Author: chris

Source of Revenue: An Increase in the Medicare Patient Population

The president of Gentiva Health Services is considering increasing her number of Medicare patients served next year. However, to do so she must begin to use RNs for client visits, which Medicare reimburses at $45 per visit. An RN costs $35 per hour versus the current cost of $15 for an LPN or nurse’s aide. The president believes she can increase her patient visits by 15% by accepting Medicare patients. She is also aware that if she increases her Medicare patients, the company’s administrative costs will increase by approximately $10,000 per year because of the claims file complexity.

Using the Gentiva Health Services Statement of Income http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=GTIV, use the following volumes for your calculations:

Volume for the year:

• Flexible budget: 6,000 visits
• Static budget: 5,945 visits
• Actual budget: 5,889 visits

Prepare a two-page report that addresses the following:

1. How many more visits will the company generate if it accepts Medicare patients?
2. What would be the estimated profit or loss associated with the Medicare service line?
3. Would you recommend that Gentiva Health Services increase its number of Medicare patients served? Why or why not?

The second task is: Business Plan

Review the quarterly report and develop a business plan for the organization for its upcoming financial year. Be sure to include the following in your organized business plan:

• Organization segment
• Marketing segment
• Financial segment
• Projected cash flow statement
• Projected income statement
• Projected balance sheet

Feel free to take liberties with information needed that is not available in the report.

You may find the quarterly report at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/gentiva-health-services-reports-third-221500117.html

Include all required tasks for this assignment in a Word document.

In your final project, you will analyze an investment opportunity applying key components of advanced microeconomics theories to typical business decisions. You will assume the role of an entrepreneur, and you will conduct an analysis focusing on an investment opportunity of your choice. In your analysis you will carefully evaluate key factors influencing the demand for the product, cost and supply issues, the role of market structure, and competitive analysis on firm strategy. You will also analyze the effects of government regulations and market intervention on potential profitability, and you will use price and non-price strategies to support product introduction. Using the above analyses, the last step in your final project requires you to model the potential financial viability of the proposed new product using approximate figures. You will determine whether or not to recommend investing in the development and commercialization of the investment opportunity to your business partners.

Prompt

In task 4-4, you will evaluate variables specific to production and resource costs for the improvement of organizational costs for the investment opportunity chosen for your final project. In this milestone, you will submit a 2–3-page paper that analyzes your investment opportunity production and resources factors by costs, constraints, and effects of technology. Your paper should include the following:

• Costs: Assess what key non-price variables could be expected to affect production costs of the new product. How can these aspects be leveraged to effect efficient methods of production and acquisition of resources to improve upon organizational costs?

• Constraints: Assess constraints that could affect future production and costs. How can these aspects be leveraged to effect efficient methods of production and acquisition of resources to improve upon organizational costs?

• Effects: Assess the effect of potential technology changes on production, costs, or competition. How can these aspects be leveraged to effect efficient methods of production and acquisition of resources to improve upon organizational costs?

Format: The production and resources paper should follow these formatting guidelines: 2–3 pages, double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, and citations in APA format.

Overview

In your final project, you will analyze an investment opportunity applying key components of advanced microeconomics theories to typical business decisions. You will assume the role of an entrepreneur, and you will conduct an analysis focusing on an investment opportunity of your choice. In your analysis you will carefully evaluate key factors influencing the demand for the product, cost and supply issues, the role of market structure, and competitive analysis on firm strategy. You will also analyze the effects of government regulations and market intervention on potential profitability, and you will use price and non-price strategies to support product introduction. You will then evaluate the potential financial viability of the proposed new product using approximate figures and determine whether or not to recommend investing in the development and commercialization of the investment opportunity to your business partners.

Prompt

In task 7-2 you will evaluate the market structure and influences on firm strategies and profitability for the investment opportunity chosen for your final project. You will also evaluate the effects of government regulation and intervention that may affect your business. For example, this is where you would discuss how well the market operates and include examples of aspects market performance specific to your selection. Is it efficient? Does it produce good outcomes? Why or one why not?

