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Genomics

Genomics

Gene mutations, AI for drug discovery, Jewish DNA tests

Healthcare RCM

Healthcare RCM

HIPAA violations, RCM technology, Telehealth – before and after COVID-19

Human resources

Human resources

Get to know your people, Employee engagement, Employee productivity,

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What happens to your body after you consume a sugary food/drink? Female pattern hair loss

Genomics

Unmasking the genetic culprit of narcolepsy

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According to Narcolepsy Network, one in every 2000 Americans is diagnosed with narcolepsy.  Across the world, about three million individuals are affected by the condition.

However, according to experts, only 25% of patients with this condition get diagnosed and treated.

So the total population living with the condition could be much higher.

Is Narcolepsy Genetic?

Genetic mutation is undoubtedly a factor that can cause narcolepsy.

  

Gene mutations, along with specific environmental triggers like infections, can lead to the development of this condition.

Genes Underlying Narcolepsy

TNFSF4 gene (TNF Superfamily Member 4 gene)

The TNFSF4 gene encodes a protein that is a cytokine of the Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) family.

A cytokine is a protein that plays a role in the immune function.

rs7553711 is a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) of the TNFSF4 gene.

Specific alleles of this SNP can lead to overexpression of the TNFSF4 protein.

This will stimulate the immune system, leading to an autoimmune kind of response.

This can trigger narcolepsy if the immune cells attack the brain cells that produce hypocretin.

CCR1/CCR3 gene (C-C motif) receptor 1/C-C motif) receptor 3 gene)

The CCR1/CCR3 gene is responsible for producing certain chemokines that play a role in inflammatory response in the body.

Chemokines are signaling proteins that stimulate the movement of white blood cells and immune responses.

rs3181077 is an SNP of this gene, and specific alleles of this SNP are associated with an increased risk of developing narcolepsy.

How’s Narcolepsy Inherited?

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, about 10% of people with type 1 narcolepsy may have close relatives with similar symptoms.

About 1-2% of the population inherit the condition from their ancestors.

Can I pass narcolepsy to my child?

According to experts, in rare cases, narcolepsy may be inherited across generations. However, most of the cases diagnosed are due to spontaneous mutation.

Is narcolepsy something you’re born with?

Some individuals may be born with certain gene mutations that affect hypocretin production in the brain, causing narcolepsy.

In most cases, damage to these hypocretin-producing brain cells may occur randomly due to environmental triggers, leading to the condition.

AI for drug discovery

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has started impacting various industries, including healthcare.

Drug discovery is an extensively time-consuming and expensive process that only very few pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies can afford to take up as of now. 

AI in drug discovery has the potential to affect the lives of millions around the world.

Experts now believe that AI can reduce the cost of drug discovery, speed up the process, and pave the way for transforming healthcare.  

What Is Drug Discovery?

Drug discovery involves discovering new drugs or medications with the efforts of large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and governments.

With the results of drug discovery uncertain and the high costs involved in the process, traditional drug discovery comes with multiple challenges and bottlenecks. 

Did you know the average cost of discovering a drug can be up to $2.6 billion?

From research to approvals and marketing, the average time needed to discover a drug is about 12 years. 

Unfortunately, many patients don’t have this time.

How Can AI Be Used In Drug Discovery?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a term that refers to various computing technologies that can simulate human intelligence. 

According to experts, AI can speed up drug discovery and help get the right drugs to needy people. 

AI may also help handle the vast amount of data generated during every step of drug discovery. 

Every stage of research and drug testing creates several terabytes of data. 

Even though the researchers take years to analyze the data and find patterns and links, the sheer quantity of data available may lead to misses and overlooks. 

Machine Learning (ML), a segment of AI, can help analyze large amounts of data precisely yet quickly and identify insights that may help better the drug. 

Such insights can add value to the present and future drug discoveries. 

With just one out of 5000 components reaching the approval stage, researchers spend a lot of time pursuing leads that may have severe side effects or are ineffective.

AI can be trained to do a cost-benefit analysis and check historical data to predict the outcome of these leads. 

This will save researchers a tremendous amount of time, resources, and effort. 

Proposal submissions include extensive work, including collecting all the needed documents, putting them together, and having the correct answers to the authorities’ questions. 

AI can also be used to put together a tight case using predictions and historical analysis. 

AI and the Promise of Personalized Medicine

For a long time now, medical professionals have considered the idea of personalized medicine and the benefits this may have on patients.

Personalized medicine is the idea of curating drugs based on the patient’s physical, mental, genetic, and environmental features. 

