Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 Essay

Today we will be discussing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or HIPAA. As some or most of you may know HIPAA was enacted by the federal government in 1996 and by definition is a federal law that mandates insurance portability and sets up procedures for electronic data exchange (Austin & Wetle, 2012). This law’s purpose is to protect patients privacy, none of a Patient’s Health Information (PHI) is to be used or released without the patient’s consent. HIPAA is superior to state laws, so that no matter where the patient lives they are protected. The only time HIPAA is not superior to state law is if the state law has a higher standard, as in keeping an account of disclosures for eight years rather than the six required by HIPAA law we would follow the state law in this case. Key factors that all health care employees should know about HIPAA are as follows. Who is covered by HIPPA? Health care providers, clearinghouses, and health plans that are compelled to protect PHI for oral, paper, and electronic communications (Harman, 2005) are all covered by HIPAA. Another key factor about HIPAA is, knowing what information is protected and what is ok to be disclosed. PHI is not to be disclosed unless the patient gives their consent, anything with personal identifiers is off limits, demographic data, past, present and future health conditions, provisions of care and past, present, or future payment information (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, n. d. ) are all protected. Information that can be disclosed is called de-identified health information, information without any identifying factors. The only required PHI disclosures are to the patient if they request it. If a facility fails to abide by the laws they will be fined. Any person who obtains or discloses identifiable PHI can face a criminal penalty of up to $50,000 and up to one year in prison (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, n. d. ) the person will likely be terminated from their position as well. These regulations effect the management of employees, patients, resources, and ealth care because everyone needs to be trained in HIPAA practices and know the laws and regulations. Patients need to understand and sign consent forms and be made aware of what their rights are through the policy. One could say HIPPA makes for more paperwork; however it is crucial to protect our patient’s privacy and the relationship with our outside resources. Once completely understood by all of the staff, and patients everyone will understand how valuable HIPAA really is.

