5 Car Interior Upgrades that Will Make Your Drive More Enjoyable

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

I Love Used [Previously Owned] Cars –– But!

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA CMP™

By Nalley Lexus Roswell

As a doctor and financial advisor, I love a good used car.

Why? Let some else take the monetary depreciation hit. A vehicle about 2-4 years old, depending on make or model, is usually about right.

Take my own favorite auto, for example. It is a Jaguar 2000 XJ-V8-L, and she is a classic beauty. My daughter even named her Ele; short for Elegant. And, I show her off every chance I get.

But, did I pay $90,000 for her as a new vehicle? No Way!

Ageism

Allow me to say it again. I love a good used car. But unfortunately, cars like people, get old over time.

So, if your car is starting to look and feel a bit tired and you don’t have the cash, or are too smart to go for a new one, you can consider investing in some car interior upgrades. An interior upgrade doesn’t need to cost a fortune, and you might be surprised at what a difference it can make. And it is a nice treat for your car as Fall approaches.

My Five Tips

Here are 5 car interior upgrades we at are confident will help make your ride more enjoyable without breaking the bank.

1. New seat covers

Car seats quickly get worn and tired, fabric can get ripped or stained, and leather or PVC can age and crack, making the seats rather less comfortable. New seat covers could make a big difference. There are a huge variety of different covers on the market with styles to suit all budgets and tastes. If you want to spend a bit more, consider having some or all of the seats completely re-upholstered. You’ll soon be enjoying a much more comfortable drive.

2. Driver’s seat upgrades

If the driver’s seat really isn’t comfortable any more, then a more viable option might be to upgrade the whole seat. A sports seat will provide a more comfortable, responsive driving position, offering much more support to different parts of your body.

3. Upgraded audio system

Music can make even the longest car journeys more bearable, so why not consider investing in an upgraded audio system? Talk to your local dealer, or neighborhood kid, about getting a price on a new system and having it fitted. You may be quite limited by the dimensions of the cavity on your dashboard, so make sure you measure accurately and opt for a device that you can secure when the car is not in use to minimize the risk of theft.

4. Air purifier

Although you may use your air conditioner, the air in the cabin of your car can still get stale. Unless you open your car windows all the time, the chances are that you are continually breathing dead air. An air purifier can be bought cheaply, and in most cases, installs easily into the cigarette lighter socket.

5. Car mounts

Car mounts are an increasingly popular way for drivers and their passengers to make better use of their gadgets on the move. A dashboard car mount can help you store and use your iPhone or iPod Touch on the go. A mount on your sun visor can be used to keep your sunglasses safe and secure. You can even get a mount, which attaches to the back of the driver or front passenger seat and then folds down into a table for the rear passenger to use for a laptop.

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Conclusion

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Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

Filed under: Funding Basics, LifeStyle | Tagged: Car Interior Upgrades, jaguar XJ-V8-L, new cars, used cars | 2 Comments »

HDHP Enrollment Stats for 2008-2013

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Enrollment Stats for those Under Age 65

By www.MCOL.com

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Conclusion

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Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Hospitals: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

Filed under: Health Insurance | Tagged: HD-HCPs, high deductible health plans, High Deductible-HCPs | Leave a comment »

Some Modern Issues Impacting Hospital Revenue Cycles

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Carol S. Miller RN CPM MHA

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA CMP™

“Collectively the healthcare industry spends over $350 Billion to submit and process claims while still working with cumbersome workflows, inefficient processes, and a changing landscape marked by increasing out-of-pocket cost for patients as well as increasing operating costs.”

The Norm Continues Downhill

For many years hospitals and healthcare organizations have struggled to maintain and improve their operating margins. They continue to face a widening gap between their operating costs and the revenues required to cover not only current costs, but also to finance strategic growth initiatives and investments.

Faced with increased operational costs and associated declines in rates of reimbursement, many healthcare hospital executives and leaders are concerned that they will not achieve margin targets. To stabilize the internal financial issue, some hospital have focused on lowering expenses in order to save costs – an area they control and an area that will show an immediate impact; however, that is not the best solution.

Beware Cost Reductions

Hospital executives are concerned with the effect that these reductions may have on patient quality and service. Finding ways to maximize workflow to lower operating costs is vital. Every dollar not collected negatively impacts short- and long term capital projects, lowers patient satisfaction scores and possibly affects quality of patient care.

Status Today

Hospitals, healthcare organizations and all medical providers are under great pressure to collect revenue in order to remain solvent. And so, here are some of the issues impacting the modern hospital revenue cycle as Obama-Care, or the PP-ACA of 2010, is launched next month?

Issues Impacting the Revenue Cycle

Several of the major leading issues facing the revenue cycle are:

Impact of Consumer-driven Health – This process has emerged as a new approach to the traditional managed care system, shifting payment flows and introducing new “non-traditional” parties into the claims processing workflow. As market adoption enters the mainstream, consumer-driven health stands to alter the healthcare landscape more dramatically than anything we have seen since the advent of managed care. This process places more financial responsibility on the consumer to encourage value-drive healthcare spending decisions.
Competing high-priority projects –Hospitals are feeling pressured to maximize collections primarily because they know changes are coming down the pike due to healthcare reform and they know they will need to juggle these major initiatives along with the day-to-day revenue cycle operations.
Lack of skilled resources in several areas – Hospital have struggled to find the right personnel with sufficient knowledge of project management, clinical documentation improvement, coding and other revenue cycle functions, resulting in inefficient operations.
Narrowing margins – Declines in reimbursement are forcing hospitals to look at their organization to determine if they can increase efficiencies and automate to save money. Hospitals are faced with the potential of increased cost to upgrade and adapt clinical software while not meeting budget projections. There are a number of factors contributing to the financial pressure including inefficient administrative processes such as redundant data collection, manual processes, and repetitive rework of claims submissions. Also included are organizations using outdated processes and legacy technologies.
Significant market changes – Regardless of what happens with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, hospitals will have to deal with fluctuating amounts of insured and uninsured patients and variable payments.
Limited access to capital – With the trend towards more complex and expensive systems, industry may not have the internal resources and funding to build and manage these systems that keep pace with the trends.
Need to optimize revenue – There are five core areas hospitals have to examine carefully and they are:
- ICD-10 – This is an entirely new coding and health information technology issue but is also a revenue issues
- System integration – Hospitals need to look at integrating software and hardware systems that can combine patient account billing, collections and electronic health records.
- Clinical documentation – Meaningful use will require detailed documentation in order for payment to be made and this is another revenue issue.
- Billing and claims management – Reducing denials and reject claims, training staff, improving point-of-service collections and decreasing delays in patient billing can improve the revenue cycle productivity,
- Contract analysis – Hospitals need to focus more on negotiating rates with insurers in order to increase revenue.

