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With praise from disability groups and business organizations alike, President George W. Bush has signed into law amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) that will significantly expand the protections afforded to disabled individuals.

The new law, entitled the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (“ADAAA”), expressly overturns several landmark Supreme Court decisions narrowly interpreting the definition of “disability” and will make disposing of ADA cases prior to trial more challenging for employers. The changes to the ADA take effect on January 1, 2009. 

Read the full article by clicking here… 

Betty Ray Mydland
Ashworth Student

Most health care facilities in this country accept responsibility for filing health insurance claims.  This is done either in the office, or forms are sent to a billing company that provides medical billing services for a fee.  Because of the increasing complexity of medical billing and the increased number of managed care insurance programs, the need for additional skilled medical billing specialists is growing rapidly. 

Because billing has become more complex, more training is required than ever before.  Untrained personnel can no longer cope with the myriad of programs, regulations, and updates in the field.  Likewise, medical facilities cannot operate with the loss of revenue resulting from inaccurate billing and inexperienced personnel. This is especially true since carriers, including and especially the government (Medicare), have consistently cut payment amounts over the last 10 years.  It follows that since most health care facilities are dealing with reduced payment revenue, poor billing practices cannot be tolerated. 

In addition to the typical doctor’s office situation, there are opportunities with the health insurance carriers, malpractice and liability insurance companies, state, local, and federal government agencies, medical consulting companies, law offices, private insurance billing companies, hospitals, clinics, schools, computer companies specializing in medical software, and self-employed consulting and/or billing companies. The actual duties may vary from position to position, as we discussed earlier, but the basic knowledge needed is the same. 

A career in medical billing should be considered for many reasons. First, it represents a good, solid, stable job, with varying salary ranges, depending on such variables as specific duties, geographic region, experience, and the company itself.  A medical billing specialist is a respected member of the health care team.  And, as is true of all health care careers, you will be able to help people every day.  It certainly is a career worth working for!

John E. Long
Medical Billing Program Instructor
Ashworth School of Health Care

I wasn’t sure at first if Ashworth was going to be the best school for me to take this program. And I wasn’t sure if the program would be good and really help me in the near future.  I was confused, but I made the best decision. Their program is good and you will learn the program if you really pay attention to it and take every lesson seriously.   

I got my package one week after enrolling.  It was fast and everything was there.  I’m new in the medical field, so I was kind of nervous yet excited at the same time.  I’m now on Lesson 4.  Getting there and loving it!

It’s pretty hard for me, but I am very motivated and looking forward to finishing my program.  I hope to be able to start working in a hospital or home health environment—doing what I love to do.

To all my fellow Medical Billing/Claims students, keep motivating yourself.  

It’s all worth it!  Good Luck!

Amanda
Student
Ashworth Medical Billing/Claims Program 

In my opinion, the ability to maintain positive “human relations” is one of the most important aspects of modern pharmacy.  We are fortunate that the public has always viewed pharmacy as an honorable profession.  I believe we owe this to our ability to serve our customers well, acting always in their best interests.  For one thing, we are much more accessible to the public than any other healthcare professionals.  Therefore, patients trust us with their health concerns and feel comfortable confiding even embarrassing problems with us.  If we maintain a professional attitude and treat our customers with respect, they’ll return and tell us even more about their conditions, which will help the supervising pharmacist advise them and, in some cases, provide vital information to the attending doctors.

While working in retail, I had many opportunities to practice my interpersonal skills.  Remember, when patients come to you, they may already be sick and may have spent time at a doctor’s office that day.  By the time they get to the pharmacy, they may have run out of patience.  I’ve found that greeting patients with a smile and a pleasant manner puts them at ease.  They don’t mind waiting for a prescription if they feel you are taking good care of them.  Be sure to explain what information you need from them to make the process go more quickly and why you need it.  If there’s a delay or if it takes longer than normal to prepare the prescription, give them updates.  For example, you may have to wait for insurance approval, or a suspension might need time to dissolve.  Information lets customers feel they are part of the process.  When they understand what is going on, they usually remain calm.

Tina Boyd Stacy
Pharmacy Technology Instructor
Ashworth University

              Thanks to timtinman for permission to use this Photo.                 

Even though you massage only one body part at a time, it’s critical that you keep the body’s “wholeness” in mind.  The book explains this concept well.  For example, when someone has a headache, you know that they will benefit from a head massage.  That’s obvious.  But if you have a good understanding of the body’s wholeness, you’ll know that you need to massage the neck and shoulders as well.  As we’ve discussed in previous lessons, it’s all connected.  Everything!  I know you’ll be absolutely amazed as you begin to experience for yourself the interconnectedness of bodily regions and parts.   

