Silver Back Muzik

In this electronic age, has the convenience of being able to have greater access to information actually made your life more complicated? Do you find yourself working 24/7 as you answer emails on your Smartphone, iPad or home computer, catch up on industry journals, or watch a webinar or two during the evenings and on weekends, instead of giving yourself much needed down time? Are you scheduling date night with your significant other, meditation time for yourself, workout classes, dates with friends, even time for reading a book?

It's easy to understand how we Americans are becoming more and more dependent on technology. There's such a vast array of information available to us - and it's all instantaneous. We used to spend time researching the answers to questions or problems, now our answers are just a Google search away. And, as a Practice Manager, there is so much information you need to keep up-to-date with - Meaningful Use, electronic health record technology, treatment protocols, HIPAA regulations, patient care news and so much more. In fact, part of your success as a Practice Manager is being "in the know," having ready answers to questions, being a resource to your staff, your patients and the doctors in your practice.

Is EMR Technology Distracting Your Medical Practice?

If you're using Electronic Medical Record (EMR) technology in your practice, it's likely that your doctors and medical staff are finding it difficult to maintain the same level of personal patient interaction as before the new technology. I hear from many practices that their chief complaints are: 1) they're seeing fewer patients because the EMRs require more time to manage and update than paper files and 2) their patient interaction is suffering because they're less able to maintain eye contact with patients as search for the proper fields and screens on the EMR to enter the information the patient is communicating. In response to this challenge, there's a new and growing profession called EMR scribes.

An EMR scribe is a person who accompanies the doctor on his/her examinations for the sole purpose of handling the electronic medical record documentation. There's even some talk of virtual scribes who don't physically accompany the doctor, but can document the EMR through the use of high powered cameras and microphones.

With an EMR scribe, the doctor is able to focus his/her full attention on the patient. This results in:

• Quality doctor-patient interaction.
• More thorough documentation of the exam, patient concerns and the resulting treatment plan.
• Increases in productivity as the patient exam and record documentation are occurring simultaneously leaving more time for the doctor to see patients rather than interact with technology.

It isn't surprising that doctors are looking for better ways to preserve patient interaction, their own productivity and practice revenue. After all, using an EMR when you're talking with a patient is just an extension of the many distractions that we face in our electronic-focused world today.

7 Ways to Overcome Productivity Challenges for the Practice Manager

There is no shortage of technological productivity tools to help you become a more effective Practice Manager. But do they really deliver on their promise? How many hours have you spent on the Internet researching a myriad of products to help you become more productive? How many 'apps' have you tried and discarded? How many productivity seminars (or webinars) have you attended with the hope of finding the system that will finally make you or the practice more efficient?

A few simple productivity management tips can go a long way toward decreasing technology distractions and increasing your productivity:

1. Clean Out Your Inbox (and Keep It Clean!)

First, let's tackle your email inbox. Are you guilty of keeping hundreds of email - newsletters, news feeds, Google Alerts, etc. - in your inbox waiting for that elusive time when you get a minute to catch up on your reading? If you're like most people that time never comes, or when it does come the emails are so old that the information has been updated many times over since you first received it. Only keep what needs to be handled each day in your inbox. And, as you clean out your inbox, you will reduce your feelings of overwhelm and actually feel a sense of accomplishment and control.

For the rest of the items, create a folder in your inbox (if allowable by your email system) to store those emails and - here's the important part - go through them once a week. Whatever you don't read, delete. Move 'informational' emails to the 'Weekly Reading' folder as soon as you get them. One of the tricks that works for me is to jot down a couple of notes about why I want to read a particular article or newsletter. Then, when I have some downtime, I go through those notes and see how each item complements something that I'm currently doing. If it's applicable, then I invest the time in reading it.

2. Create a System for Managing Snail Mail

The next area of overwhelm and clutter comes from the things you're getting by US Mail - newsletters, journals, sales offers, brochures and pamphlets. Treat these just like you do your inbox. Separate them from the mail that has to be taken care of today, and set them aside in a 'To Read This Week' folder. Schedule time on your calendar every week to go through what's in the folder and discard whatever you don't have time to read. Skim publications looking for topics that are relevant to you right now. Here's where the beauty of the electronic age helps you - if you miss a topic that later becomes relevant to you, all you have to do is enter a few keywords into Google to gain the knowledge you need.

