HIPPA

If you haven't heard me yet, HIPPA has a new rule. We can't look up employee phone numbers without reason or it is a HIPPA violation. So, that means, if they are a patient and we need to call, it is okay to get in their chart. But, if it is just to call and say Happy Birthday or will you work for me...or any other kind of snooping, we can no longer get into employee charts. So, I am making a phone list. So, soon you will have an employee phone list. So, sorry to tell you but you can't snoop in my chart anymore unless you want a HIPPA violation!

Shot template

There is a shot temple in Practice Partner that Olivia made. This is a template for the nurse/assistants to use. Instead of typing everything out, we can open a note, click on the template button and search for nurse. This will open the template in the note. Then you can either click on the medication or type it in and finish filling out the rest of the template. If you aren't sure how to fill it out, open up Mickey Mouse's chart and try it in there. It works pretty good, so try it out!

Info

I want to try and keep everyone updated on clinic stuff...
Kerry Casperson is back with us in Administration, so, if you have seen him around, that is why!

Tina is still with us. She has moved to Colorado but she does things on-line and go on trips or whatever the providers ask her to do. So, we probably won't see her very often, she is still with us.

Our new CT scan is here and running. If the patient has insurance other than Medicare or Medicaid, we need to fill out the order form and give it to billing. They will call their insurance and see if they need to pay anything up front or what their deductible is. They will also find out if a prior authorization needs to be done. If a prior authorization needs to be done, the nurse will have to call. Billing said it is better if we wait to schedule in case the PA doesn't go through or the patient doesn't have the money. We have to do the same thing for MRI as well.

If we have a patient that needs an ultrasound on a day the ultrasound isn't here, we can call Jim and see if they will be passing through.

Colleen is the captain for the Relay for Life team again this year, the TKO's! They have been having little food fundraisers and a money jar in the surgeons area. If you have anything to donate or ideas, I am sure they would love the help.

My Opinion

Here is my opinion.
The new clinic is going up across the street, you know the one..."The Right Choice". Anyways...they can try all they want to be "The Right Choice" but if we can treat our patients right they won't want to leave our old clinic for "The Right Choice", right? So keep treating our patients (especially the ones that are nice to us!) like they are Kings and Queens and we won't have to worry about loosing patients to "The Right Choice" because we will be the patients 1st choice. We don't have to flaunt it out there about being "The Right Choice". We may have patients venture over to check out the new clinic but if we are patient and keep doing our best, they will be back!

New CT

Medical Center has new tool to diagnose local patients
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
By DANIEL IVERSON
BLACKFOOT – Engineers are installing a new CT scanner at the Blackfoot Medical Center and expect to begin training with patients early next week.Officials say the new addition saves patients from needing to get a referral and schedule appointments for CT scans elsewhere by having them done instead on-site, allowing for faster assessments and diagnoses.The scanner was delivered Monday, and setup takes about three days. It is expected to be finished by today.

CT scanners use x-rays to produce cross-section images known as slices of blood vessels, bones, organs and tissue, which can be examined with a higher level of detail than a regular x-ray.BMC administrators chose Toshiba’s Advanced Aquilion 16-slice scanner, which produces 16 slices as small as a half millimeter per half-second rotation. It requires less radiation than the 64-slice alternative.Steve Graves, senior field service engineer for Turn-Key Medical, said the slices are similar to the pages of a book and allow doctors to see minute details. The composite images can be sent digitally to radiologists.“Toshiba has been the leader for some time,” he said. Scans can help physicians to diagnose a number of conditions, such as kidney stones, liver disease and tumors. Scans are accurate, painless and fast, which BMC officials say is important for saving lives in emergency cases.“Examinations are fast and simple,” said administrator Kerry Casperson. “They reveal internal injuries and bleeding quickly enough to help save lives.” Graves said the average scan takes about 15 minutes, although patients requiring simpler ones may spend fewer than 5–10 minutes inside of the room.“It takes longer to get on and off than to perform the scan,” he said.

A newly constructed room with leaded walls and windows to protect the technicians and to prevent radiation from escaping houses the new scanner, but it’s mostly a safety precaution.“It’s only during exposures that radiation is there anyway,” Graves said.Turn-Key Medical operates locally through Pocatello and supplies, installs and maintains medical imaging equipment to Idaho and surrounding states.Turn-Key engineers are on-call to perform maintenance, but according to Graves, the scanners are generally up and running 99.8 percent of the time after installation except for preventive maintenance every three months.CT scanning now joins BMC’s increasing number of services provided, which include lab, x-ray, physical therapy, ultrasound, MRI and nuclear medicine, and paves the way for further expansion.

**This was the article out of the Morning News

Coupons...

Kim wrote me this: Have you heard of those crazy people that do the coupon shopping? Well I am one of them. I get great outrageous deals on all my groceries because I use coupons. I have a big 3 inch binder full of coupons and sales ads. I match up my coupons every week with the sales so I can get the maximum benefit. Last week I bought 4-8 ct packs of juicy juice, 8 big jars of Planters peanuts, 4 boxes of bagel bites, 2 Pert Plus shampoo, 1 Heinz ketchup, 1 loaf of French bread, 2 pints of milk, Kraft Mac and Cheese crackers, and 4 jars of Classico Pasta sauce for $13 and a few cents. They actually paid me .37 for a the milk and shampoo. It is crazy and time consuming but I saved $70 dollars last week and basically got $100 of groceries for $13. I browse web sites and get match ups and see what other people are doing. Also Robin is starting to do this and Addriene is an avid couponer too.

Kim

A couple websites Kim uses is www.Hotcouponworld.com and www.pinchingyourpennies.com. She said people have classes that you have to pay to go learn how to do this. She said if you are interested, she will do a class or talk to you one on one. I am going to try this out!

Last Meal

So, I sent a few e-mails out to some of our peeps (ha, ha, does that make you hungry for peeps??) to help me with the blog and answer a question. I asked if they had to choose their last meal, spare no expense, what would they have?

Angie: She would eat steak and shrimp with a baked potato. For dessert she would have chocolate fudge cake or chocolate fudge brownies. She would load up on the calories.

Ann: She said she wants to eat with Angie. She loves seafood.

Ashley: Baby-back ribs with a sweet glaze, fresh corn on the cob, and a baked potato with butter, cheese and bacon. For dessert, paradise pie from Chillies.

Kim: She would eat prime rib with a baked potato with butter and sour cream.

Colleen: a large green salad with the works (eggs, tomatoes, onions, croutons, etc.) with Ranch dressing from the Texas Roadhouse, and some fresh, tender, steamed asparagras, a piece of crispy, fried salmon w/tartar sauce, and some yummy custard for dessert. That would be her perfect dinner.