You’ll probably find that the majority of the massages you give focus on relaxing the neck or back.  These are the two most common “problem areas.”  Both of these regions affect posture, which can be dramatically improved with massage.  I’m sure you know someone who spends a good part of the day sitting hunched over a computer or desk.  Prolonged sitting with a forward head position is by far the most common cause for bad posture.  Again, consider the body’s wholeness.  Work the neck and back, but don’t forget about the chest.  By loosening up the chest and the front of the shoulders, you can “open up” the upper body, bringing shoulders and neck back into proper positioning.  Stretch the neck, shoulders, and chest on a regular basis, and you will improve posture. 

Kristy Carter
Massage Techniques Program Instructor
Ashworth University

 
              Thanks to Gisela Giardino for permission to use this Photo.

I enrolled in April of last year, but I had to set my studies aside for a few months due to a sprained left ankle and a fractured right ankle.  It was kind of hard to study when you’re constantly sleeping!

I’m now back to work and studying…

The medical billing course has been extremely helpful in my present job working for the “Insurance” company.  It has really opened my eyes to the health-care industry as a whole. I can now see why doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies do what they do—not saying that either side is right or wrong.  I have worked both sides of the fence. 

However; I now have a greater understanding of the whole concept and I really do think that Ashworth has been my greatest teacher EVER!!

I highly recommend that all who are studying this course to not get discouraged. There is light (and a great job) at the end of the tunnel!!

Good Luck and Be Blessed…

Dani
Medical Billing Student
Ashworth University School of Health Care

Let’s face it, not everyone is an effective communicator.  Some people are more reserved and must put forth a great deal of effort to be sociable and interact with others on a daily basis.  For other people, it’s not difficult at all to put on a smile, chat with, and listen to others. And although sometimes it’s tough to listen to the problems of others, especially when we’re distracted by our own troubles, the bottom line is that as health care workers, our own needs and desires take a back seat to those of our patients.  Put yourself in their shoes:  When we’re not feeling well, or must have a procedure performed, we certainly don’t want to encounter a grumpy, rude, or disinterested medical office employee.  We want to be considered important, and we want to be able to interact  with caring medical staff members who act as though they truly are concerned with our well-being.  Therefore, as a medical assistant, it is imperative that you keep your own expectations and requirements in mind when you are dealing with patients.  Remember, you represent the physicians and the entire office staff.  The attention and impression you give will improve or detract from the quality of the patient’s encounter, as well as the overall success of the health-care facility.

As the key link between the office and the patient, you must learn to give patients the individual care that they require and deserve.  You must learn to assess a patient’s needs quickly so that you can address their problems and concerns effectively. Part of this process is being able to tailor your response to each individual.  For example, you certainly would not communicate with a sick child the same way you communicate with an 80-year-old patient.  Think about how would you deal with a patient who speaks little or no English.  Would you greet a patient coming to the office for an immunization shot differently than you would treat a patient coming in to be treated for HIV?  Throughout your Medical Office Assisting program, we’ll consider the answers to these critical questions.

In learning how to individualize your approach to helping each patient, you will also learn about Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in this program.  As well as being able to assess the needs of a patient, you must also understand how those needs can be met.  To determine this, you must decide where you perceive those needs falls in the hierarchy of needs.  Maslow believed that basic, physiological needs must be met before higher goals can be reached.  For example, if a patient is homeless, his primary concern will be that he has something to eat and a place to sleep tonight, not that his blood pressure is elevated and he may have a stroke someday.

With respect to terminally ill patients, we will focus a lot on Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s five Stages of Dying.  You should take note of her highly insightful theories.  The chances are very good that you will at some point manage patients who are terminally ill (these five stages also apply to patients suffering from grief).  Knowing the emotional state of the patient makes empathy and communication easier.  The stages also explain why a patient might be cooperative and pleasant one day and angry and combative another day. 

Remember, it’s a privilege to work in a medical office.  I never take this privilege for granted and encourage you to demonstrate the same kind of pride when dealing with your patients.  At the end of the day, we’re here for the patients and are held to standards of excellence that should never be compromised.

John E. Long
Medical Office Assisting Program Instructor
Ashworth University School of Health Care

                              
                             Image courtesy of Matt Cipov.

