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US medical system is under financial strains with high cost associated with the doctor fee, hospitalization charges, high medical equipment cost, soaring medicine cost. A typical insurance premium for a 4 member family in United States is in the vicinity of $1000 ( give or take a hundred dollars). This is beyond the affordability for most of the middle and lower income US families. If their employer or the State do not provide assistance, this will simply mean the they will have to be without medical insurance.

On the macro level, a number of policy decisions need to be made to make  health insurance more affordable for individuals, businesses and government. On Micro level, a number of small things can increase the cost efficacy of  the treatment plan and reduce the cost of the treatment. In today’s blog I will write about how to reduce the cost of Bilirubin treatment in neonatals.

How is Bilirubin Treated for Neonatal

Noeborn kids remain at Hospitals typically for two days for the treatment of Bilirubin. Typical cost to the patient or the insurance companies vary from $3000 to $5000. The treatment itself is surprisingly simple. It needs just the ultra violet radiation in controlled and measure fashion for about 48 hours to treat most of the bilrubin patients.

How can the cost be reduced

The excessive cost is resulted because the patient need to be at the hospital for two days. The cost is escalated due to the stay which involves nursing, cleaning, food and lodging along with the medical treatment. All of this can be avoided by not requiring the patient to be admitted to the hospital. The patient should be handed over a portable ultra violet emission device alongwith a method to measure the bilirubin by himself, in the same way blood glucose is measured.  The portable ultra violet device can be returned by the patient to the hospital at the end of the treatment. The patient should be instructed how to use the ultra violet emission device.

The method should be used for all non serious cases of the bilirubin. For all advanced cases of bilirubin, the patient should be hospitalized and the traditional method should be used.

A Low cost Ultraviolet LED Solution

Light emitting diodes (LEDs)  operating  in the 410 – 490 nm wavelength range (peak at 475 nm) have been developed. These gallium nitride(GaN)/sapphire LEDs can produce high irradiance with very low power requirements suitable in the ultraviolet spectrum. These LEDs emit  ultra violet light within the peak absorption range of bilirubin.. They promise to be low cost, portable and have long operational lifespans.

Bilirubin Detection – Pathological Advancements

Current practices in pathalogical diagnosis of Bilburin requires a large volume of the blood sample from the patient.  Several newer methods have been develped that will require smaller blood sample.  These memethods acquisit the current signals produced from bilirubin by an electrochemical sensor. Requirement of the smaller blood sample is another research area that need investigation and implementation.

Health, Uncategorized healthcare

Medication adherence refers to the degree to which a patient correctly follows medical advice, most commonly, medication, prescribed to the patient. It also refers to the self-directed physiotherapy exercises, or attending counseling or other courses of therapy as prescribed by the physician.

There are several reasons why patient may not comply to the medication adherence. The most important of them is the forgetfulness. Patients’ poor rapport with the doctor and unclear purpose of the treatment are other major causes of the non Adherence to the medication adherence. It has been reported that only 50% of the patients suffering from chronic diseases adhere to the medication prescribed by the physicians. This non adherence poorly affects patient’s health. Once a treatment plan is chartered out between the patient and the doctor its affect must be clearly explained by the doctor and a written instruction must be provided by the doctor in order to increase the medication adherence.

The Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council of Europe/HCPC-Europe , a not profit organization was setup between the pharmaceutical industry, the packaging industry to improve the patient compliance or adherence through the use of packaging solutions.HCPC Europe defines Medical Compliance as “taking the right dose of the right medication at the right time for the prescribed duration of the treatment”.

Many companies have developed packaging solutions to aid in medication adherence. Most are based on the use of a solid dose blister as the primary package. Many material and component suppliers as well as pharmaceutical contract packagers have worked to develop proprietary packaging formats.

some companies like Senticare have developed automated solution to aid medication adherence. The PillStation from Senticare is device that brings a new approach to medication adherence. According to Senticare “PillStation uses digital pill tray images and a remote monitoring center to provide customized medication reminders that can provide the help that you an millions of individuals need to stay adherent.”

Increase medication adherence means better health and less healthcare cost. It also means less burden on the insurance companies. In recognition to the importance of the medication adherence, many companies have started reimbursing for the appliances that increase medication adherence.

Vikas Shukla is the lead architect of Hardware Design at BL Healthcare. He also provides consultancy for SEO and social media marketing.

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