Aiming to change that, Nuance — a Microsoft-owned artificial intelligence company in Massachusetts — has created an AI tool for physicians called DAX Express, which streamlines the note-taking process.

At Cooper University Health Care in New Jersey, doctors who are already using the tool have reported improved patient outcomes, greater efficiency and reduced costs.

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"For our physicians who use DAX more than half the time, they have seen a 43% reduction of the time they spend writing notes and an overall 21% reduction in the amount of time they spend in the electronic medical record," said Dr. Anthony Mazzarelli, the CEO of Cooper, which employs 150 physicians. 

He is also an emergency physician.

Peter Durlach, chief strategy officer of Nuance, compares the tool to a "co-pilot" for physicians.

"DAX lets clinicians fully focus on caring for patients instead of manually filling in data entry screens," he told Fox News Digital. 

"This technology helps improve the patient experience and the quality of care, while also making it so that clinicians no longer need to spend hours of their own time completing documentation."

DAX Express is powered by GPT-4, the latest version of AI chatbot technology from OpenAI. 

The tool automatically and securely creates clinical notes, with the patient’s consent, that are immediately available for the doctor to review after each patient visit.

"The phone sits between the doctor and the patient," Mazzarelli explained during an on-camera interview with Fox News Digital. "It incorporates not just what the doctor says, but also what the patient says. And then it uses AI to write the note."

He added, "It's a huge step up from just dictating notes."

Next, the note is sent to the doctor, who can make any necessary changes before approving it. The doctor can then share the file with the patient for transparency.

"It’s like a physician’s assistant that thinks really fast," Mazzarelli said. "The physician is still responsible for making sure the note correctly reflects the conversation."

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The tool gives doctors evidence-based support for the decisions they make, right in the palm of their hand, he added.

"This is, to me, the next evolution," Mazzarelli said. "It’s not that we just want a faster horse and buggy — we want the car."

The more obvious benefits of DAX are removing the administrative burden from physicians and reducing burnout, but the benefits extend to the patient as well, Mazzarelli said. 

The doctor is able to directly interact with the patient and look the person in the eye without the distraction of note-taking, he said. 

This aligns with Cooper University Health Care’s philosophy of practicing "compassion science," which emphasizes a clear understanding of what patients are experiencing.

"If you can really connect with patients, whether you're a nurse or a doctor or anybody in health care, it improves patient outcomes and lowers overall costs," Mazzarelli said. 

"That's good for not just patients, but for the whole health care system."

Because the physician has to sign off on each AI-created medical note, Mazzarelli believes Nuance’s AI tool presents a low risk.

"It's the same risk as if you had an intern or an administrative assistant write something for you and you put it out in the world and didn't look at it," he said. 

"If you’re depending on AI and not thinking of it as an assistant and you just let it make all the decisions — then you certainly could have a problem there."

Nuance’s Durlach believes that administrative functions — note-taking, coding and billing — should be the first place to implement AI because they require a lot of manual work and the cost of making a mistake does not impact patient health.

"As a Microsoft company, our goal is to develop and deploy AI that will have a beneficial impact and earn trust from society," Durlach told Fox News Digital. 

"We are committed to creating responsible AI by design."

In developing its tech, Nuance focuses on a core set of principles: fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency and accountability.

"In an industry where certain types of mistakes can have serious consequences, health care organizations must be particularly mindful of choosing safe and proven AI solutions," Durlach said.

In the past, medical technology has actually increased the number of administrative tasks, Mazzarelli said — but he believes AI has the potential to dramatically streamline the doctor-patient experience.

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"I am very optimistic about the application of generative AI to improve medical care," the doctor said.

"I think it's going to help doctors and patients have better relationships. And I think if used correctly, it's going to be among the best advances we've had."

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As medicine continues to become more complex, Mazzarelli said, there is a greater need for decision support. 

"As personalized medicine becomes more and more the way of the future, we need assistance to make sure we can use it correctly," he added. 

