Financial services Essay Example for Free

Financial services Essay HSBC wants to be known as the world’s local bank and this tagline reflects HSBC positioning as a globe spanning financial institution with a unique focus on serving local markets. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd (HSBC) was established in 1865 to finance the growing trade between China and the United Kingdom and currently, it is the second largest bank in the world. In spite of serving more than 100 million customers through 9500 branches in 79 countries, the bank works hard to maintain local presence and local knowledge each area. Its fundamental operating strategy is remaining close to its customers. As chairman Sir John Bond said â€Å"our position as the World’s local bank enables us to approach each country uniquely, blending local knowledge with a worldwide operating platform. † Ads for the HSBC campaign depict two different ways of culture Profile of company and the description of the market where HSBC operates HSBC has got over 7. 500 offices in 87 countries. It is very widespread and has around 220. 000 shareholders in 124 countries and territories. It provides a full range of financial services being Personal Financial Services, Commercial Banking, Corporate Investment Banking and Markets Private Banking. HSBC mainly operates in Europe, Hong Kong, Asia-pacific region, Australia and America. It is interested in the emerging markets of Asia-Pacific region and is continuously heavily investing in these regions. The major top UK competitors of HSBC are Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland and Those are the corporations operation where HSBC carefully investigates and tracks at all times. However HSBC is not a bank that follows the ideas and the management manners of its competitors. HSBC Holdings PLC has shown steady growth in share price over the last five years and clearly indicates that a company is worth investing in. HSBC Group also demonstrates constant growth and is a very reliable corporation. These enable us to recommend investing in HSBC because of its growth opportunities and bright profitable prospects. The HSBC banking corporation is on third position in the world in regard to assets ownership. Almost 22% of HSBC’s profits have been derived from Hong Kong, which is a well known operational centre. Known as the world’s local bank, HSBC has a history of helping millions of customers globally in order to achieve their financial aspirations. They understand the importance and functioning of different markets through their experience in international trade. As a result, HSBC has grown into a company or banking institution that has the deepest respect for different cultures and people connected to these cultures. Their motto is to look at their customers as individuals and strive towards providing them with a personalised service and credit card products that will fit each of their specific needs. Simultaneously, HSBC Group has been trying to build up a good reputation in the US and conquer the markets of HSBC – North America, proudly stands one of the top 10 financial services companies in the United States. Its combined team reached more than 53,000 employees works with the common goal of meeting the needs for about 100 million customers. After achieving the goals in US, the company focused on developing countries and is more interested in the emerging markets of Asia-Pacific region and is continuously heavily investing in these regions. Furthermore HSBC is considering moving its head office from London to Hong Kong. Britains greatest bank, warned key shareholders that this was unsatisfying full-year results have made arguments for shifting HSBCs domicile to Hong Kong unsatisfying†. The investors have been shocked by the swift gear-change in HSBCs review of its domicile but some others have already told the HSBC that they would sponsor the move. Some other investors said that they understood the move and that the bank had been a change of tone as HSBC reviews its domicile. UKs capital terms for the main banks, now is one of the greatest in the world and according to the Basel terms, is expected to go even higher. Although HSBC refine to the investors that if the terms in Hong Kong is more relaxed requirements, that can cost less and develop more profit by making it the best use of its balance sheet. The loss of HSBCs head office in London, despite the fact that abused for months because of the raise in financial arrangements, would be a severe blow to the Coalition which, admitting some of its banker criticism is relying on a private-sector-led recovery. However, HSBC supported that it elects to stay in UK and told that an approaching change in its position was entirely hypothetical. Marketing environment of HSBC The most important intention of the report is to investigate the business environment of HSBC Holdings PLC. HSBC Holdings also is one of the market leaders in today’s banking world. HSBC head office it can be found at London’s Canary Wharf on the HSBC tower. HSBC stands for Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which was established by a man from Scotland, named Thomas Sutherland, in 1865. The report presents information about the company’s activities, financial performance and market environment. Going through few major topics will provide investors with reasonable overview. The first part of the main body will primarily focus on the Company’s Profile and Activities, afterwards the analysis of macro-environment and the micro-environment of the company, evidence of an audit of key competences within the company followed with the recommendations and conclusion. Macro-Environment Analysis PEST ANALYSIS POLITICAL Government is responsible for protecting the public interest. Political stability affects business decision. Consumer protection. Regulations of business activities. ECONOMIC Competitor activity. Competition for resources. Savings. Unemployment numbers. SOCIAL Work life balance. Trends in consumer behaviours. Leisure. Lifestyle. TECHNOLOGY Technological arrange is speeding up. Technology develops now products (internet). Improved communication. Internet business. POLITICAL ANALYSIS HSBC banking has been sheltered by the regulations and policies made by different governments in the countries where they are working. The company has been able to remain to the policies agreed by each government to make sure that the company will be able to accomplish business operation successfully and effectively. HSBC Company also formulates their own defence strategies besides any governmental restrictions and limitations. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Being one of the world’s leading and completive businesses in conditions of banking and finance HSBC said to have a secure and successful economic strength. In spite of lots of dangers that they meet in many parts of the world, the management of HSBC make what they need to be able to go beyond such struggles and to have a better economic condition and create a shield against unemployment. SOCIAL ANALYSIS HSBC is being affected by the circumstances of the society in which they are in use. By the side of this HSBC tries harder to make sure that each society is given the same chances to take the benefit of the resources given by the organization. The company adhere to having good name and relations in the society that belong to secure that everything will be customary and under control. TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS The urgent situation of information technology, internet and generally the improvement of technology effects how HSBC has been working in the past years. The company search for different systems and used internet to get to their costumer all over the world and also help them know the latest trends in the global business. Except from these, the company also uses special facilities which help then to advance their productions and operations and also make them to achieve their goal. Technological breakthroughs can create new industries which might prove a danger to presented organizations. To summarise PEST analysis looks at the business strategies to understand the environment that the company is working and also to take the advantages and benefits to minimize the threats and the dangers for the business. Micro-Environmental Analysis -Porter’s Five Forces Potential entrants HSBC has many threats from Tesco, Sainsbury’s and a large number of other markets consider to enter into banking industry as a result of high profits that the specific kind of industry offers. Large super-markets in UK seek to enter without considering that those threats sometimes breakdown