Health

Healthcare Consumer Empowerment

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Consumer empowerment, a growing method of healthcare management for employers and healthcare organizations, involves empowering yourselves by learning how to become wiser healthcare consumers. The following are 10 ways to achieve healthcare consumer empowerment. 1. Establish a relationship with a primary physician — before you need one. Discuss your health and family with your doctor. If you don’t have a primary physician find one. 2. Ask questions. In fact, I think it is a great idea to bring questions with you on a piece of paper, so you do not forget to ask them. 3. Learn about your illness. Research and ask your physician questions. There is a lot of information available to you. 4. Learn how to practice self-care. In times of emergency or injury remember to follow RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) 5. Review bills carefully. Sometimes errors … Read more

Real Self

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RealSelf.com is a health and beauty community for patients to engage in conversation about personal beauty, skin care, and wellness. Their title tag line is “answers, tips, and treatment reviews for skin care, cosmetic plastic surgery, spa services, and anti-aging.” Their  goal is to provide a safe place to get the opinion of peers and professionals about what products, treatments or procedures are worth it. Of course they have a commitment to keeping it real. On their website it states, “the prime reason we chose our company name is that we believe consumers want realistic opinions and real answers when it comes to investing in their self. At RealSelf.com we stay ‘real’ by not accepting paid placements, fake reviews, or commercial considerations that compromise the integrity of community generated reviews, ratings and postings.” The inspiration behind RealSelf comes from the … Read more

Enurgi

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ENURGI is a  web-based health care services company that connects families and patients in need with local, clinical caregivers across the U.S. The website allows patients, family members, and caregivers the ability to manage the care process online. ENURGI is the first web-based company to aggregate and create a clinical caregiver database for families and patients in need of home health care to access and connect with. There are over 1,000,000 clinicians within it’s caregiver database for families and patients in need to access when seeking a licensed clinician, certified nurses aide, or home health aide. If you are a licensed caregiver you can conduct a quick zip code search to see if you are listed in the caregiver database. If you are not you can register your information. Then you you can find patients in your area who are … Read more

The Digital Health Revolution Esther Dyson

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I found this great video by Esther Dyson of the Digital Health Revolution. The video is around 35 minutes long but it is a great interview if you have the time. Esther Dyson is a well regarded futurist and proponent of health consumer empowerment. In the video she sits down to talk about the future of the Internet and the racial, personal and economic implications of the genetic revolution. Dyson discusses a range of subjects around health and how people given more information can make better choices. This is the link for the video http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1494874807/bclid1182795426/bctid1713734252 The video is from ScribeMedia.org.

Daily Strength

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DailyStrength is a website that offers answers to health and life challenges as well as a wide variety of support tools. The site enables users to create and track their progress towards specific goals, create their own support groups, and read consumer reviews of more than 500 drugs, treatments, and alternative therapies. For example, the site offers a Tooth Grinding support group of which there are currently 133 members. The latest activity is displayed in a side bar and information is provided primarily from Wikipedia. There are also several people looking for advice on wisdom teeth. The site allows you to see the members who are online, offer them hugs, share stories by video, photo and text. People can also designate themselves as members in need and you can chat live with others. The site prides itself in being free … Read more