Health Care Issues

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• QWhat is the Family and Medical Leave Act?

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  A American Diabetes Association answered

  The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), can help you—and your family—deal with diabetes in the workplace. This law allows workers to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave during any 12-month period to care for their own serious health condition or to care for family members (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition.
  Examples of when you might use FMLA for your diabetes would be for a doctor appointment or sick day because of your neuropathy pain (if your employer doesn’t allow these accommodations). Or you could use the FMLA to take your child to the emergency room in the event of severe hyperglycemia.
  Tips for FMLA

  • FMLA absences may be taken in a single 12-week stretch or in shorter intervals, such as a short period to deal with a diabetes-related illness or emergency or a scheduled doctor’s appointment.
  • Employers who normally pay health insurance premiums must continue to do so for an employee on FMLA leave.
  • FMLA applies to most public employers and to those private companies with 50 or more local employees (within 75 miles of the workplace).
  • To be eligible, employees must have been with a covered employer for at least 1 year and have worked 1,250 or more hours during the 12 months immediately preceding the date of commencement of FMLA leave.
  • When leave is foreseeable, employees must give 30 days’ notice.

  Some high-level company executives—those who are in the top 10% salary range—may be ineligible for FMLA leave. FMLA offers leave to care for yourself, your spouse, parents, step- and foster parents, minor children, minor step- and foster children, and adult children who are incapable of self-care. FMLA excludes leave care for unmarried partners, in-laws, siblings, grandchildren, and grandparents.
   
• QHow are hospitals adapting to the needs of busy patients?

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  A American Health Information Management Assoc. answered

  The characteristics of the newly engaged patient are that he or she wants to know more and get results in a timely fashion. People today are busy; they want to schedule things at their own convenience. They want to ask their doctor questions. 
  
  Aside from providing people with their health records and more interactive office visits, hospitals are trying very hard to take a more humanized approach to their interactions with people. For example, patients are looking for nicer facilities when they’re in the hospital, and you can see hospitals addressing this by improving their environment and the services they provide to people in both inpatient and outpatient settings. You’ll see cooking classes for people with heart disease, for example, or  support groups for people with a specific disease.
  
  Consumer engagement also includes activities that occur outside the bounds of the traditional patient-doctor relationship or the health system.
• QHow can we fix our broken healthcare system?

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  A Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answered

  

  According to Dr. Michael Roizen, we're a "hodgepodge of sick care" -- but one small change could go a long way toward helping to fix our healthcare system. Watch the video to find out what it is.

  

  Find out more about this DVD:

  How Can We Fix Our Broken Healthcare System?
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• QWhat is a medical society?

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  A SCAI answered

  A medical society or association is an organization representing a particular group of medical professionals. For example, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) advances the specialty of interventional cardiology. SCAI’s members are physicians with special training in procedures that use thin, flexible tubes (called catheters) to treat blocked arteries. 
  Medical societies perform a number of important functions for members, including education and advocacy. They also help set standards for excellence in the profession. In simpler terms, medical societies help inform members about new research and developments in the field, and they assist doctors and other professionals in protecting the interests of their patients. Societies keep their members informed through newsletters, Web sites, e-mail, and conferences. What this all means for patients is that if your physician belongs to a medical society, he or she is tapped into a broader professional network whose mission is to inform members about the newest, best practices.
   
• QWhat are some barriers to receiving top medical care?

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  A Boston Women's Health Book Collective , Administration, answered

  Since the U.S. medical system is so expensive, there are many barriers to receiving the best possible care. In addition, the tremendous imbalance of power between the health care consumers and providers creates an institutionalized discrimination for people in less powerful sectors of the population. Making health care decisions can be especially difficult for women who are treated as second-class citizens by medical institutions. This group includes women as a whole, low-income women and uninsured women (who may find that very few choices of providers or treatments are available to them), women of color and older women (whose concerns may be dismissed as &quotunimportant" or &quotwhining"), and women with disabilities (who may face mobility or communication issues). It also includes lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and immigrant women, especially those who are not fluent in English. Ultimately, changing current practices will require significant changes in public policy. In the meantime, being aware of how the medical system reflects society as a whole can help you deal with this system and improve the way in which you are treated.

