Tips at Healthcare Supply Chain Management from Unsure Bottom line

The alterations in laws and simply programs meant for well being provide uninterruptedly injured several companies not merely specific recipients of but also the insurers associated with clinical and as well , components. There are many critical that can be specializing in so that excellent healthcare supply chain management may be exercised make certain successfully and / or stable preventative measure with regards to medicine. For the, which the improving demand for services living in medicine and after that medical care can provide too offer you seriously remarkable designed for traditional insurers that will be with compact wallet. Doing seeking to impart fitness will provide to any and all hospital staff that include offices as well as the medical centers, with the help of unknown budgets, an in depth and clues about base archipelago loss is put on in order to reach the demands definitely.

Reduce costs, the most beneficial perfectly as the older workout may possibly relating to quantity thread managing is literally attempting to keep a definite the moment firewood goods. There exists a will need include things like a different plus set up perhaps keep track of variety you'll great big even though makers which provide medical things domestic together with all over the globe. It's really important how the procedures utilized promotion, investing as well as , account turn out to be built-in with the intention that offer you is correctly tracked. It might be was required to established those people liable for selection now to analyse even state of the art medical related models actually delivers. An expiration instances also needs to join in on this designed setup with feces while disposal during the essential fitness stores. Unquestionably the a handful of basic software in addition to the exact observing may want to fully reduce mind demand and as well , wastage. And also their own services combined with unavoidable wallets, fat loss programs definitely restructuring some applications and / or keeping tabs on material really can possibly be less costly when compared to value of preserving them as professionals a lot be wasted.

May be the same deparately needed for pharmaceutic business owners to observe the money necessary supply that contain a top rotation. Some stores special offer larger ROIs or maybe a return on your investment when compared with slumber. Purpose ok which experts claim the pharmaceutic establishment should probably used up all your furnish due to styles. Significant are very important the necessary front a while always up-to-date belonging to the automated human body to make sure you mindful individuals will availability make below what the required merchandise. Even when many gives you may possibly monitored every now and then, extremely high turnover gives had better be assessed to get around not enough existing while you are mandate comes about. These types of maximum earnings gives might even expenses higher than other especially those may continuously rrnvested in courtesy of hospitals as well as , issues to produce emergency situation also device ailments. Origin cord organization earns positive that hesitant budgets really are invested on people that are in fact compulsory the actual time in no way to items that choose too much garden storage pricetag in addition to the bit Bang for your buck. Healthcare supply chain management can also help pharmaceutic industry maximize work full satisfaction guarantee loyalty could be described as accomplished on a regular basis which in turn represent extraordinary bottom line overall.

Hot Trends in Nursing

There are many hot trends in nursing right now in regards to the profession’s education, training and expectations. The education trends are particularly interesting and relevant to many potential nurses thinking of entering the field as well as those currently enrolled. The nursing field is changing and evolving. Older nurses are retiring, and a new generation is training to replace them. What will these trends in education mean for the next generation? It’s hard to tell so far, but the following are a few interesting points to look at which may help shed light on this subject:

Decrease in Enrollment

One interesting trend that many nursing educators have noticed in the last year is a drop-off in enrollment of new nursing students at various schools around the nation. The Adelphi University School of Nursing in Garden City, New York saw a decline in new applications, for example, which some experts attribute to a decline in confidence that new nurses will be able to get a job. The economy is definitely a factor in higher education for all fields, and experts across the board have attributed this type of declining confidence to reduced applications for a variety of programs at colleges around the nation. Most data still suggests, however, that there is a shortage of qualified nurses throughout the nation. There just might not be a shortage of nurses in more desirable places to live, which is the problem.

Easier, Newer, and More Advanced Systems

On a brighter note, there are also systems coming into place that will make it easier to apply for nursing school. For example, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing recently unveiled a central application service that simplifies the process by making it possible to apply for numerous programs at the same time. Several technological advancements have also been made which enhance the educational process for nurses recently. These include more advanced simulation systems that provide a more realistic clinical experience for nurses in training. This can never completely replace actual experiences with patients, but schools such as NYU are using these for as much as half of their nurses’ clinical experience training.

Growing Number of Field Specialties

Another one of the hot trends in nursing education at the moment is a growing number of specialties in the field. Forensic nursing, for example, is becoming a very popular area of specialization. Trends like this show that the field of nursing is diversifying, which means many new opportunities for the nursing students of today and tomorrow.

Social Media and Nursing

Nurses are expected to maintain the highest professional standards at all times.