"AI is clearly already here, and I'm even more optimistic about the ways it can assist in the future."

The doctors leading the associations believe that many specialists feel impotent when they realize that the drugs required to manage and avoid the complications of diabetes are not affordable for the Dominican population.

To address the issue, SODENN and SODODIAN have deposited the scientific evidence, adjusted to the latest knowledge on diabetes mellitus treatment, to the General Directorate of Medicines, Food and Sanitary Products. They hope that the country will update the medicines used for treating diabetes based on the latest recommendations from international organizations. The associations believe that the changes can improve diabetes management in the country and change the history of pain caused by the chronic and acute complications of the condition.

In another initiative, the country is set to host the First International Diabetic Foot Congress, “With Feet on Earth” – ALAPID 2023, in Punta Cana from May 18 to 21. The congress will bring together researchers from Latin America, the Caribbean, and other parts of the world to discuss innovations in the field of diabetic foot complications. The congress aims to unify international clinical, medical-scientific, and surgical concepts and efforts on diabetes, and address topics related to clinical endocrinology and nutrition in patients suffering from diabetes mellitus.

On May 6, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, carefully placed the iconic St. Edward’s Crown atop King Charles III's head as the new king solemnly sat in the 700-year-old Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey while grasping a golden scepter in each hand.

It was the first time in 70 years for a monarch to be crowned in the U.K. since the coronation of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who shared an almost identical pose, wearing the same crown in 1953.

When his mother died on Sept. 8, 2022, he became the oldest monarch to take the British throne.

KING CHARLES HONORED WITH UNIQUE DISPLAY OF GNOMES ALL OVER UK WOMAN'S YARD

The king is now 74 (he'll turn 75 on Nov. 14, 2023) — and many wonder if the monarch will enjoy the same longevity as his parents did.

"I expect King Charles’ reign to be a long one," Dr. June McKoy, professor of medicine, preventive medicine and medical education at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, told Fox News Digital. 

"That he is starting his reign in his 70s will not prevent him from doing as well as a monarch in his 40s," added McKoy, who is an academic geriatrician. 

She recommended that older adults be individually assessed and not by chronology as they age.

"To be sure, King Charles has been a great steward of his health and he will benefit from that stewardship."

King Charles III comes from a family of "long livers" on both his mother’s and father’s side, so it’s likely he inherited their genes, McKoy said. 

"The latest science on the genetics of longevity suggests that, for most of us, less than 20% of it is passed down through the generations, meaning the other 80% is lifestyle and luck," Andrew Steele, PhD, author of "Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old," told Fox News Digital.

"However, there does seem to be a more significant genetic component when it comes to exceptional longevity — the child or sibling of someone who lives to 100 is 10 times as likely to do so themselves as someone from the general population," added Steele, a biologist based in Berlin, Germany.

Charles’ father lived to 99, his mother lived to 96 and his grandmother, the queen’s mother, lived to 101 — so he may be lucky enough to have some longevity genes in his DNA, he added.

"Wealth is known to correlate with long life, too, so even though he ascended to the throne at age 73 — the oldest in British history — he's still got a shot at a decently long reign," Steele said in an email.

Charlies turned 74 in November 2022. (None of the medical experts interviewed for this article directly examined King Charles III.)

Prince Harry, Charles’ youngest son, wrote in his bombshell memoir, "Spare," that his father used to perform handstands in Balmoral Castle to relieve chronic back and neck pain from old polo injuries.

"Prescribed by his physio, these exercises were the only effective remedy for the constant pain in Pa’s neck and back," Harry wrote. 

FOR KING CHARLES' CORONATION, WORLD'S LONGEST SERVING BRASS BAND PLAYER, 95, CAN TOOT HIS OWN HORN

"He performed them daily, in a pair of boxers, propped against a door or hanging from a bar like a skilled acrobat."

After missing the Royal Ascot, one of Britain’s most famous horse races, because of a herniated disc in his spine in 1991, Charles aggravated the condition when he fell off a horse at Windsor two years later, according to a Daily Mail report. 

