Saturday, June 30, 2012

Securing the Future With Training in Technology


medical coding training at home.

Finding a new job in this economy can be very difficult. Without some type of computer skills it can become almost impossible. Most jobs today require at least some familiarity with the computer. Basic computer skills include being able to use simple programs, such as, Microsoft Office or Open Office suites. A familiarity with email programs and being able to navigate the internet.

Now is a good time for anyone to update their skills by returning to school. The Government has increased the Pell Grant awards and made it easier for everyone to qualify for student loans. There is also a wide variety of scholarships that students can apply for.

No matter what the economy, people still get sick and need medical care. There is a growing need for people who are trained in medical billing and coding. This field even offers the choice of opening your own business from home.

Clerical skills no longer mean shorthand and typing, along with the ability to file papers in cabinets. Now clerical skills mean word processing, skills creating presentations with such software as power point, being able to maintain a database, and familiarity with email programs.

Technical training is needed for many jobs now. The internet is a growing environment that demands training if you wish to prosper while doing business there. This means that even in this poor economy there are still jobs to be found in the field of information technology. These can include, but are not limited too, taking calls at a help desk, web design, web development, software programmer, computer repair, and database manager, are a few of the jobs available for people with the right training.

Getting training in information technology will also help the person who is dreaming of working in the entertainment field. Thanks to Youtube and the internet, it is possible for anyone to make a video and get it seen by others.

The film industry is also going high tech. Hollywood is now making some of the most amazing films using computer programs and computer generated art. Whole worlds are being created and peopled with a wide variety of life forms all due to computer animation and blue screen technology.

The field of IT security is growing, too. Identity theft has become one of the greatest threats facing the corporate world today. There are also jobs in law enforcement to be considered. Technical training can help ensure a better future with job security and higher pay scale.

medical coding training at home.

Second Degree Nursing is a Good Decision to Make


medical coding training at home.

Nursing started way back before it had become a profession today. Nuns in the convents offered nursing services for the sick. People would go to them for health services whether they were poor or rich. In the military, soldiers knew how to do first aid. They were the ones who took care of wounded comrades during wars. These have greatly influenced the field of nursing in present day. There are some hospitals headed by nuns and military bases. Even if private hospitals have emerged today, people can still be found trusting hospitals headed by nurses.

In the world today, many modern day Florence Nightingale's can be seen doing an excellent job in nursing. It has become a profession which everyone respects. It has become more than just a capability but a skill. Nurses have an important role to play in our society when it comes to survival. People often rely on nurses for the survival of the patients as well as the health of the society. Nursing does not stop with being a doctor's assistant but their work continues up to the ensuring the health of the patient until full recovery. They actually complement each other's work with the doctor finding the cure while the nurse ensures that the patient is completely safe. Nurses exude selflessness which is bound by a vow similar to the Hippocratic Oath for doctors which means that they follow a strict code of ethics.

Nursing is a discipline which involves the maintenance, attainment and retaining of good health of the people. The science of nursing has been continually being developed through time with more standardized procedures being developed and approved. They ensure that their patients are in good condition. It requires more than just knowledge about this field. Nurses must have compassion, concern for the patients, skill and dexterity when it comes to caring for their patients. Besides from being a science, it also requires social skills. It can be hard dealing with different people on a daily basis. There will be a variety of encounters as well as patients who are hard to get along with. Nurses need to deal with them in the best way possible.

Modern nurses play a different role from before. Extensive training must be done by nurses in order to earn a degree. They need to know theoretical knowledge about nursing but this does not stop here. They also need to know how to apply clinical skills. American Nurses' Association even defines a nurse as someone who is "responsible for diagnosing and treating human responses to health problems both during their course or prior to their onset." If before, nursing just meant taking care of patients, now it is different. Nursing has branched out into different specializations. These fields include nursing, community health service and midwifery. There are different tests and exams which nurses must pass in order to have a specialization like a registered nurse. These titles are important when it comes to nursing since present your nursing skills enabling you to find jobs suited to your field.

Today, most people have become "second-degree" nurses. People who have been involved in a previous career switched to becoming a nurse instead. Why would people who have a stable job just drop it for studying again? This has become an in-demand job for people. More and more people are taking up nursing because of the opportunities that it presents to people. This has become enough reason for people to quit their previous jobs and enter into the world of nursing. Others till go into nursing because they want to return what they have through the services they will give as nurses. They would want to make a difference, touching people's lives. Second-degree nurses come from all walks of life. There are rich people, middle class and poor. As compared to other nursing students, they have the strongest commitment with what they do. They know work ethics which can be really advantageous for the nursing profession. Many have traded their old lives for nursing. There are doctors, businessmen, and other professionals.

There are so many opportunities for nursing, some of which are in hospitals, nursing homes, medical facilities, schools, drug companies and other public health areas. Direct patient career is the most popular nursing job there is. A high demand for nurses in nursing homes increases the chance for nurses to immediately get a job. More and more people are sending the elderly to nursing home and this increases demand of nurses to cater to this increase. Rehabilitation facilities also provide job for nurses. Helping injured people recover is another opportunity for nurses.

There are more opportunities for people when they decide to become a nurse. These opportunities just keep on coming. Especially for second-degree nurses, they can combine their previous jobs with nursing. Businessmen may want to put up a nursing service business in order to apply both of his skills and earn from them. Nurses who have a teaching degree may teach patients while recovering from illnesses. They can also hold teaching classes about health issues to people in the hospital. Lawyers too who traded in their careers for nursing can help in the field of medical law. They can volunteer to help in making policies fair to patients and staff in the hospital.

If you are thinking of choosing nursing as a second career, go for it. There is no need for second thoughts when jumping into this decision. It is never too late to become a nurse. Becoming a nurse not only presents a lot of opportunities for people, but it does not necessarily mean that you will leave your old life behind. Nursing and your previous career can go hand in hand and work together. Nursing as a second degree will not be a bad decision. It ensures the safety of your future. Most importantly, one must not get into nursing just because of the money, but they need to make sure that one enters this field because they are willing to help other people.

medical coding training at home.

Searching For a Small Home Based Business Opportunity


medical coding training at home.

In these tough economic times, many people are searching for a small home based business opportunity that will allow them to work from home. With gas prices higher than ever before, it really costs many people more than they can afford to simply drive to work!

Many people don't feel that they are qualified to do any type of work at home. This is where they are mistaken! There are so many options when it comes to choosing a small home based business opportunity, and here are some ideas that may help you if you aren't really trained in a particular field.

First of all, you don't have to have a degree or certificate to make some very good money at home. There are some simple ways to make money that literally anyone can do. Let's start out with the easiest.

1. Online surveys or home assembly jobs are super easy and don't require any experience. I have done online surveys myself and I can tell you that you may get bored, but you can easily make $25 or more in an hours time. Home assembly is also easy, if you can meet deadlines.

2. Stuffing envelopes from home. Many people don't believe this is real, but it is! Companies pay people to stuff envelopes from home. They need circulars and newsletters mailed out to thousands every day. Hiring people to do it from home saves these companies alot of money by not having to add space to their existing business or pay employee benefits.

3. Freelancing - Can you write well? This may be the small home based business opportunity you've been looking for. It's super easy to find people on the internet that will pay you to write articles or other content for them. Many people can't write, or just don't want to and they are willing to pay very good money for you to do it for them.

4. Hobbies and interests - Do you have a special passion such as photography or cooking? Why not turn your hobby into a career? Catering and photography are two very good paying fields. You can even submit digital photos on the internet and get paid from lending and financial companies.

5. Are you a little more adventurous? You can get paid to play video games if you are an avid game player. Companies need experienced gamers to test their new games for bugs and glitches. Or, become a bounty hunter - now there's a small home based business opportunity that's full of excitement!

Of course, these are just a few ideas to get your brain churning on all cylinders. There are absolutely hundreds of different ways you can make money at home if you just consider what you are interested in and what you know. If you want to learn something new, take an online course! There are tons of guides and courses online for bookkeeping, medical billing and coding, etc.

I hope this article has helped you see that if you are determined and have the will, you can do anything you want to do. Now, get busy and find that small home based business opportunity that's waiting for you!

medical coding training at home.

Safer Sex Menu


medical coding training at home.

Safer sex can be fun and you won't have to worry as much. The best advice is to use safer sex supplies until you and your lover are in a monogamous relationship.

- Saucy phone-sex or sex talk

- A luscious body massage

- Naughty videos & audios

- Scrumptious body licking

- A spicy striptease

- Savory kissing

- Mouth watering mutual masturbation

- Tasty cleavage fornication

- Juicy oral delights with a condom or rubber dam

- Steamy sex with vibrators and other adult toys (Not shared)

- Delicious penetration with an FDA approved condom

- Sugary caresses

- Syrupy love bites served gently

- Sweet body pressing

- Warm blows of breath

- Creamy cuddles

Condom Talk

If your lover gives you a hard time about wearing a condom, here are some good responses and excellent reasons why you need to use one.

Him: I don't think condoms are romantic.

Her: Just let me show you how romantic condoms can be.

Him: You don't trust me, do you?

Her: It's not a matter of trust; it's a matter of health.

Him: I don't like to use condoms.

Her: I don't have sex without them.

Him: I haven't had sex with anyone in years so I know I'm clean.

Her: Thanks for being so honest, but let's use one anyway.

Him: I can't feel anything when I wear a condom.

Her: Let me provide you with some extra stimulation.

Him: I know I'll lose my erection by the time I get it on.

Her: Here, let me put it on for you with my mouth.

Him: I'm only going to use a condom this once.

Her: Once is all it takes.

Him: Sorry, I don't have one.

Her: That's ok. I do.

Him: How come you have condoms on you? Did you plan to have sex with me?

Her: I made sure I had some because I really care about you.

Him: Forget it. I'm not going to use a condom.

Her: Fine. Then let's not have sex until we can work out our differences.

Dr. Ava Cadell's Sexual Consent Form

Who needs it and why use it?

Superstar athletes, actors, rock stars, politicians, even entrepreneurs have groupies that will do just about anything to have sex with them, but can they be trusted? Will they lie about the act being consensual? Could they threaten to sue or worse still, make an accusation about sexual assault? You bet they can! So how can these people who are regularly out of town and away from home, which can lead to loneliness and result in temptation, protect themselves? Condoms can protect from the Std's and unwanted pregnancy. Another form of protection is to have a signed sexual consent form before having any sex as I described on TV's Celebrity Justice, CNN , ABC , Fox News and Good Morning America

If you think that a sexual consent form is only for the rich and famous, think again. Even if you have no assets, you need to protect yourself from false accusations because you can lose everything including your personal property, freedom and reputation. There are many other benefits to signing a sexual consent form, including the fact that you literally open up a form of intimate communication prior to rushing into sex. And, ladies the sexual consent form can protect you from being taken advantage of sexually because there is an -out clause- that stipulates that if you say the words -Code Red,- your partner must stop immediately. I chose this phrase because the words -No- and -Stop- have been used all too frivolously in our society and unfortunately, they are not always taken seriously. By using the sexual consent form with an FDA approved condom, you could protect yourself legally and sexually.

