As morals in medicine are on the verge of decline, it is all the more important to uphold medical ethics in all circumstances. Health care and education are recognized as the basic elements to ensure the survival of society into future generations. If their principles are not built on strong foundations to withstand the constant erosion of values, it is likened to the foolish man who built his house on sand and was washed away by the floods.

Solid principles in delivering health care services revolve around its code of ethics. Challenges may arise in the form of misuse or abuse of medications, procedures, treatments and other forms related to the field. Staff may be harassed or enticed to look the other way. Banking on the assumption of non involvement translating to innocence, the fact remains that knowledge without action is equivalent to condoning the act.

The role of medical ethics within its world of practice and study deserves due recognition. As such, morals in medicine should be a subject consistently extolled in the corridors and halls, drummed into the minds of health care practitioners of all status and levels. It is not sufficient for the general to be the only party aware of the enemy’s presence. The troops also need to be equipped to do battle.

As the world is a melting pot of cultures and religions, there is a need to understand the various styles of living so as not to overstep one’s boundaries and cause a misunderstanding. A practice of medical service which may be acceptable to a people group may be taboo to another. Some religions do not adhere to blood transfusions. More radical ones may choose to not seek treatment as they believe in healing via means other than the hands of man. Hence, one needs to be sensitive in dealing with such situations as medical ethics dictates the saving of lives.

When I first began researching information on various hospitals across the United States, I came across many hospitals that offered a variety of Centers of Excellence. I was curious as to what constituted a Center of Excellence as opposed to just listing a program as a specialty service, so I decided to research this as well.

What I found out was that a Center of Excellence essentially means that a hospital specializes in the treatment of a certain illness or specializes in particular treatments. Centers of excellence can be anything from heart or cancer care to neurosurgery or organ transplants. Some hospitals offer a variety of Centers of Excellence whereas other hospitals might just offer one or two.

It was more difficult to find out how a hospital was able to claim the distinction of having a Center of Excellence. From what I could gather, each individual program and treatment has particular criteria that needs to be met in order for the hospital to state that their program is a Center of Excellence. They might require that the treatments be performed by a certain type of doctor or that a certain amount of treatments are performed annually.

I also found that different health care programs and health insurance programs will also designate a program of a hospital as a Center of Excellence based on their own criteria. This might mean that they are more likely to recommend this hospital as opposed to another hospital. They do this as a service to the patients who have their insurance to help them make an informed decision about which program is right for them. If you have a question about a particular hospitals Center of Excellence designation, you should ask them about how they received the designation and who gave it to them.

It is often assumed when people mention nail care, that the recipients of such services would be women. Beautiful day spas continue to spring up all over America. These luxurious retreats offer women an escape from their hectic lives and offer some much deserved pampering. Sure, we may see the occasional advertisement for a “couples” massage or maybe even a “male” day at the spa. But when it comes to feet, many people imagine women with beautiful healthy nails polished in exquisite colors and designs.

So what do we do about the large percentage of men who simply need a safe and comfortable place to have their feet and nails professionally cared for? We can’t ignore the needs of thousands of men who are, in fact, perfect candidates for foot and nail care. Nearly 50% of people over the age of 60 have experienced onychomycosis, or toenail fungus. Once this infection takes hold, it can be very difficult to treat. Nails become yellow, thickened and brittle, often requiring the tools and expertise of a medical professional to treat.

Many men have difficulty maintaining good nail care because they cannot reach their feet. Hip and knee replacements are some common reasons, as are arthritis and back pain. Clipping one’s own nails when vision or balance problems exist could become a safety issue. Safety should always be a priority in cutting one’s nails since the possibility of nicking oneself could result in infection. This is especially important for diabetics, where progressive infection could lead to amputation.

Some men have painful corns and calluses which can interfere with their activity level. Regularly reducing rough areas of the feet, adding cushioning to susceptible areas, and moisturizing the feet daily, will delay the return of calluses. This will enable one to continue enjoying an active lifestyle.

