More will have free access to doctor’s notes
More U.S. patients will soon have free, electronic access to the notes their doctors write about them under a new federal requirement for transparency. Many health systems opened up records on November 2, the original deadline. At the last minute, federal health officials gave an extension until April 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Britta Bloomquist of Duluth, Minnesota,... READ MORE
Many ways to track down old friends online
Dear Savvy Senior, I’m interested in tracking down some old friends I’ve lost touch with over the years. What websites can you recommend that can help me find them? —Tracking Tom Dear Tom, Thanks to the internet, tracking down long-lost friends from many years ago is relatively easy to do and, in most cases, it won’t cost you a cent. Here are some tips and online tools to... READ MORE
Trying online banking? FAQs answered
As the COVID-19 pandemic leads banking customers to lean into technology to manage their money, those trying online banking for the first time may find themselves with questions about how to handle things previously done in person or with paper documents. If you’re stuck on how to handle some of the practical aspects of online banking, here are answers to common questions: Should I... READ MORE
Elon Musk dreams of chips in our brains
Elon Musk isn’t content with electric cars, shooting people into orbit, populating Mars and building underground tunnels to solve traffic problems. He also wants to get inside your brain. His startup, Neuralink, wants to one day implant computer chips inside the human brain. The goal is to develop implants that can treat neural disorders — and that may one day be powerful enough to... READ MORE
Avoid dirty money with no-touch payment
If you’re looking for a self-improvement task in this pandemic era, try teaching yourself to use contactless payments with your phone or “tap-to-pay” credit and debit cards. Any germaphobe will tell you that the surfaces of bills and coins have always been gross. And handing your credit card to a cashier who has the sniffles and a hacking cough? Even in pre-pandemic times,... READ MORE
Will telehealth visits outlive pandemic?
Telehealth is a bit of American ingenuity that seems to have paid off in the coronavirus pandemic. Medicare temporarily waived restrictions predating the smartphone era, and now there’s a push to make telemedicine widely available in the future. Consultations via tablets, laptops and phones linked patients and doctors when society shut down in early spring. Telehealth visits dropped... READ MORE
How to spot fake news and propaganda
Dear Savvy Senior, Are there any resources you know of that can help people detect fake news? My 75-year-old mother shares a lot of misinformation she sees on Facebook with her family and friends. I’ve talked to her about it, but for some reason she has a difficult time deciphering real news from fake news and propaganda. —Frustrated Daughter Dear Frustrated, Unfortunately, ... READ MORE
Special masks can help hard of hearing adults
According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), masks can make communication difficult for the approximately 48 million Americans with hearing loss. Masks muffle sound and take away a person’s ability to read lips and see facial expressions, which help people better understand what they’re hearing. “Widespread mask use at this critical juncture in the pandemic ... READ MORE
Online dating: a guide for people over 50
When I was younger and in a different era, it was easy meeting single men, striking up a conversation and dating. Well, sorry to say, older single people today have a tough time meeting the right partner, someone who shares similar likes and dislikes and really wants a meaningful, long-term relationship where both feel mutual chemistry. Having been married twice, my hope was to find... READ MORE
Without tech, some ‘phone it in’ to the doc
Video telemedicine took off earlier this year as the coronavirus paused in-person doctor visits. Earl Egner missed that trend. The 84-year-old diabetic and cancer survivor has no computer or cellphone. Instead, he relies on a form of communication older than himself — the telephone — to talk to doctors as he stays hunkered down in his home in Somerset, Virginia. “We don’t even... READ MORE
Technology 2021