Benefits of a Sexual Consent Form

- I created it so that there will be no confusion or miscommunication as far as sexual consent is concerned.

- It protects men from conniving women who may bring false charges of sexual misconduct for financial gain.

- Even men who have no assets need to protect themselves from false accusations because they can lose everything that is dearest to them. Property, freedom and their reputation.

- This form is actually a way for the man to ask for permission to have sex with the woman.

- Women should NOT sign it if they do not trust the man are not ready for intimacy.

- It can be a form of foreplay before you get to the bedroom since you get to talk about sex before rushing into it. Great communication.

- The woman can select which sexual activities she wants to indulge in.

- -No- & -Stop- has been used frivolously, playfully and teasingly & is not taken seriously anymore. The phrase Code Red will not be mistaken for anything other than -high alert- hands off, you've gone too far. A similar 'Out Clause' is used in consensual bondage.

- Code Red is an alert that means stop because I am having physical or emotional problems. He must stop instantly.

- Any contract is contestable, even a prenuptial or Will. But if I were accused, I would rather go to court with it than without it. It would be admissible and relevant as evidence of consent if signed by the alleged victim.

- It's a great way to keep tabs on how many sex partners you've had.

- This is not a rape tool. On the contrary, I believe that it will prevent rape. A rapist is less likely to use a sexual consent form.

- As for the argument that a woman can be forced into signing it, I contend that a handwriting expert could probably identify a forced signature.

- There is never a guarantee that someone will NOT take advantage of you sexually, emotionally or physically. The best line of defence is always to be cautious and listen to your gut instincts. Never do anything that you do not want to do!

Is Oral Sex really Sex?

It is ridiculous to view oral sex as -not sex.- It's just as intimate as sexual intercourse, so why would you engage in oral sex with someone you wouldn't want to have intercourse with? Well, I'll tell you why. It all started in 1998 when then President Bill Clinton stated publicly, -I did not have sexual relations with that woman- even though he had repeatedly received oral sex from his intern, Monica Lewinsky. Now there is the growing problem of defining what sex really is. In the minds of many teenagers, oral sex isn't really sex. They seem to think they can stay virgins by engaging in oral sex because their hymen isn't broken. That's like saying, you can have anal sex and remain a virgin. Technically, it's true, but theoretically and emotionally it's not. Some guys also think they aren't cheating when they have oral sex with another woman because they can't get her pregnant. Giving and receiving oral sex is one of the most intimate and erotic acts that can be exchanged within a loving adult relationship and yes, it is sex!

Oral sex isn't a safe sex activity

Although oral sex is safer than vaginal and anal sex, it is still possible to contract Std's. The bottom line is that oral sex should be avoided if the giver has any sores or bleeding gums in the mouth. Even if he or she has just brushed or flossed their teeth, it can cause microscopic scratches in the lining of the mouth that makes one vulnerable to infection. Because of this, doctors advise the use of condoms for fellatio (flavored condoms are best) and the use of female condoms, dental dams or kitchen plastic wrap) for cunnilingus.

Better to be safe than sorry

Many people are unclear on the risks associated with oral sex. Unprotected oral sex carries a lesser risk for the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (Std's) than unprotected intercourse or anal penetration, but there's still a risk for both the giver and the receiver of oral sex. First let's look at how to avoid these contagious Std's by practicing safer sex.

Safer Sex Supplies

If you love yourself, you must protect yourself. Ladies, there's no reason why you can't enjoy the eroticism of oral sex and practice safer sex at the same time. Even if you're in a monogamous relationship, you'll want to have some of the safer sex supplies around to help you add more pleasure, persity and spontaneity to your oral sex adventures.

Female Condoms

Reality Condoms are the most well known, but they recently changed their name to FC Female Condoms. Femidom is another brand of female condoms. Most female condoms work the same way. They're made of polyurethane (stronger than latex), are hypo-allergenic, heat conductive, and odorless. They are a soft, loose-fitting sheath specifically designed to protect women from pregnancy and Std's by lining the inside of her vagina. Read the instructions before inserting it because if you don't insert it correctly, it's like not using protection at all. The female condom has to go deep inside the vagina and over the cervix.

Dental Dams

Aptly named because they are used by dentists to isolate a tooth. Dental dams come in various sizes and flavors. Made of ultra think latex, these square shaped barriers allow good sensations for oral sex. Sheer Glyde Dams are FDA approved for protection against Std's for cunnilingus and rimming. The best way to use a dam is for the giver to mark the -mouth- side of the dam with a marker so that they knows which side to lick, then apply a couple of drops of lubricant on the other side, press the dam against her vulva with two hands and enjoy.

Latex Gloves and Finger Cots

Good oral sex involves the hands as well as the mouth. There's nothing more exciting than orally pleasing a woman's clitoris and fingering her vagina or anus simultaneously. By using latex gloves and or finger cots (think of them as mini condoms for your fingers) you can increase erotic sensations and protect the receiver from jagged fingernails, cuts, germs or viral Std's such as herpes, which can be spread by skin-to-skin contact.

Lubricants

We all know, -wetter is better.- But, which lube is best? It can be very confusing because there are so many to choose from including, odorless, tasteless, water soluble lubricants with a lightconsistency and without Nonoxynol-9 spermicide. Here are some favorites: Wet Light, Astroglide, ForePlay Personal Gel, Aqua Lube, Sensua Organics and Probe Silky Light.

What Stds can I get from Oral Sex?

The following list of Std's is the most contagious and common when it comes to performing and receiving oral sex on a person. While no one knows exactly what the degree of risk is, to ensure safeties make sure that no cuts or lesions are present in the mouth or on the genitals. Protect yourself and your partner by using a barrier to avoid the contact of bodily fluids that may result in catching a sexually transmitted disease.

Herpes is a virus that causes sporadic flare-ups of painful blisters, usually around the mouth and or genitals. Herpes can hop from mouth to mouth and from mouth to genitals through the mucous membranes and skin. It can be spread by hand to vagina or hand to anus contact. Since Herpes is such a common virus, you can get a prescription drug called Valtrex.

Genital Warts are similar to Herpes in that they are a virus that remains in your system for life. They are spread in the same way through skin to skin and mucous membrane contact. The warts have to be removed surgically by laser and the bad news is that they may reoccur anyway.

Gonorrhea is a serious bacterial Std that can be spread through unprotected oral-vaginal contact. Symptoms may not show, but vaginal burning, discharge and pelvic pain are common warning signs. The good news is that antibiotics do work, but they must be taken for weeks.

Syphilis is a severe bacterial Std that can also be spread through unprotected oral-vaginal contact, especially if there is a sore present on the mouth or her vagina. Syphilis can be deadly if it isn't cured in the first couple of stages. The first visible sign and stage is the sore at the entrance of the vagina; the second sign is a body rash. Fortunately, Penicillin can cure Syphilis in these early stages. However, the third stage attacks the nervous system and debilitates the heart. Medications have limited success if left untreated.

Crabs and pubic lice are tiny creatures that gravitate towards the pubic hair where they live. They can be spread from one infested person to another. Symptoms include itching, swollen lymph glands and a mild fever.

Hepatitis A is a dangerous virus that can be transmitted by rimming or analingus (licking or penetrating the anal opening with your tongue). Other rimming risks include anal herpes, anal warts, internal parasites and even HIV. Hepatitis A can be prevented by getting a hepatitis A shot. In some cases hepatitis infection can cause muscle ache, fever, loss of appetite, headaches or dizziness.

Hepatitis B can be a life-threatening virus transmitted from sexual contact or contaminated needles. It's found in blood and other body fluids, such as semen, vaginal secretions and the breast of a lactating woman. It's possible to contract Hepatitis B when performing unprotected oral sex, especially when fluids from a carrier enter your body through a cut or sore in your mouth. Symptoms of Hepatitis B are fever, abdominal pain, jaundice and in some cases liver disease. There is no known cure, but it can be prevented with a vaccine.

Hepatitis C is the most deadly of all the hepatitis diseases. It is transmitted exclusively through direct blood contact so the receiver of oral sex must be menstruating, and the person going down on her must have a cut or sore on his mouth. There is no known cure or vaccine for hepatitis C at this time. Symptoms include the same as for A and B, plus dark urine, light stool colors, yellow eyes or skin and tenderness of the liver area.

HIV/AIDS can be fatal when the blood, semen, vaginal secretions or breast milk of an infected person enters another person's bloodstream through a cut, sore or blood vessel. If you perform oral sex on a menstruating partner, you could be at risk. Even if you have recently flossed or brushed your teeth, it's possible that you cut your gums and you could be at risk. HIV doesn't have any immediate warning signs so it's possible to have the virus for years and transmit it to others. The first symptoms of AIDS are weight loss, night sweats, pneumonia and other illnesses related to a low immune system. There is no known cure or vaccine for AIDS, but combinations of medications can slow the virus down.

How to properly put on a male condom

Prepare: Always check your condom for an expiration date, throw it out if it is expired. Also, make sure to store condoms in a cool place, such as a desk drawer, never store a condom in your wallet, hot environments (such as in your car) or if it has been washed or dried by accident. Don't hesitate to get a new condom if you have any doubts.

The penis must be erect in order to put on the condom. Do not attempt to put a condom on if the penis is limp.

Opening: Be careful when opening the package, condoms can rip very easily. Feel free to use your teeth, in a sexy manner, but be careful.

If the man's penis is not circumcised, be sure to pull the foreskin back first.

The condom should be right side out. Make sure to unroll the condom slightly at first in order to check which direction it is unrolling in. Slip it over the head of the penis; moving downward (it should unroll easy). (Hint: try putting the condom on with your mouth, watch your teeth.)

It is important that you hold the top half inch of the condom between your thumb and forefinger when you roll it down. This will leave space for when your man ejaculates.

Roll down the condom as far as it will allow, it should reach the base of the penis.

In the case of anal intercourse (remember: always use a condom during anal intercourse, even if you cannot get pregnant) use a lot of lubricant, the anal region is not naturally lubricated and can tear more easily than the vagina. For intercourse, a water-based lubricant is best. Always apply lubricant after the condom has been put on, a condom could easily slip off of a lubricated penis. Apply lubricant as often as needed, dry condoms break more easily.

