The case of injury at the workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The case of injury at the workplace - Essay Example The case of injury at the workplace The plaintiff appealed the decision to the court. BWC filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. The court ruled in favor of BWC holding that Plaintiff had not exhausted administrative remedies and dismissed the appeal. Subsequently, the plaintiff moved to the Tenth District Court of Appeals which upheld the decision of the trial court. The plaintiff did not stop there but made a second Workers’ Compensation claim application with BWC. This second application was administratively rejected by BWC and Industrial Commission at all levels. The plaintiff then appealed BWC’s decision to the court. At that point, the BWC (hereby called the defendant) made the motion to dismiss or in alternative for summary judgment (the subject to the present appeal) on grounds that decision of the defendant denying the applicant’s first application acted as a bar for his making the second application, under the doctrine of res Judicata. Therefore, the main issue in the applica tion was whether the second worker’s compensation application by the plaintiff can be heard de novo by BWC or it was barred under the doctrine of res Judicata. The court found that the second application should have been heard de novo by the defendant. The reasoning of the court was that the original worker’s compensation claim was not heard on merit but was dismissed on procedural technicalities and, therefore, the doctrine of res Judicata did not apply. ... This second application was administratively rejected by BWC and Industrial Commission at all levels. The plaintiff then appealed BWC’s decision to the court. At that point, the BWC (hereby called the defendant) made the motion to dismiss or in alternative for summary judgment (the subject to the present appeal) on grounds that decision of the defendant denying the applicant’s first application acted as a bar for his making the second application, under the doctrine of res Judicata. Therefore, the main issue in the application was whether the second worker’s compensation application by the plaintiff can be heard de novo by BWC or it was barred under the doctrine of res Judicata. The court found that the second application should have been heard de novo by the defendant. The reasoning of the court was that the original worker’s compensation claim was not heard on merit but was dismissed on procedural technicalities and, therefore, the doctrine of res Judica ta did not apply. The court relied on a decision of the Tenth District Court of Appeals in Greene v Conrad (10th Dist., 1997) where the court held that BWC had denied the application on procedural ground, and which did not constitute adjudication of the dispute on its merits and, therefore, the doctrine of res Judicata could not apply. Therefore, the court dismissed the defendant’s motion to dismiss and remanded back the matter to BWC for proceedings. The trial court found that the original worker’s compensation claim application was filed by another person other than the plaintiff with BWC without the knowledge of the plaintiff and therefore, the claim cannot be held to have been adjudicated on merit since he was not pricy as a party. Present Appeal

Use of Quick Response Codes in Health Care Essay

Use of Quick Response Codes in Health Care - Essay Example QR technology is a smartphone enabled technology that uses smartphone applications to smart scan quick response (QR) codes of any range. However, concerns raised about the reliability of the use of QR codes by the public have questioned the credibility as to whether its main purpose is providing information about a patient during emergency cases or whether it is a government plan of gaining private information about its citizens (Samwald & Adlassnig, 2013). Defined as a matrix barcode readable by use of a Smartphone with an enabled right barcode reading applications, the technology’s applicability in the health care contains health information about a patient that can be used during emergencies (Bassendowski, 2012). Despite the high potential that this technology holds in attending patients during emergency cases, ethical and privacy concerns have been raised that make the public and healthcare institutions shy from adopting it. In demystifying the use of QR codes in healthcare, this paper will look at its background, advantages and disadvantages and give answers as to whether the technology is safe for adoption by the public. Quick Response Codes (QR) is the trademark technology for either a matrix barcode or two-dimensional code that holds information about a particular item, product or a person. Initially designed for the automotive industry in Japan by the â€Å"Denso Wave Corporation† in 1994, the technology has found a myriad of other uses due to its success. Original designers of QR Codes intended it to aid in tracking Toyota vehicles and their parts during the manufacturing process. Increasingly though, other businesses and corporations especially the packaging companies have adopted the technology. Finding its way to the United States as a an advertiser’s strategy of providing potential customers with information and URLs containing information about the company and product specifications, the technology has cross boarders and healthcare now is embracing it more and more, and recommending it to patients (Samwald, & Adlassnig, 2013). Healthcare’s exploitation of the technology seeks to use it in different ways for example a woman scheduling a mammogram by reading a QR Code that provides access to a website. They can offer patients with directions to online libraries for health information and educational videos as well as providing access to components of electronic health recor ds (EHRs). The simplicity and the ease of use of the technology have been cited by some scholars as the biggest reason for its recommendation to the healthcare. QR Codes do not require any specialized tags as (Samwald & Adlassnig, 2013) observes. It is a 2D technology, easily generated and printable on numerous surfaces without the use of any specialized equipment. People can develop these codes easily and embed their personal information that are of great help to the medical teams when treating them in an emergency case. the process of scanning and obtaining all the information, both personal and medical helps in saving a lot of time for the patient in case of an emergency. Learning the process of developing and using this technology by people takes a short while, whilst it has the potential of saving their lives in the long run (Bassendowski, 2012). Scanning and decoding of the information from the most obvious devices that are easily accessible such as Smartphones and iPhones sav es time for the doctors and nurses (Baum, Top of Form2013). The barcode, containing crucial information about the patient when scanned saves time of running preliminary tests or

