Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Consolidate Your Credit Card Dept
You must be eager to know:
(1) How does debt consolidation helps in case of credit card debts?
(2) How consolidating my credit card debts could be beneficial?
A credit card debt consolidation loan can be a resource to consolidate the outstanding balances on your cards into one single loan. They can also be transferred to one single card that has a lower interest rate than the ones you are currently paying. The path to savings should be very cautiously chalked out and one needs to make calculated moves all the time. When you are paying high interest rates on some of your current credit cards then it might be a wise idea to go for a balance transfer onto another credit card or cards that have relatively low interest rate. Know more about balance transfer in the "members only" contents. We offer free membership. Calculate the interest on your credit card debts and transfer it accordingly.
The ideal way to consolidate your credit card debts!
In order to make you understand better we have a small example of how consolidating your credit card debt could be beneficial.
Let's say you have $100 in outstanding credit card debt and the average annual percentage rate (APR) on that card or cards is 18 %( which is the average). If the outstanding balance remains at $100 then over the course of a year you would pay approximately $18 in interest charges alone. If you consolidate your credit card debt into a single loan with a lower interest rate or if you do a balance transfer onto a credit card or cards with a low interest rate you would save a significant amount of money.
If the new loan or credit card have a 9% APR then you would save roughly $10 in interest charges over the course of that same year. If you save $10 for a debt of $100, then think about a debt of $10,000. This trick will save you $1,000 over the course of that same year. Just think of $1, 00,000 debts; you can save $10,000. And this amount of $10,000 can be used to repay some of your debts. Life becomes easy with simple calculations and cautious moves.
If you are under a mountain of debts our experts will help you to consolidate your debts and help you tread you into a debt free land. Consolidating your debt is perhaps the fastest, safest and best way today to get rid of your financial obligations and we are experts in this field. Fill our free membership form to view all the alternatives. With debt consolidation we are here to consolidate all your financial loans in a single monthly payment. Thus we help you take the first step nearer to freedom.
Debt Consolidation Loan - Debt Consolidation Program
Need of a Debt Consolidation Loan
Most all of us have bills. We have rent or mortgage, electric, gas, water and other utilities. But most of us also have student loans, credit card bills and more. Debt is an easy thing to acquire and a harder thing to get rid of.
It’s very easy to use those charge cards you were saving “for an emergency” and very quickly it can spiral out of control. If you also have student loans, car loans or other types of bills, it all just adds up. If you need to consolidate debt, you are not alone. Those late fees and interest charges add up and it can be very overwhelming.
How a Debt Consolidation Loan can help you?
A debt consolidation loan basically takes all of your bills, such as those from credit card companies, household bills etc. Then, they are all consolidated into one monthly payment which is lower than the sum of payments on individual debts. Then, as long as you are able to make this one monthly payment, your credit will remain in good standing and you will be working toward the goal to get your bills paid off.
Looking For A Debt Consolidation Loan ? Apply Now ! |
Debt Consolidation Program - An option to Avoid Bankruptcy
Many people feel pushed up against a wall and may think their only option is bankruptcy and they later regret the effect it has on their credit. Debt consolidation can save you from this. A debt consolidation program can help you manage your money troubles and it’s typically as easy as a simple phone call.
A debt consolidation program will help you pay off all your debts and stop the creditors from harassing you. In addition, you will also have the benefit of fewer interest and late charges from each individual creditor since they will all be combined. Free debt consolidation information can be obtained from the internet and from companies that provide debt consolidation loans.
How we can help you Consolidate Debt?
Apart from getting a solution to your debt and credit problems, you can also seek budget and financial counseling to help you manage better in the future. There are debt consolidation companies designed to help you ease your financial worries. So, if you want to stop over complicating life by having to make multiple payments each month, why not unravel the financial confusion and apply now for a debt consolidation loan.
What is Debt Consolidation?
Some of the advantages for consolidating your debts are as follows:
- As you will be borrowing a larger amount for a longer term, the interest rate should be much lower than the rate you are paying now on each separate credit account.
- Shopping around for the best deal should also reduce your interest rate on your debt consolidation loan.
- With only one loan payment, managing your finances should be much easier than having several payments to think about.
- As long as you remove your credit cards from your wallet, (even better if you cut them up), you will see your level of debt gradually decrease month by month.
- In the case of an emergency you will no longer worry about having to use your credit card and being close to your overdraft limit.
A wide range of consolidation loans are available from your regular banks, credit unions, online banks, as well as from supermarkets or general finance firms.