For Men: make sure that when you pull out, you continue to hold the condom in place at the base of the penis. If possible, pull out while your penis is still erect. It is imperative that you remove the condom only after you are completely out of your partner's vagina.

Once you have safely removed the condom, throw it away immediately, a condom can be used once, and only once. In the case of anal intercourse, make sure you use an entirely new condom, never switch from vaginal to anal intercourse with the same condom. A man should never ejaculate in the same condom twice, and should also never wear a condom that somebody else has already used.

Also, remember never to use more than one condom at a time. -Doubling Up- only increases the chances of the condom breaking.

Using a female condom

How to properly put on a female condom:

The female condom is a sleeve of polyurethane with a closed end and a larger open end. There is a flexible ring in each end.

Have a condom fashion show

We all need to know about safer sex practices. And, safer sex can be very sexy and fun. For those of you using condoms, experiment with different kinds of condoms and practice putting them on manually and orally.

Condoms:

There are many kinds of condoms including flavored, polyurethane, extra-large, snug fitting, extra-sensitive, and condoms with nubs and stimulators. Here are some examples for you to choose from and experiment with:

Latex: Mentor, Ramses, Durex, Global Protection, Sheik, Pleaser, Kimono, Lifestyles, Crown, Magnum, trojan, Contempo, Paradise

Natural: Fourex, Natural Lamb, Skin Kling

Polyurethane: Avanti, Reality for women (female condom)

New Condoms:

Pleasure Plus Bulbus Head (Gives room inside the condom for the head of the penis to have more friction.)

Custom fit condoms by condomania.com.

You can also experiment with dental dams, latex gloves or finger cots.

Safer Sex Activities

- Cuddling and caressing

- Dry kissing

- Undressing

- Phone sex

- Watching or reading erotica

- Cleavage fornication

- Massage

- Mutual Masturbation

- Manual stimulation

- Oral sex with an FDA approved condom or rubber dam

- Sex toys unshared

- Intercourse with a condom and spermicide

Unsafe Sex

- French kissing in the presence of open sores or cuts

- Manual stimulation in the presence of open sores or cuts

- Oral sex without a barrier

- Sharing unclean sex toys

- Sucking the breasts of a lactating woman

- Vaginal or anal intercourse without an FDA approved condom

- Penetration of anything from the anus to the vagina

- Never blow or force air into the vagina because it can cause an embolism that could be fatal, especially if the woman is pregnant.

Birth Control Methods

NuvaRing-99.7%; $30-$35/ monthly. Protects against pregnancy for one month, no pill to take daily, does not require a -fitting- by a clinician, does not require the use of spermicide, nothing to put in place before intercourse. Possible: more regular, shorter periods, less: menstrual flow and cramping, acne, iron deficiency anemia, excess body hair, headaches, depression and vaginal dryness and painful intercourse associated with menopause, reduces the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers, pelvic inflammatory disease, noncancerous growths of the breasts, ovarian cysts, and osteoporosis (thinning of the bones), fewer occurrences of ectopic pregnancy (in a fallopian tube), ability to become pregnant returns quickly when use is stopped. Increased vaginal discharge, vaginal irritation or infection, cannot use a diaphragm, cap, or shield for a backup method of birth control, rare but serious health risks, including blood clots, heart attack, and stroke (women who are 35 and older and smoke are at a greater risk), change in sex drive and temporary irregular bleeding, weight gain or loss, breast tenderness, nausea (rarely, vomiting, changes in mood, and other discomforts)

Patch- 99.7%;$30-$40/month supply of patches. Protects against pregnancy for one month, no pill to take daily, nothing to put in place before intercourse, Possible: more regular, shorter periods, less: menstrual flow and cramping, acne, iron deficiency anemia, excess body hair, premenstrual symptoms (such as related headaches and depression) and vaginal dryness and painful intercourse associated with menopause, reduces the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers, pelvic inflammatory disease, noncancerous growths of the breasts, ovarian cysts, and osteoporosis (loss of bone mass), fewer occurrences of ectopic pregnancy (in not in the uterus), ability to become pregnant returns quickly when use is stopped Skin reaction at the site of application, menstrual cramps, may not be as effective for women who weigh more than 198 pounds, rare but serious health risks, including blood clots, heart attack, and stroke (women who are 35 and older and smoke are at a greater risk), other side effects include change in sex drive and temporary irregular bleeding, weight gain or loss, breast tenderness, nausea (rarely, vomiting, changes in mood, and other discomforts).

POPs (Progestin-only Birth Control Pills)- 92-99.7%; $20-$35/ monthly. Can be used by women who cannot take estrogen, nothing has to be put in place before vaginal intercourse, can be used while breastfeeding, ability to become pregnant returns quickly when use is stopped, irregular bleeding patterns, headache, nausea, dizziness, sore breasts, must be taken at the same time of day each day to reduce the risk of pregnancy and irregular bleeding

IUD- 99.2-99.9%; $175-$500/ exam, insertion, and follow-up visit. Nothing to put in place before intercourse, ParaGard® (copper IUD) may be left in place for up to 12 years, Mirena® (hormone IUD) for five years, no pill to take daily, Mirena® may reduce menstrual cramps, ability to become pregnant returns quickly when IUD is removed Increase in cramps and heavier and longer periods (copper IUDs), spotting between periods, increased chance of tubal infection leading to infertility if inserted when a woman has a STI, rarely, wall of uterus is punctured during insertion, rarely, insertion can cause infection, pregnancies, which rarely occur, are more likely to be ectopic (not in uterus)

Depo-Provera- 97-99.7%. $20-$40/visits to clinician. $30-$75/ injection. Can be used by women who cannot take estrogen, nothing has to be put in place before vaginal intercourse, can be used while breastfeeding, effective for 12 weeks, no pill to take daily, helps prevent cancer of the lining of the uterusirregular bleeding, headache, nausea, dizziness, sore breasts, must receive injection every three months, loss of monthly period, change of appetite, weight gain, depression, hair loss, or increased hair on the face or body, nervousness, skin rash or spotty darkening of the skin, change in sex drive, side effects not reversed until medication wears off (up to 12 weeks), causes temporary bone thinning, may cause delay in getting pregnant after shots are stopped, pregnancies, which rarely occur, are more likely to be ectopic (not in the uterus)

Abstinence-100%; Free. No medical or hormonal side effects of any kind. Many people find it difficult to abstain from sex play for long periods of time

Withdrawal- 73-96% (nearly 100% w/condom); Free (or cost of condoms). Can be used when no other method is available. Not effective against Stds, requires great self-control, experience

Sterilization- 99.5-99.9%; $2,000-$6,000/ Tubal sterilization; $350-$1,000/ vasectomy. Permanent protection against pregnancy, no lasting side effects, no effects on sexual pleasure. Risks of minor surgery, regret, usually not reversible, rarely, tubes reopen, allowing pregnancy to occur

The Pill- 92-99.7% $20-$35/monthly. Nothing to put in place before intercourse, more regular, shorter periods, less: menstrual flow, cramping, acne, iron deficiency anemia, excess body hair, headaches, depression and vaginal dryness, and painful intercourse associated with menopause. Reduces the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers, pelvic inflammatory disease, noncancerous growths of the breasts, ovarian cysts, and osteoporosis (loss of bone mass), fewer occurrences of ectopic pregnancy (not in the uterus), ability to become pregnant returns quickly when use is stopped, can be used to change the timing and frequency of your period rare but serious health risks, including blood clots, heart attack, and stroke (women who are 35 and older and smoke are at a greater risk), change in sex drive, temporary irregular bleeding, weight gain or loss, breast tenderness, nausea (rarely, vomiting, changes in mood, and other discomforts), must be taken daily, persistent side effects may be relieved by having your clinician change your prescription

Diaphragm- 84-94% $15-$75/ diaphragm

No major health concerns, can be used during breastfeeding. Can be messy, allergies to latex, silicone, or spermicide, should not be used during vaginal bleeding or infection, increased risk of bladder infection, can only be left in place for up to 24 hours

Condom- 85-98% (nearly 100% with withdrawal) $0.50 and up - some family planning centers give them away or charge very little. Easy to buy in drugstores and supermarkets, can be put on or inserted as part of sex play, can help relieve premature ejaculation, helps to protect against Stds and AIDS Latex allergies, loss of sensation, breakage

Female Condom- 79-95% $2.50/per condom Easy to buy in drugstores and supermarkets, can be put on or inserted as part of sex play, erection not necessary to keep condom in place, can be used by people allergic to latex, external ring of condom may stimulate clitoris. May be noisy, may be difficult to insert, may irritate vagina, penis, may slip into vagina during intercourse

Sponge- 68-91% $7.50-$9/package of three sponges. Easy to buy in drugstores and supermarkets, can be put on or inserted as part of sex play, does not interrupt sex play (it can be inserted hours ahead of time) May irritate sex organs, can be messy, may be difficult to remove, cannot be used during vaginal bleeding

Spermicide -71-82% $8/applicator kits of spermicide ($4-$8 refills). Easy to buy in drugstores and supermarkets, can be put on or inserted as part of sex play May irritate sex organs, can be messy

Fertitility Awareness- Based Methods (FAMs)-checking temperature daily, checking cervical mucus daily, recording menstrual cycles on calendar, keeping a very accurate record of when your period comes each month, keeping track of your menstrual cycle using a string of beads called CycleBeads 75-99% $5-$8 and up/temperature kits (drugstore).

$13/CycleBeads- Free classes often available in health and church centers No medical or hormonal side effects. Requires expert training before effective use, uncooperative partners, taking risks during -unsafe- days, poor record keeping, illness and lack of sleep affect body temperature and may interfere with the temperature method, changes caused by vaginal infections and douches may interfere with the cervical mucus method, must have regular menstrual cycles that are never shorter than 26 days and never longer than 32 days to use CycleBeads

Source:

health information - birth control

If You Choose Fertility Awareness-Based Methods (FAMs)...