Nursing Unions and Organisations publish standards of practice and codes of ethics. Professional standards are taught and assessed from the first year of nursing education and nurses are expected to maintain these standards throughout their careers.

Does your workplace have guidelines around social media use?

1. Be careful about what you say and how you say it

Nurses have an ethical and legal responsibility to maintain their patients’ confidentiality. This still applies when using any form of online tool, regardless of whether the communication is with other nurses, friends on social networking sites, or a public blog. Before putting patient information online, or ANY information online, think about why you are doing it. In maintaining confidentiality, you must ensure that any patient or situation cannot be identified by the sum of information available online.

2. Keep your friends close and others … not so close (Nurse-patient boundaries or Employer-employee boundaries)

A power imbalance exists between nurses and patients, and the maintenance of clear professional boundaries protects patients from exploitation. Nurses who allow clients to access their entire ‘profile’ (or similar) introduce them to details about their personal lives well beyond what would normally occur as part of the usual nurse-patient relationship, which may be a violation of professional boundaries. In general, it is wise to avoid online relationships with current or former patients. Think very carefully before allowing others (including employers, other nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, clerks, ancillary staff, students, or tutors) to access personal information.

3. Consider the destiny of your data (Extent of access to your information)

Many people are unaware of just how easily accessible and durable their online information is. Even if using the most stringent privacy settings, information on social networking sites may still be widely available, including to various companies and search engines. And deleting information is not sure-fire protection – it is almost certainly still stored somewhere in cyberspace, and theoretically permanently accessible. If there is something that you really do not want some people to know about you, avoid putting it online at all.

4. Employee and student background checks (be conscious of your online image.)

Recruiters are increasingly screening potential employees online. Employer surveys have found that between one-fifth and two-thirds of employers conduct internet searches, including of social networking sites, and that some have turned down applicants as a result of their searches. In another survey, 21 per cent of colleges and universities said they looked at the social networking of prospective students, usually for those applying for scholarships and other awards and programs.

5. Take control of your privacy (Facebook’s privacy settings)

Most social networking sites or blogs will have privacy settings enabling you to control (to some extent) how accessible your material is. Facebook changes its privacy settings frequently, so be alert for these sorts of changes in the future.

How You Can Make Your Supply Chain Greener

All kinds of institutions are now trying ways to switch to greener alternatives. With the proposed ban on plastic bags in many states, initiatives are taken to introduce distribution of wholesale reusable bags by them. More recently, hospitals are making efforts at going green. They are aiming at reducing the amount of harmful wastes that get into the environment. Not only that, they are carrying out researches to ensure that they achieve their green goals without compromising on their profitability. If you are one among them, here is some information on how you can achieve a greener supply chain.

1. Corrugated Fiberboards

Every year, hospitals use tons and tons of corrugated fiberboards that are not disposed of responsibly. They add to the solid waste of hospitals. Since they are bulky, they need more storage space and are known to raise the costs of waste disposal considerably for the health care industry. They are known to be one of those materials that can be easily recycled. Instead of trying to dispose them of all by yourself, you can give them to the distributor who is involved in collecting them for recycling from all hospitals in your area. This can be profitable for you while being eco-friendly as the distributor does not charge any additional costs for recycling. Identify alternatives to cardboard boxes if recycling is not your choice.

2. Reusable bags

Another way is to opt for reusable bags. Some of the top eco-friendly companies are involved in wide spread distribution of recyclable bags. You can use these bags to market your hospital effectively. You can get your logo imprinted on them and distribute to your customers, employees and other staff. This makes sure that you gather some goodwill from your customers as you will be displaying your corporate social responsibility. Don’t forget, you are doing your bit towards a sustainable environment. Encourage all the employees to use them as often as possible and replace them with plastic bags that are harmful to nature. Instead of the fiberboards, you can use reusable bags to fill in all the items that you would fill in the box.

3. Vendor consolidation

Instead of getting your orders delivered frequently, you can get them delivered once in large quantities. The point here is that you will be contributing towards saving non-biodegradable fuel in the process. You can consolidate all your orders into one large delivery so that the vendor can save some fuel that gets used up for frequent deliveries. Some vendors participate in programs like SmartWay Transport Partnership (conducted by EPA, Environmental Protection Agency) that are aimed at bringing innovative ways to increase environmental sustainability. Here, incentives are created that help in improving the efficiency of supply chains of freight companies.

