Compensation Management Essay Example for Free

Compensation Management Essay Compensation does not refer, however, to other kinds of eployee rewards such as recognition ceremonies and achievement parties. The ultimate objectives of compensation administration are: efficient maintenance of a productive  workforce,  equitable pay, and compliance with federal, state, and local regulations based on what companies can afford. The basic concept of compensation administration—compensation management—is rather simple: employees perform tasks for employers and so companies pay employees wages for the jobs they do. Consequently, compensation is an exchange or a transaction, from which both parties—employers and employees—benefit: both parties receive something for giving something. Compensation, however, involves much more than this simple transaction. From the employers perspective, compensation is an issue of both affordability and  employee motivation. Companies must consider what they can reasonably afford to pay their employees and the ramifications of their decisions: will they affect  employee turnover  and productivity? In addition, some employers and managers believe pay can influence employee work ethic and behaviour and hence link compensation to performance. Moreover social, economic, legal, and political forces also exert influence on compensation management, making it a complicated yet important part of managing a business. Compensation and Reward system plays vital role in a business organization. Since, among four Ms, i. e Men, Material, Machine and Money, Men has been most important factor, it is impossible to imagine a business process without Men. Advantages of Fair Compensation System: Therefore a fair compensation system is a must for every business organization. The fair compensation system will help in the following: 1. If an ideal compensation system is designed, it will have positive impact on the efficiency and results produced by workmen. 2. Such system will encourage the normal worker to perform better and achieve the standards fixed. 3. This system will encourage the process of job evaluation. It will also help in setting up an ideal job evaluation, which will have transparency, and the standards fixing would be more realistic and achievable. . Such a system would be well defined and uniform. It will be apply to all the levels of the organization as a general system. 5. The system would be simple and flexible so that every worker/recipient would be able to compute his own compensation receivable. 6. Such system would be easy to implement, so that it would not penalize the workers for the reasons beyond their control and would not result in exploitation of workers. 7. It will raise the morale, efficiency and cooperation among the workers. It, being just and fair would provide satisfaction to the workers. 8. Such system would help management in complying with the various labor acts. 9. Such system would also bring about amicable settlement of disputes between the workmen union and management. 10. The system would embody itself the principle of equal work equal wages. Encouragement for those who perform better and opportunities for those who wish to excel. Need for designing of compensation Policy: After going through the role and essentials of a sound compensation system, it becomes imperative that every business organization should be set up for itself a proper Compensation Policy. The Management of the organization must have well-designed Compensation Policy. The policy calls for deciding the criteria for promotions, up-gradations etc. It would also be necessary to fix up the standard expectations from each and every workmen/employee. The policy should determine the norms to be followed for Performance Appraisal or Job Evaluation. It should also chalk out the need for training, provisions for fringe benefits, welfare schemes etc. It must prescribe the manner in which such benefits would be extended and levels within the organization to which such benefits are extendable. The incentive schemes and its details, Pay package structure, Tax implications etc. are matters of concern while designing the compensation Policy. Importance of Compensation System: Money makes the mare go is the proverb. It holds good for all the factors participating in the business process expects its fair share of prosperity of the business. Compensation/ Reward System play a vital role in the business organization. And its importance can be very well ascertained as follows: 1. Sound Compensation/Reward System brings amicability and peace in the relationship of employer and employees. . The system brings out the best out of every employee in the organization. It aims at creating a healthy competition among them. And as such, encourages them to work hard and efficiently. 3. The system provides adequate opportunities to those who wish to perform better. The system provides growth and advancement opportunities to the deserving employees. 4. The system upholds the principle of equal wages. It provides transparency and parity too. 5. The perfect Compensation system provides platform for happy and satisfied workforce, this minimizes the labour turnover. The organization enjoys the stability. 6. The organization is able to retain the best talent by providing them adequate compensation thereby stopping them from switching over to another job. 7. The business organization can think of expansion and growth if it has the support of skillful, talented and happy workforce. 8. The sound Compensation system is hallmark of Organization’s success and prosperity. The success and stability of organization is measured with pay-package it provides to its employees. 9. Both employer and employees get benefited because of the sound Compensation System. 0. A sound Compensation System helps the organization keep pace with changing environment. It helps the organization to cope up with the wage levels in neighboring industries. 11. Sound Compensation System minimizes the complaints from the employees, provides them the congenial work environment to perform better and sets up for them the targets to be achieved. Definite targets help employees kn ow their role in the organization, which minimize wastage, and enhance overall efficiency. It also helps organization to reduce the cost of production and maximize profits The Compensation System Time RatePiece rate BonusProfit sharingIndirect Monetary Incentive Time Rate System: This system is divided into three categories. Time Rates Ordinary level High Wage LevelGraduated Time Rates Ordinary Level: It is calculated on time (daily, monthly, weekly etc. )The formula for calculation of salary is Rate per hour X Hours worked = Earnings (RPH X HW=E). High Wage Level: It is calculated on hourly basis put over time is not paid. The formula for calculation of salary is RPH X HW = E Graduate System: Payment: the basic is linked with dearness cost of living. The index of cost of living is varying and that is considered for calculating the remuneration. Formula: Basic Salary is Rs. 2,000/- and Cost of living Index (D. A) is 100% then, Rs 2000+100% of Rs 2000 as cost of living is added, thus total remuneration is Rs. 4000/-. It is after 6 months, cost of living index change 150%. Then basic salary + 150 % of basic salary si. e Rs 3,000/- will make it Rs, 5000. Piece Rate/ Payment Rate (Payment by Results) System of Piece Rate (Payment by Results) Straight Piece RatePiece ;amp; Time Combination Differential Piece Rate Taylor System Merrick System Gantt Task System Straight Piece Rate: Payment: Flat rate is applicable per unit, which is predetermined. The time spent is not considered. Formula: PPR X O = Earnings. Piece Rate and Time Rate Combinations: Payment: It is a dual rate system, designed to perfect inefficient workers. The worker is ensured to get the minimum payment. If the payment is calculated on the basis of piece rate guarantees and number of pieces fall below the minimum wages guaranteed, he is paid by time Rate. Differential Piece rate: Payment: In favour of piece rate system, minimum wages were assured. However, under this system, instead of combining time-rate and piece-rate, there are dual rates for different efficiency level. The purpose behind keeping high piece rate for higher efficiency is as the level of production increases, the cost per unit falls. Bonus: Bonus is given by the company to their employees as a reward. It is been fixed by the government i. e 8. 