There’s an App for That

Some of the greatest advancements in technology have been in the medical field.  It seems as if each decade—almost each year, even—is light-years ahead of the previous one.  You can literally search each year and find multiple, new advances in medicine.  It’s truly awe-inspiring.  But, while each new discovery is remarkable, it’s also remarkable how behind some hospitals are administratively.

Of course, I don’t mean they have poor receptionists or anything of that nature.  But, there are certain processes which occur throughout the hospital that simply seem unnecessary and, in fact, dated.  These are processes that actually hinder doctors from being doctors.  Instead they’re swamped with paperwork and spend an inordinate amount of time on frivolous administrative duties.

Certainly, by now, you’ve heard of electronic medical records and e-prescribing software.  And, if you haven’t, you can probably use your imagination as to what these technologies might entail.  While it may seem as if my qualm would be with the implementation of electronic medical records and e-prescribing, it’s really not.  Hospitals are catching on, and, with the latest incentives, I believe the trend is on the rise.  However, there are hospitals that utilize both electronic medical records and e-prescribing, but don’t use them to their full potential.

These days, nearly everyone, especially doctors, own a smart phone.  They use their phone to check e-mails, browse the internet, and maybe play the occasional game.  But, not enough doctors are using their smart phone to access electronic medical records and access e-prescribing software.  There’s an app for just about everything else in the world.  And, guess what. There’s an app for most medical software systems.

With all the ingenuity floating around the medical world, this one seems like a no-brainer.  Imagine a doctor who can be in the room with you and pull out his smart phone, access your medical records, and safely prescribe any needed treatment.  It would certainly cut down on all the time you just spend waiting in the doctor’s office.  So, next time you’re at the doctor’s office and he says he needs to go grab your paperwork, just tell him there’s an app for that.

Dental Laser Diode Safety Components

Safety is a crucial component of laser dentistry. A dental laser has improved dentistry and has made procedures quicker and more precise. These advantages for both the patient and the orthodontist should be taken seriously throughout a procedure and safety measures should always be in place. As well as being certified to operate with a laser, the orthodontist should be familiar with all safety procedures and components on the laser. Having safety components could result in few laser accidents or careless injuries to the patient’s mouth or gums.

In addition to having a safety plan while the dental laser is in use, there are also components on the laser itself called the engineering controls. The engineering controls, or safety components, are placed on the laser by the manufacturer to reduce some of the possible hazards that could be caused by the laser. There are a number of different components that include: password protected on switch, protective housing, remote safety and interlock jacks, emergency stop button, footswitch protector, a time-out that turns the machine off after a specified idle time, and software diagnostics installed in the machine.

In addition to build in safety components, there are also audible and visible safety signals. The visible warning is usually a colored light. Yellow means that the laser has been turned on and a red light to indicate that laser emissions are in use. Like the light, the safety components were carefully thought out and installed on the machine.

For example, the dental laser diode is operated with a footswitch so that the orthodontist can use both hands during a procedure. The footswitch has a protective cover so that the laser cannot be turned on accidently if someone tripped, fell, or stepped on it. The password protection is a great safety measure. Only certified personnel can operate the laser, and they should be the only people to have the password to turn on the machine. The software diagnostics was carefully planned and implemented. The internal component will turn off the laser if there is anything wrong with it or if something is not attached properly such as the footswitch.

Being familiar and having the safety components on the dental laser diode are not enough for safe practice while the laser is in use. There should also be a safety plan for the assistants and the patients. Protective clothing and eyewear should be worn at all times when the laser is turned on. There can be skin, eye, and even fire hazards with a dental laser. Safety measures can reduce the amount of laser related injuries that can occur.

WhiteHat Security Offers New Training Courses To Improve Security Throughout the Web Application Lifecycle

WhiteHat Security Offers New Training Courses To Improve Security Throughout the Web Application Lifecycle
WhiteHat Security, the leading provider of website risk management solutions, today announced the availability of WhiteHat Sentinel e-Learning, a self-paced online training curriculum that allows software developers and security professionals to understand and apply the principles of secure application development. Â WhiteHat Sentinel customers can easily select and deploy the new courses in …

Read more on PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance

NaviNet improves patient information management with help from partners RelayHealth and MEDecision

In mid-June, NaviNet announced our plans to launch the industry’s first unified patient information management system, which will deliver one-stop convenience and improved efficiencies to the physician practice. We are proud to say that we have already made substantial inroads in achieving our vision by extending the value of our solutions to providers and their patients.

