Sanitarium

What is it? BCMA is a barcode system used to prevent errors in medication prescription

What does it do? Reduces errors in the distribution of prescription medications at hospitals, by making sure that the patients are receiving the correct medications.

Who uses it? It is currently used by few general hospitals. Its initial implementation was by the Veteran Medical Center in Topeka Texas. Between the years of 1999-2001, the Department of Veteran Affairs promoted the system to over 161 of their facilities. It is difficult for all hospitals to suddenly change to this system due to its complication and expensive nature. This system consists of a barcode reader, a portable computer (with WiFi), a computer server, and software.

How does it work? When patients are prescribed medication, the nurse has to first scan the barcode on the wristband of the patient and then the barcode on the medication. The laptop should show both barcodes as a match. Not only this, but the barcodes hold all the vital information about the patient and his medication; this information is referred to as the “Five Rights”:
a. The right patient
b. The right medication
c. At the right time
d. At the right does
e. By the right route

Why is it important? This innovative system is important because it drastically reduces the number of human errors in hospitals.

Any other important information? Bar Coded Medication Administration is a system implemented by few hospitals and a large amount number of Veteran Medical Centers. The system consists of a barcode scanner, a laptop with WiFi, a computer server and special software. The information supplied by the system is referred to as the “Five Rights”. The five rights verify that the nurse is giving the right patient the right medicine, at the right time with the right dosage, by the right route (pill, IV, etc.). The purpose of implementing this system was to reduce the overall percentage of human error in the dosing of prescription medication.

PACS is a combination of hardware and software dedicated to the short and long term storage, retrieval, management, distribution and presentation of images. The biggest consumers of PACS are hospitals. PACS main purpose is to replace hard film copies with digital images that can be used and seen by several different medical professionals and different medical automation systems simultaneously.

The system’s server contains the image database. The clients connect to the server through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN). PACS are now beginning to include web-based interfaces so that clients can connect remotely over a virtual private network (VPN) or secure Web site (HTTPS). Remote access makes it easier and more convenient for several different practitioners to view the same information simultaneously. PACS also makes it easier for radiologists to manage patient exam workflow.

PACS has four major components:

Imaging systems, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed axial tomography (CAT scan) equipment.
A secure network for distribution and exchange of patient information.
Workstations for viewing, processing and interpreting images.
Archives for storage and retrieval of images and related documentation and reports.
The increasing adoption of healthcare information technology (HIT) is stimulating the market for PACS. Global Data forecast that the United States PACS market will grow from $1 billion in 2008 to $2.5 billion in 2015.

Written and edited by Imran Shah and Margaret Rouse

http://searchhealthit.techtarget.com/definition/picture-archiving-and-communication-system-PACS