Long Term Investment Decisions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Long Term Investment Decisions - Assignment Example Therefore, this study aims at providing a sharp insight on why government regulations may or may not be needed in a market economy. Connectively, the study will put forth possible complexities that Wal-Mart Company may experience when conspiring self expansion strategy rather than a merger. In above connection, the study will put forth the possible forces that may emerge when creating a convergence between stock holders interest and as well as their impact on profitability of Wal-Mart company. 1. Explain why government regulation is or is not needed, citing the major reasons for government involvement in a market economy. Provide support for your explanation. There are various reasons why government regulation may be needed in a market economy among the reasons include; to protect consumers against exploitation by vendors via ensuring goods and services supplied meet health and quality standards (Rodine-Hardy, 2013). Government regulation may be needed to ensure that all business hav e been licensed in order to eliminate illegal business from being carried out. In above connection, government regulations may be needed in order to promote economic stability through application of fiscal and monetary policies (Rodine-Hardy, 2013). ... 2. Justify the rationale for the intervention of government in the market process in the U.S. The need for government intervention arose from the fact that there was an emergence of more powerful and bigger corporation in the United States, creating a need to for protecting small business against stiff and unfair competition (U.S. Department of State). Additionally, during 1930’s the united state experienced economic down turn that made its citizen to complain that capitalism had failed (U.S. Department of State). The citizens called for intervention from the united state government to remedy the situation. The united state government intervened by promoting economic growth, this further led to creation of employment opportunities (U.S. Department of State). Therefore, it can be scrutinized that government interventions is vital not only for individuals but also for the benefits of the entire market economy (U.S. Department of State). 3. Assume that the company’s is con sidering a merger. The possible merger currently faces some threats and that the industry decides on self-expansion as an alternative strategy, describe the additional complexities that would arise under this new scenario of expansion via capital projects. The additional complexities that Wal-Mart Company may experience through self- expansion (via capital projects) include: Financial complexities, whereby, venture capital firm may fail to finance Wal-Mart expansion plan if they perceive some level of intolerable risk (Amann, Maznevski & Steger, 2007). Additionally, Wal-Mart Company may experience hiring complexities when identifying qualified staffs to fill new positions created as a result of expansion (Amann,

HISTORY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

HISTORY - Essay Example He was crowned King of Anshan after the death of his father in 559 BC. He soon started on a series of great achievements that marked his 29-year reign as the greatest in Persian history (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Cyrus’ first great achievement was the conquest of the Median Empire ruled by his maternal grandfather Astyages. Being a vassal kingdom of the Median Empire, Anshan was subject to its feudal lordship policies. Cyrus decided to rebel against Median control. In an armed struggle that lasted 5 years {554 BC to 549 BC}, he finally managed to defeat the Median armies and capture Ecbatana, which marked the end of the Median Empire. Cyrus then united it with Anshan to create the Achaemenid Empire Cyrus’ second great achievement occurred 3 years later when he conquered the Lydian Empire. In 547 BC, Croesus, ruler of the Lydian Empire attacked Pteria, a city of the Achaemenid Empire. Croesus besieged the city, captured its inhabitants and forced them to serve as slaves. Cyrus gathered a large army and marched against the Lydian forces. Many fierce battles were fought, most notably the Battle of Pteria and the Battle of Thymbra. In the latter, acting on the advice of one of his military commanders named Harpagus, Cyrus used a new military plan – he ordered his soldiers to follow behind camels as they marched to fight. The plan was to create panic among the horses rode by the Lydian cavalry who were not used to the smell of camels. The plan worked and the Lydian army was totally defeated, marking Cyrus’ conquest of the Lydian Empire in 546 BC (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Cyrus’ third great achievement was the conquest of Asia Minor 4 years later. It began when Cyrus ordered his military commander named Mazares to pursue a Lydian called Pactyas who had earlier tried to create a rebellion in Sardis {capital of the Lydian Empire} against Cyrus’ rule. Pactyas fled to Ionia where he

