New Phase of Our Life Will Begin Soon

Before the month is gone, I will be retired. After almost 28 years of working for one company, I will say goodbye. I've worked at home for this company for the past 12 1/2 years. But, before that, I've watched and helped this organization change and grow.

We have gone from index cards and microfish to paperless medical records.

We have gone from one specified person taking a needed chart to the floor to the doctor being able to pull the chart up on a computer screen.

We have gone from doctors coming into a room to physically sign their charts and to dictate their reports, to electronic signatures and recording devices on every floor of the hospital.

We have gone from 13 coders in an office coding from a foldered chart to over 75 coders coding in their jammies in front of their computer at home.

I was one of those coders. Jammies, coffee, cigs and a computer. That was my world. For over 12 years that was my world. From uploading my work every morning and hand writing all the codes and faxing it into the department, to reading an already scanned chart, coding it and hitting finalize and watching it disappear, to a computer program that supposedly codes the chart for you. Yeah...a computer program that codes the chart for you...

This, I think, is the main reason I am retiring. Coding isn't enjoyable for me anymore. Spending my evenings deleting erroneous codes and rearranging good codes is not my idea of coding. Spending my evenings trying to make a chart look as if it has been coded correctly, the way I was taught, and then being criticized because my production is down is disheartening and just plain wrong.

Maybe I should explain what "coding" is: You go into a hospital to get your knee fixed or have your gallbladder taken out, or you go to an outlying facility and have an x-ray or a mammogram or you fall and go the the emergency room. When you do that, someone has to pay for it, hopefully, your insurance. In order for your insurance to pay for it, they have to know what was done. That's coding. Putting your diagnosis and procedures that were done into ICD9 & CPT codes. Those codes tell the insurance company what was done to you and they pay your bill based on those codes. In other words...I don't code it, it doesn't get paid and the hospital turns into a parking lot.

With that said, you can see how the accuracy of coding should be paramount, right? It would seem that this is not the case anymore. This computer program that codes the charts for us, is a disaster. It's function is to pick out key words and convert them to diagnosis codes and key phrases to turn them into procedure codes. Subsequently, some of it's "coding" is beyond ridiculous. Example: lady comes in w/a headache. Her neighbor had a stroke last week and the headache scared her. Diagnosis from the program? Stroke. I could go on forever, but, I'm not going to. This is what I've become, a deleter..not a coder anymore, a deleter.

I guess I delete too slowly, because for the past 3 months, my production has been down. Since it's been 3 months and I haven't improved, I was instructed that I had to come IN to the hospital to work for 2 months or until my numbers went up.

I have been home since the last century. Never any problems before. Always got good yearly reviews and my raise. Now, because of this monstrosity called ACTUS, I'm not a good enough coder anymore. So, instead of driving 50+ miles one way 5 days a week for 2 months and going out to buy a work wardrobe (jammies aren't part of the dress code at the hospital)I put in my 2 weeks notice and I will retire early.

My daughter told me I should blog now that I'm going to be a lady of leisure..ok, this is the first.

A Story

I was just born at 11:16 pm. I saw my mom's face and she was crying. The Dr took me in a blanket while my mom rested. 
While I was the nursery, my dad watched through the glass. I was taking a bath it felt funny! My mom and dad named me a cute name!!!!
30 days after I was born, my mom got a letter from the health department saying my PKU came back abnormal, genetics said I had Alpha thalassemia which makes me look more pale. But it's not going to hurt me.
I'm 2 now and spinning is my favorite. I don't look at my mom a lot and I run fast. I explore everything and look at close details; details interest me a lot.
Water feels good on my skin and so does sand and dirt. I'm not scared of anything. I do daring things like jumping off my mom's sofa and coffee table and the tv stand. I look down when I walk and sometimes, i shut my eyes. I also run fast away from my mom. she chases me it seems as if it's a game sometimes!
I'm 3years old now my mom is worried about me because I don't talk. My birthday is coming up, so My mom made me a Dr appointment. maybe I was developing slower than other 3 yr olds. They played with me and watched me. They threw a ball at me and it was all overwhelming. I had a lot to say but nothing would come out. There were so many people there looking at me it and it made my adrenaline move fast. it scared me. A week later we were at the same place more people were looking at me and I felt scared and uncomfortable. I just ignored them and played with the door knobs and phone that was on the wall. When we left, I felt better the radio was on. I love music! A couple days later some people came to my house to see me. I just watched some tv and spun in circles a little bit.
I am 3yrs old and 1 month now. I am getting on a bus I'm scared where am I going with out my mom or dad? I was in a room with kids and bigger people. I get to play out side eat snacks and sing MUSIC!
I've been in this room almost everyday where the big people love me and the little kids try to play with me. I feel loved in this room like the love my mom and dad give me. I smile a lot and hug a lot and my mom shows excitement every time I talk or write my name!
My name is Matteo Chavez I'm almost 4 I have severe autism, so please be patient with me. Enjoy my company, and smile when you see me!
(This is my grandson, my daughter wrote this to try to see things through his eyes)

Checking In

Yeah, I know, it's been a while....Trying to get through a very cold winter here in the Boonies..We're still using that space heater and electric blankets and sweatpants and long sleeved everything to keep the heating bills down. It's still working..

Over the past year we've gotten a new pooch and a new grandchild!! And if I can remember how to do it, I will post pictures of both...

