Monthly Archives: August 2018

Art of Effective Team Management

HR, ,

Managing a team to success requires more than just simply assigning tasks to individuals. Handling a team can be exciting, rewarding and exhausting. Being responsible for a team of people you have never met before and then being accountable for their development, achievements, and performance can be little petrifying.

So, what does it take to manage the team effectively? Good Leadership! Yes, for effective team management to work, it needs good leadership. A manager must work upon to strengthen the bonds between the individuals in their team and must possess good management skills.

We often hear the terms ‘leader’ and ‘manager’ used inclusively, but there is actually a difference. By definition, a leader is someone who creates the vision, innovates, and focuses on the long-term overview, and a manager is the person who gathers the necessary tools and resources to set, measure, and accomplish the vision. The leader is the one with the people skills, whereas the manager focuses on systems and structures. But away with that — we all know that for a manager to stand out, having leadership qualities is a must.

Being able to communicate well and develop a relationship with all the members of the team is critical for building trust, promoting collaboration, and enhancing teamwork. A team who enjoy working together, is more likely to succeed together.

Here are some tips for achieving a happier and more productive team:

  1. Being transparent: Transparent working environments have been found to make teams more accountable, happy and creative. Transparent work environments help to develop a feeling of mutual respect between team members and team leaders.
  2. Keep communicating: The foundation of a cooperative and productive team is good communication. Open and consistent communication at workplace helps employees to feel secure in their positions. In turn, team members feel freer to contribute ideas and suggestions, enhancing creativity.
  3. Constant feedback: Providing feedback to team members is one of the best ways you can support them to develop professionally and personally. Feedback can be difficult, but it is an essential part of effective team management.
  4. Encourage collaboration: Team members feel happy if they can get along well with one another & can perform better too.
  5. Trust your team to do their job: Effective team management shouldn’t mean micro-management. Leaving your team to do their job without you constantly hovering over their shoulder will not only highlight your confidence in them to do a good job, but it will also give you time to complete your own tasks — a win-win for everyone really.
  6. Recognize achievements: If someone’s doing a good job, acknowledge it. Recognizing efforts illustrates to your team that you are paying attention to them, and that you appreciate their hard work.
  7. Foster development: Encouraging employees to acquire new or advanced skills, knowledge, viewpoints and ensure that the team members are happy in their roles are crucial factor for the overall growth of business.

Turacoz Healthcare Solutions takes pride in having very effective and efficient team managers who understands the need and expectation of the team members. We believe in supporting all our employees in every way possible. We are a listening organization and continuously working in the lines of perfecting our teams. To work with us please do visit career section.

Borderline Medical Devices – European Commission Update (December 2017)

Medical Devices, , ,

When a device seems to fit onto the definitions of two or more product types, and cannot be clearly classified as a medical device, an in vitro diagnostic medical device, or an active implantable medical device, it is referred to as a borderline medical device. The 18th version of the Manual on Borderline and Classification in the Community Regulatory Framework for Medical Devices (Borderline Manual) was issued by the European Commission’s Medical Devices Expert Group (MDEG) on Borderline and Classification in December 2017. The manual complements MEDDEV 2.1/3 Rev. 3, which provides guidance on borderline products and other medical devices that incorporate pharmacological or biological substances. The appropriate classification of a medical device is important as it determines the device’s authorization process and marketing strategy. From a regulatory standpoint, the classification is usually based on its primary mode of action, intended use, and product claims.

The updated Borderline Manual includes recommendations on a total of 94 devices, including guidance on the classification of 12 additional product types; however, these recommendations are not legally binding. It is important to note that the decisions on the classification of a product remain a competence of the Member States, which may lead to different interpretations among different countries within the EU. However, to ensure a uniform approach, difficult cases may be discussed in the informal MDEG; the consensus statements from this meeting are published in the Borderline Manual.

The revised Borderline Manual indicates that the following products should generally be classified as medical devices:

  • Mobile application for the assessment of moles (Class I)
  • Liquid nitrogen for cryopreservation of cells and tissues of human origin for medical purpose (Class IIa)
  • Alum styptic pencils (Class IIa)
  • Dura guard for use with a craniotome (Class III)
  • Heart bypass cannulae (Class III)
  • Tissue expanders used in the breast (Class III)

On the contrary, the following products should, in principle, not be considered as medical devices:

  • Mobile application for managing pictures of moles
  • D-mannose for the prevention of urinary tract infections
  • 8-MOP solution in extracorporeal photochemotherapy
  • Products intended to reduce the effect of alcohol
  • Radiation shields
  • Microplate washers

It is important to note that based on criteria proposed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for borderline determinations, each product’s assessment should include several elements and be very factual; however, the guidance provided in the Borderline Manual often lacks such a detailed and balanced review. Moreover, some of the positions taken in the Borderline Manual may require reconsideration due to potential reclassifications brought by new European Commission Regulations. The new Regulations broaden the definition of a medical devices and also include some products without medical purpose within the purview of the new rules (especially products for aesthetic use). Although changes introduced by the new regulations may help resolve some of the existing borderline questions, divergent views on the classification of more complex products may persist.