Need to weigh the pros and cons? Click here.Debt Consolidation
Unsecured Debt Consolidation Loans
Do you, like so many others, have unsecured debt that has become a financial burden? An unsecured debt consolidation loan will save you time, energy and, most importantly, money.
Consolidate those unsecured debts such as high-interest credit cards and other bills into an easy-to-pay low-interest monthly payment. Relieve yourself of the stress of harassing creditors and bad credit with our guaranteed debt consolidation counseling.
Our debt consolidation service will assist you through the comfortable transition to uniform payments.
Unsecured debt consolidation loans are the answer to your high-interest debt problems and are available to help you become debt free..
Christians Debt Consolidation Programs
Before you commit to any debt consolidation program, Christian or non-Christian, please make sure you read through the information on this site. The world of debt and financing is full of "less-than-honest" operators, and you need to make sure you know what you are doing before you sign on the dotted line.
Personal Debt Consolidation Information
Debt consolidation is simply a process by which an individual obtains a loan in order to use it to pay off other non-secured consumer loans and credit cards.
Why is debt consolidation done?
The main objective is to obtain a low interest rate loan, with low monthly payments, while not adversely affecting your overall credit rating or putting other assets that you may have at risk. In many cases, individuals have numerous credit card and loan debts at varied (but usually high) rates of interest, so debt consolidation is definitely a smart way for these individuals to ease their monthly debt payment obligations, and reduce their long term payback commitments.
Where can you get a debt consolidation loan?
Numerous 'brick and mortar' and online financial institutions offer debt consolidation loans. Most offer free consultation as to the best and most cost-effective debt consolidation route for you to take, and typically, no upfront fees are usually charged for disbursing these loans. Despite this however, before you sign or give your OK, you should always ask what fees will apply to it.
Other smart questions to ask before getting a debt consolidation loan
(1) As stated above, you need to ask WHAT FEES SPECIFICALLY APPLY TO THE LOAN. If fees are charged, they are typically low, but high fees are definitely not the norm for individuals doing debt consolidation.
(2) WHAT IS THE INTEREST RATE. On your part, for the debt consolidation to make sense, the interest rate HAS to be lower than the current rate(s) that you pay on the debt that you are consolidating. Obviously, a high interest rate will prevent you from paying the consolidation loan off, and you should also try to get a fixed interest rate (so that your payments do not change over time).
(3) Related to (2) above, you also need to ask WHAT ARE THE PAYMENTS ON THE LOAN. Again, it makes sense that the payment should be lower than the amount you were paying before the debt consolidation.
It is important to note that a debt consolidation loan only makes sense if you actually use it to get out of debt, and you actually have a plan - a plan that includes not getting back into the same bad debt situation in a few weeks, months or years.
What is a School Loan Consolidation?
School loan consolidation is the process of taking your current school loans, and paying them off with one new consolidation loan. Students who have gone to school for 4+ years, and received Federal student loans will have amassed a large, deferred loan balance by the time they graduate. In many instances, several types of loans will have been used, with various interest rates and monthly payments. A school consolidation loan pays off all of these loans, and gives you one, easy payment to a single lender.
- Reduces your monthly considerably.
- Locks in your interest rates
- Simplifies your finances by having you make only one payment a month
- Improves your credit rating
- Saves you money today when you need it most
- Provides flexible repayment options
FREE Information about School Loan Consolidation!
REASONS FOR CREDIT CARD CONSOLIDATION
The principal reason why most people consider switching credit cards and consolidating all of their outstanding credit card debt into one card is because the interest rates on their existing credit card are just too high.
Here, as you may be aware (from all the advertising that is thrown at us), not all credit card issuers offer the same interest rate (although they are closely related in a broad spectrum). Moreover, in this highly competitive market, some credit card issuers now offer significantly lower rates of interest than some of the other more “traditional” credit card issuers.
So, if you think that it is going to be financially beneficial to you to consolidate all of your existing outstanding credit card debt into one credit card debt that is offering a lower interest rate, which will equate in significant savings, this may well be a very sensible option to take.
Because of the annual fees
A common trend among credit card issuers over recent years has been to ask members to pay an annual usage fee for the credit card. In certain cases this annual fee can be expensive - especially where you may make use of more than one credit card and are faced with having to pay several annual membership fees.
However, credit card issuers now know they’re in a fight to get new customers and so some of them are offering use of their credit card without you needing to pay any annual membership fee and not asking members to pay an annual membership fee is a second worthy reason why you may want to consolidate your credit card debt.