Conclusion

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

PRACTICES: www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
HOSPITALS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466558731
CLINICS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900
ADVISORS: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org
FINANCE: Financial Planning for Physicians and Advisors
INSURANCE: Risk Management and Insurance Strategies for Physicians and Advisors
Dictionary of Health Economics and Finance
Dictionary of Health Information Technology and Security
Dictionary of Health Insurance and Managed Care

***

Filed under: Health Economics, Practice Management, Recommended Books, Research & Development | Tagged: ACA, carol s. miller, Consumer-driven Health, Dr. David Marcinko, Hospital Revenue Cycle, ICD-10 | 6 Comments »

Do creepy anti-Obamacare ads defile an icon?

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Is Uncle Sam Under Attack?

via: The Joker

Featuring a bizarre Uncle Sam figure, these commercials are coming under fire from liberals as debasing a national figurehead.

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[CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7cRsfW0Jv8

More:

Creepy ads target Obamacare

Assessment

What do you think?

Conclusion

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CLINICS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900
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FINANCE: Financial Planning for Physicians and Advisors
INSURANCE: Risk Management and Insurance Strategies for Physicians and Advisors

Filed under: Health Insurance, Jokes and Puns, Op-Editorials, Videos | Tagged: 0bamacare, Do creepy anti-Obamacare ads defile an icon?, Generation Opportunity, Koch brothers, Uncle Sam | 13 Comments »

On the Notice of Privacy Practices

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Encryption and HHS are Taking Hits

[By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS]

It is bad politics for the President’s Department of Health and Human Services to get caught deceiving voters.

Word gets around much faster than it did before transparency sucked the power from the entrenched.

The NoPP

You know those Notice of Privacy Practices (NoPP) forms we are asked to sign in doctors’ offices? Since it makes no difference to anyone whether patients sign them or not, why needlessly waste everyone’s time? The NoPP is not an agreement, and just because virtually everyone is tricked into signing it, does not mean anyone reads it. HIPAA has become a source of danger to patients, with no redeeming value.

HHS Estimates

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services own recent estimate:

“… many centuries of time—nearly 35 centuries, in fact, or just short of 30.7 million hours—will be devoted each year by healthcare providers and patients for the dissemination to patients and their acknowledgement of HIPAA notices of privacy practices [NoPP] for protected healthcare information, HHS estimates. Even at just 3 minutes apiece, with 613 million of these routine privacy notices to be delivered, signed and stored, the time adds up…”

-Joseph Conn

… “HHS estimates 32.8 million hours of interaction required to comply with privacy, security rules” …

-ModernHealtcare.com [September 5, 2013]

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130904/BLOG/309049995?AllowView=VW8xUmo5Q21TcWJOb1gzb0tNN3RLZ0h0MWg5SVgra3NZRzROR3l0WWRMWGJYZjBGRWxyd01qUzMyWmVpNTNnWUpiV2s=&utm_source=link-20130904-BLOG-309049995&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hits

Censorship Concerns?

I tried to bring attention to this absurdity over a year ago – back when HHS was still keeping unfavorable news about EHRs hidden from voters using censorship:

… “Put another way, the ONLY reason for a doctor to ask patients if they feel like signing the NoPP is to protect already busy doctors from a HIPAA fine. How is that not senseless, yet admittedly humorous bureaucratic waste?” …

On July 3, 2012, my opinion of the waste that HHS recently confirmed was censored by an HHS employee from the taxpayer-supported Linkedin site, Health IT and Electronic Health Records. If that is not against federal law, it damn sure should be.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-Healthcare-Why-Building-3993178.S.216432610?qid=bafac2e5-fb9c-4a39-8348-5a3074abff67&trk=groups_items_see_more-0-b-ttl

Among the items that HHS requires providers include in Notices of Privacy Practice is a one-sentence statement addressing data breaches:

…“We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information [unless it is encrypted]”…

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/npp_booklet_hc_provider.pdf

Now that it is widely known that encryption is no longer acceptably secure, protection from accountability is encryption vendors’ only remaining selling point. HIPAA stipulates that if breached patient information is encrypted according to standards set forth by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), doctors are freed from the tremendous cost of notifying (former) patients – even though patients’ privacy and security have been nevertheless compromised.

For example, two weeks ago, the NIST abandoned the very encryption standards that HIPAA demands. Oops! (See: “Government Standards Agency ‘Strongly’ Suggests Dropping its Own Encryption Standard,” by Jeff Larson and Justin Elliott, ProPublica, September 13, 2013).

http://www.propublica.org/article/standards-agency-strongly-suggests-dropping-its-own-encryption-standard

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NSA Secrets

US spy agency NSA’s secret success at decrypting previously impenetrable codes – which was revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden – proves that today’s best encryption is tomorrow’s crossword puzzle. What’s more, once an individual’s medical identity is lost in the cloud, it can never be reeled back in.

And, when DNA records are included, a breach today could put the welfare of generations of Americans at risk.

A Gut-Check

The ultimate gut-check: If your encrypted identity were fumbled, wouldn’t you want to be notified? Of course you would.

Assessment

In my opinion, the HIPAA Rule should be immediately amended to demand notification of all individuals involved in all data breaches unless they allow opt out. Who knows? Some might prefer not to be bothered.

What is your opinion; doctor, patient and/or consultant?

Conclusion

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FINANCE:Financial Planning for Physicians and Advisors
INSURANCE:Risk Management and Insurance Strategies for Physicians and Advisors

Filed under: Information Technology, Op-Editorials, Pruitt's Platform, Risk Management | Tagged: D. Kellus Pruitt DDS, DHHS, HIPAA, Jeff Larson, Joseph Conn, National Institute of Standards and Technology, notice of privacy practices, NSA, US Department of Health and Human Services | 3 Comments »

How Many Die From Medical Mistakes in U.S. Hospitals?

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Patient Safety – Exploring Quality of Care in the US

By Marshall Allen
ProPublica, Sep 19th, 2013, 10:03 am

In 2010, the Office of Inspector General for Health and Human Services said that bad hospital care contributed to the deaths of 180,000 patients in Medicare alone in a given year.

Now comes a study in the current issue [1] of the Journal of Patient Safety that says the numbers may be much higher — between 210,000 and 440,000 patients [2] each year who go to the hospital for care suffer some type of preventable harm that contributes to their death, the study says.

That would make medical errors the third-leading cause of death in America [3], behind heart disease, which is the first, and cancer, which is second.

