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In an era where healthcare margins are getting razor-thin and navigating reimbursement policies is trickier than ever, sound revenue cycle management (RCM) practices can help practices and providers lift their bottom line. An efficient RCM workflow and a sound set of policies ensures smooth, reliable billing processes and a higher rate of collection on services rendered.
An efficient revenue cycle management system (RCM) can wreak havoc on your expectations for reimbursement. This pain will become especially acute with ICD-10 coming in with expectations of delayed and rejected payments (Be advised at this point the “Rejections grace period” applies to medicare only).
There are many creative software programs used for editing photos on the market today. Most having different features, pros and cons and price tags, choosing the one that's right for you can prove to be challenging.
However, many industry professionals would agree that Adobe Photoshop is the top software in the industry. Although it can become pricey, it pays for itself with the many tools and effects that turn your images from average to professional.
One of the greatest myths in business is that people are your greatest asset.
It is a myth because only productive people are great assets. Non-productive people are a drain on company resources and moral. Turning non-productive assets into high-performing assets is the goal of leaders everywhere.
In the hit TV show “The Walking Dead” the Zombies just keep coming despite the survivors best efforts to keep them at bay.
Getting your PMP designation has many benefits as a project manager, check out our infographic to learn more about becoming PMP certified!
Buying rental property can become a fantastic income source, however, both the learning curve and the penalty for mistakes can be high. Many beginners cost themselves time, money, and stress by making mistakes that could have been avoided with a bit of research and forethought.
This guide will take you through the basics of buying rental property, help you avoid basic mistakes, and improve your profits with some simple and easy-to-follow steps.
Automation. It is all around us, especially if you are in a manufacturing environment. Advances in technology have eliminated some jobs, but have new, more technical jobs. Among these new jobs, PLC programmers are experiencing rapid growth and opportunity.
There are many people who may have slipped on icy walkways and sidewalks. It can be a painful and embarrassing tumble. While most people usually only end up with a bruised ego and body, there are some who get the short end of the stick, with major injuries. Now imagine a workplace with conditions that resulted in slips, trips, and falls?
When asking young children about their favorite activities in school, they always come out and say science, or math, possibly even spelling, right? Not a chance. Most young children are going to point to recess as their favorite activity throughout the day. Others might say story time, while others might enjoy painting and other artistic activities. But if these children just want to come to school for fun and playtime, how in the world are they ever going to learn correct spelling, mathematics, or other educational essentials? The question answers itself.
I wish I would have said something in a meeting while sitting across from a blabbering mouth that didn’t know when to stop flapping. Instead, I missed speaking up at the meeting intelligently because I was preoccupied with why I was even there. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to come up with a clever one-liner that would set the world straight.
In a previous article, I outlined the troubles companies have with employees who share their personal lives on social media. Each day brings new stories about social media faux pas, creating scandals for individuals and companies alike. According to a 2012 survey by PayScale, a salary and benefits information company, only half of the companies surveyed had a social media policy and 42% said they forbid all forms of social media activity at work.
When I was a new teacher in the 1970s, each new school year came with the excitement and anticipation of new beginnings. I would go to school a couple of weeks before the official start date to check my new student lists, begin classroom preparation, look over any new texts or equipment, and chat with staff and office personnel who might also be in early. I also tried to discover that year’s “fix-all.” There was always a new panacea to “ensure” successful teaching/learning, better readers, increased graduation rate, improved standardized test scores, or whatever issue was the current media and public concern. After my first year, I learned to steel myself for the opening meetings, so I could hold on to the joy I felt about getting back to what I loved best—teaching.
While becoming a CNA requires the completion of a formal program that typically involves both classroom work and clinical experience, becoming an outstanding nursing assistant requires much more.
When I was a very young nursing assistant working in a nursing home in Boston, one of our residents was a woman named Olive who had suffered a series of strokes, leaving her completely debilitated. Her entire body was severely contracted to leave her bedridden, and she was non-verbal aside from occasional moaning.
As I approached a friend’s house the other day, I noticed a “No Soliciting” sign on the door. It got me thinking about how marketing is changing. The internet’s impact on marketing cannot be overstated; it has leveled the playing field and allowed anyone with a connection to selling their wares to the world.
A few weeks ago I was reading This Will Be the Number 1 Business Skill in Five Years by journalist Shane Snow. The crux of the article was that if you want to succeed, you need to become a great storyteller. His rationale was that because the internet has leveled the playing field by giving anyone with a computer a platform from which to spout ideas, you need to be better than anyone else at telling your story.
A year ago, while attending a conference in a major city, I would either walk several blocks from my hotel to the conference or ride the subway each day. Traveling through the city, I noticed that the majority of the people wore earbuds (small in-ear headphones) and were somewhat oblivious to what was going on around them. People walked down the street silently, heads down, avoiding people and traffic by means of peripheral vision, never making eye contact with passers-by, and never engaging those around them.
Many leadership gurus will tell you that by doing certain things you will become a better leader. To sell more books or get more speaking engagements, they develop lists to follow that help you become a better leader. While some of what they may tell you will help, I believe they miss the mark of what really helps someone become a great leader.
In America, we like things fast – fast cars, fast horses, and fast food– and the drive to be first compels us to find new ways to be fast. The typical newscast from Fox or CNN is an example of fast. Historically, we had to wait until six or ten p.m. to get the nightly news. When the news came on, we saw a Walter Cronkite clone in front of the camera delivering one story at a time, most important to least, slowly and deliberately.
