(NAPSI)-One of the most frustrating experiences people have when they visit the doctor or are hospitalized is being asked to repeat their medical history over and over again every time a new person examines them. It’s a common experience but not life threatening. But what if your name was similar to another patient’s name and your charts got mixed up? What if someone simply couldn’t read your doctor’s notes?

Electronic health records (EHRs) are a promising solution for reducing medical errors and costs and improving patient safety, say health care experts.

For example, a health center called Urban Health Plan (UHP), Inc. provides much-needed health care to the underserved South Bronx neighborhood it has called home for 36 years. The clinic serves more than 37,000 patients who depend on the quality and consistency of care provided at this federally qualified health center.

“The implementation of our EHR system helped transform how we treat patients and track their outcomes,” said Paloma Hernandez, president and CEO of Urban Health Plan, Inc. “EHRs help us work toward improving the health of the communities we serve and will go a long way in aiding the elimination of health care disparities.”

Looking Into the Future

Hernandez explains that the health center has 105 patients with similar surnames. Using state-of-the-art iris recognition technology helps avoid confusion. UHP patients simply look into a lens and the correct health record is pulled up on a screen.

Financial Savings

UHP saved money by:

• Eliminating the search for misplaced paper records that could take up to 75 hours of staff time each month;

• Converting storage space for paper records to a Health and Wellness Center for use by patients and staff;

• Reducing expenses for supplies, staff and storage and related items; and

• Expanding time spent with patients and seeing 35 percent more patients.

UHP’s adoption of electronic health records in its network of clinics earned it the prestigious HIMSS Nicholas E. Davies Award of Excellence, in the community health organization category, for leadership in the implementation of electronic health record systems.

“The HIMSS Davies Award honors health care organizations that are leading the way in and improving patient care with the use of the electronic health record,” said David Collins, HIMSS Director, Healthcare Information Systems.

For more information on the HIMSS Davies Awards of Excellence, go to www.himss.org/davies or call (804) 310-0615.

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(NAPSI)-Figuring out how to pay for your child’s education does not have to be stressful or confusing. Regardless of your family’s financial circumstances, the following tips can help simplify the process.

“The key to paying for college is to take charge of the process: Investigate aid options, contact your prospective colleges’ financial aid offices for more information, and keep track of deadlines,” says Linda Bell, director of financial aid at Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, Pa. “Keep a file for each college during the search and retain the folder for the college you decide to attend until you graduate and repay your loans.”

She offers this advice:

• Start saving now. Whether your child is 6 months or 16 years old, your savings can reduce the amount you may have to borrow later, and some savings plans, like 529 plans and Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, offer tax benefits. Contact your financial adviser for more information.

• Expand your college search. Private colleges and universities value geographic diversity and often have more resources to devote to financial aid. While your local state college or university probably has lower tuition and fees, out-of-state private institutions may offer more generous financial aid packages.

• Complete the FAFSA. Regardless of your income, complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as possible after January 1. The FAFSA determines your eligibility for federal and state grants, work-study and federal college loans. Some private colleges also require the CSS/PROFILE. Check with the financial aid office.

• Apply for scholarships. You can find information about federal grants and scholarships in the Student Aid Guide on the Department of Education’s web- site (http://studentaid.ed.gov), and at your prospective college’s financial aid office. Check websites like www.fastweb.com for private scholarships, and don’t forget about scholarships that your employer or community organizations may sponsor.

• Be proactive. Keep track of the deadlines and required application materials. If you have any questions, contact the school’s financial aid office. E-mail is the best form of communication because it’s easy to keep track of. Financial aid offices and the Department of Education should be able to help you for free.

For more information, visit www.lehigh.edu/assistance.

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by Richard L. Trumka

(NAPSI)-Every night, 15 million people in this great country go to sleep hoping that tomorrow will be the day they find a job. Hundreds of thousands of employees of our states and cities wake up hoping this won’t be their last day on the job. Five million people wake up trying to save their homes from foreclosure by the big banks. And nearly 17 million children go to bed hungry. This isn’t the America I dreamed of.