... a professional will teach you how to keep track of your menstrual cycle to help you predict -safe- and -unsafe- days. Abstain from intercourse (periodic abstinence) or use condoms, diaphragms, caps, shields, or spermicide during nine or more -unsafe- days

Stds from Unprotected Intercourse

Genital Herpes- Virus; Burning sensation in genitals, low back pain, pain when urinating, flu-like symptoms, small red bumps may appear around genitals, some show no symptoms. Medications prescribed by your doctor, such as ValtrexTM

Gonorrhea-Bacteria Women: strong smelling vaginal discharge, may be thin & watery or thick & yellow/green, irritation or discharge from the anus, abnormal vaginal bleeding, possibly some low abdominal or pelvic tenderness, pain or a burning sensation when passing urine, low abdominal pain sometimes with nausea

Men: white, yellow or green thick discharge from the tip of the penis, inflammation of the testicles & prostate gland, irritation or discharge from the anus, urethral itch & pain or burning sensation when passing urine. Antibiotics (Similar to antibiotics used for Chlamydia)

Chlamydia Bacteria- Women: an unusual vaginal discharge, pain or a burning sensation when passing urine, bleeding between periods, pain during sex or bleeding after sex, low abdominal pain sometimes with nausea

Men: white/cloudy, watery discharge from the tip of the penis, pain or a burning sensation when passing urine, testicular pain and/or swelling. Antibiotics (those similar to gonorrhea). Such as, Doxycycline

Syphilis- Bacteria; Painless sores or open ulcers may appear on the anus, vagina, penis, or inside the mouth, and occasionally on other parts of the body. During the second stage (roughly three weeks to three months after the first symptoms appear), an infected person may experience flu-like symptoms and possibly hair loss or a rash on the soles and palms -- and in some cases all over the body. There are also latent phases of syphilis infection during which symptoms are absent. Antibiotics. However, can be extremely dangerous if left untreated.

HIV/AIDS- Virus; Most symptoms of AIDS are not caused directly by HIV, but by an infection or other condition brought on by a weakened immune system. These include severe weight loss, fever, headache, night sweats, fatigue, severe diarrhea, shortness of breath, and difficulty swallowing. The symptoms tend to last for weeks or months at a time and do not go away without treatment. In some cases, infections result in death. Doctors can prescribe and array of medications (commonly known as a -cocktail-) to preserve life, however, there is no cure.

HPV (Genital Warts)- Virus; Can cause cervical cancer, visible warts in and around the genitals, may look like miniature cauliflower florets, some show no symptoms. Warts can be removed by a physician, however, they will always return

medical coding training at home.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Rules For Professional Portrait Photographers Chapter 3 - Professionalism, Trust, Ethics


medical coding training at home.

Originally when making my outline for the chapters I would include for this book, Ethics, Professionalism, Trust and Responsibility were to be separate chapters. In reality these topics are so intertwined that any discussion of one will require an examination of each of the others. I will now set down the parameters for these important qualities of Professional Portrait Photographers based on my over 30 years of experience.

When you think of a "Professional" in any arena, what comes to mind? For most of us the term "Professional" conjures up images of Doctors, Lawyers, Bankers, Corporate Managers and other "white collar" types. (I must admit when I used the word 'arena', it made me think of MMA professional fighters...) In any case the term "Professional" denotes one who is specially trained, knowledgeable, and imminently qualified to do a particular job.

The loosest definition I've ever heard is, "A professional is someone who gets paid to do a job". While that is most generally true, I believe that criteria is really just the opposite of the definition of 'amateur' rather than an accurate definition of professional.

Think of when you have heard someone say, "He/she is a 'true' professional". What does that mean? Certainly it means that the person is trained, knowledgeable, well qualified to do a particular job, and no doubt is paid for doing it, but it also refers to certain qualities exhibited by the person. It implies that the way he does the job, or provides the service is exemplary.

Many professions have a written code of ethics, which must be adhered to in order to remain in the profession. For example, doctors may have their license to practice medicine revoked for violating the medical code of ethics. A lawyer may be disbarred and have their license to practice law revoked for violating the Barr's code of ethics. There are many other examples, but the point is that a Professional is held to a higher standard.

We trust that a person who is a "Professional" actually has the training, knowledge and qualifications to do a professional job of whatever it is they are professional at. Most people also expect that a "Professional" will conduct themselves in a "professional manner" when engaged in their profession. It's very disappointing when they don't...isn't it!

Have you ever hired a professional to do a job for you, and they didn't seem to really know what they were doing? Or when the job was done you found that it was done

poorly? You come away thinking that they really aren't professional after all! And that's disappointing, isn't it? Doesn't that make you feel that your trust was violated or taken advantage of? That's NOT the impression you as a Professional Portrait Photographer want to make!

It is our responsibility as Professional Portrait Photographers to first of all to have the training in our field to really know what we're doing, and how to do what we want to do to get the image we desire to make! That's basic. We need to know our equipment and how to use it to get the results we are after. That's also basic.

We must be honest with ourselves and our clients. When you take on an assignment, you better know how to execute it! How you perform on the job will be a big part of the reputation you develop. And reputation is very important!

For some reason, negative word of mouth travels much farther and faster than positive word of mouth! When your name comes up in conversation and a potential client is talking with a past client, which reputation would you rather have spread..."Oh, we hired him once, and he was fumbling with his equipment the whole time, and didn't really seem to know what he was doing." Or..."Oh yes! She made our portraits and we had a wonderful time with her, and our portraits are beautiful!"

Obvious, isn't it? For family portraits the average interval is 5 to 10 years. That is, a family will have a fine portrait made every 5 to 10 years. They may go to Sears or Kmart every year for a snapshot, but they will hire a Professional Portrait Artist once every 5 years or so. That means that if you do it right the first time, and leave a good impression on your client, and keep in touch with them, they will most likely hire you again rather than go looking for a new photographer. And they will speak highly of you when the topic of portraits comes up, and likely refer their family and friends to you.

If you fumble around and don't engage your client and develop your rapport with them during the session, even if the portraits come out well, what kind of impression does that leave your client with? Likely they'll think of you as a grumpy bumbler! If that's their impression of you do you think they'll be likely to refer you to friends and family? Do you think they'll hire you again? Probably not.

Do you charge a Creation Fee, or Session Fee in advance of the portrait session? (If not, you should!) When you accept the Creation Fee from your client, and reserve their session date, you are entering into a contract. Even if you don't have any written contract, you are telling your client that they can trust you to be there on the date and time reserved, that they can count on you to do a professional job, and they can trust that you will deliver portraits that they will be happy with.

That's a lot of trust on the part of the client, and a lot of responsibility on your part! Now,

artist's are sometimes expected to be a bit "eccentric", but that doesn't give us license to be jerks, or to be totally void of personality! Most people aren't all that comfortable in front of a camera. If we desire to make beautiful, sensitive portraits, it behooves us to put

our clients at ease. Make them comfortable with us. That way we can draw out their personalities, and have their cooperation during the time we are working with them to make their portraits. I think it's obvious that when the client enjoys the experience, enjoys being with you, you will have a much more successful session.

What is your "ethic"? How do you view your responsibility to your client? How important is it to you that you give your client a good experience in working with you, and that you deliver excellent portraits? Do you always "give your all" when working with your clients? How important is it to you that you be on time, and are prepared to do the best job you can for them? Do you deliver your client's portraits on or before the date promised, or is that just not all that important to you...after all you have their money already...?

How you answered those questions defines your ethic as it relates to your business. Again, as Professionals, we are held to a higher standard, or ethic. Ours is a business that really relies heavily on word of mouth and referrals, so it's very important that we conduct ourselves in a professional manner.

We should always treat our clients with the utmost respect. Use proper English and grammar when talking with clients. Always speak of and act toward what it is you do, (make portraits), with respect. If you desire your clients to respect what you do, treat what you do respectfully. Speak of portraiture and the craft of making portraits with respect.

There's another area of ethics I nearly skipped...Personal ethics. This has to combine with your professional ethic. Remember, your reputation is at stake. How do you feel about the senator who sneaks around at night having an affair, hoping he won't be discovered while his wife is waiting at home for him?

How about the doctor or psychiatrist who seduces or molests his patients? What about the home security professional who steals from his clients as he's installing their home security system? Or worse. I'm referring here to moral ethics, and this is very important. A couple of these examples here are down right criminal!

You may feel this is redundant as I already said that you must treat your clients with the utmost respect. And certainly respect would prevent you from making lewd remarks to your client. However photographers are often in very close contact with a client, and at times there can be a strong attraction. Your client may even give you signs that she would be receptive to your advances. My advice: STOP! Do not entertain any kind of personal

relationship other than Professional and client! At least until after you have fulfilled all of your responsibilities including delivery of the finished portraits.

I can easily imagine that there could be situations where after the session, after the delivery of portraits, a more personal relationship might appropriately be pursued. Be very careful about this. Do not take undue advantage of the contact data you have on your client! That would be unethical! And you could find yourself at the receiving end of a restraining order for stalking! This would not be good for the reputation! Not good at all!

Believe me, I'm a man and a portrait artist. I got started in the profession of photography doing glamour and fashion work. I have had many boudoir sessions with extremely beautiful and sexy women. Fortunately for me I have a well developed moral ethic that actually prevents me from even thinking about how sexy and gorgeous the model is, who is right here in front of me completely naked! At least until after the session, and we're previewing the images.

It's very important that the comments you make to a client, be they boudoir or family portrait clients, are positive and complimentary without ever being overtly sexual or even double meaninged. We want to give confidence to and reassure our client, not make them uncomfortable!

Stick to business and do the best job you can do. That's what a Professional does. Be personable and engage your client, but don't become overly familiar and step over the bounds of professionalism. Give your client a good, positive experience. Make them love you! Our profession, as are all others that include sales, is relationship based, but there is no sexuality in professional relationships with clients in our profession.

To summarize, photographic portrait artistry is a noble and high profession. To be a Professional Portrait Photographer one must have special education in and knowledge of the craft. We should be creative and truly love the work. We must have expertise in the use of our equipment. We want to give our clients a good experience all the way through the client-photographer relationship. This requires that we be friendly, helpful, engaging and complimentary while being very respectful of our clients and of our profession.

We need to be honest and "up front" with our clients. If it's going to take 3 or 4 weeks for you to be able to complete an order, don't tell your client you'll have it done in a week or two. Put yourself in your client's position and earn the trust they are putting in you. Be on time, do the best job you know how, do a little extra in the way of service, and earn the privilege of being hired to serve your client again in the future.

medical coding training at home.

RTRP Training Addresses Income Tax on Money Sources Tapped by the Unemployed


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As the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high, a weak job market means more individuals relying upon money from sources other than wages. The tax impact of these actions is therefore a major consideration for anyone providing tax preparation services.

When earned income declines, bills are still due. The tax consequences vary among different sources of funds. When one job is gone, the search for another begins. Keeping track of some costs during this process results in valuable tax deductions. Registered Tax Return Preparer work requires careful consideration of distinctive details for the returns of unemployed individuals.

An RTRP can even advise unemployed people about helpful tax measures to follow. For example, an examination of severance checks - including payment for accrued vacation and sick time - reveals if sufficient withholding is reflected. Withheld income tax might not cover the amount of liability for the year. In that case, an estimated tax payment could become necessary to avoid a tax underpayment penalty.

