Best Computer for Doctors

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Your a medical professional. Your slammed with an influx of new patients and strict HIPAA guidelines. There’s a stack of patients’ charts and hours of dictation left to do. Now your medical group added new goals to meet by quarter end. How will you balance all it all? How can you adapt to a computerized medical field?

The answer is simple:

Get the right computer, learn the basics, and succeed.

The problem is finding the right computer. 

There once was a time that having someone who knew computers in your family was rare, now their as common as Marvel superhero movies. You end up listening to that 14 year old nephew of yours, and you buy buy that $2100 dollar Alienware laptop or that $1900 dollar MacBook Pro. Now you have no idea how it works and your IT department can’t get the programs you need to run on it.

Now your stuck with an expensive brick that will now be demoted to watching Netfilx and YouTube videos.  

Lets avoid the expensive mistake. Keep these two rules in mind:

Rule 1: You computer should be compatible with your medical group’s network.

This is simple to find out. If your medical group uses Microsoft Office, Exchange for your email server(you can ask your IT department), and the rest of the employee’s have Windows XP, 7 or 8 running on their desktops. Then you should use Windows as your main operating system.

Macs are nice, and yes, you can buy Office and Outlooks for a Mac. Macs are expensive though —which is nothing new— but the biggest issue is having them serviced. Your medical group’s IT department will have almost an endless supply of people who know how to fix windows. Which means if your computer breaks, someone will be able to trouble shoot it. If you have a Mac? Then Billy the I-still-have-a-holier-than-thou-IT-mentality network troll will be the only guy to help you. 

Trust me, most of the medical software out there is designed to run on Windows. You could access your medical groups’s programs on a Mac using a local virtual box, dual booting, or using VMWare or Citrix. The problem is now you’ll either have to configure virtual box yourself or be at the mercy of a wireless network. 

Rule 2: Go with a Solid State Hard Drive

I can go into major detail why solid state hard drives are 100x better than traditional hard drives; however, I believe this video will say enough (its 3 minutes long, but its worth the time)

I recently decided to buy a 500GB Samsung 840 EVO for my laptop. I installed Windows 7 Professional and decided to see this speed first hand. 15 seconds later, Windows was up and ready to go. 

Also, using a SSD will make applications load faster like Photoshop, EMR/EHR programs and radiology viewers. 

One of the reasons Macs are so much faster is because their hard drives are SSD not HDD. Now, an SSD will be more expensive than a traditional one, but benefits outweigh the cost.

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I love Macs, but they are not the best tools in an enterprise/medical environment. They fill a specific niche and that niche isn’t the medical field. If you are willing to drop $1400 MacBook, you could buy a HP EliteBook Revolve 810 which has the same specs and doubles as a tablet.

There you have it. Finally some clear advice for a busy professional. 

The Rat Race

Happiness, Exit To Your Right...

In the past three years, I've been working in 4 different places, climbing the social ladder. One job after another was more "respectable" than the previous one, paying more. There's a price that I've been paying. My happiness. I have been miserable and it's about to pop like a nuclear pimple.

When I first jumped in the corporate world, I took a personality test. It reported that I was unambitious. It's probably true, I do not really care about climbing up the corporate ladder, working hard for the things I have little or no ambitions for.

I handed my resignation from my respectable job and will be needing a source of income. I'm calm but a little clouded in my head, so everyone else around me is panicking, my parents and wife. I have a plan, but some plans succeed, some fail. I put my trust where trust is best handed to.

Maybe readers of this blog experienced something similar?

So by mercy from Allah , [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah . Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him].

3. Surat 'Āli `Imrān (Family of Imran); 159

Managing Expectations; Personal Quarterly Earning Reports

Managing Expectations, Calvin's Way.

Life is much easier when the pressure is off your shoulders. You hear it in sport commentaries when the underdog will have a go since they don't have the must-win expectation tagged to the favorites. So, what's best when you set your budget? Under-promise. Over-deliver.

There are two personal financial statements in the quarterly personal finance report :
1. Balance Sheet which will show your net worth, whether you're increasing in wealth or becoming poorer;
2. Income Statement which is your realized monthly budget.

Companies have quarterly financial reports to release, and we should too. Our earnings announcements should be in the months of March, June, September and December where we take a picture of our financial condition for the quarter and reassess our goals. After every release comes expectation of how the company (you) position itself for the next quarter. Personal finance is pretty predictable in normal circumstances; we will get your income bi-weekly or monthly. If we set our annual goals and break it down quarterly, we should at least quarterly fulfill what is expected of ourselves. But, take a step further by outperforming on a quarterly basis in cutting our cost/expenses and constantly increasing our net worth. We should have high expectations of ourselves to perform better if things are going well economically.

Can we meet our own target performance? If we can, then it was expected. If we under-perform, investor (your) confidence lessens. If we over-deliver, it's good. Management (you) get a bonus of becoming richer due to good performance.