New Estimates

The new estimates were developed by John T. James, a toxicologist at NASA [4]’s space center in Houston who runs an advocacy organization called Patient Safety America [5]. James has also written a book [6] about the death of his 19-year-old son after what James maintains was negligent hospital care.

Asked about the higher estimates, a spokesman for the American Hospital Association said the group has more confidence in the IOM’s estimate of 98,000 deaths. ProPublica asked three prominent patient safety researchers to review James’ study, however, and all said his methods and findings were credible.

What’s the right number? Nobody knows for sure. There’s never been an actual count of how many patients experience preventable harm. So we’re left with approximations, which are imperfect in part because of inaccuracies in medical records and the reluctance of some providers to report mistakes.

Patient safety experts say measuring the problem is nonetheless important because estimates bring awareness and research dollars to a major public health problem that persists despite decades of improvement efforts.

“We need to get a sense of the magnitude of this,” James said in an interview.

James based his estimates on the findings of four recent studies that identified preventable harm suffered by patients – known as “adverse events” in the medical vernacular – using use a screening method called the Global Trigger Tool [7], which guides reviewers through medical records, searching for signs of infection, injury or error. Medical records flagged during the initial screening are reviewed by a doctor, who determines the extent of the harm.

Four Studies

In the four studies, which examined records of more than 4,200 patients hospitalized between 2002 and 2008, researchers found serious adverse events in as many as 21 percent of cases reviewed and rates of lethal adverse events as high as 1.4 percent of cases.

By combining the findings and extrapolating across 34 million hospitalizations in 2007, James concluded that preventable errors contribute to the deaths of 210,000 [2] hospital patients annually.

That is the baseline. The actual number more than doubles, James reasoned, because the trigger tool doesn’t catch errors in which treatment should have been provided but wasn’t, because it’s known that medical records are missing some evidence of harm, and because diagnostic errors aren’t captured.

An estimate of 440,000 deaths from care in hospitals “is roughly one-sixth of all deaths that occur in the United States each year,” James wrote in his study. He also cited other research that’s shown hospital reporting systems and peer-review capture only a fraction of patient harm or negligent care.

“Perhaps it is time for a national patient bill of rights for hospitalized patients,” James wrote. “All evidence points to the need for much more patient involvement in identifying harmful events and participating in rigorous follow-up investigations to identify root causes.”

###

The Patient Safety Gurus

Dr. Lucian Leape, a Harvard pediatrician who is referred to the “father of patient safety,” [8] was on the committee that wrote the “To Err Is Human” report. He told ProPublica that he has confidence in the four studies and the estimate by James.

Members of the Institute of Medicine committee knew at the time that their estimate of medical errors was low, he said. “It was based on a rather crude method compared to what we do now,” Leape said. Plus, medicine has become much more complex in recent decades, which leads to more mistakes, he said.

Dr. David Classen, one of the leading developers [9]of the Global Trigger Tool, said the James study is a sound use of the tool and a “great contribution.” He said it’s important to update the numbers from the “To Err Is Human” report because in addition to the obvious suffering, preventable harm leads to enormous financial costs.

Dr. Marty Makary, a surgeon at The Johns Hopkins Hospital whose book “Unaccountable” calls for greater transparency in health care, said the James estimate shows that eliminating medical errors must become a national priority. He said it’s also important to increase the awareness of the potential of unintended consequences when doctors perform procedure and tests. The risk of harm needs to be factored into conversations with patients, he said.

Leape, Classen and Makary all said it’s time to stop citing the 98,000 number.

IOM’s Death Estimate

Still, hospital association spokesman Akin Demehin said the group is sticking with the Institute of Medicine’s estimate. Demehin said the IOM figure is based on a larger sampling of medical charts and that there’s no consensus the Global Trigger Tool can be used to make a nationwide estimate. He said the tool is better suited for use in individual hospitals.

The AHA is not attempting to come up with its own estimate, Demehin said.

Assessment

Dr. David Mayer, the vice president of quality and safety at Maryland-based MedStar Health [10], said people can make arguments about how many patient deaths are hastened by poor hospital care, but that’s not really the point. All the estimates, even on the low end, expose a crisis, he said.

“Way too many people are being harmed by unintentional medical error,” Mayer said, “and it needs to be corrected.”

Conclusion

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Filed under: Professional Liability, Quality Initiatives, Risk Management | Tagged: Akin Demehin, Dr. David Classen, Dr. David Mayer, Dr. Lucian Leape, Dr. Marty Makary, Exploring Quality of Care in the US, Health and Human Services, How Many Die From Medical Mistakes in U.S. Hospitals?, IOM report, Marshall Allen, medical mistakes, Patient Safety | 4 Comments »

It’s Here: Financial Management Strategies for Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations

Posted on September 19, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Finally … Our Newest ME-P Textbook Release

By Ann Miller RN MHA

[Executive-Director]

In this book, a world-class editorial advisory board and an independent team of contributors draw on their experience in operations, leadership, and Lean managerial decision making to share helpful insights on the valuation of hospitals in today’s changing reimbursement and regulatory environments.

Using language that is easy to understand, Financial Management Strategies for Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations [Tools, Techniques, Checklists and Case Studies] integrates prose, managerial applications, and regulatory policies with real-world case studies, models, checklists, reports, charts, tables, and diagrams. It has a natural flow, starting with costs and revenues, progressing to clinic and technology, and finishing with institutional and professional benchmarking. The book is organized into three sections:

Costs and Revenues: Fundamental Principles
Clinic and Technology: Contemporary Issues
Institutional and Professional Benchmarking: Advanced Applications

The text uses healthcare financial management case studies to illustrate Lean management and operation strategies that are essential for healthcare facility administrators, comptrollers, physician-executives, and consulting business advisors. Discussing the advancement of financial management and health economic principles in healthcare, the book includes coverage of the financial features of electronic medical records, financial and clinical features of hospital information systems, entity cost reduction models, the financial future of mental health programs, and hospital revenue enhancements.

CASE MODEL: Managerial Costs

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Description

Editor Bio(s)

Reviews

Foreword.Baum

Foreword.Nash

###

The Companion Text

BOOK FOREWORD / TESTIMONIAL

Conclusion

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And, send us a book review; the good, bad and ugly!

Filed under: Book Reviews, iMBA, Inc. | Tagged: David Nash MD MBA, Dr. David Marcinko, Financial Management Strategies for Hospitals, hope hetico, Neil Baum MD | 5 Comments »

Some Prudent Thoughts on Hospital Stewardship

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

And … Capital Formation

By Calvin Weise MBA CPA CMA

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA CMP™

Some of the most important strategic decisions hospital executives make are related to capital expenditures. Almost every hospital has capital investment opportunities that are far in excess of their capital capacity. Capital investments are bets on the future. How these capital bets are placed has long-lasting implications. It is of utmost importance that hospitals bet right.

