Make a list of everything you think should be included at one time or another, in one of your ad, be it radio, newspaper or Little Jimmie’s class play program.

Everything. Experience, staff, facility, product. The list will be quite long. Take the time to do it now, before you read the rest of this article.

Next, take a hard look at your list, pencil in hand, and cross off all items that are about YOU (including YOUR staff, YOUR building, YOUR ranking, awards etc). Now, x-out all the FEATURES of your products or service.

The number one rule, the only rule, for great advertising is “Sell the Benefits”.

Take a poll, people don’t care if you have the largest selection in town. It means nothing that “New Stuff is arriving daily”. They want to know what you or your product can do for them. WIIFM or “What’s In It For Me?” Ease pain and you gain.

You see and hear ads everyday that miss the point entirely. Giant billboards with pictures of the medical clinic staff standing in front of a wall of awards. Picture of a guy with a wrench and the words “See me for all your plumbing needs.” Three little girls on TV yelling an unintelligible slogan about their daddy’s store. It’s all about them. It should be all about the customer.

Did you see the one on TV where a guy gets the water cooler dumped on him because he bought the good software? What picture does that tell? It would have been better if the guy told me (from a sunny beach location) the boss gave him another week of vacation because the new software saved the company 40 million bucks. Benefits.

How about the newspaper ad with the picture of the funeral home building and how they have been around for 85 years? Benefit?

Ads about “you you you” can look and sound really great, to you, you, you. We all love to talk about ourselves. Where are the benefits? What hook does your face on a billboard use to bring customers through the door? Your face is NOT a benefit.

We all grew up thinking “me me me”. Remember how excited you got when you first saw your name or picture in the newspaper? Even the school paper. It was a BIG deal. “Me me me.” Great for your ego, but take that thinking to your advertising and it flops.

The first time you make the list and cross out the me me mees and all the features, you may have only one or two points left to promote. Make a new list and think “them them them”. Think benefits.

The ads that stick in your head are the ones that promise to make your life easier. The appliance store promising to deliver at the appointed time. You don’t have to stay home all day waiting for the truck. A real benefit. It makes no difference if the TV is made by Acme or Zenith? They will deliver on time. Let’s go there. Benefits.

The company that says their plumber will show up clean, on time, and not smell. Another benefit!

Who cares what a financial advisor looks like, but tell people they can retire and not eat dog food and you get their attention. Benefit.

Funny thing, the ads about benefits are the ones we make the mental note to remember. Hmmm.

Sell the benefits and you don’t have to sell yourself.

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With over 84,000 licensed chiropractors nationwide and more than 10,000 students currently enrolled in chiropractic school, it is the fastest growing health care profession. Chiropractic medicine and indoor health care are an increasingly recognized and natural fit. Chiropractic medicine is a form of natural health care that focuses on treating a patient without the use of drugs. Every year, more than 30 million Americans see Doctors of Chiropractic as part of their regular health care program.

Indoor health care, similarly, is gaining attention as the next field alert in general medicine, wellness, and treatable home environmental factors. Chiropractors, as Indoor health Care Associates, often prescribe a “REM Mate” air purifier unit for patients’ bedrooms, to enrich a pure air bedroom environment and a rich, pure sleep, which keenly benefits whole health. “REM Mate” is an innovation from Indoor Health Care Network,www.indoorhealthcare.com , the leading force in bridging the gap between health care and home environment care.

Working with chiropractors, Indoor Health Care Network has designed programs that are being modeled throughout the country to provide dialogue between doctor and patient, share information, educate health professionals and patients on healthy home products and services, all from the direction of our network of Indoor Health Care Associates, which welcomes chiropractors to qualify as an Associate.

To the extent that indoor air experts merge their guiding information, technology and indoor service practices and methodologies with the medical clinicians who are diagnosing patients’ problems, the ability to arrest these problems increases exponentially.

A chiropractor is involved in the treatment and prevention of disease, as well as the promotion of public health, and a wellness approach to patient healthcare. When a chiropractor involves indoor health care in their healing focus, they go beyond the patient, to the patient’s home environment, which even in the finest of homes is too often the scene of the crime for what ails the patient.

Chiropractors frequently treat individuals with problems, such as headaches, joint pain, neck pain, low back pain and sciatica. Chiropractors also treat patients with osteoarthritis, spinal disk conditions, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, sprains, and strains. However, the scope of conditions that chiropractors manage or provide care for is not limited to the common pains and problems listed above. Chiropractors who invest their attention to wellness programs go beyond the patient, to alert and question the patient’s home environment to aspects of wellness and prevention.