3. Increase Focus with a Targeted To Do List

I find that a calendar and a well-defined To Do List are one of the most effective ways to stay focused on what you need to accomplish each day. Avoid the open-ended question: "What do I need to do today?" This will only cause your mind to race from one thing to the next. Instead of becoming focused and productive, you will increase your anxiety possibly becoming overwhelmed with a mountain of To Dos.

A big running To Do List with no timeframe for completion attached to the individual tasks is just going to become another tried and discarded efficiency tool. You must hold yourself accountable by including target completion dates to find the real efficiency in the To Do List. I find that setting a goal - challenging myself - to complete a certain realistic number of tasks each day is a great way to get more done. The ideal number of tasks for me is 6. I like to make sure that those six items are differing levels of difficulty and time commitment. To maintain your focus, the question to ask each day is: "What are the 6 most important things I must do today?"

Make sure you:

• Are realistic about what you can achieve in a given timeframe.
• Plan for the interruptions that come with managing a busy medical practice.

When you find yourself straying from the To Do List, ask yourself: "Is what I'm doing right now going to help me achieve something I need to accomplish on my To Do List." If the answer is "no", then go back to your To Do List to get focused. If that thing that you want to do, needs to be done, then add it to your list and schedule it.

4. Create a Schedule (and Stick to It!)

You'll notice that a lot of my suggestions revolve around scheduling. Your calendar is one of the most important tools you have to keep yourself organized, productive and in control. When you block time on your calendar, protect that time so you can use it for what you intended. You'll find that once you schedule something, it is no longer floating around in your brain as one of those elusive 'To Do's' that awaken you at 4:00 in the morning.

5. Make Time for Annual Goal Planning

One of your strengths as a Project Manager is your ability to access a wide array of information and knowledge. Important ways of doing this include networking, attending seminars, gaining new certifications, implementing new productivity tools and techniques in your practice and much more. You should approach this aspect of your personal development methodically. Each year, set aside time for goal planning. Identify the top 10-12 items that you really want to accomplish in the coming year. Take those items and schedule one per month for each of the months of the new year.

When you break your goals into manageable chunks, it's so much easier to accomplish those goals than staring at a long list of 'To Do's'. Now let's take this one step further - every quarter revisit those goals to see what adjustments you need to make. You may need to move things around a bit on the schedule, but the idea is to keep committing to your goals.

6. The Power of Writing Things Down

Get in the habit of writing things down. Get a journal and use it to jot down lists of things you want to do, ideas you have, techniques you want to research, things you don't want to forget, etc. Once you get ideas out of your head and onto paper, you free up your brain to work on other goals and tasks. You gain more focus, increase your ability to concentrate and, ultimately, get more done.

7. Take Time for Yourself

You need down time to function at your peak. Think about the things that give you joy. Is it exercise, a walk in your neighborhood, volunteer work, spending time with your family, reading, listening to music, a hobby, or something else? Make sure that you're leaving time on your calendar to do things that feed your body, mind and soul. Start by listening to some meditation audios

Don't Sabotage Your Success

When it comes to getting things done, the simplest methods are often the most useful. Don't try to tackle all of these ideas at one time. Pick the one or two that will give you the greatest feeling of control. Once you've incorporated that idea, pick another one to try. One of the most important ways to make change is to be realistic about what you can achieve. Don't overschedule yourself. A sense of accomplishment is a powerful thing - it gives you energy and enthusiasm to keep on going. You'll be amazed at how much more you can accomplish when you feel power over your time and your life. Oh, by the way, leave the Smartphone at home the next time you go out to dinner with someone you care about. See how it feels to be present in the moment. You can always check your phone when you get home.

What Is Tinnitus?

To understand how best to treat the ringing in your ears you first need to know what it actually is and the reasons it may occur.

The ringing is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound.

The sound can take the form of ringing, hissing, popping or one of many other manifestations and can appear in one or both ears, the sensation experienced may be constant or of varied duration and can vary in intensity from person to person.