33%. Bonus encourages the employees to work hard. It is a motivating factor for the employees to improve their efficiency. Profit Sharing: Profit Sharing is the most motivating factor. When the company makes profit it gives some kind of share to their employees as an Annual increment. This helps to motive employees to work hard and get more increment. Indirect Monetary Incentive: Indirect Monetary Incentives like traveling allowance, HRA, Dearness allowance, medical facility etc. are very motivating for the employees. Elements or ingredients of a good wage plan: Before we discuss these two plans, it would be fruitful to know the ingredients of a good wage plan. These are:- 1. It should be easily understandable i. e all the employees should easily understand what they are to get for their work. They should be instructed in how the wage plan works. 2. It should be capable of easy computation i. e. it should be sufficiently simple to permit quick calculation. Mathematical tables may be supplied, by reference to which calculations can be quickly made. 3. It should be capable of effectively motivating the employees, i. e it should provide an incentive for work. If both the quality and quantity of work are to be stressed at the same time, a plan should be selected that will not unduly influence the worker to work too fast or to become careless about quality. . It should provide for remuneration to employees as soon as possible after the effort has been made. Daily or weekly payment of wage would be preferable to induce employees to work. 5. It should be relatively stable rather than frequently varying so that employees are assured of a stable amount of money. Reasons or factors affecting wage differentials: Wages differ in different employments or occupations, industries and loc alities, and also between persons in the same employment or grade. One therefore comes across such terms as occupational wage differentials. Wage differentials have been classified into three categories: First, the differentials that can be attributed to imperfections in the employment markets, such as the limited knowledge of workers in regard to alternative job opportunities available elsewhere, obstacles to geographical, occupational or inter-firm mobility of workers, or time lags in the adjustments of resource distribution and changes in the scope and structure of economic activities. Examples of such wage differentials are inter-industry; inter firm and geographical or inter-area wage differentials. Second, the wage differentials which originate in social values and prejudices and which are deeper and more persistent than economic factors. Wage differentials by sex, age, status or ethnic origin belong to this category. Third, occupational wage differentials, which would exist even if employment markets were perfect and social prejudices, were absent. Wage differential arises because of the following factors:- a. Difference in the efficiency of the labour, which may be due to inborn quality, education and conditions under which work may be done. . The existence of non-competing group due to difficulties in the way of the mobility of labour from low paid to high paid employments. c. Difference in the agreeableness or social esteem of employment. d. Differences in the nature of employment and occupations. Norms for Fixation of Wages in Industry: 1. While computing the minimum wages, the standard working class family should be considered as consisting of four consumption units and t he earnings of women, children and adolescents should be excluded. . The minimum food requirements should be determined on the grounds of a net intake of 2700 calories as laid down by Akroyd for a normal adult in India. 3. Clothing needs should be established on the basis of a per capita consumption of 16. 62 meters per year. 4. As regards housing, the minimum wages should be determined from the standpoint of the rent corresponding to the minimum area specified under the government Industrial Housing Scheme. 5. Miscellaneous expenditure on items such fuel, lighting etc. hould from 20 per cent of the total minimum wage. The resolution further prescribes that the authorities involved in the issue should justify any deviation from these norms. Retirement benefits related enactments in India: Employees’ Provident Fund Act The Act was passed with a view to making some provision for the future of the industrial worker after his retirement or for his dependents in case of his early death and inculcating the habit of saving among the workers. The object of the Act is to provide substantial security and timely monetary assistance to industrial employees and their families when they are in distress and or unable to meet family and social obligations and to protect them in old age, disablement, early death of the bread winner and in some other contingencies. The act provides for a scheme for the institution of Provident Fund for specified classes of employees. Accordingly, the Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme was framed under Section 5 of the Act, which came into force on 1st November, 1952. Main features of the Act The Act is applicable to factorize and other establishments engaged in specified industries classes of establishment, which have completed three years of their existence and employing 20 or more persons. The Act, however, does not apply to co-operative societies employing less than 50 persons and working without the aid of power. An establishment, which is not otherwise coverable under the Act, can be covered voluntarily with the mutual consent of the employer and the majority of the employees. Employees drawing a pay not exceeding Rs. 5000 per month (And now it is amended to Rs. 6500/- ecently) are eligible for membership of the fund. Every employee employed in or in connection with the fund from the date of joining the factory or establishment. The normal rate of contribution to the provident fund by the employees and the employers as prescribed in the Act is 10 percent of the pay of the employees. The term â€Å"wages† includes basic wage. Dearness allowance including cash value of food concession and retaining allowance, if any. Employees’ State Insurance Scheme The Employees’ State Insurance Scheme Act, 1948 is a pioneering measure in the field of social insurance in our country. This act came into force from 19th April, 1948. The Scheme under the Act aims at providing for certain cash benefits to employees in the case of sickness, maternity, employment injury and medical facilities in kind, and to make provisions for certain other matters in relations thereto. The term â€Å"employee† has wide connotation and would include within its scope functions of clerical, manual, technical and supervisory. Persons whose remuneration (excluding remuneration for overtime work) does not exceed Rs. 6500 a month are covered under the Act. The Act does not make any distinction between causal or temporary employees or between technical or non-technical employees. Employees employed directly by the principal employer and those employed by or through contractor. However, the definition of â€Å"employee† does not include any member of the Indian naval, military or air force. Compensation Structure and its components: One of the most vital factors the motivation, retention and the morale amongst the employees is the compensation system, policies and review philosophies of any organization. While the bargain able employees generally have their unions to negotiate or review terms with the Management-which are governed by the Long Term Settlements- the terms of the managerial employees are mostly seen to be at the mercy or the goodwill of the organization, reviews of which may or may not be regular or timely, or often do not seem to meet the expectations or logic of such employees. Management Compensation therefore, now plays a very significant part along with the working style and environment, empowerment etc. in the organization’s success strategy. While individual organizations may have differences in their methodologies based on factors best suited their perceived needs, some general directions are evident, and are discussed below. 