Do, however, keep in mind that if you consolidate credit card debt because of this issue, make sure that the credit card issuer has not accounted for this by adding other hidden fees or a higher rate of interest on the card - otherwise you may find that the overall cost of funding the debt adds up to more per annum than if you just pay the annual fee with your existing credit card issuer!
Consolidating the credit card debt as a personal loan
It is a sad fact of life that many of us do not know how to budget our spending on our credit cards. We see the limit on our cards and seem to think that we have to spend all of this money in the next 24 hours, otherwise they may take the card away from us! We then spend the next 4 years trying to pay back all the debt we just accumulated. All of this stress is then compounded by the fact that we have to make, at minimum, the minimum monthly repayment to the credit card company.
To avoid this, and to try and find a way to source our debt at a lower cost many of us turn to the option of consolidating all of our outstanding credit card debt as a personal loan, which we then pay back monthly.
Although both of these debts are similar in nature, i.e. unsecured, the personal loan method is much cheaper than the credit card debt. So, if you have credit card debt outstanding that you believe will take you more than 1 year to repay, the time may well have come to consider the third reason why it may be more beneficial to consolidate your credit card debt as a personal loan.
Because we now have a bad credit rating
Those of us who allow our existing credit card debt concerns to get on top of us, to the extent where we are no longer in a position to make the monthly minimum repayments, have sadly just come across the fourth reason why you may want to consolidate your credit card debt - because you now have a bad credit rating!
Because they’re paying me to do it
The last reason why you may want to consolidate your credit card debt into one debt is because the credit card issuer is paying you to do it! Believe it or not, the credit card industry has now become so competitive that issuers are fighting among themselves to get people to sign up to their card. Here, when the card issuer knows you have an existing credit card, they’ll sometimes ask you to transfer the balance of your outstanding existing credit card debt to them, in return for which they’ll reduce some of the debt from your outstanding balance! Be careful though, those warning signs regarding interest rates and fees still apply.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
How Endless Information Restricts Your View
Sometime around the middle of this century, David Shenk tells us in his new book, something happened to alter human history: ''We began to produce information much faster than we could process it.''
With the introduction of computers, microwave transmissions, television and satellites, we were pushed from ''a state of information scarcity to one of information surplus, from drought to flood in the geological blink of an eye.'' Today we are drowning in data, pelted by newspaper and magazine stories, 24-hour television news, E-mail, junk mail and faxes. Cellular phones, car phones and beepers insure that we are always on call, while ubiquitous television sets -- in bars, sports arenas, airports and airplanes -- insure that we never lack visual distraction. Advertisements have proliferated along highways, in schoolrooms and on the World Wide Web, and they adorn everything from our hats to our luggage to our shoes.
In ''Data Smog,'' Mr. Shenk, a journalist and radio commentator, tells us that the average American spends 60 percent of the office day processing documents. In the 1980's, per capita paper consumption tripled (to 1,800 pounds a year), and third-class mail grew 13 times faster than the population.
Such statistics aren't new, but Mr. Shenk has done a good job of pulling together a lot of observations about the downside of information technology and presenting them in a coherent and highly readable fashion. Though one may not agree with all of Mr. Shenk's theories, his book nonetheless forces one to re-evaluate the effects that data smog has on daily life and its long-term social and political consequences.
As Mr. Shenk sees it, data smog is bad for your health, promoting stress, memory overload, compulsive behavior and attention-deficit disorder. It's also bad, he suggests, for the health of the community, producing what could be called the Dennis Rodman or Madonna effect. By overstimulating us to the point of distraction, he argues, data smog forces people to resort to hyperbole and histrionics to get attention. ''The degree to which today's television programmers, movie producers, performers, spokespersons and publishers apparently feel compelled to turn up the heat is a serious threat to moderation and intelligence in society,'' he writes. ''It reduces our attention span. It makes us numb to anything that doesn't lurch out and grab us by the throat.''
Although much has been written about mass communications' turning the world into a global village, Mr. Shenk astutely points out that that village is, at the same time, growing increasingly fragmented and factionalized as people, despairing of being able to master a grand overview, retreat into their own special interests. These days there are more and more niche magazines and more and more niche advertising targeted at specific audiences and neighborhoods. As a result, community begins to give way to tribes, shared values to irreconcilable differences.
The Internet accelerates this trend. ''Like niche radio and cable TV,'' Mr. Shenk writes, ''the Net encourages a cultural splintering that can render physical communities much less relevant and free people from having to climb outside their own biases, assumptions, inherited ways of thought. This is perhaps best evidenced by the ominous emergence of so-called smart agents, which automatically filter out information deemed irrelevant to the customer.''
