Israel's Heavy Armoured Personell Carriers As Tough as Tanks

To contact us Click HERE
One the first things that a military geek will tell somebody that calls an M113 a "tank" is that's an armoured personall carrier, it's doesn't have a big gun and isn't as heavily armoured as a tank. Except if it's one of these Israeli jobs which have to deal with palestinean nationalists and occasionally neighboring Arab states .

found this http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/israels-heavy-armored-personnel-carriers/

and pulled out these bits. Visit link for the whole thing. Seems they converted every tank they had except the Sherman and M-60

Israel’s Heavy Armored Personnel Carriers

Heavy metal

• Written by: Mike Markowitz on August 1, 2012
• Categories: Land Forces, Programs & Tech
• Tags: Armored Fighting Vehicles, Foreign Military, Military News
• Comments: No Comments

Share this Story

More »A column of IDF AFVs. The nearest vehicles are Puma combat engineering vehicles, the distant ones are Achzarit heavy APCs. Photo by merdiThe IDF’s Combat Engineering Corps training aboard M113 “Zeldas.” The shortcomings of the M113 were one spur to the development of heavy armored personnel carriers. Israel Defense Forces photo



HALFTRACKS: The first APCs were “half-tracks,” basically trucks with rear axles replaced by caterpillar tracks. Their thin armor and lack of overhead protection led American GIs to call them “Purple Heart boxes.”Israel acquired 3,500 surplus half-tracks, using them in the 1956 and 1967 wars after most armies had upgraded to fully-enclosed boxes such as 
M113 GAVIN TRACKED BOX: the M113. Made of welded aluminum, the M113 could “swim” in water, propelled by its tracks. Aluminum armor kept out bullets and shell fragments, but was easily penetrated by rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM). The U.S. sent Israel over 6,000 M113s. They were nicknamed “Zelda,” Hebrew slang for an American Jewish girl. In the 1973 war, they suffered painful losses. REBUILT T-55 AchzaritThe first of the IDF’s heavy armored personnel carriers, Achzarits were built from the captured hulls of Soviet-made T-54/55 tanks. Photo by gkirokI...Beginning in 1987, some 276 T-55s were rebuilt by removing the turret and constructing a compartment for 10 troops. The bulky Russian diesel engine was replaced by a compact power pack, leaving space for a passageway to a rear exit door. The exterior was covered with reactive armor that defeats RPGs and early ATGMs. Named Achzarit (“Cruel One”) the 48.5 ton vehicle carries four roof-mounted 7.62 mm machine guns.
REBUILT CENTURION: 

Nagmash’ot, Nagmachon, Nakpadon and Puma

Nagmachon heavy APC at the LIC 2004 exhibition. Derived from the British Centurion tank, this example has the distinctive “doghouse” replacing the turret. Photo by Fresh Military & Security Forum, Israel via MathKnightSimilar rebuilds gave new life to hundreds of obsolete IDF Centurion tanks. ...By the 1980s, as Centurions were replaced by new Israeli-designed Merkava tanks, they were rebuilt as infantry carriers. ... Some Nagmachons are fitted with a distinctive non-rotating “doghouse” studded with vision blocks for a forward observer.

Namer (Merkava)

Soldiers from A Company, 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, maneuver around an Israeli Namer during the Maneuver Battle Lab’s Ground Combat Vehicle assessment at Fort Bliss, Texas. The Namer was originally rebuilt from early Merkava tank chassis, but today they are being constructed by General Dynamics Land Systems in the United States. DoD photo by 1st Lt. Tyler N. GinterNamer means “tiger” or “leopard” in Hebrew.  Weighing 66 tons, this big cat is the most heavily armored APC ever built. About 130 are currently in service.  Early versions were converted surplus Merkava Mk. I tanks, but new production vehicles are assembled by General Dynamics in Lima, Ohio, and then shipped to Israel for installation of weapons and the secret composite and reactive armor.Namer carries a crew of 11: commander, driver, gunner and eight troops. The gunner’s remote-controlled weapon station can be fitted with a 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm machine gun, or 40 mm grenade launcher.  Four external video cameras provide 360-degree vision.Future versions will carry a 30 mm automatic cannon and the Rafael Trophy active protection system.  Namer is under evaluation for the U.S. Army’s Ground Combat Vehicleprogram.

