June, 2023

June 30, 2023admin

Air quality health advisory issued for Wednesday

Tue, Jun 27th 2023 03:30 pm

Submitted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos and State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald issued an air quality health advisory for the Eastern Lake Ontario, Central New York and Western New York regions for Wednesday, June 28. Air quality is forecasted to reach “Unhealthy” Air Quality Index (AQI) levels in the Western New York Region.

Air quality is forecasted to reach “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” AQI levels on Wednesday in Central New York and Eastern Lake Ontario regions. See the chart here: https://www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/aqi/aqi_info.cfm.

The pollutant of concern is fine particulate matter. The advisory will be in effect from midnight through 11:59 p.m.

DEC and DOH issue air quality health advisories when DEC meteorologists predict levels of pollution, either ozone or fine particulate matter are expected to exceed an AQI value of 100. The AQI was created as an easy way to correlate levels of different pollutants to one scale, with a higher AQI value indicating a greater health concern. DEC and DOH issue air quality health advisories and corresponding guidelines based on 24-hour forecasts, although one-hour values may exceed forecast values in these regions.

Fine Particulate Matter

Fine particulate matter consists of tiny solid particles or liquid droplets in the air that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter. PM 2.5 can be made of many different types of particles and often come from processes that involve combustion (e.g., vehicle exhaust, power plants, fires), and from chemical reactions in the atmosphere.

Exposure can cause short-term health effects such as irritation to the eyes, nose and throat, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and shortness of breath. Exposure to elevated levels of fine particulate matter can also worsen medical conditions such as

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Health Care

June 30, 2023admin

Focus: Obesity drug Wegovy’s popularity has US employers rethinking insurance coverage

June 27 (Reuters) – Shawnte struggled with her weight for years before she was prescribed Novo Nordisk’s (NOVOb.CO) diabetes drug Ozempic for weight loss in 2020, helping the former music industry professional from New York lose more than 50 pounds over two years.

But last year, the 46-year-old, who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect her privacy, was told her health insurance would not cover her weight loss treatment. She said she was directed to take cheaper weight-loss medications, which aren’t as effective.

The health insurance plan, which Shawnte’s husband received through his job at media company Warner Bros, said she wasn’t eligible for Ozempic because she didn’t have diabetes. A new and more expensive version of the drug specifically for weight loss, called Wegovy, had been approved in 2021 by U.S. health regulators. But the employer only agreed to foot the bill for Wegovy after Shawnte’s husband complained to his human resources department and a representative pushed to cover it.

“If I had just sat back and taken their no as an answer, I wouldn’t have been as successful with my weight-loss plan,” she said, adding that she is still using the drug.

Warner Bros Discovery Inc did not respond to a request for comment.

Shawnte’s experience is becoming more common among the tens of millions of Americans who get health insurance through large employers, defined as companies with more than 5,000 workers, according to two health care consultants and seven doctors interviewed by Reuters.

While many of these companies have been covering weight-loss drugs, Wegovy’s high price and the huge increase in people taking it has them reconsidering when and how to reimburse use of such treatments to prevent a steep spike in health insurance costs, three healthcare industry experts say.

Up to

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Health Information

June 30, 2023admin

Patient Portal Market to Surpass 11.8 Billion by 2030

Westford, USA, June 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — According to SkyQuest, the patient portal market growth of electronic health records (EHRs) is being driven by two key factors: the rising demand for EHRs and the increasing adoption of a patient-centric approach by healthcare payers. EHRs are becoming increasingly popular as the healthcare industry continues transforming digitally. These digital systems enable the collection, storage, and exchange of patient health information in electronic format, offering numerous benefits such as improved data accessibility, enhanced care coordination, and reduced medical errors.

Browse in-depth TOC on “Patient Portal Market.”

Pages – 242
Tables – 61
Figures –68

Get sample copy of this report:

https://www.skyquestt.com/sample-request/patient-portal-market

A patient portal is a web-based access point that connects with electronic health records (EHR) systems, primarily focusing on providing patients access to their health records. Through a patient portal, individuals can securely access and manage their personal health information. One of the critical features of patient portals is the ability for patients to share their health information with healthcare providers, facilitating remote communication and reducing the need for in-person visits.