In this milestone, you will submit a 3-5 page paper that includes the following:

1. Market Structure:

a. Market Competition: What is the existing and potential market competition? How do these companies affect the firm’s strategies and profitability? This is where you would discuss the type of competitors, number of competitors, and barriers to entry.

b. Firm Strategies: What are potential price and non-price strategies that the firm might use and what are their relationships to the market structure? For example, discuss a strategy that would support the success of your product. Depending on how the industry is structured you might discuss how it is consistent with the market structure. Perhaps you would address how it is different. Once you address this, you would discuss how your choice provides an advantage in the market.

2. Effects of Regulation and Intervention:

a. Policies: Identify policies or regulations at the local, state, or national level that could potentially affect your business. What are the reasons for these policies or regulations?

b. Effects of Intervention: How do these policies or regulations affect your ability to compete and profitably operate in your business? Include examples specific to aspects of market performance to support your conclusions. For example, some forms of regulation, such as patent protection, may afford more profit opportunities while others, such as environmental regulations, may add to your costs.

Format: The market competition and firm strategies paper should follow these formatting guidelines: 3-5 pages, double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, and citations in APA format.

Word count: 2000 words equivalence
Animal Tracking Systems (ATS) is a developer and supplier of specialist software products to individuals, businesses and government organizations working in the wildlife and veterinary sectors. Their software allows individual animals and birds to be remotely monitored and tracked. Examples include anti-poaching work in Africa, bird migration pattern analysis across Europe, canine tracking by law enforcement and the military or simply a private individual attaching a chip to a pet cat’s collar to avoid it getting lost. As part of their operations and after-sales package, ATS provides a help desk for clients who have questions about software purchased from the company. The range of software is extensive and offers a wide range of functionality at various price points. Some functions offered include location identification, migration and travel pattern analysis, health data capture, eating and drinking data capture, sleeping and resting pattern analysis and so on.
When a call comes in, an operator enquires about the nature of the call. For calls that are not truly help desk functions, the operator redirects the call to another unit of the company (such as Order Processing or Billing). Since many customer questions require in-depth knowledge of a product, help desk consultants are organized by product.
The operator directs the call to a consultant skilled on the software that the caller needs help with. Since a consultant is not always immediately available, some calls must be put into a queue for the next available consultant. Once a consultant answers the call, he determines if this is the first call from this customer about this problem. If so, he creates a new call report to keep track of all information about the problem. If not, he asks the customer for a call report number, and retrieves the open call report to determine the status of the inquiry. If the caller does not know the call report number, the consultant collects other identifying information such as the caller’s name, the software involved, or the name of the consultant who has handled the previous calls on the problem in order to conduct a search for the appropriate call report.
If a resolution of the customer’s problem has been found, the consultant informs the client what that resolution is, indicates on the report that the customer has been notified, and closes the report. If resolution has not been discovered, the consultant finds out if the consultant handling this problem is on duty. If so, he transfers the call to the other consultant (or puts the call into the queue of calls waiting to be handled by that consultant). Once the proper consultant receives the call, he records any new details the customer may have.
For continuing problems and for new call reports, the consultant tries to discover an answer to the problem by using the relevant software and looking up information in reference manuals. If he can now resolve the problem, he tells the customer how to deal with the problem, and closes the call report. Otherwise, the consultant files the report for continued research and tells the customer that someone at ATS will get back to him, or if the customer discovers new information about the problem, to call back identifying the problem with a specified call report number.
A database is required to manage the data for the above scenario. It should also be possible to query the data and produce various reports for management as and when required. Your job is to deliver that database by correctly identifying what data must be captured and how it is related.
NOTE: The above case study is simply an outline of the company and you will need to make your own assumptions and interpret or even extend the scenario as you go. Use your imagination as you see fit but you must clearly document all assumptions and extensions.

Your Tasks
1. Produce an Entity-Relationship Model for the scenario described above (15 marks)
Develop a top-down design of the data in the form of an entity-relationship diagram. You should note all assumptions you make about the data and the reasoning behind your design choices. Also include any appropriate constraints and a list of entity types showing their attributes and identifiers.

2. Design a set of relations conforming to Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF). (15 marks)

Once you are satisfied that the ER diagram is a good representation of the data, produce a logical design by mapping the E-R diagram to a set of (normalized) relations. Clearly show all intermediate steps.

3. Implement your final database design. (15 marks)
Take each of the relations from your relational model and implement them as SQL tables. You must include all primary and foreign keys as well as any other table or column constraints you feel are appropriate. Then, using appropriate sample data and your own imagination, populate your finished tables.