In the late ’90s, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker starred in a movie that spawned one of my all-time favorite movie quotes. In a critical moment of the movie, Chris Tucker (whose character is an American detective assigned to help a visiting Chinese detective played by Jackie Chan) turns to his partner, the semi-silent Chan, and asks, “Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth?” It is a humorous turning point in the movie, but it is a situation that is occurring frequently as digital natives and immigrants try to communicate.
On a recent Steelhead fishing trip at the River of No Return Lodge (shameless plug for a great outfit), I spent some time talking about customer service with our guide, Kevin Yeates. The typical guide spends 12 hours or more each day closely working with clients of various ability levels and needs. Some guided trips are more successful than others, so guides frequently deal with customers who are unhappy due to conditions beyond the guide’s control. I was curious to find out how such a customer-focused industry dealt with those situations.
“You have everything you need to build something far bigger than yourself.” - Seth Godin
On a recent trip to Washington D.C., I had the privilege of wandering through the National Art Gallery for an afternoon. As I looked at the masterpieces, I couldn’t help but compare the work of these “masters” to the work done by millions of workers each day in their own art studios.
Which do you answer more each day, your telephone or your emails? For most people, the answer is probably email. Email has become an important business tool, almost replacing faxing and making snail mail practically irrelevant.
I live in Idaho, which is typically not a very progressive state, and to be honest, I think I like it that way. Idaho tends to lag behind the rest of the states in many areas, but in the last couple of years, Idaho tried to move to the forefront of the national education debate. The cry for educational reform has rung loudly, with initiatives making the ballot boxes in numerous states. While the public education system is in need of repair, another education system is silently undergoing radical changes using stackable credentials.
I attended a meeting last week where the discussion centered on entrepreneurship and what skill sets are required for success. One of the guest presenters told a short story regarding the power of positive thinking in response to a participant's comment. The story was about a radio ad selling a DVD training program on using the power of positive thinking to get what you want. In response to the ad, the presenter sent a certified letter to the company asking them to envision receiving a check from him, then when they got the check to go ahead and send him the DVDs. Needless to say, two years later he still has not received his DVDs.
A large company invited me to work with a department that is taking on a new project and needed help with skill development. The department had a history of solid performance due to talented people and a strong-willed leader with a clear vision. Department history suggested that this new project would be a success, however, early setbacks caused concern about the department’s ability to be successful. After a few months, even though the project is not finished, there are signs indicating a turn-around. The project’s completion appears to be on the not-too-distant horizon.
How do you do employee evaluations? If you work for a large corporation or a government agency you get to answer that question each year. Many managers dread the experience and employees approach it like a feral animal—very cautiously. As human beings we are constantly looking for feedback regarding various areas of our lives, so why does the evaluation process make us feel so naked and exposed?
A year ago, while attending a conference in a major city, I would either walk several blocks from my hotel to the conference or ride the subway each day. Traveling through the city, I noticed that the majority of the people wore earbuds (small in-ear headphones) and were somewhat oblivious to what was going on around them. People walked down the street silently, heads down, avoiding people and traffic by means of peripheral vision, never making eye contact with passers-by, and never engaging those around them.
Between January and August 2008, confined spaces caused 22 fatalities and 3 hospitalizations (OSHA Statistics). As with many safety statistics, taking basic precautions and following simple rules can reduce these numbers. In 1993 OSHA issued 29 CFR 1910.146 on Permit Required Confined Spaces. Characteristics of confined spaces change from industry to industry, but similar hazards exist. Common hazards include fires, galls, flooding, entrapment and atmospheric issues.
Recently I noticed a help wanted ad seeking someone who could multi-task. The ad stated that this was a must-have skill. In reviewing my own skill-set, I felt I would qualify as someone who is a good multi-tasker. I always have multiple projects going and find myself constantly juggling priorities to meet one deadline after another—sure signs of an accomplished task switcher. Later, I sat in a meeting where I had the opportunity to reflect on a body of work from an organization with which I had been working. As a group, we realized that the organization’s work was good, but it wasn’t great. There were unreturned phone calls, missed deadlines, flawed products shipped, yet the company was a successful leader in the industry.
A young bride, cooking a holiday meal for her family, paused when she began cutting the ends off the ham to prepare it for the oven. She turned to her mother and asked why they cut the ends off the ham, to which her mother replied that she did not know. Unsatisfied, she set off to ask her grandmother, because that is where her mother learned the “secret”. She discovered the reason Grandma cut the ends off her hams was to make them fit in the pan!
The debate about traditional evolutionary theory has been long and opinionated. When the topic comes up, sides are drawn quickly and discussions become heated. I would propose that we are in a cultural evolutionary cycle in which the division lines have already formed. Two Italian psychologists, in their new book, Technoliquidity, are claiming that technology has changed the way people think, creating “a new brain.” The premise of the book is that today’s children and adolescents have newly wired brains resulting from technology altering their thought patterns from the way their parents thought and perceived things.
Following a trend in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers added two superstars to their lineup in hopes of winning a championship. Then, after an anemic 1-4 start, they fired their existing head coach and began looking for a replacement. Two months later, the Lakers are still struggling and appear to be getting worse as the season goes on.
In the early 1990’s Anders Ericsson, a psychology professor at Florida State University, studied violinists at the Berlin Music Academy to determine what separated great performers from the rest. What he discovered has become known as the 10,000-hour rule, and was popularized in “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell.
Recently, long-term NBA Player’s Union Executive Director Billy Hunter, under investigation for his business practices, was placed on indefinite leave. One of the allegations against him was that he practiced nepotism. Many of the plum jobs at the union offices were filled with Hunter relatives and several lucrative contracts were signed with organizations staffed by Hunter relatives. While this case is not unique (family businesses hire family members all the time), it does point to a greater problem in the workplace.
