After the long wait, the 2010 JRSMedical.com catalogs are now in.  In this year’s catalog you will find a complete listing of all the medical supplies available through JRSMedical.com.  You will find everything from diabetic supplies to skin & wound care products.  So…if you are looking for a specific product or just want to browse, you will definitely want to get your hands on our latest catalog.If you would like to receive a copy, there are a couple of things you need to do.  First, you need to be a new or current JRSMedical.com customer.  All this requires is a single purchase, which you can make online or by speaking with one of our customer care representatives.  Second, you need to make your catalog request via phone (1-877-359-6716) or by email (customerservice@jrsmedical.com).  We look forward to the opportunity to assist your with your next medical supply purchase.

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I was reading over at the United Ostomy Association’s website today about tips on air travel when you have to carry ostomy supplies.  In today’s world, a colostomy bag and other needed supplies should not hinder you from seeing the world or doing the activities you enjoy.  I thought this would help some of our readers so I am posting it for you today.

Air travel suggestions for those with ostomy supplies:

Take along enough supplies to last the entire trip plus some extras. Double what you think you may need, because they may not be easy to get where you are going.
Even if you don’t expect to change your pouch take along everything you need to do so. Zip-Lock® bags may be used for pouch disposal. Leave home fully prepared. Find
out if and where supplies are available before a long trip. Seat belts will not harm the stoma when adjusted comfortably. You may place a clothes pin near the retraction
slot to relieve tension on the belt. When traveling by car, keep your supplies in the coolest part. Avoid the trunk or back window ledge.

When traveling by plane, remember that checked-in luggage sometimes Read the rest of this entry »

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What if every doctor used iPads through out their practice.  Let’s think about this. 

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Imagine this scenario: The nurse sets up the chart on the iPad, the doctor walks in with a stylus and examines you, and when he’s done the chart goes into the file and the prescription is waiting at the desk for you, printed clearly, along with your Coordination of Care Record. Hand the nurse your credit card and you’re off. No one has to rekey any data…..lessens chance for error.

Applie iPad - New medical device?

You can put a full day’s work in there and give one to every doctor. Or you can load charts remotely from the nursing station as each patient is admitted, and keep one in each exam room. At these prices you can do both — one per doctor, one per exam room.   Quite simply, this device transforms medical practice and delivers a solid, easy-to-follow upgrade path directly from paper. Put security on the clinic’s WiFi (you probably have that already) and HIPAA is happy. A little VOIP and pager software and you can follow the staff wherever they go, which is one reason WiFi is so cool in a hospital setting Read the rest of this entry »

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On January 12, 2010 the nation of Haiti was devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake.  This tragedy has resulted in astronomical death tolls and incalculable destruction.  It will take this poverty-stricken country many years to climb out from under the carnage of that day.  However, they can not do so alone.That it is why JRSMedical.com wants to help.  We will be donating a portion of our sales throughout the months of January and February to assist in Haiti relief.  These donations will be given to two organizations leading the way in Haiti - Samaritan’s Purse and The Red Cross.  All you have to do to is purchase the medical supplies you already planned on buying, and know that you had a part in bringing “HELP TO HAITI.”

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I was shocked when reading an article from NY Post that some medical residents end up working 120+ hours a week.  I’ve worked 80 hours a week before and it leaves little time for eating and sleep already.  I believe they need to post a maximum work hour rule of 16 hours a day. Currently they have a maximum of 80 hours a week (averaged over 4 weeks).  I remember being a college student and cramming for an exam but these residents sometimes cram in their required hours at the end of a semester to make up for lost time.  Here’ s a summary of the story:

It was 4 a.m., and the resident — a doctor in training — had already been at the hospital for almost 24 hours. It took a second page to remind her the patient needed help.

After another overnight shift, the doctor was so tired she accidentally stuck herself with a needle while drawing blood and prepping for an IV.

Her work week? A mind-numbing 120 hours.

“It’s tough to function. I try to have people who have been working less hours double-check my medicine orders, other things. You start to get to a point where it’s hard to focus,” said the St. Vincent’s Medical Center resident, who refused to be named because she feared retribution for exposing labor practices.

Residents and experts who talked to The Post said the punishing hours, often a violation of work rules, are commonplace among residents at New York City hospitals — and a practice that puts patients at extreme risk.