4. Query your database. (20 marks)
Using SQL, write a set of realistic sample queries based on the above scenario (use your imagination for details of each query) but they should include the following SQL query techniques:
Joins (using two, three or more tables)
Set operations (UNION, INTERSECT and MINUS)
Ordering
Grouping
Aggregate functions (MIN, MAX, AVG, COUNT, SUM)
Table aliases
Renaming columns
Sub-queries (nested queries)

You should aim to write at least ten sample queries – ranging from basic SELECT…FROM…WHERE queries to more advanced ones using the above techniques.

5. Optimize your Database (10 Marks)
You should now optimize your database:
Apply suitable database optimization techniques to your final set of tables.
Aim to implement a range of indexes.
Run a suite of queries that will invoke those indexes.
Aim to demonstrate some index suppression techniques.

6. Secure your Database (10 Marks)
Your optimized database should now be secured. To demonstrate this:
Create three new users on your database
Allocate them different security privileges and roles.
Create a suite of views over your existing base tables.
Issue appropriate privileges so that at least one user can use those views.
Clearly demonstrate what actions each user can/cannot perform.

7. Building a Web Interface (15 Marks)
You now have a fully working, secure and optimized database. Your final task is to design and build a web-based interface to that database such that it can support the following operations:
Insert new rows of data
Update existing rows of data
Delete existing rows of data
Query existing rows of data

Please read the following guidance…
Important Notesand FAQ’s.
Make sure your full name and student ID are on the front page of the assessment
Clearly label all tasks and take care to explain and discuss your technical work
For the modelling and design work you must supply clearly annotated diagrams
For the SQL work you must supply full code listings of the inputted code and screenshots of the outputted results – even if no rows were returned. Each screenshot must include some identifying feature – such as a username or user ID – that proves beyond doubt that it is your own work.
If you need to research, then fully reference all such sources using the Harvard notation

RESEARCH PAPER INSTRUCTIONS

For this assignment, you will write a 1,200–1,500-word research paper that compares and contrasts specific sections from two literary works written by two different authors. These sections must be read closely for a shared theme/idea/motif/style that says something important about British literary history. You have two options, choosing from works that are on your Course Schedule:

Write an essay that compares and contrasts one aspect in a literary work written in the Victorian Period with one written in the twentieth century. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate that you know the difference between nineteenth- and twentieth-century works, and you will do this by exploring one aspect. Example:  The Victorians dealt with death very differently than did the Postmoderns as depicted in “The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church” compared to “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” respectively.

Write an essay that compares and contrasts two literary works written either in the Victorian Period or in the twentieth century. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate your knowledge of Victorian or Modern or Postmodern literature. So please focus on identifying the traits from the appropriate period in discussing a single aspect in the two literary works. Example:  “My Last Duchess” and The Importance of Being Earnest exhibit a Victorian attitude about the importance of class divide and especially the behavior of the aristocracy.

Do not give a plot summary; this is not a book report. Do not use biographical information unless it is crucial to the development of your thesis. The author(s) and work(s) must be selected from those covered in this course.

Research an important topic about the selected works, and use at least four secondary scholarly sources plus the primary text (story, poem, play, essay, etc.) that address the topic. Including the Annotated Bibliography is not necessary. In addition, you may have new sources based on continued research. Websites are not allowed. You may include citations from the PointeCast presentations, lecture notes, and the anthology’s introductions and notes, but you must have four other scholarly sources besides.

• Including no research will result in a “0/F” for the essay, and will not be graded by the rubric. The research must include scholarly sources outside of the course and the anthology.

• Dictionaries, encyclopedias, the Bible, and introductions from the anthology may certainly be used in this research paper; however, they will not count toward the 4 required sources. They must be listed in your Works Cited/References/Bibliography page, in addition to the 4 secondary sources.

• For help finding academic sources, watch the videos on finding sources located in Course Content – Module/Week 6 – Reading & Study – Additional Material/ Research Tools.

