Happy Labor Day from NYC’s Favorite Healthcare Training School

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labor dayTo those of you enrolled in NYC’s favorite healthcare training school – the Allen School – with designs on entering the labor force after training for a rewarding and lucrative new career, this blogger wishes you a happy Labor Day!  Lest we forget the reason for this important holiday while we’re beaching, barbecuing, partying and what have you, I have included the following information explaining the origins of this celebration. From Wikipedia: “Labor Day in the United States is a holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It is a celebration of the American labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country. Labor Day was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, who organized the first parade in New York City. After the Haymarket Massacre, which occurred in Chicago on May 4, 1886, U.S. President Grover Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the affair. Thus, in 1887, it was established as an official holiday in September to support the Labor Day that the Knights favored.” Have a safe and happy Labor Day!

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Moving Your Medical Assisting Career Forward

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10 things Indecision, shame, procrastination, pride, excuses, cavalier attitudes, ingratitude – these are all things that can stymie your efforts at moving forward in life and in your pursuit of medical assisting training for a new career.  This chart says a great deal in very few words, offering the 10 things one must give up in order to move forward towards their goals.  Are you ready to let go of these things and move closer toward your financial security and a rewarding career as a medical assistant?

4 Daily Steps to be a Successful Medical Coding Online Student

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4stepsMotivating yourself, stepping up, staying focused and being critical.  These are the four things that, if done every day, will help a person to be much more successful in their career according to a recent article by the Business Insider.   These four tips come courtesy of James Caan, CEO of Hamilton Bradshaw Group who clearly achieved a high station in his career by following his own advice. The truth is, these same four steps can be applied even before one enters the work world.  For those studying medical coding online with the Allen School as an example, practicing these same four steps on a daily basis can drive successful studies and help to develop the work habits that are critical to success one you’ve earned your certificate and begin to make your way into the workforce. Ultimately, these four steps are relevant to everyone, no matter what kind of activity they’re involved in.  Whether it is studying to earn a nursing assistant certification, learning to make a souffle, mastering a second language, starting a dog walking business or any other pursuit; motivation, follow through, focus and metrics are key factors to planning for and attaining success in life.
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Epic Diversion from Healthcare Training School

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simpEveryone knows studying to earn your nursing assistant certification or your degree in medical assisting requires a good deal of effort and work to accomplish.  After all, they’re not giving away excellent jobs with solid long-term prospects to any old untrained fool.  And speaking of untrained fools, America’s favorite untrained nuclear power plant safety officer, Homer Simpson is going to be on the FXX channel for two full weeks. Yes, you overworked healthcare training school students, you heard it here first.  Beginning tomorrow, Thursday, the FXX channel will be running every, single Simpsons episode ever – back to back.  Being the longest running show on TV by a wide margin, this means Simpsons fans will be treated to two full weeks of round the clock Simpsons episodes which amounts to one heck of a tool for procrastination. Now I am not advocating that any Allen School students drop off the grid for two weeks to audit them all. You do and you  may wind up as good at your medical industry job as Doctor Hibbert (or worse, Doctor Nick)!   hibbertHowever, I think all the hard work you’re doing has earned you some good, old fashioned, mindless Simpsons fun.  Also, just for fun, share your favorite Simpsons scene in the comments below.