1. Salary, Basic Salary or Consolidated Salary continues to remain as the major component of compensation, though Salary Scales are often discarded these days, or used only as guides. Individual Salary is generally decided initially using the Scale, but thereafter performance, contribution to targets or results generated determine the revisions periodically, which may vary widely from individual to individual. Salary broad handling is therefore, getting recognition and acceptance. 2. Grade wise flat Allowance is being considered generally, except where tax exemption benefits are still available, when they continue as separate components. Allowances may be linked to the Salary as a percentage or by slabs, but preference is for flat amounts, which do not increase automatically, and therefore increase could be discretionary, and therefore controllable. 3. Reimbursements of expenses incurred on Company work has become limited, and in line to conform to the tax laws. Being actual in most cases, they are not considered as a part of the compensation, unless it is provided towards personal benefits. 4. Annual payments: Bonus or Commission, and Leave travel are common features some tax reliefs apply for the latter. 5. Benefits generally comprise of mostly unfurnished company owned or leased accommodation, use of company or leased vehicles, medical coverage, retrial benefits covering Provident Fund, Pension or Superannuation and Gratuity, post-retrial medical assistance, easy loan schemes at low or zero interest rates for house building, cars or vehicles, furniture or utility items etc. enting employees owned housing, club entrance free reimbursement etc. Minor benefits could be provision of security, driver or gardening assistance, else of products or assets at a concessional rate, relocation and transfer expenses including admission etc. fees for children, credit card fees, phones etc. 6. Employee stock option schemes which has been popular in IT in dustry-,is not extensively used yet, not being tax advantageous to other industries, nor seen as being very attractive with lesser growth trends for their share values especially in the well-established older companies. 7. Most companies, as against earlier visible costs, use the â€Å"Total cost to the Company† concept as basis. Cost of the most benefits are averaged or computed on actual basis, and within the system of the overall cost, but with greater compliance to tax laws, this basket concept is on the wane. 8. Retiral benefits: Some in recognition of the past contribution of pensioners, and to partly offset the inflation post retirement practices periodic improvement in pensions, or a guaranteed grade minimum pension. 9. Performance Bonus that does not increase future liability is being given more as recognition of results generated. It requires transparent, balanced and fair systems and benchmarks, and also agrees targets by the managers in advance during planning and review discussions. 10. From the earlier grade oriented compensation system within reasonable boundaries, compensation often has to be somewhat tailor made for specialist or key contributors to retain them in the very volatile job market. 11. Compensation review periods have become annual generally and sometimes oftener, as compared to every three to five years earlier, in the fast changing market situation. Conclusion To summarize, the need to regularly carry out detailed compensation reviews both within and out of the organisation with full support and commitment from the top is essential. Openness and transparency are important to the managers in the very sensitive and personal issues of management i. e. remuneration, and therefore policies and practices should match. The remuneration and the system have to be fair and dynamic Dealing with human feelings still remains a competitively attractive feature.

Patient Billing Software System Information Technology Essay

Patient Billing Software System Information Technology Essay In todays world, the population in various countries is increasing speedily every year, the Medical Billing System has grown-up in importance. The reason for this is that there are far more individuals that have need of some variety of health care, regardless of whether it is physical or mental. In order to receive these services patients need to pay for the services rendered by the hospital. This task requires a billing system that can generate bills of services to patients. Medical professionals are facing problems regarding the billing issue. My project for BSc Computing is to develop a web based patient billing software that is of importance to a hospital. . PHP was selected as the language for implementation and PL/SQL server as the database. The patient information will be stored in the database. Any new patient information can be stored in the database via a patient information input screen. The screen will take as input all the details of the patient, the amount to be paid, etc. The system is designed with the intension of allowing for scalability, portability, and re-use. The design of the system is such that it would permit future integration with other systems like online insurance billing for a patient that has a medical insurance, or even a completely different application. This system is also expected to provide a maximum level of security and reliability. Aim This project is aimed at developing a patient billing software system that is of importance to a hospital. The patient billing system is a local software system. This system can be used to maintain the location and the bed number of each patient either in the ward or the Intensive Care Units (ICU). Information about the patient and the charges to be paid is also stored. OBJECTIVE Research objective To study the feasibility of implementing a practical billing system for a hospital mainly focusing on scalability issues. As the hospital is speedily getting bigger the system should be able support any future expansions such as dealing with patients with health insurance. To conduct series of interviews in order to understand the organisational structure and the existing infrastructure service in the hospital and its problems and develop an alternative scenario for the system. To understanding the advantages and disadvantages of the current infrastructure service and how does the new system will be a benefits to the hospital? To conduct research about how patients billing systems is used in other hospitals? To examine the necessary tools that will be needed for the implementation of the proposed system and also examine whether the proposed system will be compatible with the existing system within the budget. Eg: What type of programming language can be adopted? What type of database would be best suitable for the system? To conduct an interview with the hospital data entry operator and the account department in order to find out the difficulties they are facing when generating bills to their patients. Practical objective The system is developed using PHP as the front end and SQL Server / Oracle as the back end. The following steps will be helpful to start off the project. Study and be comfortable with technologies such as PHP, SQL server / Oracle, Apache and ODBC Connectivity. Decide on the number of wards and the number of beds in each ward. Make a database of all tables and fill some sample data in the tables which can prove helpful for running / testing of the project. Assign a hospital data entry operator who will enter all the patient details, make updating to the table entries via front-end screens as and when a patient is being admitted to the hospital, transferred from a general ward to the ICU and vice versa and discharged from the hospital. Since the real-time project needs to be tested in real-time, you can take hours as days for testing the system. However, the display will still be in days only. Create the front-page of the PBS system giving a brief description about the system and a login box Create the help-pages of the system in the form of QA. This will help you also when implementing the system. Create other sub-systems