Dec 15, 2009
Toy Imports
$4.3 billion was spent for toy imports including stuffed toys, puzzles and electric trains from China between January and August 2009. China was the leading country of origin for stuffed toys coming into this country, as well as for a number of other popular holiday gifts, including roller skates ($30 million), sports footwear ($120 million), golf balls ($31 million) and basketballs ($29 million).
China leads Canada as the leading supplier of ice skates ($12 million versus $5 million), with Thailand ranking third ($4 million), aye. Canada is spelled CA NA DA aye.
China leads Canada as the leading supplier of ice skates ($12 million versus $5 million), with Thailand ranking third ($4 million), aye. Canada is spelled CA NA DA aye.
Physician Pay Cuts
This is one more example of the type of change that has been happening for the past few months, and virtually hidden by the healthcare bill debate. As part of the healthcare bill in the Senate now, Medicare would give 10% bonus payments to primary care and family physicians as a workforce incentive, but half of that bonus would be financed by cuts in surgeons' pay. This would have an especially discouraging impact on the workforce of surgeons in underserved and rural areas.
Regardless of whether the bill passes, as of Jan. 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to eliminate a series of five-digit CPT codes that specialist physicians, such as cardiologists, oncologists, and surgeons, use to bill for medical or surgical consults. These consults occur at the request of a practitioner who wants a specialist's opinion regarding his or her patient. For example, an internist may want his patient seen by a vascular surgeon, or a family practitioner may want her patient seen by an endocrinologist or pulmonologist.
Under current rules, the CPT code for consultation calls for reimbursement that is between $20 and $50 higher than for a comparable office visit. But by eliminating the CPT codes, those specialists will be forced to bill under a different payment code bracket, which covers for a simple office visit.
First, the patient's condition must have added complexity or it wouldn't have needed referral. Second, the specialist performs an independent physical and often gets a separate history of the patient, spending as much as an hour to set a correct diagnosis and course of care. And third, reimbursement policy requires the specialist physician to return to the referring physician a written report of the findings and course of care. It shows that we do not need a new bill to control healthcare. Some are so set to change the world, that they cannot wait.
Regardless of whether the bill passes, as of Jan. 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to eliminate a series of five-digit CPT codes that specialist physicians, such as cardiologists, oncologists, and surgeons, use to bill for medical or surgical consults. These consults occur at the request of a practitioner who wants a specialist's opinion regarding his or her patient. For example, an internist may want his patient seen by a vascular surgeon, or a family practitioner may want her patient seen by an endocrinologist or pulmonologist.
Under current rules, the CPT code for consultation calls for reimbursement that is between $20 and $50 higher than for a comparable office visit. But by eliminating the CPT codes, those specialists will be forced to bill under a different payment code bracket, which covers for a simple office visit.
First, the patient's condition must have added complexity or it wouldn't have needed referral. Second, the specialist performs an independent physical and often gets a separate history of the patient, spending as much as an hour to set a correct diagnosis and course of care. And third, reimbursement policy requires the specialist physician to return to the referring physician a written report of the findings and course of care. It shows that we do not need a new bill to control healthcare. Some are so set to change the world, that they cannot wait.
Penny for Your Thoughts
Did you know it costs the government 1.4 cents to make a penny. It produces 5.4 billion of them a year. Do you know why the government has to keep producing pennies? It is because of sales tax, which makes purchases cost an uneven amount, because tax is a percent of the price. The coin's name derives from the Old English pennige, pronounced, roughly, penny-yuh.
Can you see those initials under Lincoln's right shoulder? They are the initials of the designer. So, our infinitely wise government makes pennies, which it has to make because of taxes, and it loses money on each one, which cost us more income tax to pay for their production costs. My thoughts are to eliminate sales tax so our income tax will go down and we could get rid of pennies.
Can you see those initials under Lincoln's right shoulder? They are the initials of the designer. So, our infinitely wise government makes pennies, which it has to make because of taxes, and it loses money on each one, which cost us more income tax to pay for their production costs. My thoughts are to eliminate sales tax so our income tax will go down and we could get rid of pennies.