The awesome thing is, this can be a family event like how companies have conference calls. We can hold an earnings announcement and conference calls as a family. Children should very much know whether their parents are in debt, since debt is passed down to children.

Are you an able manager to push yourself and your family to prosperity? Of course you are, if not then who else? I guess the one expectation that you can't manage is your own. Personal finance is a must-win game.

Training Your Wealth Accumulation Muscle

Image from abqjournal.com

Spend less than earned. Accumulating wealth is easier said than done. Accumulating snow and turning it into a snowman however, never felt that difficult. We start with a handful then roll it on the ground until it gets really big. It turns out that the method to building a snowman, called the snowball method, is the most effective way to pay off debt. I am proposing that it can also be an effective way to build our wealth accumulation muscle.

The snowball method can be similarly applied to how we build wealth. We start with small wins that gets us immediately hooked to the challenge to better the previous win. It keeps going and rolling until we reach the big win.

Let's play a game!

You'd like to save $2000, that is your created imaginary debt. Split your debt unequally in amounts that you need to pay off and prepare envelopes for payments to the debt. The maximum split is 5, but let's say you have split it up into 4 different debts of $100, $400, $700 and $800 totaling to $2000. Search "average credit card interest rate" on Google, you'll have an average number for all those debts, in this article's case it's 15.6 percent.  

Now, you might be asking why maximum split of 5? Because we'll be using Bankrate's minimum payment calculator and it gives the maximum of 5. The rule is you need to pay all the cards monthly, so if you're focusing on one card with the lowest balance, you'll need to pay the other cards at minimum. Enter the debt amount, interest rate and minimum payment percentage to get your minimum amount. 

Can we fix our finances? Yes!

Can we pay off our debt? Yes!

Can we build wealth? Yes, we can!

Riba Closer To Home

The hour is truly near. Riba draws ever closer to home. There are businesses that lets you lend your money to other people and gain interest from it. Muslims, please stay away from Lendingclub, Prosper and others like it. Do not see it as an investment. Do you truly want to wage war against God?

Those who consume interest cannot stand [on the Day of Resurrection] except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity. That is because they say, "Trade is [just] like interest." But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest. So whoever has received an admonition from his Lord and desists may have what is past, and his affair rests with Allah . But whoever returns to [dealing in interest or usury] - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein.| 

Allah destroys interest and gives increase for charities. And Allah does not like every sinning disbeliever.| 

Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds and establish prayer and give zakah will have their reward with their Lord, and there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.| 

O you who have believed, fear Allah and give up what remains [due to you] of interest, if you should be believers.| 

And if you do not, then be informed of a war [against you] from Allah and His Messenger. But if you repent, you may have your principal - [thus] you do no wrong, nor are you wronged.|  

And if someone is in hardship, then [let there be] postponement until [a time of] ease. But if you give [from your right as] charity, then it is better for you, if you only knew.| 

And fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah . Then every soul will be compensated for what it earned, and they will not be treated unjustly.

2.Surat Al-Baqarah (The Cow) 275-281

Why students should open checking and savings accounts, and how to help

Why students should open checking and savings accounts...

According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve... "Having a checking and savings account is an important first step in establishing that the consumer has the financial acumen to apply for credit for a car or home. It also permits a consumer’s payroll check to be automatically deposited into a checking account, and lets the consumer arrange to have a specified amount automatically transferred to the savings account each pay period.

But, the key advantage to consumers having bank accounts is avoiding costly alternative financial services and enabling families to build and protect their wealth. Unbanked consumers spend approximately 2.5 to 3 percent of a government benefits check and between 4 percent and 5 percent of payroll check just to cash them."

Surprisingly, fringe banking services are widely used. Using my home state as an example...
•      19.3% of Ohio households are underbanked
•      8.8% of Ohio households are unbanked

How to help...

In the spring semester of 2013, I established behavioral goals for my students. Throughout the course, I sent 3-5 nudging text messages per week using remind101 to encourage students to:
• Establish a savings goal
• Establish a savings account at a bank or credit union
• Contribute regularly to the savings account to meet that goal, ideally with a direct deposit

The results were compelling, so I approached America Saves and Budget Challenge with a proposal; broaden the practice and surveys to more students in districts across the country, use the America Saves text-messaging platform and resources to deliver the service, and pinpoint teachers to use for the experiment using Budget Challenge who are already integrating financial education technology in their classrooms.

America Saves, a campaign managed by the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America, seeks to motivate, encourage, and support low- to moderate-income households to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth. The research-based campaign uses the principles of behavioral economics and social marketing to change behavior.

Budget Challenge is a simulation seeking to teach the financial behavior, knowledge, and skill needed for young people to be Real-World Ready. They combine a ‘learning by doing’ approach with modern technology to create a positive educational experience that will foster life-long financial habits and relevant skills.