Earlier this year, we announced our partnership with RelayHealth. Combining RelayHealth’s solutions with NaviNet’s multi-payer portal added patient messaging and online patient bill pay to NaviNet’s set of capabilities. Using these new features, providers can now use NaviNet to significantly reduce the number of phone calls between both insurers and patients. The addition of RelayHealth means that physician practices can eliminate phone tag with patients and have the ability to deliver information in one secure online message, greatly reducing practice call volume, lowering administrative costs and improving practice revenue. Also, offering online communication options for patients provides greater convenience and improves patient service.

The addition of these crucial components is a key step that enables NaviNet to offer the only one-stop solution that enables communications across the entire care continuum – from patient, to provider, to insurer.

In early June, NaviNet announced a joint integration and marketing agreement with MEDecision. The partnership with MEDecision enables health plans to deliver clinically validated, payer-based electronic health records as well as advanced referral and authorization technology to any provider enrolled in the NaviNet Network. As a result, doctors receive comprehensive, actionable intelligence about the patients they are treating when it is most valuable – when the patient is in the office. By using MEDecision’s Patient Clinical Summaries, providers can complete the healthcare picture and get to the right information quickly to determine the best treatment plan for their patients.

NaviNet’s collaborations with RelayHealth and MEDecision are two key examples of how we intend to offer a viable solution to address the healthcare data “silo” conundrum. We are committed to streamlining patient information management with the end goal of improving efficiencies and quality of care. In the coming months, we will be announcing the integration of practice management (PM) and electronic medical records (EMR) into NaviNet. If you are an innovative healthcare IT provider who would like to be part of the NaviNet ecosystem, we welcome your inquiry. Because we believe that the time for holistic change is now.

As always, we welcome your comments, insights and questions.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Labow
Chief Marketing Officer

Waste Management

Methods

Methods of disposal

Plasma Gasification

Plasma is a highly ionized or electrically charged gas. An example in nature is lightning, capable of producing temperatures exceeding 12,600 F (6,980 C). A gasifier vessel utilizes proprietary plasma torches operating at +10,000 F (5,540 C) (the surface temperature of the Sun) in order to create a gasification zone of up to 3,000 F (1,650 C) to convert solid or liquid wastes into a syngas. When municipal solid waste is subjected to this intense heat within the vessel, the waste molecular bonds break down into elemental components. The process results in elemental destruction of waste and hazardous materials.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. generated 250 million tons of waste in 2008 alone, and this number continues to rise. About 54% of this trash (135,000,000 short tons (122,000,000 t)) ends up in landfills and is consuming land at a rate of nearly 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) per year. In fact, landfilling is currently the number one method of waste disposal in the US. Some states no longer have capacity at permitted landfills and export their waste to other states. Plasma gasification offers states new opportunities for waste disposal, and more importantly for renewable power generation in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Landfill

Main article: Landfill

Landfill operation in Hawaii.

Disposing of waste in a landfill involves burying the waste, and this remains a common practice in most countries. Landfills were often established in abandoned or unused quarries, mining voids or borrow pits. A properly-designed and well-managed landfill can be a hygienic and relatively inexpensive method of disposing of waste materials. Older, poorly-designed or poorly-managed landfills can create a number of adverse environmental impacts such as wind-blown litter, attraction of vermin, and generation of liquid leachate. Another common byproduct of landfills is gas (mostly composed of methane and carbon dioxide), which is produced as organic waste breaks down anaerobically. This gas can create odor problems, kill surface vegetation, and is a greenhouse gas.

A landfill compaction vehicle in action.

Design characteristics of a modern landfill include methods to contain leachate such as clay or plastic lining material. Deposited waste is normally compacted to increase its density and stability, and covered to prevent attracting vermin (such as mice or rats). Many landfills also have landfill gas extraction systems installed to extract the landfill gas. Gas is pumped out of the landfill using perforated pipes and flared off or burnt in a gas engine to generate electricity.