Mexico: the Yucatan Peninsula

Mexico: The Yucatan Peninsula The Yucatan Peninsula is located in southeastern Mexico, which separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, on the northern coastline on the Yucatan Channel. The Yucatan Peninsula lies east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a northwestern geographic divider separating the region of Central America from the rest of North America. The Yucatan Peninsula comprises of the Mexican states of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo; the northern part Belize; and Guatemala's northern subdivision of El Peten. Geology The peninsula is the exposed part of the large Yucatan Platform. The Yucatan Peninsula is an unconfined flat lying erosion landscape. Sinkholes, locally called cenotes are widespread in the northern lowlands. According to the Alvarez hypothesis, the mass extinction of the dinosaurs at the transition from the Cretaceous (K) to the Tertiary (T) Periods (the K-T Boundary) 65 million years ago was caused by an asteroid impact somewhere in the Caribbean Basin. The deeply buried Chicxulub Crater is centered off the north coast of the peninsula near the town of Chicxulub. The now-famous â€Å"Ring of Cenotes† outlines one of the shock-waves from this impact event in the rock of ~65 millions years of age, The presence of the crater has been determined first on the surface from the Ring of Cenotes, but also by geophysical methods, and direct drilling with recovery of the drill cores. Water resources Due to the extreme erosion nature of the whole peninsula, the northern half barely consists of any rivers. Where lakes and swamps are present, the water is marshy and is not suitable for drinking water. The thousands of sinkholes, locally called Cenotes throughout the region provide access to the groundwater system, and the cenotes have long been relied on by ancient and contemporary Mayan people. Vegetation The short and tall tropical jungles are the predominant natural vegetation types of the Yucatan Peninsula. The boundaries between northern Guatemala (El Peten), Mexico (Campeche and Quintana Roo), and western Belize are still occupied by the largest continuous tracts of tropical rainforest in Central America. However, these forests are suffering extensive deforestation. Etymology There is a popular myth that the name Yucatan comes from the Yucatec Maya phrase for â€Å"listen how they speak,† or â€Å"I don't understand your words† — supposedly said by contact period Maya, when the first Spanish explorers asked, what the area was called. The proper derivation of the word Yucatan is widely debated. However, it is also claimed that the actual source of the name â€Å"Yucatan† is the Nahuatl (Aztec) word Yokatlan, â€Å"place of richness. † People The Yucatan Peninsula comprises a significant proportion of the ancient Maya Lowlands. There are many Mayan archaeological sites throughout the peninsula; some of the better-known sites are in Chichen Itza, Tulum and Uxmal. Indigenous Mayans and Mestizos of partial Mayan descent still make up a sizable portion of the region's population, and Mayan languages are still widely spoken there. Economy In the late historic and early modern eras, the Yucatan Peninsula was largely a cattle ranching, logging, chicle and henequen production area. Since the 1970’s, the Yucatan Peninsula has fixed its economy towards tourism, especially in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Once a small fishing village, Cancun in the northeast of the peninsula has grown into a thriving city. The Riviera Maya, which stretches along the east coast of the peninsula between Cancun and Tulum, houses over 50,000 beds and is visited by millions of tourists every year. The best-known locations are the former fishing town of Playa del Carmen, the ecological parks Xcaret and Xel-Ha and the Mayan ruins of Tulum and Coba. Climate Like much of the Caribbean, the Yucatan Peninsula lies within the Atlantic Hurricane Belt, and with its almost uniformly flat terrain, it is vulnerable to these large storms coming from the east. The 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season was a particularly bad season for Mexico's tourism industry, with two forceful category 5 storms hitting, Hurricane Emily and Hurricane Wilma. The 2006 Atlantic Hurricane Season was a typical year which left the Yucatan untouched, but in the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season Yucatan was hit by the Hurricane Dean (which is also a category 5 storm); nevertheless Hurricane Dean left little damage on the peninsula despite heavy localized flooding. Strong storms called nortes can quickly descend on the Yucatan Peninsula any time of year. Although these storms pummel the area with heavy rains and high winds, they tend to be short-lived, clearing after about an hour. The average percentage of days with rain per month ranges from a monthly low of 7% in April to a high of 25% in October. Breezes can have a cooling effect; humidity is generally high, particularly in the remaining rainforest areas. Bibliography â€Å"Beautiful Underground Lakes & Rivers. † Wonderfulinfo. com. 5 January 2010. http://www. wonderfulinfo. com/photos/underground/ â€Å"Climate and Weather of Mexico. † yahoo. answers. com. 26 Sept 2009. http://answers. yahoo. com/question/index? qid=20090419162859AAZ2D7m&. crumb=eYF8u9vJN5s â€Å"Mapas de Mexico. † Mexicoadventourist. com. 5 January 2010. http://www. mexicoadventourist. com/Mapas/YucatanMap. jpg â€Å"Mexico’s Government. † Viva Mexico. 2 October 2009. http://staff. esuhsd. org/balochie/studentprojects/mexico/MexGovernment. html Parfit, Michael, â€Å"Yucatan Peninsula,† National Geographic. Aug 1996. 108-113. â€Å"Sunset over the Yucatan. † flickr. com/photos/afagen/. 5 January 2010. http://www. flickr. com/photos/afagen/2262221520/ The World And Its People. â€Å"Mexico – The Land Yucatan†. New York. Greystone Press. 1964. 34-35. â€Å"The World Factbook – Mexico. † CIA the World Factbook, 10 Sept 2009. ttp://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/countrytemplate_mx. html â€Å"Yucatani iguanaleso naplo. † atjeffs. blog. hu/2008. 5 January 2010. http://m. blog. hu/at/atjeffs/image/Yucatan_peninsula_250m. jpg â€Å"Yucatan Sunset. † flickr. com/photos/bjkresearch/. 5 January 2010. http://www. flickr. com/photos/bjkresearch/183792616/ â€Å"Yucatan Peninsula Sunset. † flickr. com/photos/kevmac66/. 5 January 2010. http://www. flickr. com/photos/kevmac66/3495944443/ â€Å"Yucatan Peninsula Resort. † Alwaysonvacation. com. 5 January 2010. http://www. a lwaysonvacation. com/LSS/images/29225/YucatanPeninsula3BedroomsSle