Experts speculate that his trademark walk with his fingers interlocked together behind his back is a clever way to relieve his back pain. 

"On another note, there has been some focus on his posture and its implications for osteoporosis," McKoy told Fox News Digital.

BE WELL: KEEP YOUR BONES STRONG TO PREVENT OSTEOPOROSIS

"Given that osteoporosis causes a decrease in bone density and weakening of the bones, it can cause height loss," she added. 

A stooped posture might represent height loss, she said — but this can be normal or abnormal depending on the individual circumstances.

As part of the normal process of aging, people typically lose approximately 1 centimeter, or 0.5 inch, of height every 10 years — which tends to accelerate in our 70s, McKoy said. 

She also said, "Height loss of [two] inches or more is not considered normal and should prompt a visit to the physician."

King Charles suffered many injuries while playing polo and hunting, including a pivotal fall during a polo match in 1990 that resulted in fracturing his right arm.

After it didn’t heal once he had surgery, he had a second operation to fix it three months later, partly due to concern the injury would not allow him to properly salute, per a Daily Mail report.

In 2001, Charles was knocked unconscious temporarily when he fell head-first from his horse during a charity match at Cirencester Park in Gloucestershire, England, according to a BBC report.

He retired from polo in 2005 when he was 57, after playing the game for over 40 years, as his biography on his official website said.

"He has an interesting pair of hands for a baby," Queen Elizabeth wrote to her former music teacher shortly after her son Charles was born. 

"They are rather large, but with fine long fingers quite unlike mine and certainly unlike his father's." 

Charles himself referred to them as "sausage fingers" after Prince William’s birth, according to Howard Hodgson’s biography "Charles, The Man Who Will Be King."

"Dactylitis is a condition where the digits get swollen like sausages, typically seen in the toes and associated with ankylosing spondylitis," Dr. Nilanjana Bose, a board-certified rheumatologist at Lonestar Rheumatology in Houston, Texas, told Fox News Digital. 

It’s important to examine the hand to distinguish if the swelling is arising from the joint, the tendon sheath or the soft tissue, added Dr. Amy Kehl, rheumatologist with Providence Saint John’s Physician Partners and staff physician at Cedars Sinai in Southern California.

Bose said the look of Charles' hands could be his "baseline" and not suggestive of any underlying disease. 

"True dactylitis is most classically observed in patients with a type of inflammatory arthritis known as spondyloarthritis," Kehl told Fox News Digital.

One example of this type of arthritis, she said, is psoriatic arthritis, which is often diagnosed by examining the patient.

There are a variety of medical conditions that can cause swollen fingers, including other types of arthritis — such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, autoimmune causes — like lupus, sarcoidosis or sickle cell disease, or infections, such as Lyme disease, syphilis and tuberculosis. 

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"Typically a rheumatologist can order more diagnostic testing including lab testing or imaging studies of the joints if the diagnosis is unclear," Kehl said. 

"The typical treatment is geared toward the underlying type of inflammatory arthritis and the degree of symptomatology of the individual patient."

"Understanding the biology of people who make it to exceptional ages could be an important way to discover medicines that can help us all live longer and healthier," Steele noted.

"For example, while women live longer than men, we know that long-lived men tend to do so in better health," he added.

Steele also said he hoped that "Charles will be a 'working royal' for some time yet."

Santo Domingo.- The medical field in the Dominican Republic is embracing artificial intelligence in various areas such as medical training, consultations, data management, and patient evaluation. This technology is becoming an important ally in both diagnosis and decision-making. Emergency physician Pablo Smester, who is also the president of the Dominican Society for Clinical Simulation, is using AI in different programs, including a laboratory of advanced simulators at INTEC medical training and the virtual consultation platform MyMédico from Yunen Group.