Marketing database Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing database - Essay Example This is because profitability levels of different client differs, and thus being able to detect the most rewarding customers is essential. Based on the number of consumers under investigation, LTV can be carried out on the whole customer base or through segmentation (Hughes, 2014). Although the latter is more demanding, its more effective in analyzing clients. For royalty program, acquisition cost is considered as ‘sunk cost’, and thus not used in the calculation, as the customers are part of the current customer base. To effectively analyze the customers, analysis need to be executed at a group level using the test versus control situation approach. In this case, the tests are used to realize the loyalty program, an aspect not addressed by control. In this regard, for success to be realized, the lifetime value should be higher than the investment costs. Therefore, LPV is an efficient tool in evaluating the worthiness of a future royalty program (Rodgers & Peppers,

Social Change and Modernization Essay Example for Free

Social Change and Modernization Essay An example of this can be seen with the unforeseen impact certain inventions had on society such as cars and airplanes. Social change is controversial. Some inventions are celebrated by some while condemned by others. Some social changes are more significant than others, such as cars and planes as opposed to hair and clothing styles. Mothers Against Drunk Driving is an Alternative Social Movement because they target a small group of people displaying a specific behavior. Alcoholic Anonymous is a Redemptive Social Movement because they help certain people redeem their lives. The Civil Rights Movement is a Reformative Social Movement because they seek limited change in society yet target all of society as participants in their movement. The Communist Party is a Revolutionary Social Movement because their aim is to transform all of society and gain exclusive control of a government. Modernization is the process of social change begun by industrialization. The key features of Modernization are a decline in small, cohesive communities where each person had a defined place, usually identified by kinship. Modernization caused people to see their lives as an unending series of options where they were able to take control of their lives instead of feeling that their lives were shaped by forces beyond their control (Britannica, 2012). Modernization changed societies where strong family ties and religious beliefs emphasized conformity and discouraged diversity into societies promoting rational thought and a scientific view of the world. Modernization changed societies where people focused on the past to people who are forward-looking and optimistic that technology will changed their lives for the better. An example of modernization was seen with the invention of the telephone where people no longer had wait weeks for mail to arrive at a destination and could have instant exchanges of information between small communities the rest of the world. The migration of people from small towns to cities where people were forced to be more accepting of different cultures, religions and ethnicities. The television brought the world into people’s living rooms. People were exposed to different examples of people who had nothing but then took charge of their lives to make something of themselves. The invention of the computer allowed people who did not have immediate access to information and schooling a resource to take charge of their life, obtain education that could change a career of lifestyle.