Entrepreneur Interview & Personal Analysis Essay - 1

Entrepreneur Interview & Personal Analysis - Essay Example The opportunity is at the center of the process, however, the identification opportunity and its realization depends upon the personality of the entrepreneur and his team. Other important elements of Timmons’s model are technical expertise and experience required to cash on the identified opportunity. The finance and other resources are placed at the last of this model of entrepreneurial process. (Lebherz, 2010, p.16-20) Specific questions were articulated to gain Mr. Hudson reaction on each element of the Timmons’s model. Clutching an opportunity requires a vigilant eye on current issues and openings. First three questions are focused to gain some knowledge of innovative thoughts that help Mr. Hudson to conceive the idea of the Edge Technologies. Because Mr. Hudson is not a descendent of an entrepreneur family, the enterprise realization is a display of his leadership and managerial qualities. The second question is targeted to gain his input on early strategic plannin g he did to minimize risks and enhance the chances of his success being an entrepreneur. Early shocks of business are a sheer test of entrepreneur courage and character. Third question is aimed at learning about the things that went wrong and posed a challenge to the existence and continuation of corporate operations. This might be very helpful in the assessment of an entrepreneurial character and can provide important insights into the strength of strategic plans laid down in early phases of enterprise establishment. The next section of the interview is aimed at understanding some personal attributes and characteristics of Mr. Hudson personality. This includes his concept of a successful entrepreneur and personal independence, which serves as lighthouse to guide rest of the entrepreneurial activities and forms the basis of other principles. Bygrave & Andrew (2010, p. 52) observes, â€Å"It does appear that entrepreneurs have a higher internal locus of control, than non-entrepreneu rs, which means that they have a stronger desire to be in control of their own fate.† The success of an entrepreneur is characterized by his attitude, ambition, confidence, knowledge, skills and experience. A variable mix of these personal attributes defines the future direction of the business and decides the way corporate objectives are pursued. Among all the attribute of an entrepreneur that contributes towards the success, the most significant is the knowledge of personal strengths and weaknesses. It is important for an entrepreneur to know exactly what shortcomings he needs to avoid and where he can zoom into his strengths. Some of the questions were designed to gain a professional and technical insight into the business. Despite of the over whelming influence of the entrepreneur on the enterprise, an efficient team is required to materialize and achieve corporate goals. This team marks the difference how risks and financial challenges to the enterprise are interpreted an d responded. Moreover, Mr. Hudson’s response on policymaking in the enterprise was sought to catch on his corporate philosophy and decision-making process. The concern of an entrepreneur for his society in this age is considered very important towards the fulfillment of corporate responsibility. Towards the end of Mr. Hudson interview, a question was targeted to get his input on social awareness. The last question was

Answer the questions 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answer the questions 6 - Essay Example Some sentences do not adhere to the correct use of phrases such as â€Å"beyond a shadow of doubt â€Å" is a clichà © and should be, â€Å"beyond any shadow of doubt.† In this same paragraph there is misuse of the word impersonal. Following your request for suggestions on how to improve customer relations, I wish to submit some ideas. I am of the opinion that we can enhance customer satisfaction easily by making a change in our counters. Last December, glass barriers were installed in our branch separating tellers from customers. These barriers have air vents that allow tellers like to communicate freely with our customers. Management thought that since these barriers are bulletproof; they would help in stopping thieves from gaining easy access to the tellers’ cubicles. However, there were customers who were not pleased by these glass partitions especially since communicating with them became extremely difficult. This is because both the customer and teller had to raise their voices for them to be heard. It becomes even more inconveniencing when dealing with elderly people or someone from another country. This makes the customers think they are being treated in an inhospitable manner. After some careful research from other banks, I realized we are the only bank in town using such barriers. Most of the other banks are trying causal kiosks and open counters to make their customers feel at

