Health Care Provider

A health care provider is an individual or an institution that provides preventive, curative, promotional or rehabilitative health care services in a systematic way to individuals, families or communities. An individual health care provider (also known as a health worker) may be a health care professional, an allied health professional, a community health worker, or another person trained and knowledgeable in medicine, nursing or other allied health professions, or public/community health. Institutions (also known as health facilities) include hospitals, clinics, primary care centers and other service delivery points. The practice of health professionals and operation of health care institutions is typically regulated by national or state/provincial authorities through appropriate regulatory bodies for purposes of quality assurance. Together, they form part of an overall health care system. A hospital is an institution for health care typically providing specialized treatment for inpatient (or overnight) stays. Some hospitals primarily admit patients suffering from a specific disease or affection, or are reserved for the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting a specific age group. Others have a mandate that expands beyond offering dominantly curative and rehabilitative care services to include promotional, preventive and educational roles as part of a primary health care approach. Today, hospitals are usually funded by the state, health organizations (for profit or non-profit), by health insurances or by charities and by donations. Historically, however, they were often founded and funded by religious orders or charitable individuals and leaders. Hospitals are nowadays staffed by professionally trained doctors, nurses, paramedical clinicians, etc., whereas in history, this work was usually done by the founding religious orders or by volunteers. Health care practitioners includes physicians (including general practitioners and specialists), dentists, physician assistants, nurses (including advanced practice registered nurses), midwives, pharmacists, dietitians, therapists, psychologists, chiropractors, clinical officers, and phlebotomists. Therapist Include: physical therapists, respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, audiologists, speech pathologists, optometrists, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, medical laboratory technicians, medical prosthetic technicians, radiographers, social workers, and a wide variety of other human resources trained to provide some type of health care service. They often work in hospitals, health care centers and other service delivery points, but also in academic training, research and administration. Some provide care and treatment services for patients in private homes. Many countries have a large number of community health workers who work outside of formal health care institutions. Managers of health care services, medical records and health information technicians, and other assistive personnel and support workers are also considered a vital part of health care teams. Medical nursing homes, including residential treatment centers and geriatric care facilities, are health care institutions which have accommodation facilities and which engage in providing short-term or long-term medical treatment of a general or specialized nature not performed by hospitals to inpatients with any of a wide variety of medical conditions.

Lap Band

A lap band is an inflatable silicone device that a surgeon places around the top portion of the stomach, via laparoscopic surgery, in order to treat obesity. Lap band surgery is an example of bariatric surgery designed for obese patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater, or between 35 to 40 in cases of patients with certain co-morbidities that are known to improve with weight loss, such as sleep apnea, diabetes, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure or metabolic syndrome, among others. Lap banding is the least invasive surgery of all bariatric surgeries. Lap banding using laparoscopic surgery usually results in a shorter hospital stay, faster recovery, smaller scars, and less pain than open surgical procedures. The patient can continue to absorb nutrients from food normally. Lap bands are made entirely of biocompatible materials, so they can stay in the body without causing harm. However, not all patients are eligible for laparoscopy. Patients who are extremely obese, who have had previous abdominal surgery or have complicating medical problems may require a more open surgery approach. The surgeon creates a small incision near the belly button and pumps carbon dioxide into the abdomen to create a workspace. Then the surgeon inserts a small laparoscopic camera through the incision into the abdomen. The camera sends a picture of the stomach and abdominal cavity to a video monitor. It gives the surgeon a good view of the key structures in the abdominal cavity. The surgeon makes more small incisions in the abdomen. The surgeon watches the video monitor and works through these small incisions using instruments with long handles to complete the procedure. The surgeon creates a small, circular tunnel behind the stomach, inserts the lap band through the tunnel and locks the band around the stomach. Clinical studies of lap band surgery patients found that they felt better, spent more time doing recreational and physical activities, benefited from enhanced productivity and economic opportunities and had more self-confidence than they did before surgery. The placement of the band creates a small pouch, or stoma, at the top of the stomach. This pouch holds approximately one half cup of food. A typical stomach holds about six cups of food. The pouch fills with food quickly, and the band slows the passage of food from the pouch to the lower part of the stomach, causing the sensation of being full. As the upper part of the stomach registers as full, the message to the brain is that the entire stomach is full, and this sensation helps a person to be hungry less often, feel full more quickly and for a longer period, eat smaller portions, and lose weight over time. As patients lose weight, their bands will need adjustments, or "fills," to ensure comfort and effectiveness. The surgeon can adjust the lap band by introducing a saline solution into a small access port just under the skin. There are many port designs and a surgeon may place them in varying positions, but they always connect to the muscle wall in and around the diaphragm via sutures or staples.