Hospitals as Businesses

Hospitals are capital intensive businesses. Hospital buildings are unique structures that require large amounts of capital to construct and maintain. Inside these buildings are pieces of expensive equipment that have fairly short lives. Technological innovations continually drive demand for new and more expensive equipment and facilities. The ability to continually generate capital is the lifeblood of hospitals.

But – Profits Needed

In order to compete and succeed, it’s imperative for hospitals to continually invest in large amounts of capital equipment and expensive facilities.

Capital investment is fueled by profit. In order to continually make the necessary capital investments, hospitals must be profitable. Hospitals unable to generate sufficient profit will fail to make important capital investments, weakening their ability to compete and survive.

Hospital managers bear important responsibility in choosing which capital investments to make. There are always more capital opportunities than capital capacity. In many cases, capital opportunities not taken by hospitals create openings for others with capital capacity to fill the vacuum. By not taking such opportunities, hospitals are weakened, and their operating risk increases.

Stewardship

Stewardship is a term that aptly describes the responsibility borne by hospital managers in making capital investments. The New Testament parable of the talents describes this kind of stewardship. In this story, a merchant entrusted three managers with money to invest. One manager was given five units, another two, and a third one. At the end of the investment period, the two managers given five units and two units reported a 100% return. The manager given one unit reported zero return — he was fired and his unit was given to the first manager.

CXOs are Stewards

This is stewardship — and hospital managers are stewards of their organizations’ assets. Too often, not-for-profit hospital managers hold an erroneous view of the returns expected of them. Like the third manager in the parable, they think zero return on equity is acceptable. They understand capital investment funded by debt needs to cover the interest on the debt, but they view capital investments funded by equity as having no cost associated with the equity.

From an accounting perspective, they are right. From a stewardship perspective they are dead wrong — just like the third manager in the parable.

###

####

Here’s Why

As stewards, they are responsible for managing the entrusted assets. They can either put these assets at risk themselves, or they can put those assets in the market and let other managers put them at risk. If they choose to put them at risk themselves, then they have the mandate of creating as much value from putting them at risk as they would realize if they put them in the market for other managers to put at risk.

CXOs have the duty to realize returns that are equivalent to the returns they could realize in the market; otherwise, they should just put them in the market. They can either invest in hospital assets or work the assets themselves, or they can invest in financial market assets so others can work the assets. When they choose to invest in hospital assets, the required return is not zero. That’s the return they get fired for. The required return is equivalent to market returns.

Assessment

Thus, when evaluating performance of hospital management teams, the minimum acceptable performance level is return on equity that is equivalent to the return that could be realized by investing the hospital assets in the market. And when evaluating a capital investment opportunity, it is important to apply a capital charge equivalent to the hospital’s weighted cost of capital — a measure that imputes an appropriate cost to the equity portion of the capital along with the stated interest rate for the debt portion of the capital structure.

Conclusion

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Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Hospitals: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900

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Filed under: Book Reviews, iMBA, Inc., Practice Management | Tagged: calvin weise, Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA, Hospital Stewardship | 2 Comments »

More ME-P Industry Leading “WORKING WHITE-PAPERS”

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

OUR INDUSTRY “WORKING WHITE-PAPER” KNOWLEDGE SERIES … for only $99 each!

By Ann Miller RN MHA

[ME-P Executive Director]

At the ME-P working white-paper and iMBA Knowledge Center, we bring to life health administration best practices for BDs, RIAs, consulting firms, private equity and mutual fund companies, institutional wealth managers, physician-executives, administratrors, CXOs, hospitals and clinics, and large financial planning and business management firms.

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Therefore, as part of the combined ME-P and iMBA Research Library®, we highly recommend these Working White-Papers [WW-Ps] on various business management principles of the healthcare industry.

Topics: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/imba-inc-firm-services.pdf

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Filed under: iMBA, Inc., Practice Management, Research & Development | Tagged: Health Economics, Healthcare Finance, Information Technology, Portfolio Management, Professional Liability, Retirement and Benefits, Risk Management, white papers | 3 Comments »

On Our Financial Comfort Zones

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Exploring the Range

By Rick Kahler CFP® http://www.KahlerFinancial.com

Try to imagine the enormous range of possible financial conditions in which human beings can live. At the lowest end is bare subsistence—the minimum food and shelter possible to sustain life. At the highest end is unlimited wealth—multi-billionaires with more than they, their children, and their grandchildren could possibly spend.

Think: Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

The Rest of Us

Most of us, including doctors of course, live in relatively narrow bands somewhere in between these extremes. In Wired for Wealth, we describe these bands as “financial comfort zones.” People who share a financial comfort zone tend to have similar incomes, lifestyles, spending and savings habits, and beliefs about money.

For those growing up in wealthy families, “normal” may include private schools, international travel, live-in household help, and expectations of an Ivy-League education followed by a lucrative career.

Those growing up in families with limited incomes will inhabit a much lower financial comfort zone. Their “normal” might include shopping at thrift stores, squeaking by from month to month, and having little or no expectation of higher education.

In both cases, the expectations people grow up with tend to keep them in their financial comfort zones. These zones are artificial financial boundaries that we impose on ourselves, and they are not necessarily defined by what we can or cannot afford. Yet we become uncomfortable if we move too far outside them.

Expanding the Zone

Certainly, people can and do expand their financial comfort zones. Children who grow up in low-income families, for example, may be able to get an education and go on to careers that bring them financial success far beyond that of their parents.

The real problems arise when circumstances unexpectedly push people out of their financial comfort zones.

Out of the Zone

I once had a client couple inherit several million dollars. They had no idea Mom had that much money. All at once, they had the means to move into a much higher financial comfort zone. Yet their reaction was depression. They came into my office asking, “What is wrong with us?” We spent some time exploring their money beliefs and discovered their number-one money script was “Money we didn’t earn isn’t worth having.” Moving slowly out of their financial comfort zone thru their-own efforts would have been fine. Being shoved out of it by an unearned inheritance was a challenge.

It’s no wonder that many people, coming into unexpected wealth, unconsciously feel a need to get rid of it. It’s one way to get back into the familiar zone where they know how things work, they are comfortable, and they belong.

The Higher Zone

The same thing can happen to those in higher financial comfort zones. Suppose a high-earning medical or professional couple, who are accustomed to an affluent lifestyle, lose nearly half their net worth in an economic downturn. Then; one of them is laid off. They aren’t going to starve. In fact, they could scale back their spending a great deal and still live perfectly comfortably.