Incineration

Main article: Incineration

Spittelau incineration plant in Vienna.

Incineration is a disposal method that involves combustion of waste material. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are sometimes described as “thermal treatment”. Incinerators convert waste materials into heat, gas, steam, and ash.

Incineration is carried out both on a small scale by individuals and on a large scale by industry. It is used to dispose of solid, liquid and gaseous waste. It is recognized as a practical method of disposing of certain hazardous waste materials (such as biological medical waste). Incineration is a controversial method of waste disposal, due to issues such as emission of gaseous pollutants.

Incineration is common in countries such as Japan where land is more scarce, as these facilities generally do not require as much area as landfills. Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) are broad terms for facilities that burn waste in a furnace or boiler to generate heat, steam and/or electricity. Combustion in an incinerator is not always perfect and there have been concerns about micro-pollutants in gaseous emissions from incinerator stacks. Particular concern has focused on some very persistent organics such as dioxins which may be created within the incinerator and which may have serious environmental consequences in the area immediately around the incinerator. On the other hand this method produces heat that can be used as energy.

Recycling methods

PVC, LDPE, PP, and PS (see resin identification code) are also recyclable, although these are not commonly collected. These items are usually composed of a single type of material, making them relatively easy to recycle into new products. The recycling of complex products (such as computers and electronic equipment) is more difficult, due to the additional dismantling and separation required.

Sustainability

Waste Management is a key player in maintaining a business ISO14001 accreditations. Companies are encouraged to improve their environmental efficiencies each year. One way to do this is by improving a company waste management with a new recycling service. (such as recycling: glass, food waste, paper and cardboard, plastic bottles etc)

Biological reprocessing

Main articles: Composting, Home composting, and Anaerobic digestion

An active compost heap.

Waste materials that are organic in nature, such as plant material, food scraps, and paper products, can be recycled using biological composting and digestion processes to decompose the organic matter. The resulting organic material is then recycled as mulch or compost for agricultural or landscaping purposes. In addition, waste gas from the process (such as methane) can be captured and used for generating electricity. The intention of biological processing in waste management is to control and accelerate the natural process of decomposition of organic matter.

There are a large variety of composting and digestion methods and technologies varying in complexity from simple home compost heaps, to industrial-scale enclosed-vessel digestion of mixed domestic waste (see Mechanical biological treatment). Methods of biological decomposition are differentiated as being aerobic or anaerobic methods, though hybrids of the two methods also exist.

An example of waste management through composting is the Green Bin Program in Toronto, Canada, where household organic waste (such as kitchen scraps and plant cuttings) are collected in a dedicated container and then composted.

Energy recovery

Main article: Waste-to-energy

Anaerobic digestion component of Lbeck mechanical biological treatment plant in Germany, 2007

The energy content of waste products can be harnessed directly by using them as a direct combustion fuel, or indirectly by processing them into another type of fuel. Recycling through thermal treatment ranges from using waste as a fuel source for cooking or heating, to fuel for boilers to generate steam and electricity in a turbine. Pyrolysis and gasification are two related forms of thermal treatment where waste materials are heated to high temperatures with limited oxygen availability. The process usually occurs in a sealed vessel under high pressure. Pyrolysis of solid waste converts the material into solid, liquid and gas products. The liquid and gas can be burnt to produce energy or refined into other products. The solid residue (char) can be further refined into products such as activated carbon. Gasification and advanced Plasma arc gasification are used to convert organic materials directly into a synthetic gas (syngas) composed of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The gas is then burnt to produce electricity and steam.

Avoidance and reduction methods

Main article: Waste minimization

An important method of waste management is the prevention of waste material being created, also known as waste reduction. Methods of avoidance include reuse of second-hand products, repairing broken items instead of buying new, designing products to be refillable or reusable (such as cotton instead of plastic shopping bags), encouraging consumers to avoid using disposable products (such as disposable cutlery), removing any food/liquid remains from cans, packaging, … and designing products that use less material to achieve the same purpose (for example, lightweighting of beverage cans).

Waste handling and transport

Main articles: Waste collection vehicle and Dustbin

A typical front loading garbage truck in North America.