There are two main types of tinnitus (ringing in the ear)

1. Objective tinnitus (sometimes known as pulsatile)

2. Subjective tinnitus

The former is caused by a physical stimulus that can often be heard by an examining physician, it may be the result of muscle spasms near the ear or from disorders of the tempero-mandibular joint (TMJ dysfunction syndrome). Pulsatile tinnitus occurs when there is increased blood flow or turbulent flow to the area. The sufferer often hears a sound that beats in time to the pulse. These symptoms can be the sign of hypertension (high blood pressure). Quite often these sounds can be treated with surgery or medication.

Subjective tinnitus is only experienced by the sufferer and is usually caused by damage to the auditory nerve or the delicate mechanisms of the cochlea. This is the same process that causes hearing loss. The two main causes of subjective tinnitus are age dependent and noise induced hearing problems

Causes of Tinnitus

There are many and varied causes of ringing in ears, here are some of the more common ones:

• Presbycusis- this is age related hearing loss and it is thought that the sounds are caused by degeneration of the auditory mechanism
• Loud noise trauma- This condition can be correlated to industrial noise, firing guns with no protection, or most commonly amongst younger people, exposure to loud music from concerts or from earphones.
• Wax impacted against the eardrum
• Infections of both inner and outer ear
• Perforation of the eardrum
• TMJ Dysfunction Syndrome- can be diagnosed by your dentist
• Hypertension
• Direct trauma to the ear or whiplash
• Abrupt changes in air pressure- air travel, mountain walking, diving etc.
• Menieres disease- affecting the inner ear causing listening and balance problems
• Medication- aspirin, non steroidal anti imflammatories and antibiotics are the most common medications that can cause tinnitus

Prevention of Tinnitus

Prevention is always better than cure and following simple guidelines can prevent the onset of what can be to some a tremendously debilitating condition that affects their whole quality of life.

Always protect yourself from loud noises, use protective earwear that should be provided if your work environment is noisy, use earplugs if defenders are not practical.

It may appear uncool but also use plugs at concerts and turn down the volume a lot on your ipod when listening on headphones.

If you are taking continual medication and experience tinnitus then go back to your doctor immediately and any damage will be minimal and reversible.

Its not too difficult and if you follow these few rules then you can help to dramatically reduce the chances of developing permanent damage.

The proven treatments or cures for the tinnitus you may be experiencing are many and varied, treatment of tense muscles of the head and neck, treatment of depression, avoid excessive medication etc. The list is long and the success of one method or another to stop hearing ringing in the ears is dependent on the individual person.

Let me be honest. I bought The Lorax because there was an edition that came with a fake orange mustache. I thought it was funny, which it was. But when the amusement ended (after wearing it for all of two minutes), I decided that I should probably watch the film. Although I love Dr. Seuss stories- Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas- The Lorax was not one that I was truly familiar with.

In a town called Thneedville, where everything is fake and made from plastic, there lives a young boy named Ted (Zach Efron). Ted will try to find any excuse to be near Audrey (Taylor Swift), the girl of his dreams. So when she tells him that more than anything, she wants to see a real, living Truffula tree, Ted is determined to make her wish come true. The only problem is that he doesn't know where to find one.

While confiding in his grandma (Betty White) about his new mission, she tells him that he must find the Once-ler (Ed Helms). He's the one who knows what happened to the trees. "Far outside of town, where the grass never grows, and the wind smells slow and sour when it blows, and no birds ever sing excepting old crows. That's the place where the Once-ler lives." Without a moment to lose, Ted hops on his motor scooter and makes his way out of town.

When he arrives at the home of the mysterious hermit, Ted discovers that the Once-ler is not very welcoming. Perched several stories up, the Once-ler peeks through boarded-up windows at the nuisance, bellowing questions below. Sending down a hose, with a funnel at the end, he eventually tells Ted what happened to all the Truffula trees.

When the Once-ler was a young, ambitious businessman, he came upon a forest with bright colored Truffula trees as far as the eye could see. The trees had beautiful foliage: "The touch of their tufts was much softer than silk. And they had the sweet smell of fresh butterfly milk." The Once-ler knew that these trees would be the perfect textile for his new invention, the Thneed.