like screens for various functions (new patient entry, viewing existing patient details, transfer of a patient between ward and ICU, etc). Research about client side and server side programming languages HTML, XHTML, ASP.NET, JSP, PHP, ASP Research about web based data base applications like Oracle,Mysql Research about Unified Modelling Language, Activity diagram, Use case diagram, Class diagram, Sequence diagram, Collaboration diagram Rationale of the project: Outsource medical billing system service provider is doing great help in terms of rendering medical billing services that could be of help to the doctors in order to concentrate more on their patients. The idea of medical billing outsourcing initiated from the need to hire experts in order to perform a minor task related to the medical profession. However, the most concerned issues of hiring a third party to manage the medical billing services are because secrete information about the company can be leaked out by outsourcing employees, even to their competitor and also they do not provide good quality services as most of their staff have limited medical background and all these issues can cause serious damage to the medical practice and finance. However with the introduction of my proposed system, it will result in the overall improvement of the medical billing processes. Significance: The proposed project can have great significance on the finance of the hospital and also reduce the work load from the account department. This does not only limit on the users, but will also be of great help to my studies and my career as well, as it would give me exposure needed in order to develop my skill on PL/SQL, PHP, HTML and RDBMS. Overview: My proposed web based application is fully focused is being user friendly, simple, but highly accurate at the same time. My program consists of different stages (pages). These can be described as follows. The project will provide a web-based platform where the hospital data entry operator can Login to the system through the first page of the application Enter the ward number for the patient either in the general ward or the ICU. Settle all bills pending to be paid by a patient before the patients discharge. Keep a track of all beds occupied / free in both the ward and the ICU. View information of all patients details, their admit time and the amount to be paid. Update the table fields (patient details, the amount to be paid / any balance remaining, the ward number, the bed number, the registration number, case number, etc.) as soon as a new patient is being admitted into the hospital or being discharged from the hospital. REQUIREMENTS System requirement The system requirements gives more details and explain how the user requirements should be provided by the system and can be used as part of the contract for the implementation of the system and should therefore be a complete and consistent specification of the system.(Sommerville, 2007pg.130) Therefore, Due to the nature of the project, the system is web base application that interacts with the user (hospital data entry operator and the account department) on client side and all the processing will be carried out on the server side. Therefore, both the client and the Server side have to meet the following minimum requirements. Software User is going to open the web page of the company that will contain the actual application form and then they have to fill it to make an application for the services. Internet Explorer or any web browser. Internet Connection. Data Base -MySQL server/Oracle (Optional) Client-side and Server-side scripting technologies PHP, ASP.NET, AJAX, Visual basic 6.0 WAMP. Security SSL, Hardware PC with Hard disk space more than 1 GB free always for database. (Optional) Minimum memory of 1GB (Optional) Back up running. Literature View: New technology creates new opportunities for forward-thinking companies. Higher level of automation, high-speed communications and improved access to information can provide significant benefits to a modern business organisation (Paul Boucij, Andrew Greasley, Simon Hickie 2008). Computer technology has highly transformed peoples lives tremendously. This innovation changes the way of our thinking and the way we perform our day by day activities. Computer-based information systems are now used to carry out all functions and activities of an organisation. Nowadays, improved innovations are being put in place in other to help a modern business organisation to make more efficient and automate business processes. Nevertheless, Medical practices are not left out of this great change. In order to run a medical practice appropriately, medical billing has to be automated. Lets imagine that there is no appropriate medical billing in place. What will happen to the issue of billing in medical pra ctices? Of course, the traditional way of billing will be adopted. Traditional way is doing all the medical billing like sending invoices and generating patients bills manually. This system is good if the medical practice wants to stay small. However, the issue of medical billing is sensitive in hospital management as the hospitals cannot afford losses because of careless billing generated from traditional way of billing. According to Charles Darwin, the prominent scientist of nature, said, It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change (Case, 2006 pg 27) The fact about nature is also true in today medical practice that works in a fast changing environment. The most efficient and successful hospitals run their finances with modern medical billing software. There is an urgent need to have a good way of managing the billing issue in a medical practice and this issue can only be managed with the help of good billing software. A good billing software is expected to make sure that the billing calculation are done efficiently and accurately. In addition, it is expected to be available to the users on internet so that medical practitioners can be able to have full access to their billing system anywhere in the world. Therefore, a web based medical billing is required. A Web application is a software application that is deployed on the web. It allows users to accomplish a task like obtaining information about the outstanding bills of a patient or any of the many activities possible on the web (Susan, Melanie, Solomon, Benjamin, 2003). The user can view, manipulate and control the software application through a Web browser connected to a web server through a network such as World Wide Web. In 1989, CERN (the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Switzerland) proposed the development of the World Wide Web in order to enable high-energy physicists across the world to collaborate through the easy provision and accessibility of information (Graham Curtis and David Cobham, 2002 pg 128). Another important aspect of web application is that there is a real-time update of generated content/data and they can be universally accessed via internet/web by the user. However, The effectiveness of any computerised system is dependent on the soundness of its design and this is particularly true for the database application. The importance of database system cannot be overlooked in medical billing system. For most business organisations, information held in databases can often be more valuable than tangible forms of asset, which are accounted for in monetary terms. To work most effectively for the organisation or company, data stored electronically must be properly managed and protected. (Domanski, peter, Philip, 2000). Thus, a consistence database must be in place in order to avoid inaccurate analyses of stored information, poor cash flow for the hospital and Patient dissatisfaction with the hospital. A web based billing software component comprises the Database Management system and the application program Methodologies: Different methodologies can be used for a project. However the appropriate one can increase the chances of better results. I have chosen to use the Unified Process approach and the reasons are; It concentrates on detailed documentation It minimises back tracking It maintains a full constant control on each stage of development We have a clear idea of all the problems during each stage