A medical student who followed residents doing 28-hour shifts at St. Vincent’s said she saw one unable to calculate a medication dose.

“He was so exhausted, he couldn’t think straight,” she said.

Uptown at Mount Sinai Hospital, a former resident in the rehabilitation unit said she was once asked to work 13 days in a row, a violation of state rules that require residents to have 24 hours off every week. After she complained, she said her supervisor threatened Read the rest of this entry »

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Emergency health alerts for the 21st generation are keeping in mind we communicate more by cellphone and text messages somedays that actual face to face conversation. The nation’s ambulance crews are pushing a virtual medical ID system to rapidly learn a patient’s health history during a crisis — and which can immediately text-message loved ones that the person is headed for a hospital. This makes sense to me on so many levels. I have a father who’s 75 yrs. old. It would be great to just text message the whole family across the entire US when something happens to him.

The Web-based registry, invisibleBracelet.org, started in Oklahoma and got a boost this fall when the state’s government made the program an optional health benefit for its own employees. It’s looking to expand out of the state but unsure when this will happen. If you want to be e-mailed when it opens in your neck of the woods you can signup for it over at http://www.invisiblebracelet.org/site/sections/9 at the bottom of the page.

Now the Invisible Bracelet attempts to go nationwide as the American Ambulance Association next month begins training its medics, who in turn will urge people in their communities to sign up. For $5 a year, basic health information and up to 10 emergency contacts are stored under a computer-assigned PIN number that’s kept on a Read the rest of this entry »

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We all know how complex it is when you move from one house to another BUT what is it like to move an active hospital to a brand new location.  Read on and you will see.

At 4:15 p.m. Monday, the 114th and final patient arrives via ambulance from Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center’s campus in South Bend to its new $355 million facility in Mishawaka, making the hospital’s momentous move complete.

A command center at the new hospital staffed by about 30 employees, from computer network specialists to members of the hospital’s corporate headquarters, served as the heartbeat of the move.  Staff members there tracked the precise location of the patients who were en route from the old location to the new via 15 ambulances.  Patients arriving were greeted just inside the ambulance entrance to the emergency room at the new hospital, checked in and taken to their rooms.

The command center also served as the problem-solving headquarters for the move. Phone calls from staff members were referred to a variety of specialists who were manning the center.

Keely Paston, “issue coordinator” for the command center, said most phone calls resulted in easy resolutions. For example, several staff members called because they couldn’t find a parking spot, she said, or they needed medical supplies on their unit.  The command center opened last Friday and has been staffed continuously since. It’ll remain open until this Friday, Paston said.

Early Monday afternoon, Paston said the move had so far gone seamlessly because so much careful planning had gone into every detail during the past two years.

For Kay Naragon, a nurse in the labor and delivery department and a 29-year employee of SJRMC, Monday was an exciting day, too.  “I’ve been on both ends of the move,” she said of having packed up medical supplies at the old hospital and unpacked them to stock the labor and delivery rooms at the new location.

She enthusiastically pointed out some of the features of the new rooms for laboring moms, including the wall-mounted shower massages in the bathroom for women experiencing back labor and the hookups for portable birthing tubs.

Meanwhile, back in the emergency room just before 3 p.m., the 100th patient to be transferred from the old campus to the new was heralded through the door by several clapping employees.

Read more here.

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Office space in general in America is becoming a troubled investment.  As cash from tenant rent falls, lenders will be demanding that owners put more of their own money into refinancing deals come spring, increasing the pressure at an already stressful time in a fragile market.  The one bright spot is anyone involved in the health care or medical industry.

It seems the health care sector is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal market for office space.  While the recession has left entire floors barren in many large offic complexes, demand for office space near hospitals is competitive and that has propped up rents and kept vacancies in check.

Doctors and other medical tenants have weathered the economic slowdown better than retailers and other office tenants. And for landlords, these tenants tend to stay in the same location longer than other office renters and have lower default rates.

Overall office sales are down this year, but the proportion of deals for medical buildings was up almost 11 percent. And the vacancy rate for these buildings is a mere 10 percent, compared to 16 for overall office buildings.  And that could go even lower in the next few years as the economy improves and baby boomers continue to age.

“The health care industry has been really the largest contributor to the economy for the past two years,” a leading realtor in Los Angeles said. “As the population gets older, there should be a requirement for more medical services and in turn an increased need for medical office space.”