Napster was a free application that was used to share files through the internet. Its technology allowed for participants to share their music with others without any attention to copyright violation laws. Napster was up and running online from June of 1999 to July of 2001. In the short span of two years, it went through countless obstacles and was eventually shut down through court order. Napster’s inattention and carelessness towards the United States copyright violation laws led to their ultimate demise through the legal system (BusinessWeek).
The service was created by a student at Northeastern University by the name of Shawn Fanning. He and another student, Sean Parker, began Napster because they wanted an easier method of finding music; other than spending hours searching through IRC and Lycos. (Lycos was an entertainment search engine; like Google, only specialized). What Fanning and Parker had not taken into consideration was the fact that their application was going to cheat many artists out of their rightfully deserved money. This misstep in the applications development is what led to the eventual demise of Napster.
File-sharing as a system itself is not illegal; but the sharing of files without regard to copyright violation laws is illegal. In the beginning, back in 1999, many people who had previously purchased the artists’ work on LP or cassette merely used it as a method to obtain a digital copy of the music. This was seemingly justifiable reason to use the service that Napster provided. But as Napster’s popularity grew, people (mostly younger college students) began to use the service to obtain the music for free; without paying any royalties in exchange for the artists’ hard work. This led to people creating their own compilations on CD’s and selling them as bootleg copies for their own profit. At this point is when the legal issues really became clear (BusinessWeek).
In 2000, heavy metal band Metallica noticed that their unreleased recording of a song called “I Disappear” that was meant for the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack had leaked onto the internet and was therefore acquired by several hundred thousand users without Metallica receiving any payment in exchange. But it was not only that one particular song; they noticed that their album sales seemed to be falling because people decided to download the rest of Metallica’s catalog for free from distributers who had no right to distribute it. Metallica then proceeded to file a lawsuit against Napster (Jones). About a month later, rapper and producer Dr. Dre also filed a similar suit against Napster after his written requests to be removed from Napster’s database went ignored (Reuters). Separately both Metallica and Dr. Dre logged and delivered thousands of usernames to Napster who were believed to have pirated material from the two artists. About a year later, Napster settled the suits with Metallica and Dr. Dre (each artist was getting heat about “selling out” by turning to the legal system). By this time, Napster had already been shut down by the Ninth Circuit Court fin response to a third suit filed by Madonna (Borland). Madonna, who had originally wanted to sign on as a partner with Napster, seemed to have lost her enthusiasm when she became aware that her single “Music” has leaked out and was available before she officially released it. In accordance with the three previous lawsuits filed by Metallica, Dr. Dre, and Madonna; the record companies themselves began to sue Napster for its illegal services. The music industry made the following claims against Napster: 1) The users were directly infringing on the plaintiff’s copyright; 2) Napster was liable for contributory infringement of the plaintiff’s copyright; and 3) Napster was liable for vicarious infringement of the plaintiff’s copyright. Although through appeal, Napster was given the conditional allotment to remain active, they were unable to do so and shut down in July of 2001.
Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing itself is not illegal, but when users are sharing material that they have no right to distribute, it becomes illegal. Newer P2P software such as Limewire learned from the Napster controversy and now have disclaimers when they are downloaded that state that it is illegal to download copyrighted material and any download of this material is at user’s risk. Therefore they have rid themselves of any blame and only the user is responsible for what they download. Personally, I believe that the easiest way to avoid legal problems with copyright issues is to just buy the album or download the song, video, etc from a licensed distributor. Not to put down the law, but there are enough loopholes that people are willing to find and exploit. For almost anything that people want to do, there is a legal way to do it; if there is not, then the deed should probably not be done anyway.

Works Cited
“Napster’s High and Low Notes” 2000 BusinessWeek.com
< http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_33/b3694003.htm>
“Unreleased Madonna Single Slips On To Net” 2000 CNET News.com
< http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-241341.html>
Copyright and Peer-To-Peer Music File Sharing: The Napster Case and the Argument Against Legislative Reform, 2004 Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law
<http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v11n1/douglas111.html>
“Dr. Dre Raps Napster” 2000 Wired.com
< http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2000/04/35749>
“Metallica Rips Napster” 2007 Wired.com
< http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2000/04/35670>