organisations such as HSBC. Although, HSBC received several threats from the market, they were still able to create high standards for the competition. Strong branding images are used from HSBC, so the company will not result in loss of customers. Bargaining power of customers An organisation created a value which has affected the occupation from one of the two important forces customers’ power. The role of this force contains the customers concentration along with the size. In other words, HSBC managed their customers as a result of allowing the company to gain customer loyalty. The strategy that was used by HSBC allows them to have a chance becoming a world leader in banking industry. Threat of substitutes: Another significant threat that HSBC faces is that competitors provide new products and services. This threat gives the opportunity to the company to work hard as a result of being sustain to its position. HSBC’s strategy focuses on the four different customers’ sections. Bargaining power of suppliers: Customer power mirrors to supplier power. This force focus on two important points. The first one is the significant size and concentration of suppliers and the second one the differentiation in the materials being supplied. HSBC use the strategy of charging markets with different prices according to differences of the price of each buyer. Rivalry among current competitors: There have many rivals in the banking and financial sectors. HSBC used efficient strategies to ensure its leadership position in the market among rivalries. Moreover, due to the capabilities of other rival companies, HSBC develops strategic plans to confirm that they are permanently being the first choice of their customers in banking industries. Nowadays, as we cross the mountain of financial crisis, a number of banks went to liquidation . SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS International Finance. Record Profits. Listed in London. China. WEAKNESSES Poor Performance. Brand Name. OPPORTUNITIES Growth on emerging economies. Biggest Bank in Middle East. Low mortgages interest rates. THREATS Moving back to China. New Regulations. Fewer Revenues from the integration of financial markets. STRENGTHS International Finance Since HSBC is a global company itself is well qualified to advise other companies on aspects of international business. With offices around the world, for the international client HSBC often cannot be defeated in this area. HSBC knows how to succeed in Mergers and Acquisitions (M E) and the organic and the effective development. Record Profits Last year, HSBC experienced the most profits ever for a UK high street bank. HSBC have revealed their profits more than doubled in 2010 to ? 10 billion with every region in the black for the first time since 2006. Listed in London HSBC is listed primarily in London and Hong Kong stock exchanges, which saves the company a lot of grief in complying with new U. S. legislation Sarbanes-Oxley law. Many companies have chosen to list on foreign stock exchanges, except America, because of expensive new regulations. China HSBC has 140 years of experience in China. Since China is the place to be today for companies and banks, HSBC benefits for being so old Chinese company and accepted by the Chinese people. The best news for HSBC is that, like other companies grow in China, it does too. The reason this happens is that it wins new customers and new global opportunities with each passing day. The HSBC has the largest network of any foreign bank in China and deeply understands the Chinese market and the customer. In a world that is increasingly going the way of China, this is quite a boon to HSBC. WEAKNESSES Poor Performance There is a poor performance in the section of personal finance services. HSBC try to fix these problem years ago. But the problem is there every year. Brand Name While it is certainly a global company, HSBC came late in the game to decide to execute a comprehensive marketing strategy and take advantage of the global brand. Because he had created so many different banks in different countries at different times over a period of one hundred years, which set them up with different names Hong Kong Bank of Canada, the British Bank of the Middle East, etc. Not even all of these banks prior to 1998, bore the logo of HSBC. In 1998, they were all branded together, but the previous lack of branding and name changes can damage the HSBC brand recognition. Customers may have thought that HSBC was responsible local bank and did not realize that HSBC had already serving for decades. OPPORTUNITIES Growth on emerging economies Apart from the growing Chinese middle class Brazilians and Indians have begun to appear as consumer culture, and thus increases wasteful consumers. Some residents of those countries in the past does not even own a bank account, but companies such as HSBC is ready to move in and benefit from the growing middle class in these areas. In places like Argentina and Turkey, HSBC experienced pre-tax profits by 50% in the past years. This is where it grows more. Biggest Bank in the Middle East The other banks are removed from the Middle East. However, HSBC has been running regional activities at the local level and have been rewarded for his efforts with numerous awards and honours for the Middle East market. HSBC is a trusted name there, and the company benefited from new democracy in Iraq by establishing a presence in the country. HSBC is the largest international bank in the Middle East. Low Mortgages Interest Rates The low mortgage interest rate increases the revenues and market’s shares. HSBC has made some records on this. THREATS Moving Back to China The banking colossal HSBC has been most explicit threat yet that it might move its headquarters from London because of the narrowing regulatory noose. New Regulations The investors of HSBC have been warned that future profitability will be affected by the new global policies designed to make the sector of financial more secure, but smoothed the blow with the promise of increasing dividends. Marketing Mix Of HSBC Marketing: HSBC was known as one of the biggest banking and financial services organization in the global. It has more than 9,800 offices worldwide and employs over 253, 000 people in 85 countries in the world and nowadays, the competition of banking company is very demanding and challenging. Therefore, many different organizations should be used strategic management so that compete effectively and successfully in theirs. In order to competing with other organization successfully, HSBC was able to use many strategies such as Marketing Mix, SWOT Analysis, PESTLE Analysis, and Porters Five Forces Analysis. These strategies focus on four customer groups include Private Banking, Personal Financial Services, Commercial Banking, and Corporate Investment Banking and Markets, and these will help HSBC reach their organization goal. In Marketing Mix once the company is ready to choose business strategy, it has to begin planning the details of marketing mix or 4Ps (Kotler at el. 2008). The main aspect of Marketing Mix is product, price, place and promotion that the firm combine to produce the response it wants in the target of market segmentation. Product HSBC uses hexagon symbol which means one of the world leading brands for customer experience, corporate social responsibility and represents brand recognition. HSBC provide a full range of service, such as personal finance, commercial banking, corporate investment banking and markets, private banking, insurance, mortgage, credit cards and so on. Price In Price and Service Strategies, normally a low price will attract more customers, but HSBC did not focus on pricing strategy. They decided to use service strategy. For example, employee in HSBC serve customer with the best service. Place HSBC comprises around 9,800 offices in 85 countries especially Hong Kong, China, and UK. HSBC group moved its headquarters from Hong Kong to London. Also, HSBC provide the facility of â€Å"Internet Banking† where customers can access their account 24 hours per day and 7 days per week without going bank. Promotion Advertising is the best way to do promotion. HSBC also used many kind of advertising for their promotion, such as billboard, TVC, print ad, newspapers, spot radio and also website. In addition, HSBC sponsored with many company and exhibition, such as Jaguar, HSBC Women’s Champions. Segmenting, Target Markets and the behaviour of customers in segmenting of HSBC Marketing: The market segmentation can help the marketing manager to determine the best marketing mix for organizing and serving the unique segment. This process is dividing the markets into the segments