Cooper Green Hospital Care Plan

Cooper Green Hospital Care Plan The case, Cooper Green Hospital and its Community Care Plan is a very interesting case, which tries to outline the problems that plagued the hospitals growth and the attempts made by the top management of the hospital to enhance its reach to maximum number of poor and undeserved citizens who were in dire need of medical treatment. This mission of CGH made it stand in front of constant scrutiny from country commission. Media and the community challenges about the quality of care provided by CGH limited its ability to attract patients with private insurance. For the first 2 decades the hospital face increasing budget pressures, cost overruns were a common phenomenon. The hospital was understaffed, under stocked and overflow with patients. Some of the major problems faced by the hospital were balancing cost with maximum access to care, managing employee within budget, performance and demand and simplifying procedures and aligning them with policies. The two plans are named as Health first, a traditional fee for service plan and the community care plan , a prepaid membership plan based on family size and income, which would give opportunity to the people to receive quality medical care for at affordable price and with less waiting time. In a scenario where there are constant changes in the US health care system, where managed care was altering how providers interacted with patients funding for care was restricted and many health care systems were using non-physician providers to cut cost, CGH had an opportunity and challenge to attract uninsured patients and outperform its competitors. In the light of all these issues, the question that posed in front of the top management was, is to move ahead with the expansion plans or hold and improve operational efficiency or give up altogether. Key Issues The hospital was understaffed, under stocked and was overflowing with patients. The major problems that plagued the companys growth were as providing affordable good quality medical services to the indigent population of deficient country, streamlining procedures with polices, managing employees and gauging their performances, declining revenue, decreasing enrollments and under utilization, no upgrading enhancement of technologies, indifferent behavior of some employees towards the patients, inability of the infrastructure to cater to the increasing demands of the out patients section, resulting in long waiting hours and frustrated patients. Situation analysis The top management needs to make some critical calls on some top level strategic issues. If these problems are not taken care of then the following could be the repercussion: Negative revenue Dissatisfied patients Thrown away by competition Loss of goodwill and mistrust among people Inability to achieve the mission providing good quality service at affordable price and enhancing access to care. Complete shutdown of the hospital Directional strategies The directional strategies are undertaken by the hospital to improve its position and enhance its reach and ability to serve maximum number of patients starts with the defining of its mission statement vision and goals. Mission statement CGH is committed to serve the residents of Jefferson country with high quality health care regardless of ability to pay (Copper green mercy,). The hospital strike to attract and maintain a dedicated and compassionated staff of professionals who believe in serving the society and seek to continuously improve the services and adapt to need the changing health needs of the communities. (Cooper green mercy,). Vision Statements CGH is the leader to an evitable and just health care system through excellence, quality, compaction and trust. (Copper green mercy,). Value Statements Some of the key value statements for the company are commitment to health and well being of those being served expectation, to achieve the highest level of excellence, understanding the vital importance of advocacy for those being served, imbibing creativity and innovation, recognizing the importance of working with the patients and the community and dedication towards providing high level education to health professionals. Legislative-Political Changes The Medicare program was established in 1965 to insure medical coverage for the aged and disabled. It then expanded to in compass other people entitle to social security or rail road retirement benefits and also people with end stage renal disease. Another provision allowed non covered aged individuals to also benefit from the plan. There are 2 separate programs for Medicare i.e. Part-A :- Hospital insurance (free of charge) Part-B :- supplemental medical insurance (against monthly fee) In 1997 Medicare as a whole covered 38 millions people utilization of Part-A and B was 87% of enrollees. (DeButts, 2010). Title XIX of the social security act of 1965 gave rise to Medicaid as part of the federal state welfare structure to aid Americas poor population. It allowed federal funding for state run programs. In order to provide basic health service including hospitals in patients and out patients service laboratory and X-ray services and physician services. In 1998 Alabama Medicaid program provided benefits to variety of population but the majority were for indigent women and children and elderly persons in nursing home. In 1998 15.3% of Alabamas population was eligible for Medicaid program. The balance budget act of 1997 brought a significant change for the Alabama hospital in the light of ALLKIDS programs. Economic changes Health care cost rose at twice the inflation rate from the mid 1980s to mid 1990s creating a 1 trillion dollars industry that accounted for 14% of the US GDP. By the end of century the health care industry had grown to more than 1.5 trillion dollar or 18% of GDP. In 1995 nearly 3 quarters of American workers were insured by HMO, PPO and POS plans up from only 27% in 1987. (The Economy in,). Social-Demographic changes By the 1990s Jefferson Country has become a diversified economy with industries spanning across various industries like Biotechnology, healthcare, engineering and financial sector. As of 1998, the Birmingham metropolitan statistical areas population was approximately 875,000.Jefferson Country population was approximately 652,000. According to a 1993 survey it was found out that 1/3rd of Jefferson country resident were uninsured. 12 acute care hospitals were located in Birmingham. In 1998 8 out of 12 hospitals reported experienced decline in admission, in patient capacity in the area exceeded demand in order to reposition themselves. (Johnson, 2006). To respond to this and other changes in health care environment many hospitals went in for strategic alliance like the Brook wood Medical Centre, Medical centre East and Lloyd Noland Hospital. The other hospitals spread across the diverse geography of Jefferson are as follows: Princeton Baptist Medical centre. Montclair Baptist Centre Brook wood Medical Centre Cooper Green Hospital Health South Medical Centre Saint Vincents Hospital etc. Technological changes In the 1990s there was an increasing emphasis on outpatient care driven by the need to reduce cost and improve technology that would enable more types of care to be delivered on the outpatient basis. The lack of capital resources with CGH to invest in technology enhancement, new medical renovation led to longer waiting time, patient frustration and declining enrollments. The shortage of examination rooms, clerks, nurses, waiting room space further worsened the patients experience. Sometimes the reason for this frustrated experience was the discourteous and uncompassionate behavior of some of the staffs with the patients. There were some