Personalizing drugs can improve the treatment’s efficiency and reduce the risk of side effects.

Personalizing medicine for billions of people can only be possible with supportive technology like AI.

Image source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7580505/

(Different the steps of personalized medicine discovery would be compared to traditional drug discovery)

Overview Of The Current Regulations Surrounding AI In Drug Discovery

Regarding using AI for drug discovery, two factors everyone is worried about are safety and privacy. 

Significant deals and mergers have occurred in the last couple of years between pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and tech companies. 

As a result, regulators worldwide are working on initiatives that would help combat some of the challenges of AI in drug discovery.

In 2022, the UK published a 10-year National AI Strategy that would regulate the use of artificial intelligence in different industries, including pharmaceuticals.

Canada proposed a national regulatory framework called the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) in 2022 to focus on trade and commerce using AI systems.

This would also encompass regulations regarding the use of AI for drug discovery.

The FDA has already issued an action plan named ‘Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Software as a Medical Device’ in 2019 to monitor the use of AI by medical device manufacturers.

The FDA is right now focusing on regulating cybersecurity in the use of AI systems.

Jewish DNA tests

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How Can DNA Tests Help Identify A Religious Or Cultural Identity?

DNA tests help reveal genetic changes called Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms or SNPs.

 

People from the same ancestry/ethnicity share a similar genetic profile and may have more SNPs in common than those from other ancestries.

Ancestry testing looks for these similarities and creates an ancestry profile for the individual.

According to history, Jewish communities started settling down in Europe during the Roman rule of Judea. 

They remained an independent community for a long time, mixing and marrying within their own communities. 

As a result, Jews of European descent have certain distinct SNPs that can be identified with these tests! 

What Are The Different Jewish Ancestries?

The following are some of the significant Jewish ancestries or communities identified.

  1. Ashkenazi Jews
  2. Sephardi Jews
  3. Mizrahi (Oriental) jews
  4. Marrano (Crypto) jews
  5. Levi jews
  6. Cohen jews

Most of the DNA tests right now can only identify Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.

This is because the other sub-groups have spread out wider and have mixed ethnicities.

How Do Jewish DNA Test Kits Work?

There are three ways in which Jewish DNA test kits can identify your ancestry.

  1. Ancestry Composition Report

Your ancestry composition report will tell the region your DNA originated from out of thousands of regions from its database.

Since it is believed that the original Ashkenazi Jews originated from a particular location, the ancestry composition report may pick this detail up.

  1. Y-DNA Test

Y-DNA tests are done in males to know their paternal ethnic origins. Since the Y chromosome is passed on from the father to the son, this can help trace back the ancestors from the paternal side.

Women cannot get their paternal line tested with their DNA samples because they don’t carry the Y chromosome. 

They may need to provide samples of their male relatives to run the test.

  1. mtDNA

mtDNA or mitochondrial DNA is passed on from the mothers to their children. These reports generate something called the mitochondrial haplogroup using mtDNA.

According to 23AndMe, four mitochondrial haplogroups were found in high frequency in people with Ashkenazi ancestry – N1b, K1a1b1a, K1a9, and K2a2a. 

Europeans who carry these four haplotypes may have a higher chance of having Jewish ancestry.

Companies That Offer Jewish DNA Test

  1. AncestryDNA – AncestryDNA specializes in ethnicity estimates and helps trace your ancestors’ migratory paths and build family trees. If you want to explore your possible Jewish roots, this company’s Ancestry DNA test kits can help.
  1. 23andMe – 23andMe’s Ancestry+Traits DNA kits help trace back ancestry origins across 2,000 regions. Even though Jewish ancestry is not a specific focus here, the overall ancestral breakdown will include Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. This company also offers DNA Relative Finder and family tree-building tools.
  1. FamilyTree DNA – ‘MyOrigins’ report from FamilyTree DNA helps you get a breakdown of your origin, including Jewish ancestry details. You can find your ethnic and geographical background in these report results.

Healthcare RCM

HIPAA compliance

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Did you know that HIPAA violation penalties can go up to $25,000 per violation category per year?

That’s why medical healthcare providers need to take all precautions to adhere to HIPAA regulations.

While handling such compliances is a considerable task by itself, it becomes even more challenging when the HIPAA updates its compliance terms periodically. 

HIPAA considers PHI or Protected Health Information violations very seriously. The personal health information of patients is offered federal protection under the HIPAA compliance act, and the below details are protected from misuse or sharing.

