Sanitarium

From the days of my youth, till now, MCC is my Masjid. I am a product of the MCC Sunday School; the information I learned at this institution has stuck with me over the last 14 years. The importance of this school for me went beyond just learning Islamic history or how to read Arabic; it gave me an environment to pray, relax, and have fun with people who had the same beliefs and values that I had. As a student in the American public school system, it was important that I had somewhere to feel truly like a Muslim; an environment such as that is especially important for younger children. The Masjid truly became a sanctuary for me; It gave me a feeling of satisfaction and happiness that I did not find elsewhere. There are very few things in this world that truly gives security to a man’s heart, to me it is MCC.

Growing up over the last few years, I have noticed that the younger generations know less about Islam or choose to ignore what they know and be more ‘American’. As a college student I know what temptations lie out there and how difficult it can be to fight those temptations. The only way to ensure that one remains on the correct path is by looking to Allah for refuge and guidance. I would love to be given a chance to not only teach the young students vital Islamic information, but also be given a chance to share with them stories or lessons that I have learned over the last 19 years of being a Muslim in America. The current path that society is taking is exposing children as young as 10 to things that my class was not exposed to until high school; as educators in an Islamic Institution we need to recognize and refute this with lessons from Allah and the Prophet PBUH.

In essence, I believe that the things I was taught while attending MCC Sunday School has helped make me the man I am today. I want the opportunity to share with the younger generations these same lessons and insha’Allah aid them in their path to Junnah.

RIS is a computerized database used [by radiology departments] to store, manipulate and distribute patient radiological data and imagery. The main parts of the system include: patient tracking and scheduling, result reporting and image tracking capabilities. The RIS is a compliment to HIS (Hospital Information System); both are critical to the efficient workflow of a radiology practice.
RIS has several basic functions; ranging from:
•Patient management – RIS can track a patient’s entire workflow within the radiology department; images and reports can be added to and retrieved from EMRs and viewed by the authorized radiology staff.
•Scheduling - Appointments can be made for both in and out patients upon reception of the order. RIS has the ability to place patients in allocated time slots with the proper radiology staff.
•Patient tracking - A patient’s entire radiology history can be tracked (from admission to discharge). This also includes all past, present, and future appointments.
•Results reporting – Statistical reports concerning the results of a single patient, a group of patients or a particular procedure can be generated by the RIS.
•Film tracking – Individual films can be tracked.

Additional features of RIS are important because it allows for radiology departments to be in tune with several other systems being used by other healthcare institutions as well as the hospital the radiology department may be a part of. Thanks to the help of HL7, RIS is able to communicate with it’s HIS counterpart, as well as with PACS and PACS workflows.
RIS’ initial use was in the 1970s; its original purpose was to manage and store radiology information.

Practice Management Software is a genre of software used by medical practices to aid with day-day operations. The PMS software allows practices to capture patient demographics, schedule appointments, maintain lists of insurance payers, perform billing tasks, and generate reports.

Most PMS software (in the USA) is meant for small/medium sized medical offices. PMS is often times divided into desktop-only software, client-server software, or Internet-based software.
•Desktop-only software is intended for use by a handful of users sharing access.
•Client-server software requires that offices own server equipment to run the software; so that individuals users’ workstations contain client software that accesses the server. The advantage of client-server software is that it allows multiple users to share the data and the workload.
•Internet-based software is the newer breed of PMS. IB PMS decreases the need for a practice to run its own server [and having concerns over security and reliability]. The prominent security risk of IB PMS is that patient data is removed from the practice itself.

PMS and EMR are many times linked together; much of their information overlaps (patient and provider data). The major difference between PMS and EMR lies in their main purposes. While EMR is more geared towards clinical matters, PMS is more for administrative and financial matters.

Medical Transcription is an allied health profession; which literally deals with the direct transcription of medical data from voice-recorded reports as dictated by physicians/ other healthcare professionals into text format. Since most physicians, in both hospitals and private practices, do not have a lot of time, they tend to voice-record their notes and have transcriptionists later convert them to wither electronic or physical hard copies. Most hospitals prefer electronic copies due to its ability to provide immediate access to subsequent departments or providers regarding the patient’s care. Also, the sheer volume of patients and the accompanying paperwork is becoming overwhelming.
Medical Transcriptionists can be onsite MT’s that work at the hospital, telecommuting employees for the hospital that do most of their work at home, or telecommuting employees that work as contracted MT’s that perform their work offsite from the hospital/clinic/physician group/ other healthcare provider. Some private practices also decide to directly employee a Medical Transcriptionist on site their own offices.
The job of a medical transcriptionist is ever evolving (as long as we keep churning out new and more sophisticated technologies). Today, many MT departments work closely with IS and IT staff to stream in vice and accomplish seamless data transfers through network interfaces. This also allows healthcare providers to be able to use their PDAs and PCs (desktops and laptops) to record their notes and have it immediately reach the MT department for transcription.
The process of medical transcription actually started off in the manufacturing industry. The first process was called MRP (Manufacturing Resource Planning) in 1975. This process was taken into the medical field after the transition to electric typewriters, word processors and computers. Today, Speech Recognition software is becoming overly prevalent in replacing MT’s; but Medical Transcriptionists will always be needed as editors since SR cannot be 100% correct every time. And since many physicians still use short-hand in their notes, transcriptionists that understand the language will be needed to assist the SR in interpreting the notes.

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.