Chiropractors have extensive training to treat a variety of conditions such as allergies, asthma, digestive disorders, all of which are cited by scientific and medical research to derive significantly from preventable and treatable indoor environmental issues.

The Hippocratic Oath, “first do no harm,” is now cited by medical practitioners as a warning to our very homes. This significant extension of health care and wellness attention has a long way to go, but is gaining a groundswell of interest and advancement from a growing list of concerned chiropractors educated in “indoor health care.”

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9.

Surety Inspection

Sergeant Wright had a good relationship with the Medical Clinic in Babenhausen, and a fairly good one with Battalion level personnel in Darmstadt, Germany, where he had been many times checking out personnel files, whom had direct command over his unit, the 545th Ordinance Company. And so with the records from both areas: namely, medical records, and personnel records on the personnel at the 545th and 9th MP’s, his surety records were constantly being updated to include his Nuclear Surety-duty Roster—which prior to this was an unkempt, and disastrous looking roster: consisting of a half page misspelled-soldier’s names piece of paper, showing their level of security clearance, but not much else. He had taken it to quite a higher level in a short period of time.

In addition, he took his three other personnel that worked for him and they started to do cross checking with all the records to include the ones in the Company-Orderly Room at the 545th insuring he had the best information on each and every person at the compound, and should he be asked by an inspector, or Military Intelligence, or the FBI, he had the answers—and answers was the name of the game, that is, to have good ones. First Sergeant Hightower had taught him well the first two years he worked for him, and now being First Sergeant, he was somehow always his mentor, even if not seen. Sometimes in life a person will pick out one, a person, teach them, if he is the willing, like Sergeant Wright was, and had Wright failed an inspection, Hightower’s reputation would have been wounded also, and that was always a source of pride for both, for Chris wanting to show Hightower he could pass them, and for Hightower being proud of his work in Sergeant Wright, for he was the teacher.

Dr. Sharp, or otherwise known as Captain Sharp, he and the good Sergeant were good friends, during duty and off duty, a Mormon by religion; and although Sergeant Wright was of no certain denomination, they both took time to review their beliefs in that area. Matter of fact, it was on a number of occasions they would both met at the Captain’s house for dinner along with other friends of the Captain, and along with food carried on the most interesting conversation in the area of religion. Furthermore, they both seemed to like shooting pistols, and often found themselves out on the range together, Chris with his 45-Colt Automatic, and the Captain with his 357-revolver.

Their relationship was built up over a two year period, thus, they both came to trust one another’s judgment, and if the Surety Office looked good, so did the Babenhausen-dispensary [medical clinic], as the good Sergeant, would always insure he told the inspectors the great cooperation he was getting by Captain Sharp. For often the inspectors looked at prescription drugs being prescribed, and if these people were on the site area, and if so what were the effects of the drugs on the people working in the site, and therefore this was a most sensitive area, and Wright had to learn quickly the effects of pharmaceuticals.

–And so the day came when the inspectors arrived—arrived for the big inspection, right from Washington DC [Congressional], not simply from Group, or Battalion, or the main European one USAEU, for there were three basic inspections and the Congressional came every two or three years, and if you didn’t pass them, they came every year. Sergeant Wright had donuts and coffee sitting on the tables, and several chairs about ten-feet away from them, for which, he’d sit in one, and he had two reserved for his assistants [the setup was taught to Wright by Sergeant Hightower], and the others vacant, incase the Surety Officer came in, whom was a young 1st Lieutenant from the 9th MP’s—Lieutenant Nelson, a black officer, whom was never really around, too busy running the MP’s but was given the job of overseer of the Surety Office, thus he got glory if it passed any inspections, and cursed if it didn’t; but had no time to do a thing within the office, was never trained in the area and had he spent time, he most likely would have not had time to run his Detachment’s security purpose for being on the site to secure the nuclear chemicals they had in the back area. And so Sergeant Wright knew this, and respected the fact he was trusted by him to run the office as he see fit, and so he did.

There were five inspectors, two went around asking questions from the personnel at the site, while the other three compared, and reviewed the three sets of records, medical, personal, and security files. And so at 9:00 AM sharp, the donuts were being eaten, coffee was on the table, and the inspection started.