One Patient's Surprising Post-Op Pain: A $12,000 Bill

To contact us Click HERE

Meet David Galbraith. David is a successful business owner and generally healthy individual who has required relatively minimal extended healthcare in the course of his adulthood. That’s why he found his recent experience with an outpatient surgery quite jarring—and not very patient friendly at all.

When David exhibited symptoms, he was referred to a respected physician who accommodated a prompt appointment and swiftly booked a procedure. David, familiar with the high deductible of his insurance coverage, was pleased to take care of his situation in short order without concern regarding cost. After all, he understood his coverage, as he’d chosen it himself, and he’d asked the right questions in that process. Other than being told when and where to report and how to physically prepare for his simple operation, he received no other counsel from the healthcare provider, particularly regarding costs and payments.

The procedure went extremely well. “The whole thing took no more than 45 minutes,” David reports. “I arrived at the hospital at 7 a.m. and was home by 10:15.”

Perhaps that’s why it was so shocking when he received a bill for over $12,000 three weeks later. Though the dollar figure was unexpectedly high, David was most concerned that he’d been given no warning beforehand and that the bill received was so poorly presented. The language was cryptic, and while the statement was very detailed (“$57 for a hospital gown?!”), the information was not presented logically.

“There were excessive details, yet none of it really made sense to me as a patient,” David explains. “It was difficult to understand...and left me asking why (individual line items) cost so much and what could I have done differently to keep costs down.”

Ultimately, David was forced to spend valuable time on the phone with his insurance company and the provider trying to make sense of the bill and reconcile it accordingly. All told, he’s spent far more time dealing with billing than he did receiving care.

“Now that more of us are on high deductible plans, there needs to be simplified bills for patients,” he summarizes. “When we get a bill we don’t understand, it is both time consuming and frustrating to straighten everything out.”

For David, the frustration isn’t so much about the costs of the care (“It’s okay to pay fair market value…”). He’s most distraught by how poorly the information was conveyed. From obvious lack of financial counsel prior to the procedure to the baffling bill that showed up in the mail three weeks later, he experienced gaping holes in the communications process. Those holes would likely have been filled with a simple pre-admission conversation about billing and a patient friendly statement with clear summarization and key information called out.

Certainly, the walk in David’s shoes is well worth the journey, as his experience is an all too familiar one. Though many of us in our industry are genuinely committed to the idea of patient friendly billing standards, they are not always put into practice. We remain tethered to outdated modes of billing while the trends have catapulted forward. Here are three “Do Now” steps we should all employ to avoid putting patients in adversarial roles come billing time.

- Pre-admission Counsel and Estimations: It’s extremely helpful to provide patients a road map so they understand the financial aspects of their care before it occurs. It should be standard policy that all patients be counseled regarding payment responsibility and cost estimates based on their health coverage prior to admission.

- Online Pre-registration: By pre-registering patients online, providers have the opportunity to vet coverage issues, make determinations about charity care cases and offer patients more detail regarding potential payment responsibilities. This approach requires system updates, but it is well worth the effort. If your organization is not presently set up for online pre-registration, take this as your cue to pursue this solution.

- Friendly Billing Statements and Options: Apply the HFMA standards for patient friendly billing to your statements immediately. Redesign the statements to be more patient-friendly, with key information highlighted and details appropriately summarized for more simple comprehension. Give patients more ways to pay by offering online account management.

At Emdeon, we understand that patients who are confused about their financial responsibilities are more likely to pick up the phone and call your billing department instead of picking up their pen to write a check for payment. That’s why developing a clear and concise, patient-friendly billing statement is important for your bottom line. Call 877.EMDEON.6 (877.363.3666) or visit us online to discover how Emdeon ExpressBill Services can help improve cash flow at your organization.







Read More >>

What's the Big Deal About Payment Automation?

