How Telemedicine is reshaping the Medical cannabis industry?

In states like California and Nevada, where medical cannabis is legal, telehealth services have extended the boundaries of a physician’s medical practice for providing effective healthcare. It has bridged the gap between doctors that are available to prescribe cannabis and patients that are seeking medical cannabis treatment.

The Green Rush bought about a lot of change in the way society understood and used cannabis. Not to forget, it all started with research that validated the therapeutic benefits of the plant. Telemedicine has provided several benefits to both doctors and patients across the Golden State.

How it all started…

After the Californian Voters passed Proposition 215, medical marijuana gained its foothold into the healthcare industry. It was legal to recommend cannabis for patient-care. Since then, many states have passed their respective ballot measures establishing laws for medical marijuana recommendations.

Contrary to all these advancements, people using cannabis for medicinal purposes were still being judged by their friends, neighbors, and family members. They many patients felt they were perceived by criminals – the market place reflected that and rewarded dispensaries and clinics that valued discreteness. Privacy has always been an issue in the industry.

Then came the time for a change

Telehealth, in compliance with the Business and Professions Code (HIPAA), section 2290.5, allowed licensed medical professionals to recommend cannabis for medicinal purposes using Telemedicine technology.

Moreover, patients, who were feeling embarrassed to talk about medical cannabis to their primary physicians before, were now able to freely ask their doctors about medical cannabis therapeutic strategies.

Telehealth services turned out to be a solution to the conventional ‘physician house-call’.

How Telehealth Has Changed the Concept of Cannabis recommendations?

The technology which was earlier limited just for bigger healthcare operations has now entered the mainstream medical cannabis healthcare industry.

For some, this technology means exploring medical cannabis treatment of their respective medical conditions. While for others, it bypasses any judgments and criticism that may come from their primary healthcare provider.

Other than privacy, telemedicine services have a number of other benefits as well.

• It’s Easily Accessible

Not every city in the United States has access to 420 clinics and many patients who require it suffer from some form of physical ailment, often with transportation restrictions. With telemedicine, patients can now get a medical marijuana recommendation even if they don’t reside in an urban city. Not only this, they can avoid traveling long distances and instead just go online to see a specialist.

• Reduced Health Care Costs

With fewer hospital visits, telemedicine has tremendously reduced healthcare costs for millions of patients across the country. Patients save on fuel by not have to drive to their clinic. In addition to this, with a medical evaluation, they are exempt from paying several taxes when buying cannabis medicine.

Telemedicine continues to accelerate the growth of Cannabis industry

The ease and convenience of obtaining a cannabis recommendation have allowed patients to lean on telemedicine. The time spent driving through traffic to a clinic in person, sitting in waiting rooms, has now been replaced with just a few clicks.

It makes access to advice much faster and easier, enabling patients to ask questions more often and review symptoms that they would not otherwise deem worthy of an office visit. This also reduces the chances of any self-medication issues as patients can discuss strains and dosing directly from their doctors.

Telemedicine technology has also helped increase awareness about the potential therapeutic applications of medical cannabis. Service providers can now service an entire state compared to just a city. Patients with chronic medical symptoms now have proper access to medication that can manage their conditions without any side effects.

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Healthcare and Patient Satisfaction – The Essential Elements

The success or failure of any organization depends on the quality of service they provide to the customers. In case of healthcare organizations, patient satisfaction is of prime concern. These establishments work day-in and day-out to improve the quality of patient service, provide exceptional patient care, and enhance the patient experience.

Quality of Service is Indicated by Patient Experience Measures

Patient satisfaction surveys play a very important role in assisting healthcare institutions to transition to value-based healthcare services. Recent research states that quality of care is directly influenced by patient experience. But, in spite of various factors influencing organizations to pay more attention to patient satisfaction, many healthcare providers are still skeptical about it due to conflicting research. Some studies state that patient experience has no relation with the quality of care, while other studies found that it is directly associated with better outcomes.

Major Factors Influencing the Patient Experience of Care

Even though there are many inconsistencies in terms of defining patient experience, research states that improvement in patient experience and development in quality of care are clearly connected. There are five major procedures that can help healthcare organizations in radically improving patient experiences and utilizing innovative technology to their advantage.

Proper Monitoring of Patient Satisfaction and Implementation of Appropriate Measures

Improving patient experience is a basic and necessary approach towards improving outcomes. If a patient is given proper treatment and is receiving proper care from the doctors and nurses, then they will feel better about the hospital authority. As a result, they will properly follow the treatment recommendations. Institutions should use patient satisfaction as a balance measure, and not as a catalyst for outcomes. Balance measures assist health systems in making proper quality of care improvements and also taking care of potential negative impacts. Using patient experience as balance measure also helps healthcare institutions make sure that improvements one area doesn’t hamper another area.

Evaluation of the Complete Care Team  

A major step towards the improvement of patient care experience is to gather data as a whole instead of gathering information about individual care interactions. Surveys should be conducted to assess not only individuals, but also the entire team. They should include individual oriented questions along with questions that concern the entire team, like ‘how well were the nurses and physicians working together’, and so on.     

Judicious Utilization of Healthcare Analytics

Systems have to understand, use, and act on the patient satisfaction data to improve the patient experience. Concerned authorities can use an enterprise data warehouse and patient experience applications to research and identify how patient experience, clinical outcomes, and employee satisfaction are related.