As the day moved forward, about thirty-minutes into the inspection, one of the three men looked up at Sergeant Wright, indicating there was a problem emerging. He stood up and walked to the inspector,

“Yes sir, can I help?” By this time they knew his reputation, and that of the ‘Surety Office’, in that they had never failed an inspection in years, and so he was cautious to point a direct finger at him for negligence, at this juncture anyhow, and so the inspector said with a bit of reserve,

“I see this person is on a prescription medication,” and as he mentioned it, he inferred it was a barbiturate. He knew that Chris knew the chemical effects of the substance, and looked into his eyes [barbiturates being an anesthetic sedative of sorts—with the effects of disorientation—similar to alcohol]. He wanted an answer, but was willing to wait—or so it seemed, since he did not push it, nor did he close down the site immediately, which he could have.

The Sergeant smiled, said to himself: ‘how could this be, we checked, and double checked all the records’. Then he looked at the date of the prescription, it was today’s date, –he pointed it out, then asked if he could look into this for a moment, that he had an explanation for it, but needed to double check. He really didn’t have one, an explanation, but was playing out a hunch—he was stalling, but he knew he’d find an answer somewhere quick, for surely there was something wrong, he had gone over those records just last night, picked them back up this morning two hours ago, and checked them quickly again: scanning them for the most part. So he had his assistant stay right there in front of the inspectors, so they would be assured they were not being abandoned, while he went and got another co-worker, to find the man, the soldier in question, and make sure he did not go to work, at the same time, he called the clinic.

–Twenty-minutes later, he walked back into the room where they were having the inspection, three inspectors heads popped up when Chris walked in.

“Sir,” said he, “this is Private Benson [whom was standing by his side],” he had him sit down is his own seat as he stood, approached the three inspectors, in particular the one who had brought this situation to his attention; thus, he had living proof.

“Sir,” he continued to say, “Private Benson works in the back site as you know, went down this morning to the clinic, because he is a bit ill, was given medication, has a prescription for it, and has not, and I emphasized, he has not gone to work, he was in his room sleeping. The Orderly Room had the slip he returned with, but had not gotten to give it to me yet, but had there not been an inspection this morning, I would have received it most likely two hours ago, or a phone call.”

The inspector looked up at Chris, and Benson, took the records back and said, “Private Benson, is that true?” asked the inspector with a calm but established voice, as not to scare him: “…you have not gone to the back area as of yet, nor do you plan on it until the doctor indicates you can—right? ”

The private said, as quickly, and nervously as possible, “Yes sir, yes sir, I am just going back to my bed, get some sleep. I never go back to the site until I get an ok from the Surety Office.” Thought Chris, if that doesn’t over it, nothing will, but it worked, and it was fair. The inspector, smiled and I sat down waiting for the next crisis.

And that is how it went for three days—a few more crises that were put out—like a fire, as fast as the Sergeant could. At the end of their inspection, the inspector commented: “Job well done Sergeant,” and Chris would receive a medal for his outstanding work, somewhere down the road; Sergeant Hightower would make sure of it. Everyone was happy, to include the: inspectors, the new Commander, Wastrel, and the Battalion Commander, the Surety Officer, Nelson, who was applauded for his work, and First Sergeant Hightower, who used to be ahead of the Surety Office, and all three clerks from Chris’ office, everyone got a piece of the glory, but Sergeant Wright would get the award.

The Major, the new Company commander, Wastrel, got a little disturbed by the Surety Personnel. They were the only ones that did not go to formation, and the reason being, Sergeant Wright had them working the moment they walked through the door. The sergeant felt it really took too much time. And LT the Surety Officer, as he was called by the Surety Office staff, asked several times if Wright would please make an appearance so as to calm the Commander down, and go to formation, and so he did. The major saying, “I’m glad you could show up—Sergeant Wright,” emphasizing the ‘show up,’ part. But even Sergeant Wright liked the power and influence he had with his Surety Office. But he didn’t want to abuse the fact he had it, and portray him was not replaceable: save for the fact, he knew he was replaceable; and ‘Pride comes before destruction,’ he had learned. And so he made formation for about six-weeks before he dismissed himself from it again, saying it was time consuming, and privately feeling it was worthless standing around taking roll call—Army drills and wasting good investigation time.

10.