To contact us Click HERE

Would you consider the capability to get paid faster and more completely while also reducing manual processes and the need for full-time staff to be a big deal? Of course you would. The evolving healthcare landscape demands that providers of all sizes find solutions to not only collect more revenue, but be more efficient in doing so. Any alternative that results in greater reimbursement and staff efficiencies is, simply put, a big deal.

That’s where Emdeon Payment Automation comes in. Providers nationwide are reaping the benefits from automated solutions for processing paper Remittance Advice (RA) and Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) for one streamlined workflow. We’re empowering providers to eliminate burdensome, manual processes related to paper with automation to post commercial insurance payments promptly and accurately.

Rather than just tell you of Emdeon Payment Automation’s powerful impact from our vantage point, we’d prefer to show you its benefits through a recently-released case study featuring a prominent medium-sized organization’s surprisingly simple and quick journey to big time benefits.

Download this compelling case-in-point to discover:

• The shortcomings of a bank’s EOB processing system and lockbox services
• How long it took and how many people were needed to post payments and correct Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA) errors for this provider organization
• The many, measurable ways Emdeon Payment Automation improved the situation
• An executive’s firsthand account of Emdeon’s implementation process and support
• How long it took for the provider organization to break even on its investment in Emdeon’s solution

While this Emdeon Customer Success Story is a relevant read for any organization seeking a practical, simple-to-implement payment automation solution, it’s particularly fitting for providers that are:

• Still using an inordinately large dedicated staff to handle manual commercial payer payment processes
• Currently tied to a bank for payment process and lockbox support
• Struggling with posting errors and subsequent revisiting of items posted
• In need of higher first-pass yield, reduction of denials and all-around better data accuracy
• Looking for a simple-to-integrate, automated solution that will enhance efficiencies and bring big deal results

With Emdeon, achieving those big deal results can be a relatively small feat. We cover all the details to get you up and running with automated payment solutions promptly and offer integration to make workflows as seamless as possible. Click here to download the case study and learn more!






Read More >>

What to Expect When You're Expecting (...A Bill, That Is!)

To contact us Click HERE

Tips for Teaching Patients What to Expect Before the Statement Arrives

It’s human nature to fear the unknown. The quake of uncertainty arises during many of life’s big challenges. Leaving home for the first time, getting married, having a family… receiving a hospital billing statement.

Yes, holding a billing statement from a healthcare provider can be a white-knuckled experience when the Total Amount Due puts an unexpected strain on the household budget.

Many professionals in the business of Accounts Receivable and collections in the healthcare industry report that people generally want to pay their bills but are hindered in doing so promptly or in full if their billing statements are complex or hard to read. Add the innately daunting details of a healthcare encounter to a billing statement, and it’s simple to understand why patients are so fearful come payment time.

Today, many providers have taken steps to make statements more approachable and understandable. They’re using better designs organized for easier review, incorporating colors to call out key information and tailoring language with the recipient in mind. Nonetheless, fears and confusion associated with billing remain. What’s a provider to do?

Here are some practical ideas to help educate patients about the billing process.

Show & Tell at Registration
Begin educating patients about their bills at the point of registration by familiarizing them with the statement layout. Display a poster-size version of a statement in the patient registration area with visual callouts highlighting key aspects of the design. If your facility has different statement templates for subsequent notices, display the entire statement series so patients are acquainted with what to expect.

Interactive Explanation Online
Extend this “show & tell” approach to your website. Create an easily accessed page that shows interactive first, second and final notice statements. Create clickable highlighted information to engage patients as you explain how to find essential balance information, due dates, etc.

Continuous Improvement Based on Feedback
In the latest report issued by the PATIENT FRIENDLY BILLING® Project Report “Case Studies in Customer Service”, the case study of Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s approach to improving patient statements serves as a motivating template for providers. The Sharp Grossmont team met regularly to identify and address the portions of patient statements that generated the most calls and questions. Over time, the organization redesigned its statements to reduce calls and empower patients to better understand their payment requirements and options.