It’s time for all Americans to remember that patriotism is about more than fighting abroad. It’s also about fighting for ourselves, our neighbors and our communities here in the United States. It’s time for economic patriotism. How can we be patriotic?

First, I call on every American to make a choice to be patriotic in our everyday lives. That means demanding to know which products are made in America and then choosing them. We can buy products made in countries where workers make a few pennies an hour with few if any protections on the job, or we can support products made here where our neighbors and community members make a living from what they create. It’s time we buy American and buy on Main Street. And when we do that, we’ll invest in our communities and ensure that our jobs are good jobs and our children have a thriving future.

We need policies that allow corporations to be economic patriots without being penalized. Over time, corporations made choices that put short-term profits over humanity, and the world market over American communities, and it hollowed out our great nation.

Currently, our policies favor companies that ship our good jobs overseas to countries where there are few laws in place to protect workers’ safety, their rights and the environment. We must stop rewarding outsourcing and promote manufacturing in the United States instead. Our leaders must also hold China accountable for manipulating its currency, which hurts America’s workers and creates a massive trade imbalance. We must invest in our crumbling roads, schools and bridges, which will create good jobs and create a solid foundation for the next generation. And we must elect leaders who share these goals.

Every one of us has a choice. As patriots, let’s choose the path forward to create good jobs, jobs that can’t be shipped overseas, jobs that can support a family. It’s about time to invest in the country we love.

Trumka is president of the 11.5 million?member AFL-CIO, which represents firefighters, teachers, nurses, electricians, scientists and communications workers.

Photo credit: Andre Martenez

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RALEIGH, N.C. –
An agency that accredits high schools in a North Carolina county is sending a special review team to assess recent changes in the school system.

AdvanceED said in a letter to the Wake County school district that it wants to determine whether the changes are negatively impacting the ability of schools to meet standards. The agency is asking for details about the district’s controversial proposal to move away from a diversity policy toward neighborhood schools.

The review comes in response to a complaint filed earlier this year by the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP. The NAACP has accused the school board of harboring “racist attitudes,” something board members vehemently deny.

Dr. Mark Elgart, the president and CEO of AdvancED, said the organization is in the beginning steps of its probe.

“Our primary concern is are they governing in the best interest of the students and the community and to not only look at the process they followed but the determination regarding student assignment,” Elgart said by phone.

School board majority member John Tedesco tells NBC-17 he believes

Read More:MYNC.COM

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WAKE COUNTY, N.C.
Coastal Federal Credit Union has offered a unique challenge to Habitat for Humanity of Wake County via a 1,000 Fans Campaign. The local credit union will donated a $1,000 grant to Habitat Wake’s affordable housing mission if the organization can reach 1,000 Fans on their Facebook page by the end of the year. Both organizations will promote the campaign using social media tools—status updates, e-mail newsletters, and Facebook messages asking their contacts to spread the word to their Facebook connections.

“We’re trying to share information about the need for affordable housing in every way that we can,” said Habitat Wake’s Executive Director Kevin Campbell. “Facebook gives us access to a unique and diverse audience and helps us talk to people who may not be otherwise involved in the Habitat mission.” 630 people have become “Fans” of the Habitat Wake Facebook page to date. These fans receive updates about affordable housing, home dedications, and Habitat Wake events on their own Facebook pages.

“The real hope,” said Coastal’s Joe Mecca, “is that the mission of Habitat becomes viral online, and that then translates into affordable houses for families and healthy neighborhoods in our community.”
Source:MyNC.com

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(NAPSI)-Advanced technology is enabling America’s soybean farmers to achieve higher yields to help meet growing global demand for food and energy.

This latest soybean technology–called Genuity® Roundup Ready 2 Yield®–contains a biotechnology trait that delivers higher yield opportunity than the first-generation Roundup Ready® soybean technology, which farmers have planted since the mid-1990s.

With this yield-enhancing biotechnology, farmers are discovering more three-, four- and five- bean pods per plant in their field, which can translate into more bushels per acre. Last season, these soybeans won 73 percent of head-to-head field comparisons with Roundup Ready soybeans in independent farmer trials, and many farmers reported significant increases in yield.