  • Information entered by healthcare providers in your medical record
  • The conversation you have with healthcare providers about your health
  • Billing information
  • Personal information about the patient that is stored in the health insurer’s database
  • Other personal health information considered sensitive

Civil and criminal HIPAA penalties

When there is a violation of sensitive data by a healthcare provider, an insurance company, or a health maintenance organization, HIPAA goes on to explore whether the breach was intentional or unintentional.

Unintentional breaches are penalized under the civil violation categories. The penalties usually have to be borne by the employer and not the employee(s) who caused the violation.

Sometimes, a healthcare worker may intentionally cause HIPAA compliance violations with malicious intent.

HIPAA may charge criminal violation charges against the individual and/or the organization in such cases. Such charges are prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

Such violations include theft of data or disclosure of data for financial gains. 

How to keep up with HIPAA compliance while handling PHI?

One of the main reasons medical practitioners and healthcare professionals end up with HIPAA violations is lack of training.

Employees working in such sensitive settings must be trained extensively to handle data correctly. Such organizations need to offer periodic HIPAA compliance training to employees to stay vigilant and treat PHI carefully. 

As a medical billing and coding company, we are also a part of the healthcare system and are equally responsible for keeping up with HIPAA compliances.  

Did you know that we are a 100% HIPAA-compliant RCM service provider? All our processes are HIPAA Legislation-compliant, and we handle PHI with utmost care.

All the PHI that we come in access with is stored in our SOC2 Type2-compliant data centers or within our clients’ servers.

We are a 100% paperless organization to ensure that no accidental data breaches happen within the workplace.

Our staff-level computing resources don’t have data sharing or storage facilities for additional safety, and everything is controlled and monitored in the cloud.

Telemedicine in 2022 – Everything you need to know

The downside to adapting to the latest technology upgrades is letting go of proven, simpler, effective, and cost-efficient tools and technology.

When Revenue Cycle Management companies decide to leverage AI-based tools, they help maximize the revenues generated and make a difference in how revenues are created and reimbursed.

However, it is quite true that these high-end technologies are expensive investments. Not all Revenue Cycle Management companies have the financial bandwidth to make such costly investments in the initial stages. 

This does not mean these RCM companies cannot progress forward. Our RCM experts have always made sure to harvest the low-hanging fruits, making optimal use of the available tools and technology.

For instance, an RCM company may use automation to run its coding auditing. The first step is to check if the team is making optimal use of the technology or if things can be done better. 

Identifying ways of improving existing tech makes more sense than constantly investing in new technologies. 

Telehealth – before and after COVID-19

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Telehealth – before and after COVID-19

Before COVID-19, you could access telehealth in the United States only if you were a rural patient. However, telehealth was opened up to all patients during the pandemic, and Medicare coverage was made available.

With the pandemic slowly getting manageable, healthcare providers worry about not getting reimbursed enough for their telemedicine services, while patients worry they may not get access to telemedicine, which has become a more convenient way to reach out to medical practitioners. 

Here are some facts for you!

  1. According to the Future Health Index report in 2021, 64% of healthcare providers globally are investing heavily in telehealth, assuming it is going to stay. 
  2. The same report states that up to 24% of these healthcare providers hesitate to adopt telehealth because of certain limitations in the reimbursement models.
  3. According to a McKinsey Report, compared to 2017, the number of investors investing in digital health segments has tripled. 
  4. Since April 2020, about 50% of all psychiatry treatments have been handled virtually. Similarly, about 30% of substance use disorder treatments and 17% of endocrinology and rheumatology treatments were virtually conducted. 

(Data Source: McKinsey Analysis)

Right now, CMS has proposed to extend telehealth flexibilities up to 2023 and has come up with a complete list of services and their HCPCS/CPT codes for 2022.

However, keep looking out for possible changes that may affect you as a medical billing and coding service provider. 

 

What do the 2023 CMS Physician Fee Schedule changes mean for providers and patients?

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) updates the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) every year and publishes the same the preceding November.

Keeping with the routine, the Physician Fee Schedule final rules have been updated and published for 2023 last week. 

There was a lot of speculation about the conversion factor getting reduced compared to last year, and the CMS finally reached a consensus and published the final list of changes to look at.

If you are a medical practitioner, a medical billing and coding company, an RCM service provider, or anyone in the healthcare industry, you need to be paying close attention to the PFS and the changes. 

The basics of PFS

The Physician Fee Schedule final rules were released on November 1, 2022, and these rules will be applicable from January 1, 2023. 