As soon as the Once-ler chopped down a tree, out from the stump appeared a short, fuzzy, orange fellow with a giant, yellow mustache (Danny DeVito). As if in mourning, the little orange creature and the other inhabitants of the forest placed a circle of rocks around the stump. Spotting the axe wielder, he approached the Once-ler. "I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees." He tried to warn the young entrepreneur to leave the trees alone but was simply ignored.

The Once-ler's business started to grow and the Truffula trees were quickly slashed. The Lorax attempted to warn the Once-ler again that everyone needs the trees, but it was no use. The Once-ler's greed was becoming too great; the Thneed industry was getting bigger and bigger and killing more and more trees. The Brown Bar-ba-loots no longer had enough fruit from the Truffula trees to eat, the Swomee-Swans couldn't sing because the air was so polluted, and the Humming-Fishes' water was too contaminated from the Thneed factories to swim. The Lorax had to send all the animals away to find new homes.

Then, when the last Truffula tree was chopped down, the Once-ler was no longer in business. He was left with nothing but a vacant empire of buildings in the middle of a vast, empty and gloomy land. In that moment without another word, the saddened Lorax grabbed his hind end and floated to the sky. In the place where the first Truffula tree was chopped down, "Unless" was written in stone.

So ends the sad and regretful tale of the Once-ler and the extinction of the trees. Ted's story, however, was just beginning. The Once-ler believes that Ted may be the one that can restore the forest. "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not." He drops the last Truffula seed into Ted's hands and charges him with making people care about trees again. It won't be easy, especially since the people of Thneedville have become content with their plastic lives. Can he be the hero for the future of trees? Can he make Audrey's wish to see a real Truffula tree come true?

I thought The Lorax was okay. The original story was expanded to make it feature film length and musical numbers were added to appeal to a younger audience (though they weren't the catchiest tunes). The movie did make me long to plant a sapling and go to the National Arbor Day website to make a donation. It's amazing how a children's book (or even its movie adaptation) can remind us of the importance of having a healthy environment. Even though this movie didn't become one of my favorite animated films, it did make me a little more conscious about my carbon footprint and that makes it worthwhile. The Lorax is available to special order at your local Slackers or you can get it through iTunes here.

Approximately one out of every six people over the age of 65 is a cancer survivor.

It's likely that at least one of your parents, in-laws, or grandparents are cancer survivors or are undergoing cancer treatment.

Buying a gift for a cancer patient that is also a senior citizen can be especially challenging. These 7 guidelines will help you choose a gift that is useful, practical and appreciated:

Soft
Chemo and radiation can cause skin irritation. Stay away from wool sweaters and scarves, and look for 100% cotton or silk nightgowns, robes, hats, scarves and sweaters.

Warm
Hair loss can leave cancer patients feeling cold at night. A soft cotton cap will be appreciated for daytime and nighttime. Cold hands and feet are also common during and after cancer treatment. Mittens will be warmer than gloves and are appropriate for both men and women. Hospital and doctor's waiting rooms can be cold and drafty. A fleece-lined sweatshirt for men or soft shawl for a woman will keep them warm while they wait.

Easy
Certain chemo drugs can cause peripheral neuropathy (numbness, tingling and loss of sensation in the hands or feet). Avoid sweaters and shirts with small, difficult buttons. For women, necklaces with small clasps can be impossible to manage. Try a long chain (30") that she can easily slide over her head. Braided belts and watch straps are easier to fasten, and adjust with weight loss.

Beautiful
Fresh flowers and plants might seem like a good idea, but require care. Wilting flowers or a dying plant can be depressing. A beautiful artificial flowering plant will last for years and is maintenance free.

Safe
Chemotherapy can cause a drop in platelet counts, causing increased bruising and bleeding. Doctors recommend that cancer patients use an electric shaver instead of a razor. They might have an old electric shaver sitting around in a drawer, but an updated model will offer a closer shave.