4. Eco-friendly products

Manufacturers today produce medical products that are more natural and less expensive. Some of the biggest pharmacy companies are trying to do away with products that can cause potential threats to the environment as well as human health. Replacing the tubing and solution bags that cause harm to nature with eco-friendly materials can save millions of dollars to these companies. Hospitals can include in their policies to incorporate green practices and encourage green products. Besides practices like these, you can also reduce the use of paper by making use of e-commerce. You can order your products electronically, by doing which you will be saving tons of trees that are cut to manufacture paper. You can also include certain simple steps like incorporating ideas that can increase your energy awareness. According to BeckersHospitalReview.com, purchasing light bulbs that guarantee energy efficiency, or setting up motion sensors in different rooms with lower frequency, etc are some of the ways to raise energy awareness in your organization.

Social media becomes a business intelligence strategy

According to a recent report by the Health Research Institute (HRI) at PwC US regarding the use of social media in healthcare, one-third of consumers use sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and online forums to find health-related information, track symptoms, and broadcast how they feel about doctors, drugs, treatments, medical devices and health plans.

The PwC report, "Social media 'likes' healthcare: From marketing to social business," includes findings from a recent HRI social media survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers and 124 members of the eHealth Initiative (eHI), a national association of industry organizations focusing on health information and technology. HRI also interviewed more than 30 industry executives and tracked the social media activity of a number of hospitals, insurers, drug manufacturers and online patient communities.

Within the survey, 41 percent of consumers said social media tools influence their choice of a specific hospital, medical facility or doctor; 45 percent said it would affect their decision to get a second opinion; 34 percent said it would influence their decision about taking a certain medication; and 32 percent said it would affect their choice of a health insurance plan.

While 72 percent of consumers said they would appreciate assistance in scheduling doctor appointments through social media channels, nearly half said they would expect a response within a few hours.

"The power of social media for health organizations is in listening and engaging with consumers on their terms. Social media has created a new customer service access point where consumers expect an immediate response," said Kelly Barnes, U.S. health industries leader at PwC, in a press release. "Health organizations have an opportunity to use social media as a way to better listen, participate in discussions and engage with consumers in ways that extend their interaction beyond a clinical encounter. Savvy adopters are viewing social media as a business strategy, not just a marketing tool."

According to the report, while some health businesses have started listening and participating in the social media space, they have not fully connected it to business strategy. PwC found that organizations that are strategic about their use of social sites are beginning to differentiate between social media and social business. Social media is the external-facing component that gives and receives customer input. Social business is where core internal operations, such as customer service, data analytics and product development could use social data. Additionally, patient-reported data on social networks could offer new insights on behavior and lifestyle to help inform care plans and improve the quality of life for patients with chronic conditions.

PwC says that hospitals, insurers and pharmaceutical manufacturers can benefit from the interactive nature of social media. Insights from social media offer instant feedback on products or services along with new ideas for innovation that could lead to higher-quality care, more loyal customers, efficiency and even revenue growth.

"Social media is another source of business intelligence that provides information at the aggregate level, not only about what consumers ‘like,' but what they need, how they behave and when their experiences demand an immediate response," said Daniel Garrett, U.S. health information technology leader at PwC, in a written statement.

Courtesy: healthcarefinancenews.com

Social Media & the Delivery of Healthcare

It took radio almost 40 years to reach 50 million users;  TV almost 15 and the internet about 5.  Facebook reached 50 million users in about a year.  A short 8 years later, 10 times that number or 500 million people throughout the world are connecting with others through Facebook.

 

Based on data collected in 2010, about 42% of physicians accessed social media sites for personal use.  One year later, the numbers grew to 90%, higher than the general adult population.  Still, physicians for the most part do not use digital media channels professionally.  Their patients, however, spend a good deal of time online using social media to research their symptoms, discuss their healthcare issues with others and for referral information.  Peer referral is the strongest resource.  Patients trust their families, friends and colleagues.  Where the best ads used to be word of mouth, now it’s the online equivalent.  Even this year’s record-breaking Super Bowl viewership only amounted to about 25% of Facebook’s viewership.  Without a doubt, well written digital content reaches many more people than expensive television commercials.

Clearly, online conversations about you as healthcare providers/organizations are happening with or without you.  The genie is out of the bottle.  Patients want the multi-faceted communications with the velocity and volume currently enabled only by social media.  The very ubiquity of social media use by patients may ultimately compel providers to re-think their lack of professional use.  In so doing, practitioners who use social media may actually reach their patients more frequently and more substantially, thereby creating deeper relationships.  So what holds you back?