Perfect competition and monopoly power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Perfect competition and monopoly power - Essay Example There is natural tendency of the high technology company to acquire this form to shun competition. 3. In perfect competition products available in the market are of homogeneous character manufactured by firms and that do not provide customers the buying preference. Buyers are free to buy from the market and firms are also free to enter or exit without restrictions In contrast to this in monopoly there is only one seller and plenty of buyers. The entry barriers exist that don't allow easy entry in the market for many reasons such as high technology products or legally protected products etc. Monopolists set market price of the product and services irrespective of the buyers' reaction. The buyers don't have power to influence price. Oligopoly is a situation that lies in between the two extreme models of perfect competition and monopoly. This is a market form in which the industry is dominated by a small numbers of sellers or firms and the decision of one firm influences that of others. This close proximity and influence of each firm on the other in the market or industry often causes collusion of interest. There is scope of competition in oligopoly too but firms often employ restrictive trade practices as formation of cartels to raise product prices. OPEC is the best example which form cartel to restrict production of crude oil to reduce supply and increase price in the world market. When the number of firms is larger there can be fierce competition with relatively high production but low prices that amounts to situation in perfect competition. But actually the firms operate under imperfect competition. In order to earn greater profit / revenue and market share firms in oligopoly utilize non-price competition a nd are supported by sticky -upward demand curve. Oligopsony is another form of market in which number of sellers is comparatively large than the number of buyers. This type of market is often seen in the input market where a small number of firms compete to obtain (buy) factors of production. This is just in contrast with the oligopoly market where firms compete to sell the final product. Market with a few sellers (oligopoly) and a few buyers (oligopsony) is called as a bilateral oligopoly. Perfect Competition is the most competitive market structure in which everybody is a price taker. This type of situation hardly exists. It is so competitive that any individual buyer or seller has a very little impact on the market price. When a company emerges with a high technology products that no one else manufactures they acquire a growing monopolistic position in the market as the Microsoft Corporation did with its application software products that have to be used in every product as desktop computer. Initially there was no substitute product in the market as in a monopoly market but gradually some firms dare enter in to the scene to snatch some market share of the near

Pro Forma Income Statement and Balance Sheet Essay

Pro Forma Income Statement and Balance Sheet - Essay Example This is done by dividing the balance for these accounts by sales revenue for 2013. The Balance Sheet accounts, which generally vary closely with Sales are cash, inventory, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. Fixed Assets are also often tied closely to Sales, unless there is excess capacity. On the Income Statement, costs are expressed as a percentage of Sales. Since we are assuming that all costs remain at a fixed percentage of Sales, net Income can be expressed as a percentage of sales indicating the profit margin. Taxes are expressed as a percentage of taxable income to determine the tax rate. The next step is constructing the Partial Pro-forma Financial Statements. The first step involves determining the forecast sales level for the company. One plus the forecasted growth rate in Sales multiplied by the sales for the year 2013 yields the sales forecast for 2014. The following formula explains this step. To obtain the growth rate, we compare the sales level of 2013 to the sales level of 2011 and 2012. There was a 1.6% drop in sales from 2011 to 2012. In 2013, the drop in sales was 3.1%. the average drop in sales for the two year period was 2.35%. therefore, the forecasted sales level for 2014 will be; After determining the sales forecast, the income statement and balance sheet accounts that vary directly with Sales are determined by multiplying the percentages by the Sales forecast. The accounts that do not vary directly with Sales are transferred to the Partial Pro-Forma Financial Statements without adjustments. The last step of constructing the pro forma financial statements is determining the external finance needed. External finance needed is the difference between partial pro-forma total assets and partial pro-forma total liabilities and owners equity. The amount for Garmin Ltd is 4887221-4879603 = 7618. Firms can choose to raise the external finance needed by

