Alcohol has been around for centuries and has played a cultural part in society from the very beginning—popularity waxes and wanes in social norms, with prohibition banning alcohol entirely at one point. Today, there is a mix of attitudes about drinking alcohol, with some people preferring nonalcoholic beverages and others being modest drinkers. There is, however, some segment of the population that suffers from chronic alcohol abuse, and for those people, the effects on their mental health and bodies can be disastrous.

There are several health conditions associated with chronic alcoholism, including cardiac issues such as heart disease, stroke, and hypertension. Liver conditions, including cirrhosis and liver cancer, are devastating ailments often requiring transplants for survival. The list goes on, from digestive problems or mental and behavioral disorders such as addiction to nerve-related matters such as alcoholic polyneuropathy and wet brain syndrome, also known as Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome.

The Alcohol Connection

Alcohol abuse is one of the most significant contributors to wet brain syndrome. Chronic alcoholics are prone to malnutrition from both poor diet and malabsorption issues. With sustained alcohol abuse, the small intestines become inflamed, making it difficult for them to absorb nutrients that are necessary to avoid malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies. Being deficient in vitamin B1, or thiamine, now leads to the first stage of wet brain syndrome with the diagnosis of Wenicke’s encephalopathy and brain lesions, the first component of wet brain syndrome.

With lesions now present on the brain, the second component of wet brain is now active as Korsakoff syndrome, and the neurological symptoms associated with it, such as memory loss, confusion, and other disorders of the central nervous system, including Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome or wet brain syndrome, are common. Confabulation, or the inability to place yourself in the world that you live in, is common, with sufferers filling in memory lapses with made-up stories to explain any discrepancies in their story.

Diagnosing Wet Brain

One of the challenges of diagnosing wet brain syndrome is that symptoms often mimic other disease processes, including alcohol addiction. What frequently looks like a severe hangover from a night of binge drinking can be the signs of neurological damage from wet brain with slurred speech, drowsiness, poor coordination, memory problems, and impaired motor skills.

In diagnosing wet brain syndrome, doctors may run lab tests to check the blood for thiamine levels (B1) and other standard labs, with an entire medical history and complete physical examination, including neurological and cognitive tests. With accumulating evidence, brain imaging could provide further evidence of neurological damage, resulting in a positive diagnosis of brain damage.

Treatment for Wet Brain

With a diagnosis of wet brain syndrome, treatment must begin as quickly as possible. In the case of alcohol abuse, complete cessation of ethanol is imperative for a positive outcome. Treatment consists of rehydration and oral or intravenous infusion of thiamine. Depending on the length of the illness and severity of the condition, some people recover well with treatment, while others are left with permanent brain damage and lasting neurological conditions. Early detection and treatment significantly increase the chance of a positive outcome.

A better, more effective registration procedure helps everyone involved, including hospital staff and patients. Hospitals that can’t keep up with changes in best practices often lose patients to their rivals, but hospitals that can make this critical first step in the patient journey enjoyable for their patients tend to get more business. Continue reading to learn how hospitals can guarantee that patient registration runs as smoothly as possible.

How to Optimize the Registration Process

In an ideal situation, the patient registration process will be quick and simple. The use of a mobile hospital registration cart can help to facilitate the check-in process, helping to prevent backups in the waiting room caused by a lack of organization. Taking advantage of modern technology by providing an at-home pre-registration option that clarifies financial responsibility and collects basic information can help, as can assigning specific staff members to the task.

Providing adequate staff training is a must for hospitals that want to optimize the registration process. While some parts of the process can be completed by patients at home via pre-registration and others can be automated, it’s still vital that the staff members responsible for collecting patient information know how to use the relevant programs and be familiar with the intake process. 

Signs It’s Time for a Change

An overloaded waiting room is the most clear indication that the hospital has to make changes to its patient registration procedure. Patients find lengthy wait periods frustrating; in fact, thirty percent of them have had to leave a clinic or hospital before seeing a doctor due to lengthy wait hours. While there are always going to be fluctuations in wait times in parts of the hospital like emergency rooms that can’t exactly provide people with appointments, a well-optimized check-in process should still help to keep them short enough to meet patients’ expectations.

