Today we are being blasted with yet another snow storm. I have lost count. In celebration of winter’s last hoorah, I thought I would use a picture that I took the afternoon of December 12th, 2008. It was just after the worst ice storm I have ever encountered that left us without power for more than a week. The photo shows how beautiful disastrous weather can be and how contrary it is, beautiful sun light making trees covered with ice glisten and yet caused so many limbs to topple and fall. Our thoughts of springtime are all the more treasured after the cold and death winter brings.
Chargemaster
congress.org
trif.com
Welcome to News from trif.com! First time readers, I am glad you're here! Returning readers, welcome back!
Greetings. Welcome to our Newsletter! We wanted to share the many photos we have taken of places, people and things throughout the country and beyond. Each month, our headline photo will be something new and different. The caption will present a small explanation. We hope you enjoy. We do not want to waste your time. Articles will contain generally less than 250 words. Please have a look and give us your feedback. By all means, forward to a friend using the link at the bottom of the Newsletter. Thanks. Questions? Send me an email!
TRIF.COM
Technology Resources
Technology solutions are a part of doing business just like sales and marketing, It is an important component in servicing customers, managing costs and controlling operations. TRI has an uncanny ability to find affordable technology solutions for a wide variety of situations. Our capabilities bridge database design and development, Internet web-based programs, hosting and co-location services, network and computer sales and support, document imaging, bar code scanning, corporate communications, fax and email programs, mobile applications, cloud computing and help desk services. Interested in taking a step forward with technology? Looking to take advantage of the latest advances? Or just want to take advantage of your new computer?
Give us a call to discuss where you want to go - 978-422-7770 or email rmj@trif.com to discuss your opportunities. The first consultation is always without charge.
Charge-master
I subscribe to the Sand Diego Free Press which usually makes me angry. But I thought I would share a recent piece that really produced some steam.
Every hospital has what's known as a Charge-master. A Charge master is a listing of every single procedure that a hospital can provide to its patients. Hospitals have Charge-masters because it helps to make the process of charge capture and billing move smoother. Charge-masters have more than procedures on them. Pharmaceuticals, supply charges, and even some room charges are on Charge-masters.
As reported in the San Diego Free Press: “Hospitals charge their customers, er, patients, through the nose for simple products which anyone can purchase at WalMart for a fraction of the amount. Suffice it to say that for anything consumable, there will be a Charge-master billing item.
The following outlandish charges are referenced in a Time article, Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us, by Steven Brill.
Like, for example, gauze pads. Following a patient’s diagnosis of lung cancer, he was charged $308.00 for four boxes of sterile gauze pads each containing twenty-four 4 inch by 4 inch dressings, which can be bought over the counter at Walgreen’s for $3.99 a box. These were tacked onto his $348,000.00 bill. Another patient was charged $18.00 each for Accu-Chek diabetes test strips. Amazon sells boxes of 50 for about $27.00 or 55 cents each. For the price of one Lipitor pill in the US you can buy three in Argentina. One hospital charged $1.50 for one 325-mg acetaminophen tablet. You can buy 100 tablets on Amazon for $1.49. That’s a 10,000% markup.”
All this over-charging is a perfect application for a database. Yet when unsupervised and unchecked, it becomes a serious problem that needs to be solved.
CONGRESS.ORG
Communicating with your representatives is a fairly easy task when you use congress.org. Email your congressman or senator whenever you wish by using this online advocacy tool. If you subscribe to Megavote through Congress.org, you will receive the latest votes and how your representatives voted. Using these online tools you can, for example, email Elizabeth Warren using this e-mail link.
Congress.org is powered by an online tool enabling advocacy groups to get their message out and create support from the masses. Capwiz is also used by libraries, PTA groups, lobbying groups like beef, dentists and the ALCU. Lookup capwiz.com on Google and will see an array of customers that use capwiz.com.
I wonder how congress really reacts to email campaigns built with this kind of tool. It is quite possible that they are filtered and sorted automatically by topic. If I was a congressman, I certainly would. And what weight would you give 1000 of these as compared to a hand-written letter? It remains to be seen.
Trif.com has a new face. We have finally given our web presence a new look and feel. It is softer and more organized. Easier to the eyes, easier to navigate and quite a bit more content. Because our site is content driven, we chose a new 
tool to publish and host. We are using Wordpress. We have used Wordpress since 2009 for our blog, but we decided to use it for our site as well. Wordpress is an Internet based content management system (CMS) which is free to use, but not free to host.
One of the strongest reasons we shifted to Wordpress is because we didn't need to be in the office at a high-powered work station to edit and publish. In fact, there is an iPad App for Wordpress that has really come of age. Everything I can do on my desktop at the office can be done using my iPad. I can manage pages, adjust menus, upload media and documents and add social media.
We are using more and more of our own art and photos for the web site having developed a library of more than 53,000 photos which grows continually. Using more personal content and media is very intentional and goes hand in hand with one of our core principals; business is personal.
For more on our core principals, see our mission page. Or read our blog article Core Values from 2010.
We hope you like the new look. Let us know. Email us at info@trif.com.
If any of the information here is of interest to you, please drop us a note. If you would like to see specific information on technology issues that affect you and your business, please let us know.
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