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THE BEAN:
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 Our philosophy of empowering through education does not stop with our patients and staff. We work with the University of North Florida to take on Healthcare Administration students seeking internship opportunities for their degree program. We offer a unique opportunity to observe the inner workings of a small, specialty practice. Each of our interns is given the chance to explore every facet of our office and potentially focus on an expressed area of interest.
We encourage our interns to embrace their curiosity and try a variety of projects and tasks to find their passion within their chosen career. This can include front desk operations, office workflow, attending meetings, social media and marketing, research, billing, data analysis, and referral processes and procedures. Our interns also go through HIPAA training to comply with and maintain federal and office privacy policies to protect our patients’ health information. Our Patient Educator, Kayla, was among our first healthcare administration interns during the Spring semester of 2021. “It was the most incredible experience to see how my degree knowledge applied to real-world situations and how it differed. The unique projects allowed me to learn more about my true passions and helped me grow into new positions. My preceptor was patient, inspiring, and pushed me to be the best I could be.” If you are interested in becoming an intern with our practice, please contact your professor for instructions on how to apply. We hope to see our interns excel in their future endeavors!  Dr. Munjal has been honored to have been appointed Chief of Staff of Baptist Medical Center South for the 2022-2023 administrative year. His peers selected him to be the liaison between the medical staff and the hospital administration. Since his term began, he has been involved in the transition to a new electronic health records (EHR) system, which was a large undertaking for the facility and company. He has also been involved in the facility becoming a magnet certified facility. Magnet certification is recognition of the excellence of the nursing staff at the facility and is considered the highest honor for nurses.
As chief of staff, he is responsible for a wide range of activities and communications. These include, but are not limited to, serving as a chairman of the Medical Board, overseeing the functioning of the clinical staff, reviewing records and reports to ensure quality patient care, ensuring and enforcing policies and procedures, and being an advocate for and promoting physicians’ involvement in performance improvement, among other responsibilities. Becoming chief of staff has proven his dedication to his patients and his peers. He has gone above and beyond to ensure quality care for all patients. To be appointed by his peers affirms and represents their confidence in Dr. Munjal’s abilities and decision making skills. Our patients can rest assured knowing that their doctor is dedicated to their care and the care of other patients and staff alike. Congratulations, Dr. Munjal! We are all so proud of you!   In our previous Kidney Korner segment, we learned how the kidneys filter the blood, briefly touching on urine production. This post will expand on the role that the kidneys play in the production of urine as a waste product.
What is urine?: Urine is a result of the filtering process in the kidneys. Urine is a watery, yellow-ish liquid that is one of the primary methods of waste removal for the body. What’s in urine?: Urine is made up of water, urea, creatinine, salts, ammonia and pigments from blood breakdown. Where urine is produced?: Nephrons contain glomerulus connected to tubules. The blood enters the nephron, gets filtered through the glomerulus, and waste products get separated from the blood and the products that will be returned to the body. The renal tubules will carry the urine to the ureters that will deposit it in the urinary bladder until it’s time for urination. For more information on nephrons and glomerulus, see our last Kidney Korner post on the blood filtering process here. How Dr. Munjal Helps: Fluid intake and urine output are key components in determining kidney function. If the kidneys stop producing urine, that is a major indicator that the kidneys are no longer functioning as they should be. Dr. Munjal can order urine studies to determine how much urine your body creates in a 24 hour period and the levels of the key components that make up urine.
Munjal’s Musings: “Urine naturally has a yellow-ish color and an odor due to the chemicals within it. For example, when you are out doing yard work, your kidneys stop producing as much urine so the body can maintain a balance, hence the urine becomes darker and has a stronger odor as it is more concentrated. When you come back inside and drink more fluids, your urine becomes lighter and often smells less. This happens because your body has excess fluid and can dilute your urine. The urine chemical concentration is dependent on fluids and naturally changes color and odor to adjust.” Resources: Mayo Clinic- Urinalysis If you have any questions or concerns about your urine production or kidney function, call our office to schedule a consultation with Dr. Munjal. This website is for informational and educational purposes ONLY. While we strive for accurate, general medical information, this does not replace professional medical advice. Do not rely solely on this information. Please consult with your provider for more information regarding your specific needs. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please call 9-1-1.  Reminders can help us stay on track and on-time for appointments, taking medications, blood pressure, and other tasks that we may easily forget about. Some medications and other health trackers may need to be taken or used around the same time each day for consistency and accuracy.
