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    Can You Prevent A Healthcare Disaster?

    DadMomMackinawBridge copyAccording to many doctors and my own parents, the answer is yes. Did you know that 70 percent of deaths in America are linked to preventable conditions such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease and several types of cancer? Many insurance companies are now incentivizing patients to start improving their health each day by getting regular check-ups, joining a weight loss plan or a gym.

    You don’t have to be an athlete to work on prevention. My dad and mom lived everyday by the motto, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” They were always active. 365 days per year my mom walked 1.5 miles, no matter what the weather was in Michigan. My dad rode his bike 200 miles per week. We grew up going to the YMCA every Friday as a family–playing in the gym and swimming. In the summer we were camping, swimming, and hiking. There was always an emphasis on staying active. The picture in this blog post is them having lunch after they walked the Mackinaw Bridge for the 25th time!

    It’s never too late to work on prevention. You can start by doing the following:

    1. Get a check-up by your primary care doctor. Ask what a good plan is for you.
    2. Start moving at work. Set a timer on your phone to move every couple of hours if you have a desk job. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk at lunch.
    3. Try getting a health monitoring device, like a FitBit. You will be surprised how monitoring your movement helps you focus on moving more.
    4. Set some simple goals. Don’t decide to lose 50 pounds this month. It’s unrealistic and will just cause more distress. Choose a few goals that can be accomplished right away such as having a vegetable each day or taking a walk after dinner two times per week.

    Start today to make prevention a part of your daily routine so you can avoid a preventable healthcare disaster.

    Tell me how you and your family are working on prevention. I’d love to hear from you!

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    Helpful Healthcare Links: April 30, 2015

    KATHMANDU, NEPAL - CIRCA DEC, 2013: Unidentified child and his pOur helpful health care links focus on two hot topics in healthcare this week– An update on the devastating earthquake in Nepal and an what it looks like when a healthcare record is hijacked. Both are worth your time. And, as always, if you ever come across a healthcare story that you think merits more attention, please send it our way!

    Inside Nepal’s Next Challenge: Overflowing Hospitals

    Hospitals throughout Nepal are flooded with patients, with thousands in need of care for acute injuries after a massive earthquake that the country’s leader said may have killed up to 10,000.

    A Day in the Life of a Stolen Healthcare Record

    The process of divining the provenance of stolen healthcare records. These records typically are processed or handled by a gauntlet of third party firms, most of which have no direct relationship with the patient or customer ultimately harmed by the breach.

     

    P.S.–TODAY is your last day to sign up for the ObamaCare Enrollment Extension!

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    How Will You Get Your Health History When Traveling?

    Hiking - hiker woman on trek with backpack living healthy activeMy daughter’s doctor asked us this question during a recent visit.  His answer was surprising: “the Cloud.”  

    As many of you know, my daughter was born with a life-threatening illness.  She’s an adult now and working at her first job in an urban city far away from me and her doctors.  She recently had a bad case of food poisoning, which lasted a long time.  We both began to wonder whether this was actually a more serious problem.  We decided to schedule an appointment with her doctor to follow up.  She took a day off of work and flew home.

    Although she was fine, we thought it was important to make a plan if she ever got very sick again.  Remember “preparation” is everything in healthcare.  My daughter flies all over the world and often has to leave without much notice.  What would happen if she had a serious problem while she was out of the country?

    The doctor told us how important it would be for any doctor she saw to have her important health information about the surgeries she had as a child.  Specifically, he said she should have immediate access to:

    1. The reports from her operations (operative reports)
    2. Any x-rays, and
    3. Discharge summaries from hospital stays

    The doctor and I agreed that, although everyone talks about patients having a universal healthcare record that can be accessed from anywhere, this simply does not exist.  He suggested getting the important records and putting them on my daughter’s phone which could be backed up in the cloud.  Therefore, she would have access to the records from anywhere in the world.

    Having immediate access to her important health records might be the difference between life and death.  So taking some time now to contact the various hospitals where she had her surgeries, gathering the records, scanning them and putting them where we can immediately access them makes a lot of sense.

    Tell me what you do to protect yourself from a health emergency when you or your children travel?  I’d love to hear from you.

    A great place to start gathering your health history is to download my FREE eBook, Easy Healthcare: What to Do First which contains a Medical Life List.

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