Getting a Grip on Staff in Long-Term Care

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Gary Flood

The staff of a LTC facility is vital to its success. In order for an LTC facility to be both efficient and effective, the staff has to work together to provide proper care to its residence. In a bad economy with federal regulations crashing down, how does management handle the tough logistical issues of a large staff? If they are smart, they will use a staff scheduling and shift management software program that takes all of the guess work out of the equation.

The first area of concern is controlling labor costs. Labor costs make up a majority of the budget for an LTC facility. Some estimates are that as high as 70% of LTC operating budgets are eaten up by labor. Reducing overtime and scheduling effectively are ways to reduce these costs. There is software on the market that can dramatically help.

The second area of concern is trying to be more efficient. Much time is spent on scheduling and shift management. There is only so much time in a day, and most of it should be spent on providing high quality care to residents. Reducing time spent on scheduling can go a long way in reducing internal costs.

The third area of concern is the management of staffing. Historically, schedules were dealt with on a reactive level. With pressures for cost control, LTC facilities must be proactive in their strategy for staffing requirements. This means having a system that you can see live data on every employee and shift as far as coverage and hours worked. There is software that will prevents shortages as well as overtime in regards to scheduling.

The last concern has to do with the quality of care. An unorganized fly-by-the-pants method of scheduling and shift maintenance leads to a stressed and frustrated staff which leads to poor care for residents. A happy staff will ensure longevity of work for your facility, avoiding high turnover, but more importantly will come out in the work the staff does and how they interact with the residents.

The Technicalities of the Music Industry

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Gary Flood

Way back at some point rock music came into being. It really wasn’t that long ago. Whatever you want to classify it as – pop, rock, metal, grunge, rap, hip hop, country or, ok even the Beatles – it’s all a part of what we have come to know as the music industry. the music has changed over the years and so has the way it’s sold and marketed, and recorded for that matter.

Years ago music was recorded in analog which was a pure representation of music. The electric waves were imprinted onto records that could be played on players with a needle that would interpret the sounds and magnify them through speakers. Musicians could sell these albums in record stores and make a pretty good living. Then, to support the music and to connect more closely with fans, these musicians would go out and tour and play live in front of audiences in cities all around the U.S.

As time went on, music began to change and so did technology. Cassette tapes emerged as the new way to package and sell music. Records were still around, but tapes were small and convenient. Musicians still toured and sold tapes instead of records. Tapes were around for a long time.

Then music changed again when CD’s came out. They promised to last forever. CD’s were a digital sample of the older analog sound. Old school music lovers passed CD’s off as not as good sound as analog. After a while, everyone gave in and CD’s were everywhere. During this time, bands could no longer rely on selling albums to make money, it was not lucrative enough. the record company took a large portion to pay themselves back for fronting all of the charges that the band incurred.

Bands had to now tour and sell concert t-shirts to make money. They received money from CD sales, but just a small percentage. With the advent of the internet and easy accessibility to music, fans are now able to get music directly from the internet. People still buy an artists’ packaged music, but not nearly as many as in the past. This has caused musicians to embrace the internet and find ways to market themselves differently.

The Ultimate Man Cave Must-Have

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Gary Flood

Building a man cave is like anything else. First you think about how you want it to look and what you want in it and then how it will be set up. Most people will never have a man cave. But for us that do, we know how nice it can be to spend some relaxing time with the guys watching our favorite team. Watching our favorite team kicked up a bit – I might add.

Man caves come in all shapes and sizes. Some are, well – not too bad. Others are done so well and so elaborately that it’s quite scary. The idea is to create a cool place where the atmosphere dictates the mood of what happens in the room. Its usually geared toward football or racing, you know, things that are cool. You invite a few buddies over, eat food, drink your favorite beverage and cheer on the team. Usually these man caves come equipped with large HD TV’s. Usually there is a very loud surround sound system involved as well.

Get ready – there is another toy for the man cave fanatic – and from the looks of it, its going to be a real hit. Now you can not only use your iPod to play your favorite music through the sound system, you can use your iPod or iPad to control all of your man cave devices.

With just a sweep of your hand and a touch, you can now control your HDTV, your sound system and Blu-ray. You can also set up your man cave, or the rest of your house for that matter, so that the iPad or iPod controls even your lights and security system, manage your heating and cooling system and even sprinklers in the yard. This includes turning everything on and off, raising and lowering volumes and adjusting settings on the fly.

To have a system like this, it does take a bit of setup. You may even want to consult a professional company to help with the initial setup. There is a central unit that runs the programming that can usually be hid in a closet. This unit has sensors that are each programmed and directed to each option that you want to control in the house. There are also sensors placed on each unit and system to the corresponding central unit programs. It is then all linked to the iPad or iPod device for central controls.