The PFS lets payers (insurance providers and patients) know the right payment to be made for physicians’ services, depending on the type of service and the place of service.

Therefore, a physician’s final payment, for the same service rendered could change over the years, thanks to changes to changes in the PFS.

One of the important components of PFS is the conversion factor. This is calculated as a multiplier of the Relative Value Unit (RVU) of the actual fees paid for a service or a procedure.

Logically, the higher the conversion factor, the higher would be the physician’s part of payment.

PFS was created so there was some basis on which physicians charge their patients and payers.

The changes are based on budget-neutralized adjustments, so that, at the end of the year, Medicare and Medicaid services don’t end up with humungous spending.  

What are the significant changes in the 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule?

According to Physician Fee Schedule final rules, the conversion factor has gone down in 2023 when compared to 2022.

The conversion rate for next year will be $33.06. It is to be noted that this figure was $34.61 in 2022. 

Apart from reducing the conversion factor, the fee schedule has also changed to accommodate extensive behavioral health services. 

The rules will now accommodate a wide range of behavioral health service providers who offer their services under the general guidance of a medical practitioner.

After 2023, clinical psychologists and licensed clinical social workers are all eligible to get paid under PFS. Such experts will also be able to create monthly payment schedules and offer long-term treatment solutions for chronic cases. 

The Physician Fee Schedule will also include dental coverage when opted for before organ transplants and other major services. Before this, dental services like tooth extraction were only included as a part of cancer care.

Finally, another important addition to these rules is the inclusion of mobile opioid treatments. Such opioid treatments can also be offered out of vans or mobile units.

The only condition would be that they adhere to Drug Enforcement Administration and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration guidance.

Impacts of the 2023 PFS on providers

Multiple physician groups have started voicing out their disappointment at the 2023 Physician Fee Schedule final rules.

According to such groups, this conversion factor cut will add more financial pressure on the physicians, pit medical practitioners against one another, and intensify competition.

These groups also mention that this cut was going to be on top of the 4% PAYGO sequestration and may lead to a further decline of revenues in group practices where the federal spending is beyond a stipulated value. 

The physicians and healthcare providers are worried that this change may lead to financial instability and prevent physicians from offering the best treatment to people in need. We will need to wait and see how this affects the financial scenario in reality. 

Impacts of the 2023 PFS on patients

There are a lot of positives in the Physician Fee Schedule final rules of 2023 for patients. 

The major point to discuss here is its impact on behavioral health.

A considerable portion of the population hesitates to take help from behavioral health experts because the services may not be covered, and the out-of-pocket charges may be quite expensive.

However, many of the physical problems these days are manifested from behavioral issues, and unless the latter is addressed, the former will not be. The 2023 PFS rules may help provide holistic healthcare service to patients, as it includes behavioral health, mental health, and physical health solutions. 

Pain care has always been a sensitive term to tread on when it comes to insurance inclusions. Increased payment rates for opioid-based treatments will now help improve access to pain care. 

CMS will also cover extended telehealth service, even after the Public Health Emergency has ended, and this is something patients can definitely look forward to. 

Human resources

The Mercer March Benefits report on digitizing benefits in a post-pandemic world

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Mercer Marsh Benefits is a global leader in the HR consultancy industry.

Recently, it surveyed a total of 500 HR and Reward professionals to understand how employers are planning to approach benefits in the post-pandemic situation.

They were made to answer questions on prioritizing their benefits and rewards strategies in the coming years.

We thank Mercer March Benefits for this detailed survey report. Here is an excerpt for you to look through.

How is the C-Suite approaching benefits?

According to the survey, 85% of the Benefits and Rewards teams say their importance has increased in the pandemic.

Employers are quickly realizing that it is not enough for them to provide jobs.

They will also have to consider the social and emotional support and well-being of their employees, and the right rewards and benefits programs will make a difference.

At the beginning of the pandemic, it was a common opinion that employers would be able to cut back on their benefits budget as the employees were working from home.

However, the benefits teams of most organizations have agreed that the opposite has just happened.

Here are other statistics provided by the HR rewards and benefits experts about organizational change after the pandemic.

What’s the challenge?

Imagine having to make drastic changes to your rewards and benefits processes quickly and amidst a pandemic.

The changes have to matter to the employees and help them during such tough times. This was an immense challenge that the HR team was under.

52% of organizations now say that they may consolidate their benefits technology and their benefits consultancy partners to handle the requirement post-pandemic.

