Did you know that if you have once had or recovered and healed from a bleeding ulcer associated with use of aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen (generally grouped as NSAIDS) for pain, you have 1 out of 5 chances of having a major bleeding recurrence within 6 months if you resume taking an NSAID? And bleeding can be fatal. This is an avoidable consequence if doctors include adjunctive treatment with GI-protective medications when use of NSAID for pain in an individual is inevitable. Recent studies however reveal that prolonged use of certain types of gastric protective medications are not without significant risks that vary according to groups¹. Engage your doctor in this discussion about your treatment if you fall into this category.

Studies in a Hong Kong population showed that despite endoscopic proof of complete ulcer healing, the reinitiation of NSAID therapy without a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) resulted in a recurrent ulcer bleeding rate of nearly 20% over a 6-month time frame. The studies prove the relative effectiveness of the various treatment strategies in the secondary prevention of NSAID-induced bleeding ulcer disease. Reference: Lanza FL, Chan FK, Quigley EM; Guidelines for prevention of NSAID-related ulcer complications. Am J Gastroenterol. 2009 Mar;104(3):728-38

Telehealth and the Holiday Season. The holiday season is profuse with preparations to wind down, celebrate and rest in the comfort of family and away from work. Yet it is a time that health services we often take for granted can gets its most unadvertised rigours of tests.

During Holiday periods, employees take time off, those who are in management deploy "holiday” coverage plans in anticipation of holiday-induced staff scarcity. Resources are usually not as robust as they are in non-holiday periods. In some institutions, holiday periods very much appear like "extended" 11-7am (so-called grave yard) shift.

This condition can often be tested with disastrous consequences by challenges of un-forseen emergencies, disasters natural or man-made. As a result optimal planning demands managers and decision makers to have contingency plans to increase capacity on demand.

Here I believe Telehealth undoubtedly has a role. Institutions that begin early to adopt new technologies and strategies in virtual and remote applications with a clear goal to augmenting  and sustaining services, turn-key mechanism to increase and expand capacity on demand, assuring least disruption in organizational and workflow infrastructure,through these emerging technologies will clearly have solidified their places in the future of healthcare delivery.

Telehealth, telemedicine, applied insightfully stands to mitigate these obstacles to care delivery, when leveraged as a capacity building, preserving and recruiting tool. Telehealth to preserve continuity, quality and direct positive outcomes should be a desired objective.