for the potential customers and has the objective for improving the competitive position of the company which can serve its customer better customer service. Market Segmentation is a subgroup of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product needs. Generally, the segmentation strategy is the division of the defined market in the smaller groups for the potential users of the products and can exhibit significant and meaningful variables which can represent the increased and measurable opportunity for the products positioning or investing the resources within the organization and can raised the forecasted marketing achievement objectives in the entire organizational goals of the business. The information technology is considered to be one of the major tools for the functionality scale worldwide of the company. It has its own website and it also has the e-business for internet, interactive, PC internet, and the telephone banking. In order to achieve the company’s marketing objectives, the organization needs to develop its marketing strategy or the marketing program that is centre to the detailed specification of marketing mix and it also includes the internal control as well as the procedures for assuring of effectively implemented and part of this is the market segmentation whereas if this is properly controlled or implemented, then it will greatly contribute to the achievement of the overall goals and the marketing objectives of HSBC. Many of the analyst believed that most of the financial institutions rely mainly on the generic marketing strategies. For the past years, HSBC is known as having the strong brand which can maintain the string perception for the minds of the customers. This can take the time for establishing much resource in keeping be remembering by the other customers as the local banks as well as managing in transferring the brand equities to the corporate brands. The Market Segmentation is the centre for the strong development of marketing strategy which involves the identification of the customers’ perception, needs, expectation, and the buying behaviour in order for them to group homogeneously for the customers who can be satisfied as well as marketed to the similar manner. Therefore, there had been expectation that the one segment can differ from the another activity to the customers profile and to the buying behaviour which has the connection to the sales and marketing activity in establishing these customers which is an ample factor for having these knowledge. The market segmentation is not only to group the customers but to shrewd the certain segment for the development of the clear brands position which as part of the integral process of market segmentation. The company now can launch the marketing strategies which use the marketing segmentation for managing its growth for strategic outlook. This can be done by the deliberation of the revenue generation culture and maintaining the prudent risk or the market risk while investing further to the people. The company has focused on the customers’ needs as a main issue for their development and had been done by dividing the customers in their location and with respect to their culture. In this regard, the company had recognized that most of the customers want to have the long term relationship to the company, ambitious and confident, and has the high productivity and focused to the marketing. In the detailed telephone interview, the respondent noted that the market segmentation of the company for the products and services for the groups of different location worldwide are effective and most of the generated profits had been use in overseas subsidiaries. In this regard, the company can manage to capitalize the presence overseas as well as the local knowledge and the expertise so that they can bring the new customers for opening the new accounts as well as looking at the other services and products that offered by HSBC. The company also had been optimistic that most of the customers prefer HSBC for the long term experience and having the well trained staff added to the lower charges and to the broad range of the products. Lastly, this market segmentation is considered to be generic wherein it greatly depends on the region for the several subsidiaries of the location of HSBC and some of the strategies are put to good. In 2003, HSBC had invested huge amount for proprietary relationship to the customers and to their management system so that the customers are managed efficiently. Therefore, they handled greater customer care and process of financial requirements in order to generate the customers’ satisfaction. For example, In UK HSBC generated much customers contacts for more than one million and led to the expansion of the existing relationship while the internet goes to the heart of every customers and their convenience which is important channel to the customers. In this manner, the e banking of HSBC can be available for the 17 territories and countries worldwide. The commercial banking is one of the strengths of the company which includes the incorporated business as the partnership, sole traders, trading entities, and associations. In this area of business, the company main contacts to the customers are the network managers’ relationship which managed and established to the local branch level or the expansion of the commercial banking centres so that they can meet their future and existing customers into their international reach while the corporate and investment banking can prove that the company can give the competitive advantage which can provide services for 25,000 subsidiaries and 1,200 customers for more than 50 countries. Because product managers can understand customers needs, then the group is supporting the teams through investing into the increase automation for the software and to the risk management, to the intranet site, to the central support of relationship management and having the geographical knowledge. In line with the private banking, the relationship to the managers can operate on the cross border basis in order to serve requirements which specialize for the clients for the different sectors which are all in line to the differentiated approach of the group into the international private banking. Because of increasing the customer base for the company, it build services centre for every particular transactions. In order for the company to remain competitive, it had invested that it can introduce the company in the introduction of the supporting and functionality expansion. The company had compelled to the metric of high level which can provide the actionable data. In line with this, HSBC had surveyed 27,000 customers all over the 24 countries which consist of customers’ experience. The findings that presented by are higher cost-t-serve goes across the entire aspect of HSBC in the professional or personal experience. Upon the movement of the company in its segmentation to the other regions, its product and services had been aligned to the needs of the market segments as the needs to banking through information technology. Through this service, the design for the right distribution channel in reaching the every distinct group so that they can stay contact. This segmentation had been essential to every single business detail that runs the bank in recognizing its long term growth. Conclusion and Recommendation for improvements of HSBC: In conclusion we would like to state that HSBC Group is in constant search of further development and its key data of latest year’s financial performance proved that they are succeeding in their aims, as the company is showing increase in almost all aspects of its business. It has shown steady growth in total profits in all most important regions of operation. It has also achieved large earnings per share increase over the last five years. The company has recently made a successful growth in the Middle-East region and expects continuous growth in profits from that region. In Asia all business segments exceeded and also contributed to overall function of the HSBC Group. From our point of view, in a company that has reached such huge size and success, there is not much that can be improved, considering their financial performance. It is worth mentioning, that HSBC Group should give more attention to the rapidly developing internet banking system. The information presented in this report is enough to make the final decision and as far as we are concerned it is good and reliable company to invest in. It is a perfect long-term investment. HSBC Group has around 220. 000 shareholders in over 124 countries and this only adds to its reputation and proves its trustworthiness.

