It's been a good week so far. Work has been busy but that's good. I was getting too chubby so I've been doing more cardio workouts as well as my usual ab workout. I've also been trying to cut way back on the sugars. This is not an easy thing to do, as I love my sweets. I quit coffee (again) and have had no more of my wonderful Chai Tea's this week.
We've got our Fill Plant up and running (what we use to fill our own tanks). Wow, what a time and money saver. It's going to be a great thing.
I'm going to Holbrook today to watch my 10 year old run in his last cross country race. He's been doing very well. So far he's consistently in the top 3 of his school and the top ten and all his races. He's really impressed me this year. Not only with running but with his work ethic at school as well. He's usually got about 2 hours of homework every night and he just sits down and busts it all out. Way more motivation than I ever had at 10 years old.
I saw a horrible tragedy on the news yesterday. Two teenage brothers were killed on their way to school. They were driving an estimated 90mph in a small volkswagon when they broadsided a school bus. I think we all take the smallest of moments for granted. Last night at the dinner table, I was thankful to have my wife and 3 boys sitting at the same table. I could only think of the pain the family of those two teenage boys was going through as we sat there laughing while we ate. Cherish every moment. It's something we all need to remember daily.
I better get some work done. Hope you have a wonderful day.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Is Fall Here??
What a gorgeous morning. I left for the office about 6am this morning and it was 37 degrees!! The steam was coming off of the lakes as I journeyed along the main road to the office. The sprinklers from the local resorts were spraying mist into the sky and the sun was just coming up. What a beautiful place we live in.
Were heading down to Phoenix today (where it's supposed to hit 100 degrees) for the Mercy Me concert and a D-Back game. To be honest, I'm not looking to forward to the game, but cant wait for the concert. So many of the Mercy Me songs go right to the heart. Here's one of my favorites, Word of God Speak. How often we take for granted a God that is so loving and forgiving. Lord only knows I don't deserve such attention.
We hope to be doing our first oxygen fill today. Oh my gosh what a nightmare it's been. I've never saw so much paper work. The consider oxygen a medical drug so we are monitored heavily by the FDA. Everything has to be calibrated and documented. When the government cuts our Medicare payments (which they've done for the last 2 years) I don't think they realize the work involve to adequately provide a patient everything they need to live a normal quality of life. I'm sure if the members of the house and senate had parents on a fixed income they may show a little more compassion.
We'll that's my rambling for today. Hope you have a wonderful Friday.
Were heading down to Phoenix today (where it's supposed to hit 100 degrees) for the Mercy Me concert and a D-Back game. To be honest, I'm not looking to forward to the game, but cant wait for the concert. So many of the Mercy Me songs go right to the heart. Here's one of my favorites, Word of God Speak. How often we take for granted a God that is so loving and forgiving. Lord only knows I don't deserve such attention.
We hope to be doing our first oxygen fill today. Oh my gosh what a nightmare it's been. I've never saw so much paper work. The consider oxygen a medical drug so we are monitored heavily by the FDA. Everything has to be calibrated and documented. When the government cuts our Medicare payments (which they've done for the last 2 years) I don't think they realize the work involve to adequately provide a patient everything they need to live a normal quality of life. I'm sure if the members of the house and senate had parents on a fixed income they may show a little more compassion.
We'll that's my rambling for today. Hope you have a wonderful Friday.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Good Weekend
It was a good weekend. I was on call on Saturday and had one Oxygen set up. The patient was such a sweet heart. It's people like this that make your weekends on call worth it.
We're going to start filling our own oxygen tanks this week. This is going to be huge for us. For the last few years, we've had to schedule a trip to Phoenix about once a week. With accreditation and everything else going on, it's been quite the battle trying to get all our ducks in a row. When a company fills their own tanks, there's a tedious process of paper work you have to go through to become certified by the FDA. We have found that working with the federal government is a slow and painful process. In the end it will all be worth it. More convenient for us and better service for our patients.
On another note, we had thought we were losing our office manager. She is not only a very valuable member of our team here, but I can't imagine working in the office without her. She's got a one year old little boy that up until recently it had been fine that he came to the office everyday. As he's gotten bigger, he's grown a little tired of the place (understandably). I think it's difficult for any mother to have to take their first born to a daycare. Two weeks ago, she had told me that we should probably start looking for someone else. So we did. We actually found someone, but right now nobody is going to compare.
Last Thursday she came to me (with tears) and said she was worried she had made a mistake. She loves her job and she knows she's very good at it. So we came up with something that would hopefully work for everyone. She'll bring her little boy in the mornings so that he can nap here at the office. After his nap, he'll go to a local day care for the afternoon. I'm also giving her Wednesdays off if she wants.
When I started this place, I wanted it to be family oriented. We all have kids and I think it's important that family comes first. So far no one seems to abuse the privledge. We've got a group of people here and I want to keep it that way.
Anyway, it's Monday so I better get back to work. Have a Great Day.
We're going to start filling our own oxygen tanks this week. This is going to be huge for us. For the last few years, we've had to schedule a trip to Phoenix about once a week. With accreditation and everything else going on, it's been quite the battle trying to get all our ducks in a row. When a company fills their own tanks, there's a tedious process of paper work you have to go through to become certified by the FDA. We have found that working with the federal government is a slow and painful process. In the end it will all be worth it. More convenient for us and better service for our patients.