These next-generation soybeans were introduced on about 1.5 million acres in the Midwest during the 2009 season. In 2010, the technology was expanded in the Midwest and also launched in the South with more than 80 different varieties available to enable farmers to select the genetics best suited for their fields. And for 2011, farmers will be able to choose from more than 230 varieties in multiple brands.

To protect this high-end yield opportunity, the soybeans are offered with Acceleron™ seed treatment products, which provide improved early plant growth and vigor. The seed treatment includes a fungicide combination to provide excellent control of important seed-borne and soil-borne diseases and an insecticide to reduce damage caused by early-season insect pests.

Farmers also say they have been impressed with the technology’s performance at mid-season based on the flowering, pod fill and overall plant health they have observed–all early indicators of the opportunity for strong harvest results.

“The increase in yield has been just super-you can’t ask for anything more out of a bean,” said Midwest farmer Clark Howey. “I’ve been so impressed by how this technology has worked on my farm.”

Visit www.genuity.com to learn more.

Always read and follow grain marketing and stewardship requirements and pesticide label directions.

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DIETING HINTS Why Adding Carbs Can Help You Lose Weight

(NAPSI)-If your love of carbohydrates has been a stumbling block in every attempt you’ve ever made to diet, a new book by Ellen Kunes, editor in chief of Health magazine, and Frances Largeman-Roth, RD, senior food and nutrition editor at Health magazine, may be just what the doctor ordered. “Health The CarbLovers Diet” takes the very natural love of carbohydrates and uses it to your advantage. Instead of feeling guilty about loving pasta and bread, the diet shows you how to eat carbs and get thin. Recent studies have shown that eating the right carbs is the best way to get and stay slim. The multicenter study concluded that the slimmest people ate the most carbs in the form of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and the chubbiest people ate the fewest whole grain carbs. The diet plan in this book works by increasing your total intake of carbs and upping the percentage of a type of carb called resistant starch (RS). Research shows that this starch can help shrink fat cells, making you feel fuller and stoking your metabolism. As the recipes in the book demonstrate, this can be a very tasty and satisfying diet. The black beans in the following dish should be every dieter’s best friend. They provide plenty of resistant starch with plenty of appetite-suppressing protein. To save time, use prewashed lettuce and preshredded carrots. BLACK BEAN TACOS Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 10 minutes Makes: 2 servings 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained 6 (6-inch) corn tortillas 6 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce 1 cup shredded carrots 1/4 cup salsa 1. Microwave beans on high for 2 minutes or until heated through. 2. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tortillas, one at a time; cook 1 minute on each side. 3. Divide beans evenly among tortillas. Top with even amounts of cheese, lettuce, carrots and salsa. Calories 380; Fat 8 g (sat 5 g, mono 0.5 g, poly 1 g); Cholesterol 25 mg; Protein 18 g; Carbohydrate 67 g; Sugars 6 g; Fiber 17 g; RS (Resistant Starch) 4.7 g; Sodium 780 mg This book is published by Oxmoor House and is available where books are sold. For more information, visit CarbLovers.com. The right recipes can make dieting tastier.

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BUSINESS NEWS How To Get Help Growing Your Business

(NAPSI)-When it comes to expanding your business globally, minority-owned firms have a natural competitive advantage-and a new initiative may further improve their chances at success. The minority business community has a great advantage in the global market-due in large part to language capabilities, cultural compatibility, ancestral ties and business agility. President Obama’s National Export Initiative (or NEI) calls for doubling U.S. exports within five years. Under the NEI, there will be more credit available for exporters, more government trade promotion and a sharper focus on knocking down the barriers that prevent U.S. companies from getting free and open access to foreign markets. The goal of the NEI is to increase the number of small, medium-sized and minority-owned firms exporting to more than one market by 50 percent over the next five years. The initiative also hopes to focus attention on exporting to emerging markets, and identifying market opportunities in fast-growing sectors such as environmental goods and services, renewable energy, health care and biotechnology. More than 95 percent of the world’s consumers live outside the U.S. and one of the easiest ways to grow American minority-owned businesses is to sell products and services to people outside the border of the United States. To assist minority-owned firms in breaking into global markets, MBDA Business Centers work with a variety of partners to help create strategies for growth. To help grow your export business, MBDA recommends you: • Look at industry trends and know your position within the domestic market prior to establishing an international business strategy. • Research the global market for your products and services. • Determine the effects of exporting on your current operations. • Outline what resources you will need to successfully execute your export strategy. • Familiarize yourself with various global distribution channels. • Contact an MBDA Business Center to assist you. There are more than 45 Centers nationwide. Visit www.mbda.gov to locate a Center near you. One of the easiest ways to grow American minority-owned businesses is to sell products and services to people outside the U.S.