War Dances Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

War Dances Response - Essay Example The diverse nature of human poses several challenges in the relationships present in the human society. The ability to contain these challenges however leads to development of beneficial relationships and overall harmonious co-existence of the society. In his book â€Å"war dances† Sherman Alexie explores a wide range of social issues and in so doing he demonstrates several relationships between various characters in his stories and poems. The characters in the stories and poems illustrate the reality present in the current day society, and gives particular focus to individuals and relationships characterized by hazardous sets of events and at times leading to some irreversible consequences. Many of the relationships explored involve male characters, and mainly involve fathers and sons in a native Indian cultural background. A typical example is the relationship between the senator son with his best friend Jeremy, in which the senator son is driven in psychological confusion a nd great anger by the experience of learning that his best friend is a gay (Alexie 75). He cannot conceive the fact that his best friend is a gay and as a result, he disowns him. This relationship further echoes the diverse nature of humankind, in terms of thinking, actions and perspective, and further illustrates the fact that our very social interaction should not be limited by our diverse nature. ... General relationship between an individual and his immediate society emphasized, how one is perceived by his society is of critical importance. The episode illustrates the caring nature of the senator son; he was deeply touched and angered by the experience of learning that his best friend was a gay. The conservative or secretive nature of Jeremy the senator son best friend is also evident as he managed to conceal his true identity from his best friend despite the fact that they were very close friends. The â€Å"ghost dance† illustrates the strength of bonds that binds relationships in the native Indian society, which is characterized by a set of customs and practices such as cultural dances to cement its solidarity and togetherness. The dance serves as an identity of the common challenges encountered by this group of native Indians, and according to them, dancing this well was supposed to lead or deliver the community into freedom. The bonds in this society are not even limi ted by academic achievements as illustrated by the professor who despite his academic achievements is said to remain loyal or an addict to the indigenous ways of native Indians life. A contrast between the old who always stick to their traditions despite their big achievements and the modern youths is depicted from this episode. There is also the illustration of a father-son relationship characterized by affection and disappointment that depicts a farther who is an alcoholic despite the fact that he is diabetic. The son’s deep affection for his father makes him disappointed by his father’s behavior, and a sense of irresponsibility and lack of mentorship by parents to their children is

Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 6

Finance - Essay Example As far as unsystematic risk is concerned, it can be defined as a type of risk which can affect each and every investment (Stulz 2003). Unlike systematic risk, unsystematic risk can be called as a specific risk. It does not take into its captivity the whole system but affects in chunks. Unsystematic system is less threatening as compared to systematic risk. Due to this risk, the prices can be altered because of the specific security measures in comparison to the whole system or the whole market (Stulz 2003). Systematic risk cannot be escaped fully but unsystematic risk can be escaped fully if proper measures are taken (Stulz 2003). Systematic risk is also regarded as the only relevant risk because it is the one, which cannot be escaped. Systematic risk affects the organization, market and the whole system to a great extent and its affect is a must (Stulz 2003). Systematic risk is regarded as the only relevant risk because it can only be reduced by the four ways which are avoidance, retention, reduction and transfer but it cannot be ended wholesomely (Stulz 2003). In the context of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), beta coefficient can be defined as a key parameter. It is employed for the measurement of part of the asset’s statistical variance (Crosson and Needles 2008). The asset’s statistical variance cannot be lessened by means of the diversification, which is provided by the portfolio of the risky assets. The reason as to why it cannot be lessened by means of diversification is that it forms a relationship with the assets that can be retrieved back in the portfolio (Hussey 1991). Only those companies can make use of the beta coefficient that are making use of the regression analysis (Feibel 2003). When a beta can be seen in a portfolio, it means that the management is seeing some risks with the investment and is showing their willingness to take risk. The betas can be obtained when the management is ready to take the risks

Software Development, QA, Anti-Piracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Software Development, QA, Anti-Piracy - Essay Example al havoc upon corporate entities, the strategies which companies employ for both the design and implementation of their corporate policies are of singular importance. Referring to both theory and practice, this essay will investigate the strategies companies utilize for the design and implementation of their security policies. Todorov (2007) highlights the imperatives of implementing physical security policies. Even while conceding to the importance of automated, computer-mediated security systems, Todorov (2007) contends that the importance of physically securing sensitive sites within a company cannot be overlooked. Concurring, Fernandez and Sinibaldi (2003) explain that the securitization of sensitive physical sites within a corporate structure is comprised of four principle components. First is the management of physical locations, whereby the access control system policy should be designed and implemented with the purpose of controlling access to locations/sites. Second is the control of who may access a restricted room. As different types of employees may have access to different areas/sites within the company, it is necessary to implement an authentication and authorization role-based access control system. The said role-based access control system does not simply identify who may and may not acces s particular sites but keeps logs with appropriate auditing facilities of the employees who entered each room at any particular time and date. Thirdly is the design and implementation of application interfaces which allow administrators to create new permissions, users and locations which, in turn, would allow supervisors to generate audit reports to survey access to rooms and to allow users to change passwords, among others (Fernandez and Sinibaldi, 2003). The often technology mediated securitization of access to physical sites is dictated by the imperatives of ensuring that no unauthorized persons are able to gain access to sensitive data or, indeed,