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Nutritional Desideratum during Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a significant moment in the life of a woman. This is the period of time where the individual will need to take good care of herself and ensure that a healthy pregnancy includes an equally healthy diet. This is where the nurturing of the child starts and helps it grow in an ideal environment. The fetus growing inside the womb relies entirely on the food consumed by the mother. It is hence necessary to implement foods containing more calcium, folic acid or folate, iron and proteins. The intake of fruits and vegetables needs to be taken seriously as adding a large variety of them into the diet can prove to facilitate more vitamins and minerals within the body.

Implementation of Nourishment for the Fetus

Food is the element that helps humans live and provides them with energy to carry out their day to day tasks. The ingested nutrients upon getting absorbed into the body start building up the body and repair it from within. Similarly, for women who are expecting, they need double the nutrition as it needs to be balanced out for the growth of the baby as well as energy for the mother. Here are some of the things to add into the diet compulsorily to ensure a healthy pregnancy.

Dairy Products – The need to consume foods that are rich in protein and calcium are at its –peak as this is a major requirement for the fetus’ bone health. The high quality protein mainly casein and whey are found in dairy products along with magnesium, phosphorous and zinc. Yoghurt is a rich source of all the above nutrients especially calcium which assures that the babies developing bones, teeth and muscles are healthy. Some variants of yoghurt also contain probiotic bacteria which are very important for digestive health and assist in constipation during pregnancy. Consumption of milk may also help in reducing the chances of pregnancy related complications.

Legumes – These small pods are rich in iron, protein and folate. During the first trimester it is essential that both the mother and fetus receive folate as it is possible that the chances of low birth weight are reduced. The fibers present in it also help in preventing hemorrhoids for the duration of the pregnancy.

Fish – This is also a natural source of vitamin D which is good for the hair as well as nails. Consumption of fish helps in providing the body with Omega 3 fatty acid. The fetus’ brain and eyes are built using this nutrient but fish like salmon should be consumed in moderation. The risk of impurities or large quantity of mercury does exist, but nonetheless, the occasional sea food can help in completing this very important dietary requirement.

Broccoli and Dark Leafy Greens – The presence of fiber, vitamins C, K, folate and potassium in these vegetables holds various benefits for both. These are rich in anti – oxidants that may help in preventing cancer, arthritis and Parkinson’s disease as well. It can also help in reducing the risk of low birth weight. The likes of Spinach, Kale and Arugula are crucial for the purification of blood as well.

Whole Grains – Grains like whole wheat, whole oats, barley and quinoa help a pregnant woman fulfill the daily calorie requirements. This is especially necessary during the second and third trimester as the growth of the fetus is the fastest and the body requires energy to carry out everyday functions as well. They also contain magnesium which may help in relaxing the muscles and also preventing the uterus from contracting prematurely.

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Molecular Diagnostics – a Leap of Growth in Medical Analysis

Molecular diagnostics has emerged dramatically over the last two decades, as advanced technologies have driven this industry towards the next level of significance. Companies which already have adopted molecular diagnostic methods are now benefitted by increased accuracy and improved sensitivities in their tests compared to others. These new methods have greatly enhanced the discovery of many microbial infections, as well as genetic illnesses. Those who were hesitating due to the challenges and expense of opening a molecular lab now run the risk of being at a competitive disadvantage.

Molecular Diagnostics Industry

Molecular diagnostics has paved way for collaboration among many companies to add up their strengths. Through the collaboration, they intend to strengthen their hold in the molecular diagnostic market and develop an integrated clinical workflow solution and provide mass access to molecular diagnostics. Tie-ups with companies from other domains are mainly aimed at marketing of diagnostic tests. Only a handful of companies controlled more than two-thirds or more of the market for molecular tests. Companies like Roche will continue to lead the product portfolio includes molecular diagnostic tests for oncology, virology, microbiology, and blood screening. Multiple insurance providers are associated with them as payers of high-end medical tests.

Emerging Market Led by DNA Testing

The global molecular diagnostics market has reached beyond six billion USD in recent times according to some business reports. New technologies, innovations in medical science and expanded applications for tests have been fueling steady growth in the field. The business scope for it has its spectrum is not limited to one field of study. Molecular techniques are utilized in diverse fields like biochemistry, cellular sciences, genetics, infectious disease, oncology, hematology, and pharmacology.

Majority of the market for testing is derived from blood screening and tests related to infectious diseases. Personalized medicine is the new trend emerging with technologies that depend on DNA sequencing and molecular diagnostics. DNA sequencing is becoming a primary reason for the growth of molecular diagnostics. Personalization is the best when the approach to patients care is preventive care, which relies on proper diagnostic care or therapeutic remedies.

Clinical Testing Goes Molecular

Opening a molecular lab is a complex project demanding high-end instruments and expert to operate them. Setting up a sophisticated molecular lab is easier today because of the developments in the technology. Complex tests and bulky equipment are becoming more digital and user-friendly, gradually loaded with automated functioning. It also offers monitoring and control systems to ensure quality results.

It’s been more challenging to demonstrate the clinical utility of tests for broad patient populations. Targeted tests will continue to be the first choice for the majority of the patients. It will be more imperative than ever for clinical labs to have moldable solutions, with both targeted tests available.

A major challenge in the form of Antibiotic resistance is bound to have a long-term impact on the molecular diagnostics space. There are three elements – an integrated approach of rapid testing, antimicrobial stewardship programs, and clear actions based on results, which are required to address such a public health crisis.

Molecular diagnostics is advancing to provide most laboratory tests in infections and genetics. Genome sequence databases within and between species provide the information necessary to develop sensitive and specific diagnostic assays. In fact, microorganisms are nowadays classified on the basis of sequence rather than phenotype.

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Molecular Diagnostics – a Leap of Growth in Medical Analysis

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