Prominent Players in Patient Portal Market

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc.
Athenahealth, Inc.
Cerner Corporation
CureMD Healthcare
eClinicalWorks LLC
Epic Systems Corporation
GE Healthcare
Greenway Health LLC
McKesson Corporation
MEDHOST, Inc.
Meditech
NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC
NXGN Management, LLC
Nextech Systems, LLC
NueMD
Optum, Inc.
Practice Fusion, Inc.
QSI Management, LLC
RelayHealth Corporation
WebPT Inc.

Web-Based Segment is Expected to Grow the Market Due to the Numerous Advantages Offered by Web-Based Patient Portal Software

The web-based segment of the patient portal market held a significant market share of 66%, establishing its dominance in the industry. This dominance can be attributed to the numerous advantages offered by web-based patient portal software. One key benefit is the provision of automatic software updates,

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Health Advice

June 30, 2023admin

WHO EMRO | General health advice and guidelines for pilgrims | News

27 June 2023 – The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a list of recommendations that each pilgrim should follow. These recommendations are in line with the health requirements set by the health authorities in Saudi Arabia for pilgrims in the Hajj season this year.

Physical ability, chronic diseases and health education

WHO recommends that authorities at pilgrims’ countries of origin should take into account that a pilgrim should have minimum physical ability for Hajj. It also alerts to the high risk of infectious diseases in older people and those with severe chronic diseases such as advanced cancers, heart and respiratory diseases, advanced liver or kidney diseases, and senility.

Furthermore, WHO recommends that pilgrims and individuals with chronic diseases should bring a proof of their health condition and the medicines they take, and bring a sufficient amount of these medicines in their original packaging.

WHO also recommends that pilgrims should update their vaccination status against vaccine-preventable diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, varicella and mumps.

Infectious respiratory diseases

WHO advises pilgrims to comply with following health advice.

Wash hands with soap and water or a disinfectant, especially after coughing and sneezing, after using toilets, before handling and consuming food, and after touching animals.

Use disposable tissues when coughing or sneezing and dispose of used tissues in a wastebasket.

Wear face masks in crowded places and replace wet masks with dry ones.

Avoid direct contact with those who appear ill and avoid sharing their personal belongings.

Avoid direct contact with camels in farms, markets, or barns, and avoid drinking unpasteurized milk or eating raw meat or animal products that have not been thoroughly cooked.

Food and waterborne diseases

WHO advises pilgrims to observe the following health advice.

Wash hands before and after eating and after going to the toilet.

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Health Advice

June 30, 2023admin

Mr. Saturday Throws Host Its Sophomore Men’s Paris Fashion Week Runway

As a DJ and founder of the Mr. Saturday clothing line, Joey Gollish knows it can be a monotonous … [+] job, but that nightlife is about dressing up and being the [freest] version of oneself.

Mr. Saturday

DJing, nightlife, and fashion have a unique relationship among pop culture and foster intrinsic collaborations. As a DJ and founder of the Mr. Saturday clothing line, Joey Gollish knows it can be a monotonous job, but that nightlife is about dressing up and being the [freest] version of oneself. The historical significance of nightlife as a safe haven for marginalized communities has allowed many to express their passion for music and its role in driving creativity and culture.

The evolution of DJing and the mix of different music genres explains how Mr. Saturday channels the idea of feeling free and expressing oneself through fashion. A sartorial discussion of breaking societal rules and bending fashion norms, Mr. Saturday represents the opportunity to be true to themselves – especially on the weekend.

As a DJ and founder of the Mr. Saturday clothing line, Joey Gollish knows it can be a monotonous … [+] job, but that nightlife is about dressing up and being the [freest] version of oneself.

Mr Saturday

“I’ve been DJing since before I made clothes,” Gollish notes. “I think, for me, it was just a big learning moment of – if I want to work 3:00 AM to 5:00 AM four nights a week. I love playing when I get the opportunity,” as he did recently.”

Gollish recalls his recent experience during a premier in Cannes, “So The Idol premiered at Cannes, and Abel [The Weeknd] and the team invited me to DJ the official HBO after party. I got to play with Justice, which was super cool. [There were] DJ’s

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Department Health

June 29, 2023admin

HDGH submits plan to Ministry of Health for mental health bed expansion

Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare in Windsor is submitting a functional plan to the Ministry of Health for a mental health bed expansion project.