Medical Billing Online Students Must Update Old Browsers

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internet-explorer-11-logoThere has been a lot of discussion here at the Allen School blog lately about the impact of Microsoft’s phase out of Windows XP and the imminent farewell to support for Windows Vista and 7.  These are important issues that impact medical billing online students who connect to their school and studies over a computer/internet connection. Well, it would seem the good folks from the house that Bill Gates built in Redmond, WA are not quite done making you update your computer systems.   Microsoft’s popular Internet Explorer (or IE as it is often referred to) software is the internet browser run by a solid majority of internet users world wide.  While this blogger favors other browsers (like Firefox or Chrome) we won’t be doing a comparison article today.  It is enough to simply point out that Microsoft has updated IE numerous times with the most current iteration, Version 11 being the latest and greatest. But according to tech site the Verge, “Microsoft is planning to force Windows users onto the latest supported versions of Internet Explorer. The change will take effect on January 12th, 2016, meaning Windows 7 and Windows 8 users will need to be running Internet Explorer 11 to continue receiving updates. If Internet Explorer 12 or even version 13 debuts before January 12th, 2016 and it supports Windows 7 and Windows 8, then those users will need to upgrade to the very latest. Microsoft’s change means Internet Explorer 8 and 10 will no longer be supported on consumer versions of Windows after January 12th, 2016.”  Read the whole article here for details. So if you’re considering upgrading your operating system as we’ve discussed in recent posts here and here, you may also wish to consider updating your IE version as well.  Doing all of this is certainly a hassle, but it has the great benefit of keeping your computer running fast and safe from viruses and hackers.

Healthcare Training School Postgraduate Tip #17: These Don’t Belong in a Professional Communications

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OMGWhat’s wrong with this letter? “Dear Ms. Jones, Hiya!  Thx for seeing me earlier today 4 my job interview.  U were the shizz and I loved the story about your pet cat Peaches – LOLZ!  I hope ur considering hiring me as I need to get out of my current job because my boss here is such a jerk!  I just can’t wait to tell him off in my resignation email.  Anyway, thx again for ur time and I hope you won’t hold it against me for being 2 mins late.  I had a flat tire and then once I changed it, I got caught behind a long train followed by a tornado and a swarm of locusts.  But I called my momz and she sent my uncle Jim down in his taxi, and after he stopped at the liquor store to cash a check, he was able to bring me to the interview. Ur pal, Johnny D” Ok, by now you’ve probably caught on to what I am trying to convey here.  There are a good number of things you should studiously avoid when writing professional communications of any kind.  Whether these be emails, letters, job applications or resignations, take care to put your most professional voice forward. The folks at Monster.com have published a list of 7 things you should never write in a professional email. The comical example above included several of these seven such as:
  • Informalities (LOL, WTF?, SMH, etc.)
  • Negativity (My old boss is a dufus!)
  • Disagreements (My co-workers are lazy)
  • Resignations (Dear boss, take this job and shove it!)
But there are more.  They teach you all you need to know about becoming a CNA, or a medical billing specialist in healthcare training school.  But lessons about how to succeed in the workplace are not necessarily included and are learned the hard way by most.  Don’t make these mistakes after working so hard to gain your new credential!  

From Medical Assistant Certification to President of the AMA!

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lies-are-liesDid you hear the one about the nursing assistant who spent two years as the President of the American Medical Association after completing her medical assistant certification?  How about the 32-year-old nursing assistant who has 25 years of experience in the field?  Believe it or not, hiring managers all have their favorite stories about fantastic lies they’ve come across on the résumés of job seekers.

Everything from the standard lies like listing degrees that haven’t really been earned and listing employment at places where the candidate didn’t really work, to more outrageous claims like having won Olympic medals or having been the Prime Minister of a foreign country, hiring managers have seen it all.  This is why if you recently earned your medical assistant certification and you’re on the job hunt, you should take care not to embellish your résumé.  It is easy to spot bogus claims when you review hundreds of resumes each day.

This article looks at some of the most brazen résumé lies collected by a recent CareerBuilder survey and they’d be comical if they weren’t actual instances of people trying to fool hiring managers.  Read the piece.  It’s worth a few chuckles.  Then internalize the take-away message which is, “Be truthful on your résumé and let your actual accomplishments speak for themselves.”  Honesty is always the best policy, especially when seeking a job.  The truth has a way of finding daylight and you can really damage your credibility and career by pretending to be someone you’re not. Visit www.allenschool.edu to learn more.