Also, tax-exempt contribution of wages to pay annual childcare expenses demands scrutiny. Any unused allocation becomes taxable if it is not spent on childcare. This can occur when the unemployed use their new free time to care for their children.

In fact, an unemployment situation is an ideal opportunity to deploy information learned in a tax planning course. The results usually find that withholding on wages assumed full-year employment. Consequently, the job loss causes excess tax withholding. However, there are other new income sources likely to arise upon unemployment.

A good tax preparation checklist covers details applicable to the unemployed. First, unemployment compensation is taxable income. If necessary, a taxpayer may implement federal tax withholding on these payments. Most other forms of public assistance are not taxable. These categories include food stamps as well as payments under the WIC and TANF federal programs. Gifts of support from family are also not subject to income tax.

RTRP training also addresses the tax impact of withdrawals from retirement plans. These distributions before age 59� incur both regular income tax plus a 10 percent penalty. However, the penalty is avoided on IRA withdrawals to pay health insurance premiums. In addition, returns of current-year IRA contributions transpire without penalty.

With lower income during unemployment, non-working taxpayers may enjoy more tax deductions. For example, deducting medical expenses and the cost of looking for a job requires exceeding an income threshold. That is easier to accomplish with reduced adjusted gross income. In addition, lower income may qualify the unemployed - particularly those with children - for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

When a new job requires moving, the relocation costs are usually deductible. The requirement is that the new job is located at least 50 miles farther from the previous home than the old job. In that case, tax preparation should capture the expenses for transporting people, possessions, and pets. Taxpayers don't even have to itemize deductions in order to enjoy this tax benefit.

IRS Circular 230 Disclosure

Pursuant to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service Circular 230, we inform you that, to the extent any advice relating to a Federal tax issue is contained in this communication, including in any attachments, it was not written or intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (a) avoiding any tax related penalties that may be imposed on you or any other person under the Internal Revenue Code, or (b) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication.

medical coding training at home.

Review on Medical Billing Specialist Job


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Medical billing is a process in which the submitting claims to the insurance companies is done in order to receive payment for the service rendered to the patient. The professional who does this job is known as billing specialist.

A medical specialist basically works for medical office and is in charge of the financial transaction of the organization. The main requirement of a billing specialist is the ability to give attention to the details and accuracy. But billing specialists may also have to perform some other jobs besides billing and collection. Some of them are maintaining patient chart, appointment scheduling, and payroll and banking tasks.

Since all these jobs should be handled very accurately and efficiently, most of the health care facilities prefer experienced or trained individuals. In today's virtual world, getting trained in billing is not a difficult task. There are many online courses available to train and educate the candidates. It is possible for anyone to take up this course, as these courses can be completed anywhere in the world.

Medical industry is prospering irrespective of the current economy. So, the demand of medical billing specialist is also increasing. Due to this medical billing specialists are able to earn a competitive salary. However, studies show that 18% of the jobs are still vacant due to lack of skilled professionals. Since billing always goes hand-in-hand with coding, aspiring medical specialists are recommended to do a course that includes billing and coding. Medical billing and coding specialist has a greater career opportunity compared to billing alone. Most of the today's billing and claiming are done via electronic means. Hence, training in operating the electronic billing software is essential for an aspiring billing specialist.

Medical billing specialists are hired by the health care facilities, insurance companies and other health related organizations. All these companies arrange an office setting for the billing specialists. Some of them may let their billing specialist to work from home as well. These employees are paid a fixed salary. However, some billing specialists prefer to work as independent contractors. They can work for multiple clients at the same time. Their salary depends on the number of clients they have and the duration of the project they get.

To ensure the quality of billing, one should always hire a billing specialist who is familiar with the electronic medical billing and can use it efficiently.

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Retirement Plan Distribution Basics on the IRS Exam


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Understanding the tax treatment of retirement plan distributions is commonly required when preparing a tax return. It is therefore covered in numerous questions on the IRS exam for tax preparers.

Most distributions from retirement plans are not taxable when withdrawals occur during retirement. However, there are often situations where taxpayers conduct withdrawals from retirement accounts that are taxed. Anyone who has become a tax preparer will frequently encounter taxpayers with early distributions from retirement plans.

Some taxpayers are not fully aware of the income tax effect from withdrawing funds from retirement accounts. This can cause them to have insufficient withholding during the year to cover their tax liability. Therefore, tax class information about estimated tax penalties can also apply when addressing retirement plan distributions.

In most cases, early distributions from retirement plans occur when the taxpayer has not reached age 59�. Although there are some exceptions, early distributions are normally subject to a 10 percent tax penalty in addition to regular income tax. Distributions that are rolled over to another qualified retirement account are not subject to tax or the penalty. However, a rollover must occur within 60 days of a distribution.

Even early distributions from a Roth IRA incur the 10 percent penalty, unless an exception is met. Such withdrawals from a Roth IRA are also subject to regular income tax. Roth IRA distributions only avoid tax and the 10 percent penalty when they are returns of original invested funds, qualified distributions, or made pursuant to one of the exceptions. An important part of tax preparer jobs is knowing the exceptions related to disability, first time home purchase, medical costs, or higher educational expenditures.

Like all amounts withdrawn from retirement accounts, early distributions are reported to the IRS by the payers. The amounts are reported on a Form 1099-R. Taxpayers also receive a copy of this form.

Training for the tax preparer exam teaches the calculations required to determine partially taxable early distributions from retirement plans. For example, a taxpayer with nondeductible contributions in an IRA is not taxed on the percentage of distributions represented by those nondeductible amounts. Only after-tax contributions to other types of retirement plans result in partially non-taxable early distributions.

IRS Circular 230 Disclosure

Pursuant to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service Circular 230, we inform you that, to the extent any advice relating to a Federal tax issue is contained in this communication, including in any attachments, it was not written or intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (a) avoiding any tax related penalties that may be imposed on you or any other person under the Internal Revenue Code, or (b) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication.

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Remembering and Intuiting Dreams


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In order to intuit your dreams fully, you will need to train your mind to remember them. Strong dream patterns and symbols that are reoccurring are significant intuitive codes that signal your cognitive state. Remembering your dreams can be tricky because the moment you awaken and get out of bed, your dreams fade away.

Catching a good night's sleep with the use of drugs is not the best way to remember and intuit your dreams. Natural, restful sleep is healthier than drug-induced sleep and allows genuine dream monitoring to occur. Sleep medications not only make you feel groggy when you wake up but also influences night mares and disquieted dreams.

The best way to train your mind to remember your dreams is being aware of the first segment of dream pictures. These occur when you are drifting off. At this moment simply tell yourself that you are aware that you are dreaming. Also tell yourself that you will remember your dreams when you awaken. Do these every night as you fall asleep, mentally repeating these statements over and over as you go deeper into sleep. It is much better than counting sheep or taking a sleeping medication.

It is also a good idea to keep on a regular slumber schedule. Preparation for relaxation may include a warm bath, listening to soothing music, or meditation. Eating meals before bedtime will interfere with your relaxation and sleep program. Alcohol is not recommended nor is smoking.

Keep a journal or tape recorder on your bed stand. You will train your mind to awaken following every dream and jot down your dream, you will be scribbling but that is fine. If you have a tape recorder that is voice activated, then train your mind to verbalize your dreams as you have them. Training on a regular basis, night after night for about a month is all it will take to have control over remembering your dreams. You may even want to go deeper into lucid dreaming later.

Ask a question before retiring and find your answers in your dreams when you are awake. You can do this by analyzing your own dream symbols and keeping a good record. Within about 6 months you will have created your own dream library. Looking at published dream libraries can give you an idea but it is better to intuit the workings of your dream world yourself and not be influenced by someone else's ideas. For example, I often dream of houses. I also do a lot of inner work; therefore a house in my dream represents my inner world. But to someone else it may actually represent a future home.

The most significant aspect is to be patient and be persistent. You will gradually find it easy to recall your dreams and intuit their meaning.

medical coding training at home.

Rehabilitating Feminism As a Concept


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For some reason it is very rare to see the major issues I face as a woman reflected in the mainstream media. I find this quite sad, given that the feminist movement - which dates from Mary Wollstonecraft's 1792 Vindication of the Rights of Women - is over 200 years old. The concept of feminism is based on the notion that women face unique difficulties based on their gender that aren't faced by men. Over the past 3 � decades the term has been used to encompass of range of social conditions that prevent women from achieving their full potential as human beings. These include, among others, systemic inequality and discrimination in education, employment and the legal and criminal justice system; legal, economic and psychological pressure to conform to stereotyped gender roles and subordinate basic needs to those of men; and basic reproductive rights for all women regardless of income. The area of reproductive rights in itself covers a range of services that are readily available to upper income families but totally inaccessible to the 20 percent of American children (and their moms) who live in poverty. Affordable birth control, abortion and prenatal and child care and paid parental leave are all essential for women to function effectively in contemporary society.

Unfortunately the way mainstream media has covered feminism has not been conducive to rational dialogue about these fairly complex issues. In fact numerous social commentators - starting with J Kenneth Galbraith - believe the mainstream media has deliberately targeted women as consumers by creating a very narrow, stereotyped ideal of what modern women should look like, as well as what they should think, feel and value.

Targeting Women for the Hard Sell

Much as been written about the psychological underpinnings of the public relations and advertising industry - how sophisticated advertising deliberately plays on fundamental unconscious drives to pressure consumers to continually purchase products they can't really afford and don't really need. These powerful psychological messages can be broadly divided into two groups. The first includes messages that play on instant gratification as an entitlement. The advertising industry has been pumping out different versions of the slogan "You're worth it" for several decades. The second group of messages play on basic human insecurities about being viewed as inferior and rejected by peers and/or the opposite sex.

When substantial numbers of women entered the work force, corporations and the advertising industry went after this new source of disposable income by launching the appearance industry. Whereas previously only women who belonged to the wealthy elite could afford to follow the dictates of fashion gurus, suddenly there was enormous pressure for minimum wage office workers to purchase a brand new wardrobe every season. This was immediately followed by a giant cosmetics industry that markets billions of dollars of make-up, hair, skin and nail products, teeth whiteners, breath fresheners by terrifying women - and increasing numbers of men - that without these products they will never attract the opposite sex.

Following the enormous success of the cosmetics industry, corporate America went on to launch the diet industry and ultimately the cosmetic surgery industry. In addition to marketing sexual attractiveness, these new ventures are even more aggressive in marketing thinness and fear of aging. Their success in convincing hundreds of millions of women world wide to hate their bodies is directly responsible for the epidemic of (often fatal) anorexia nervosa - a condition that is virtually unknown in the third world.