Great Expectations, Romeo and Juliet and To Kill a Mocking Bird Essay Example for Free

Great Expectations, Romeo and Juliet and To Kill a Mocking Bird Essay Great Expectations, To Kill a Mocking Bird, and Romeo and Juliet are all very diverse pieces of literature. Each piece of literature is unique to one another, but they all share common characteristics and themes. All of the works include a key character that gains understanding of himself resulting from events in his life that caused confusions or prejudice. Pip, the main character of Great Expectations, learns a great amount resulting from confusion in his life. His confusion is caused by his love for Estella, a beautiful and proper girl of the upper-class. Pip becomes intrigued by Estella the moment Ms. Havisham, Estellas guardian, has him over to visit. Ms. Havisham encourages and strengthens Pips feeling for Estella by always reminding him of Estellas beauty and intelligence. As Pip grows older, his love for Estella never fades. Pip becomes confused when Estella makes him think that he may have a chance with her when in reality she doesnt love him at all. Estella is incapable of loving because Ms. Havisham taught her to hide her affection and love and to never open up to a man. Once Pip realizes that he will never marry Estella he learns never to set his mind on one thing and that he must keep an open mind. Jem, the main character of To Kill a Mocking Bird, learns a lot from the prejudice he must experience in his life resulting from a trial his dad is involved in. Jems dad is defending a black man who was accused of raping a young girl in town. This is especially hard for Jem because he is growing up in a very racist southern town and time. Even though the majority of the people in the town know the black man is innocent, his color causes them to discriminate against him and accuse him as being guilty. The things Jem must experience as a result of the trial, such as getting beat up by a grown man, teach him many things about his life. He learns to give every person a chance no matter what their race, gender, or any other classifying features are. Most importantly, Jem learns to never cower down from what he believes in and to never give up. Juliet, the main character of the play Romeo and Juliet, also learns a lot from the confusion in her life. Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight. Unfortunately Romeo and Juliet must express their love in secret  because their families are arch enemies. Juliet becomes confused a number of times throughout the play because she is put in the position of choosing between her lover and her family. For example, when Romeo kills Juliets cousin, she doesnt know who to side with. Juliet decides to go against her family and quickly forgive Romeo. She figures love is the most important thing. Juliet learns that to be happy you must follow your heart. Even though the play ends in tragedy, the only thing that would make Juliet happy was to be with Romeo, even if it was in the afterlife. As one can see Pip, Jem, and Juliet all learned important lessons from their experiences. The confusion in Pip and Juliets lives and the prejudice in Jems cause them all to come to conclusions about themselves and their lives. Overall, the lessons each character learned helped them to become a better person who was more aware of himself.

The implementation of electronic health record

The implementation of electronic health record Only 4 percent of U.S. doctors are using an electronic medical record system (EHR) because of a diverse range of barriers and perceptions involved with implementing an EHR system. The health care portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) called Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health or HITECH promotes the Meaningful Use of information technology in the form of EHR systems for every American by 2014 (Hoffman, 2009). Just having an EHR system is not enough; meaningful use means the system must improve the quality, efficiency, security, access, and communication in the delivery of health care among other functions. The United States government has provided $17 billion in available incentives to assist physicians and health care facilities implement certified EHR systems that meet Federal qualifications by the year 2014 (Blumenthal, 2009). This important health care issue affects everyone in this country because of the nature of private health i nformation. The U.S. government mandate for the implementation of electronic health records presents a wide variety of issues for and responses by physicians who want to retain their diversity relating to the way they practice medicine, while meeting the Meaningful Use requirements that will positively affect their investment and efficiency. Meaningful use depends on interoperability, which means that physicians systems will be able to communicate with each other for information exchange. Currently some physicians may have systems that are interoperable, but some may have invested in software that does not provide that function. Numerous vendors often market more than one type of system. Currently, estimates of physicians using a complete, fully functional EHR system are only at four percent (DesRoches, et al., 2008). This leaves the majority in need of researching software systems, purchasing, and implementing an EHR system to meet the Meaningful Use requirements. The practice of medicine is a highly individualized field where every physician has their own ways to provide for their patients. A general practitioner will have different software needs than a surgeon or obstetrician. An issue the physicians have to address is that they have to choose a certified EHR system that will provide the functions they need for their particular practice of medicine. Many physicians are starting with a basic system and customizing it to fit their practice needs (Baron, et al, 2005). HITECH will need to certify systems that provide functions that the physicians require with enough flexibility to meet the diverse needs of every type of practice. Some EHR systems are designed for primary care practices or large hospitals and may not meet the needs of a specialist. Physicians will have to choose a certified system that will have the required functions as well as those his practice will require. Whichever system a physician chooses will require training in order to benefit from the functions the software can provide. A basic knowledge of computer use is a skill many physicians do not even have. In fact, some physicians have technophobia when it comes to computers in their practice (Hayes, 2009). Statistics have shown that younger physicians are more apt to have a positive outlook on the EHR systems. Younger physicians also appear to have earlier adoption of an EHR system because of their prior exposure to computers. In-depth training to learn the functions and processes of the system are necessary to prevent severe disruptions in the workflow of the office. Many offices will train a few employees to be Super Users to be a resource for others in the office who have had less training. Super Users will be able to adjust the work processes when