The MyMédico platform has seen close to 20,000 patients during the pandemic and uses AI in diagnosis, image reading, and indicators. The Yunen Group has also developed a service called the Command Center, which supervises all health indicators in medical care through a system of medical clinics installed in companies. This tool is also part of a bilateral agreement between the Yunen Group and Northwell Health hospitals in the US, which offers a virtual second opinion consultation based on AI.

Currently, eight medical schools in the country, including the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), have simulator centers or laboratories for medical training. Smester explained that the use of artificial intelligence gives greater efficiency and reduces the margin of error in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. Medical simulation, the teaching of medicine through simulators, can have mannequins of different ranges, which can cry, sweat, emit secretions, hemodynamic changes, simulate heart, abdominal, and lung sounds, and respond to medications.

In conclusion, the use of AI in the medical field is becoming increasingly popular in the Dominican Republic, with many medical training programs and consultations adopting this technology. The use of AI in diagnosis and decision-making provides greater efficiency and reduces the margin of error. Additionally, the use of simulators with AI technology is also improving medical training, allowing for more realistic simulations of medical conditions and scenarios.

“All the experts are singing from the same playbook, thus as individuals we need to act to protect the natural environment and our human health”

View the full post Garbage in, Garbage out on NOW Grenada.

A healthy mouth means more than an attractive smile. 

Research has shown that oral health impacts the wellness of the entire body and is directly linked to risk levels for heart disease, pneumonia and other conditions.

While it's common knowledge that everyone should brush and floss every day, what about the things people are not supposed to do to their teeth?

BE WELL: FLOSS YOUR TEETH DAILY FOR BETTER HEART HEALTH

If you’re making any of these dangerous dental mistakes, you could be putting the health of your teeth and gums in jeopardy, according to experts. 

Read on …

Failing to take proper care of dental health is the biggest mistake cited by dentists.

Neglecting oral hygiene "includes not brushing and flossing regularly, which can lead to tooth decay, gum disease and other oral health problems," Dr. Sean Kutlay, a dentist in Santa Clarita, California, told Fox News Digital.

"To counteract this, it's important to establish a daily oral hygiene routine that includes brushing your teeth twice a day for at least two minutes and flossing at least once a day."

One of the biggest causes of structural damage to teeth is the tendency to use them as tools, such as bottle openers and package rippers, according to Dr. Fadi Swaida of Bond Street Dental in Toronto, Ontario.

"Using your teeth for those kinds of things can end with cracking, chipping and damaging them," she told Fox News Digital. 

"I've seen many patients who crack their front teeth because they were trying to open something with them."

Tobacco use has been linked to a long list of health dangers, including those related to the teeth.

"Smoking and using tobacco products can stain your teeth, cause bad breath, and increase your risk of gum disease and oral cancer," said Kutlay.

The obvious means of prevention is to quit smoking or using tobacco products altogether, he added.

Vaping presents a similar problem, Swaida noted — particularly because it's unclear what long-term damage the chemicals could cause to the teeth and gums.

It might sound crazy, but Fatima Khan, a dentist and co-founder of Riven Oral Care in Houston, Texas, has heard of some people filing down their teeth with nail files to try and make them all the same length.

DENTISTS REVEAL WHY YOU SHOULDN'T BRUSH YOUR TEETH IN THE SHOWER

"Not only can you introduce bacteria from your nail file into your mouth this way, but it can also cause irreversible damage to your teeth," she said in an email to Fox News Digital. "Once your enamel is gone, it's gone for good — it won't magically grow back like your nails do."

For some, this can lead to sensitivity — but others may end up needing root canal therapy if they file down too close to their nerve and end up experiencing excruciating pain, Khan warned.

Brushing your teeth twice a day is key to good dental health, per the American Dental Association — but too much force can backfire, dentists agree.

"Many people think that brushing harder will help remove all the plaque and bacteria, but it can abrade your enamel and cause tooth wear and sensitivity," Dr. Tina Saw, a licensed dentist and founder of Oral Genome in California, told Fox News Digital. 

It’s best to brush your teeth gently with a pressure-sensing electric toothbrush or a soft manual toothbrush, she said.