thereby eliminating chance of bigger problems after coding I will get to learn useful tools do design Used case diagrams Enhancing my knowledge of class diagrams Strategic Issues Strategic issue can be explained as the organisation planning options in addressing crucial business issue, engaging in collaborative decision making. The strategic issue that the school of Technology and Management will benefit from the new system are; For the organisation Reduce the amount of paper usage e.g. assignment submission forms Reduce the amount of storage usage cost Reduce the number of manpower usage cost It will reduce the stress levels of the staff It save time for staffs For Student It eliminate assignment printing costs It reduce the long queues at the college e.g. during registration or at the registry. It saves time as well for the student Manpower requirements The project can be completed within 3 4 months if i work fulltime on it. Milestones and Timelines Number Milestone Name Milestone Description Timeline Week no. from the start of the project Remarks 1 Requirements Specification Complete specification of the system (with appropriate assumptions) including the framing of transfer policy of the patient between the ward / IBU, the payment / balance to be made by the patient etc constitutes this milestone. A document detailing the same should be written and a presentation on that be made. 2-3 Attempt should be made to add some more relevant functionality other than those that are listed in this document. 3 Database creation A database of atleast 25 entries of patients with some patients admitted in wards and the remaining in IBU should be entered. 5-7 It is important to finalize on the database at this stage itself so that development and testing can proceed with the actual database itself. 4 High-level and Detailed Design Listing down all possible scenarios (like new patient, transfer of a patient between general ward and IBU, some balance remaining to be paid at the time of discharge etc) and then coming up with flow-charts or pseudocode to handle the scenario. 7-9 The scenarios should map to the requirement specification (i.e., for each requirement that is specified, a corresponding scenario should be there). 5 Implementation of the front-end of the system Implementation of the main screen giving the login, screen that follows the login giving various options, screens for each of the options (shifting of patients, usage of beds). 10-12 During this milestone period, it would be a good idea for the team (or one person from the team) to start working on a test-plan for the entire system. This test-plan can be updated as and when new scenarios come to mind. 6 Integrating the front-end with the database The front-end developed in the earlier milestone will now be able to update the database when a patient discharges. In short, the system should be ready for integration testing. 12-13 7 Integration Testing The system should be thoroughly tested by running all the testcases written for the system (from milestone 5). 14-15 Another 2 weeks should be there to handle any issues found during testing of the system. After that, the final demo can be arranged. 8 Final Review Issues found during the previous milestone are fixed and the system is ready for the final review. 16-18 During the final review of the project, it should be checked that all the requirements specified during milestone number 1 are fulfilled (or appropriate reasons given for not fulfilling the same) Project: Internet based admission finder http://www.buzzle.com/articles/medical-billing-outsourcing.html

Differential Susceptibility Theory (DST) in Psychopathology

Differential Susceptibility Theory (DST) in Psychopathology Future Directions for research: What makes the Differential Susceptibility approach appealing to Psychopathology and Wellbeing researchers alike? The Differential Susceptibility Theory (DST) has attracted a huge amount of research in recent years from researchers in the field of wellbeing and psychopathology for a variety of reasons. This essay will examine both the dominant diathesis-stress model and DST and highlight how the knowledge of DST can improve wellbeing and reduce psychopathology. It has been widely demonstrated by decades of research that health and developmental disorders are more prevalent among people from high-risk families (Luthar, 2006; Boyce, 2007; Shonkoff, Boyce, McEwen, 2009). Studies abound to demonstrate that childhood physical, emotional abuse and neglect impair development from lack of concentration to aggression, fighting, stealing, truanting and antisocial activities (Wayne, 1989). There is however a prominent variation in the physical health and psychological adjustment of both children and adults who experienced both high and low degrees of adversity (Luthar, 2006; Masten Obradovic, 2006). The dominant theory that accounts for the above phenomenon is the diathesis-stress/dual risk model, which emphasizes vulnerability to environment. It postulates that psychopathology develops as a result of an interaction between due to vulnerabilities/diatheses (temperamental, biological, and/or behavioural characteristics) in a particular person and environmental stress (Monroe Simmons, 1991). Hence, an individual facing great environmental stress will not need to have many underlying vulnerabilities to develop psychopathology. The same outcome can be true for an individual with greater vulnerabilities but a minor stressful event (Ingram Luxton, 2005). On the other hand, DST emphasizes developmental plasticity- individual differences in neurobiological susceptibility to environmental factors (Belsky, 2005). Belsky (2005) postulates that plasticity functions in a for-better-and-for-worse manner: more â€Å"plastic† individuals experience more positive outcomes in positive environments as well as more negative outcomes in aversive environments. DST has received support from many studies. Boyce et al.’s (1995) study on biological reactivity and environmental adversities as predictors of respiratory conditions in children aged between 3 and 5 yields a credible result. The study found that highly biologically reactive children who were exposed to childcare or home environments of high adversity experienced substantially higher illness than other children while highly biologically reactive children who experienced lower adversity conditions (better supportive childcare) experienced the lowest illness rates. More recent studies come from Hankin et al.’s (2011) three different studies that investigated the 5-HTTLPR genotype in 1,874 children and adolescents (between 9- and 15-year-old) and how the degree of supportive or unsupportive parenting may influence their behaviours. Hankin et al. (2011) found that the ‘homozygous for the functional short allele of 5-HTTLPR were more responsive to parenting as environmental context in a â€Å"for better and worse† manner’, that genetically susceptible youth whose parents were unsupportive displayed low levels of positive affect while genetically susceptible youth who experienced supportive parenting displayed higher levels of positive affect. There are a variety of reasons why researchers of well-being and psychopathology find DST appealing. The most significant difference between DST and the dominant diathesis-stress model is that the latter do not consider the effects of a positive environment. This is because it is of the view that there is no significant difference in how vulnerable or resilient groups respond to enriched supportive or environmental conditions (Belsky Pluess, 2009). Consequently, many studies only focus on adversity and its absence (e.g., maltreatment vs. no maltreatment) and do not measure the complete range of environments. Neither do they consider the complete range of psychological/behavioural functioning (just maladjustment and its absence, e.g., depressed vs. not depressed). In addition, DST may help researchers to elucidate the defining characteristics of resilience. Under the diathesis-stress model, children with particular attributes such as positive temperament and do not suffer expected detrimental effects of negative environments are defined as resilient (Cicchetti, 1993; Luthar, 2006). However, DST argues that