“All pain is a punishment, and every punishment is inflicted for love as much as for justice.” Joseph De Maistre was a lawyer, diplomat, writer, and philosopher in France after the Revolution. De Maistre believes that the punishment that a person receives for his wrong doings are not only for justice, but to show that the society cares enough to acknowledge the crime and put forth an effort to avoid the repetition of the act in the future. If a civilization is to flourish, it must have a system in place to discourage any transgressions of the law. Laws are put in place to keep the society healthy and alive; when those laws are broken, the society is hurting only itself. A society of people is analogous to a rocking band; when all the members work in harmony, nothing but beautiful music is created, but if one member does not perform as expected, the sound of the entire band is corrupted. In other words, punishment can be considered as method of rehabilitation in hopes (in many cases, only a fool’s hope) that the wrongdoer will learn from his/her mistakes and grow as a person. Punishment is to a society as a hammer is to a nail. When the nail comes loose, everything begins to fall apart, but the hammer is there to put it back into place and keep the integrity of the structure.
Throughout the world, countries have different views of what punishment is. Some believe in preserving the dignity of the criminal; while others proceed with the simple intention of letting the criminal know that their actions will not be tolerated. The latter course of action usually consists of the criminal being put through physical pain; ranging from a beating, a severed limb, or death by stoning, beheading, etc. Though this sort of corporal punishment is rare during the present day, it is still very much a part of judicial systems in many countries. They kept this system for the simple reason that it seems to be working. According to NationMaster.com, a country that no longer uses corporal punishment, such as the United States of America, has a significantly higher crime rate per capita than a country which still implements a corporal punishment system, such as Malaysia (US DOS). One reason for this might be that in countries such as the USA, some people may not find incarceration to be punishment enough and fail to rehabilitate themselves and continue to act out against the laws that society has set forth; but on the other hand, a thief in Malaysia that has lost their hand as a payment for their crimes is almost one-hundred percent less likely to steal with the other hand (because I’m pretty sure he would like to have at least one hand available for everyday tasks).
Personally I do not believe that I would enjoy either form of punishment: losing my hand or being locked up; therefore my simple advice would be: follow the law. Even though not all people agree with every law that a government may pass, it is important to go about showing disagreement in a legal, positive way. By simply breaking a law that a person does not agree with, the person is saying no more than the fact that they could simply care less about the well being of themselves and the communities around them. Carelessness does not show a legit disagreement or motivation to change a law. The laws that are placed before us are done so after careful deliberation among people that know what may best serve a society (or so we hope). The laws go through careful consideration for years at a time; which is why there are even laws that state proper ways to appeal disagreements. Simply put: laws are made to keep order, once that order has been broken, drastic measures are required to fix the damage and to ensure avoidance of further destruction.

Works Cited
Crime Statistics> Total crimes (per capita) by country, NationMaster.com
, http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_tot_cri_percap-crime-total-crimes-per-capita>
2008 Human Rights Report: Malaysia, US Department of State 2009
< http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/eap/119046.htm>

