April 2012

Oral health is an important part of staying healthy. But today Americans are having trouble accessing the dentist. Not only is there a shortage of dentists and dental equipment and supplies but the cost of dental insurance is often too high.

Many dentists won't treat Medicaid patients and reimbursement rates in the federal-state program are extremely low.

Now a new type of dental practioner might be available for patients. Dental therapists. Dental therapists are limited practitioners who are trained to do "basic" dental work, including X-rays, preventative care, filings and extractions. In the countries where they practice today, most of them are carefully supervised by fully licensed and trained dentists.

Are dental therapists in your future? Some states are planning to regulate dental therapy, but the American Dental Association actually disagrees.

April 22-28 2012 is National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week. According to the American Society for Clinical Pathology, "National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week is an annual celebration of the medical laboratory professionals and pathologists who play a vital role in every aspect of health care. Since they often work behind the scenes, few people know about the critical testing they perform every day. Lab Week is a time to honor the more than 300,000 medical laboratory professionals around the country who perform and interpret more than 10 billion laboratory tests in the US every year."

To celebrate the American Society for Clinical Pathology held a video contest with the theme "Testing the Limits." Those over-acheivers at Johns Hopkins aren't just operating a world-class hospital, they also have superb filmmaking skills.

Lab results constitute a whopping 70% of a patient's medical record and are vital to the diagnosis and treatement of illness and disease. QuickMedical has applicators, face masks, QM Elite nitrile gloves, spin lift stools, and many other medical products that are integral to pathologists, phlebotomists, and other lab professionals.

If you know a lab professional, tell them thanks for their work in the treatment and diagnosis of disease. And if you are a lab professional, QuickMedical would like to thank you for everything you do. If you have a story or comment about any laboratory product you bought from QuickMedical please post it below in a comment in the 'read more' section below.

A recent report by the Center for Public Integrity details several dangerous ongoing problems in hospital sterilization practices. Medical equipment and devices must be carefully cleaned after use. Many health professionals are actually unaware of the sterilization techniques used in their facilities and take sterile medical equipment for granted. Some new complex medical devices are very hard to clean. Sometimes human error causes a piece of medical equipment to be improperly cleaned. The author of the report, Joe Eaton, told MSNBC, "We really don't know how many people end up with infections from surgical instruments. Studies that have looked specifically at dirty devices have shown that there is definitely a problem. A study at the University of Michigan, for example, looked at 350 suction cups that had been cleaned and sterilized. They found that every one of them contained blood, bone, tissue, even rust. If the devices are dirty it's not only gross but potentially dangerous, since there's a potential for passing on infection."

Having the right sterilization equipment for your hospital is the extremely important first step in making sure that medical equipment is kept hygienic. Medical autoclave sterilizers by Tuttnauer are the trusted standard in medical equipment sterilization. While not all medical equipment is autoclavable, many surgical, procedure, and examination devices are, and care should be taken to ensure that the autoclave process is done correctly to ensure clean instruments.

Currently if your clinic or facility orders a Tuttnauer EZ9, EZ10 , or EZ10k Autoclave they can receive a $400 rebate or a free Ultrasonic Cleaner with ss basket. Click read more for details.

QuickMedical.com is your online source for medical equipment, supplies and specifically stadiometers. The stadiometer definition, according to Wikipedia and the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is a piece of medical equipment used for measuring height. It is usually constructed out of a ruler and a sliding horizontal headpiece which is adjusted to rest on the top of the head. Stadiometers are used in routine medical examinations and also clinical tests and experiments.

QuickMedical is the online expert in stadiometers. We sell the trusted gold standard in digital stadiometers the 235A Heightronic Digital Stadiometer which is used by endocrinology clinics around the globe and in important pharmaceutical studies for its ease of use and accuracy.

Patricia C. Dykes, R.N.D.N.Sc. of Partners HealthCare System, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston wrote in a 2010 study on fall prevention at hospitals, "Falls are a public health problem worldwide. Hospitalization increases fall risk because of the unfamiliar environment, illnesses, and treatments. Patient falls and fall-related injuries are devastating to patients, clinicians, and the health care system. A single fall may result in a fear of falling and begin a downward spiral of reduced mobility, leading to loss of function and greater risk of falls. Older adults are more likely to be injured from a fall. Injurious falls increase hospital costs and lengths of stay." In the study Dr. Dykes and her colleagues investigated whether the use of fall prevention screening and a fall prevention toolkit would decrease overall falls in hospitals. They found that screening each patient carefully with a fall risk assessment decreased overall fall rates.

Brewer now offers an innovative new medical technology that should be added to the fall prevention toolkit of health facilities that handle patients at risk for falls. In hospitals, approximately 3 to 20 percent of inpatients fall at least once during their stay. The Brewer 3000 LiftMate Low / High Patient Lift may become an indispensible part of the fall prevention toolkit of the future and help lower that frightening statistic. The Brewer 3000 LiftMate Low / High Patient Lift assists patients onto exam tables, beds, and procedural surfaces without the dangers of manual assistance. For the millions of Americans that have difficulty getting onto and off of an exam table the LiftMate offers the perfect solution. Click ahead to learn more about the Brewer 3000 LiftMate Low / High Patient Lift.