Yet this may not seem like an option to them. Changing their financial circumstances would move them out of the place they belong. It’s possible they may go into debt or spend down the assets they do have left, jeopardizing their financial future, in order to maintain a lifestyle that keeps them in their financial comfort zone.

Assessment

Ironically, this couple would have a better chance of returning to their financial comfort zone if they were willing to live below it until their financial circumstances improved. Choosing to live at the low end of your financial comfort zone so you can invest for the future is one of the most important ways to build long-term financial independence and lasting financial comfort.

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Conclusion

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Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Hospitals: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

Filed under: Investing | Tagged: Abraham Maslow, behavioral finance, rick kahler, sudden wealth | 2 Comments »

Upcoming Webinars and Health Administration Essays around the Net

Posted on September 14, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

Some Topics of Interest for ME-P Readers

###

Assessment

Enjoy these informative private sector and government publications.

Conclusion

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Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Hospitals: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

Filed under: Career Development, Health Economics, Health Insurance, Healthcare Finance, Recommended Books, Research & Development | Tagged: Webinars | Leave a comment »

On Hospital Re-Admissions

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Counting Re-Admissions using an Infographic

By www.MCOL.com

###

Conclusion

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Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Hospitals: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

Filed under: Health Insurance, Quality Initiatives | 2 Comments »

On Target Date Retirement Funds for Physicians

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

What You Haven’t Considered

By Lon Jefferies MBA CFP® http://www.NewWorthAdvice.com

An increasing number of physician investors are utilizing target-date funds in their investment accounts and employer retirement plans.

In theory, an individual should select a target-date fund that matches their estimated year of retirement, such as the Vanguard Target Retirement 2015, or Fidelity Freedom 2020 fund. The philosophy of these funds is that as one ages, the proportion of stocks in their portfolio should decline, while their exposure to less volatile fixed-income positions increases.

My Concerns

While I agree with the concept that investors should continually make their portfolios less aggressive as they age, there are two concerns I have about utilizing these funds.

First and most obviously, an appropriate asset allocation for an individual physician investor as they enter retirement is dependent on their risk tolerance and is best not left to generalizations. At retirement, an aggressive doctor may be comfortable holding a portfolio that is 70 percent stocks while a more conservative investor may not be able to tolerate the volatility that accompanies a portfolio that has any more than 40 percent exposure to equities.

Of course, assuming these two investors retired around the same time, a target-date fund would place both in a one-size-fits-all asset mix.

Next, and perhaps less obvious but equally important is the fact that an asset allocation is better designed around when the investor will need the money as opposed to when they will retire.

Case Examples:

Consider two hospital employees who are retiring in 2015, and consequently, are invested in the Fidelity Freedom 2015 target-date fund (which is quite conservative – only 45 percent stocks and a 55 percent mix of bonds and cash). One of these employees will be taking an early retirement at age 59 and won’t be allowed to draw a Social Security benefit for at least three years.

As a result, this individual will need to draw a large amount of funds from his retirement account in order to pay for the first several years of retirement. The worst thing that could happen to a retiree is to endure a market crash shortly after leaving the workforce and suffers an excessive loss right as the funds are needed.

In such a case, the physician investor wouldn’t have time to wait for the market to recover and would be forced to sell at a loss. If money will need to be withdrawn sooner rather than later, sound financial planning says it should be invested in a conservative portfolio that is likely to limit loss, potentially similar to the 45 percent stock and 55 percent bond mix that the Fidelity Freedom 2015 fund provides.

###

Another Case Example:

Now consider that the second hospital employee invested in the Fidelity Freedom 2015 fund is age 67, will immediately be receiving a full Social Security benefit when he retires, and has a healthy pension from his employer. With two significant sources of income immediately upon leaving the workforce, this employee may not need to withdraw meaningful assets from his investment portfolio during the early years of his retirement.

Now, with a longer investment time frame before funds will be withdrawn, a more assertive portfolio is likely appropriate for this investor as he can afford to endure a full market cycle of pullbacks and advances while attempting to achieve superior gains.

Assessment

Hopefully this example illustrates the importance of considering other potential income sources and the timing of your expenses during retirement rather than simply treating target-date funds as your entire asset base. While the theory of target-date funds is sound, other factors should be considered before utilizing them as a significant portion of your investment nest egg.

Conclusion

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Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Hospitals: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

Filed under: Financial Planning, Investing, Portfolio Management, Retirement and Benefits | Tagged: Fidelity Freedom 2020, http://www.NewWorthAdvice.com, Lon Jefferies, retirement planning, Target Date Retirement Funds, Vanguard Target Retirement 2015 | 2 Comments »

400+ bed hospital seeks physician executive for VPMA‏

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Rapid City Regional Hospital

By Ben H. Brouhard MD

bbrouhard@cejkasearch.com

Dr. Marcinko and all ME-P Readers,

Cejka Executive Search has been engaged by the Regional Health System to recruit a dynamic and experienced physician leader to serve as the Vice President of Medical Affairs at Rapid City Regional Hospital, part of Regional Health. This position requires collaborative, communicative and transformational leadership and business skills.

About Regional Health

Regional Health is an integrated system of more than 40 entities, working together to provide and support healthcare excellence in partnership with the communities they serve in western South Dakota. Rapid City Regional Hospital, a 417 bed facility, is the flagship for the system with 250 medical staff providing 23 areas of services ranging from Emergency Care, Intensive Care, and Stroke Care to Behavioral Health, Home Care, Wound Care, and Laboratory Services. The hospital also serves as the region’s Level II Trauma Center. All members of the healthcare team of Regional Health share the mission of providing and supporting healthcare excellence in partnership with the communities they serve.

The Position

The Vice President of Medical Affairs has primary responsibility in a leadership position to affect quality outcomes by developing and strengthening physician relationships. The successful candidate will provide oversight and guidance in credentialing and privileging, physician peer review, and also the medical staff structure and function for quality assurance including medical staff bylaws and rules and regulations. This person provides key support for recruitment and retention of the most skilled, effective and ethical physicians in the market. The Vice President Medical Affairs will relate to the physicians as team members, will represent the physician perspective to the administrative team and serve as a physician advocate promoting effective physician/hospital/system relationships.

The Candidates

The successful candidate will have an MD or DO degree and be Board Certified in their specialty. The Vice President of Medical Affairs will have experience in Medical Staff management activities and in health care administration, with business administrative experience highly preferred.

