6 Tips in Finding a Good Spine Specialist in Singapore

Making decisions for your health can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be frightening. It’s natural to look into the credentials or background of the spine doctor, but there are more factors that you also need to consider.  

Here are some tips in finding a good spine specialist in Singapore

  1. See what patients think. This is a good starting point once you’ve already found doctors who might be able to help you. You’ll hear straight from patients as to how it is to work with their spine surgeon. Don’t be discouraged by negative feedback, though. See, instead, how the practice handled them. Be sure as well that you’re looking at a reliable review platform. You want honest feedback from real people. 
  1. Dig deep into their background. Find as much information as you can about the bone specialist in Singapore. How long have they been performing surgeries? Are they board-certified? Are they willing to share patient referrals with you? They may have patients who are willing to talk to you about their treatment experiences, but the spine surgeon must secure written consent from them first. 
  1. Verify credentials. Take the time as well to verify credentials. Search medical board websites or organisations to ensure that you’re working with a licensed practitioner. Should you notice any discrepancies or inconsistencies with the doctor’s credentials, feel free to contact their clinic about it. It might be an error they overlooked, but it can also be a red flag that you need to take seriously. 
  1. Ask people within your network. Ask your family, friends, or work colleagues if they or someone they know have experienced going to a spine clinic. They may be able to refer you to a doctor and also offer tips on how you can make the most of your visits. It may be tough to find someone who has seen a spine surgeon before, but it won’t hurt to ask. Few people who are willing to share thoughts based on their experiences would be helpful enough. 
  1. Meet the spine surgeon. After compiling a list of spine clinics and doctors, it’s time to schedule an initial consultation. It’s hard to make a final decision based on research alone, so you need to meet the doctor (and their team) to verify the information you have. Prepare a questionnaire to ensure you get to cover all your concerns. The best orthopaedic surgeon in Singapore for you is one you feel comfortable with.
  1. Seek second opinion. It’s not always necessary to get a second opinion, but it can be useful if you’re uncomfortable with the first doctor you’ve seen. You shouldn’t feel obliged to get surgery only because you’ve booked an initial consultation. Be sure to ask the same set of questions to both practitioners so you can compare how they respond to them. Aside from having the right qualifications, your doctor should patiently explain their diagnosis, be willing to answer your questions, and make you feel listened to.

Finding a good spine specialist in Singapore shouldn’t have to be stressful. Take your time, ask around, and be honest with the doctors. The more information you’re willing to share, the better advice they can also offer you. 

3 Causes of Errors in Medical Interpretation

As far as medical interpretation is concerned, one may assume it’s just hearing and interpreting a word into another language that is required, no, the medical field is too technical when it comes to providing interpretation services for doctors and patients because it’s all about dealing with lives and the health of individuals. There is too much care needed when interpreting medical jargons, terminologies into a target language. The Major Causes of Medical Errors Let’s see and discuss the major causes of medical errors during the interpretations by the medical interpreters. Cultural beliefs and tradition; most cultures are too complicated which impacts medical service delivery in such communities, so to deliver medical services in such a community you must ensure you get medical translators and interpreters who can abide by the cultural beliefs and rules in that community because they will be knowing how to deal with their cultural beliefs. Some culture and beliefs do not allow females to conduct speeches in public; when operating a medical clinic in a particular community, you must get to know how their cultural beliefs and norm are such that it becomes easier to provide interpreting services, failure to do that you may make mistakes that may end up causing medical errors in the medical interpretation. Using family members as translators and interpreters, this is also too dangerous, due to fear of paying for professional medical interpreters or translators, medical services providers may resort to using the patient’s family members or the patient’s caretakers who may be fluent in English to provide medical interpretation, as we all know that being fluent in English is not enough for somebody to be a medical translator of interpreter, because of the technicality of medical terminologies, a caretaker can’t accurately interpret medical terminologies due to lack of knowledge about it, let’s assume you have no knowledge in the medical field, and you are given to interpret, the doctor mentions a statement that you’ve never heard of in life, can you manage to understand that statement and interpret into a layman language? Use of clinicians who have the basic foreign language skills to communicate with patients and doctors instead of qualified medical interpreters, medical services providers might resort to use of clinician who may have a little knowledge in a particular language understood by the patient. Medical interpretations need fluent native speaking medical interpreters and translators of the respective language so as to be accurate, but because a clinician who is a Japanese speaker knows some little French is given to act as an interpreter between the doctor and the French-speaking patient, there is no way that interpretation will be free from misinterpretation of some words. Areas where medical errors may occur Medical errors are always common in medical areas like; • Admission forms • Patient discharge reports • Medical reconciliation • Emergency department visits and surgical care Possible ways to avoid medical errors in medical interpretation To avoid medical errors, medical service providers should focus on strengthening professional medical interpretation services, doctors and patients should be able to communicate and understand each other, they should also provide already translated materials in several foreign languages for the targeted users, cultural awareness and advocacy, improving medical staff training and etc. The use of the patient’s specific identity, this will help to ensure that the medical interpreter is given the right medical information for the respective patient for interpretation. If any mistake happens that different information about the medical prescriptions is interpreted for a different patient, medical errors have to occur; hence the medical history of the patient bearing the name of the patient, admission date, is necessary since it includes the medicine prescribed for the patient.  

