Monthly Archives: June 2013

Sports Injuries and Second Opinions

6/24/2013

There’s no denying exercise is good for you. But sometimes when you play sports or exercise you can get hurt. Professional athletes are always at risk.

Recently New Orleans outside linebacker Victor Butler tore his anterior cruciate ligament during practice. And another professional athlete Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper has been benched due to bursitis in his left knee.

Both of these pros decided to get second opinions on their diagnoses in order to choose the best approach to treatment. You don’t have to be a professional athlete to get a second opinion if you’re having pain from a sports injury.

SecondOpinions.com has U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts on call to study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.  Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a consultation. Our physicians are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states.

The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. You simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultra-sound or Nuclear Medicine study.  Our expert doctors interpret then deliver the results in the privacy of your home or office.

We also have specialists and sub specialists in every medical field available for consultations via telephone and video chat. Prices start at $49 per 5-minute consultation.

Don’t suffer through another workout in pain – obtain a proper diagnosis that can lead to the proper treatment plan of action. Check out SecondOpinions.com today!

 

Medical Errors up ‘Down Under’

6/18/2013

Medical errors are an epidemic in the United States. But sadly Americans are not alone when it comes to the dangers that can arise when seeking medical attention.
According to ABC News program “The World Today,” increasing numbers of medical errors are happening in Australian hospitals. By some estimates, as many as 18,000 people die every year as a result of medical error, while 50,000 people suffer a permanent injury.

Australia has no systematic collection of error data, according to the ABC report. So the number of errors could be higher because there’s really no way to know for sure how many medical mistakes cause serious harm or death.
Australian healthcare advocate Lorraine Long says between 70 and 100 complaints come to her Medical Error Action Group each day. Half of these she says can reasonably be classified as medical error
Ten years ago Australia introduced the world’s first nationwide open disclosure policy. This was supposed to enable doctors and clinicians to communicate openly and honestly with patients when health care doesn’t go as planned.
Long admits open disclosure hasn’t delivered. Health professionals remain concerned about the legal ramifications of acknowledging adverse events or expressing regret.

We know from the studies and research conducted in the United States that getting a second opinion does help reduce medial errors. SecondOpinions.com provides second opinions in all areas of medicine because we feel that getting a proper radiologic diagnosis is the key.
From anywhere in the world, simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultrasound or Nuclear Medicine study and U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts, study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.
No appointments are needed. Our physicians are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states. The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report.
In addition, specialist and sub-specialist physicians in virtually all medical fields provide second opinion consultations via telephone and video chat for as low as $49 per 5-minute consultation.
Why take a chance with your health? Get the peace of mind you need and deserve from SecondOpinions.com.

Dial up a Diagnosis

6/5/2013

Can you imagine anyone today being able to communicate effectively without a cell phone or smart phone? No way, right? Most of us use our phones to check email, take pictures, look for addresses, answer just about any question on the planet and, oh yeah, make phone calls. According to a new Pew Research Internet Project study, more than half of smart phone users in the United States are using it for another important aspect of life – getting health advice. That number is up 17% from just two years ago. The Pew research also revealed that 9% of smart phone owners receive text updates and alerts about medical issues. One in 5 downloaded an app to stay up-to-date on medical information. Those apps are for specific needs like first aid and health insurance. But exercise, diet and weight apps are the most popular according to Pew. All of these examples show that Americans are concerned about health issues and want to be able to access important, reliable information in a quick and convenient way. That’s’ where SecondOpinions.com comes in. We have U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts on call to study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion. Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a consultation. Our physicians are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states. The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. You simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultra-sound or Nuclear Medicine study. Our expert doctors interpret then deliver the results in the privacy of your home or office. No appointments are needed. Quick, affordable and reliable medical information – now that’s smart!