Having a single partner to handle these is definitely beneficial. Now that the world is slowly opening up and businesses are considering normal activities, it is going to take considerable effort to protect the employees and handle their mental well-being.

Investing in the right benefits digital infrastructure and choosing the right Rewards and Recognition partner are both going to make a big difference in how quickly your employees bounce back.

Employee experience post-pandemic

The same group of HR experts was also quizzed about how vital employee experience is going to be and if there will be changes to look out for.

Clearly, the consensus is that employee experience will matter more now than ever.

When the importance of employee experience was questioned in 2018, just 46% of organizations valued this top priority.

This has changed now. In 2021, about 87% of organizations agreed that employee experience is their top priority.

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Employee Wellbeing – The need for the hour

 

We have all been talking about employee wellbeing. However, the pandemic has shown us how important this really is.

  1. Healthcare suddenly became the most important of all benefits due to the risk of COVID-related hospitalizations.
  2. Organizations that covered mental health expenses were looked upon with gratitude by the employees.
  3. Employees paid well and had financial stability and thanked their employers for the privilege.
  4. Organizations that had fostered a healthy internal relationships were able to survive more successfully, and the employees stood up for one another during emergencies.

After the pandemic, HR experts consider that the employer’s role as a wellness provider is here to stay.

Employers have to start taking care of their employee’s financial, physical, and mental well-being as a part of the benefits package.

We should also stop being over-optimistic about these wellness changes, warns these experts.

Below is why they consider it so.

 

Metrics to gauge the quality of hires during recruitment in 2023

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What is quality hiring, and why is this important?

According to data from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), it takes about 2-3 times an employee’s offered salary to hire them.

This means that if you offer an $80,000 package, you may need to spend $160,000 to $240,000 to hire the person successfully.

The hiring cost includes both the actual cost of the hiring person and the indirect costs of time and effort spent in the hiring process.

So what happens if you end up with an unsuitable candidate who contributes much less than you hired them for or doesn’t fit the work culture?

The employee either quits or is relieved from work, and the money you spend on hiring goes down the drain. The worst part of this is that you will now need to spend the same on rehiring processes.

Quality hiring is tweaking your hiring process and attitude to recruit employees who add long-term value and bring success to your organization.

Quality hiring can be measured by a metric called Quality of Hire (QoH), and this is something most HR experts are interested in and exploring right now.

Quality vs quality – The constant battle

When you think about recruitment logically, having a large pool of candidates to choose from is good. This means the role is in demand, and you have more potential employee options.

So when the quantity is more, it should benefit the employer.

The trend right now has also been leaning more toward quantity than quality.

A Harvard Business Review article says that about a decade earlier, there were an average of 120 applicants per role. The number has now more than doubled and is about 250/role.

In reality, though, this is not true. Let’s talk about the problem of having many applicants per role.

  1. You will have to spend more time wading through the applications
  2. Having too many choices delays decision making
  3. Need to invest more resources into narrowing down applications
  4. Have to invest in tools to optimize application screening

In other terms, focusing on quantity recruitment and casting a wider net to find hires may actually delay the process and lead to spending more resources than required in the process.

On the other hand, quality recruitment could help you avoid these potential problems and focus your attention on the right candidates who may add long-term value to their role and the employer.

Three smart approaches to hiring quality employees

  1. Collect and analyze pre-hiring data

Pre-hiring data is the initial data you collect from the applicants to make the first few elimination/selection decisions.

All applicants send their resumes to show their interest in a specific role.

Some organizations go one step further in hiring quality employees by asking them to fill in a form that asks for vital details like their educational qualifications, years of experience, preferred location, and expected CTC.

Now, instead of having to go through all resumes one by one, you can filter out the form to eliminate candidates that don’t match your bracket.

This will ensure your team doesn’t waste time interviewing someone only to find out they cannot relocate to your city.

  1. Make use of pre-employment assessment tools

Mettl’s digital pre-employment assessment tools have helped brands like Accenture, Microsoft, and Adobe screen applicants based on multiple traits like the ones below to make an informed first-level decision.

  • Personality assessment
  • Behavioral assessment
  • Cognitive assessment
  • Technical assessment
  • Coding assessment
  • Communication skills assessment

Once you assess the applicants based on these criteria, the tool will generate results and reports. Your talent acquisition team can use them to narrow down their selection further.

Such tools not only automate the first few levels of decision-making but also bring speed and precision to the process. Using these tools, you can ensure that the screening process is impartial and equal for all.

  1. Do not forget organizational fit as a factor

An applicant could have all the core skills needed to perform a job right. However, if they cannot merge with the organization’s existing culture, this will not be a quality hire.