Turacoz Healthcare Solutions, a medical communication company, specializes in various kinds of medical writing documents (Publication, Regulatory and Medico marketing) which covers a vast arena of clinical trials, drugs, medical devices, health economics and outcome research, observational studies etc.  We take pride in providing customized, guideline compliant documents which are well within the committed timelines.

World Senior Citizen Day- Let us join hands to create awareness about quality healthcare to the elderly

Awareness Day/Month, , , , , , ,

The World Senior Citizens Day is observed on 21st August every year with the intention to acknowledge the contributions of senior citizens of to the society. Further, it intends to make people aware about the condition of elderly and support them while aging. Aging is an unstoppable phenomenon which is also related to numerous health concerns. The global improvement in standard of living has increased longevity and is associated with aging of population. In the year 2011, the estimated number of adults living in India over 60 years of age was about 104 million. This number is expected to increase up to 323 million by 2050, thus constituting approximately 20% of the total Indian population. Furthermore, older people across the globe are estimated by World Health Organization (WHO) to outnumber children under age of 14 years by the year 2050.

With such drastic increase in elderly population, there has been increased burden of geriatric health problems worldwide including India. Therefore, for any nation to prosper in current scenario, wellbeing of its geriatric population is very important. This necessitates proper understanding of their health issues and related needs.

In view of this, WHO in collaboration with the Government of India conducted a cross-sectional survey on elderly population of 60 years and above in 10 different sites of different states and union territories of India. As per this survey, older people are commonly afflicted by diseases such as visual impairment (including uncorrected long sightedness/ reduced near vision), unoperated cataract, uncorrected hearing impairment, urinary problems, obesity, poor nutrition, hypertension, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, dental problems, and depression. Thus, overall morbidity is higher in older population of any country. This highlights the need for preventive health checkup camps for them, with affordable laboratory investigation packages, transport service to labs and hospitals. Furthermore, government and other private/charitable hospitals/organizations should come forward and take initiatives either individually or in collaboration to strengthen the healthcare facilities for senior citizens in the country which may be in form of immunization programs or measures for improving their nutrition or simple health awareness programs for elderly.

Further, it is certain that older people suffer from multiple comorbid conditions which leads to polypharmacy i.e., concurrent use of multiple pills. It is known that polypharmacy negatively affects patient’s adherence to treatment protocol which makes medication schedule irregular. Medication non-adherence basically, is a failure to adopt a prescribed medication regimen adequately. It involves either stopping the intake of prescribed medicines, and/or alterations in their dosage or missing doses in between. This non-adherence adversely affects individual’s health. This results in worsening of health issues and leads to increased medical emergencies and hospitalizations, and thus decreases quality of life.

Apart from polypharmacy, medication non-adherence in elders may be due to physical barriers such as cognitive deficits or diminished physical senses. Low health literacy and low socioeconomic status can also negatively impact individual’s ability to manage the prescribed medicines adequately. Furthermore, medication non-adherence might sometimes be because of more faith of elderly people on traditional medicines and the local doctors than specialists. In view of above mentioned health issues related to elderly people, it is of utmost important that they take good care of their health to lead healthy and quality lives. So, below mentioned are few health tips for them.

Tips to keep yourselves healthy while aging:

  • Keep yourself physically active as much as possible by doing regular exercise and walking.
  • Remain socially active by meeting friends, relatives or joining some social clubs, yoga clubs etc.
  • Eat healthy and balanced diet as per your medical condition. Seek advice from dietician or nutritionist if required.
  • Avoid use of tobacco in any form.
  • Visit your doctor and get your health checkups done at regular intervals.
  • Take your medicines as prescribed. If you tend to forget, set alarms in your phone or watch or ask someone you trust to remind you.
  • Join a pharmacy that delivers medicines to you. Your pharmacist can also remind you when your next prescription is due.

Elderly people many times are either completely or partially dependent on their care providers who are usually of comparatively younger generation. Therefore, onus lies on these care givers from younger generation or the youth of nation to take adequate care of older people. So, below mentioned are few tips which can help younger care givers provide adequate care to their elderly to improve their quality of life.

Tips for caregivers for taking care of elderly:

  • Keep track of health of dependent elderly and take them to visit their doctor at regular intervals for routine health checkup and other body investigations.
  • As elderly people tend to become forgetful and miss their medicines, therefore keep track of their medications and ensure a regular intake of medicines.
  • Ensure that the dependent elderly is fed with healthy and nutritious diet as per their health requirements.
  • Accompany dependent elderly during morning and evening walks so that they feel refreshed.
  • Spend some time with dependent elderly so that they do not feel lonely and depressed.

