The Crucial Role of a Patient’s Social Network in Medical Tourism

The Growing Importance of Social Networks in Medical Tourism
In the burgeoning field of medical tourism, healthcare providers strive to attract international patients with competitive pricing and innovative procedures. However, as the industry evolves, the distinguishing factor for these international patient programs lies in building trust and fostering long-term relationships.

The social network of a patient, including friends and family, plays a significant role in healthcare decision-making and post-procedure lifestyle maintenance. Medical tourists often seek the advice and assistance of their loved ones for their healthcare needs. Therefore, service providers in the medical tourism sector should view this social network as a vital part of the patient’s healthcare team. This network:

Assists in making key healthcare decisions
Aids in post-treatment recovery
Helps manage the patient’s lifestyle post-treatment
The Role of Friends and Family in the Healthcare System
Friends and family serve as informal caregivers, playing a crucial role in a patient’s healthcare journey and the functioning of the healthcare system. Patients often involve their loved ones in their health efforts, asking them to remind them to take medications or to avoid buying unhealthy food. This involvement encourages patients to make healthier choices, aiding in recovery and lifestyle management.

For instance, a patient who has recently undergone obesity surgery needs to maintain a healthy diet and regular exercise routine. Committing to go to the gym with a friend three times a week or having a family competition to reach a certain number of steps each day can promote healthy behaviors.

Effective Communication with a Patient’s Social Network
Medical tourists often seek the advice of family and friends before deciding to book a treatment abroad. Therefore, healthcare providers should consider them as part of the healthcare team and communicate effectively with them. Understanding their role in the decision-making process can be extremely beneficial in reinforcing prescribed treatments or provided information.

Tips for Communicating with a Patient’s Social Network
Establish a point of contact in the family to relay information to other family members and friends
Use their names and the patient’s name while communicating to build rapport
Strive to establish a connection to build trust
Provide pre- and post-procedure guidelines to the team
Educate the team about the procedure’s pros and cons and discuss available options
Set clear, realistic expectations so everyone understands and respects the outcomes
Create a circle of trust with the team
Respecting Patient Privacy
While it’s important to involve a patient’s social network, healthcare providers must also respect and protect the patient’s privacy. During the consultation before traveling abroad for treatment, it’s crucial to understand how the patient views the caregiver’s role. In many cases, the caregiver may be a spouse or friend who is there to reinforce the healthcare provider’s advice or express the patient’s concerns. It’s essential to check with the patient before including such a companion in the healthcare team. This approach builds trust and fosters a long-term relationship with the patient.

The Benefits of Engaging a Patient’s Social Network in Medical Tourism
Involving a patient’s social network in their healthcare journey is not a new concept in medical tourism. It’s an integral part of what healthcare providers are already doing to improve safety and quality of care.

Engaging a patient’s social network can enhance numerous aspects of a healthcare provider’s performance, including:

Patient experience of care
Patient safety
Quality of services
Patient outcomes
Employee satisfaction
In conclusion, the numerous individual benefits of involving patients and their social networks in the healthcare team lead to improved performance of healthcare providers, contributing to the growth of the medical tourism sector.

An Endless War: Fight Against Hair Loss

For many people who lose their hair, this weakens their confidence in their identity and feelings, although the fact is that millions of men and women are suffering from hair loss. According to a 2014 survey by the International Society for Hair Restoration Surgery, approximately 35 million men in the United States suffer from some types of hair loss, and approximately 21 million women are affected by it.

Causes of Hair Loss
There are three most common causes. The first is mental health disorder. When people have huge stress emotionally, the scalp hair muscles contract, and the capillaries that transport nutrients to the hair follicle contract, causing local blood circulation disorders, thereby causing ecological changes and malnutrition.

The second cause of androgen-induced hair loss is related to heredity and androgens. It is characterized by progressive loss on the forehead and the top of the head. It is more common in men who are engaged in mental work and often begin to lose hair around the age of 20-30. The progression is slow, and female patients usually have mild hair loss with their top part sparse, thin and soft.

In addition, seborrheic alopecia is also very common. This is a type that occurs on the basis of excessive sebum overflow, often accompanied by increased dandruff, greasy scalp, and itching. It usually occurs in young adults with strong sebaceous glands. The hair becomes thin and soft, and some are accompanied by scalp seborrheic dermatitis. The patients gradually start to lose hair from the top of the head, then spread to the forehead.