Shiver Me Timbers
A shiver is a wood splinter from a broken mast on a ship, sometimes caused by cannon fire from another ship. As the mast shattered, splinters broke off and sometimes flew into an unfortunate sailor caught too close to the action.
Knives with no handles are shaped like those broken shards and are hence called shivs. Arrgh, that's the truth, matey.
Knives with no handles are shaped like those broken shards and are hence called shivs. Arrgh, that's the truth, matey.
Keeping Notes
If you are like me and need to write notes to yourself about some web site or other tidbit of info you don't want to lose. Try this. I write an email to myself and save it as draft. I usually have only a few emails in my draft folder, so it is easy to find. The worst thing that can happen is that you hit 'send' by mistake and it is mailed to yourself.
Winter Solstice
In the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice marks the first day of the season of winter. It falls on or near December 21.
The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world. It is a celebration of the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, when the North Pole is at its furthest point away from the sun.
The Druids (Celtic priests) would cut the mistletoe that grew on the oak tree and give it as a blessing. Oaks were seen as sacred and the winter fruit of the mistletoe was a symbol of life in the dark winter months.
Yule logs are traditionally lit on the first day of the Solstice and are burned throughout the Solstice night for 12 hours as a symbol of hope and belief that the sun will return. The Celts thought that the sun stood still for twelve days in the middle of winter and during this time, a log was lit to conquer the darkness, banish evil spirits, and bring luck for the coming year.
The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world. It is a celebration of the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, when the North Pole is at its furthest point away from the sun.
The Druids (Celtic priests) would cut the mistletoe that grew on the oak tree and give it as a blessing. Oaks were seen as sacred and the winter fruit of the mistletoe was a symbol of life in the dark winter months.
Yule logs are traditionally lit on the first day of the Solstice and are burned throughout the Solstice night for 12 hours as a symbol of hope and belief that the sun will return. The Celts thought that the sun stood still for twelve days in the middle of winter and during this time, a log was lit to conquer the darkness, banish evil spirits, and bring luck for the coming year.
Land Ownership
The United States government has direct ownership of almost 650 million acres of land, or nearly 30% of its total territory. These federal lands are used as military bases or testing grounds, nature parks, and reserves and Indian reservations, or are leased to the private sector for commercial exploitation (e.g. forestry, mining, agriculture). (Red is Fed owned)
They are managed by different administrations, such as the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the US Department of Defense, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Bureau of Reclamation or the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Dec 11, 2009
Christmas Shopping
The value of retail sales by electronic shopping and mail-order houses in December 2008 was $24 Billion.
New Way to Fight Cancer
Cell>Point is a company that plans to deliver a cheaper and more effective way to detect tumors in 2010.
Doctors currently rely on positron-emission tomography (PET) scans to see tumors. But PET machines cost more than $2.5 million apiece and are usually found only in major medical centers. MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, had developed a chemical that could light up a tumor on a common SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) camera. They wanted Cell>Point's owner to help turn it into a product.
More affordable at about $800,000, SPECT cameras are found in six times as many US hospitals as PET scanners and Cell>Point's isotope uses 70% less radiation than PET isotopes and should cost about half as much, about $800 per scan.
Doctors can determine within about two weeks whether a cancer treatment was working, instead of waiting for months with PET scans. Now it is time to begin the costly FDA approval process, but don't expect that to be accomplished next year.
Doctors currently rely on positron-emission tomography (PET) scans to see tumors. But PET machines cost more than $2.5 million apiece and are usually found only in major medical centers. MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, had developed a chemical that could light up a tumor on a common SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) camera. They wanted Cell>Point's owner to help turn it into a product.
More affordable at about $800,000, SPECT cameras are found in six times as many US hospitals as PET scanners and Cell>Point's isotope uses 70% less radiation than PET isotopes and should cost about half as much, about $800 per scan.
Doctors can determine within about two weeks whether a cancer treatment was working, instead of waiting for months with PET scans. Now it is time to begin the costly FDA approval process, but don't expect that to be accomplished next year.
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