Mexican Standoff [Sergeant Wright]

[From: Chris Wright’s Journal]

“I am a Buck Sergeant now—and the NCOIC [Sergeant in Charge] of the whole Surety Program at the 545th and 9th MP Detachment; a whole lot of responsibility; –I not only have to deal with Military Intelligence now, but indirectly with the FBI. The whole compound, site, knows my name. On one hand, people are more in a panic state coming into my office than the commanding officers wondering if or when their security clearance will be in danger, which means career position, and longevity in the military service, I think they think I will mess around with their career if I dislike them so they play cool with me. Things are changing, or have changed. I have even changed, matter of fact I got a special medal from the General, he flew in by helicopter, and gave it to me in front of 200-soldiers for being an outstanding soldier I guess, but the only thing outstanding is that I’m passing all these inspections for him, making him look good, and staying out of harms way. Sergeant Hightower, at the last minute, our First Sergeant now, looked at my pants—the day the General was to give me the medal—I had patches on them, and he shook his head, told me—bluntly—to go and change them before the general comes, and so I did—and I got an Army Commendation Medal. Yes, I have a little power now, but under control; I like it also, why not, I’ve worked hard to get it. And I get a medal pinned on my chest for the best of the best, Surety Sergeant in all of Europe; you can’t beat that. But everything has its price, you pay sooner or later, I am beginning to get fried, burnt out—my brain is reacting slower, or so it seems. My head can’t think straight, or should I say, can’t concentrate on simple things very long, surely a sign of ‘burnout.’”

[Update for the Journal] “The shoes were taken off the tree a while ago, after I had seen them there for several months got tired of looking at them—now I have time under my belt; I am learning, to duck— that is, stay out of harms way, you could also, or possible, call it out waiting the many things happening around you to simply go away—yes, they simply may disappear, go away, I found out they do just that: it’s one of his ways of looking at things now, things I have little control over. And they did go away. The new Major has no real leadership skills with people, and is—for the most part—despised by his subordinates, he is a robust figure of a man, red faced, and a little slim in posture, reddish hair, about 35-years old [Major Wastrel], but a drunk, and it shows on his West Point face, yes, an Ivey League drunk—a man of Harvard but still a drunk no matter how you sliced the pie: and a detriment to the mission here.” Signed, SGT Wright

–It was on this certain day Chris observed a happening that would push the Major to get find his replacement to its limits, for it would cast a shadow on the Major’s leadership and cause loose-talk to be looked at by higher headquarters, from Battalion level to Group—had it not been for the passing of all the Nuclear Surety Inspections, the Major might have been replaced immediately, or long ago; it was early afternoon when the incident took place [October]: the Major, came out of the PX-store, kitty-corner from the Mess Hall, when Private Rodrigo was making his way across the center of the compound, by the flag pole, and almost walked smack into the Major:

“Private Rodrigo,” said the Major, “Are you drunk again…(a rhetorical question at best, for the Private was beyond drunk ((hence, the Private looked up to the Major’s face after looking at the ground—as if in an emotional cluster—as he was walking, and gave a smirk)):”

Said Rodrigo,

“Borracho, no, señor, no lo soy, porque dice eso? Usted es el borracho [Draunk, na-a, me no unk, si, major sir,-r, why ya say that?]” and started to walk away laughing like a lunatic.

“I order you to go back to your room [which was above the mess hall], immediately—Private!” said the Major, in front of several people escorting the Major.

This was not the smartest move the Major had ever made, for the private had a well known reputation [so Chris had learned] for being spontaneous with resistance in a harmful way, in other words, he could be dangerous [Chris was thinking: had he been in his shoes he’d had just relayed the message to the MP’s and had him taken away, but for some reason the Major needed to show off his power, which at times he liked to do, as many officers did].

Rodrigo, about five foot six inches tall, a beer belly, about twenty-seven years old, turned around, looked at the Major now some six-feet away to the side of him, then did another quick 45% angle turn making him directly facing one another now: leaped, like a foot-ball player after a football, right on top of the Major with a knife in his hands and put it next to his artery alongside his neck. Everyone froze for a moment, every single person taken by surprise: eyes were bulging from corner to corner on everyone’s heads, and mouths were open from ear to ear—it was a shock to see this.

Said the private in a slurping, stuttering drunken stupor, reverting back to English instead of Spanish: “So yaw like to give me orders major, haw…! Modar-fa-er, give dhem now—boy!” The private then, punishing-ly said: “I can’t hear you…uuuuu Ma-jor rr– gringo-OO.” Then came from the private the devil-tongue, with his insulting remarks: “Ya moder fu-er, sy somedhing now, or I cut your ugly fat red neck…hot shot-shit, moderr fuc-er.” But the Major was stone-frozen, silent as a graveyard at 2:00 AM, with big bulging eyes, didn’t know what to say or do; about a dozen people were now around. Chris stood by, he had seen this scene before, in Vietnam. Many an officer got on the wrong side of their men and never made it back home.