The Pressure to Play Happy Families

However I believe the mainstream media's stereotyped view of women (as perpetually young, starvation thin and perfectly chiseled) serves a strategic purpose beyond the short term goal of selling cosmetics, hygiene and diet products and plastic surgery. This stuff is small change.

The big money comes from systematically pressuring women to believe they will be social outcasts if they fail to succeed at romantic love - in which the final exam is setting up housekeeping and starting a family. These messages drive the big ticket, usually non-discretionary sales: residential property, home renovation (aka DIY or the big R), major appliances, furniture and furnishings and most lucrative of all, the multimillion dollar industry producing and promoting baby and children's products.

It is also the main reason that couples age 28-40 carry the highest debt load in industrialized society and are at the highest risk for personal bankruptcy.

What is Feminism Anyway?

The other major problem I have with media coverage and women's rights is (I believe) a deliberate effort to confuse feminism and women's rights with affirmative action.

As a consequence media coverage of women's rights seems narrowly focused on issues that concern upper middle class women - for example progress in appointing more women to high status positions (for example the increase in women doctors, lawyers, judges, CEOs, etc).

In my mind true feminism seeks to address universal issues that affect all women regardless of social or economic status - as well as all children - as women (as mothers) are the natural advocates for children who are too young to advocate for themselves. Obviously there are differing perspectives in defining these universal issues. In the European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand many issues once viewed as "feminist" are now seen as sound social policy benefiting the welfare of society as a whole.

Feminism? Or Good Social Policy?

In fact over the last few decades most industrialized countries (the US being a notable exception) have enacted a raft of reproductive rights legislation - based on the premise that it's cheaper to intervene early in life than pay for 20-30 years of medical costs and disability benefits (or 20-30 years of incarceration) for neglected or abused children who go on to develop chronic medical or mental health problems or an antisocial personality.

This trend relates largely to increasing evidence that the intrauterine milieu and first three years of life are the ultimate determinant of an adult's health status, IQ and emotional well being.

The Growing Science of Epigenetics

While the early Freudians used to make similar claims about unfavourable "psychological" influences on infants and young children, it is now clear the effect is biological rather than psychological. That it relates to "epigenetics" - a term referring to changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than the underlying DNA sequence. Numerous studies show that environmental stress and hormones (particularly stress hormones) can cause genetic code to be transcripted (into proteins and enzymes) in such a way that negatively affects an individual's immune response or even predisposes them to become mentally ill.

For some reason, even though most of these studies originate in the US, our own country seems to lag far behind other developed countries in translating these studies into public policy.

The highest on my list of urgent women's rights issues our elected officials need to address are

- Stronger pay equity legislation - despite 1963 federal legislation outlawing pay discrimination based on sex, full time female workers between 18-64 still earn around 80 percent of male workers with comparable qualifications and job descriptions.

- Adequate and affordable prenatal care and nutritional support for all women regardless of income

- Safe, affordable pregnancy termination for all women unable to carry a pregnancy to term for health or psychological reasons (my grandfather turned his portrait of Richard Nixon to the wall when the Republicans deleted this item from their platform - he saw this as a way to save billions of dollars in welfare benefits).

- Quality, affordable childcare for all single parents of young children who wish to work or pursue education or training.

- A decent caregiver allowance for single parents of pre-school children to 1) allow women to leave abusive marriages without dooming themselves and their children to poverty and 2) reward single women (and men) for dedicating themselves to the oldest, hardest, most socially relevant profession in human history: namely childrearing. The cost of a six year caregiver allowance is ridiculously cheap when compared to the phenomenal cost of processing neglected and abused teenagers and young adults through the criminal justice system.

- Tougher prosecution of domestic and other violence against women

- Reform of rape laws to ensure accused rapists receive a fair trial without re-victimizing their victims.

MomsRising.org

A reader has turned me onto MomsRising.org, a four year old organization that lobbies for a "more family friendly." America - and for many of the above policies. Unfortunately for most of 2010 the group squandered their hard earned political capital on ObamaCare - which is nothing more than a corporate welfare plan for insurance and drug companies. A nearly identical law in Massachusetts has been an absolute disaster.

In the US insurance companies are colossal unregulated finance companies (look at AIG - one of the major recipients of TARP money). They derive their profits from taking the premiums you pay them and investing them. They have no business whatsoever inserting themselves into the doctor-patient relationship. We are not talking about mortgages and home foreclosures here. We are talking about profit motivated decisions that have life or death consequences for thousands of Americans. If you or your doctor do something that might possibly lose money for your insurance company, they have absolutely no qualms about denying treatment.

medical coding training at home.

Reasons to Choose a General Or Legal Transcription Career Over a Medical Transcription Career


medical coding training at home.

You've likely seen ads, heard commercials, or read fluff filled articles about how training for a career in medical transcription can help you create an instant career. Chances are you probably thought, "Hey, I wonder if I can do that." Let's clear up a few myths and misconceptions about medical transcription.

As a transcriptionist I've been asked this question more times than I can count.

Loretta, I would like to take a course on medical billing and/or coding or medical transcription so that I can work at home over the summer. Which course do you recommend? Also, is this work difficult and do many medical companies hire home workers for this?

These are my own personal opinions based on my business experiences and research I've done online. I am a general and legal transcriptionist, I've never personally trained, studied, or even attempted to do medical transcription and these are the reasons why.

The first thing to clear up is that a lot of times people confuse medical coding and billing with transcription. They are not the same thing, however there are many people in the field that do both billing and transcription work in the offices they work for.

Most of the programs that are offered online for this that promise work from home opportunities for medical billing and coding and medical transcription are a huge waste of time. You can always look at your local community college or find a doctor/hospital with an internship program if this something you are truly interested in. As a side note, small town doctor's offices are usually more willing to train someone new for doing their billing and/or transcription work than those in the bigger cities.

Most offices and hospitals will require you to work in house for at least a year in their billing department, sometimes 2 or more years, before allowing you to telecommute. The same goes for medical transcription. Security being the main reason for this. Think about the information you give your doctor... it would be completely irresponsible for them to hand that off to just anyone.

If your main goal is to work only from home, medical billing/coding/transcription is probably not the best path to take. While I realize that's not the advice or information anyone wants to hear, it's my honest opinion on the subject and something I tell people often.

To further elaborate on the amount of work at home jobs available in this field for those wondering...

I've personally been working from completely from home since 2001 and in that time I have been a member of so many work at home mom groups, forums, email lists, communities, message boards, and chat discussions that I lost count ages ago. I've met hundreds of work at home moms and entrepreneurs virtually and quite a few in person as well. In all that time, with all that networking, with all that chatting, I've only ever met ONE person that did medical billing or transcription from home, and she didn't even work 100% from home, she was in the office Monday and Thursday, and at home Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. It took her nearly five years to convince her boss of that arrangement.

medical coding training at home.

Real Home Based Income Opportunities Are Easy to Find


medical coding training at home.

Everyone is searching for home based income opportunities in these hard economic times. Many people may believe they don't have the experience to have their own business at home, but there are many opportunities that don't require experience or degrees.

There are even online guides and courses that will train you in a field so that you can work from home! There are literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of home based income opportunities out there, many of which you've probably never thought of.

What do you need to be able to start a home business? For one thing, motivation and drive. You should be able to work for yourself without supervision and meet deadlines. If you don't possess these qualities a home business may not be for you.

Now, what are some of the income opportunities for a home based business that may be right for you? And how do you decide? Here are some tips.

1. Use your hobbies and interests to think of a home business that may work for you. Do you love cooking or making crafts? A home catering business or craft shop could be a great money making opportunity for you. Putting your crafts online is even better!

2. Know a little about data entry and typing but not enough to really start a business? Online guides and courses can give you the training you need to start a bookkeeping or secretarial business. Medical billing and coding are highly popular home business options.

3. Just want to start from scratch and do something online? That one's easy. There are so many home based income opportunities on the internet these days, and millions of people make BIG money online. Some options are surveys, affiliate marketing, freelance writing and blogging. These are just a few ways to make money online.

As you can see, if you truly want to start your own home business there are plenty of opportunities. The methods I mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg! You really can make much more than a full time income working from the comfort of your own home.

Need more ideas? We've got plenty! For tips, resources and tons of information on home based income opportunities, visit the links below.

medical coding training at home.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Rate Doctors - The Best Way to Find The Treatment You Deserve


medical coding training at home.

A lot of us may already have a trusted physician to go to in a time of need, but a vast portion of the country's population does not enjoy this luxury. Trustworthy and qualified medicine is something we take granted. You may still return to the family practitioner that your parents introduced you to, but what if you move to a different city or state? Sure you can just go to a local clinic or urgent treatment center, but how guaranteed is it that you will come across a reliable professional who is as helpful as you need them to be? To learn more about the fastest and easiest method for discovering experienced, recommended clinicians, read further to learn about websites that rate doctors.

You may or may not have heard of this type of webpage before, but if you have not, it is worth looking into. This way of seeking out proper health care is quickly gaining momentum as the most popular and time saving route to getting treatment. The way these websites operate is through the use of searching for local physicians who are the most relevant to your needs and the ability to rate doctors.

To get started, simply provide your zip code to begin to narrow down the search and then either browse through all types of listed doctor ratings or specify your browsing further by looking under certain types of treatments. These sites are massive compilations of user-submitted testimonials and ratings. Thousands of people just like you are giving their opinions advice to the public via ratings web pages and it is yours to take advantage of.

There is no reason to delay or to just go back to asking people whom they recommend for medical care. This can be bothersome and may end up getting too personal. Seeing as health issues can be a sensitive subject for some people, the only person whom you will want to share information with is a trained practitioner. Doctor and patient confidentiality exists for a reason.

These rating web sites eliminate any possible embarrassment, as the searches you conduct are entirely anonymous. The only information you will provide is zip code or city/state you live in. From there on, it is just perusing over the pages of write-ups that former patients composed after receiving care from a specific clinic. The advantages don't stop there, however, as this is also an advancement in time saving.

Seeing as the only requirements for using rating sites is internet access, you more than likely will not have to leave your own home. Think about it, you can find the perfect physician that suits all you needs while you are checking your email account during a lunch break. It is just that easy.

So, go online and try out pages that rate doctors and you will be that much closer to knowing where to go in order to receive the best medical care out there.

medical coding training at home.

Radiation In Your Homes and Offices!


medical coding training at home.

Most of us go through the day unaware that lurking above our heads or hallways may be devices that are radioactive. At the end of their life cycle, do these become items hazardous wastes for disposal? Which ones pose a health hazard to us? As taxpayers, we want to be able to look to the feds for our safety. While our government is supposed to authorize the safe levels of radioactive emissions from such devices, it seems the feds do not widely advertise the proper method of disposal of these same hazardous wastes.