Nail care for men needs to become the norm rather than the exception. Those who maintain healthy feet and nails are able to continue to participate in their favorite activities, and have fewer complaints of foot pain.

Some seniors reach a point where they think it is too late for foot care. Please know it is never too late. If you feel embarrassed by the condition of your feet or nails, please schedule a visit to have them cared for by your health care provider or foot care nurse. It will be the first step in a healthier you!

In my search for answers to use alternative medicine in place of modern drugs and pharmacy I ran across the story of colorful naturopath Henry Lindlair (1862-1924). As a young man Lindlair accumulated a fortune. Although rich he was sick at 35. Diagnosed with diabetes and given just a few months to live he changed his lifestyle to nature cure. Ten years later he owned a successful drug free nature cure clinic in Chicago. Over the next 20 years became the leading scientific naturopath in America.

Lindlair’s story is common in the annals of nature cure. His cure was not found in drugs, but located in nature. His first touch was reading Louis Kuhne’s The New Science of Healing which introduced him to the concept that disease is caused by violating nature’s laws. After applying the Kuhns suggestion he eventually became cured of diabetes. The experience gave him the drive to embark on a lifelong journey into natural cures.

Before that Lindlair had believed that life, death, and disease were largely a matter of being in the wrong place and disease was caught by chance. He felt betrayed by a medical community that should have explained that as simple a thing as diet and that he was cured by what medical doctors called a “Quack.”

Lindlair believed that if he became a medical doctor he could correct the wrong thinking conveyed by the medical profession. He learned osteopathy and nutrition, then later received his medical license and started his Chicago practice. He consistently railed against the rich American diet and felt good blood did not need large quantities of fats, proteins, meats, and dairy products. He felt that vegetable salts were taxed with heavy foods that nutritional deficiencies would occur. He never became a fanatic about food but was careful about quantity, making vegetables the biggest portions on his plate.

Four core solutions were used in his sanatorium
o Rest and Relaxation
o Water, air, light, electricity
o Hydrotherapy of all sorts, cold, warm, hot
o Controlled diet

Besides those he used homeopathy and occasional herbs. Lindlair was an accomplished naturopath whose light went out too early when he paid no attention to himself. An infection in his toe led to blood poisoning killed him.

Its true many illnesses are unavoidable, yet it is clear that each person has the power to improve his or her own health and well being. Eating well, exercising, resting, sleeping and relaxing, each can have a positive effect on ones health. Another key factor in a persons health and well being is the choice to not abuse alcohol, drugs, or tobacco.

Doctors believe that it is the people who have a positive attitude towards life, who believe that their lives have purpose, are manageable and have meaning, have the best chance of living a healthy and long-lived life.

Before the 20the century there was very little public support for health care. The government rarely got involved and when they did it was only to deal with epidemics or to clean up slums. Much has changed since then.

The problem is staying healthy is both becoming easier and harder these days. We have a constantly advancing health care system along with the advances in technology. On the other hand we are constantly introducing hazers into out lives such as pollution and toxic waste. New and more deadly virus’s and diseases are always developing, yet our life expectancy in north America has almost doubled in the last century. Spite all the health hazards the choice to remain healthy is still in your own hands. Avoiding unhealthy situations, foods, and life-styles along with staying positive are the best ways to have a healthy mind and body.

Acronyms have always dominated the practice of medicine and one of the older ones is RVS or Relative Value Scale. Simply stated, although far more complicated in reality, the RVS sets the fee structure that physicians will be paid by insurance companies and agencies such as Medicare and Medicaid. A lesser known acronym is RUC which represents the real power behind the RVS. This entity, the Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC), evaluates physician’s procedures and makes recommendations to the CMS or better known at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These reimbursement recommendations are almost always followed, i.e., ninety percent of the time. More alarmingly, they almost always favor dramatic increases for specialists rather than primary care physicians…six times more frequently.