By the time the Mexican was pulled off the Major—after a few soldiers tried to calm him down, soldiers that were standing by the major, in consequence, convincing the private, telling the private it wasn’t worth it, that he’d end up in jail should he kill him, while several other soldiers calmly put more potent remarks out at the Major, the private sensed he was loosing his audience [for most didn’t’ care about the Major that much anyhow, but this incident was going to extremes, plus the MP’s had arrived with weapons].

Unexpectedly, the private took a knee and moved it over to the side slowly looking at the Major like a prey [a Jaguar] who had just lost his meal, as two soldiers lifted the Major up cautiously, insuring the Major would not be approachable by the Mexican—as one of the two stepped in front of the Mexican, and took his knife: at the same moment, the knife was lying on the ground and the soldier didn’t want the Mexican to grab it again it was but a foot away, should the Major feel overly safe and say something stupid; then the two MP’s escorted the Private back to his barracks.

–“Sir,” said one of the MP sergeants, now standing around the Major as the two men had just lifted him to his feet: “What should we do with him?” The Major just walked away, not saying a word. He stood there in amazement if not shock, unable to speak possible, not sure if he was a coward, or just smart enough to say nothing for once. In either case, the private was taken out of the company area within twenty-four hours, and nothing was ever heard of him again. It was bad news to exploit such news, or let it get out to the American Press, least it cause an investigation right out of Washington DC, for a Nuclear Site was big news when it came to such things, and therefore the Major would soon be replaced also.

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Health insurance that provides benefits for major illness and injury is known as Major Medical Insurance. Usually characterized by a large benefit maximum ranging up to $5,000,000.00, or no limit. This insurance, above an initial deductible, reimburses the major part of charges for hospital, doctor, private nurses, medical appliances, prescribed out-of-hospital treatment, drugs, and medicines and may contain limits on specific types of charges, like room and board. These policies usually pay covered expenses whether an individual is in or out of the hospital.
Why do you need Medical Insurance?
Today, health care costs are high, and getting higher. Who will pay your bills if you have a serious accident or a major illness? You buy health insurance for the same reason you buy other kinds of insurance, to protect yourself financially. With health insurance, you protect yourself and your family in case you need medical care that could be very expensive. You can’t predict what your medical bills will be. In a good year, your costs may be low. But if you become ill, your bills could be very high. If you have insurance, many of your costs are covered by a third-party payer, not by you. A third-party payer can be an insurance company or, in some cases, it can be your employer.
Where Do People get Medical Insurance Coverage?
Most Americans get health insurance through their jobs or are covered because a family member has insurance at work. This is called group insurance. Group insurance is generally the least expensive kind. In many cases, the employer pays part or all of the cost.
Some employers offer only one health insurance plan. Some offer a choice of plans: a fee-for-service plan, a health maintenance organization (HMO), or a preferred provider organization (PPO), for example.
What does this type of Medical Insurance cover?
Such programs provide low cost health insurance coverage to uninsured, low income pregnant women and their infants. It also provides low cost health, dental and vision coverage to uninsured children in low wage families. Families participating in the program choose their health, dental and vision plan. Families pay premiums of $4-$15 per child per month (maximum of $45 per family) to participate in the program.
How to choose the Medical or Health Insurance?
There are many different types of health insurance. Each has pros and cons. There is no one “best” plan. The plan that’s right for a single person may not be best for a family with small children. And a plan that works for one family may not be right for another.
Choosing a health insurance plan is like making any other major purchase: You choose the plan that meets both your needs and your budget. For most people, this means deciding which plan is worth the cost. Cost isn’t the only thing to consider when buying health insurance. You also need to consider what benefits are covered. You need to compare plans carefully for both cost and coverage.

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If you want to get a good deal on your medical insurance, there are a couple of things you should consider doing. Some of them are optional and some of them are absolutely vital and cannot be passed by.

The first is to shop around. You really cannot get a good deal on medical insurance unless you are prepared to shop around and search the market. Finding out what is available on the market really is the only way you can know if any particular offer is good or not and whether or not you should accept it. By getting to know what kind of offers are out there, you will know what you should be expecting to pay for what kind of benefits and are far less likely to get ripped off by making an uninformed decision on which medical insurance to buy.