Radiation is all around us. In the sun's ray, at the airport, on the cell phone, near the microwave. We heard as kids that too much of anything can't be good, and that applies to various levels of radio waves. The big three that we train on in the environmental services field are X-rays, Gamma rays, and Beta rays. Some rays can be protected against by something as simple as paper, and some need dozens of feet of dirt and concrete, or lead sheet. However, too much radioactive dosage at one time for a specific ray can cause acute or chronic burns to organs, genetic mutation, and possibly even a private invite to the Pearly Gates themselves!

While most homeowners in New England are aware today of the presence of Radon Gas that is emitted from the granite with which their cellar foundations are made, many are not aware that granite emits a bit of radioactivity as well. A property manager or homeowner would be wise to install Radon Gas detectors that can be purchased at any hardware store for the protection of the inhabitants. While Radon Gas is dangerous over a period of time, open ventilation is a simple enough way to rid the facility of any gas buildup. However, for radioactivity, a Geiger counter is required to check for levels of radioactive isotopes. Thankfully, over a long period federal and state oversight, there has not been sufficient evidence to show dangerous levels of radioactivity in most common granite buildings, and so we have not been focusing on that type of threat. In New England, many of the courthouses and public historic buildings were constructed of Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire granite. Jokingly, we citizens thought maybe it was the radiation that was causing poor fiscal decisions at the Capitol, but sadly, no!

Radiation comes in many forms, and while the word is scary and carries visions of disfigured war victims, or some B-rate horror movie, we do not have to worry a great deal about the devices sold-over-the-counter at the local hardware store. Although a walk into a functional laboratory may reveal heavy radioactive isotopes used in experiments, most us will not ever encounter radioactive dosages to the extent of harming us. If we were to encounter such levels, it would be in a guarded setting and training would be mandatory by certified instructors. Medical doctors would be assigned to assess your exposure and detection devices would be issued for you to wear. These "badges" or "pens" would be read daily and your dosages would be accumulated and assessed. If you received more than was safe, you would be prevented access to the radioactive area again for a period of time specified by a Medical Doctor. In this setting, the corporation or public facility where you work is liable for your training, awareness, and safety.

Devices to be aware of that we may come across at home and work are smoke and fire detectors, the Fire Department approved "Exit" signs, luminescent displays, clocks, and phones. But as a general guideline, the layperson, homeowner, or property manager should ALWAYS review all labels underneath and/or around the device when preparing to dispose of ANY item. All radioactive devices sold legitimately in the United States today need to be labeled if carrying some amount of radioactive emissions. MLI Environmental is called upon occasionally to dispose of items when a building is being renovated, or possibly a new owner has purchased it. Sometimes, the "emitter" is operational, but another small electronic part of a device's design is faulty, making the whole device a piece of junk. These consumable items are so inexpensive to purchase, fixing them is more costly than disposal of the hazardous waste through us.

When we are called upon to take these items away, it is usually a quite a few at a time because we generally deal with private commercial property owners and corporations. They have a larger assigned budget that allows payment of these items. Sometimes, depending upon the market, an recycle facility will take these devices and fix and recycle them for resale. If this can't be done, then much of the time, the devices are accumulated at a federally registered facility licensed to store radioactive devices for an appropriate time. Before a deadline is reached, the facility consolidates these devices and ships them in bulk to a approved end-disposal facility, such as Barnwell. Here, they are basically set in a concrete container and buried deep in a secure chemical landfill that is federally monitored for safety and emissions. For the most part, home and normal office related devices are considered low-level and harmless to a great degree, but disposal other than a permitted receiver is not approved. Unfortunately, rather than pay for disposal, some "generators" opt to burn them, throw them in with their garbage, or "float test" them down the Kennebec River. These methods are dangerous to the rest of us and definitely not approved. We offer those having difficulty with disposal, various safe and legal options. If this is you, please call us and we can help you!

As a transporter, we bear a responsibility to our customers, and ourselves to abide by federal and state regulations when handling such hazardous waste and chemicals for disposal or recycling. A simple glance at a United States (US) Department of Transportation (DOT) Hazardous Materials (HazMat) Guidebook would reveal that of the 9 major hazard classes assigned by DOT for interstate commerce, one of the classes is Hazard Class Seven (7). That Class designated for Radioactive materials. As such, a sign, or placard, is also color coded and numbered for this class. DOT requires that a moving vehicle have these specific placards posted on all four sides of the box, or trailer, holding these class 7 items. These are the signs you see on commercial tractor trailers hauling hazmat every day on the interstate and local roads. We can, and are, pulled over at every open state weigh station for checks of our proper manifests, truck load, credentials, and paperwork.

Once again, it seems, the answer to keeping ourselves safe, is really up to the individual. Hazardous materials training and DOT hazmat training = Safety through self education. Our intent here at Maine Labpack, Inc. is "To make you environmentally aware, one blog at a time!" Call us if we can be of assistance.

medical coding training at home.

Quick Tax CPE Covering Unusual Deductions


medical coding training at home.

"Is it deductible?" is the most common question asked of tax professionals. Enrolled agent continuing education requirements keep those with the EA designation on top of essential tax matters. Tax deductions arise from home ownership, charitable giving, medical costs, casualty losses, and business. Sometimes an unusual expenditure is tax deductible because of its association with one of these categories.

You may be left scratching your head over some potential tax deductions even after completing EA continuing education. But, as an enrolled agent, you are expected to possess the highest level of tax knowledge. Here are some not too unusual situations involving tax deductions.

Don't expect the family pet to provide someone with any tax deductions. However, there are instances where an animal is tax-deductible. One such situation involves guard dogs. Such dogs have to involve a business purpose to qualify as a tax deduction.

Therefore, your enrolled agent ethics course become applicable when assuring that business income is only reduced by ordinary and necessary expenses. A tax-deductible guard dog must protect inventory, livestock, or other business property. If the dog qualifies, you can depreciate its original cost plus all, um, "operating expenses" for the dog - such as food and veterinary care.

Another type of tax-deductible animal is a seeing eye dog. The cost of a medically necessary guide dog is fully deductible in the purchase year; no need to depreciate over the dog's useful life. Costs for training and maintaining a guide dog are also included in medical expenses for determining tax deductions. Limitations apply to the deduction of medical expenses, as covered in your tax CPE.

Medical assistance is applicable to any service animal. Seeing eye pigs do actually exist. In addition, the tax rules apply to anyone using an animal to assist with physical limitations, not just the visually impaired.

The key factor in ethics CPE is that all income is taxable regardless of its source. For example, individuals must report income from illegal activities on their tax returns. As a consequence, taxpayers may deduct legal fees for criminal defense of illegal activities that produced taxable income. Tax professionals should remember this when preparing tax returns for thieves or extortionists.

Every taxpayer is entitled to deduct interest payments for two homes. Even a boat that has sleeping, cooking and sanitation facilities qualifies as a home. Therefore, interest paid on a loan obtained to purchase or improve a houseboat is tax-deductible. The lender should have a security interest in the boat. Of course, taxpayers must itemize deductions in order to qualify for deducting the houseboat interest expense.

IRS Circular 230 Disclosure

Pursuant to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service Circular 230, we inform you that, to the extent any advice relating to a Federal tax issue is contained in this communication, including in any attachments, it was not written or intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (a) avoiding any tax related penalties that may be imposed on you or any other person under the Internal Revenue Code, or (b) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication.

medical coding training at home.

Psychics in Business - Psychics In the Corporate World Article 3


medical coding training at home.

Perhaps one of the best ways to explain how psychics fit in the corporate world is to talk about some of my experiences.....

I started my corporate career when I joined the Comptroller's department of Imperial Oil (Exxon's Canadian affiliate) in the early 70's. Despite not being fully aware of my abilities as a psychic, I used them often at work. To the great surprise of my staff, colleagues and supervisors, I had an eye for finding the hidden mistakes. I recall the time I was heading up a high profile year-end project. We were required to produce pages upon pages of analytical data on very long spread sheets. A staff member brought me one of the final spreadsheets for review... it was about two feet wide and just as deep, columns upon columns of numbers. Saroj said it was all balanced and when I checked the totals they all seemed right... but I looked at the sheet for a minute longer, then pointed to a set of numbers somewhere in the middle of the spread sheet and said "there's the problem, check these totals, I think they are wrong and it's made everything else look right." She was most annoyed, having spent days getting the columns to all add up and balance across as well as down.... 4 hours later she came back in shock..."You were right, how did you know? How could you find that so quickly?" flabbergasted might be a better word than shocked.... we were all promoted soon after that project was completed for having out-performed every other team in the history of the company... you see we actually did the project twice, yet we came in on time and on budget....while we built new systems to gather the data from our databases, we were doing the project the old way, with calculators and our brains. When the systems results and our manual reports all tallied, we knew that no team would ever have to struggle through the old manual system again. Another of those times when my good instincts paid off in saved time and money.

This marked my move to the systems environment, a natural for a psychic.. you see psychics, among other things, read the flow of energy around, through and in an entity. You could say that psychics are intuitive systems analysts.... and since we also read people in the same way, and organizations are made up of people, it often is very easy for a psychic to see where the bottlenecks are and also where negativity is sourced in a company.

I recall a time when I was analyzing a distribution operation that needed a new order-processing/inventory management system - the owners couldn't explain a dramatic increase in inventory losses over the past year or two. I spent almost a week working in the warehouse and at the customer service desks, tracking orders from beginning to end, documenting their current systems... As the week passed, I became increasingly concerned... I could find no flaw in their systems to explain the losses... but all week I kept flashing on a vision of products disappearing out the back door in broad daylight... it wouldn't leave me alone... In my minds eye, products were flying of their own accord out the back door, never to be seen again... At the end of the week, I met with the owners to present my findings.... my recommendations shocked them. I told them they didn't need a new computer system... instead they needed a theft management system, a camera system at the loading docks and on the shipping/receiving desks.... and to fire some of their warehouse staff. I asked if they knew of any staff members with connections to parts dealers or automotive shops... sure enough, two of their long-term shipping-receiving clerks had such a connection - one of them had a brother who had opened a new shop about two years earlier. The owners were stunned... these two - trusted employees, personal friends of the family, - were getting ready to retire in a few years and weren't very happy at the company pension plans... brother presented them with the perfect opportunity to make some extra money.