Add dental health to the long list of the benefits that hydration brings.

"Water is not only good for your overall health, but it’s super important to your dental health," Dr. Diana Matatova, a general dentist in Glendale, Arizona, told Fox News Digital.

"After eating a meal or sweet drinks, drinking water afterward can help rinse your teeth when you’re not able to brush," she said. 

"Keeping saliva flowing in your mouth by drinking water helps prevent tooth decay and keeps cavities from forming."

Even though it can be very satisfying, Dr. Saw recommends refraining from chewing on ice.

"It can cause microfractures that lead to more significant fractures over time and, inevitably, broken teeth," she warned.

In one study from Japan, people who chewed 30 ice cubes each day using only the left side of their mouths over a two-decade span were found to develop cavities and changes in the jaw on that side.

Up to 30% of the population bites their nails, studies show, but the bad habit can do damage to more than your fingers. Nail-biting can also chip the teeth, Saw warned.

"Even though your teeth are harder than your nails, they have thinner incisal edges that can chip easily if you bite your nails the wrong way," she told Fox News Digital. 

"A few good ways to try and kick this habit are to keep your nails trimmed short, apply bitter-tasting nail polish or get a gel manicure," Saw added.

Certain types of do-it-yourself teeth whitening should generally be avoided, Khan told Fox News Digital.

One of the current trends involves mixing baking soda with hydrogen peroxide and adding it to a "boil and bite" mouth guard, which is made of a soft, flexible material that is boiled and then bitten on to conform to the teeth.

"Baking soda can be pretty abrasive, and if you use it too often or in high concentrations, it can actually damage tooth enamel," Khan warned. "Plus, that ‘boil and bite’ guard might not fit your mouth perfectly, so the hydrogen peroxide can leak out and irritate your gums or even burn them."

Another risky DIY trend is to brush with turmeric to strengthen and whiten teeth. 

While the plant-based spice has some proven health benefits, Khan said it’s best to consume it rather than brush with it. 

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"Turmeric is a dark yellow color, and it can be tough to brush off completely," she told Fox News Digital. "I've seen it stain the teeth of some of my patients because they didn't rinse their mouth and brush thoroughly enough after using it. And when the turmeric sits on the teeth for too long, it can actually make them look more yellow, not less."

Whitening too much can also be harmful, Saw warned.

"Excessive teeth whitening can cause tooth sensitivity and also result in the incisal or edges of the teeth becoming translucent," she said. "It can also strip your teeth of its protective enamel and weaken them."

"It can be hard to resist snacking throughout the day — especially now that so many of us work remotely — but when we eat, it triggers an acid release to aid digestion," Saw said. 

"The acid breaks down teeth, and frequent acid attacks on your teeth can cause cavities and decay over time."

Certain foods are more harmful to the teeth than others — particularly sugary substances, like soda and candy.

"Sugar is one of the main culprits when it comes to tooth decay," Kutlay told Fox News Digital. "When you eat sugary foods or drink sugary drinks, the bacteria in your mouth feed on the sugar and produce acid, which can erode your tooth enamel."

The recommended counteraction is to limit sugar intake and choose healthier snacks like fruits, vegetables and nuts, he said.

Some TikTok trends suggest that people can straighten and move their teeth at home without any orthodontic work, but this is extremely dangerous and should be avoided at all costs, dentists said. 

"Using gap bands, rubber bands, paperclips, beads, dental floss and elastic bands to try and move your teeth is just asking for trouble," Khan told Fox News Digital.

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"Orthodontic movement needs to be done precisely, and if it's not, you can permanently damage your teeth, gums and roots. In some cases, it can even lead to bone loss and tooth loss," she added.

When people aren’t having any mouth pain or problems, they may assume everything is fine and opt to skip a dental visit — but dentists agree that’s a bad idea.

Said Swaida, "Regular dental visits keep your teeth free of tartar and plaque, which cause tooth decay, and detect problems early so they can be remedied."