NOTE for this assignment:
• Review the following information about thesis sentences: http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/thesistatement.html. A thesis statement must present an argument (proposition), not merely a statement of fact.
• Adhere to academic writing standards, which include using 3rd person only, omitting contractions and jargon, and remaining in literary present tense. For additional information on the literary present tense, see http://vanderbilt.edu/writing/manage/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Literary%20present%20tense.pdf.
• Include a targeted title that suggests the purpose stated in the thesis. The title must not be “Research Paper,” or simply the title of the play, poem, or fiction.
• The essay must be double-spaced, written in Times New Roman 12-point font, and use 1” margins. In addition, format your paper using current MLA, APA, or Turabian format (whichever corresponds to your degree program).
• Document information from the literature through in-text citations and an end-text Works Cited/References/Bibliography page conforming to current MLA, APA, or Turabian format.
• Do not use any material or words from another source without giving proper credit for that material or those words. To do otherwise is plagiarism and will result in a “0” on the paper or a possible “F” for the course. Each paper will be checked for plagiarism.
• Review the Research Paper Grading Rubric to learn more about how the paper will be graded. Comply with all requirements.

For additional tips on writing essays, consult the following website: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-fiction/

You have been selected to be a speaker at a University Professional Development Seminar.  The topic of discussion is “ How to protect yourself from computer crimes”.

Write a 3-4 page paper in which you:

Select a computer crime of your choice for your speech at the Seminar. Imagine you have been asked to address the following items listed below. Remember that your textbook has several crimes listed in chapter one.

1. Explain how the selected computer crime victimizes someone.
2. Evaluate how vulnerable or susceptible society is today, with respect to this computer crime.

Research the Internet for a news article that discusses how this type of computer crime is being addressed by law enforcement or the criminal justice system. Select one article to answer the following:

3. Explain whether you agree or disagree with the way the selected computer crime in your chosen article is being addressed.
4. Use at least four (4) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

Unit IV Outline

The Code of Ethics and Evaluation Paper is a significant project for this course. To stay on track, this assignment asks you to create an outline. Please review the Course Project in Unit VII, titled Code of Ethics and Evaluation Paper. An outline is a great way to organize the ideas that you want to communicate within a paper, or any form of writing.

For your outline, include the following:

1. Identify the topic. The topic of your paper is important. Try to sum up the point of your paper in one sentence or phrase that is original and topic focused, well developed, and thought provoking. This will help your paper stay focused on the main point.

2. Identify the main categories. What main points will you cover? The introduction usually introduces all of your main points, should flow logically, and is effectively linked to the main topic. Then the rest of paper can be spent developing those points.

3. Create the first category. What is the first point you want to cover? If the paper centers around a complicated term, a definition is often a good place to start. For a paper about a particular theory, giving the general background on the theory can be a good place to begin.

4. Create subcategories. After you have the main point, create points under it that provide support for the main point. The number of subcategories that you use depends on the amount of information you are going to cover; there is no right or wrong number to use as long as each point is compelling or persuasive in support of the main category. Keep in mind there are 15 content areas to the course project.

By convention, each category consists of a minimum of two entries. If your first category is Roman numeral I, your outline must also have a category labeled Roman numeral II; if you have a capital letter A under category I, you must also have a capital letter B. Whether you then go on to have capital letters C, D, E, is up to you, depending on the amount of material you are going to cover. You are required to have a minimum of two of each numbered or lettered categories.

Example:

I. First main category

A. First subcategory

B. Second subcategory

II. Second main category

A. First subcategory

B. Second subcategory

This assignment also allows you to work with your professor, who can offer guidance and direction to help you successfully complete the Code of Ethics and Evaluation Paper. The deliverable minimum length for this outline is 300 words, double spaced, 12pt New Times Roman font.

.Provide a description of four primary types of commonly used pesticides. Are you concerned about pesticides in your food? What steps do you take to minimize your exposure?

Your response must be at least 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations

2. What are persistent organic pollutants (POPs)? Describe how these chemicals can bioaccumulate in organisms, and discuss two examples of POPs.

Your response must be at least 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.

3. What chemical characteristics control the fate and distribution of toxic chemicals, and what are the main routes of exposure to humans?

Your response must be at least 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations.

4.Matching

Describe some of the cues that might cause a company to suspect there is unmet demand for its products or services. How would you design a test to determine whether your suspicions are correct?

Explain the connection between demand, competitive advantage, and strateg

What does Kokinshu and Pillow Book tell us about people, about how they lived, what was important to them?