Increased Workload for Radiologists

6/3/2013

If you’ve been fortunate enough to keep a job over the past few years, you’re probably doing the work of two or three employees. Increased workload has become a common practice in the American workplace. With less staff and resources the “lucky” people who’ve kept their jobs have been forced to do more work.
It may be a fact of life in our society today, but there are jobs that are at a greater risk of being negatively impacted by increased workloads. For instance, would you want a radiologist who’s interpreting the results of potentially life threatening medical scans to be overworked? It’s not likely. But that’s exactly what’s happening today according to a recent editorial published in the Applied Radiology journal.
The role of radiologists has grown significantly for a number of reasons:
Growing number of patients
An aging and generally sicker population
Greater paranoia about malpractice claims
The reasons may seem less significant when you think about the problems that can occur when radiologists have increased workloads. The interpretation quality and accuracy of medical scan reading can be negatively impacted. But there is a solution – implementing second reads or second opinions on a routine basis.
SecondOpinions.com provides patients with a quick and easy way to have a medical scan interpreted by a board certified fellowship trained physician or sub-specialist expert.
Patients simply upload their images such as an MRI or CAT scan and our expert radiologists will read your images and provide their advanced second opinion. You can also speak with an expert physician in any specialty via telephone or video chat.
Our services cost from $29 to $99 per report. No appointments necessary. You can receive your second opinion report in the comfort of your own home or office. Quality, affordability and convenience – your health is our greatest concern at SecondOpinions.com.

Obamacare and ACOs

6/2/2013

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was created to lower health care costs so all Americans could afford quality medical attention. A key to this new federal healthcare reform is something called accountable care organization or ACOs. Policy makers believe these ACOs have the ability to revolutionize the nation’s healthcare.
The concept is similar to health maintenance organizations. HMOs receive a certain amount of money for each patient every year and the less money they spend on these patients, the more profits they make. With ACOs, if they spend less money on patients but patients have poor health outcomes and hospital readmissions, companies could be penalized. If patients remain healthy and cost Medicare less, ACO member providers like hospitals, doctors, home health agencies and others can share in the savings.
ACOs will also provide care coordinators that will follow up with patients and make sure they have received their prescriptions or scheduled appointments with their doctors. The idea is the care coordinator will help to cut down on hospital readmissions and additional costs by making sure patients are following their doctors’ orders. Quality assurance techniques such as second opinions will also be mandated under Obamacare.
At SecondOpinions.com we provide second opinions in all areas of medicine because we feel that getting a proper radiologic diagnosis is the key. Because of our proprietary RADIOLOGY-ON-DEMAND® cloud technology, we are able to offer second opinions at an affordable price and deliver radiological reports within as quickly as an hour.
You simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultrasound or Nuclear Medicine study and U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts, trained at top American institutions, study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.
No appointments are needed. Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a new consultation. Our subspecialist expert doctors are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states. The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. . Get the peace of mind you need and deserve from SecondOpinions.com.
Article link: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/08/3329532/cheaper-better-healthcare-yes.html#storylink=misearch

Telehealth Growing by Leaps and Bounds

6/2/2013

Cutting health care costs has become a major initiative for governments across the world. And that worldwide mission is driving providers to adopt telehealth as a long term cost saving measure.
A new report from InMedica, defines telehealth as remote patient monitoring (RPM) and predicts 1.8 million patients will be using this service worldwide by 2017. Currently the number of patients being monitored remotely is 308,000.
Another recent study by research firm Berg Insight had even higher projections for telemedicine worldwide. Berg forecasts some 9.4 million people will be monitored remotely by 2017.
Telehealth is a way of reducing hospital readmission penalties for healthcare providers as part of the Affordable Healthcare Act. Other governments including France, China and the United Kingdom are also adopting these monitoring systems to cut costs.
The InMedica report found that the majority of Americans monitored remotely were released from hospitals in 2012 with chronic conditions such as diabetes and various heart conditions. Regularly checking in on these patients at home, reminding them to take their medications or visit their doctor has proven to cut their healthcare costs.
SecondOpinions.com is right in step with this telehealth parade. We provide second opinions on medical imaging at an affordable price for people all over the world.
Patients simply upload their images such as an MRI or CAT scan and our board certified fellowship trained expert radiologists will read your images and provide their advanced second opinion. You can also speak with an expert physician in any specialty via telephone or video chat. What’s amazing is you can get your report back within as quickly as an hour.
Our services cost from $29 to $99 per report. No appointments necessary. You can receive your report second opinion in the comfort of your own home or office.
SecondOpinions.com is helping cut healthcare costs without cutting quality. Try it out for yourself and get the peace of mind you deserve!