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Online Medical Billing Students, a Positive Rumor re: Microsoft

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windows_xp_logoAs all our online medical billing classes are now more than aware, software leader, Microsoft recently discontinued its support for the wildly popular Windows XP operating system – a software loved and used by millions worldwide.  As a result, XP is now a wasteland of spammers, hackers and viruses.  As we reported here several weeks ago, Microsoft is now planning to phase out support for Windows 7, one of the operating systems they offered to replace XP (along with Vista, Windows 8 and the most current Windows 8.1). We know that Microsoft is close to releasing its newest (and if their PR is to be believed, greatest) operating system ever – Windows 9.  All of this is important to our online students who use computers to study their online medical billing classes.  It is a big deal because upgrading an operating system can cost several hundred dollars and none of us wants to be forced to upgrade early simply to pad Microsoft’s bottom line. This is why the following rumor is so tantalizing. According to Chris Smith of techie site BGR.com, “The company is reportedly considering offering some sort of Windows 9 upgrade deal to XP, Vista and Windows 7 users, with a completely free upgrade option also on the table. This isn’t the first time free Windows 9 upgrade rumors have hit the web, but previous reports suggested that Windows Threshold (Windows 9’s internal codename) might launch as a free download to Windows 8.1 Update, and Windows 7 Service Pack 1 owners.” Check back here frequently, as we’ll continue to cover this story and keep you on top of changes that may affect your studies at the Allen School Online.

Public Health Matters in Medical Assistant Training

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The Allen School Blog always covers current events as they relate to public health issues such as outbreaks of disease, pandemic potentials, etc.  We were on top of the Avian Flu and the Swine Flu when those two items were in the news.  We also tracked the spread of the “flesh-eating bacteria” that was on everyone’s mind several summers ago.  We do this because we feel it is important for those taking Medical Assistant training to make a habit of staying abreast of these large-scale public health events.  After all, once you graduate from Medical assistant training courses, you’ll be entering the field where you’ll be faced with the realities of these issues.

Today, we’d like to take a moment to discuss the Ebola outbreak in Africa which has been at the top of the news for the past weeks.  There is a lot of hysterical concern amongst the American public about the possibility of this deadly pathogen turning up on our shores.  This has been amplified by the return of several doctors from Africa to America infected with Ebola.  As a nursing assistant, you’ll need to keep a level head about such things when scared patients come to the doctor’s office or hospital.  Below is a handy flow chart for helping people determine if they should be worried about Ebola in their midsts.

ebola.

Unlike Medical Billing Classes Online, This Technology is Bad Medicine

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Image courtesy of Heathtap.com

Image courtesy of Heathtap.com a company helping users make more informed medical decisions online.

We do a lot of praising of technology at the Allen School Blog for the amazingly positive role it plays in delivering convenient access to medical billing classes online.  We also love to cover stories about groundbreaking technological breakthroughs within the medical field and the excellent consequences of applying hi tech to medicine.  But it ain’t, as they say, “all peaches and cream”.  What about the times when technology becomes an impediment to medicine? Take for example the downside of self-diagnostic websites such as WebMD.com, medicinenet.com, onhealth.com and others that allow users to enter in whatever symptoms they may be experiencing and then provide potential diagnoses.  While these sites are useful to a certain degree, everyone at one point or another has let their imagination run away with them while visiting them.  You know the feeling: You visit WebMD to see what may be causing those sore gums and leave convinced that you are in imminent danger of experiencing heart failure!  It is amazing how far towards the extremes the human imagination can run with a sliver of sound information. But true to form, we’re going to conclude this post with yet another positive development brought to us by the application of technology to medicine.  Meet Ron Gutman, a man who wanted to provide an online resource to help lay users avoid the panic that comes from dire misdiagnosis at sites like WebMD.  His company, HealthTap provides an online diagnostic service by subscription, delivering unlimited access to actual MDs via a web app for $99/month.  This innovative solution is the leading edge of an emerging marketplace for “telehealth” technologies and this is something that any medical industry entrant should be aware of.  It is the wave of the future!