If it is the responsibility of caregiver to take care of good health of their elderly, it is important for caregivers to keep themselves fit and healthy.

If our elderly become self-reliant and if their caregivers and the society become sensitive to their needs, the elderly can lead a healthy meaningful life. The society can benefit from their experience and the growing geriatric population can be a healthy one.

Turacoz Healthcare Solutions take an initiative to draw attention of youth towards health concerns of elderly people in nation and shares tips to ensure a better quality of life for them. Turacoz is a medical communication company that provides scientific/medical writing support to the industry and academicians.

Writing an Original Research Article

Medical Writing, , , ,

What is an Original Research Article?
Original research articles, the primary sources of scientific literature, are considered to have the highest level of evidence/quality of evidence. An article is considered an original research if;

  • It is an article by the researchers who have conducted the study
  • It is a report that elaborates the methodology and results of a randomized controlled trial/observational study/survey/real world evidence study
  • It is an article that describes a hypothesis or research question

Overall, the goal of an original research is to answer the question about specific scientific method, compare two treatments (experimental vs comparative), or establish a hypothesis.

How to Plan a Manuscript?
Conception of a manuscript to submission, has several steps in between. Before we discuss the content that must go in each section, let us read through the steps that must be followed to plan, draft, and complete a manuscript draft as illustrated in Figure 1.
Among the steps involved in drafting a manuscript, understanding the therapeutic area and conducting a literature search appropriately are the most important steps. Literature search is usually done based on the research question of the study. Identifying relevant articles during the literature search is dependent on picking the right search terms, electronic databases to be searched, region of the study, and time duration in which the articles are required.

Figure 1: Steps Involved in Planning and Completing a Scientific Manuscript

What is the Format to be Followed while Writing an Original Research Article?

Drafting an original research article requires adequate knowledge of the different sections in it along with the relevant guidelines. The uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted in biomedical journals by International Committee for Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) has defined a standard format for presenting information in an original research article. As per this guideline, the IMRAD (Introduction, methods, results, and discussion) format must be followed.
IMRAD defines the overall format of the manuscript. However; the equator (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) network is an international initiative that aims to improve the reliability and value of published health research literature (http://www.equator-network.org/).

What goes Where: Know the Sections and their Content
Although IMRAD broadly defines the format of an original research article. One must be clear, and specific about the information that must be added in each section for a well written manuscript (Figure 2). This not only makes the manuscript clear to understand but also increases the chances of it getting accepted in the journal the author plans to submit it to.

Figure 2: IMRAD, Section-wise Description of a Scientific Manuscript

Turacoz Healthcare Solutions (THS), a medical communication company, offers services to healthcare professionals in clinical research, regulatory writing, medico marketing writing, publication writing and support for conducting medical advisory board meetings. The aim of the blog was to appraise its readers regarding the importance of following guidelines and their importance for writing and getting original research articles published.

Healthcare Advertising

Medical Writing, ,

“Are you into healthcare advertising?”

“Yes!”

“Oh! It involves so much medical jargon, and little opportunity for creativity! Do you enjoy your job?”

I have been part of several such conversations, and through this blog, I would like to touch upon some facets of healthcare advertising that may partly undermine (and partly reinforce!) the stereotypes associated with this field.

Based on data from a 2015 US-based study, nearly $10 billion is spent by the healthcare industry into advertising and marketing. Despite the huge amount of money involved, the healthcare advertising segment is often typecast as “lacking in creativity/innovation” and “boring”. Well, this is not surprising considering that every print, website, banner, and video advertisement gets scrutinized by a medical review team and needs to pass a rigorous risk mitigation assessment. In fact, dissemination of safety information takes up almost half of a 30 second TV spot and rules for short-form messaging may run up to 10-15 pages. With such extensive regulations in place, it is often difficult to be creative! Most advertising professionals, therefore, create campaigns that are safe and obvious to avoid getting caught in the legalities of the system.

In addition, creating advertisements from data provided by doctors, is quite challenging. The key is to understand the underlying motivation behind the drug/campaign from an emotional perspective, including purchasing decisions and consumer behavior.

Future of healthcare advertising

How can healthcare advertising evolve in the near future? Here are a few pointers:
1)  Optimizing advertisements for mobile phones (smartphones) and using social media apps, such as Facebook and Twitter, as marketing platforms
2)  Developing smart (read: social-media shareworthy) content that is interesting, fresh, reliable, and authoritative
3)  Individualizing marketing delivery systems using digital marketing tools: Contemporary marketing methods identify user interests and deliver timely, personalized and relevant content on a one-to-one basis
4) Target patients by location: Such a strategy can adapt the advertisement according to social and personal preference of the audience, and also inform them about nearby facilities
5)  Going live! “Programmatic video” is the new buzzword in the field, and according to some estimates, it will account for the majority of digital video spending over the next couple of years. Programmatic video basically uses real time data and presents video advertisements to precisely qualified customers at exactly the right time.