With smart agents, there is no stumbling across unexpected subject matter, and there are fewer exchanges with people with different interests and opinions. As a result, both the idea and practice of pluralism suffer.
Throughout this book, Mr. Shenk admonishes readers to refrain from ''info-pollution'' by being economical in what they ''say, write, publish, broadcast and post on line.'' This is advice that Mr. Shenk tries to follow himself, with largely admirable results. Toward the end of the book, however, when he turns from sociological assessment to more subjective political analysis, his penchant for concision can lead to oversimplification.
The Healthy People 2010 Library Initiative has five primary goals:
groups, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans.
2 To better educate minorities about common and often chronic health problems such as diabetes
and high blood pressure that occur at higher percentages in their communities.
3 To educate minorities about the science behind chronic illnesses in plain language information
booklets. The booklets, written and/or reviewed by minority scientists and medical professionals,
will be developed in tandem with writers who can translate technical information into easy-tounderstand
information.
4 To give librarians valuable information


resources and tools that they
can disseminate and use with consumers
who come to the library for
health information.
5 To improve outreach efforts to
minorities through promotional
materials such as posters, countertop
displays and bookmarks that will
inform them about the wealth of
health information and services
libraries can provide.
This booklet was developed as an introduction for librarians to the Healthy People 2010 Library
Initiative and to share with librarians the resources and information gathered during the first phase
of the project. Much of this material comes from a literature review of online and print resources that
examine some of the issues librarians face in delivering health information services. The review
provides seven key findings and reference materials that support and explain them.
This booklet also contains research gathered from a brainstorming session, interviews with public and
consumer health librarians, and focus groups with members of minority groups. It discusses an array
of resources and the ways in which public, hospital and medical libraries work cooperatively to meet
the public’s growing demand for health information.
Reliable Health Information on the Internet
The Internet is the gateway to endless amounts of information. It’s easy-to-use, accessible and finds what you’re looking for in a matter of seconds. With this in mind, it is no surprise that more and more people are tossing books aside and using the Internet as their main source of information.
There are over 100,000 health-related Web sites. The goal of this site is to direct you to reliable health information on the Internet. As the Internet is a public domain, meaning anyone can create a site regardless of their credibility, keep these things in mind as you search the Web.
- Use reputable sources. Start with MedlinePlus (medlineplus.gov). MedlinePlus has information information that is reliable, current, accurate, multilingual and written by health professionals. It’s free and accessible from any Internet connection.
- Do not search the entire Internet. There are billions of Web sites on the Internet. The sites contained in this Web site are reliable.
- Beware of commercial sites. Sites with “.com” at the end of their address are commercial sites whose primary goal is to make a profit, and not necessarily to provide reliable information.
- Check to see if the information is current and accurate. Web sites can be created by anyone. Be sure the information you obtain is written by a health-care professional. Look for credentials (i.e. M.D., Ph.D., CRNP, D.D.S., RN). Check all information for a date. Information more than five years old is considered outdated.
The staff of the Harrison Medical Library, at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, offer free instructional presentations on locating reliable health information on the Internet. Presentations or hands-on classes are done for community groups and schools.
If you know of a group that would be interested in arranging a class or presentation, contact Christine Caufield-Noll (410-550-0681) at the Harrison Medical Library.
In addition, staff from the Harrison Library staff the Community Health Library, also located at Johns Hopkins Bayview. Services provided at the Community Health Library include Internet access, consumer health books and newsletters, and a leisure reading collection.
The Community Health Library (410-550-0681) is open to patients, visitors and community members, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is located on the 01 Level of the Pavilion, next to the rehabilitation department. Stop by and check it out!What are the personal qualifications?
Do you like organizing and managing?
About 60% of UT HIM graduates follow a management oriented HIM career to organize, lead, and coordinate staff members to handle patient care information functions in a health care facility. The HIM professional assures that the patient's confidential information is protected and used appropriately for reimbursement, billing, statistics, legal needs, quality improvement, and in other health care operations. Most managers work in hospitals or large clinic settings with an increasing number working at the corporate systems level as corporate directors of health information management.