needed. Some physicians offices close for a period of days to bring the system online and prepare the office for going live. The diversi ty in computer abilities and comfort levels will affect the complexity, price, and amount of training required for each physician and his office staff for the chosen system. Cost is the biggest issue in the adoption of EHR systems. Cost estimates are between $12,000 and $24,000 to implement a fully functional EHR system (Baron, 2005). The equipment, software, training and one year of support can cost $140,000 or more (Baron, 2005). The HITECH incentives will cover some, but not all the cost of the conversion from paper to electronic records. Incentive payments can total $18,000 in the first year, for physicians implementing in 2011 and 2012 and will continue for 5 years at reducing amounts. The available incentive amounts will decline each year and end completely in 2016. In other words, physicians who adopt in 2011 could collect $44,000 over the five-year period while physicians who adopt in 2013 would receive $27,000 in incentive payments over 3 years (Blumenthal, 2009). The incentives will provide more funding for physicians that implement early. Surveys indicate that the incentives are a facilitator for approximately 55 percent of physicians who see the incentives as a reason to make the transition now, and receive maximum financial benefit (Blumenthal, 2009). The diversity in size of practices will affect how the physicians perceive capital costs. Due to the diversity in the types and ways physicians practice, issues that need to be considered and addressed, and the many solutions available, physicians attitudes and opinions on EHRs and Meaningful Use vary from very enthusiastic to resentful and wary. Studies have shown that physicians who have already adopted an EHR system are generally satisfied with their system and the benefits it provides. However, although the physicians will be the ones assuming approximately 89 percent of the cost of the system, they will not receive much of a return on their investment (Hoffman, 2009). The insurance companies will save money on reduced testing, streamlined billing, and overall efficiency. The government will save money on the same things as well as have a medium for monitoring fraud. Physicians will save some money on record storage, employee salaries previously paid for filing and transcribing records, and paper office supplies, but in comparison to the cost of the system, savings ar e minimal. Physician concern over return on investment is 50 percent for physicians who do not have an electronic system but only 33 percent for physicians who are already using an electronic system (DesRoches, 2008). The results may reflect Medicare and Medicaid patient numbers, size of the physician practice or perhaps the diverse perceptions physicians have over the dollar value versus the benefits to their actual income. Seemingly, the biggest numbers of implementers are the larger practices who are often better able to absorb the large investment than a small practice or single physician office. Statistics show that large primary care practices are more apt to implement EHR systems than other types of practices. These large group practices of fifty or more physicians were four times more likely to have a fully functional system than with physicians in practices of three or less physicians (DesRoches, 2008). The increased cash flow from a large practice makes the large capital expense less detrimental to the practice. This diversity in the size of physician practices is a significant basis for EHR implementation. EHR implementation itself will not provide for full Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. In order for a physician to receive full reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid, an EHR system must meet the Meaningful Use requirements. Physicians who do not have an EHR system that meets the meaningful use requirements will see penalties in the form of reduced Medicare payments. The reduction of payments will start at one percent in 2015, increase to two percent in 2016, and increase again to three percent in 2017 (Blumenthal, 2009). Physicians with large amounts of Medicare and Medicaid patients will have a significant reason to implement a system that meets the Meaningful Use guidelines. This issue will not affect all physician practices and some physicians do not feel it is a significant impediment to their practice income to warrant the large expense involved with implementing an EHR system. The diversity in the types of patients a physician or practice routinely cares for will have an e ffect on their financial return and willingness to implement an EHR system. For those who may not see a financial return there are many other benefits to adopting an EHR system for patients, insurance companies, and the government, and to some degree physicians. One benefit for physicians is a more efficient and streamlined insurance claims process, which will aid in cash flow. Physicians will also be better able to provide for their patients because the patient record will be able to go where the patient goes, including to hospitals and specialists, resulting in better coordination of the patients care. The EHR will provide a reduction in clinical errors because of the ability of the EHR to provide clinical decision support and monitor medication dosing and contraindications, and allergies. However, a group of physicians feel that this is questioning their judgment and do not want the interference in the way they practice medicine. Of physicians who are using a fully functional EHR system 86 percent appreciate the avoidance of medication error function that their system provides. The diversity in the physicians response to clinical decision support may be due to age of the physician, the number of years he or she has been in practice or any number of reasons including the personality of the physician. Along with those benefits, there is disruption of the office workflow. This is a significant cause for physician concern (DesRoches, 2009). The learning curve for an EHR system slows down all the processes in the office. Some physicians are better able to deal with the chaos that ensues while converting to an electronic system. Everyone within the practice has to relearn his or her job processes. All the office procedures of the practice have to be redesigned to work with the EHR system and the practice requirements. There is a period even after implementation of changes and adjustments that must be made to customize the system to the practice. Physician practices have reduced their patient load as much as fifty percent during implementation to try to reduce the waiting time for patients (Braon, et al., 2005). This essentially means a reduction in revenues until everyone can perform their jobs smoothly and handle the normal patient load again. Estimates are anywhere from four to six months before normal patient load is fully resumed. Physicians have reported losing patients because the wait time to see the physician was too long during the early stages of implementation (Baron, 2005). This is a major barrier for 41 percent of physicians