Petunia the bulldog is the new pooch..She's 15mos old. My daughter bought her and unfortunately, Petunia was born w/a dysplastic hip and at 4mos had to have the ball of her hip removed. The breeder gave my daughter a new pup and she thought that Petunia would have an easier life out here w/2 old people and a German Short-haired Pointer than w/her and her 2 kids and a German Shepherd, so.....Her name was originally Candy, but....she snorts, snores, waddles and farts, so we renamed her...She kinda reminded me of Porky Pig's girlfriend.....

Our son, Michael got married in June of 08. He was 34 at t

he time and it was his first marriage...He now has his first child! Riley Nicole Mann came into this world on July 6th of 2010!!

Still fighting the battle of the bulge....I'd lost 33lbs w/the first go-around starting out first w/low fat, then moving to low carb via recommendation from the doctor.... Gained 17lbs back, so, I did the New Years Resolution thang, and am now doing what I feel is the most sensible...I'm counting calories...I started the day after New Years and have lost 14 of those 17lbs. Hubby is doing the same thing. He started a little later and has lost 10lbs. I've got a nifty app called myfitnesspal and by entering in what I eat, it will count my calories for me. It has all kinds of foods programmed in w/their calorie counts and it's not been too hard to find what we are eating in it's data base.

I'm going to try to do better w/this blog..I promise! I'll let you know how the Battle of the Bulge is doing and will try to post more on our never-ending-excitement-all-the-time life here in the Boonies of Buckeye Lake........

Just Some Odds & Ends

I've not posted a blog for a while, so, I figured it was time.

We took a trip last week up to Millersberg, Ohio. It is the Amish area of Ohio. It's about 2hrs away from the Boonies. We went to a couple of antique shops and were disappointed at the prices...I think they kind of hike up the prices for us tourists..We did get some good Amish cooking and stopped at a cheese factory and brought some cheese home. I am always struck by the areas where the Amish live. Their homes & grounds are always immaculate. Houses painted, nothing in the yards that shouldn't be there...Just always so clean..Check out the picture of the farm...

Later on that same week my oldest grandson Patrick, came to visit for the weekend. He brought his friend Will with him. Will came from California to stay with Patrick's family for a while. He and Patrick became best friends when Patrick went to HS in California. As you can see, they took over our living room. They slept there, they played their video games there, they ate there and they wrestled like a couple of gradeschoolers there!! I thought for sure that they would watch the sun come up while they were here from staying up all night, but, I think they are both still on California time. They will come again this next weekend. Next, these next two pictures are for Kat from http://alabamakatgrandma.blogspot.com/. Just a couple of my hummingbird pictures from a couple of years ago.
Then, I was sitting outside on the front porch early one day last week. I heard a noise coming from the side yard. The next thing I knew, I saw what you see below bolt across my front yard and into the street. Luckily, I had my Blackberry outside with me and I was able to take this one picture before he went up the street and disappeared.





Finally, while my daughters have given up on their diets...I have not. It has been slow going, but to date, I have lost 17lbs.

My Favorite Time Of The Year

The dianthus is blooming (my favorite ground cover), the windows are open, grandpa is out doing his magic on the grill and the kids and grandkids are visiting more often. Two of the
grandkids are missing, though...

Patrick, our oldest grandchild, age 16, that good lookin feller on the left, in the white tee shirt, is going to high school in a suburb of Santa Barbara, California. It's a private HS and one of the best in the country. His Godfather is a teacher there, and was able to get Patrick in for free, since he is on the staff of the school. He celebrated his 16th birthday away from home and was not here for Mother's Day. School will be out soon and he will be home in a couple of weeks. I can't wait!! We miss him!!

Then, there is Aidan....poor little guy!! He tried to jump a makeshift bicycle ramp on someone elses bike, and fell from the top of the ramp on his HEAD!! Knocked him out cold! As you can see, he was pretty banged up and since his neck hurt, he had to wear a neck brace until he went to a neurosurgeon and was checked out. He spent Mother's Day in the hospital, and the next day, his mom took him and his little sister Dania to MickyDs for some nuggets!!

I'm looking forward now to the day when all 8 grandkids and all 3 kids and their spouses come out for a big cookout and bonfire...That is my goal for this summer!

Sun Is What We Need!

If we could just get a little more than 5 minutes of sun, the dogwoods would go into full bloom and we could leave the windows open for more than 1 day. It's been rainy and cool here all week with nighttime temps still in the high 40's.

But the hummingbirds are slowly but surely returning, the days are getting longer and the kids and grandkids are coming out more often.

Soon, the sun will stay out for more than 5 minutes at a time, the windows will be open for weeks at a time and the long sleeves will stay hung up until November. And maybe, just maybe, I'll get to have that bonfire!

Our New TV!!!

Our old 55in TV died a week ago today. We got our money's worth out of that old TV...We won it about 10 yrs ago at bingo. We spent $2 for 2 tickets. One was a number. That number came in and was put into a bowl with 19 other numbers and ours is the one that was pulled for the TV.

Today we spent $680. for the 37in TV you see above. Even though this TV is much smaller than the one we had, you can't notice any difference in the size. The picture is soooo much brighter and clearer, that the fact that it is smaller than the other makes no difference at all! I LOVE IT!!