Do you think the demand for this is going to increase with government mandated/run health care?

Posted in -Medical News | 2 Comments »

I had a good friend of mine have a bad experience at a hospital visit last week.  During his “annual visit” his favorite nurse forgot that he had a latex allergy and insisted that the gloves were latex free when the box clearly said  powder free latex gloves. When his doctor came in my buddy reminded him and luckily that doctor was aware of his problem.  Hey, you’ve got to help the medical staff once in a while.  We all have our bad days.

For those unfamiliar with what a latex allergy here is some information from the Mayo Clinic:

A latex allergy is a reaction to certain proteins found in natural rubber latex, like powder free latex exam gloves.  Latex is a product manufactured from a milky fluid that comes from the rubber tree. If you have a latex allergy, your body mistakes latex for a harmful substance. If someone with this allergy comes into contact with latex allergic reactions may happen ranging from sneezing or a runny nose to anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening condition. Your doctor may determine if you have a latex allergy or if you’re at risk of developing a latex allergy.

Not much fun ehhh? Of course their is a possibility of a new form of latex showing at your doctor that will not cause an allery.  Heard of the guayule bush? The homely little guayule bush renders a latex that is free of allergy producing proteins. This could have far-reaching benefits for industrial and medical communities and the public at large if the medical community start to embrace them.

Leanne Margaret Pinard- Miss Long Island Teen Shares her view on her Latex allergy.

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H1N1 and other new strains of flu will have a new enemy in 2011. It’s not just washing your hands daily with something like the aloe vesta cleansing foam , but a building.  A large Vaccines and Diagnostics Flu Cell Culture Manufacturing Facility is coming soon to North Carolina that could help speed up the process for vaccines and create new job in the Holly Springs, NC area.  The facility will employ 350 technicians and managers by 2011.

The opening ceremony for the first large-scale US Flu Cell Culture and adjuvant manufacturing facility, developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will be held Tues. Nov. 24 at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Flu Cell Culture Manufacturing Facility in Holly Springs, NC. The facility is planned to begin commercial production of seasonal flu and pre-pandemic vaccines after licensure in 2011. Honored guests from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), CDC, Executive Branch of North Carolina and others, along with high-level Novartis executives including CEO and Chairman of Novartis, Daniel Vasella , CEO of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Andrin Oswald, Global Head of Technical Operations for Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Matthew Stober, and other high-level US and state government officials (TBC) will be in attendance.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), has contracted with Novartis to support the design, construction, validation, and licensing of U.S. cell-based influenza vaccine manufacturing facilities in Holly Springs, North Carolina.

Although cell-culture technology for influenza vaccines is not yet approved in the US, the company’s contract with HHS includes funding for developing a flu cell-culture vaccine. If licensed in an emergency, the facility will be able to respond to a pandemic as early as 2011, according to Novartis. The plant is planned to be running a full-scale commercial production in 2013. The facility can also start producing MF59, the company’s proprietary adjuvant, as early as December 2009. Although not approved in the US, studies with such adjuvants are underway in the US. Novartis also operates a cell-culture-based manufacturing plant in Marburg, Germany..

The facility will have the capability to produce seasonal flu cell culture vaccine, pre-pandemic vaccine, and 150 million doses of pandemic vaccine within 6 months of influenza pandemic declaration.  6 months is fast but washing your hands multiple times a day helps prevent flu from spreading too.

Posted in Cleaners / Deodorants | 5 Comments »

After reading an article in the Wall Street Journal I thought I might share some of the key findings from it that could effect our customers.  It seems their is a 2 billion a year tax on all medical devices (not medical supplies) that is coming with the new healthcare reform.  It should not influence us after further research.  The only current debate with the bill is will it start in 2010 (Senate) or 2013 (The House).

The earlier implementation date could hurt because it could take awhile for device makers such as Medtronic Inc. (MDT), Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) to start seeing benefits from expanded insurance coverage under health-care proposals.

Bernstein Research analyst Derrick Sung estimated the proposed tax would hurt industry earnings by 3% to 4%, but he said the impact looks “manageable” because of the potential for offsetting sales linked to expanded coverage.

Industry lobbyists had pushed aggressively to get the tax slashed from the original $4 billion proposal, which seems to have worked.