A dog’s body language can tell you a lot about how the animal feels and how it may behave.  All dogs exhibit varying degrees of “dominant” or “submissive” behavior, depending on the circumstance.  Dominance and submission are survival mechanisms having roots in prehistoric pack behavior.  As a veterinary assistant, it’s important to understand the meaning of different canine body postures.  For example, truly dominant dogs stand their ground, make direct eye contact, and may even show their teeth.  These expressions mean, ”Stay away from me.  I’m tougher than you are.  And, if you get any closer, I’ll show you just how tough I am.”  Obviously, this type of dog is difficult to handle.  As a Vet Assistant, you must be careful not to provoke these animals.  Sometimes, all it takes to precipitate an act of aggression is to look directly into a dog’s eyes! More common, and just as dangerous, are canine fear-biters.  Fear-biters only seem to be submissive.  In stressful situations, they may crouch low or even roll onto their backs.  Their ears may be back, and they will usually try to avoid eye contact.  These signals mean, ”I’ve given up.  You win, so don’t bother me any more.”  Basically, the fear-biter is trying to show, in canine body language, that it is offering no threat to you, so any further aggressive actions are unnecessary.  Unfortunately, these signals are the fear-biter’s warning that if you don’t leave him alone, he will attack as a last resort.  Most people don’t recognize the danger that a cowering dog presents.  The fear-biter may respond with a quick, dangerous bite when the unwary human gets too close.  Since veterinary clinics are unfamiliar, threatening places, dogs whose behavior is normally quite predictable may become fear-biters in a clinical setting. Because veterinary clinics are threatening places to animals of all species, it isn’t unusual for a normally docile animal to act in an aggressive manner.  Even when an owner assures you, “Oh, he won’t bite,” always be on your guard.  An animal that may not bite at home, may do so in a clinic.  Anything is possible.

Ken Roberts
Veterinary Assisting Program Instructor
Ashworth University

                            Image courtesy of Susanne Riber.

As a physical therapy aide, you should be aware of a number of exercises that may be beneficial in promoting healing of lower back pain.  The following exercies have proven very effective for me during my career. 

Have the patient lie on his or her back with a rolled blanket or small pillow under the knees and with hands held beside the head; in this position, have the patient tilt the pelvis to flatten the lower back by pulling up and in with the lower abdominal muscles; instruct the patient to hold the back flat and breathe easily in and out; relax the muscles of the upper abdomen.

Instruct the patient to lie supine with knees bent and feet placed flat on the table.  With hands beside the head the pelvis should tilt to flatten the lower back.  In this position, straighten the legs as much as possible.  Return the knees to a bent position, one leg at a time.

The patient should sit with legs extended forward.  Place a rolled blanket under the knees to allow a slight bend.  Then, pull in with the abdominal muscles, keeping the pelvis tilted back.  Reach toward the toes, bending the lower back.

If you’ve had anyexperience working with these particular methods, be sure to share your story in the comments section.

Wade Balance, PTA
Physical Therapy Aide Instructor
Ashworth University

          Thanks to Lorianne DiSabato for permission to use this Photo. 

It is time, I think, to face the realpolitik of health care reform. That means asking a question few reformers dare to discuss:  How will we win the Congressional votes needed to pass serious health care reform? The American Prospect’s Ezra Klein put this question on the table at the “Take Back America” conference last week.  A pragmatic progressive (in the best sense), Klein pulled no punches:  “There are so many people in this town [D.C.] who do such smart policy thinking,” he observed. But “what we don’t give enough thought to is the politics of reform. This is a political problem. Until we have the votes in the Senate, we can’t get anything done.”Without the votes, Klein told reformers, “you don’t have a plan; you have a position.”

Some assume that, if we elect a progressive president, he will “put the votes together” to achieve reform. But the fact is that even an optimistic, charismatic JFK wasn’t able to persuade Congress to unite behind healthcare for the elderly in the early 1960s—a time when seniors were the poorest group in America. It was only after Kennedy was assassinated that a wily LBJ (who had grown up in Congress and knew where all of the bodies were buried on the Hill) was able to leverage a martyred president’s last wishes to help pass Medicare in 1965. The fact that LBJ had won by a landslide sealed the deal.

This time around, nailing the votes that would secure something like “Medicare for Everyone Who Wants It” will be much tougher. As I noted in my first post in this series, “Obstacles to Health Care Reform,” the lobbyists representing the for-profit health care industry enjoy enormous power. The money at stake in the health care industry has grown exponentially since 1965. And thanks to generous campaign contributions, the industry’s lobbyists wield great influence, even among liberal politicians.                  

Who can counter that kind of power?  Citizens who vote.  Lobbyists have dollars, but a billion dollars won’t help a politician if his constituency has made it clear that it won’t re-elect him unless he passes a particular piece of legislation that voters want. Nevertheless, any hope that pressure from voters will give Congressmen the spine to stand up to the lobbyists turns on the assumption that voters share common goals. With that assumption in mind, I decided to take a hard look at where most voters stand on health care reform. Polls show that the majority of Americans say that they want universal healthcare—but drill a little deeper, and you’ll find that different groups have very different priorities.

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