Overall, it can be concluded that healthcare advertising may not be as creative as the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment; however, the challenges it poses make it all the more interesting to work in this field. With the evolution of new marketing strategies, the constraints of healthcare advertising can prove to be an asset in a non-conventional marketing set-up of the future.

Turacoz Healthcare Solutions provides high quality end to end scientific/medical writing support to the industry and academia. We expertise in different kinds of medicomarketing solutions like leave behind literature (LBL), slide-decks, posters, newsletters, patient education materials, customized books/booklets, visual aids etc. Turacoz strongly follows good marketing practices backing every product claim with scientific relevance and ensuring that the message rightly resonates with the target audience.

Breastfeeding & Love: How they are the same?

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With the World Breastfeeding Week (1st Aug-7th Aug) towards its wrap for the year 2018, Turacoz Healthcare Solutions brings to you a beautiful story we received from one of the amazing mothers. The narrative is as expressed by her:

I became mother for the first time. It is a feeling I cannot explain. Being a mother is what completes a woman and my baby gave me that feeling of completeness.

3rd April 2018, the day my baby boy was born, is the happiest day of my life. I have been waiting to meet him for so long. During my pregnancy, I took care of everything and learned about the most important aspect of being a mother, Breastfeeding.

After Ansh (my boy) was born, I breastfed him. He is 4 months old now and I make sure to exclusively breastfeed him. I am aware of all the benefits of breastfeeding and want to deliver the best to my baby.

At first, I struggled a lot with it, as my nipples would hurt a lot when he latched onto them, but slowly it began to settle. Never once in mind, this thought of giving up breastfeeding occurred to me. I knew this is the best thing I can give to my baby as his mother.
I had sore nipples and cracks on them in the beginning and I was worried all the time whether he is receiving enough milk or not. But doctors told me that I would settle down with time and so will the baby. I decided to forget about the pain and discomfort and focus on feeding my baby, which he needed the most. Despite the discomfort, I fed him for 30 minutes every 2-3 hours in a day.

Today my baby is all healthy and naughty. The expressions on his face while he is being breastfed are so satisfying to me that I will go to any extent of pain or discomfort to make him happy.

This is my request to all mothers who hesitate in breastfeeding their baby, that, you should not keep your baby away from this wonderful gift. It not only gives your baby the strength and nutrients he needs but also is beneficial for you and completes you as a mother.

This is so right!

Breastfeeding is important for both babies and mothers. Here is why:

For babies:

  • It provides the best nutrition to the babies: this is what they need at least for the first 6 months of their life. Ideally, breastfeeding is recommended for a year, meanwhile, your baby can try different foods.
  • Breast milk is the source of essential antibodies: it gives babies the immunity to fight against bacteria & viruses. Colostrum, the first milk of a mother is very important for the baby and helps the most to build up the immune system. It contains immunoglobulin A, which enhances the immunity.
  • Breast milk helps in minimizing the risk of diseases: if a baby is exclusively breastfed, the chances of him/her being ill gets low. It gives the baby the strength he/she requires to stay healthy.
  • It reduces the risk of obesity: if you are exclusively breastfeeding the baby, it helps in reducing the risk of childhood obesity and helps in gaining weight healthily.

For mothers:

  • Breastfeeding can help you reduce weight: every mother puts on weight during pregnancy. Many studies have proven that breastfeeding helps you shed the extra weight off your body. For the initial 3 months, mothers who breastfeed may lose weight as compared to the mothers who don’t breastfeed.
  • Breastfeeding stimulates the contraction of the uterus: during pregnancy, the uterus expands a lot and post-delivery it goes through a process known as involution, which assists in returning the uterus to its normal size. It happens due to a hormone Oxytocin released during the pregnancy. The mothers who breastfeed have faster uterus contraction.
  • Breastfeeding lowers the risk of post-partum depression: many mothers suffer from post-partum depression which occurs shortly after delivery. Mothers who breastfeed have a lower risk of suffering from this condition.
  • Breastfeeding prevents you against diseases: breastfeeding can save you against deadly disease like breast & ovarian cancer.
  • Breastfeeding helps restrict menstruation: it provides a halt to ovulation process for some time thus preventing you from menstruating. This acts as a natural birth control.

Breastfeeding is nothing but the love you can give to your baby. Don’t hesitate or restrict yourself from loving your baby. The other name for breastfeeding is surely LOVE.

Turacoz Healthcare Solutions (a medical communication company) support and encourages exclusive breastfeeding to newborns in their first six months.