Distracting
Cancer patients spend many worrying hours waiting in doctor's offices and hospitals. A Kindle or other e-book reader will help pass the time and takes up less space than a book. If they're having chemo or other time-consuming treatments, pre-load an MP3 player with their favorite music to help them relax and pass the time.

Personal
Fill an album with family photos, and include little notes with comments and memories about your favorites. Help them remember happier times and share a few smiles.

This is a copy of a Blog which appeared online in 2006.

Hidden Meanings in Film

Do you ever find yourself re-writing the script of a movie you are watching?

I am interested in peoples' ideas. Any one of us could come up with hidden meanings in films we have watched. How many interpretations can you come up with?

The 1960s film, Rio Bravo was ostensibly a western.

The archetypal good guy, the Sheriff (John Wayne apparently playing himself) was fighting against evil and apparently insurmountable odds

His only allies were a reluctant sidekick (played by Dean Martin, battling his personal demon (alcohol), a young cowboy (Ricky Nelson providing musical relief and representing youth and innocence) and an 'old timer' (representing solid and dependable justice) were a small band in the Sheriff's office making a lonely stand amidst the general apathy in the face of Mexican bandits who were terrorising the border town.

Was this film, having been made just a few years after the McCarthy era, with Senator Joe McCarthy 'battling' against the evil insurgence of what he saw as Communism in the film industry with old Hollywood fighting the new 'Liberal tendency'. What do you think?

Alan Renais' Providence, is a film about a dysfunctional family.

The father was a writer whose children apparently had no choice but to act out their lives according to his script. Whatever they did, they were bound to live out what he had planned for them.

The tensions were largely understated and apparently unresolved. The acting, particularly by Dirk Bogarde, as the son, was astounding.

This film had such an effect on me that I dreamed that the two main characters (father and grown up son) fought to the death with knives and a lot of blood in my bathroom. A comment on my relationship with my own father, perhaps? (It's ok, I did not kill him. I did say HIDDEN meanings.)

Daphne du Maurier's heroine in the filmed version of her novel, Rebecca, curiously a young woman without a name, had famously been described as the story of a young woman who idolised her father and subconsciously wanted to marry him.

She does marry an older man who, at least at the beginning of their relationship, treats her like a child. His former wife, the dead Rebecca, who we never see, being the mother/rival.

It is only when the truth of his former wife Rebecca's death is revealed, that Mr de Winter sees his wife as a grown up.

War films, many of which are favourites of mine, have a strong anti-war message in them. My all-time favourites being of this genre being 'Oh, What a Lovely War' and 'Zulu'.

Do we subconsciously choose films which have hidden meanings? What do you think? However bizarre or surreal, please add them here. I'd love to read them.

copyright Marguerite Hegley 2006

Even though the changes in technology and industries around the world have helped make society achieve levels that they never thought possible, it is that same progress that has also made the world that much nosier of a place to live. Noise pollution is one of the top hazards to our health and it can be found just about anywhere you look. Radios, leaf blowers, car alarms and traffic jams flood our cities with sound levels that exceed the recommended hearing decibels. Many people believe that if they live in the country there will not be an issue with noise. However, farmers are at risk for noise exposure as a result of the machinery they use on their farms.

The one thing to remember is that a noise that is potentially harmful may not always be something that you do not want to hear. Music at one of your favorite concerts or a jackhammer pounding away on the sidewalks can both cause a lot of damage to your inner ear. Many sounds that deliver an equal intensity are just as dangerous as the other sounds out there, regardless of from where they are coming. Over time the repeated exposure to the high intensity sounds will end up causing trauma to your ear. Once your ears have encountered this trauma, you may be prone to hearing loss, a ringing in the ears and the occasional bouts of dizziness. Sometimes you may experience non-auditory effects that include an increase in your blood pressure or heart rate.

Approximately a third of the population with some form of hearing loss has an impairment that can be attributed in some way to an excessive amount of noise. Noise is the most common cause of hearing loss that we can prevent.

How Do You know if a Situation is Dangerous to Your Hearing?