As I became more experienced and comfortable with being psychic, I began attracting contracts that would enable me to use all of my training and talents. For one such project, I was asked to help the owners take a fast-growing multi-million dollar MLM company worldwide. The project was to help them define their mission, objectives and goals, and establish a new international business and marketing plan. We got hung up on the first task - setting the mission statement. For days we wrangled with the words, trying to get them right... we would think we finally had the right statement, when one of the three owners would notice something they didn't like about it, so we started again, and again, and again.... On the third day, I had had enough... I sent everyone home to think about it and told them I would come back in two days to discuss this once and for all... As I drove home that night, I "saw" the problem... each of the owners was in this business for a different reason... in my vision I saw them each heading in a different direction... one wanted a multi-national and all the money, travel and recognition this would bring him, the second wanted to be a writer, known as an expert in the field (environmental protection) and the third just wanted an interesting little shop that he could move things around in, a place to connect with people... they were so close to each other, they couldn't see that they didn't all want the same thing... So, I called each of them over the next two days and asked what they private goals were... sure enough my seeings were accurate. When we met as a group, my advice was to stop the project, to dissolve the company and of course their partnerships. Their mouths dropped in unison that morning - the first time in months that the three of them had been in agreement about anything... they all knew I was right, the business couldn't succeed... they needed to stop struggling and move on independently with their own personal goals. They wrapped the business up over the next few weeks - shocked again at how quickly they could unravel i t- but then, none of them had noticed it had been unraveling for months already.

What did being psychic have to do with solving these rather common business problems? Any good business consultant would eventually have come to the same conclusions I did... but the truth is that being psychic saved me a lot of time and my clients a lot of money... In the situations I described above, I got there... to the answers, the solution to their struggles, much more quickly than I might have with traditional methods. As soon as I stood back from the problem my objective third eye could take in the bigger picture, and thus triggered the images of the owners' diverging goals. It was the same with the distribution operation - my analytical mind was focused on their systems, but my third eye noticed something out of balance with the people of the organization, kept sending me images of parts going out the back door.... and this led to quickly identifying both the problems as well as the solutions

These days I do a lot of readings for business clients, but I am too busy with my own business to search out corporate consulting contracts... Still, in my dream world, there is a place for a corporate psychic, right along side the corporate psychologist and the head of Corporate security.. Like the empath Deana of Star Trek fame, psychics would be trusted to guide the ship through unknown territories, seeing what eyes cannot... Dr Geri DeStefano eloquently describes how the corporate psychic would function... and increase profits...

The Role of the Corporate Psychics

by Dr Geri DeStefano

I've been a psychic and a therapist for over 25 years. In my private practice I've often had clients who came to me for psychic readings to deal with any number of personal problems. Usually, the areas that they wanted advice about were the standard stuff of life: relationships, career, family, life.... After working with me, these clients realized that I provided them with clear, concise and practical ways that they themselves could employ to approach these problem areas. Very quickly, these clients began to ask me questions on how they could begin to apply these same strategies to their businesses and work environment.

What evolved out of those inquiries was a practical methodology to assess, enhance and to bring into action people in business. I want to stress the "enhance" part here. Oftentimes when a business approaches a firm that specializes in organizational management and consulting, there is a tacit agreement that "there's something wrong and it has to be fixed"!

This is at a point when it is almost too late to remedy the problem, it usually costs big bucks, (which a business or corporation can ill-afford to spend at that critical point) AND, more importantly, owners and upper management are faced with their own subconscious "fears" that it was something they did...or didn't do well enough. So while a business may be motivated to seek outside assistance there may be many factors that can prevent or impede a healthy recovery.

As readers of energy, we are trained to see into and through the energy of the organization and the individuals that comprise it, to get to the root of the problem - often before it requires serious and costly outside intervention.

SOME BASICS TO CONSIDER:

Within every business or corporate structure there is excellent talent and ability. There is usually a main motivation for wishing a business flourish. And people work very hard to achieve their goals. Owners have staked their entire fortunes and poured their vital life force into concepts and systems to market their products. So for an outside firm to come in and sell their services based on fear and the idea that they're going to somehow "fix" it can potentially, in fact, undermine the very solutions that the ailing business needs. Instead of approaching the problem from "there's something wrong and it has to be fixed" how about replacing it with "there is no problem here, there's just work to do!"

The first step is to enhance the talent, motivation, mission and self-esteem of everyone concerned. This provides an atmosphere of safety and confidence. What I learned and applied initially, was that everyone in a business setting needs to be "seen", "heard" and "acknowledged" for their process. This includes everyone from the head office right down to the janitors. And, most importantly, everyone must know and understand how they are personally responsible for their part of the whole.

The employer has hired each person for his or her unique abilities and expertise. And while they may be the best people for the job there may be factors within the structure of the organization that impede the flow of creative ability.

There are always breakdowns in the communication process at some point or another. This seems to be the biggest factor in why many businesses run into problems.

Owners and upper management are often overworked and stressed by the daily demands placed on them to perform. This stress can result in eroding the fabric of the workplace, cause health issues and result in a high level of absenteeism.

Everybody has a personal life outside the work place. It would be great if everyone could leave that personal life at the front door when they go to work every morning. Some people manage better than others. And, the fact is, that most can't. Yet, in the workplace there is very little room for people's personal issues. No one really wants to hear it or deal with it. Yet, these factors can weigh heavily upon workers and diminish their capabilities.

THERE ARE "SOULUTIONS": THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS JUST WORK TO DO!

No, I didn't misspell solutions! I'd like to think that along with individuals having a soul, a vital spark of life essence, so does a corporation! And in order to heal the soul of the corporation you need "soulutions"!

Non-profit corporations, law and medical practices, hospitals, mid-sized corporations and small business owners have approached us. We have chosen to look at each one of these "entities" as a "whole" system and not just a collection of different people and agendas. It's very similar to viewing the business entity as a family system. In our assessment process, we speak with everyone, privately, to get a "feel" for their personal issues, their concerns in the workplace, where they feel "empowered" or "dis-empowered" in their jobs and note any recommendations that they may proffer. This is not just a simple fact finding task on our part. During the interview process, utilizing therapeutic and psychic abilities, we are able to access a much deeper level of information. All information is confidential with the goals being to:

1. personally empower whoever is sitting in front of us;

2. gain an overview of the corporate "entity";

3. begin formulating strategies to produce outcomes.

Additionally, we attend staff meetings as a silent observer. This allows us to simply witness the underlying group dynamics and communication styles.

After compiling the necessary information we meet with owners and upper management for a "focus group". There, we present recommendations and strategies for how to enhance and operate within their environment. Additionally we pin point the desired outcome. Typical recommendations can include and are not limited to:

Re-arranging, physically, the work environment to allow the maximum flow of energy and creativity.

Instituting a daily "staff energy" session, 30-45 min. company time, for all staff members to check in with each other on daily tasks, goals etc.

Creating a "stress release" room on the premises. This can be an exercise-type room or a quiet meditation room depending on the needs of the corporate entity.

Facilitation of conflict/resolution groups.

Making available to all employees some type of "informal" therapeutic process. This could be mini-sessions with an on staff therapist or on site massage (many masseuses will bring a portable chair into the office for a 10 min. neck and back massage) Amazingly, this does wonders for people's morale and stress levels!)

Workshops on communication skills, developing intuitive abilities for the purpose of enhanced creativity, stress reduction, meditation, substance abuse, and creative play to name of few.

Review of dress code

Provision for child-care facilities, on site, to accommodate working parents.

Review of bonus and incentive programs.

Review of works flows, systems and procedures to identify bottlenecks, duplications and unnecessary steps.

Depending on your needs and the nature of the problem, in addition to meeting with owners and upper management we also meet with everyone employed by the company in either a small or large group format. The purpose of this is to "enroll" everyone in focusing on the same goals, create a safe space for everyone to contribute ideas and suggestions and to boost the corporate energies through collective effort. There is an instance, at a Japanese car-manufacturing factory that is illustrative of this point: at the weekly group meeting of all employees it was a janitor who came up with an innovative idea for part fabrication that saved the corporation time and money. In that climate of collective cooperation a janitor had an opportunity to be "heard" and "acknowledged" for a creative solution.

SOME OF THE REASONS WHY PSYCHICS CAN AND DO WORK WITHIN THE CORPORATE WORLD:

Your caring matters -

Clients and their employees all know from the very beginning that we are Psychic Therapists and consultants and are amazingly open and receptive, for the most part. Through the private interviews,and personal readings, people frequently comment that they think it's great and seem to feel appreciative that their employers are willing to utilize such a unique service. It has had the effect of employees viewing their employers as "caring", "concerned" and "open" to new ways of thinking.

You get honest information -

On another level, through the initial interview, people are very quickly put at ease, since, as psychics, we tend to have very sensitive and accurate people-skills. Interestingly, people will often share information with a psychic that they don't share with others. Additionally, because the goals for the session are to "see", "hear" and "empower" the client, it generates a non- threatening dialogue in which people feel free to disclose their deepest concerns and issues.

You need an objective view -

Psychics can "fit" within a corporate model is because they can perceive information at such a subtle and non-intrusive level. The psychic is careful not to add to or make waves in the prevailing energies of the corporate entity. Psychics who are working in this field are trained to be neutral, objective fair witnesses, impartial observers and readers of energy.

To be successful, everyone needs an edge -

Psychics are simply individuals who have realized, consciously, that they have enhanced abilities. They take it as a given that all people have these abilities whether they're aware of them or not. In the corporate world we invariably run into natural intuitives who have channeled those abilities, creatively and productively, into their work. Every successful businessperson I know is also a fully functioning intuitive, even though they may not describe it in quite those terms. Part of the process that we're proposing is to develop the business owners' and managers' "latent" and natural abilities to enhance and function with them creatively. In the corporate world being tuned in psychically gives one an "edge" to perform even more effectively and profitably.

How it Works - the Practical Details, in an Ideal World

The size and needs of the corporation will determine how many counselors would make up the team. All the members of the team are professionally trained intuitives; they've all run their own national and international businesses and corporations, their abilities, professionally, include computer technology, psychology, law, financial services and media. All consultations are billed on a per hour basis.

Depending on your needs and the nature of the problem, in addition to meeting with owners and upper management, including CEO's and Boards d Directors, we also meet with everyone employed by the company in either a small or large group format.

The purpose of this is would be to "enroll" everyone in focusing on the same goals, create a safe space for everyone to contribute ideas and suggestions and to boost the corporate energies through collective effort. There is an instance, at a Japanese car-manufacturing factory that is illustrative of this point: at the weekly group meeting of all employees it was a janitor who came up with an innovative idea for part fabrication that saved the corporation time and money. In that climate of collective cooperation a janitor had an opportunity to be "heard" and "acknowledged" for creative solutions.

medical coding training at home.