these children could seem resilient because they are just not very â€Å"plastic† or malleable. If this is indeed true, these children would therefore be very unlikely to benefit from highly supportive rearing environments should they be provided with them (Belsky Pluess, 2009b). As such, DST extends the diathesis-stress model by drawing focus on investigating how personal characteristics moderate the effects of positive environmental contexts on positive well-being. One additional advantage of DST is that it offers a new advancement in the treatment of psychopathology. There is great potential in screening patients for intervention on the basis of neurobiological susceptibility (Ellis et al., 2011). DST predicts varying sizes of intervention effects across participants, depending on both the â€Å"plasticity† of individuals and the mode of intervention. Many experimental interventions on parenting and child care have confirmed the above prediction (e.g., Bakermans-Kranenburg, van IJzendoorn, Mesman, Alink, Juffer, 2008; Cassidy et al., 2011). Furthermore, current evidence does not strongly support the case that some people are completely not susceptible to the positive effects of any intervention. As such, it would be better to understand neurobiological susceptibility as a continuous dimension rather than categorically (susceptible vs not susceptible). Caspi et al.’s (2003) G x E study showed that those homozygous for the short s erotonin-transporter allele suffered most from stressful life events, those homozygous for the long allele suffered the least while heterozygotes (carrying one short and one long allele) fell in between. The above knowledge could help inform the design of treatment policies and programs tailored to the specific needs of people with differing â€Å"plasticity†. Despite the exciting promise of DST, it is important to note that it is a relatively new theory in need of much future research to shed light on many areas. Owing to the length constraint of this essay, only a few notable areas will be discussed. Firstly, it is currently unclear how differential susceptibility is regulated by neurobiological (genotypic, endophenotypic, and behavioral) mechanisms (Ellis et al., 2011). Future research on the relationships between the different levels of mechanisms would help to greatly shape programs and interventions to benefit patients of different â€Å"plasticity†. Secondly, future research should focus on elucidating how for better and for worse processes unfold. For example, it could be possible that neurobiologically susceptible children are better at detecting and capitalizing on positive opportunities (e.g., taking advice from a teacher, forging strong friendships) to achieve positive outcomes in supportive environments. Such knowledge would once again help to shape intervention programs. For example, interventors can specifically highlight positive opportunities mentioned above to neurobiologically susceptible children from adverse environments that are recently provided with more positive environments. In conclusion, this essay has explored the main features of DST and shown how understanding DST is crucial in understanding how to prevent psychopathology and improve wellbeing. Further studies, however, are required to bridge the existing gaps in this field.

Essay on Cheating and Plagiarism :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

From the information I gathered for this paper, plagiarism is a bigger problem than we all think.   As far as I can tell plagiarism has been around since the existence of reading and writing.   Our human race sure hasn't helped this matter by inventing the printing press in the late fifteen-century and the Internet in the late twentieth century.   Plagiarism gets most of its press in the realm of education, particularly in places of higher education.   Aside from the information I attained threw traditional research, I poled a few students here at Lake Superior State University.   I got this idea from some of the articles I read.   I read this one article that was about a professor that said she estimated that 17% of the papers students turned in to her were plagiarized.   Those were the ones that she was actually sure about.   So when I did my pole I asked students if they had plagiarized a paper this semester.   The overwhelming response was...I plagi arize all my papers.   A whopping 100% of  Ã‚   the students I talked to plagiarized this semester and as far as I can tell, every semester.   No, this was not a scientific study, but it sure was shocking.   It is my guess that some of these people are ignorant, but a majority of them are lazy.   In the rest of my paper I will explain plagiarism in its many forms, discuss how the Internet has affected academic integrity, and highlight some of the ways teachers and professors are detecting and combating this problem known as plagiarism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What is plagiarism?   Plagiarism's definition cannot be explained in a few words or even one or two sentences.   Plagiarism takes shape in most cases, one of six ways or in a combination of the six.   Here they are: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Using another writer's words without proper citation.   If you use another writer's work, you must place quotation marks around the quoted material and include a footnote or other indication of the source of the quotation.1[1] 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Using another writer's ideas without proper citation.   When you use another's ideas, you must indicate with footnotes or other means of where this information can be found.   Your instructors want to know which ideas and judgments are yours and which you arrived at by consulting other sources. Essay on Cheating and Plagiarism :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers From the information I gathered for this paper, plagiarism is a bigger problem than we all think.   As far as I can tell plagiarism has been around since the existence of reading and writing.   Our human race sure hasn't helped this matter by inventing the printing press in the late fifteen-century and the Internet in the late twentieth century.   Plagiarism gets most of its press in the realm of education, particularly in places of higher education.   Aside from the information I attained threw traditional research, I poled a few students here at Lake Superior State University.   I got this idea from some of the articles I read.   I read this one article that was about a professor that said she estimated that 17% of the papers students turned in to her were plagiarized.   Those were the ones that she was actually sure about.   So when I did my pole I asked students if they had plagiarized a paper this semester.   The overwhelming response was...I plagi arize all my papers.   A whopping 100% of  Ã‚   the students I talked to plagiarized this semester and as far as I can tell, every semester.   No, this was not a scientific study, but it sure was shocking.   It is my guess that some of these people are ignorant, but a majority of them are lazy.   In the rest of my paper I will explain plagiarism in its many forms, discuss how the Internet has affected academic integrity, and highlight some of the ways teachers and professors are detecting and combating this problem known as plagiarism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What is plagiarism?   Plagiarism's definition cannot be explained in a few words or even one or two sentences.   Plagiarism takes shape in most cases, one of six ways or in a combination of the six.   Here they are: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Using another writer's words without proper citation.   If you use another writer's work, you must place quotation marks around the quoted material and include a footnote or other indication of the source of the quotation.1[1] 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Using another writer's ideas without proper citation.   When you use another's ideas, you must indicate with footnotes or other means of where this information can be found.   Your instructors want to know which ideas and judgments are yours and which you arrived at by consulting other sources.