staffs that were very dedicated and loyal and compassionate but some were not interested in their jobs and used to perform below the expected levels and show negative attitude to the patients. The administration made several attempts to improve the employee morale but it was of little use as there remained a core of negative people who demoralized other staff members and angered patients. Competitive Changes In order to provide good quality health care at affordable and fair prices to the poor and needy patients, the hospitals both Non Profit making and profit making should go in for a strong alliance and should complement each others competitive strengths and ensure to pass on the benefits of reduced cost, higher advanced technological developments, better quality health care to the indigent population. (DeButts, 2010) Internal Environment SWOT Strengths: Pool of talented and compassionate staff members who choose to work at Jefferson health systems and believed in its mission and enjoyed serving those in need. Turnover of the staff was pretty low High overall patients satisfaction which averaged about 90%. Patients recorded the most satisfaction with issues related to the health care providers. Many patients expressed their gratitude for the care they received. They often remarked as saying they would have no way of obtaining health care without JHS and God bless CHS. CGS was considered one of the safety net providers across the US because of its mission to provide medical care to the poor. Weakness: Declining revenue of the Hospital Majority of capital was funded and only 6% was operating revenue. With this low operating revenue, operations may become unsustainable in future Hospital was not able to attract patients who are not insured Resources are not adequately utilized Inadequate infrastructure to take care of the growing demand in out patients section. Opportunities: Managed care was dominated form of insurance in US and enrollment was expected to increase Change in the US health care system. Managed care was altering how health care providers interacted with patients, funding for care was being restricted and many health care system were using non physician providers to cut cost. This threw plethora of opportunities in front of CGS. Threats: Vandalism and violence Stiff competition in the health care segment Technological advancements along with insufficient capital Inability to cope up with competition in the light of technological advancements which made diagnosis of multiple problems possible and insufficient capital. Comparative strategies According to a 1993 survey conducted by CGH centre for community care more than 1/3rd of the resident of Jefferson country was uninsured. Many poor people were delayed getting necessary medical care because they had no health insurance. Some 48 thousand residents have been denied care because they lacked health insurances. On average health care was listed as the 6th most important issue. This unexploited segment of uninsured population gave an opportunity to CGH to cater to the demands of segment that top management was able to identify this niche market. In order to serve this niche market CGH and Jefferson country development of health (JCDH) established a working alliance in order to improve continuity of care for the indigent population. JCDH physician staff privileges at CGH. They also explored the idea of more comprehensive alliance but no plans could materialize before 1999. JCDH operated an extensive health care network to service approx 80 thousand people every year. Health care services were available to people at the cost of service based on their ability to pay. Seminars were also sponsored by the health centres on disease eradication and health promotion topics. Recommendations The following actions could be taken in order to resolve the problem faced by the hospital: Developing the infrastructure facility so as to meet the growing demands of the out patients segment, as the hospital was designed to take care of the in patient. Establishing strategic alliances with some of the top profit making hospital. Giving better training and education to the staff so that they can be adequately utilized Offer better discounted bundle price/package to the patients so as to attract the insured patients as well. This will help increase the number of enrollments and increase the patient base. Increasing operational efficiency and reducing waiting time in the clinic. Reducing the dependency on funding and establish more ways to generate operational revenue Investing in technological advancements and providing high quality modern medical facilities to the patients Implementation strategies In order to implement the recommendation the following strategies should be adopted Establish more number of CCP clinics which would take care of in patients demand and reduce the waiting time CGH can go in for a comprehensive alliance with top performing hospitals just like Brook wood Medical Centre, Medical Centre East and Lloyd Noland Hospital formed an alliance in 1995. Aligning with the apex health care institutes to provide high quality training to the staff Involving more non physician providers like registered nurse and practicing physician under the supervision of medical experts. Motivating the staff to work efficiently by addressing their monetary as well as personal requirements Increasing the synchronization among the various departments so as to reduce the waiting time. Giving better offers for both Health First and Community Care Plan to the existing uninsured patients as well as the new insured patients. This will enhance the revenue base and decrease the dependency on funding Attracting investors by means of more aggressive marketing initiatives in order to enhance the popularity of the CCP concept. Marketing Strategies In order to make the CCP success some marketing initiatives were undertaken which did not turn out to be successful A health fare was scheduled at the site of the first CCP clinic before its establishment but because of construction delay the clinic couldnt be operational several months after the fare thereby nullifying the impact of the promotional efforts. The primary approaches to marketing during the first two years were appearances by the top management and staff members at community organization, church groups, schools along with promotional materials placed within the hospital. The intention of all these marketing activities was to educate staff neighboring communities, social services, uninsured people, small businesses and other hospitals in the area regarding CCP and how to access the service. Word of mouth had proven to be the promising and reliable avenue of retaining patients. Due to limited administrated staff no one person was responsible for coordinating the marketing efforts. Before the commencement of the first clinic focus group were used to assess the membership plan but there were no service to assess the patient awareness attitude or understanding about CGH or CCP. Benchmarks for Success In order to ensure the success of the CGH in achieving its goal of providing quality treatment at affordable fees and increase access to care, following strategies/ actions should be adopted / executed: Increasing the revenue base by attracting more patients both insured and uninsured Taking advantage of the niche market of uninsured population Offering better compensation services so that the patients feel that they are getting more for less Educate staff members and train them properly so that the patients waiting time is reduced and patient experience enhanced Go in for strategic alliances with good profit making hospitals to get access to capital and make necessary investments in technology.