Why is this disparity so important one might ask? It is terribly important for a whole host of reasons. These include:

The compensation disparity between specialist and primary care docs widens geometrically. Specialists now earn $135,000 per year and $3.5 million during a career more than a primary care doctor;

• Clearly, with this type of incentive, many more docs are becoming specialists and eschewing the field of primary care;
• The PCP base is shrinking at exactly the time we need it most;
• The new Health Care legislation is heaping 37 million more Americans into the health care system and they all need a PCP

Income disparities shape medical student specialty choice Specialty and geographic distribution of the physician workforce: what influences medical student and resident choices? March 2009. Accessed January 4, 2010

It is not just “Houston” that has a problem…it is the American health care system and all Americans. Soon the waiting time for a PCP appointment will lengthen to dangerous intervals. Overworked and underpaid docs will be the norm and that isn’t good for anyone.

One solution is concierge medicine or often referred to as Direct Care. A Direct Care practice denotes an experienced primary care physician who limits his or her practices to 300 to 400 patients and works for an annual fee rather than accepting insurance payments. This allows patients to receive the care they need and deserve and PCP to practice medicine in a thorough and safe manner while achieving a reasonable earnings level.

One of the number one concerns of employees these days in health care insurance for themselves and their families and not just any healthcare insurance but affordable too. Are you paying too much to protect your family? You are aren’t you and it is a concern of yours too isn’t it? Indeed and you are not alone in fact a recent survey in Human Resource Magazine indicated the it was the number one concern even more than salary to corporate hires by over a two to one margin.

One problem is the over litigiousness in the healthcare industry partly due to high costs of regulatory compliance and partly due to the incessant litigation of Mal-practice on doctors, thus causing them to raise their prices to afford insurance and therefore higher costs to folks like you.

Many times employers offer various choices that you can choose from and you have to study each plan carefully to make sure if it fits your needs. But what if you are self-employed then what do you do? Well there are many choices for self-employed folks, but you again need to study all the possible options so you can get the right policy that is best for you. Think on this.

Natural health courses may be something you want to consider if you are interested in a natural health career. I was interest in attending a natural health college because I want to help people and I enjoy new and different approaches to healthcare. Some of the courses I read seemed to be very difficult so I might be in over my head here. I found out that some schools offer courses in Chinese natural health care. The Chinese seem to have the answers for all the ills with natural remedies.

There are many courses to choose from and take so I like the options and there is a great potential to succeed when and if I ever graduate. I will be a high school senior this coming year so I have time to decide what my college will be. I’m not sure what my career would be though I thought about becoming a massage therapist one day. When you see the course schedule it’s overwhelming because the amount of education involved.

I noticed the amount of people who are enrolled in those types of natural health schools isn’t that much so maybe I will have a better chance to land a job after I graduate. I might change my mind between now and when I graduate from high school but the chances are I will likely still be interested. Natural health courses seem as if they will be a challenge but I know if I am committed I can do it.

The Oregon Medicaid program in the 1980’s instituted a type of rationing of health care that determined a finite list of services that were provided to an expanded number of recipients. This was novel in that it openly and overtly admitted that the resources available to pay for services in their state’s Medicaid program were limited, and that they were going to spend those dollars on the services that were determined to be the most cost-effective.

By doing this they attempted to provide a level of health care services to all residents who were below 100% of the federal poverty level, while reducing services for which the individuals currently receiving health care insurance through the state’s Medicaid program. The reduction was accomplished by not paying for services that fell below a cutoff for cost effectiveness of the service.

Essentially all health care services were analyzed and a measurement of the benefit and cost of the services was given a grade. All of the services were put into a list from the most value for cost being #1 on down to the least value for the cost. Then an estimate of the number of persons who would require the services was used to calculate the cost of each service. The number of dollars available for Medicaid was used to determine which of the services would be covered.

The services that were not covered were at times controversial, and at times heartbreaking. Certain transplants and therapy for some cancers brought great anguish to patients in need of these services. Initially the decisions about which services to cover were made based strictly on the best evidence available. As these various emotional issues came up legislation mandating coverage of various conditions eroded the integrity of the list of covered services.