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(NAPSI)-When buying a car, there’s more to consider than the make and model. Price, size, gas mileage–even the way it feels behind the wheel–affect your decision. You should also weigh your options when buying auto insurance. With many brands and features and price ranges out there, it pays to do your homework.

Here are some common questions people ask Progressive when they shop for insurance:

What type of auto insurance can I choose from? There are two types of auto insurance: Liability coverage pays for damage to other vehicles or injuries to other people that you cause. Physical Damage coverage pays for damage to your vehicle. These two coverages are the foundation of your policy.

How much coverage should I buy? The state defines the minimum amount of coverage required, but after that, the amount of coverage you buy is up to you. You choose based on your comfort level, budget and lifestyle.

Some people want as much coverage as possible for all of life’s “what ifs.” Others are satisfied with bare-minimum coverage. If you have a newer vehicle, you may want more coverage to protect your investment. If you can afford higher deductibles (the amount you’ll pay out of pocket in the event of an accident), you can raise them and pay less premium.

How is my rate determined? Rates are based on a combination of pieces of information about you, your driving record and your car. It’s important for you to provide accurate information to your agent or to the insurance company. It helps determine the best options and rates for you.

Can I get a lower rate? Many insurance companies offer discounts that can help lower your rate. For example, Progressive offers discounts for good student drivers, paying your premium electronically and having more than one policy.

Some companies offer rewards for renewing your policies with them. At Progressive, the longer you stay a customer, the more benefits you gain, such as lower deductibles and accident forgiveness. Ask your agent or customer service representative about available discounts and programs.

Where should I shop for insurance? If you prefer to look on your own, begin your search online. If you want to talk to someone about insurance, contact an agent. To find an agent, visit www.progressiveagent.com.

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Tips for Inexpensive Outdoor Entertaining (329) (NewsUSA) – Celebrate the warmer days by hosting an outdoor summertime party or barbecue. It’s easy to add pizzazz to an outdoor party and stay on budget, with accessories and color. Here are some inexpensive ways to add character to your outdoor get-togethers: 1. Make it colorful. For a fast way to give your party a sense of style, color-coordinate your bowls, plates and cups in attention-grabbing colors. Dollar General stores (www.dollargeneral.com) sell plastic tableware in bright colors and patterns. These items are http://www.city5nc.com/community/modules/business/index.php enough to buy in multiples, so if you plan on hosting several parties, you can use one color per occasion, then invite guests to your “pink party” or “orange party.” 2. Pep up your decor with peppers. Add a memorable touch by serving condiments or finger foods in hollowed-out green, red and yellow peppers. Simply cut the stems, and fill the peppers with ketchup, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce or any other condiment. Depending on the peppers’ colors, you may be able to coordinate them with the rest of your tableware. 3. Create a field of dreams. Silk flowers can create a beautiful centerpiece or be used in smaller arrangements around the table. Add a whimsical touch by purchasing a variety of silk flowers and planting them upright in the ground. Use them to mark paths through the yard or to the food tables and seating areas. Silk flowers are inexpensive at stores like Dollar General and are economical enough to buy in large quantities. They’re also more durable than real flowers and can be used again and again. 4. Find unique ways to deter bugs. Certain herbs and flowers repel insects. For instance, sprigs of parsley or tansy may help keep ants at bay, while lavender or mint could drive flies away. Set up decorative bowls of herbs in various spots near the guests’ seating. A larger bowl can be the striking centerpiece of a table. Keep your food safe from unwanted company with mesh food covers.

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