The Right Prescription to Prevent Medical Identity Theft

Approximately 1.5 million Americans are victims of medical identity theft each year, a crime that costs the nation $41.3 billion annually. Prescription fraud is a growing form of medical identity theft that is not only extremely costly and time-consuming; it can also put your health at risk and even be life-threatening. Unfortunately, medical identity theft isn’t commonly known by many Americans, and often isn’t detected until it’s too late. When we don’t take precautions to prevent prescription fraud and other forms of medical identity theft, we put ourselves in jeopardy of becoming another victim.

What is Prescription Fraud?

Prescription fraud occurs when identity thieves use your personal information to fill prescriptions in your name. They use your medical identity to receive medical treatment at hospitals and doctors’ offices, obtain medications, and access other healthcare services.

Prescription fraud doesn’t just leave you with a huge bill-it can potentially put your health at risk as well. You may find that false information has been added to your personal health record, such as a change in blood type or supposed allergies. Every medical procedure received and prescription filled by the identity thief becomes part of your medical history, which means you may not be able to obtain the life-saving treatment you need in an emergency medical situation.

Detecting and resolving medical identity theft can be difficult as well. You may not discover that you’re a victim until a pharmacy refuses to fill a prescription because it conflicts with another medication you appear to be taking. To make matters worse, fixing errors in your record can be very challenging due to medical privacy laws. Ironically, the same laws that were implemented to protect your privacy and health information are now protecting the medical identity thief. This restricted access to medical records prolongs the duration of the theft, costing you countless time, money, and frustration.

How to Prevent Prescription Fraud

One of the easiest ways to avoid this type of medical identity theft is simply to be aware of what you throw in the trash. Prescription medication labels carry such sensitive information as your full name and address, the prescribing physician, the type of medication, prescription number, and the pharmacy’s contact information-all of the things a thief needs to perform prescription fraud. Instead of throwing empty prescription bottles in the trash, including the drug information forms, remove the labels and shred them. Other ways to prevent prescription fraud:

  • Review every explanation of benefits (EOB). Examine the charges for medical visits or prescriptions you didn’t receive, and report any suspicious activity immediately.
  • Never simply toss medical information in the trash. Dumpster divers can easily access your personal information if you fail to shred the documents.
  • Secure medical records. Keep your medical records in a safe place inside your home or in a safe deposit box, away from the prying eyes of visitors. Believe it or not, friends and relatives who have easy access to your personal information are often the culprits.
  • Safeguard prescription bottles. Hide or lock-up your medication rather than leaving it in plain sight or in a medicine cabinet. This will prevent anyone from walking off with your prescription medication and, later, your identity.
  • Manage written prescription slips. Don’t throw them away or leave them out where they can be stolen. These slips are all an identity thief needs to fill a prescription in your name, leave you without your medication, steal your medical identity, and even put your life in danger.
  • Enlist the help of an identity theft protection service such as ID Theft Solutions, which can proactively help prevent medical identity theft and even restore your identity when it’s stolen.
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