The cost of operating a medical clinic is skyrocketing. Both older and younger doctors agree. When doctors leave medical school they are often in deep debt. The cost of maintaining an office, staff, and medical equipment is dwarfed by the cost of malpractice insurance, administrative costs, and fees for specialists in insurance provider "red-tape." Doctors who were trained in school as scientists and healers are thrown into an unfamiliar system of bureaucracy, advertising, marketing, consulting, and legal minutiae. Small mistakes in complex regulations and standards can quickly turn into big mistakes. While the availability of quality health care remains high in the United States compared to the rest of the world, both doctors and patients agree that there are serious flaws.

If you're a student of history, you might remember that the first tinkering with health care began in 1965 with the introduction of Medicare. In 1973 President Nixon signed a bill that made it possible for hospitals and doctor's offices to become for-profit business entities. The Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 paved the way for advancements in medical technology and care while also leading to the organization of several large health insurance and health provider conglomerates. These two important pieces of legislation on the medical industry laid the groundwork for the American health care system as it exists today.

In 2010 compromise health care reform was passed by Congress. The controversial new legislation is currently under judicial review by the Supreme Court which will ultimately decide the fate of the new laws. Meanwhile costs for medical clinics and facilities continue to rise.

With this in mind, it's not self-serving to say affordable medical equipment is important. As your source for medical equipment and supplies, QuickMedical understands that in a changing system it's important to have some things you can count on. We aim to be that-- a simple online resource you can buy from with confidence no matter what legislation or regulations are enacted. Doctors who run clinics and offices can always come to QuickMedical for the affordable medical equipment they need. For instance the ADC Pro Combo II Colorful Aneroid Blood Pressure Kit is selling at QuickMedical for 50% off the retail price. For a clinic that needs high quality, affordable, but also fun and colorful medical equipment, ordering is simple. Just point, click, and the affordable medical equipment is delivered right to your door.

We have an entire page of professional medical equipment sales and promotion items. Get the best medical equipment from a trusted source-- QuickMedical.

The American Heart Association encourages early detection of peripheral artery disease with regular ABI testing for at risk patients. Peripheral Artery Disease or PAD is a general term that refers to artery disease anywhere outside of your heart, including the arteries that supply blood to your legs, arms, brain, kidneys, and other organs. The most common form of PAD is found in the patient's legs.

The L450VA Vista ABI (Automated ABI System) is a full-featured ABI system designed to make the ABI exam faster and easier to conduct, interpret and document. The system features an on-screen guide with a convenient hand-held controller to ease the ABI exam. The Summit Doppler Vantage ABI Vascular System is ideal for clinics, medical offices and hospitals.

The system includes automatic cuff inflation and deflation, three modalities Doppler, PVR, and arterial PPG, Automatic ABI & TBI calculation, a built-in printer for waveforms, pressures, and index printed on adhesive-backed label paper, graphic waveform display with step-by-step instructions, and a software package with full page reporting, exam storage, and download capability to EMR systems in .pdf or .csv format.

Currently at QuickMedical, all ABI Systems receive a 2 Year Warranty for free. A recent article from the UK on ABI tests stated, "Although regarded as a routine test, a great deal of further work is required before a consensus can be reached on a standardized technique for ABI. A practitioner should be familiar with the evidence around the theoretical basis for the ABI test in order to make evidence-based interpretations of the results. In particular, practitioners need to be aware of the technical limitations of using ABI and how variations in ABI methodology can affect the findings." With this in mind, it's important to choose the trusted standard in ABI testing-- Summit Doppler.

QuickMedical's new QM Elite nitrile exam gloves really aren't new anymore. The soft comfortable blue nitrile gloves are a proven success for physicians and manufacturers. Having been used for several months by a variety of customers who use the nitrile gloves for activities ranging from specialized medical procedures to gardening, the blue nitrile gloves have become a customer favorite. QM Elite nitrile exam gloves offer exceptional protection, superior puncture and chemical resistance, and five size options.

Click read more below for the coupon code to get a great discount on these blue nitrile gloves for sale.

This month's Employee of the Month is Jayme, our promotions coordinator. Jayme's been with QuickMedical for a while now, but has recently taken over new responsibilities in managing the numerous promotions that QuickMedical and our suppliers both offer. Her attention to detail and positive attitude on promotions projects have benefited everyone at QuickMedical. Her promotions management has especially benefited this blog! With her assistance, outstanding promotions on medical equipment and supplies are now far more easily channeled from the QuickMedical blog to the online social media universe. Working with suppliers, sales, product team, and marketing, Jayme ensures that our customers are getting some of the best online deals on medical equipment and supplies.

Thanks Jayme, from the management and staff for all you've done for QuickMedical. Please leave a comment below if you'd like to share an anecdote or offer a congratulatory comment.

Amy Norton writes for Reuters Health, "When a hospital patient goes into cardiac arrest, doctors and nurses perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, which includes chest compressions that need to be deep enough to move blood out of the heart and toward the rest of the body. But when the rescuer is short and the victim is on a hospital bed there's a problem: It's hard to get enough leverage to press down on the chest, and the rescuer has to rely on upper-body strength. It would seem logical that giving rescuers a boost with a step stool could help."

Could a low-tech piece of medical equipment be a key to life-saving?

In a study lead by Dr. Dana P. Edelson of the University of Chicago Medical Center, several CPR experts experimented with medical step stools and foot stools to learn whether these step stools actually improve CPR quality.

Do sturdy, high quality medical step stools actually improve CPR quality?