You should also consider speaking to an insurance broker. These will be able to advise you on the plans offered by a wide range of insurers and let you know what kind of offers are available. Therefore, they can save you a lot of the legwork of shopping around since they have access to an array of insurance companies. They will also have access to preferential rates and deals since they can bargain with companies and use their knowledge of the industry to get good deals. They can then pass these savings on to you in some form or another.

However, even if you are going through a broker, you cannot forgo shopping around and informing yourself properly of what is on the market. This is because you will not be sure if the offer the broker is giving you is any better than that of other brokers or even of prices you can find your self.

Shopping online is another good idea. The Internet gives you access to virtually all the insurers in the market. They are right there at your fingertips and can often give you instant quotes right there on the website. This means that you can do a lot of shopping around and get a good idea of what is on the market just be going on line and visiting their websites.

Medical insurance is a very important purchase for you and your family. It can determine the level of health care and service you will have access to in the case of an accident or serious illness and also represents a significant cost to you when you pay your premiums. Therefore you should always shop the market and make sure you are getting as good a deal as possible before you commit to any one policy.

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Health insurance plans have been forced to take action to contain costs of quality health care delivery as health care costs have skyrocketed. Health insurance premiums, deductibles and co-pays have steadily increased, and health insurance companies have implemented certain strategies for reducing health care costs. “Managed care” describes a group of stratgies aimed at reducing the costs of health care for health insurance companies.

There are two basic types of managed care plans; health maintenance organizations, or HMOs, and preferred provider organizations, or PPOs. So which health plan is best? How do you choose what type of health insurance best suits the health care needs of you and your family?

Both HMOs and PPOs contain costs by contracting with health providers for reduced rate on health care services for its’ members, often as much as 60%. One important difference between HMOs and PPOs is that PPOs often will cover the costs of care when the provider is out of their network, but usually at a reduced rate. On the other hand, most HMOs offer no coverage for health care services for out-of-network providers.

Both HMO and PPOs also control health care costs by use of a gateway, or primary care provider (PCP). Health insurance plan members are assigned (or select) a primary care practitioner (physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner). usually a family practitioner or internal medicine doctor for adult members or a pediatrician or family care practitioner for childern. The primary care provider is responsible for coordianting health delivery for plan members. Care by specialist physicians require referral from the primary care provider. This cost containment strategy is intended to avoid duplication of services (for example, the cardiologist ordering tests that have already been done by the PCP, or a sprained ankle being referred to an orthopedic) and avoid unnecessary specialist referrals, tests and/or procedures.

HMO and PPO plans also contain costs by requiring prior approval, prior authorization, or pre-certification for many elective hospital admissions, surgeries, costly tests and imaging procedures, durable medical equipment and prescription drugs. When such services are required, the provider must submit a request to the health insurance plan review department, along with medical records that justify the service. The request is reviewed by the health insurance company to determine whether the services are justified as “medically necessary” according to the health plan policy and guidelines. Review is usually performed by licensed nurses, and, if the reviewer agrees that the service is necessary, approval is given and the service will be covered by the health insurance plan.

As health care costs continue to rise, many indemnity health insurance plans, or “fee for service” plans are being forced to adopt some managed care strategies in order to provide quality health care and keep health insurance premiums affordable. And as long as health care costs continue to rise, the distinctions among PPO, HMO, FFS and other health insurance plans will become blurred. Rest assured, however, that managed health care is here to stay.

Kay Lowe holds a Master’s degree in health care and has 30+ years experience in the health care field.

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In 2003, there where more than 890 million doctor visits in the U.S. according to the (CDC) Center for Diseases Control and Prevention. “More now than ever consumers are not only researching their doctor, but are also demanding the highest quality of health care” says Hugo Gallegos, President of MDNationwide.org.

Check Doctor Credentials

Doctor information (reports) such as check doctor credentials, medical doctor ratings, doctor background checks , and check surgeon quality, just a few years ago scarcely existed. Most doctor credential information pertaining to disciplinary actions and so on, where kept on the hush side. Now, all that has changed, consumers understand that experience varies from doctor to doctor. With more companies offering doctor credential information consumers are spending more time researching their doctors.