Using the Internet to Maximize Sales

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Gary Flood

The internet is a big world. Millions of people are searching for products and services every day. It is estimated that 331 billion people perform searches every month online. These people are either looking for information or they are looking to buy. People that are using the internet to create sales are capitalizing on these searches and making money.

The important thing to remember about the internet is that it provides people the needed information to make a purchase. If your company is seen online, and your company’s search results are high, you have a better chance for people to make it to your site. The goal is for a company to connect online with the people searching for the products and services that they offer. If people cannot see you, they will never know who you are.

It is important for your web site to be intact. This means that architecture of the site has to be clean. The site must be programmed correctly and up to date. It must exist on a platform that is going to be applicable and findable by Google and all the other search engines. Also, the content of the web site must be good. There must be quality original content that talks about the products and services that the company sells. If there is no content or not much, the search engines are never going to find the site.

Next, the code in the web site needs to be specific and relevant. This means that the title tags need to be tied to the keywords that the company wants to be found for online. These are simple to change, but they are important to the overall success of the site. These tags are the words in blue that come up on the search engine result descriptions.

Lastly, links containing keywords need to link back to the site from other relevant web sites. This may be the most important part of getting higher rankings on the search engines. This usually involves hours of dedicated work from an experienced web company.

There are no secrets or “black magic” to getting high rankings on the search engines. Theoretically, you could do this all yourself – problem is, most people do not have the knowledge, resources or time. To be really successful in your online endeavor, you really need to hire an experienced web company to provide expertise. If done right, you could potential gain a tenfold ROI within the first year.

Laptops are Obsolete for Some

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Gary Flood

In the 1980′s, there was nothing – nothing in terms of technology that we see today. Sure, there were VCR’s, Atari’s, microwaves, boom boxes, Walkman and tape players. These were a far cry from what we would see in 20-25 years. The biggest advancement might be in the iPhone where you can make a call, find the closest pizza shop and utilize an app all with one finger.

Technology has give us the ability to communicate better and faster with family and friends and companies. Web companies are now being asked to make sites that are mobile app friendly – generally meaning they can be viewed and navigated on a mobile device. With the advent of the iPhone, and others like it, a whole new generation of people have done something insane – they have virtually made the laptop obsolete.

No – laptops are not really obsolete, but you get the point. Many college student, and others as well, are always on the go. Whether it is at work, in class or walking down the street, many these days are accessing the internet via mobile devices. Why? Because of the convenience factor.

Desktop computers were the first to come on the scene. They were perfect for the family to use at home. But what about the businessman? Then the laptop came out. Perfect for the businessman. Anyone could take this smaller and thinner device to the office, on vacation, or simply carry it to another room in the house.

College students use mobile devices all the time. And all the time means much more than the traditional desktop or laptop computer. Some rarely ever get on an actual computer. All of their Facebook time, web surfing and emailing or texting is done from a hand held device. Simply put, computers for some have become unnecessary.

The Social Media Craze

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Gary Flood

As humans, we love to feel like we are a part of something. We attend concerts with thousands of people, we go to football games, we have big parties and we like to think we have a lot of friends. The sense of belonging is important to most of us whether we like to admit it or not. With the advent of the social media sites online, we have seen a different kind of need to belong, and a need to tell the world our story.

Social media sites have been around for a little while now, and one thing is for sure – people love them and are using them all the time. It is estimated that Facebook alone has some 800,000,000 users. Whether you are a teenager or a grandmother, odds that you use a social media site are pretty good. Many use them to find old high school friends or reconnect with college buddies. Others use them to tell the world – or at least anyone who will listen – everything about their life, their day – minute by minute.

The downside to social media is that when anyone is online they are normally alone. They may be connecting with other people in a community, but it is virtual. Fear among some is that social media makes us less interactive. It makes for lazy personalities and emotions – especially for some who need to get out and experience life. The fear is that many people do “hide” behind the mask of the internet. They can be as revealing as they want to, but at the same time, they are alone and can hide.

Social media is relatively new but has captivated the world. It has the ability to connect people in an instant. Where will it be in 15, 20, or 30 years? Will it create a society that cannot communicate effectively? We can only wait and see.

How Banks Protect from Identity Theft

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Gary Flood

For many individuals, having their information lost or stolen would be a nightmare. For example, an individual might find himself or herself in this predicament if they lost their wallet, or responded to a phishing e-mail communication, or received communication that his bank had a data breach. Identity theft is a major concern for many organizations, businesses, banks, and enterprises. Identity theft can cause major damage to the customer, both personally and financially.