in making the switch to electronic records (DesRoches, 2008). Physicians are very busy by nature and a slowdown in the office creates a diverse level of frustration that has caused some physicians to put off implementation or even to reverse the work already done in adopting an EHR system and return to their paper system. Those who do make the switch from paper to electronic records will have to consider HIPAA requirements for security of an EHR system. EHR systems require the secure storage of EHRs, which contain patients private health information and interoperability requires secure access to patient EHRs. Some physicians will choose to be on an encrypted network to share information with their local hospital, laboratories, and other health care providers. A verification process will be required to allow authorized physicians access to patients private health information and to deny access to unauthorized persons. Security of patient records is a concern for many physicians. Some physicians feel this is something that needs more regulation before they will expose their patients to the risk of a breach. The diversity in the EHR systems in operation now creates issues for secured patient PHI with system interoperability. With all the diversity involved in implementing an EHR system, physicians perceive the challenges of the U.S. government mandate for the implementation of electronic health records in different ways. Some feel there are too many barriers to address before implementation of an EHR and others feel the benefits outweigh the barriers. There are as many opinions on the issues of switching to an EHR system as there are physicians themselves. Addressing issues such as cost, security, training without a major loss in cash flow, which stems from disruption to the workflow of the office, will all stress the doctor patient relationship at least for a time. This is important because it will effect how and when the physicians adopt and use the nationwide system. The diversity in the way physicians practice medicine is individualized and the approved EHR systems will have to be flexible enough to allow for that individuality. The one thing all physicians want is to practice medicine they way they always have and meet the required mandate for Meaningful Use so they may recoup some of their investment. References Baron, R. J., Fabens, E. L., Schiffman, M., Wolf, E. (2005, August 2). Electronic health records: Just around the corner? Or over the cliff? Annals of Internal Medicine, 143(3), 222-226. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/.aspx?direct=truedb=a9hAN=17875478site= ehost-live This article is written by physicians in a 4-internist practice describing the processes involved with converting from traditional paper medical records to electronic medical records. Baron and colleagues address the problems and issues involved, and how they worked through them. Some topics of interest include both planned and unexpected finances, training, workflow and accommodations and the overall office environment. The article describes the realized benefits and lacking areas of standardization and interoperability. I chose this source for its overall description of actual process of implementing an electronic records system. This article also addresses computer skills and requirements. Blumenthal, D. (2009, April 9). Stimulating the adoption of health information technology. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(15), 1477-1479. doi:10.1056/ This article describes the portions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) that pertains to health information technology. The article addresses barriers physicians have for implementing the mandated electronic medical record. Financial issues including incentives, costs and financial penalties are of adopting the mandate are covered. Other areas to promote and ease the transition, such as support systems, state and regional medical information exchanges, education initiatives, and extended HIPAA guidelines with regard to electronic records and transmissions are included in this article. This article explains the incentives for implementing the electronic records system. I chose this article to explain the diversity involved in the governments promotion for adopting an electronic health record system. DesRoches, C. M., Campbell, E. G., Rao, S. R., Karen, D., Timothy, F. G., Jha, A., . . . Blumenthal, D. (2008, July 3). Electronic records in ambulatory care: A national survey of physicians. New England Journal of Medicine, 359(1), 50-60. doi:10.1056/ This article is a summary of statistics and results compiled from a survey of physicians in the US regarding the adoption of electronic health records. Documented in the survey are physician statistics and opinions in areas of usage, implementation, and satisfaction with the electronic health record systems. Issues addressed are quality of care, age groups of physicians who have adopted an electronic system and size of practices more apt to adopt electronic health records. The positive effects on practice processes, barriers that hinder adoption of electronic health records, incentives for and reservations with switching to electronic health records are included in the survey. I chose this source because it provides actual statistics of the usage of electronic health record systems as well as the diversity in physicians perceptions of the process, the systems, the benefits, and problems associated with compliance. Hayes, F. (2009, February 2). No Rx for ROI. Computer World, 43(5), 40. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/.aspx?direct=truedb=a9hAN=36487540site=ehost-live In this article, the senior news columnist addresses the issue of return on investment (ROI) for the adoption of electronic health records. The definition of ROI is given and how it applies to aspects of electronic health record adoption for physicians and hospitals is examined. Risks to, benefits of, and improvements needed regarding electronic health records are noted. The author confirms that those assuming the expenses for electronic health records will not be the ones reaping the benefits. I chose this article because it covers reflects my opinion one of the most important reasons for physician resistance to implementing the government mandated electronic health record system. Hoffmann, L. (2009, November). Implementing electronic medical records. Communications of the ACM, 52(11), 18-20. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/.aspx?direct=truedb=a9hAN=45021143site=ehost-live In this article, a basic history of George W. Bushs goals for every American to have an electronic health record is presented along with the progress of the government in making those goals real. Usage of electronic records is briefly mentioned. The article focuses on some major barriers and concerns of physicians for implementation and usage. The article also addresses some of the positive aspects for electronic health records. I chose this article because it provides concise overall answers to who, what, when, where, and why answers to the implementation of the electronic health record and health information technology.