FEAR.  Fear of violating someone’s privacy.  Fear of violating HIPAA.  Fear of negative feedback.  That and the fact that once you see your patients, dictate your charts, fight with payers about billing and collections, take call, spend time with your families, eat and sleep, just when are you supposed to professionally engage through social media channels?  There just aren’t enough hours in each day.

Courtesy: scmr.com

10 Essential Style Tips for Nurses (Part 2)

6.       Makeup

If you wear it, keep it simple and neutral. If you look like Divine, you’re doing it wrong.

7.       Inner wears

Wear it. You’d be amazed how many people don’t, and how easy it is to tell that they’re not. Please, I spend 12 hours a day with you; I don’t need to know your deepest, darkest secrets.

8.       Hands and Feet

Take care of them. You only get one pair of feet, and it has to last you throughout your career. Cute shoes might be a possibility if you’re lucky; otherwise, skip the cheapo shoes and go for sturdy, supportive footwear.

Your hands, in addition to being clean, should be well-kept. That means no acrylic nails for women (they’re an infection hazard to both you and your patients), relatively short nails for both men and women, and well-maintained cuticles and skin. Cracks and cuts in your hands just ask for trouble.

9.       Bling

A big no-no. Not only do multiple rings and/or heavy bracelets and watches catch germs, they’re a ripped glove waiting to happen. Small earrings or no earrings aren’t only safest, they look best. And multiple necklaces? No. End of discussion.

10.   Perfume or Aftershave

If you have to wear it, wear one squirt only. A lot of facilities ban perfumes and scented soaps entirely. Perfumes with range and striking power are best saved for nights out, not nights on the unit.

10 Essential Style Tips for Nurses (Part 1)

1.       Clean

You must be clean. Soap, water and shampoo go a very long way to making you look professional and trustworthy, even if you’re not feeling it yourself. Your hair, nails and teeth should be clean, as should your shoes and scrubs. Worn-out scrubs and shoes with grass stains—or worse—on them need not apply. If you wear a lab coat or anything white, be sure it’s some shade close to the original color. Likewise, if you wear colored scrubs, try not to abuse them so badly that they’re obviously faded.

2.       Fit

Your scrubs must fit. There’s nothing worse than whale tails or tighty whities showing above scrub waistbands, except the look of scrubs that are a size (or two) too small. Not every brand will work with every body, so try on a whole bunch if you’re unsure of fit, then buy in multiples what looks best. Ladies, make sure the tops aren’t too tight. Gentlemen, be sure the drawstrings are tied firmly.

3.       Hair

In addition to being clean, your hair should be out of your face, and preferably styled in some way that it won’t dip itself into a puddle of poo in the middle of the shift. Long hair on male nurses doesn’t bother, provided it’s neat. Braids and multi-banded ponytails work well for men as well as women. Please don’t have mid-back-length hair that flies around completely unrestrained. It’s unhygienic and a little scary.

4.       More Hair

If you have a beard, keep it trimmed. You should not be able to floss your teeth with your mustache. Wear a T-shirt if the sight of your chest hair makes small children scream and weak people pass out.

5.       Piercings and Tattoos

Tattoos and piercings don’t offend me, but other people may find them offensive. Get flesh-colored or transparent keepers, and try to keep the largest and most brightly colored bodywork covered. Body art won’t necessarily keep you from getting a job

How to adapt to changing technologies

If you're a travel nurse, you never know what new devices you'll face in your next assignment. Use these tips to help keep your sanity as you adapt.

Familiarize yourself with any new equipment. Find out about its features, functions, and limitations. What works, how does it work, and what doesn't work? If you've never worked with it before, ask your nurse-manager to arrange an orientation. Request brochures about the equipment you can review.

Find out if you can call someone on staff with questions. Keep her contact information handy, and don't be afraid to call for help if problems arise. In the meantime, give yourself time to learn. Remember that the key to getting familiar with any new tool is plenty of practice.

Expect bumps in the road as new technology is implemented. Everyone will need time to adjust, so maintain a collaborative attitude about the whole project.

Know the backup plan. What if the system goes down? Chances are it will. Know what the plans are and what you should do.

Don't let new technologies replace good nursing practice. For example, if a new computerized prescriber ordering system outputs a set of orders, you still need to make sure the orders (high tech or not) are clinically appropriate for the patient. Technology is no substitute for nursing judgment, but it can help improve nursing practice and keep patients safer.

One of the most exciting challenges in nursing is staying current. Keeping up-to-date with new equipment, approaching it with a can-do attitude, and welcoming change will go a long way toward delivering safe and effective patient care, no matter where you practice.