* A doctor background check can be accomplished in a variety of ways depending what the consumers wants. Example: If a consumer wants to find out if his or her doctor has ever had disciplinary actions issued against them, the Federation of State Medical Boards (excluding National Practitioner Data Bank) has more doctor disciplinary report information than any other establishment in America, and the cost is $9.95 per report.

Pros

1. They are the undisputed heavyweights of doctor background checks for disciplinary actions.

Cons

1. They only specialize in disciplinary doctor reports.

* If consumers want to view medical doctor ratings on particular doctors, their are different choices available. It is not clear what their methodology is based on, however, a popular choice seems to be Health Grades Inc. They have a wide selection of doctors nationwide to choose from, however with such an enormous database, you might want to double check your info for accuracy.

Pros

1. A huge medical doctor ratings database, bigger selection of doctors

Cons

1. Methodologies are not clear

2. Database is so big that keeping updated information is nearly impossible.

* For consumers who prefer only a top specialist based on extensive surveys performed, there are three well-known establishments claim they have the best doctors in America. Each one has their own methodology in place, some more extensive than others. They are MDNationwide Inc, with more than 3,000 of the best doctors in America, the Best Doctors establishment with more than 30,000 best doctors in America, and the Castle Connolly establishment with more than 4,500 best doctors in America.

Pros

1. Methodology is much clearer

2. Only elite doctors, based on surveys conducted, are added to these databases.

3. Licensure status, certifications and other credentials are researched.

4. Best doctor databases are smaller, therefore information is easier to update.

5. YOU Get a FREE top Doctor Search

Cons

1. Because the number of best doctors is a small percentage, there is less to choose from.

2. Best doctors do not reside in every zip code or city, therefore you may need to travel several hundred miles.

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Pharma is the powerful subsector, and medical devices/technology its smaller sibling within the huge healthcare industry. They are different enough that the two subsectors often move in opposing directions, enabling investors to stay diversified within the booming healthcare by shifting in and out of the two subsectors at appropriate times.

In a number of treatment areas, one sector can take away market share from the other. Take the huge heart disease market. While surgical interventions have become increasingly minimally invasive, pharmacological interventions, including thrombolytics, fibrinolytics, beta blockers, statins and anti-platelet treatments are covering a wider spectrum of acute coronary syndromes, sometimes eliminating the need for surgery.

In evaluating the potential of the two sectors, it must be said that there is nothing quite like getting in early on a blockbuster drug and riding it to new highs. In the meantime, smart pharma investors stay on the lookout for news about clinical trials that result in new indications for a drug, or that show a reduction in mortality, side effects, etc. Modifications in a drug that expand target populations are also good. Often these kinds of developments show up on TV commercials. Currently, through a spate of commercials you can witness the battle unfold over new indications for insomnia treatments, as drug companies address the huge and growing problem of sleeplessness in America.

But on the whole, right now Pharma is in a bit of a funk, hoping for new blockbusters, while medical devices/technology is more exciting, especially minimally invasive technologies. Substantial acceleration in FDA approval timelines since the passage of the 1997 Modernization Act, has helped the medical device industry.

As the competition among broad-based medical technical companies, like Medtech, Boston Scientific J&J and others has grown more intense, they are increasingly looking to acquire small companies with promising technologies. This has spurred a great deal of entrepreneurial growth. Is there such a thing as a blockbuster medical device? Except for drug-eluting stents, probably not, when you compare devices to top pharmaceutical winners. But medical technology is addressing some huge markets, with big profit potential.

Take back pain. It’s the scourge of millions with a market of over $60 billion annually. Artificial disc technology is rapidly coming up with advances to treat chronic back cases. Carotid stenting, which was approved last year, is less invasive than surgery and sales of carotid stents are anticipated to grow to $1 billion within the decade-from less than $100 million today. And the annual growth rate of computer aided surgery rate is expected to increase from 10% in 2005 to more than 20% in 2009.

Aging baby boomers will aid the medical device boom. Age-related ailments combined with medicare eligibility will expand the use of pacemakers, defibrillators, stents, orthopedic implants and cochlear implants.

Medical devices/technology and pharmaceuticals provide a good way to diversify within healthcare, though you must stay current on developments in both fields. Of course, if you’re really looking for growth you might turn to an even smaller healthcare/biotech sibling- diagnostics. With approval power over payments, healthcare providers, in essence, control the money, and thus wield enormous influence over which treatments grow share. Increasingly, healthcare providers are looking at preventative measures to stave off the huge expense of treating full-blown diseases. And how do you prevent diseases? Early diagnosis. But more on that in another article.