History of Hair Loss Treatment
The earliest documented treatment began in 1550 BC in the unearthed document Ebers Papyrus. In ancient Egypt, pharaohs invented a method for preventing and controlling hair loss. They boiled the mixture of onions, honey, alabaster and the fats of animals such as hippos, crocodiles, cats, snakes, etc., into a paste, which was then applied to the scalp. This ancient method certainly has no scientific basis. Modern treatments have made great progress. In addition to relaxing and creating a comfortable spiritual world, drug treatment and hair transplantation have been proven effective methods.

Drugs commonly used are minoxidil and finasteride. The former can be applied to the scalp to dilate blood vessels, stimulate hair follicles and promote the growth. Finasteride can inhibit a substance called 5a reductase in the body, thereby reducing the body’s dihydrotestosterone(DHT), thereby preventing hair loss. However, these medicines have some side effects, such as causing a rapid heartbeat, not applicable in pregnancy, and rebound effect.

Hair transplantation transplants the follicles in its dense area to the loss area, and generally transplants the follicles in the posterior occipital area which are not affected by androgens to the loss area. After transplantation, the follicles will grow on their own, no special maintenance is needed, and they can be trimmed, dyed, and permed without falling off. But the cost is higher and the operation is not without any risks.

Future of Hair Loss Treatment
The struggle between humans and hair loss continues. On June 3, 2020, a new study published by Harvard researchers in Nature brings hope for patients with hair loss. The researchers used human stem cells to grow hair follicles and successfully grow hair on mice.

As it is mostly caused by damaged hair follicles, so the most effective treatment is to transplant new hair follicle tissue. Researchers at Harvard University achieved this treatment by using human stem cells to successfully cultivate skin organoids in petri dishes. The researchers said that these stem cells can form any type of skin tissue. After transplantation into mice lacking hair, more than half of the grafts grew 2 to 5 mm of new hair, which is almost the same as natural hair.

In the not-too-distant future, with the development of the Internet, big data, hardware, and optimization of software, many technologies that cannot be implemented now will benefit us well. It is believed that these new technologies will introduce safer and more effective weapons to win the battle with hair loss.

Rainstar Capital Group Marks 7 Years In Business in 2021

Rainstar Capital Group, a Grand Rapids, Michigan based national debt advisory firm celebrates in 2021 its 7th year in business. The firm noted that it was excited for 2021 and the potential commercial lending solutions it would be assisting clients within the new year.

“Seven years ago in January of 2014 when I launched the firm I never thought we would grow to the size we are today,” noted Rainstar’s CEO. “It has been a blessing to serve our many clients over the years and continue to innovate our capital markets platform for clients seeking commercial real estate, business and equipment financing!”

Rainstar Capital Group is a national debt advisory firm based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. RCG provides advisory debt capital through its multiple lending platforms with over 250 registered lenders for clients with commercial real estate, corporate finance, small business and equipment financing needs. Product lines include: Unsecured Lines of Credit, Revenue Based Lines of Credit, Revenue Based Advance, Merchant Cash Advance, Business Lines of Credit, Inventory Financing, Purchase Order Financing, Equipment Leasing, Accounts Receivables Factoring, CMBS loans, Agency loans, Bridge Financing, Hard Money and Commercial Contractor Credit Lines.

“2021 will be a record year for commercial lending,” noted Nederveld, “We expect our lending platforms for the PPE, E-commerce, staffing, manufacturing, import/export, distribution and wholesale industries to continue to grow. On the commercial real estate side we expect to see a lot of new construction, refinancing and purchasing of distressed assets occurring. Finally, we feel equipment will continue to be a strong driver for Rainstar as companies need growth and turn around capital!”

Rainstar Capital Group is focused on serving clients with the following core product lines:

24 Hour Term Loans up to $1M

24 Hour Equipment Loans up to 500k

2 Week Equipment Financing up to 50M

48 Hour Cash Advances up to $5M

7-10 Day Commercial Real Estate Bridge Loans

24 Hour Fin Tech Credit Lines up to 250k

2 Week SBA Express Loans at 5/6% rates up to 350k

2 Week Inventory Financing from 500k to 50M

“We are thankful to be able to celebrate this milestone of 7 years in business and look forward to setting commercial lending records here in 2021!”