Qualified candidates and nominees should contact and forward their Curriculum Vitae to me:

Ben H. Brouhard, MD
Executive Vice President
Managing Principal
Cejka Executive Search
4 CityPlace Dr., Ste. 300
St. Louis, MO 63141
314.236-4503 Office
bbrouhard@cejkasearch.com
http://www.cejkaexecutivesearch.com

Conclusion

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Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Hospitals: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

Filed under: Alerts Sign-Up | Tagged: Ben H. Brouhard MD, Cejka Executive Search, physician executive, Rapid City Regional Hospital, Vice President of Medical Affairs | 1 Comment »

Financial Freedom through Commercial Real Estate Education and Investing

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

A Viable Alternate Investment Class for Physicians?

By Dennis Bethel MD www.nesteggrx.com

I’ve worked as an Emergency Medicine Physician for over a decade now.

Most of that time, I’ve also been investing in real estate.

Real estate has been good to me and I’ve been asked to share my story with this ME-P

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE

Not long after graduating from residency in 2002, I began investing in real estate. I watched my father-in-law make some money in residential real estate (1 – 4 units), read some books, and jumped in feet first. I purchased and rented out single family homes, a triplex, and multiple four-plexes (quads). What I didn’t realize at the time was that I made two critical errors.

My First Mistake

The first mistake was that I purchased residential real estate when I should have gone bigger and purchased commercial multifamily. I had limited resources and I thought bigger properties were out of my reach. At that time, I had not heard of fractional investing.

My Second Mistake

The second error, that is inherent to residential real estate, is that I became a landlord. At times I managed properties and at other times I employed a property manager and limited myself to managing the manager. Regardless, I was putting in a significant amount of time at my unintended second career as a landlord without the desired compensation.

Not Scaleable

Since there are no economies of scale with residential real estate the cash flow is small and unpredictable. I was on the long, hard path to financial freedom. The rents from my properties would someday replace my income as a physician, however, that wasn’t going to happen until I paid off the mortgages completely. Until then it was going to be too inconsistent and I would have to ride several market cycles including the very painful down-turns.

THE MOVE TO COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Unfortunately, chronic understaffing in the ER coupled with increased regulation and the rigors of shift-work had begun to catch up to me. I was beginning to feel the effects of burnout. I began to question whether I could make it 30 years. I began to see earned-income as a trap in which you trade your valuable time for heavily-taxed income.

Then some devastating news, my wife tested positive for the BRCA (breast cancer) gene mutation. That was a game changer. I could no longer rest on my laurels, slowly burning out waiting for a comfortable retirement. The future was uncertain, and I needed to ensure our wealth. Come what may, I was determined that she would get the best health care money could buy.

I knew real estate was an incredible wealth building investment vehicle and my path to financial freedom. In fact, 90% of the Forbes 400 (wealthiest people in the US) either made or retain their wealth in real estate. While I was doing far better than my colleagues who invested in the stock market, I knew that I could do better.

My New Mission

I made it my mission to become an expert in real estate. I read even more books as well as attended numerous conferences and seminars. I invested heavily in my education, took advanced real estate investing classes, retained mentors, and developed networks. I also grew my experience, buying and selling more properties.

I learned that although real estate won’t make you rich overnight, it needn’t take 30 years either. I needed to transition out of residential real estate and go bigger into commercial multifamily. I ultimately landed on multifamily, because shelter is a basic need. People will give up their luxuries long before they give up the roof over their head. The difference is that I now look for properties that are between 80 – 250 units. These types of properties afford the investor true economies of scale that provide for predictable multisource income. I invest in these properties fractionally, pooling my money with other like-minded investors.

MULTISOURCE INCOME

Real estate is the only investment I know of in which the investor makes his or her money in four different ways.

Cash Flow (monthly, quarterly, or yearly distributions of net profits)
Appreciation (increasing value of the property as net operating income increases)
Tax Benefits (can result in little to no taxes on income and gains)
Principal Pay Down (Increased equity as the loan gets paid down by the residents)

Multisource income is an incredible benefit of multifamily commercial real estate investing. In fact, in all of my commercial properties, I have been able to obtain double-digit returns year after year. Making money and compounding those gains is what investing is all about.

###

SAFETY PROFILE

While all investments have risk, the safety profile of multifamily commercial real estate is impressive. Let’s compare it to business. We’ve all heard that 9 out of every 10 businesses fail. These failures are not just limited to small business. Every year, many big businesses fail as well. Names like Circuit City, Hostess, Borders, and Mervyns just to name a few. Many other, well known, national brands teeter on the brink of insolvency.

In contrast, the commercial multifamily properties I invest in meet current Fannie Mae underwriting standards. Nationally these properties have a paltry 1% – 2% foreclosure rate. That rate is even lower in the best markets. In the hands of a quality syndicator, in thriving markets, utilizing proven property management these properties are FAR safer than stocks for capital preservation, equity growth, and current income.

Additional safety measures include the use of non-recourse lending, the ability to insure against loss, and the use of sole purpose entity structures to eliminate any liability risk.

The “Conversation”

Switching from residential real estate to commercial has enabled me to provide for my family and has allowed me to work only part-time in the emergency department. A few years ago, I walked into the physician lounge and overheard a conversation between two colleagues. Both around 20 years my senior, were lamenting their inability to retire. They had each invested heavily in the stock market without any diversification into real estate. They bemoaned the fact that they had each worked 25 – 30 years in medicine and were nowhere close to retirement. They wondered how I could afford to work so many fewer shifts than them with two young boys to raise.

An Eye-Opener

This interaction was eye-opening. I was grateful for the decisions I had made but saddened by the fate of my 60 year old colleagues. I’ve watched far too many of them push back retirement as the stock market and economic cycles ruined their plans.

Assessment

I knew I could help. I have recently started an educational website intended to demystify the subject of real estate investing. My mission is to help physicians and other health care workers find financial freedom through real estate investing and education.

We also provide quality real estate investments for busy professionals looking to diversify a portion of their portfolio out of the stock market and into commercial multifamily real estate without having to become a landlord. We do this by helping like-minded professionals pool their resources together to buy quality multimillion dollar assets as fractional investors.

I invite you to visit my website at www.nesteggrx.com and explore the content to learn more about real estate and see if it might be right for you.

NOTE: This ME-P is NOT a personal or professional endorsement.

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Physician’s Acquiring Real-Estate

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Filed under: Alternative Investments, Investing, Op-Editorials | Tagged: Alternative Investments, commercial real estate, Commercial Real Estate Education and Investing, Dennis Bethel MD | 5 Comments »

Did the NSA End Obamacare?

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Did ambitious NSA officials unintentionally end Obamacare years ago?

[By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS]

If loss of trust in encryption ends Obamacare, can whistleblower Edward Snowden be blamed for that as well? Yep.