Waste collection methods vary widely between different countries and regions. Domestic waste collection services are often provided by local government authorities, or by private industry. Some areas, especially those in less developed countries, do not have a formal waste-collection system. Examples of waste handling systems include:

In Australia, curbside collection is the method of disposal of waste. Every urban domestic household is provided with three bins: one for recyclables, another for general waste and another for garden materials – this bin is provided by the municipality if requested. Also, many households have compost bins; but this is not provided by the municipality. To encourage recycling, municipalities provide large recycle bins, which are larger than general waste bins. Municipal, commercial and industrial, construction and demolition waste is dumped at landfills and some is recycled. Household waste is segregated: recyclables sorted and made into new products, and general waste is dumped in landfill areas. According to the ABS, the recycling rate is high and is ‘increasing, with 99% of households reporting that they had recycled or reused some of their waste within the past year (2003 survey), up from 85% in 1992′. This suggests that Australians are in favour of reduced or no landfilling and the recycling of waste. Of the total waste produced in 200203, ‘30% of municipal waste, 45% of commercial and industrial waste and 57% of construction and demolition waste’ was recycled. Energy is produced from waste as well: some landfill gas is captured for fuel or electricity generation. Households and industries are not charged for the volume of waste they produce.

In Europe and a few other places around the world, a few communities use a proprietary collection system known as Envac, which conveys refuse via underground conduits using a vacuum system. Other vacuum-based solutions include the MetroTaifun single-line and ring-line systems.

In Canadian urban centres curbside collection is the most common method of disposal, whereby the city collects waste and/or recyclables and/or organics on a scheduled basis. In rural areas people often dispose of their waste by hauling it to a transfer station. Waste collected is then transported to a regional landfill.

In Taipei, the city government charges its households and industries for the volume of rubbish they produce. Waste will only be collected by the city council if waste is disposed in government issued rubbish bags. This policy has successfully reduced the amount of waste the city produces and increased the recycling rate.

In Israel, the Arrow Ecology company has developed the ArrowBio system, which takes trash directly from collection trucks and separates organic and inorganic materials through gravitational settling, screening, and hydro-mechanical shredding. The system is capable of sorting huge volumes of solid waste, salvaging recyclables, and turning the rest into biogas and rich agricultural compost. The system is used in California, Australia, Greece, Mexico, the United Kingdom and in Israel. For example, an ArrowBio plant that has been operational at the Hiriya landfill site since December 2003 serves the Tel Aviv area, and processes up to 150 tons of garbage a day.

Technologies

Traditionally the waste Management industry has been slow to adopt new technologies such as RFID tags, GPS and integrated software packages which enable better quality data to be collected without the use of estimation or manual data entry.

Technologies like RFID tags are now being used to collect data on presentation rates for curb-side pick-ups which is useful when examining the usage of recycling bins or similar.

Benefits of GPS tracking is particularly evident when considering the efficiency of ad hoc pick-ups (like skip bins or dumpsters) where the collection is done on a consumer request basis.

Integrated software packages are useful in aggregating this data for use in optimisation of operations for waste collection operations.

Rear vision cameras are commonly used for OH&S reasons and video recording devices are becoming more widely used, particularly concerning residential services and contaminations of the waste stream.

Waste management concepts

There are a number of concepts about waste management which vary in their usage between countries or regions. Some of the most general, widely-used concepts include:

Diagram of the waste hierarchy.

Waste hierarchy – The waste hierarchy refers to the “3 Rs” reduce, reuse and recycle, which classify waste management strategies according to their desirability in terms of waste minimization. The waste hierarchy remains the cornerstone of most waste minimization strategies. The aim of the waste hierarchy is to extract the maximum practical benefits from products and to generate the minimum amount of waste.

Extended producer responsibility – Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a strategy designed to promote the integration of all costs associated with products throughout their life cycle (including end-of-life disposal costs) into the market price of the product. Extended producer responsibility is meant to impose accountability over the entire lifecycle of products and packaging introduced to the market. This means that firms which manufacture, import and/or sell products are required to be responsible for the products after their useful life as well as during manufacture.

Polluter pays principle – the Polluter Pays Principle is a principle where the polluting party pays for the impact caused to the environment. With respect to waste management, this generally refers to the requirement for a waste generator to pay for appropriate disposal of the waste.