On another note, we had thought we were losing our office manager. She is not only a very valuable member of our team here, but I can't imagine working in the office without her. She's got a one year old little boy that up until recently it had been fine that he came to the office everyday. As he's gotten bigger, he's grown a little tired of the place (understandably). I think it's difficult for any mother to have to take their first born to a daycare. Two weeks ago, she had told me that we should probably start looking for someone else. So we did. We actually found someone, but right now nobody is going to compare.
Last Thursday she came to me (with tears) and said she was worried she had made a mistake. She loves her job and she knows she's very good at it. So we came up with something that would hopefully work for everyone. She'll bring her little boy in the mornings so that he can nap here at the office. After his nap, he'll go to a local day care for the afternoon. I'm also giving her Wednesdays off if she wants.
When I started this place, I wanted it to be family oriented. We all have kids and I think it's important that family comes first. So far no one seems to abuse the privledge. We've got a group of people here and I want to keep it that way.
Anyway, it's Monday so I better get back to work. Have a Great Day.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Immmm Baaccckkk
After taking a small hiatus from the net, I'm back. I've got quite a bit of things to catch up on. It's been a year of learning more about myself and doing my best to understand others.
I'll separate all the story's with different blog subtitles but I'll give the gist of it here.
In November, we were blessed with the birth of our 3rd (and final) little boy. Keevan Russell was born on Thanksgiving Day at 9:29 in the morning. He truly is a wonderful little boy. Most of the time he is all smiles. Our older two boys were just the opposite. When they were awake, they were usually throwing some sort of fit. Thank God they finally grew out of that stage. Keevan usually only wakes up once throughout the night and when he does wake up, he's usually cheerful and happy. He is truly a pleasure to come home too.
One of the biggest blessings for the year so far was the ability of my wife and I to seriously work on our marriage. I'll leave the details for a later post, but all I can say is that marriage truly takes the work of two people. Two people giving 100% to each other. At the beginning of 2009, i wasn't so sure if that was possible. I'm so glad and thankful that it's all worked out for the best.
As far as stress and work are concerned, running the business hit an all time high level of stress this year. Starting in 2009, Medicare required all DME companies to begin the accreditation process. If a company wants to keep their billing privileges, they must be accreditated by September of 2009.
Preparing for Accreditation became the focus of most of our work. Everyday for about 6 months, my staff poured through policy and procedures making sure we were compliant in all areas.
Once the policy and procedures are complete, then comes the surprise inspection/survey. We all knew that sometime between February 1 and September 1, we would be greeted by an accreditation surveyor.
It's this persons job to go through your company and find things that need to be improved on. My staff and I were all walking on eggshells just waiting for the surveyor to walk throught the door. Finally our day came in April.
I was a nervous wreck. We had all worked so hard to be compliant in all areas. They went through our charts, all of the products that we carry, the policies which we had worked so hard to develop and the procedures we follow to stay in line with those written policies.
Employee performance was very impressive. Everyone had a job to do and they each did their assigned jobs perfectly. The hard work and the stress paid off. One month later, our Certificate of Accreditation arrived via mail. Wow!! We had done it. The following day, you could sense the peace and relaxation in the air.
It's now time for us to get back to running the business. Our patients were taken care of but, those that send us the patients haven't seen us for a while. It's time for me to get my butt in gear and start visiting and thanking those that send us the work.
So for now, I'm going to sign off and get work. Hope you have a great day.
Thanks
I'll separate all the story's with different blog subtitles but I'll give the gist of it here.
In November, we were blessed with the birth of our 3rd (and final) little boy. Keevan Russell was born on Thanksgiving Day at 9:29 in the morning. He truly is a wonderful little boy. Most of the time he is all smiles. Our older two boys were just the opposite. When they were awake, they were usually throwing some sort of fit. Thank God they finally grew out of that stage. Keevan usually only wakes up once throughout the night and when he does wake up, he's usually cheerful and happy. He is truly a pleasure to come home too.
One of the biggest blessings for the year so far was the ability of my wife and I to seriously work on our marriage. I'll leave the details for a later post, but all I can say is that marriage truly takes the work of two people. Two people giving 100% to each other. At the beginning of 2009, i wasn't so sure if that was possible. I'm so glad and thankful that it's all worked out for the best.
As far as stress and work are concerned, running the business hit an all time high level of stress this year. Starting in 2009, Medicare required all DME companies to begin the accreditation process. If a company wants to keep their billing privileges, they must be accreditated by September of 2009.
Preparing for Accreditation became the focus of most of our work. Everyday for about 6 months, my staff poured through policy and procedures making sure we were compliant in all areas.
Once the policy and procedures are complete, then comes the surprise inspection/survey. We all knew that sometime between February 1 and September 1, we would be greeted by an accreditation surveyor.
It's this persons job to go through your company and find things that need to be improved on. My staff and I were all walking on eggshells just waiting for the surveyor to walk throught the door. Finally our day came in April.
I was a nervous wreck. We had all worked so hard to be compliant in all areas. They went through our charts, all of the products that we carry, the policies which we had worked so hard to develop and the procedures we follow to stay in line with those written policies.
Employee performance was very impressive. Everyone had a job to do and they each did their assigned jobs perfectly. The hard work and the stress paid off. One month later, our Certificate of Accreditation arrived via mail. Wow!! We had done it. The following day, you could sense the peace and relaxation in the air.
It's now time for us to get back to running the business. Our patients were taken care of but, those that send us the patients haven't seen us for a while. It's time for me to get my butt in gear and start visiting and thanking those that send us the work.
So for now, I'm going to sign off and get work. Hope you have a great day.
Thanks
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