A second sign it’s time to reconsider a hospital’s patient registration processes is the presence of errors in records taken during the check-in process. When staff has to input all of each patient’s information manually, it creates a wealth of opportunities for human error. Automating as many of those processes as possible helps to ensure accuracy, which is vitally important to providing exceptional patient care.

Common Mistakes to Identify and Avoid

Even seemingly minor mistakes can cause serious problems when it comes to providing patient care. Instead of waiting until these patient registration mistakes come up, hospitals should learn from others and find ways to avoid them in advance.

Skipping Insurance Verification

Failing to verify insurance coverage and obtain prior authorizations can leave patients dealing with surprise medical bills. This, in turn, can cut into hospitals’ profits when patients are unable to pay.

Potential HIPAA Violations

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was created to protect patient privacy, and violating it can come with hefty fines. Unfortunately, some hospitals unintentionally violate patients’ HIPAA rights during registration by making mistakes like calling out patients’ full names or not hiding sign-in sheets from view. 

Inaccurate Details

Getting patient details right is very important. The wrong birth date, insurance information, or even an outdated address can cause all kinds of problems. Automating as much of this process as possible is a good way to avoid unnecessary mistakes.

Start Making Changes

No hospital is perfect. Start making changes to patient registration processes now to ensure that everything goes smoothly moving forward.

Fire hazards pose significant risks to organizations and their personnel. It can lead to property destruction, loss of life, lifetime injuries and business closure. Therefore, it is critical to consider the safety hazards in your industry to caution your organization against the dangers.

The fire safety glossary can guide you in developing the right policies and procedures to implement in your organization. Accessing the information aids in determining the risk factors, strategies to use, and what t invest in.

Many work-related injuries arise from fires as it is among the top 5 risk actors. Without the right equipment, workers risk suffering serious harm whenever there is an emergency. In this article, we will look at the must-have safety equipment at the workplace. Here are the items to mitigate fire hazards;

Fire Extinguisher

Authorities require organizations to have fire extinguishers at strategic locations in the workplace. Businesses must comply with the regulations in their facilities or risk fines for non-compliance. Besides the penalties, failure to have fire extinguishers limits your workers’ capability to prevent fires from spreading to other parts.

A fire extinguisher helps contain the fire while seeking help from the fire department. It will minimize the probable losses and save lives. However, the fire equipment to purchase will depend on your type of business. It s  not advisable to buy any fire extinguisher without consulting an expert n the field.

Besides buying the right equipment, its placement and quantity matter in tackling fire emergencies at the workplace. Maybe you require different types f fire extinguishers for the fire hazards in your work setting. Still, employees will require training on how to use them effectively.

Fire Sprinklers

Whenever a fire starts at the workplace, organizations can benefit from an automated sprinkler system to try and extinguish the fire. Modern commercial buildings will have them in their building design, and it is necessary to ensure the components function correctly. Alternatively, you can install them in your work environment if you do not already have them.

Fire sprinklers ensure safety by giving workers time to evacuate the building and go to a safe area. The system has several components, including sensors to detect smoke, and there are different models in the markt to address all kinds of fire safety risks.

Fire Signs

Having signs for emergency exits is a must-have for risk mitigation and compliance. It guides occupants to evacuate the building whenever there is a fire at the workplace. Marking the building helps direct people to the exits and fire assembly points.

Whenever adding fire signs or upgrading your emergency exit plan, it is critical to consult a specialist before undertaking the work. They can help identify the safest route for evacuating the premises in case of fire.

Safety Guards

Although many organizations neglect them,  safety guards significantly help minimize fire hazards in the workplace. Limiting access to certain areas of a building that could be highly dangerous is essential. Brightly coloured safety guards will warn customers and workers while keeping them out of the restricted section.