Work over the past 18 months has resulted in a submission that includes block diagrams of the building and physical space need to support the programs and services related to this expansion.

The project calls for 68 acute mental health bed expansion, urgent psychiatric crisis service in the Tayfour Tower, providing urgent/emergent service and crisis service, relocation and renovation of inpatient rehabilitative care, diagnostic Imaging – adding ultrasound and CT Services – in a new expanded space, and renal service.

The inpatient mental health bed expansion will allow HDGH to grow and create a mental health and addictions system for the community, offering all hospital-based mental health services at one location to improve access and patient care.

Dr. Andrea Steen, Chief of Staff and Vice President of Medical Affairs, Mental Health & Addictions and Quality & Performance says this is a significant step in the process.

“Once you get the money to go forward with this stage of planning, we really do have the government support on this so now it’s going forward with our proposal,” says Dr. Steen. “As Bill (Marra) was saying, we definitely will get some back and forth and some questions but the hope will be, we’ll answer those questions and we will continue to move forward.”

She says the beds are expected to open between the next seven to eight years.

“We have to make some moves for the rehab beds to the back before we can start to build out the beds here,” says Dr. Steen. “So I mean I always hope that things will go a little quicker and I think it depends on political will sometimes but the hope will

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Health Care

June 29, 2023admin

Health Care Isn’t the Key to a Healthy Population

In the UK, National Health Service waiting lists are at record levels. Last winter, the emergency care system collapsed. NHS doctors and nurses are striking. We have a problem not just in recruiting people, but in keeping them. To save the NHS, we have to reduce demand and help the public live healthier lives. To name just one example, in April it was reported that over 5 million people are living with diabetes in the UK. In 2018, the government released a report saying that diabetes is one of the biggest burdens on the NHS, accounting for 9 percent of its overall spend. One in six people in hospitals are diabetic. Two-thirds of UK adults are overweight, a key risk factor for diabetes.

Before the pandemic, the King’s Fund reported that public health spending in the UK was about £3 billion ($3.82 billion), which is 15 percent lower than it was six years before. We absolutely need to increase public health investment again—but more than that, we must consider health in every policy domain.

Consider poverty. About one in five people live in poverty in the UK. Poverty has a serious impact on physical and mental health: It is associated with higher infant mortality, lower adult life expectancy, poorer mental health, asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. It has been estimated that getting your daily calories from healthy foods costs three times more than getting the same calories from poor quality food.

Housing is another big problem. According to the Health Foundation, one in three people report a problem with the affordability, security, or quality of their housing. Issues such as mold and damp can lead to respiratory problems and headaches. In January, a coroner called for better housing after ruling that a toddler had died from a respiratory condition

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Health Information

June 29, 2023admin

Manitobans gave more private info than necessary in online sale of park pass, licences: ombudsman

Manitobans are required to disclose too much personal information to buy a provincial park pass or hunting and fishing licence online, the province’s ombudsman ruled.

The report argues it “is not reasonably necessary” that customers reveal their driver’s licence number, passport number or personal health identification number to use the third-party online system, which Manitoba started using in 2020.

Divulging personal information for this purpose contravenes the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and Personal Health Information Act, the ombudsman said.

Ann Cavoukian, Ontario’s former privacy commissioner, said the level of information Manitobans are disclosing to visit a provincial park or cast a fishing line is “absurd.”

“Personal health information is being collected, which it shouldn’t, and sensitive information like passport numbers and drivers licences just to get a hunting licence or whatever?” she said. “Far too excessive.”

The ombudsman called on the province to immediately stop collecting people’s personal health identification number and destroy all records, which the province says it did last year.

The report also recommends the province limit the collection of other forms of personal information, such as a driver’s licence or passport number. This information is considered an “identifier” that’s required when setting up a customer account.

A woman standing. — Ann Cavoukian, the former privacy commissioner of Ontario, says the level of information requested for Manitobans to use the e-licensing service for park passes or fishing licences is ‘absurd.’ (Joe Fiorino/CBC)

The government said it is currently working to address that recommendation — but not fast enough, Cavoukian argued.