A Forbes study says that 89% of hiring failures happen because the employee does not fit in with the existing organizational culture.

That’s why it is important that you gauge the employee’s professional cultural stand in the initial few screening processes to make sure they fit well.

Can Internal talent mobility handle the upcoming 2023 recession?

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What Is Internal Talent Mobility

Internal talent mobility is the internal movement of employees to fill newer roles instead of looking for external talent when there is a need to hire.

According to experts advocating internal mobility, while in some cases you may need to hire external talent to fill a role, in many cases, moving existing employees internally to fill roles would be more cost-efficient, effective, and ethically the right thing to do. 

How Can Internal Talent Mobility Recession-Proof Your Business?

Economists say there is a 70% chance of a recession in the United States in 2023! Everyone has been talking about this, and organizations have already started devising recession-proof ideas to keep their businesses safe.

Investing in internal talent mobility could be one of the best recession-proof strategies you could work on before the worst hits.

As the economy slows, the cream layer of talent outside gets more expensive to lure in. Also, many organizations start making budget cutbacks, and hiring ends up being the most common segment that takes a hit.

On one side, you need to work harder to wade through the recession period; on the other, you cannot get the right employees from outside to handle the workload and talent requirements.

What do you do?

In simple words, internal talent mobility strategies could save your day.

According to Mercer’s 2021 Internationally Mobile Employee Experience Survey, 62% of global organizations say that they want to focus on bringing jobs to people and expanding their talent pool for the coming years.

Building Effective Internal Mobility Strategies At The Workplace

There is no one set solution to implement internal talent mobility at the workplace. The following strategies may help create an action plan customized for your organization.

  1. Let your employees know about internal talent mobility

When you want to invest in internal talent mobility programs, you first must let your employees know about it. Only when the employees recognize the efforts taken in retaining and upskilling them will such efforts reap benefits.

You could start by conducting a survey asking what employees want from such programs and pass out emails and frequent messages about new ideas and implementations.

  1. Invest in career enhancement programs

Invest in career enhancement programs if you want to recession-proof your workplace for 2023 and the future. Experts say that employees don’t think of leaving when they realize they have better opportunities in-house.

For this to happen, your employees need to know the exact opportunities waiting for them. Career path frameworks show employees where they are right now and, with the right efforts, where they could go in terms of internal career growth.

This can be made possible by investing in tight talent mobility tools and adapting to the right strategies.

Mercer’s talent mobility solutions comprise a suite of digital tools that can handle the training, project allocations, and career alignment for global employees.

  1. Focus on both vertical and lateral transitions

Vertical transitions happen when employees are promoted and move up the career ladder. However, when it comes to internal talent mobility, lateral transitions are also equally important.

Employees should be able to move from one role to another laterally and change departments if that’s what they want. Organizations that let employees explore lateral positions find their workforce holistically skilled. 

  1. Consistently promote and practice internal mobility

Internal talent mobility strategies are not one-time efforts. You should take up these strategies only if you think you can allocate resources, including time, effort, and money, consistently to these and wait for results to show up. Having an internal talent mobility team within your HR department is a great way to work on the strategies regularly.

Mercer’s global mobile advisory solutions offer expert advice on every base, from policy design to strategic planning and technology solutions.

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What happens to your body after you consume a sugary food/drink?

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Sugar is one of the most basic condiments that find its place on top of an average family’s shopping list.

Kids and adults love sugar and anything sugary. Are you a person who adds multiple spoons of sugar to your coffee or tea? 

You are not alone.

The average consumption of sugar in India is about 27.5 million tons, and this is one of the highest among other countries.

Sugar is sweet. It makes every food tasty. There is nothing more to say! If this is how you feel, do continue to read further.

Let’s start with the basics of this monosaccharide.

Here is what happens immediately after you eat something sugary.

  • Sugar is digested in the gut and is converted into glucose
  • Glucose gets transported to your bloodstream
  • The blood flows through the body, transporting the glucose to your cells for energy
  • Once the glucose enters the bloodstream, the pancreas gets active
  • It produces a hormone called insulin to handle excess glucose in the blood

The more glucose your bloodstream has, the more insulin is produced. Excess glucose is stored in the form of glycogen in the skeletal muscles and liver. If you run out of glucose in between meals, the stored glycogen is used.

Sounds simple, right? It looks like sugar is actually helping you get energy. 

So where does the problem start?