• QWhat are the costs of poor health?

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  A Int'l Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) answered

  It is impossible to put a price tag on the value of good health, but we can to some degree quantify the toll that poor health takes on our work lives: lost wages, reduced productivity, time away from work and medical costs. Other consequences of illness, such as reduced functioning and decreased quality of life, are immeasurable, yet we intuitively understand their tremendous impact.
  
  The medical community identifies traits and lifestyle habits that increase the likelihood of certain diseases and conditions. Some risk factors are beyond our control (age, gender, ethnicity, family history), while others are modifiable (physical activity, weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking). The more risk factors one has, the greater the chance of developing disease.
  
  Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer are associated with long-term lifestyle behaviors, such as physical inactivity, poor diet, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. As these lifestyle diseases ravage the American population, the economic burden is apparent. Individuals are paying more out of pocket for medical treatment and prescriptions than ever before. Employers are feeling the effect of skyrocketing healthcare costs and decreased productivity due to illness. In the United States, healthcare expenditures make up the highest percentage of Gross Domestic Product of any country in the world.
• QWhat is the most critical medical issue Americans face?

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  A Deepak Chopra , Alternative & Complementary Medicine, answered

  

  Most medical experts agree that obesity is the single biggest health problem in our country today. In this video, Dr. Chopra reveals another critical health issue that, in combination with obesity, accounts for 95 percent of illness.

  

  Find out more about this DVD:

  What Is the Most Critical Medical Issue Americans Face?
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• QHow does discrimination affect gathering healthcare material?

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  A Boston Women's Health Book Collective , Administration, answered

  Racism and other forms of bias create barriers to obtaining appropriate health care and health information with which to make decisions. Some providers stereotype women, offering different diagnoses and treatments to women of color and low-income women, even when their symptoms are identical to those of middle-class white women. Providers behave as if lower income women and/or women of color are unable to absorb information about current health issues and do not take the time to explain treatment options. You may yourself feel uncomfortable telling the provider that you do not understand what she or he has said. Providers may not be sensitive to or aware of your needs if you do not share their socioeconomic or ethnic background. Having access to caregivers with backgrounds similar to your own often makes a positive difference.

  Those of you who have physical and mental disabilities and chronic illnesses may need to consider other potential barriers, such as the accessibility of transportation and providers' offices, when making health care decisions. Providers are not always knowledgeable about particular disabilities or conditions. Their lack of experience with people with disabilities and the social stigma linked to disabilities may make them uncomfortable interacting with you.

  Some lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LBT) people do not seek health care because they believe that certain services are not necessary. For example, they may incorrectly think that sex between women does not lead to sexually transmitted infections or they do not need regular preventive care.

  Bad experiences with providers in the past also affect our decisions about current health care. In addition, those who have partners are often unable to get health insurance through them, because many employers and insurance companies do not provide spousal benefits to unmarried couples.

• QWhat factors determine health disparities between races?

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  A Tawana V. McNeill, NASM Elite Trainer , Fitness, answered

  Some factors that determine health disparities between races include socioeconomic status, geographical location, education, cultural beliefs and norms, disease prevalence, healthcare discrimination (including access to affordable healthcare and quality of care) and access to healthy lifestyle options (i.e., fresh food, fitness facilities, recreational sports programs).

   

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• QHow does race affect access to healthcare?

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  A Dr. Mehmet Oz, MD , Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), answered

  Study after study has shown that race still plays an enormous role in risk for several diseases and in ability to gain access to healthcare. Medicine is still lagging behind in treating everyone equally and ensuring that all people, regardless of their race, status or resources, get what they need to get the most out of their health. 
  
  This content originally appeared on doctoroz.com.