Reality and Illusion in Shakespeares Hamlet - Appearance vs. Truth :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Hamlet: Appearance vs. Reality One of the most famous and popular authors and script writers is William Shakespeare. Shakespeare has always been able to create interesting characters and one of the reasons they are so interesting might be that they are complex people with their inner selves differing from their outer selves. Are the characters in Hamlet the same on the inside as they appear to be on the outside? The characters in William Shakespeare's Hamlet can be studied in a manner relating to appearance versus reality. Some of these characters are Claudius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Hamlet. One character who enables us to examine the theme of appearance versus reality is Claudius, the new King of Denmark. In Act One, Scene Two Claudius acts as though he really cares for his brother and grieves over the elder Hamlet's death. This is shown in his first speech addressed to his court, "and that it us befitted/To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom/To be contracted in one brow of woe" (Shakespeare I22-4). It is shown further on in the same speech when he says, "our late dear brother's death" (Shakespeare I219). However, this is not how Claudius truly feels about his brothers death, for Claudius is the one who murders elder Hamlet. We see the proof of this in Claudius' soliloquy when he appears to be praying; "O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven./It hath the primal eldest curse upon't/A brother's murder" (Shakespeare III336-38). Another love which Claudius fakes is the love he has towards his nephew and stepson, Hamlet. In his first speech to his court Claudius tells Hamlet not to leave for school but to remain in Denmark; "It is most retrograde to our desire/And we do beseech you, bend you to remain/Here in the cheer and comfort of our eye" (Shakespeare I2114-117). However, later in the play Claudius develops a plan to send Hamlet away from Denmark with the aid of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern; "And he [Hamlet] to England shall along with you [R & G]" (Shakespeare III34). Claudius also refers to himself as "Thy loving father, Hamlet" (Shakespeare IV350) but when Hamlet is out of the room a few moments later Claudius has a complete change of face in which he reveals his plan to have Hamlet executed; "Our sovereign process, which imports at full/By letters congruing to that effect/The present death of Hamlet" (Shakespeare IV363-65). Even the love Claudius showed for Gertrude can be questioned in its validity. Claudius, near the beginning of the play, appears to be happy about

Analysis of Ann Patchett’s “Bel Canto

In Ann Patchett’s novel, â€Å"Bel Canto,† various themes that are dramatic or psychological in content are explored. However, arguably the most notable among them is the strange nature and irony of fate, which also encompasses several sub-themes such as the abundance of passion and love in the face of death. These themes are highlighted mostly by the relationships between the characters and the development of their personalities. In general, the strange twist of fate is best depicted by the unusual relationships formed between the characters in the novel.These ties and bonds built can arguably be described unusual due to the backdrop of the story. Basically, the entire plot revolves around a terrorist group taking hostage various celebrities, politicians, and other prominent personalities for a several months while at the same time forming unique relationships with their victims in the process at the house of the vice-president of a Latin American country. Moreover, as the novel concludes, the so-called heroes or good guys aren’t exactly the ideal benevolent people one would expect and the villains or bad guys (Gioia n.p. ). Towards the end, the lines between the terrorists and the hostages are blurred as both groups become less hostile and friendlier to each other, which further added to the strange change in fate of the characters in the story. Ironically, it was as if all the hostages and the terrorists wanted to remain inside the home of the country’s vice president where they have been holed up since the crisis began. Moreover, as mentioned above, multiple unique relationships are formed between the characters of the book.The first notable one is between Roxanne Coss, the American Soprano singer, and her fellow captive, Katsumi Hosokawa, who is also one of her big fans. Although their romance is evident in the novel, it is somehow ironic because they could not understand each other due to a language barrier. In other words, alt hough Roxanne and Katsumi were not able to communicate verbally, they shared a passion for each other which aroused in the face of death—one of the sub-themes explored in the novel.However, like all the other hostages, Roxanne and Katsumi knew the painful reality that awaits them should there captivity ends. In chapter 10 of the novel, Kastumi reflected on the possible scenarios if they are released from their captors. â€Å"He understood that these were extraordinary times, and if their old life was ever restored to them, nothing would be the same† (Patchett 298). Meaning to say, Kastumi knew that he loved Roxanne and how full his life has become but also realized that their relationship could never exist in the world outside their captivity.This is highly ironic because like the rest of the hostages, initially, the only thing that Katsumi and Roxanne wanted was to escape from their terrorist captors and get their normal lives back. But due to the deep involvement of the two with each other and due to the romantic relationship they have formed, they no longed wanted to escape but instead remain in captivity, which is one of the best examples of the strange nature of fate explored in the novel.The same applies to the relationship between Gen Watanabe, Katsumi’s translator, and Carmen, one of the young female terrorists. The two became romantically involved with each other when Gen taught Carmen how to read. They would meet inside a closet every night for Carmen’s reading lessons and where they would also make love. In other words, like Katsumi and Roxanne, the two have also accepted the fact that