Valley Wide Health Services, Inc. FY 93/94 Marketing Plan Development

This culminating project develops a marketing plan for a Community and Migrant Health Center in southern Colorado. The need for marketing plans for large multi-specialty group practices is becoming more and more evident. Increased competition for patients and the anticipated national and state health care reform suggests that the provision of physician services will continue to become more competitive in the future. Community and Migrant Health Centers have not traditionally had to compete for patients. They have occupied a special niche in most markets, they were created to provide services to the medically underserved, and they very often are the only provider of service that the poor can access. Valley-Wide Health Services, Inc. of Alamosa, Colorado is unique in the Community Health Center field. With a budget of over 6.5 million dollars per year, it is one of the largest employers in the San Luis Valley. It is the second largest CHC in the state of Colorado and provides health care to over 16,000 individuals each year. The purpose of the project is to develop a marketing plan to assist Valley-Wide in efforts to remain financially viable into what appears to be a potentially volatile future. The only competitor in the region is making a multimillion dollar investment in a new facility and technology. The state medicaid department is being mandated to force medicaid recipients into a managed care program. This group now represents over thirty per cent (30%) of Valley-Wide\u27s cash each year. With state and national health plans being planned in the future, Valley-Wide must take actions that strategically protect its\u27 current market share and provide continued growth. The plan that has been developed from this project has been implemented in part as of this date in 1994. The acceptance of a marketing plan into the business operations of the organization will assist in negotiation of the turbulent times that may lay ahead for all primary care health care providers

Status of superpressure balloon technology in the United States

Superpressure mylar balloon technology in United States - applications, balloon size criteria, and possible improvement

Measurement of Three-dimensional Density Distributions by Holographic Interferometry and Computer Tomography

The use of holographic interferometry to measure two and threedimensional flows and the interpretation of multiple-view interferograms with computer tomography are discussed. Computational techniques developed for tomography are reviewed. Current research topics are outlined including the development of an automated fringe readout system, optimum reconstruction procedures for when an opaque test model is present in the field, and interferometry and tomography with strongly refracting fields and shocks

Modular digital holographic fringe data processing system

A software architecture suitable for reducing holographic fringe data into useful engineering data is developed and tested. The results, along with a detailed description of the proposed architecture for a Modular Digital Fringe Analysis System, are presented

Holographic interferometry of transparent media with reflection from imbedded test objects

In applying holographic interferometry, opaque objects blocking a portion of the optical beam used to form the interferogram give rise to incomplete data for standard computer tomography algorithms. An experimental technique for circumventing the problem of data blocked by opaque objects is presented. The missing data are completed by forming an interferogram using light backscattered from the opaque object, which is assumed to be diffuse. The problem of fringe localization is considered

"Would It Might Rain, Now!": The Quail Rattle, A Walapai Fetish

For many Native Americans, Thanksgiving is an odd holiday celebrating Pilgrim survivals and nearly four hundred years of genocide and conquest. So when in 1994, while teaching in Phoenix, I was somewhat at a loss and yet thankful when my Walapai student, Alfonso Havatone, invited me to join his family in Thanksgiving at Kingman, Arizona. Awakening the old uncle after midnight, we found our lodging and settled in until morning when the new day was revivified with song. Joseph Havatone, the old uncle, was a celebrated singer among the Walapai and that morning I noticed the two gourd rattles that he used to sanctify our Thanksgiving. Later that day when he appeared at the dinner, he offered me the "Quail Rattle" as a gift of thanks for my contribution to his nephew's education. The Quail Rattle, a Walapai fetish, came to me that Thanksgiving in the spirit of family and sharing, as a result, I have tried to share it wisely when teaching the organicism inherent in Native American traditions. Despite its striking traditional symbolism, I have often been disappointed by my students' failure to divine its meaning in keeping with the traditional Native religion. With no markings denoting quail, the Quail Rattle seems to defy their imagination. When presented with an accompanying Papago oral text, however, students are more apt to acknowledge the organic power that pervades American Indian religious traditions. Intent upon sharing this pedagogy, it is my purpose with this essay to offer the images, text and analysis of the Quail Rattle as it exhibits an all-embracing Native American religious organicism

Dental Hygiene and Dental Assistant Students\u27 Simulated DVI Radiographic Match Accuracy: A Pilot Study

Purpose Allied dental health care professionals have served on disaster victim identification (DVI) teams; however, the literature is void of statistical measures regarding transferable skills and disaster preparedness. The purpose of this study was to assess second year dental hygiene and dental assistant students’ match accuracy for simulated DVI radiographs and compare the match accuracy between the student groups. Methods Five patient cases were chosen at random to retrospectively collect sets of digital bitewing radiographs from two time periods. The five retrospectively selected sets of images served as simulated antemortem (AM) and postmortem (PM) radiographs. A convenience sample of second year dental hygiene and dental assistant students from two institutions (n=48) were invited to participate in this IRB-exempt descriptive observational study. The previously selected AM and PM images were randomly mismatched, and participants were asked to visually compare the image sets and indicate the matches using a drag and drop feature in an electronic survey instrument. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data; the significance level was set at α=0.05. Results A total of 41 dental hygiene and dental assistant students agreed to participate for a response rate of 85.4%. Eighty-five percent of the participants accurately matched five out of five sets while the remaining 15% accurately matched three out of five sets. A one-sample binomial proportion test revealed that 80% of the participants were able to match at least four out of five sets (p\u3c0.001). Dental hygiene students demonstrated increased matching performance as compared to dental assisting students (p=0.013). Conclusion Both dental hygiene and dental assistant students demonstrated transferable DVI skills to accurately match simulated AM and PM radiographs. Future research is needed in a larger sample to develop and assess best practices of DVI training to build on existing skills for allied dental health care professionals

Monitoring outdoor tobacco policies of Virginia colleges: A descriptive analysis

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to monitor current outdoor tobacco policies of colleges within the state of Virginia. Methods: The tobacco policies of 2-year public colleges, 4-year public colleges, and 4-year private non-profit colleges in Virginia were located online. The policies were then categorized according to the types of tobacco products that were prohibited (Smoking Policies, Tobacco Policies, and E-cigarette Policies) and where those products were prohibited outdoors (No Policy, Entrance Policy, Perimeter Policy, Designated Smoking Areas Policy, All Grounds Policy). Findings: From a final sample of 62 college policies, 2 (3%) had No Policy, 29 (47%) had an Entrance Policy, 12 (19%) had a Perimeter Policy, 10 (16%) had a Designated Smoking Areas Policy, and 9 (15%) had an All Grounds Policy. Conclusions: The far majority of colleges do not meet national recommendations for outdoor tobacco policies. Practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed in the article