What about finance and accounting?An increasing number of UT HIM graduates are working in areas directly related to reimbursement and coding and other payment oriented activities. These financial issues are increasing in importance to assure that payment for services is proper and based on accurate documentation and coding of the health record. Health information managers code and classify diagnoses and procedures and provide authorized information to insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid, managed care organizations, and other payors
Are you interested in research and statistics and improvement of health care quality?Jobs which involve analyzing health information for clinical research and health care quality are increasing in popularity for UT graduates. There are numerous positions for HIM professionals available at research institutions such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and at organizations which review the quality and safety of patient care. Health care facilities also employ HIM professionals for quality management, risk management, utilization review, and other types of quality improvement positions.
Certification
Upon completion of the year at UTHSC, students apply to write the national certification examination administered by the national association, AHIMA. This is a computerized examination that is individually scheduled by the student and can be completed at any time during the year. Successful completion of the examination allows one to use the designation RHIA or Registered Health Information Administrator and means that these credentials are recognized nationwide. State licensure is not required. These credentials must be maintained by required continuing education activities.
BS in Health Informatics and Information Management
Are you aware that you have health information - commonly known as medical records - at your private physician's office, the hospital where you are admitted or treated on an outpatient basis, or the neighborhood health clinic? Did you know that a trained health professional is needed to maintain this health information and to provide it to other professionals? A career in health information management combines the exciting, challenging world of medicine with computerization, business, and management into one excellent career choice. While health information management (HIM) professionals possess skills similar to those of other business professionals, they must draw from a broader base of knowledge. Their knowledge of business and science is combined with knowledge of law and medicine. While HIM professionals may not be as visible to the public as the physician, nurse, or other health professional, their presence is vital to keeping the facility functioning smoothly.
Health information management professionals' knowledge of computer systems, health law, medical documentation and organizational management is essential to hospitals, nursing homes, law firms, outpatient clinics, insurance companies, physicians' offices, consulting firms, colleges or universities, or government agencies - any organization that deals with healthcare.
Career Opportunities
This is a great time to enter this field. The education you receive at UTHSC will prepare you to be successful in numerous positions in the health care fields. The variety of jobs is endless. As with any dynamic, rapidly growing profession, advancement depends on a personal commitment to life-long learning to keep up with the changes in the health field and in technology. Health Information Managers are qualified for many different types of positions. Some graduates direct or manage entire Health Information Management Departments or an area of a department in a larger health facility. Quality improvement and research positions are increasing. Many graduates develop an interest in the technical aspects of information management and assume positions in information management. Our graduates report back that they feel competent and confident in their jobs because of the excellent educational foundation received at UTHSC
You must complete 72 (seventy-two) semester hours of pre-professional courses prior to admission to the one calendar year (48) semester hours at UTHSC to receive a B.S. degree in Health Information Management.
Online health information vs. Sugar pill
After medical school, I spent three years in a Pediatric residency where I focused on treating individuals. After that, I spent two years in a Preventive Medicine residency where I focused on treating populations and discovering interventions that improve the health of a population.
What Medical Information improve the health of a population? This is the question all scientific studies ask and hope to answer with a specific number.
I posted a possibly inflammatory question a few days ago: “Does access to online health information improve the health of a population?” I got plenty of personal anecdote comments about individuals whose lives were changed by online health information. That actually makes me extremely happy.
But I’m suggesting treating online health information as a therapeutic intervention. We should compare two groups: a population of people who do not have access to the internet and a population who does. Then we should assess the long term effects of health information. My guess is that the intervention will work for a sizable minority of savvy patients and fail for the sizable majority.
I can provide strong evidence suggesting that knowing what is good and bad for you doesn’t change behavior that leads to improved health. I can also provide strong evidence that the only beneficial aspect of regular prenatal care visits is having access to routine blood pressure checks and urinalyses. That doesn’t stop the insane amount of New Mommy sites from creating an entire industry around telling pregnant women that it’s much more complicated.
Does this mean that we should not publish health information on the internet available to all? Hell no. But it does mean that the vast majority of health-related websites are worthless excuses to host advertisements and do nothing for the majority of people who aren’t savvy enough to sift out the good and bad. It also means that the push toward creating websites that organize health information in new ways (such as Revolution Health) is barking up the wrong tree and are simply excuses to make money in the lucrative healthcare advertising Business Information. Look at Sermo. The drug companies are already salivating. It’s 43,000 physicians all in one place! Revolutionary! It’s revolutionary advertising…that’s about it.
The internet has enabled everyone to essentially have access to the information from the first two years of medical school. However, having information does very little when synthesizing that information and doing something about it…that’s why doctors train for years after learning all these facts.
Folks, it’s not about health information. It’s about personalized, accessible communication between patients and doctors mixed with the other magic question…how do we change a culture’s behavior?