Students in the control and experimental group all received some form of formal financial education instruction in the classroom, and participated in Budget Challenge. Across the control and experimental groups, teachers represented a range of content knowledge, course delivery, and district mandates.

Teachers whose students participated in the experimental group either exhibited the grit necessary to work through the administrative obstacles presented for integrating texting into a class, or taught in districts who provided the freedom to do so. For a number of reasons, the effort of control group teachers to participate varied.

Students in the experimental group received up to 4 text messages per week for 6 weeks, were required to complete the America Saves Pledge, and encouraged in class and through text messages to…
• Establish a savings goal
• Establish a savings account at a bank or credit union
• Contribute regularly to the savings account to meet that goal, ideally with a direct deposit.

Once again, the results were strong. Students who received financial education in the control group exhibited a variance of positive behavior change toward the stated goals. However, students who received nudging messages in addition to instruction received a much greater degree of behavior change.

As my friend Dan Kadlec of TIME reported in our project...

"Other organizations including the Consumer Federation of America through its America Saves campaign are also experimenting with texted advice for young people to save or budget. A growing body of research suggests such texted tips really work, and a yet-to-be-released small-scale study out of Ohio will bolster the case. This study will show that financial education leads to positive behavior change, and that when reinforced with regular text nudges teens up their money game substantially.

In the study by Brian Page, an Ohio schoolteacher and advocate for financial education, teens taking a financial literacy course raised the rate at which they identified a savings goal, opened a savings account, and deposited money in their account. The improvement accelerated among those who also got text reminders.

For example, the percentage of students who said they have a savings goal went from 64% before a money course to 69% after. In a group that also got text messages the rate went from 79% to 94%. 'In every case, financial education led to behavior change,' Page says. 'The nudging led to even more change.' Page hopes to do a more formal study on a national level."

With all of that said, what is most effective is to have a student run credit union or bank, as is the case in schools across the country.

2 Things to Master: Discomfort and Uncertainty

When alone, we tend to think of ourselves and our consciousness rises. At some point in time, inevitably, we are tempted to ask ourselves about what could happen in the future and what we could do about it.

Sometimes we are often caught with situations when we are compelled to act accordingly without knowing what to do. And playing safe or doing nothing seems to be the best thing to do. Unfortunately, not.

Unless we break out in our comfort zone, nothing seems worthwhile. We always hear about it. And it's always true. It always takes courage and guts to do something extraordinary. There is nothing worth achieving comes easy without doing something. There is no "something for nothing".

It is my goal to reach my peak potential or at least utilize 90% of my skills and talents what God has endowed me. Else I would rut full of regrets not using my full capacity. Inefficient human being - has impeccable skills and potential yet unused. I don't want to be one.

Upon introspection, I found out a bunch of things to develop for me to reach my peak potential. On a deeper thought, I came up with a simplified goal and that there are 2 things to master: Discomfort and Uncertainty.

Individuals who outshine other people whether in business, show business or sports all have one thing in common: they are masters of handling discomfort and uncertainty.

1st Thing to Master - Discomfort

What is discomfort? It is an emotion/feeling where a person feels dull, uneasy or awkward towards a situation or a stimuli. Some of the examples are men wearing 5 inches heels, talking to strangers, fear of heights, managing people with different values, starting a business and so on. Discomfort comes either physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually.

The reason why you need to be a master of discomfort is because all great things in life don't come easily. Thomas Edison failed more than a thousand experiments before he successfully invented the light bulb.

If one experiment lasts 2 hours, that translates to more than 2,000 hours of failed experiments. The discomfort - failure. Edison had mastered the discomfort of having failed many times. His determination and patience are great enough than failure.

Me however, managed the discomfort of being sleep-derived when I was in college. I came home 11:00 PM every night and studied until 12:00 AM for assignments and lessons. And it paid off. That laurel would have been not possible had I complained and escaped the discomfort of sleeping late and drowsy in school.

2nd Thing to Master - Uncertainty

Nobody knows the future yet we dread about it. Or is the future really important to be planned? No one should be afraid of the future. It will come, inevitably, and we just have to prepare. 

Uncertainty is the state of being unclear, vague or indefinite of what will happen or take place to an action or stimuli. In other words it means "no idea of what will happen."

One of the greatest fears, perhaps, is the fear of the unknown. It's like diving on the cliff without knowing the depth of the water. The uncertainty of what will happen cripples us to decide - to go or not to go, because we often think for the worst, not for the good. Thus, it all lies to mind conditioning. 

Why master uncertainty? Opportunities come once in a while. The fear of uncertainty causes indecision and paralysis, which leads to inaction. If humans always bind to uncertainty, there would have been no Apple, Facebook and Twitter.

To master uncertainty, we must have an optimistic mind and be bold enough to face the consequences of our decisions (and actions) whether good or bad.