Jack Londons Sea Wolf, The Call of the Wild, and White Fang :: Jack London Wolf Wild Fang Essays

Jack London's Sea Wolf, The Call of the Wild, and White Fang   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jack London lived a full life, even though he died at the young age of forty. In his life time he experienced many things, and I believe that these experiences were the catalyst of his novels. Jack London was an oyster pirate, a government patrolman in San Francisco Bay, a sailor and an agrarian reformer, a seal hunter in the North Pacific and a gold prospector in the frozen Klondike, a war correspondent and a prizefighting reporter, a socialist soapbox orator who later became a lecturer at universities, a family man and landowner, and of course a true American writer. A critic by the name of Alfred Kazin once said "that the greatest story London ever wrote was the one he lived."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  London had a hard life as a child and as a young man, in spite of this London grew to become one of Americas most popular and highly paid authors ever. He was not a baby boomer. This was not just an American thing, London was known around the world for his great adventure stories, that could be enjoyed by all ages. Londons life was diversified and so were his writings. Today, London is mostly known for his "dog stories", The Call of the Wild and White Fang. In addition to those great works London wrote many other stories and novels, all of which were published in the seventeen years that he wrote professionally. Londons writings vary in quality as well as in subject, his from the cheapest and worst kind of pieces to the beautiful works like The Call of the Wild and Sea Wolf. In this literary analysis the focus will be on Londons more well known and enjoyed works.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Londons life defiantly coincides with his writing. Professor Earle Labor attributes London's success as a writer to three different factors: poverty- how London rose from the bottom all the way to the top, wanderlust- the fact that he spent a good portion of his life on the road gave him ample material to write about, and last but not least was, "the omnivorous appetite for reading that gave him his philosophical substance and sense of artistic form."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  London was a complex individual whose character was made up of apparent contradictions. He was a declared socialist, but above all, a devout individualist. He believed in the politics and economics of socialism and decried the iniquities Of capitalism, but at the same time set out to succeed within that system. Jack London's Sea Wolf, The Call of the Wild, and White Fang :: Jack London Wolf Wild Fang Essays Jack London's Sea Wolf, The Call of the Wild, and White Fang   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jack London lived a full life, even though he died at the young age of forty. In his life time he experienced many things, and I believe that these experiences were the catalyst of his novels. Jack London was an oyster pirate, a government patrolman in San Francisco Bay, a sailor and an agrarian reformer, a seal hunter in the North Pacific and a gold prospector in the frozen Klondike, a war correspondent and a prizefighting reporter, a socialist soapbox orator who later became a lecturer at universities, a family man and landowner, and of course a true American writer. A critic by the name of Alfred Kazin once said "that the greatest story London ever wrote was the one he lived."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  London had a hard life as a child and as a young man, in spite of this London grew to become one of Americas most popular and highly paid authors ever. He was not a baby boomer. This was not just an American thing, London was known around the world for his great adventure stories, that could be enjoyed by all ages. Londons life was diversified and so were his writings. Today, London is mostly known for his "dog stories", The Call of the Wild and White Fang. In addition to those great works London wrote many other stories and novels, all of which were published in the seventeen years that he wrote professionally. Londons writings vary in quality as well as in subject, his from the cheapest and worst kind of pieces to the beautiful works like The Call of the Wild and Sea Wolf. In this literary analysis the focus will be on Londons more well known and enjoyed works.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Londons life defiantly coincides with his writing. Professor Earle Labor attributes London's success as a writer to three different factors: poverty- how London rose from the bottom all the way to the top, wanderlust- the fact that he spent a good portion of his life on the road gave him ample material to write about, and last but not least was, "the omnivorous appetite for reading that gave him his philosophical substance and sense of artistic form."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  London was a complex individual whose character was made up of apparent contradictions. He was a declared socialist, but above all, a devout individualist. He believed in the politics and economics of socialism and decried the iniquities Of capitalism, but at the same time set out to succeed within that system.

Colonies Essay -- essays research papers

The Middle and Southern settlements were as different as night and day. Established for different economical and social reasons, these two colonial areas share very few similarities. Reasons for their migration and their final destinations greatly influenced the outcome of each society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, the Southern Colonies were formed by aristocratic Europeans who came to the New World in search of land. These wealthy people brought Europeans and African servants. In their new home, the aristocrats produced a society in which only the wealthy had power. They tried and at some times forced their servants to convert to Christianity. They were constantly battling the Native Americans and had little respect for them. On the other hand, unhappy New England colonists and Europeans wanting complete freedom settled the middle colonies. The settlement of these lands was mainly started by William Penn. Penn, received land for the King for debts owed to his father. It was Penn’s goal to create a society in which all people were equal. There was no slavery in the Middle Colonies, unlike the Southern Colonies, and by law, all men could own land. Also, they respected the natives and even employed them from time to time. They remarked on how it wasn’t nec essary to bare weapons around these people. Although the goal of these settlements was complete religious toleration, it wasn’t totally feasible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In addition, the colonies in the south ... Colonies Essay -- essays research papers The Middle and Southern settlements were as different as night and day. Established for different economical and social reasons, these two colonial areas share very few similarities. Reasons for their migration and their final destinations greatly influenced the outcome of each society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, the Southern Colonies were formed by aristocratic Europeans who came to the New World in search of land. These wealthy people brought Europeans and African servants. In their new home, the aristocrats produced a society in which only the wealthy had power. They tried and at some times forced their servants to convert to Christianity. They were constantly battling the Native Americans and had little respect for them. On the other hand, unhappy New England colonists and Europeans wanting complete freedom settled the middle colonies. The settlement of these lands was mainly started by William Penn. Penn, received land for the King for debts owed to his father. It was Penn’s goal to create a society in which all people were equal. There was no slavery in the Middle Colonies, unlike the Southern Colonies, and by law, all men could own land. Also, they respected the natives and even employed them from time to time. They remarked on how it wasn’t nec essary to bare weapons around these people. Although the goal of these settlements was complete religious toleration, it wasn’t totally feasible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In addition, the colonies in the south ...