Nurses need opportunities and resources to ensure they can sustainably protect the health of the nation, says acting Chief Nursing Officer Annastacia Jordan.

She said it’s critical that nurses are further trained in various skills to enhance what they offer professionally and are equipped with the necessary tools.

“We must protect and support our nurses by providing the needed education and the resources to deliver safe and effective nursing care. As we look to the future, we must transform our profession from invisible to invaluable in the eyes of the public… We must chart the future direction of nursing, to build capacity in all areas, to ensure the sustainable growth of our profession [and] to meet the ever changing complex health-care needs of our citizens,” she said, while addressing a ceremony at Savannah Hotel on Friday to launch Nurses’ Week 2023.

“As such, our goal is to strengthen our health-care systems by investing in our workforce to address the changing and growing health needs of our population. Upscaling our nursing skills and capacity is an important step in giving nurses a greater say in decisions, affecting scopes of practice, competence and safety.

“Nurses will be better able to manage client conditions using innovative ways to work within existing constraints and perform their jobs more effectively. Consequently, our practice will play a strategic role in the future delivery of more efficient, accessible, affordable, acceptable health-care services for Barbadians and those visiting our shores through the pandemic.”

In his remarks, Minister of Health and Wellness, Senator Dr Jerome Walcott said that although the local nursing fraternity is faced with a myriad of issues, including fighting non-communicable diseases and the migration of health-care workers, Government is committed to putting measures in place to ensure the health-care industry is a desirable sector in which to work.

“In order to adequately address these challenges, we must pay close attention to the entire health workforce and especially the nursing component while ensuring that it remains fit-for-purpose to effectively deal with the aforementioned multitude of changing health concerns.”

The Health Minister said: “My Government has and continues to make significant investments in improving the capacity of the nursing profession. We recognise that nurses are critical in the government’s road map to achieving the sustainable development goals and ensuring Barbados’ commitment to universal health coverage.”

Walcott explained that his ministry has been listening to the complaints of health-care workers and is addressing them.

“We have been listening to your complaints about nursing shortages and conditions of work and lack of opportunities. We will work with you in this regard.”

He added that training opportunities are being provided and nurses are being trained in the areas of dermatology and public health. He said that midwifery training will resume next January.

Walcott also indicated that 40 people will soon be trained in pediatric nursing at  the diploma level.

The theme for Nurses’ Week this year is Our Nurses, our Future. The week is internationally recognised from May 6 to May 12. (SZB) 

The post Support for nurses’ education critical to sustainable health care: Jordan appeared first on Barbados Today.

However, the Onamet explained that the effects of a trough to the north over the Atlantic Ocean associated with a weak frontal system will originate in the afternoon until early evening cloudy increases with isolated downpours, thunderstorms, and possible wind gusts in the northwestern portion and the Central Cordillera, with greater frequency in the provinces: Dajabón, Elías Piña, Puerto Plata, Valverde, Espaillat, Santiago Rodríguez, Santiago, among other nearby areas.

Temperatures will continue to be quite hot during the day due to the combination of the dust coming from the Sahara and the wind blowing from the southeast. Therefore, the recommendation to the entire population to drink enough liquids (water), wear light clothes (preferably light colors), and not expose themselves directly to the sun, especially from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. without sunscreen, is maintained.

For tomorrow Sunday, in the morning hours, there will be isolated showers on the Caribbean coast and the northeast of the country. However, in the afternoon, the trough will bring more moisture and instability to our forecast area, generating cloudy conditions with locally moderate to heavy downpours, thunderstorms, and wind gusts over the northwest, northeast, Central, Central Cordillera, and the border area until the early hours of the night. Cloudy skies and scarce precipitation will continue to prevail for the rest of the country.

Range Developments collaborated with the office of St David’s Constituency to make the lives of our elderly and physically challenged in Grenada a little easier

View the full post Range Developments donates wheelchairs and canes on NOW Grenada.

“For more than a ...