What’s even more ominous, the former National Security Agency contractor’s news that encrypted medical records are no longer secure reached Alaska on a weekend.

“Risky electronic health records: Alaska should make information exchange system safer – Imagine: The National Security Agency slips into your doctor’s office and peeks at your medical records,”

by Alaska ACLU executive director Joshua Decker was posted hours ago on Newsminer.com, out of Fairbanks.

http://www.newsminer.com/opinion/community_perspectives/risky-electronic-health-records-alaska-should-make-information-exchange-system/article_a9947eb0-1863-11e3-8153-001a4bcf6878.html

Decker questions the security of the state’s Health Information Exchange (HIE), and offers common sense but costly steps which arguably lessen the danger of privacy breaches – including giving patients the choice of “opting-in” to permit their encrypted, but increasingly vulnerable identities to be shared online via Obamacare’s exchanges.

My POV

In my opinion, if informed Americans are given the choice of volunteering to risk identity theft, HIEs won’t be around a year from now, and neither will Obamacare. If informed Americans are not given a choice, the costs are even greater. Americans deserve honesty.

National Obamacare Hangs in the Balance

In a related, slow-burning game-changer, Obamacare hangs in the balance, not just for Alaska, but for the nation.

It was September 5th when the Guardian Weekly posted: “Revealed: how US and UK spy agencies defeat internet privacy and security,” written by James Ball, Julian Borger and Glenn Greenwald, and based on top secret NSA information Snowden stole.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-gchq-encryption-codes-security

Snowden told the Guardian that years ago, the NSA joined with the UK’s spy agency GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) to successfully make encryption obsolete – including for medical records.

Naturally, if properly informed Americans fear that secrets they tell their doctors might be breached, incorrect EHRs become less than worthless. They become dangerous.

More on Health Information Exchanges

What’s more, even before the added expense of waiting for Americans to opt-in to the exchanges – instead of discouraging them from opting-out – the very funding for the increasingly-battered Obamacare is based on a rumor of savings.

Starting years ago, health IT lobbyists, including former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, told lawmakers to expect annual savings of $77 billion and 100,000 lives – quoting the results of a once popular, EHR-friendly 2005 RAND study which was funded by General Electric and Cerner Corporation.

As you can see, while we were not paying attention, we were had!

The RAND Study

Predictably, both GE and Cerner profited immensely from the development and sales of EHR systems before the RAND study was widely discredited months ago – even by RAND.

According to a NY Times article from January, “Cerner’s revenue has nearly tripled since the report was released, to a projected $3 billion in 2013, from $1 billion in 2005.”

(See: “In Second Look, Few Savings From Digital Health Records by Reed Abelson and Julie Creswell, January 10, 2013).

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/11/business/electronic-records-systems-have-not-reduced-health-costs-report-says.html?_r=0

Assessment

Last weekend’s bad news for Obamacare is still under the radar, but I predict within days it will become apparent that the mounting obstacle between President Obama and healthcare reform will be in regaining trust his administration squandered while helping GE and Cerner profits at the expense of soon-to-be pissed off American patients.

Conclusion

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Filed under: Health Law & Policy, Information Technology, Pruitt's Platform | Tagged: Cerner, D. Kellus Pruitt, Did the NSA end Obamacare?, Edward Snowden, eHR, EMRs, Glenn Greenwald, Government Communications Headquarters, health information exchange, HIE, Joshua Decker, Newt Gingrich, NSA, ObamaCare, Rand | 12 Comments »

Is a Stock Market Correction Imminent?

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Destined for a significant pullback; or not!

By Lon Jefferies MBA CFP® http://www.NewWorthAdvice.com

The market has allowed itself a well-deserved “cool down” period during the month of August. The S&P 500 was down 3.13% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 4.45% for the month.

After Running of the Bulls

After the roaring bull market we’ve enjoyed since April 2009, it is natural for investors to question whether this is a turning point and the market is destined for a significant pullback.

Currently, it is valuable to remind ourselves that even through the woes of August, the S&P 500 is only down 4.5% from its recent all-time high.

Wall Street Writes

Additionally, it is useful to define some terms, as Josh Brown, one of my favorite Wall Street writers, recently did:

Percentage Drop:	Defined As:	Feels Like:
less than 5%	Pause	“whatever”
5% to 10%	Dip	Refreshing
10%+	Correction	Nerve-wracking
20%+	Bear Market	Panic
50%+	Crash	Can’t Get Out of Bed

The Market Pause

You may have heard the word correction in the financial media lately. With a market pause still under 5%, it’s probably a bit early to start talking about a correction. Still, let’s assume we are headed for an actual correction, or a loss of 10% to 20%.

Expectations

What should we expect? Here are some interesting numbers that Mr. Brown accumulated:

Since the end of World War II (1945), there have been 27 corrections of 10% or more. Only 12 of these corrections evolved into bear markets (a loss of 20%+). The average decline during these 27 episodes has been 13.3% and they’ve taken an average of 71 trading days to play out.

On average, the market has endured a correction every 20 months. Of course, the corrections aren’t evenly spaced out — 25% of the corrections occurred during the 1970′s, and another 20% occurred during the secular bear market of 2000-2010. However, from 1982 through 2000, there was just four corrections of 10% or more. This is relevant as it illustrates that bull markets can run for a long time without a lot of drama.

Since the stock market’s bottom in March of 2009, there have been two corrections. In the spring of 2010 the S&P 500 lost 16% over 69 trading days. In the summer of 2011, the S&P 500 dropped a hair over 20% before snapping back. Technically, this qualified as a bear market, which would mean the current rally is only two years old as opposed to almost five years old if dated from March of 2009.

The market pulled back 9.9% during 60 days in the summer of 2012. While not quite a correction, this dip set up one of the greatest rallies of all time.

There have been 58 bull market rallies (defined as market advances of 20% or more) in the post-war period, and they have run for an average of 221 trading days and resulted in an average gain of 32%. Comparatively, when measured by both length and magnitude, the current bull market is overdue for a correction and has been for awhile.

###

Financial Action Plan

So what should you do assuming we are heading for a correction?

First, it is critical to remind yourself that if you are following sound financial planning principals, you already have an investment portfolio that matches your risk tolerance and investment time horizon.

Remember that just because the market loses 10% doesn’t mean your portfolio will lose 10%. In fact, if you scaled back the assertiveness of your portfolio as you transitioned into retirement and your portfolio is only 60% stocks, your portfolio would likely only be down approximately 6%.