Cyber criminals have become increasingly sophisticated when it comes to obtaining funds by fraudulent wire transfers. The hackers use malware like key loggers and phishing emails to obtain the information needed for the fraudulent wire transfer. Unfortunately, unlike consumer accounts, business accounts have no insurance or government-backed protection against cyber criminals.

So how do banks protect themselves, thus protecting their clients, from identity theft? Banks are now implementing a protect, monitor and resolve strategy. The protect part involves the bank do their doing due diligence as far as employing a suite of fraud prevention to minimize fraud from occurring. It has to be the latest and greatest. Second, the bank monitors everything 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This way, if anything happens, they know about it and fast. Last, the bank resolves any breaches quickly. In other words, the company takes responsibility with no liability for the customer.

Everything that we consider a hassle is one small step toward identity theft protection. Things like requiring social security numbers and using pin numbers are the first line of defense against identity theft. Banks are now training their employees more than ever on how to operate and how to see possible cases of identity theft. Identity theft is on the rise but banks are doing everything they can to protect themselves and their customers.

Is Technology Becoming Too Much of a Distraction?

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Gary Flood

We are living in a world of technology that changes and advances faster and faster each day. If you haven’t noticed, its taking over the world. We have HD TV’s, computers, cell phones, iPhones, Kindle, mobile apps, lap tops GPS and, Oh! – don’t forget texting. We are so overwhelmed with technology that we are becoming reliant on it like never before.

Back in the old days – not that long ago, there were none of these technological devices. If you got a flat tire, you had to walk to the nearest pay phone or knock on a stranger’s door. I know – hard to believe. Now we are so in love with our technology that we get into car crashes because we cannot put it down. Car accidents resulting from texting are on the rise. They have gotten so bad that states are making laws to ban the activity while driving.

Most employees work at offices in where they use computers. Many employees get their work done and workplaces have been forced to make office rules and even electronically block employees from websites in order to fight the temptation to surf the web during worktime. Since time is money, wasted time on the internet while work is supposed to be getting done costs corporations millions of dollars per year.

Desktop computers became a nuisance because you couldn’t take them anywhere else in the house. Then we had laptops that you can take anywhere in the world. Oh, but those are too big, so we now have iPads – they’re more convenient. And finally, everything is on phones now that can go in your pocket. What’s next, wrist watch internet access?!!!

New Mobile App Challenge from U.S. Surgeon General

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Gary Flood

There are tens of thousands of applications for mobile devices. Most of them are admittedly worthless. There is one idea out there that sounds like it would not only be a hit, but would benefit a lot of people. It is an app that would combine the technology that most of us already use and encourage us to live healthier lives. It sounds great.

The idea comes from a challenge that the current U.S Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin, made to mobile companies and health application developers. The challenge was given at the mSummit on December 6th, and was designed to encourage those “who may not be tech savvy and who wouldn’t ordinarily want to get involved to become healthy and fit, and to make it easy and fun.”

The main focus will be toward people who are in harder to reach areas, and people who are not getting the healthcare they need.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is involved with the challenge which will have three categories: physical activity, healthy eating and integrative health, and will include health for the mind and spirit and proper sleep and reduced stress.

The competition will run until December 30th, with the winner being announced late January 2012. All app developers are encouraged to enter. Benjamin said, “We want to start using this as soon as we can.”

In a world where there is much overkill and many mobile apps are useless, it’s nice to see an idea that can really, really not only help with information and direction, but can educate as well. There is really nothing more important than our health.

The Greatest Need for LTC Facilities is Now

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Gary Flood

Have you ever thought what our country would be like without LTC facilities? Nursing homes, skilled nursing units, rest homes or whatever you want to call them provide a tremendous service to our aging population. If you think about what it would be like without them, you realize how valuable they really are.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention there are over 16,000 nursing homes in the United States, housing 1.5 million residence. Those numbers are climbing, and will continue to climb everyday. The early baby boomers are in their mid to late 60′s, and many will soon join the already large population of LTC facility residents.

LTC facilities provide a cost-effective way to enable aging patients with injuries, acute illnesses or postoperative care needs to recover in an environment outside a hospital. When these patients are admitted from a hospital, Medicare will cover the cost. Nursing home facilities started as a way for patients to recover for an extended time away from the hospital. As time went on, the elderly population grew. People lived longer as time went on. The average life expectancy in 1921 was only 56.4 years. Thirty years later it increased to 68.1, and thirty years after that it increased to 73.9. Currently, it is about 78 years.

The demand for long-term care services will increase in coming decades when the baby boomers reach their 80s. Declining family sizes, increasing childlessness, and rising divorce rates will limit the number of family members that are able to help. The simulations show that even under the most optimistic scenario long-term care burdens on families and institutions will increase substantially.