The problem starts when you start consuming too much sugar every day. You will have to remember that you are still getting your source of glucose from the carbohydrates you consume.

By eating a carbohydrate-rich meal all three times a day and gobbling sweets, pastries, sugary sodas, and chocolates in between, you can flood your system with excess sugar.

To handle the excess sugar, your body starts releasing too much insulin in panic. This causes the blood sugar levels to drop drastically down, and the body assumes you are starving.

This is the reason you start getting hungry a few hours after a heavy meal. When the body craves more sugar, assuming you are starved, you give in and eat more. This cycle keeps continuing viciously.

Do humans actually crave sugar?

There are a lot of clinical studies that are conducted to understand how the human body reacts to sugar. Some studies conclude that the brain treats sugar like how it treats drugs. It is addictive!

Your brain releases dopamine, the ‘happy hormone’ when you eat an excess of sugar. This is why you feel pleased and satisfied after munching on a doughnut or a Mysore Pak. They leave you feeling high.

However, just like how you get addicted to cocaine or cigarettes, you start craving for sweets and sweet treats after every meal. You get angry and irritated if you cannot get your hands on your favorite pack of chocolate. 

Without your knowledge, your brain is falling for sugar and its sweetness!

What’s the verdict?

If you are on a glucose-restricting diet like keto, then you have to absolutely stay away from all forms of sugar as they prevent you from getting into ketosis.

If you are looking at weight loss, the first ingredient to remove from your kitchen is the jar of sugar. Irrespective of how hard you work out, the spoons of sugar you add to your food keep your weight graph constant.

If you are looking for a long-term solution to a healthier lifestyle, then start gradually avoiding direct sugars in your food. Enjoy your coffee black.

Try switching over to the above-mentioned natural sweeteners instead of white sugar. Do not mask the actual tastes of beverages and foods with sugar. Experience them in their natural form. 

The lesser sugar you add to your everyday meals, the healthier it is. There is no right or wrong age to practice sugar abstinence. You can teach your children about this early on. 

There are definite benefits to reducing your intake of this addictive condiment. All you have to do is make a start by changing your tastes and food habits.

Urinalysis test – The complete guide

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What is a urinalysis test?

Urine is produced by the kidneys to flush out wastes from the blood. A urinalysis test is a laboratory test that checks for the presence of blood in your urine.

The other common substances in the urine that the test identifies are cellular fragments, bacteria, and other normal and abnormal byproducts of metabolism.

Why get tested? 

Your healthcare provider will ask you for a urinalysis test as part of a routine exam. If you have seen blood in your urine or suffer from some kind of a urinary disorder, you may want to get this test done too.

Some symptoms that may require a urinalysis test are:

  • Painful urination
  • Frequent urination
  • Abdominal or back pain

When to get tested? 

A urinalysis test can be tested in these situations.

  • During pregnancy
  • As a part of routine medical checkups
  • As a preemptive screening before a surgery

Doctors also ask their patients to get regular urinalysis tests done if their patient has a history of the following conditions.

  • Diabetes
  • Liver diseases
  • Kidney diseases
  • Frequent urinary tract infections

What is being tested? 

By going through a urinalysis test, many disorders in their early stages can be identified and treated easily. The kidneys filter out waste from the blood and preserve useful compounds like electrolytes and proteins. 

In the case of abnormalities, the kidney can flush out certain substances that are usually not sent out with the urine.

These substances include:

  • Bilirubin
  • Red and white blood cells
  • Proteins
  • Glucose
  • Bacteria

By identifying the exact substances present in the blood and their quantities, healthcare professionals can plan diagnoses and treatments.

How is the test used? 

This screening test is used to diagnose a variety of common health conditions, including:

  • Kidney disorders
  • Urinary Tract Infections (UTI)
  • Liver disorders
  • Diabetes

Based on the results of the urinalysis, the healthcare professional can start treating the patient or ask for additional follow-up tests. Usually, for conditions like diabetes, the results of the urinalysis will be used in conjunction with other tests for treatment.

When is it ordered? 

Urinalysis tests are ordered in every routine medical checkup. These are also advised for people who approach a healthcare professional with complaints like abdominal or back pain, frequent urination, discolored urination, and blood in the urine.

All pregnant women will also be asked to get a urinalysis done, and if needed, the test will also be ordered at regular intervals to monitor certain health conditions.

Pre-test preparation 

This test does not need any preparation done in advance. You can get an appointment and walk to the lab. If this test is done in conjunction with any other blood test, fasting may be required. You should confirm with your healthcare provider about this. 