Sebaceous Glands

Sebaceous glands secrete an oily substance called sebum (Latin, meaning fat or tallow) that is made of fat (lipids) and the debris of dead fat-producing cells. In the glands, specialized cells produce sebum and then released it as these cells burst; sebaceous glands are holocrine glands. Sebum itself is odorless, but its bacterial breakdown can produce odors. Sebum is one cause of some people experiencing "oily" hair or skin when not washed for several days. Earwax is partly composed of sebum. Sebum acts to protect and waterproof hair and skin, and keep them from becoming dry, brittle and cracked. Sebum can also inhibit the growth of microorganisms on skin. Sebaceous glands are a branched type of acinar gland. These glands exist throughout the skin except in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Sebaceous glands are present in hair-covered areas, where they link to hair follicles. The glands deposit sebum on the hairs, and bring it to the skin surface along the hair shaft. The structure consisting of hair, hair follicle, arrector pili muscle and sebaceous gland is the pilosebaceous unit. Non-haired areas (glabrous skin) of the eyelids, penis, labia minora and nipples also have sebaceous. Here, the sebum traverses ducts that terminate in sweat pores on the surface of the skin. Pores range in size from 50 to 80 nanometers on average. The inner surface of the lip and the buccal surface of the cheek can potentially contain ectopic sebaceous glands commonly known as Fordyce's spots or Fordyce granules. These occur as yellowish circular dots that form clusters. Eighty percent of the population has Fordyce granules and these sebaceous glands are asymptomatic. At the rim of the eyelids, meibomian glands present as a specialized sebaceous gland. They secrete sebum into the tears coating the eye to slow evaporation.

Executive Medicine doctors and physician groups are coming together to customize health programs for groups of executives and independent businesses with an objective of reducing the lost productivity time. At the core of many Executive Healthcare packages is an Executive Physical. Executive Medicine Concierge Physicians goes by many names, boutique medicine, retainer medicine, executive health, VIP medicine, and personalized medicine. By any name, Concierge Physician is the solution for doctors trying to maintain their integrity and independence in today’s difficult healthcare environment. Concierge Physician is a new style of practice with old roots, in which doctors limit their patient base in order to provide patients with personalized service, high quality care, 24-7 availability, and other amenities. Concierge Physicians Concierge Physicians goes by many names, boutique medicine, retainer medicine, executive health, VIP medicine, and personalized medicine. By any name, Concierge Physician is the solution for doctors trying to maintain their integrity and independence in today’s difficult healthcare environment. Concierge Physician is a new style of practice with old roots, in which doctors limit their patient base in order to provide patients with personalized service, high quality care, 24-7 availability, and other amenities. Concierge Physicians Concierge Physicians goes by many names, boutique medicine, retainer medicine, executive health, VIP medicine, and personalized medicine. By any name, Concierge Physician is the solution for doctors trying to maintain their integrity and independence in today’s difficult healthcare environment. Concierge Physician is a new style of practice with old roots, in which doctors limit their patient base in order to provide patients with personalized service, high quality care, 24-7 availability, and other amenities. Concierge Physicians Concierge Physician Associates is a medical practice that specializes in comprehensive primary, preventive and wellness care Concierge Medicine Association The concierge will gladly make all necessary travel arrangements for the visit of a prospective patient to Beverly Hills. Concierge The concierge will gladly make all necessary travel arrangements for the visit of a prospective patient to Beverly Hills. Concierge Boutique medicine is term that is more and coming into our popular lexicon. By most definitions boutique medicine is used to describe a type of physician practice which has a few distinguishing characteristics that separate it from conventional physician practices. boutique medicine

Skin Conditions

Here is a glossy of terms for skin conditions. Atrophic means thin. Wrinkled and blistered skin is fluid-filled. Bumps and crust or scabs indicate the formation of dried blood, pus or other skin fluid over a break in the skin. A cyst is a deep lesion that contains pus. Excoriation is a hollowed-out or linear area covered by a crust. Hives or wheals entail a pink swelling of the skin. Lichenification describes skin that has thickened. A macule is a smaller version of a patch or a flat discolored spot. A nodule or papule is a solid, raised bump. Raised bumps describe bumps that stick out above the skin surface whereas a patch is flat, and discolored. A pustule refers to a pimple, which is an inflamed lesion that looks like a pink bump. Scales are dead skin cells that appear as flakes or dry skin. A scar is fibrous tissue that has formed after a skin injury.