The Senate bill will won’t tax Class I devices, such as tongue depressors, or Class II devices that retail for less than $100. The House bill excludes all medical devices sold at retail stores.

The Senate bill also divides how the tax would be imposed based on a firm’s annual sales. Companies with annual sales below $5 million won’t be required to pay a fee, while those with annual sales above $5 million would have to some sort of fee.

This tax seems like it would just increase the cost of medical devices paid for by your government insurance company?  So the money just goes in a circle it seems to me.  What do you think?

Posted in -Medical News | 1 Comment »

JRSMedical.com is not a Medicare provider but we have a business partner that works with Medicare.   The company is called “We Care Durable Medical” and their toll free number is (866) 597-1123.  They are located in South Carolina.  Please call them for futher assistance.

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We have Aloe Vesta Cleansing Foam and 3M Avagard Instant Hand Antiseptic with Moisturizers.

 And don’t forget the Invacare Gauze Fluff Rolls. Just because you shouldn’t. More later, thanks for coming by!

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Swine Flu hits pandemic level.  We currently have most mask and antiseptic.  If the mask of choice isn’t available, we recommend placing your order as a back order. 

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We have a variety of bariatric products for sale.  These products are not available online, orders must be placed either by e-mail (customerservice@jrsmedical.com), by phone (877-359-6716) or visit our website for the live chat feature.

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It keeps insulin pen delivery systems cool with a handy refreezable gel pack. Keeps them cool for up to 10 hours in 100 degree heat. That’s pretty darn handy. The case will hold a meter and other supplies in the 2 pockets. That’s the Medicool Pen Plus Diabetic Pen Wallet. Good stuff.

So there. Need some Accu-Chek Comfort Curve Glucose Control Solution? Well, we’ve got that, too. Yay, us! Come on by for a full selection of medical products to meet your medical needs.

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Many people need to both store their pills and control their dosage. Thus, the combination pill box and splitter and pictured above. We also offer the Medi-Planner II, which is a pill storage unit organizes a weeks worth of medication. It accommodates dosage schedules up to 4 medication times a day. The easy-open lids are labeled in both letters and Braille. So, pretty cool, huh?

So, there you go. More soon.

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This is a Vacutainer Tube Holder with Cannula.

Vacutainer is a registered brand of test tube specifically designed for venipuncture. It was developed in 1947 by Joseph Kleiner, and is currently marketed by Becton, Dickinson and company.

From Wikipedia:

The vein is first punctured with the hypodermic needle which is carried in a translucent plastic holder. The needle is double ended, the second shorter needle being shrouded for safety by the holder. When a Vacutainer test tube is pushed down into the holder, its rubber cap is pierced by the second needle and the pressure difference between the blood volume and the vacuum in the tube forces blood through the needle and into the tube. The filled tube is then removed and another can be inserted and filled the same way. It is important to remove the tube before withdrawing the needle, as there may still be some suction left, causing pain upon withdrawal.

The test tubes are covered with a color-coded plastic cap. They often include additives that mix with the blood when collected (see below), and the colour of the tube’s plastic cap indicates which additives that tube contains.

The plastic caps are opaque for tubes with a normal vacuum. Translucent-topped tubes contain a weaker vacuum in the same sized tube, and will obtain less blood. The weaker suction makes them more suitable for smaller sized veins. Because of the standardised suction of the tubes, they may cause the veins of elderly people, or those with delicate veins, to collapse. In this case a syringe should be used instead.

We’ve also got Vacutainer Luer-Loks. And Vacutainer Needle Holders. And plenty of other Vacutainer related paraphenalia.

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Hey check us out in The Phoenix Magazine!  The Phoenix Magazine is the official publication of the United Ostomy Association of America, Inc. 

JRS Medical is featured in their article entitled “Choosing a Mail Order Supplier” where we are listed as one of the companies with the lowest prices on ostomy products.  This article validates our commitment to providing our customers with the best products available at the lowest possible prices!

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You may not realize how useful until you need them. A few months back, a family member had difficulty with an unexpected prescription drug interaction, and we were glad to be able to keep a close eye on their blood pressure over the next few days. You may find yourself in that circumstance one of these days, as well.

A good example of these are the IntelliSense Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor Adapters from Omron.

JRS also offers a full range of other powerful, accurate and economical home blood pressure products.

JRS. Just Real Simple.

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