“That’s the most damaging one,” she said. “The enormous concern is when personal identifiers are used and collected in methods like this.”

Cavoukian, who founded the “privacy by design” concept that calls on embedding privacy protections from the beginning to prevent future harms, said identity theft is

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Health Advice

June 29, 2023admin

Race-based data can help address health inequities in Canada: experts – National

All Canadian jurisdictions should routinely collect data on racial and Indigenous identity to help address inequities in health care, and the best way to do that is during the health card application or renewal process, a group of experts says.

Dr. Andrew Pinto, the lead author of the commentary published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, said Black and Indigenous patients have less access to care and worse outcomes but allowing them to voluntarily provide identity data could help track racism in the health-care system. He said it would also help monitor any progress toward addressing stereotypes that lead to poorer care for some people.

Click to play video: 'Medical experts call for race-based health data amid ongoing discrimination against patients'

1:40
Medical experts call for race-based health data amid ongoing discrimination against patients

“It creates a foundation to say, ‘We need to narrow these gaps and develop tailored programs and services,’ ” said Pinto, founder of the non-profit Upstream Lab based at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

Story continues below advertisement

“In Canada, we just lack that data in many, many ways.”

Many racialized communities, which have higher rates of some chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer, have called for race-based data to gain insights into contributing factors such as poverty.

Click to play video: 'Addressing gaps in Black health care'

3:37
Addressing gaps in Black health care

Last fall, Nova Scotia became the first province to start collecting race-based data with input from groups including the Health Association of African Canadians, the United African Canadian Women’s Association and the Iranian Cultural Society of Nova Scotia. Residents can provide the information when they register for aprovincial health card or when they renew it every four years. Nova Scotia’s Department of Health and Wellness said residents can also provide the data any time as part of the province’s Fair Care Project.

Pinto

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Health Advice

June 29, 2023admin

The clear-cut return of see-through fashion

three images, side by side. left to right: a model walks the runway wearing a sheer trench coat, no shirt, and a mini skirt; a woman wearing a sheer black lace bodysuit with a black bra and underwear underneath; a model walks the runway wearing a purple sheer dress with black underwear visible underneath. — Left to right: Kim Shui show during New York Fashion Week on February 12, 2023; Dua Lipa backstage at GCDS during Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2023/2024; Coach Fall 2023 Ready To Wear show on February 13, 2023 in New York. (Credit: Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images; Alessandro Levati/Getty Images; coach.com)

By undeniably drawing attention to the body, sheer clothing has long managed to transfix the world. And this season, transparency is back in a whole new way.

As of late, the zeitgeist has been leaning into see-through styles that skillfully expose nipples, belly buttons and underwear. During awards season, the red carpet circuit was brimming with barely-there fabrics on all genders. On Hollywood’s biggest night, the Oscars, celebrities in body-exposing ensembles were the standout trend of the event, from Ciara’s crosshatched translucent gown to Harvey Guillen’s lacey Christian Siriano suit.

If the Fall 2023 runways are any indication, fashion is only ramping up its fixation on X-ray fabrics. Coach’s collection presented romantic handkerchief hem dresses in playful pastel colours. Tia Adeola’s catwalk championed frothy white mesh, from a tank top to a nipple-exposing flowy dress. Kim Shui’s sultry line showcased lace bodysuits with exposed thongs and even a translucent trench coat.

left: a woman on the red carpet wears a sheer dress covered in crystals, and black elbow-length gloves. right: a model walks the runway. he's wearing white pants and a sheer tank top with white florals on it. — Left to right: Ciara at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party; Tia Adeola show during New York Fashion Week on February 11, 2023. (Credit: Lionel Hahn/Getty Images; Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

Of course, there’s a level of separation between the glamour of Hollywood and the reality of walking down the street. Skin-revealing styles have long been seen as avant-garde on the former, and inappropriate or unsafe on the latter. But these days, the appetite for sheer clothing extends beyond A-list celebrities and runway models. In fact, talk of “underwear as outerwear” has been percolating on social media

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Month: June 2023

Physical ability, chronic diseases and health education

Infectious respiratory diseases

Food and waterborne diseases