Online Medical Billing and Coding Students, Virus Alert!

Online students of medical billing and coding spend a considerable deal of time, yep, you guessed it, online!  No news there.  But it was announced today that a new virus threat lurks out there for all denizens of the online world.  Since studying medical billing and coding (or really anything else) online means your educational progress could really be stymied by a bad computer infection, it makes sense to stay up to date on the latest threats so you can make sure you’re protected against infection.  The latest threat is a so called “trojan” virus which infects computers for the purpose of using your computer’s computing power to mine for bitcoins.  Bitcoins are an emerging form of currency which can be used to purchase a growing array of products and services online.  From games to illicit drugs, users of bitcoins are attracted to the “currency” because it is much more difficult to trace than regular old “dollars” spent via credit card transactions.  Here’s a link to a more in-depth definition of bitcoins.  And here’s a link to the story about how hackers are “enslaving” unsuspecting users’ machines to help in the generation of currency which they then use to make purchases.

Those studying medical billing and coding through the Allen School Online program are a tech savvy lot.  Moreso than many others, these students rely on their computers and handheld smart phones (which pack more power than the laptops of even 10 years ago).  In our light speed modern world, we frequently upgrade to the next greatest piece of technology, on average, about once every two years.  Smart online medical billing and coding students know to “wipe” or reformat their old phones’ memory banks before recycling or trading them in.  But did you know that even if you take all the precautions recommended to protect your personal information when trading in a phone, much of the data you think you’ve removed can still be resurrected by someone who knows how to do it?  Yep.  It’s true!  Read the article here from Wired magazine that explains how smart criminals, using the same forensic technologies as law enforcement, can access deleted photos, bank account info, location logs and much more.  Pretty much anything you’ve done with your phone may still be uncovered, even if you think you’ve deleted it all.  My advice to online medical billing and coding students is to pass their old phones along to trusted friends or family.  Failing that, perhaps smash them with a hammer or run them over with your car.  Not cost effective to be sure, but gratifying in a strange way.

You remember the old joke about the man who goes to see his doctor and says ‘Doc, it hurts when I do this”, and the doctor says “Then don’t do that!”?  As a Certified Nursing Assistant, you’re bound to encounter some very strange and sometimes even comical maladies over the course of a long and prosperous career.  Of course, no one’s suffering is ever a source of comedy.  However, some cases are just so incredible that a retired CNA will surely have a volume or two of stories to make new CNA trainees smile. Consider this excerpt from a case recently publicized in LiveScience.com.

“A 47-year-old Michigan woman developed a bone disease rarely seen in the U.S. after she drank a pitcher of tea made from at least 100 tea bags daily, for 17 years, researchers report.  The Detroit woman visited the doctor after experiencing pain in her lower back, arms, legs and hips for five years.  X-rays revealed areas of very dense bone on the spinal vertebrae and calcifications of ligaments in her arm, said study researcher Dr. Sudhaker D. Rao, a physician at Henry Ford Hospital who specializes in endocrinology and bone and mineral metabolism. The researchers suspected the woman had skeletal fluorosis, a bone disease caused by consuming too much fluoride (a mineral found in tea as well as drinking water).”

This patient had literally made herself sick by drinking an incomprehensible amount of tea.  If you’re a practicing CNA, share some of your more memorably strange cases and experiences with those still involved in taking CNA training.  They’ll be grateful to hear about some of the more offbeat experiences they may have to look forward to.

The nerds over at Popular Science (and I use that term endearingly) have been reporting on the so-called, “Tricorder X-Prize” which is a contest to see who can come up with the first no-touch medical diagnostic tool similar to the one used by the nerds on the famed sci-fi TV and movie franchise Star Trek.   Like the communicator (clamshell cell phone) and the 3D printer (replicator), many fictional technologies of the future as depicted by Star Trek over the last 40 years have made the jump from fantasy to reality.  The Tricorder X-prize is seeking to make reality of the fictional medical diagnostic tool first brandished by Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, the Enterprise’s cranky chief physician.  As you might expect, in today’s futuristic world, there is indeed an app for that.  In fact, there are numerous ones, all seeking to master the technological requirements for capturing heart rates, blood oxygen levels, temperature and a host of other metrics.  The idea is to produce a home-use technology to help people decide if and when they need to go to the doctor or hospital.  As a medical office assistant or CNA, you know firsthand that many people come to the doctor when their symptoms don’t truly rise to the threshold of needing a doctor.  While in other cases, people ignore symptoms that truly require immediate medical attention, thereby worsening their prospects for speedy recovery from whatever ails them.  Furthermore, countless hours are spent on the phone with CNAs and other medical office staff talking through nebulous symptoms, trying to determine whether or not someone should make the trip in to see the doc.  With technologies like this, users can test and share the results with medical office staff who can then make more efficient and effective decisions about if and when to be seen.  Now if they can only realize the transporter system as seen on Star Trek, we could “beam” emergency cases straight to the ER when the patient’s smart phone indicates he is having myocardial infarction and not just gas.

Hey there Allen School Online students of medical billing and coding.  I have some information of particular value to you.  In fact, it is probably useful for those in our CNA training program and medical office assistant training programs as well since, these days, everyone has internet, phone and TV in their home.  But particularly for online billing and coding students who, by definition, must maintain internet and phone service in order to study by remote. Jeff Blyskal, senior editor at Consumer Reports magazine recently penned an article called, “Cut Your Telecom Bill”.  In a great synopsis of the piece done by the (no longer allowed to work by remote) people at Yahoo!, the four main strategies for saving on telecom services are spelled out.  Below are the four strategies, but click through here to read the details on each of them.

#1 – Find out How Many Providers are Actually in Your Area

#2 – Combine Your Digital Services with Just One Company

#3 – Don’t Settle: Negotiate the Price You Want

#4 – Drop Unwanted Services and Premium Channels