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Attention deficit disorder is a serious disorder and it is not going away. It causes depression, inattentiveness, relationship and behavorial problems, deviant behavior (crime), can lead to drug abuse, alcoholism and even suicide. To better understand this disorder and correct it there are 8 steps we must follow:

1. Education. ADD can manifest itself in several different ways all depending upon the areas of the brain affected. Basically, ADD is caused by abnormalities in the cortex region of the brain. These abnormalities are mostly genetic, but can also result from head trauma. The afflicted area is underdeveloped slightly - not enough to cause autism or retardation. This underdeveloped area in the cortex directly affects attention span, energy (lethargy), even quality of life. This is an actual confirmable medical condition.

2. Get medical help. Do not wait. ADD can rob the sufferer of quality of life. Go to a doctor that specializes in conditiond like ADD. Upon confirming the diagnosis for ADD they will among other things refer you to support groups. This is important as ADD can be very trying on a family. They will also determine if medication like Ridalin and Adderall are necessary.

3. Nutrition. Eat a well balanced diet. Take multi-vitamins and drink plenty of water. Multi-vitamins are a necessity as many of our foods are lacking in nutritional value. Recent research has shown that omega-3 fatty acids (like those found in salmon) not only promote a healthy heart, but also increase brain functioning and health. Many people in Okinawa on a diet compromising mostly rice and fish lived to be 100+ years old and maintained full mental acuity. They were found to have much lower incidences of mental diseases and conditions including ADD. Take a multivitamin, eat well balanced meals, and take omega-3 supplements.

4. Hydration. The brain is 85% water and when the water intake is insufficient the brain will become dehydrated and sluggish. During dehydration the neurons and synapses in the brain cannot transfer important chemicals and impulses for memory, thought and cognition. Proper hydration is even more important in ADD sufferers as they have underdeveloped lobes of the cortex that are more sensatized to the effects of dehydration. It is generally accepted that 8-10 glasses of water per day is warranted for proper mental functioning and will help with ADD sufferers as the symptoms of ADD will worsen due to dehydration.

5. Plan. Plan your day. ADD sufferers tend to be the biggest procrastinators. They can’t focus as well and tend to put things off. Use a day planner and make lists, checking off tasks as they are completed. This will help alleviate some of the stress and anxiety that surrounds ADD.

6. Realize. Realize that ADD is not retardation. ADD does not mean someone is slow or unlearned. On the contrary, some of the smartest geniuses in history have had ADD. ADD makes it 10 times harder to stay focused on mental tasks than normal people, but when treated properly and taught how to cope with their condition ADD sufferers in numerous tests have been proven to be able to compete equally with non-sufferers and, in some cases, greatly out perform. There was a documented case of one individual whom, due to his undiagnosed ADD, never paid attention in elementary, middle, or high school. This individual ended up dropping out of highschool and was seen as a deviant. This individual then through proper diagnosis learned they had ADD, learned how to deal with it. Then took it upon themselves to learn what they didn’t in the public school system. In two weeks they were able to obtain a real diploma, not a GED, and go to college. Whats even more amazing is that this dropout eventually ended up attending an Ivy league University! Just like underdeveloped muscles, the brain through much effort can be taught to overcompensate for underdeveloped areas.

7. Learn. Learn the art of memorization and studying. For ADD sufferers studying and mental tasks are 10 times harder to focus on. By learning memory techniques like associations, linking, lists, etc… and learning to become adept with them will make ADD easier. A great book to read is Harry Lorayne’s Memory Book. It should be required learning for everyone in highschool. If the learning process can be made into a a game understanding, comprehension, and attention will all increase.

8. Meditation, controlled discipline and prayer. Stress and anxiety have been shown to play a large role with ADD sufferers. Both meditation and prayer have been shown to be very benefitial as they increase the attention span and have a dramatic soothing, calming effecton the sufferer. Discipline is very important with the ADD sufferer. Hidy Ochai, an internationally reknowned karate master states in his books that proper discipline in kids with ADD is essential to proper adult development. Karate is a very effective tool for the ADD sufferer. As it provides exercise, discipline, goal development and accomplisment, focus and self respect. ADD sufferers will do well to learn what meditation, controlled discipline, and prayer can offer them.

These eight steps are essential for the attainment of the proper quality of life for ADD sufferers. ADD can be treated and dealt with.

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