their hostage-terrorist relationship cannot be revealed to anyone nor could it exist in the world outside.In the tenth chapter of the novel, after learning that the government forces would soon attack and release all hostages, the author described the reaction of the two: â€Å"So Gen should have said something more, and Carmen should have listened more, but instead she kissed him, because the important thing was to forget. That kiss was like a lake, deep and clear, and they swam into it forgetting† (Patchett 302). Meaning to say, the two have accepted their fate and the fact that their relationship would be short-lived. Instead of pondering on the upcoming reality, they chose to make the most their present situation by hugging and kissing.In short, the novel vividly illustrates the strange twist of fate between among the characters in the novel. In early chapters, the characters can be divided into two groups: the hostages and the terrorists. However, as the story progresses, in a strange twist of fate, those lines that divide the two groups become blurred as the captives and the captors began enjoying each other’s company. This is exemplified not only by the relationships formed between Katsumi and Roxanne and Gen and Carmen but in other characters as well.In one scene, Ruben Iglesias, the vice preside nt of the Latin American Country and owner of the house where the hostages were held in the novel, was shown playing chess with the leader of the terrorists, General Benjamin. The vice president also implied that he was considering adopting one of the young members of the terrorists, Ishmael. Therefore, it can be surmised that hostage crisis transformed nearly all of the characters in the novel to the point where they wanted to remain holed up in the vice-president’s house forever, which is exactly the opposite of what hostages usually feel when they are held captive.Over-all, the novel greatly explored a theme in which the fate of its characters took an ironic twist that added depth and color to the over-all plot. The strange yet unique relationships formed are the best examples of the theme in which the true identities of the characters were also revealed. Works Cited Goia, Ted. â€Å"Bel Canto†. 2008. The New Canon. com 11 May 2009 < http://www. thenewcanon. com/bel _canto. html>. Patchett, Ann. Bel Canto. New York: Harper Perennial, 2002.

Eye Donation

EYE DONATION- A NOBLE ACT, WITH AN ADDED RESPONSIBILITY – S BALACHANDRAN, CGM, SBT I am just watching the 200th episode of the Surya TV’s popular programme â€Å"Deal or No Deal† featuring film star Mukhesh with Sri Kochouseph, promoter and CEO of V-Guard group and Rev. Father Chirammel. It seems more than a concidence that when I sat down to pen my thoughts on Organ donation, specially Eye-donation, this episode is playing on my Television set.More than his entrepreneurial skill and management acumen Sri Kochouseph has been a personality for whom I have immense admiration on account of his rare humanitarian act a few years back when he donated a kidney for a needy patient and thus gave a new meaning and dimension to the much sullied and murky field of organ donation. Rev Father Chirammel was the person who prompted Sri Kochouseph to do this noble act. I am sure, the act of Sri Kochouseph would have sent out a message that one can be a donor of an organ without a ny fear of one’s own health and as a pure act of philanthropy.I am sure more and more people , healthy people, would come forward to be donors without any monetary consideration. This reminds me of the supreme act of compassion shown by the doctor-couple fromTrichy a few years back. Their only son, was fatally involved in a motor accident on the Chennai highway. The parents rushed to the spot on hearing the news, only to see their only child, a son who they thiught would continue their noble profession, was in an almost critical state, with all symptoms ofan impending brain death.The couple were flooded with phone calls from friends who offered the best of treatment if the boy could be brought to Chennai. Fully equipped ambulance was ready to carry out the job. The couple with prayers on their lips and dwindling hope in their hearts, accompanied the injured son in the vehicle, on its one hour journey. But the boy couldnot complete the journey and his brain switched off enrout e. That was a moment when any parent would stop behaving rationally or with balance.Yet it was the mother who held her mind and suggested to her husband that they hurry with the body to the nearest best hospital, so that all the vital organs of the body could be salvaged and donated to needy persons. The husband did the rest by phoning up his friends anout their decision and requesting them to make arrangements for the extraction of the vital organs from their son’s body and arranging to locate needy recepients .Cutting the long story short, today, this doctor-parents live with the satisfaction of their son still living through the four lives whom he saved in his death. The celstial level of their magnanimity is fit to be lauded in golden words. It is special persons like Sri Kochouseph and the doctors who inspire me. Of the ever increasing throng of persons needing oirgan transplants, it is the persons with Corneal blindness, who toip the list.I rememebr having read that in India there are over 5 milion persons with this type of blindness, which can be cured if they can get suitable donors, in time. The easiest part of eye donation is that the donor can pledge to donate his eyes and the actual donation needs to be done only on the death of the donor. Having been a compulsive, voluntary blood donor ever since I reached the age of 19, I was much pained, when, in 2002 I was advised that I could no longer donate blood since I was hypertensive.I had to cry a halt to my unbroken saga of 62 blood donations for 31 years. It was then that I decided to donate my eyes on my death. The only prayer I have today is that my eyes should be worthy of use at that time. This adds a major responsibility on me to keep my self safe from ailments that would affect the usability of my eyes. If my daily prayers include a wish to protect me from debilitating ailments, it is more to protect my eyes for whoever the recepient could be†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.