What kind of sample is taken?

You will be asked to provide a sample of your urine in a plastic cup. The lab may ask you to get a clean catch urine sample. This is to prevent bacteria from the genitals from affecting the sample. It is important not to touch the insides of the cup to prevent contamination of the sample.

Normal ranges 

Some of the normal values of the components tested in a urinalysis are mentioned below.

  • Color – Yellow
  • Appearance – Clear
  • Glucose – Negative
  • Spec Grav – 1.003 – 1.035
  • pH – 5.0-8.0
  • Urobilinogen – 0.1-1.0 mg/dL
  • Bacteria – 0-1+

Abnormal ranges

Usually, the more the concentration of atypical substances in the urine, the more likely will the healthcare provider find a problem to be addressed. Some of the levels that can be abnormal are:

  • Dark-colored urine
  • A hazy appearance of urine
  • Presence of glucose
  • Spec Grav higher than 1.035
  • pH lesser than 5.0 or higher than 8.0
  • Urobilinogen higher than 1.0 mg/dL
  • Presence of bacteria

Keto vs. Vegan Diet: Which is Healthier?

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India is one country that started as a nation struggling with malnourishment and has now moved to the other end of the spectrum – obesity. 

We, as a group, keep talking about the health hazards of excessive weight gain and yet keep gorging on deep-fried snacks, mouth-watering sweets, and refined carbohydrates.

Thankfully now, an increasing percentage of people are conscious about the foods they choose and their BMI levels. If you belong to this category, then terms like the ‘vegan diet’ or the ‘keto diet’ will be familiar to you.

Both these plans facilitate weight loss but are complete contrasts to one another. Keep reading, and you will understand why.

This article will also help you weigh the advantages and disadvantages of both and pick a healthier dieting option.

What is a keto diet?

A keto diet is based on the idea that excess carbohydrates are unhealthy for the body. The diet points to carbohydrates for all lifestyle diseases and health issues that people face. 

Adequate consumption of fat is the basic idea behind keto.

For a Standard Ketogenic Diet, you end up consuming 75% of fats, 20-25% of proteins, and about 5% of carbohydrates.

Some of the foods that you can eat in plenty in this diet are:

  • Dairy products
  • Full-fat meat and poultry
  • Seafood
  • High-fat fruits like avocadoes
  • Eggs
  • Low carb vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, and broccoli
  • Nuts and seeds

The kinds of food you avoid while on a keto diet are:

  • Tuberous and starchy vegetables
  • Most fruits
  • All grains, legumes, pulses, beans
  • Refined oil
  • All kinds of snacks and sugary drinks

  What is a vegan diet?

A vegan diet is also called a plant-based diet and this restricts you from consuming and using all kinds of animal produce. Vegans consider rejecting the commodity status of all animals and poultry.

A standard vegan diet will include these items.

  • Grains, legumes, beans, and cereals
  • Nut-based butter
  • Plant-based milk
  • Nutritional yeast
  • All vegetables and fruits

If you are on a vegan diet, you will be avoiding these types of food.

  • Traditional dairy products like milk, butter, cheese
  • Meat, seafood, and poultry
  • Honey

What does a keto diet do to the body?

A keto diet starts by restricting carbohydrates to less than 5% of your total daily caloric intake. Before the diet, your body is used to converting the glucose found in carbs into energy. If you consume more carbs, the extra glucose is stored in the form of glycogen. 

There are many theories that relate excess glucose in the body to decreased insulin sensitivity, obesity, and cardiovascular problems.

Because of the lack of carbs and the presence of excess fat in your system, your body now decides to use fat for energy.

To help with this, your liver produces a chemical called ketone. Ketones convert fat into energy that can be passed on to your cells and other body parts.

When your body produces ketones, it not only burns the fat you consume but also the stored fat in the body.

The natural result of a keto diet is weight loss. It also stabilizes your insulin sensitivity and blood sugar levels. Few other noted benefits of a keto diet to your body are:

What happens to your body on a vegan diet?

As you start cutting back on animal produce, your body will start accepting fresher and healthier plant nutrients. This will improve your gut health. Without animal products in your body, you will develop different strains of gut bacteria that also seem to be beneficial with time.

As your body gets used to plant-based food, you will also see your bowel function getting smoother and normalized. If you have been struggling with issues like constipation, you will find that disappearing.

With months of following a vegan diet, your BMI levels will go down and you will lose weight gradually. Because of consuming a lot of fruits and vegetables, your skin starts glowing too. Acne and other skin problems get manageable.