Education and awareness

Education and awareness in the area of waste and waste management is increasingly important from a global perspective of resource management. The Talloires Declaration is a declaration for sustainability concerned about the unprecedented scale and speed of environmental pollution and degradation, and the depletion of natural resources. Local, regional, and global air pollution; accumulation and distribution of toxic wastes; destruction and depletion of forests, soil, and water; depletion of the ozone layer and emission of “green house” gases threaten the survival of humans and thousands of other living species, the integrity of the earth and its biodiversity, the security of nations, and the heritage of future generations. Several universities have implemented the Talloires Declaration by establishing environmental management and waste management programs, e.g. the waste management university project. University and vocational education are promoted by various organizations, e.g. WAMITAB and Chartered Institution of Wastes Management. Many supermarkets encourage customers to use their reverse vending machines to deposit used purchased containers and receive a refund from the recycling fees. Brands that manufacture such machines include Tomra and Envipco.

See also

Biomedical waste

Recycling

Environmental waste controls

Food waste in the United Kingdom

History of waste management

Industrial symbiosis

List of waste management acronyms

References

Notes

^ “What is Waste Management?”. 2009. http://www.wanless.com.au/what_is_waste_management.html. 

^ Alliance Federated Energy | What Is Plasma Gasification

^ Alliance Federated Energy | Why Plasma Gasification

^ Removing food remains to reduce waste

^ Sorting through garbage for gold, retrieved 2009-11-24

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Waste

Waste = Food Documentary – A documentary on the Cradle to Cradle design concept of Michael Braungart and William McDonough.

Envirowise UK Portal

“American dumpster: Builders deep-six too much material”

Analysis of existing methods for refuse processing

Clean Pyrolysis an alternative approach from Intervate

What is Waste Management?

Gasoline from Vinegar | MIT Technology Review

Timeline of Waste Management

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Topics related to waste management

Anaerobic digestion  Composting   Downcycling   Eco-industrial park  Incineration  Landfill  Mechanical biological treatment  Radioactive waste  High-level radioactive waste management  Reuse  Recycling  Regift   Sewerage   Upcycling   Waste  Waste collection  Waste sorting  Waste hierarchy  Waste management concepts  Waste legislation  Waste treatment

Categories: Waste management

Do Your Groundwork on Dept and Bill Consolidation

While you are ended up with huge unclear bills, you are advised to take the help for this from the companies who deal with debts and bill consolidations. You will get various debt consolidation services those who will be glad to take you out of the debt.

The bill consolidation services will help you to manage the payments of your accounts and in this procedure it will also decrease your rate of interest. They can also remove the fees for late payments from few of your creditors. Although, bill consolidation might appear to be an interesting alternative when you are in debt, but you should not grab the first offer that comes on your way. You must evaluate the rates along with the provisions of various bill consolidation companies; you can also verify that there must not be any problems in the payment statements of yours before impending them.

The companies that focus on the debt management rather than in debt settlements and bankruptcy can give you the best deal in debt and bill consolidation services. While you are searching for the number one bill consolidation company, it is very important that you should know about the timings of the payments of your accounts. It should be known as the bill consolidation companies that are reputed usually make the payments of various accounts on various dates by considering the existing rates. They will require the information from you during this period about the balance of your account along with the creditor’s names.

While you take the help from your selected bill consolidation company, they will make your creditor’s rate of interest lower, and often they can control to remove the late payments or any other types of fees that the creditors may ask for. But it will be wrong to expect any type of changes in the rate of interest of the mortgages or the student loans because they cannot be decreased. Thus it does not have any point of merging these debts.

If you opt for the bill consolidation then you have to make only one payment to the bill consolidation service. While using your money that you are sending them, the subsequent payments to your merged accounts will be made by them. It is obvious that the bill consolidation companies will take some charges for their services. The charges depend on the number of accounts managed and the payments are also done on a monthly basis. But there are also few companies those who state a huge charge even before your bill consolidation plan has been carried out. If there is any option where you can select among the two payment options then you must go for the monthly fees because few clients can quit before the plan is completed.

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I wish then all the success in their future endeavors.”
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Save The Children India

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Thank you for the good services and prompt actions.”
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Celogen Pharma

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