“Culture clash is terrific drama.” Ken Follett is a renowned British author; many of his books have ideas of culture clash present. But the clashes of cultures bring more than just drama; they allow us to compare different lifestyles and open our minds to growth. This clash does not have to be strictly between two totally different cultures. There can just as easily be a clash between the generations; sometimes referred to as “Old School vs. New School”. The schools mentioned here are referring to the evolutions in thought processes and lifestyles of one generation to the next. Though people still migrate to different lands, they seem more open to accepting and understanding and adopting the culture of where they are; as well as bringing their own knowledge, beliefs, and values. But the bigger concern in culture clash at this point in time seems to be more of the generational collide: between mother and daughter, grandfather and grandson, etc.
To provide a personal experience with foreign culture, there is no need to think of a time where I was in an unfamiliar land; the land beyond the front gates of The Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring can, at times, be just as foreign. In the grand halls of the mosque the speakers vibrate with the words of God, yet ten feet away the joyous voices of children laughing and playing warm the heart. But what happens when the prayer is over? All the old ‘uncles’ and ‘aunties’ run out and begin to yell, scream in rough, arrogant, unloving voices. The sounds that were of once joy and delight, are now transformed into cries of pain and distress. Why? With such bliss are the words of God recited; but does God not enjoy the laughter of the children that He so dearly created? Then why do those same lovers of God deafen the giggles of the children?
The youth of those ‘uncles’ and ‘aunties’ were in many ways different than those of our own. They were taught that the mosque is a place for worship and nothing more; they were forced to spend hours there just reading and praying, nothing else was allowed. Now they wish to impress those same ideas upon the youth of today; when in fact the mosque is actually supposed to be a place of community and togetherness. The activities are not what make the togetherness, actually being there does. The youth now want to go to the mosque to ‘chill’ with their homies. Whether they are praying, playing football, or just sitting around eating; the point is that the youth are at the mosque. The elders of the community seem to miss that fact and only scrutinize them. Though all the people, the elders and the youth, may be from the same country/region, with similar cultural identities, the ways that their minds have adapted to the forever evolving culture is quite different.
Of course, “proper” mosque behavior is not the only difference in the Old School vs. New School battle. Even small things whose roots are one-hundred percent cultural are thought of in totally different manners by the youth of the 1950s and the youth of today. Back in India where my grandfather grew up, body language was a HUGE deal. Placement of hands, feet, the arc in their backs, etc. all had certain implications. Now a days I can speak to my teacher with my hands in my pocket, no problem, but 60 years ago in India my grandfather could not talk to his own father with his hands in his pocket. I realize that 60 years ago in India is going to be very different than now in America; but the point is that those who did grow up 60 years ago in India and have migrated to America, still believe that those little things have the same meaning today, in a totally different world as they did 60 years ago in a third world country.
Even though many of the Old School beliefs may be outdated by today’s standards, there is much that can be learned from it. After all, it is the basis for our own culture. Every new culture is a step on the previous one; culture is a forever adapting creature that continues to change and develop until new generations stop coming. One of the most amazing things about this ongoing adaption process is that there is no set time interval for it to follow; looking back after graduating high school, members of my graduating class looked with disgust at the behavior of some of the younger classes; we wondered how they could ever think that their actions are acceptable? Cultural adapts to our lifestyle, yet our lifestyle stems from the culture we live in; it is a never ending cycle of adaption.
Many times, cultural change can be so drastic that at times, it is hard to know what is appropriate. This is where many people make mistakes that may offend someone of a different culture or an older generation. When I was about 11 years old, I visited the country where my parents were born, Pakistan. Their daily life was very much different than what I was used to living here in the United States. When we would go and visit the houses of our relatives, they always offered us snacks, if not an entire meal. What I was unaware of was the fact that no matter how much I had already eaten that day, never was I to refuse their kindness. If someone comes to visit their house and leaves without eating, they seem to take it as a personal insult. I was so used to just saying “Nah, I’m not hungry. But thanks.” In Pakistan, that is not how it works. Another example is that of shopping. In most other countries around the world, the consumer bargains with the seller when buying a product. Usually the seller starts out with a high price and slowly, it is negotiated down to a much more reasonable price. This I learned the hard way; I got ripped off time and time again, before I finally noticed what other shoppers were doing. Subtle lifestyle changes amount for a lot when we are out of our own comfort zones.
With the above given examples, it would be a fair statement to say that the cultural challenges that Mortenson faces are quite different. Unlike me, Mortenson was going diving into a culture he had virtually no knowledge about; his own culture differed in great detail. In my case it was simple mistakes that I did not realize I was making. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mortenson dealt with several challenges that he did not expect. When he first began his mission of building schools for the young children, he went in with the mindset of how helpful he was going to be and what a great thing it would be for the village. I am in no way saying that his thoughts were selfish, but let’s face it, when we do good things for other people it does make us feel better. And usually, not always, the person who is financing the project and is in charge believes that the way they are doing it is the correct way to do it; but what Mortenson did not realize was that as great of an effort as this undertaking was, the village had its own ideas of how they wanted it done. This was one of the difficulties Mortenson had to go through; adjusting his plans to suit the needs of those he is attempting to assist. Of all the things he had to deal with while in Southeast Asia, I feel like his biggest battle was during his captivity with the terrorists. Even though being captured by terrorists doesn’t count as a real “foreign culture experience”, but the fact that it was in a foreign land and the terrorists were of a different cultural background, the imprisonment had implications of what values are held in high regard in that culture. Overall, I feel like his entire trip was a huge lesson in diversity; filled with difficulties and challenges, yet in the end resulting in an open mind and an open heart.
I enjoyed reading about the great humanitarian undertaking of this generous man. He came across the village on a hike up Mt. K2; he had lost his way and the villagers had helped him and nursed him back to health. His efforts to educate the children of the village were in turn his show of gratitude to the people of the village. Mortenson is a good man and I am glad that he decided to publish this book; it is a good resource for others that wish to aid in the betterment of mankind. I personally believe that all people, especially those who are physically and financially stable, have a responsibility to do their best to help those who cannot help themselves. Mortenson has supplied the world with a great example of gratitude and generosity; and it deserves to be repeated.
Good luck to Mr. Mortenson on any of his future endevours.