Greek Myth Book Report: Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven :: essays research papers

Greek Myth Book Report: Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven Title - Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven Author - Shortened, Simplified version of real story. Author Unknown I. Setting:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The setting for the story Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven is In heaven, Earth, Olympus, and Mt. Caucasus. The time period is that of when there were only the (Greek) gods, and no men on earth, and none of the animals seemed worthy to rule the rest. II. Point of View: Omniscient point of view III. Characters: Zeus - Zeus is the ruler of the universe. At one point in the story Zeus was Jealous of others' powers. Zeus also had a bad temper and was mad at Prometheus for stealing heavens fire and chained Prometheus high on Mt. Caucasus, forever. He is one of 2 antagonists in the story. Hera - Queen of heaven, no significant part in story. Prometheus - The major protagonist in the story. Prometheus was one of the Titans (parents of the gods). He always thought of the positive side of things, and never let anyone or thing phase him. He proudly endured pain and showed his agony to none, all for inferior humans. Epimetheus - A minor part in the story. Epimetheus was the brother of Prometheus. Hephaestus - This minor character is heaven's lame smith. His part is somewhat significant later in the story, but he has no say in what he does, even if it is wrong. Pandora - Pandora was made by Zeus. She was made to curb man's power. As beautiful as a goddess, the immortals bestowed gifts on her to make her more captivating. Pandora is the 2nd antagonist in the story. IV. Theme   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The hero's mission is to create a man like figure on the Earth, with the power of fire. Pandora accidentally opened a jar full of disease, envy, revenge, spite, and other evils which went on man, down on the earth, but she closed it. The only thing left in it was hope. That is all man had now - hope. Prometheus completed his mission, even though he was chained up on the side of the mountain and tormented the rest of his life. V. Plot   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There was a time when there was no gods, and Heaven and Earth alone existed. From their union sprung the Titans, and the children of the Titans, the gods rebelled and overthrew them. Now there was no men on Earth so Prometheus had a task of making one. He mixed clay with water, kneaded it, shaped it, and made it look rather god like in shape. He made it stand upright Greek Myth Book Report: Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven :: essays research papers Greek Myth Book Report: Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven Title - Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven Author - Shortened, Simplified version of real story. Author Unknown I. Setting:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The setting for the story Prometheus Steals Fire From Heaven is In heaven, Earth, Olympus, and Mt. Caucasus. The time period is that of when there were only the (Greek) gods, and no men on earth, and none of the animals seemed worthy to rule the rest. II. Point of View: Omniscient point of view III. Characters: Zeus - Zeus is the ruler of the universe. At one point in the story Zeus was Jealous of others' powers. Zeus also had a bad temper and was mad at Prometheus for stealing heavens fire and chained Prometheus high on Mt. Caucasus, forever. He is one of 2 antagonists in the story. Hera - Queen of heaven, no significant part in story. Prometheus - The major protagonist in the story. Prometheus was one of the Titans (parents of the gods). He always thought of the positive side of things, and never let anyone or thing phase him. He proudly endured pain and showed his agony to none, all for inferior humans. Epimetheus - A minor part in the story. Epimetheus was the brother of Prometheus. Hephaestus - This minor character is heaven's lame smith. His part is somewhat significant later in the story, but he has no say in what he does, even if it is wrong. Pandora - Pandora was made by Zeus. She was made to curb man's power. As beautiful as a goddess, the immortals bestowed gifts on her to make her more captivating. Pandora is the 2nd antagonist in the story. IV. Theme   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The hero's mission is to create a man like figure on the Earth, with the power of fire. Pandora accidentally opened a jar full of disease, envy, revenge, spite, and other evils which went on man, down on the earth, but she closed it. The only thing left in it was hope. That is all man had now - hope. Prometheus completed his mission, even though he was chained up on the side of the mountain and tormented the rest of his life. V. Plot   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There was a time when there was no gods, and Heaven and Earth alone existed. From their union sprung the Titans, and the children of the Titans, the gods rebelled and overthrew them. Now there was no men on Earth so Prometheus had a task of making one. He mixed clay with water, kneaded it, shaped it, and made it look rather god like in shape. He made it stand upright

Persuasive memo Essay

My name is Darrell Pace and I am requesting to continue research for the implementation of a Spanish curriculum in the Professional Academy Day School. The proposed research will greatly impact our students, parents, and faculty because the world is becoming increasingly interconnected. Parents are turning to language immersion programs for their toddlers and preschoolers. Some are motivated by the desire to preserve family heritage and culture. Others see early language instruction as a way to provide their children with the academic and cognitive advantages. It is very important for the Professional Academy Day School to accommodate the interest of our parents who entrust their children to us, to teach them skills that are beneficial now and in the future. When we offer the children in our day school the very best curriculum, it enhances our credibility among our competition and the community. According to the article by Stephanie Meade, â€Å"7 benefits of Raising Bilingual Kids†, it shows that bilingual children have the following advantages over that of monolingual students: Bilingual children have a better ability to focus and ignore distractions in the environment Bilingual kids can switch from one activity to another faster and are better at multitasking. Bilinguals have increased mental flexibility and creativity. Bilingual children in dual-immersion schools have been shown in one study to score higher on both verbal and math standardized test conducted in English Bilingual children display stronger logic skills and are better equipped at solving mental puzzles Being bilingual carries over throughout life as it alters brain chemistry and starving off the onset of Alzheimer’s. After learning two languages, it makes it more apt for learning a third language The advantages of a child being immersed into a school that offers dual languages cannot be ignored nor taken lightly when the demographics toward Spanish speaking cultures have more than doubled over the last ten years here in our state of Texas. Our school will be behind the curve if we don’t react now and research the necessary curriculum that will be the most effective among our students in the classroom. In the article, â€Å"Preschool Curriculum: What’s in it for Children and Teachers† written by The Albert Shanker Institute, children learn language when it is presented in meaningful contexts. A strong curriculum teaches vocabulary during studies of interesting content. This strategy which we have found through our research provides repeated exposure to new words and teaches children the words they need to represent the new ideas and concepts that they are learning. Our research will prove that the proper Spanish curriculum produces success in math, science, literacy, social studies and the arts. Language is the foundation for children’s learning, and the pre-k years are a crucial time for Spanish language development. The research on Spanish curriculum in Pre-k and kindergarten classes is timely and it is of substantial importance to the future of learning at the Professional Academy Day School.