People will have different sensitivity levels when it comes to noise. As a rule, noise may be damaging to a person's hearing when any of the following appear:

• The noise causes ear pain

• It is necessary to shout in order to be heard over the noise in the background

• After being exposed to the noise, the person is unable to hear for several hours afterwards

A lot of people once thought that you could make your ears tougher by simply listening to loud noises on a regular basis, but this is nowhere near the truth. In reality, the repeated noise has probably caused such damage to the ears that the person is not able to hear those specific noises as much. There is no treatment available for hearing loss that has occurred from excessive noise once the damage has already taken place.

The work at home field has an unfortunate reputation, and it is something that I have discussed at length. Why do work at home opportunities have this reputation? Simple. There are plenty of work at home job scams out there, and they're not hard to stumble on if you don't know where you're going.

You really can learn the best way to work at home, or learn how to market your product online, and even how to start a home business online. However, there are some caveats, and you have to be mindful where you step.

Internet marketing is a completely open field, with almost no barriers to entry. An unscrupulous person has just as much ability to market as an honest person does. Internet marketing can be used for almost anything, and once you've learned how to market online, there is no stopping you from using your skills and abilities for the "dark side.

These marketers will formulate the same kind of work at home job scams that promise you $250 within 5 minutes. They get you to sign up and buy a "full system" that is supposed to help you, but they are often nothing more than a system meant to get you to buy ever more products and services! I'm sure you see where I'm going with this. They are making commissions off all this on the back end, and you are basically paying to be put into another marketing funnel.

With all that being said however, I must also admit that I am guilty of pushing the notion that there are so many scams in the work at home field that one is hard-pressed to find anything "legitimate." Frankly I'm just tired of taking that position, and I don't want to contribute to that line of thinking anymore, because I've come to realize how much missed opportunity can occur as a result of these constant warnings.

Suffice it to say for now that the best work at home opportunities are those that you create for yourself.

Are there work at home job scams out there? Yes. But are they so pervasive that they negate the possibility of finding a legitimate work at home opportunity? No, of course not!

But you might not know it from the rhetoric of some who choose to condemn the very field that gives them their livelihood. I think that internet marketers, myself included, have been too quick to jump on the "don't get scammed" bandwagon and to focus too much on making apologies for the actions of others.

So I want to turn this around here, and take time to look once more at the benefits. There is more positive than negative in my view, and I'm just tired of talking about the work at home job scams! Working at home is such a great opportunity for so many people, and I don't want people to miss out because they think it's impossible to find a legitimate work from home business opportunity.

So what is positive about working from home?
Well first, you get to be your own boss! This is an especially poignant benefit for me, because I'm a bit of a contrarian by nature, and I like to have control - over my finances, my time, and my career. Work at home opportunities offer this control.

Second is a natural consequence of that control - financial security and job security. Because it is your own business, you decide how much time and effort to put in, so you determine how much money you make. And since you own your business, you can never be fired or laid off.

The marketing industry will always exist, and there will always be opportunities to make money with it. In addition, work at home opportunities are not affected by regional employment levels, because you are working online. You can work from anywhere!

Third is flexibility. I have a big family, and there is always a birthday party, an anniversary, a graduation or a baby shower to go to. I've had to miss things in the past due to work, but now I attend everything! There is no time-clock. I still have to put in my time working, but I can make it up at night after my son goes to bed, or in the morning when he's at pre-school - whenever is convenient for me!

Fourth is probably the most important to success, because in order to be successful, you need passion. With internet marketing, you get to do what you love! The best work at home opportunities are the ones you imagine for yourself.

You can learn how to start a home business online, and make money online with almost any product or service you choose - music, art, womens health, physical fitness, Nascar or quantum physics! Marketing is a skill that can be applied to any number of interests, so it's the best way to work at home!

I've covered the most important things - control over your own finances and time, job security and time with friends and family. Fifth are all the "bonuses."

• I love being comfortable, and most days I spend the first half it in my pajamas.
• I do not have to commute to and from work every day, so I spend very little on gas.
• Some of my household costs, like internet service, are used mostly for my business and are therefore tax deductible.

I love working at home. I love internet marketing. I love the research and the creative aspects. The work at home field gets a bad rap, but the benefits are real if you are able to find a legitimate work from home business opportunity.