Second, in the instance of an investor with a portfolio that is 60% equities, recall that you selected such a portfolio because you deemed a 6% loss to be acceptable. In fact, if due diligence was completed when you selected an asset allocation, you were aware that the largest loss a 60% stock, 40% bond portfolio suffered during the last 44 years was -19.35% (2008).

Additionally, you were aware that such a loss could (and likely would) happen again and you determined that was acceptable.

Grinding Teeth

Thus, for medical professionals and other investors who have done their planning, the best thing to do in the event of a market correction is grit your teeth and do very little!

For those doctors who haven’t planned in advance, now would be an ideal time to do your homework and create a portfolio that matches your situation and behavior patterns.

Assessment

Once you’ve done your planning, all you need to do is remember what Josh Brown calls the ABCs of investing: Always Be Cool.

Conclusion

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Filed under: Financial Planning, Investing | Tagged: Dow Jones Industrial Average, http://www.NewWorthAdvice.com, Is a Stock Market Correction Imminent, Josh Brown, Lon Jefferies, S&P 500 | 4 Comments »

September is National Preparedness Month

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Fore-Warned is Fore-Armed

[By Staff Reporters]

September is National Preparedness Month — a time for all individuals and communities to better prepare for an emergency.

To get started, visit: www.ready.gov

###

Assessment

To learn how you can promote emergency preparedness in your community and access tools that will help, check out the 2013 Toolkit!

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DICTIONARIES: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko
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PRACTICES: www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
HOSPITALS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466558731
CLINICS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900
ADVISORS: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org
BLOG: www.MedicalExecutivePost.com
FINANCE: Financial Planning for Physicians and Advisors
INSURANCE: Risk Management and Insurance Strategies for Physicians and Advisors

Filed under: Risk Management | Tagged: •Medical Workplace Violence, domestic violence., National Preparedness Month, Sexual Violence, workplace accidents, workplace violence, Workplace Violence in Healthcare | 1 Comment »

Got Cash Money in the Bank?

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Is it Really a Long-Term Investment?

By Rick Kahler CFP® http://www.KahlerFinancial.com

Got money in the bank? Of course, that’s a good thing.

But, more than a fourth of Americans think the best long-term investment strategy is money in the bank. However, that may be a bad thing!

So, what about medical professionals; and what is a doctor to do?

The Bankrate Survey

Here is the rather discouraging result of a July survey by Bankrate. One of its questions was, “For money you wouldn’t need for more than 10 years, which one of the following do you think would be the best way to invest the money?”

Cash was the top choice at 26%, followed by real estate at 23%. Sixteen percent of the respondents chose precious metals such as gold. Only 14% would put their long-term investment into the stock market, and just 8% thought bonds were the best choice.

Head-on-Desk Syndrome

Doh! That thumping sound you hear is me banging my head on my desk.

I assume those who opted for cash did so because keeping money in the bank seemed to be the safest choice. For long-term investing, however, that safety is an illusion. The best and safest place to put your nest egg for the future is not in the bank, but in a well-diversified portfolio with a variety of asset classes.

Here’s why:

Savings accounts and CDs are safe places to store relatively small amounts of cash that you expect to need within the next few months or years. The funds are protected by insurance. You know exactly where your money is, and you can get your hands on it anytime you want.

Short Term Stability

This short-term safety does not make the bank a good place for money you will need for retirement or other needs ten years or so into the future. It may seem like safe investing because the amount in your account never goes down. You’re always earning interest. Yet, over time, that interest isn’t enough to keep pace with inflation. The purchasing power of your money decreases, which means you’re actually losing money. It just doesn’t feel like a loss because you don’t see the loss in value.

Stock Markets Fluctuate

In contrast, the stock market fluctuates. The media reports constantly that “the DOW is up” or “NASDAQ is down,” as if those day-to-day numbers matter. This fosters a perception that investing in the stock market is risky. Combine that with the scarcity of education about finances and economics, and it’s no wonder that so many people are afraid of the stock market and view investing almost as a form of gambling.

Wise long-term investing in the stock market is anything but gambling. Instead of trying to buy and sell a few stocks as their prices go up and down, wise investors neutralize the impact of market fluctuations by owning a vast assortment of assets.

A Dual Strategy

This is accomplished with a two-part strategy.

1. The first is to invest in mutual funds rather than individual stocks. With just one mutual fund that invests in an index of stocks, you might own thousands of different companies. Your hard-earned fortune isn’t dependent on the fortunes of just a few companies.

2. The second component is asset class diversification. An asset class is a type of investment, such as U. S. and International stocks, U. S. and International bonds, real estate investment trusts, commodities, market neutral funds, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, and junk bonds. Ideally, a diversified portfolio should include nine or more asset classes.

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Assessment

By holding small amounts of a great many different companies and asset classes, you spread your risk so broadly that the inevitable fluctuations are small ripples rather than steep gains or losses. As some types of investments decline in value, other types will be gaining value. Over the long term, the entire portfolio grows.

And, in the long term and for most medical professionals, investing this way is usually safer than money in the bank.

Conclusion

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

DICTIONARIES: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko
PHYSICIANS: www.MedicalBusinessAdvisors.com
PRACTICES: www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
HOSPITALS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466558731
CLINICS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900
ADVISORS: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org
PODIATRISTS: www.PodiatryPrep.com
BLOG: www.MedicalExecutivePost.com
FINANCE: Financial Planning for Physicians and Advisors
INSURANCE: Risk Management and Insurance Strategies for Physicians and Advisors

Filed under: Financial Planning, Investing | Tagged: Bankrate, banks, DJIA, DOW, international stocks, long term investing, NASDAQ, rick kahler, savings, short term investing | 6 Comments »

Informatics at the Intersection of Healthcare IT

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

An Informative Inforgraphic

Did you know that 50,000 HIT professionals will be needed in the next 7 years?

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Well, that’s according to the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Online Health Informatics Program, which published an infographic asserting that the industry needs new ways to provide improved care, sans errors. And, healthcare informatics is where that potential resides.

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But, what do healthcare informaticists actually do? What are the sub-disciplines of the practice? And, how do they enhance medical care delivery? … Scroll down to find out.

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Related Resources

Conclusion

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

Health Dictionary Series: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko

Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/product/9780826105752

Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790

Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Hospitals: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

Filed under: Information Technology | Tagged: EHRs, EMRs, healthcare IT, Informatics | 3 Comments »

The Percentage of Covered Employees by Type of Health Plan

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

From 1988 to 2000

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Conclusion

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

Health Dictionary Series: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko

Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/product/9780826105752

Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790

Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Hospitals: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

Filed under: Health Economics, Health Insurance, Retirement and Benefits | Tagged: health plans | 1 Comment »

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