in people who suffer  severe joint injuries.

CAMBRIDGE, MA. — About 27 million Americans suffer from arthritis, and more than three million of those cases result from a joint injury, often in the knee, that provokes slow and steady cartilage deterioration.

A new study from MIT suggests that a steroid drug currently used to treat inflammatory diseases could also prevent osteoarthritis from ever developing in those people, if given soon after the injury.

“In essence, it’s repurposing an existing drug,” says Alan Grodzinsky, senior author of the study, a professor of biological, mechanical and electrical engineering, and the director of MIT’s Center for Biomedical Engineering.

Grodzinsky and his colleagues report their findings in the September 2 issue of the journal Arthritis Research and Therapy. Other authors of the paper are Yihong Lu, a recent MIT biological engineering PhD recipient, and Christopher Evans, the Maurice Edmond Mueller Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School.

Severe joint injuries are more common in younger people, who are likelier to participate in sports such as basketball or skiing in which they are at a higher risk of tearing ligaments such as the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Military service and car accidents are also common sources of joint injuries in young people.

In most cases, the patient is treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen to reduce pain and swelling. Weeks or months later, they might have surgery to stabilize the joint.

In the new study, the MIT researchers tested the effects of glucocorticoids – steroids that can help reduce swelling and pain in arthritic joints. Doctors have been prescribing such drugs to treat chronic rheumatoid arthritis in the elderly for decades.

The researchers experimented on human and bovine cartilage tissue. First they damaged the tissue, then flooded it with inflammatory proteins called cytokines, which are typically released after a joint injury. Cytokines hasten cartilage breakdown.

In damaged tissue treated immediately with the glucocorticoid dexamethasone, cartilage breakdown was halted. The drug also worked when given a day or two after the injury, which is important because people who suffer joint injuries might not get to see a doctor right away, Grodzinsky says.

The researchers don’t yet know if dexamethasone could reverse cartilage damage that has already occurred, but plan to test that in future studies. They are also planning animal studies to determine how many joint treatments are necessary to maintain the protective effect. If those animal studies yield positive results, the findings could be rapidly translated to human treatments, Grodzinsky says, because the drug is already approved for human use.

The research team also investigated how dexamethasone exerts its protective effects. Though the process is not yet fully understood, they found some evidence that it blocks the degradation of aggrecan, a protein-carbohydrate complex that is a major structural and biomechanically functional component of cartilage. Appropriate drug delivery localized to joint cartilage is also under study.

TAMPA, FL — Spellex announces new version of their popular Perfect Prescription Suite, which includes the Spellex Medical Spelling Dictionary, Spellex Pharmaceutical Spelling Dictionary, and Spell-X-Plus Subscription for Microsoft and other programs.

Benefits:

The new medical and pharmaceutical dictionaries will integrate seamlessly into Microsoft Office and other programs.  This allows you to verify correctly spelled medical and pharmaceutical words while providing correct spelling choices for incorrectly spelled terms.  This will increase the accuracy of your documents while saving you time and allowing you to be more productive.

Spellex Perfect Prescription 2011 Features Include:

• More than 450,000 Medical and Pharmaceutical Terms
• Terminology covering more than 70 medical specialties, including critically important terms from laboratory, chemistry, and surgical terminology.
• New Over-The-Counter and Prescription Medications Approved by the FDA     through 2011
• Guaranteed Compatibility with New Programs (including Microsoft Office 2010)
• Increased Speed, Accuracy, and Reliability with newly Enhanced Spelling Engines

Spellex Medical 2011:  Correctly spells medical procedures, diseases, treatments, surgical terms, medical slang, lab tests, many drug names, brief word forms, medical devices, eponyms, acronyms, instrumentation, abbreviations, and more!

Spellex Pharmaceutical 2011:  Includes hundreds of OTC and prescription pharmaceuticals including generic and trade name drugs, investigational drugs, orphan drugs, drug protocols, manufacturers, distributors, and much more.

Spell-X-Plus: Provides quarterly software updates for one full year for the newest medical and pharmaceutical words.

Prices for the medical and pharmaceutical dictionaries start at $69.95 for single users and $374.95 for ten user licenses.  Larger licenses and educational discounts are available. Spellex dictionaries are compatible with Microsoft, most Windows programs, developer tools, custom applications, and Web browsers. The dictionaries are available in US English, UK English, and AU English.

To request product information or a free evaluation copy, visit the Spellex Web site at www.spellex.com or contact Spellex Corporation at 800-442-9673 or 813-792-7000.