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Alexa and Home Assistant Devices: Your home assistant can be set to remind you about your alarms and appointments. Address your Alexa or Google Assistant by name and ask it to set a reminder. It will walk you through the steps and ask various questions to assist. Reminder Apps: There are various smartphone apps that can be downloaded to help with reminders as well if the above options don’t seem to work best for your individual needs. A simple search for ‘Reminder Apps’ can be completed on the Apple App store or Google Play store. We hope these tips and tricks help! If you have suggestions or recommendations for setting reminders and staying on track, please feel free to share with our office.  Having a back-up supply of medications is especially important during hurricane season and with the ongoing pandemic. We recommend that you keep at least two weeks worth of medications on-hand in case there are any issues with access to certain prescriptions, delays at the pharmacy, or physician office closures. We recommend that refills are requested two weeks before the last dose is to be taken.
Tips and Tricks:
Safe medication storage practices are also very important. Keeping medications out of reach from children and animals can be life-saving. Ensure that medications are in locations that children and pets cannot reach or are locked away. Find medication safety information from the CDC here. Review our related post on disaster preparedness on The Bean: Kidney Empowerment here. As always, stay safe! This website is for informational and educational purposes ONLY. While we strive for accurate, general medical information, this does not replace professional medical advice. Do not rely solely on this information. Please consult with your provider for more information regarding your specific needs. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please call 9-1-1.  The Bean will be featuring a Book of The Month (BoTM) as we continue to deepen our passion for education and empowerment. We want to inspire, spark curiosity, and encourage honesty through personal growth within our team and patients.
Our first BoTM is The Coffee Bean by Jon Gordon and Damon West. How it applies to our patients: Many nephrology patients face a number of changes that can affect the way they live their lives. This can include medication changes, lifestyle changes, or need for continuous treatment, like dialysis. This can create an immense amount of stress for the patients that can affect their mental and physical health. The Coffee Bean can give our patients the perspective that they, too, are a coffee bean that has the power within them to transform their environment and conditions. A positive mindset can make all the difference in the patient’s care. How it has helped our office: This book has helped our office cultivate an environment that encourages our patients and staff to not let our circumstances change who they are. We want to create a place for learning, honesty, and respect, empowering everyone who walks through the door to encourage and facilitate positive change. Our favorite quotes:
Check back monthly to find out what book our office read to continue to empower and inspire our team and patients!  It is important to always carry an updated medication list with you in the event of an emergency. This will assist medical professionals in reacting to a situation and expediting the care that is needed with greater accuracy. Additionally, it is important to carry one with you to doctor’s appointments to keep track of any medication or diagnosis changes. On the medication list, it may also be helpful to list the following additional information:
Computer systems at other doctors’ offices may not always communicate or link with one another. When coming to your next appointment, please bring an updated list, pictures of your medication bottles, and/or the bottles of medications for our Medical Assistant to review and verify with you. You can find our blank medications list on our website under the Resources tab here. As always, stay safe! This website is for informational and educational purposes ONLY. While we strive for accurate, general medical information, this does not replace professional medical advice. Do not rely solely on this information. Please consult with your provider for more information regarding your specific needs. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please call 9-1-1.   Did you know your kidneys filter your blood approximately 35 times per day? Let's learn about the filtering process!
The Process:
How Dr. Munjal helps: There are various tests that Dr. Munjal can order to detect how well the kidneys are filtering and functioning. Lab tests like urinalysis, urine protein studies, and basic metabolic/comprehensive metabolic/renal function panels will show the following related to kidney function:
Munjal’s Musings: Think of your kidneys as a coffee filter. It has two jobs: let the coffee through and keep the grounds in. Similarly, kidneys want to get rid of waste, but keep the good things in. To see how well the filter is working we can measure the following:
Be Proactive:
If you have any questions about how your kidneys function, call our office to set up a consultation with Dr. Munjal to empower yourself through education. This website is for informational and educational purposes ONLY. While we strive for accurate, general medical information, this does not replace professional medical advice. Do not rely solely on this information. Please consult with your provider for more information regarding your specific needs. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please call 9-1-1.  The Sunshine State is known for its beautiful beaches, theme parks, and outdoor activities. Take some time this summer and fall to enjoy some of the most relaxing places in Florida.
As always, stay safe and hydrate responsibly!  What is insurance?
Health insurance is a contract between a patient and the insurance company that agrees to pay a portion of health and medical expenses in exchange for a premium. This generally covers the cost of routine care, emergency services, specialty care, and the treatment of chronic illness. What kind of health insurances are there? There are a wide variety of insurance policies available in today’s market. Two of the most common are Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO) and Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO).
Why do we ask? By asking about insurance, we are able to ensure that our patients are getting efficient and effective care. For example, the following may be affected by inaccurate insurance information:
How can you be proactive in your care?
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