Pre-Statement Communication
Don’t blindside patients, especially those facing large out-of-pocket balances. Make it standard practice to pull reports identifying these patients, and send them pre-statement correspondence to prepare and guide them regarding what’s to come. Call them directly and proactively offer financial counsel to help ease the payment process. Starting the conversation early will make it easier to stay in touch during the payment process.

Want to learn more about helping your patients better understand their financial responsibilities? Call 877.EMDEON.6 (877.363.3666) to learn more or visit us online.






Read More >>

It's 10 O'Clock. Do You Know Where Your Patient Data Is?

To contact us Click HERE

If nothing is more important to a healthcare provider than caring for the well-being of patients, protecting patients’ personal information runs a very close second. Patient care is guided by the Hippocratic Oath but it is also heavily regulated by HIPAA mandates requiring that provider organizations keep a watchful eye to safeguard patient data too.

If your organization uses email to transmit patient billing files, you are likely subjecting precious data to potential compromise. The causes of possible data leakage through email are vast including human error, system hacking and unauthorized access. All around, transmitting patient billing files using email is a high risk procedure that comes with enormous consequences should the method fail.

That’s why Emdeon ExpressBill Services is designed to protect patient billing information throughout statement printing and mailing and especially when files are initially uploaded from the provider’s patient billing system.

The key to our data protection? Emdeon leverages a password-protected File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site which allows customers to transfer files to this secure site ensuring only the provider and Emdeon can access the files. This method is like an armed guard escort leading the file directly from one locked safe to the next reducing the risk of misdirected, leaked or intercepted data. Our eye on file security doesn’t stop there. After the files are uploaded, they are automatically scanned to evaluate data integrity and file completeness. Another bonus? Data can be sent 24 hours a day, seven days a week and customers have the flexibility to select whether file processing should start in real time or on a pre-determined schedule.

Keeping sensitive data protected and secure is at the core of Emdeon’s business. Did you know that Emdeon powers the single largest financial, administrative and clinical information exchange in the U.S. healthcare system? Recently, Emdeon opened the second of two new data centers that serve as the central nervous system for the largest and most powerful network in healthcare. With a Tier 3 infrastructure, these centers allow us to provide a single, interactive and standards-based transaction processing and analytics platform.

Take a comprehensive look at your patient billing data processes. Do you see any potential leaks in the system? Call 877.EMDEON.6 (877.363.3666) to learn more about Emdeon ExpressBill Services!






Read More >>

Confusion, Misinformation Could Hinder USPS's Early-Retirement Push

To contact us Click HERE
Confusion reigns among the 115,000 postal workers who received notices in the past few days about a buyout offer. The confusion could limit the number of APWU-represented career employees who accept the U.S. Postal Service’s $15,000 incentive to retire or quit.

”The Postal Service's voluntary early retirement annuity estimates are as bad as before,” says Don Cheney, a long-time critic of the U.S. Postal Service’s communications with its employees regarding retirement benefits.

As usual, the errors tend to understate what employees’ benefits will be upon retirement, says Cheney, an APWU member who for the last nine years has been advising postal workers and writing about errors in retirement estimates the U.S. Postal Service provides its employees.

(See How Does the Postal Service Discourage Early Retirement? Let Me Count the Ways, Why Does USPS Make Retiring Difficult When It Has So Many Excess Employees?, and The Postal Service's Early-Retirement Snafu for more on how the Postal Service’s poor communications have undercut its previous efforts to downsize by offering early-retirement incentives.)

“I am receiving numerous inquiries about the retirement incentive,” former APWU president Bill Burrus wrote a few days ago. He urged the union’s current leadership to designate a knowledgeable officer or staff member to help members who have questions about the early-out incentive.

“This is an important time in their lives and they are in need of timely answers to their questions,” Burrus wrote. And they won’t get those answers from the Postal Service. As Cheney notes, USPS offers no retirement counseling to employees taking early retirement until after the decision to retire is irrevocable, which postal unions claim is contrary to federal regulations (not to mention common sense).

Referring to a recent estimate one employee received, Cheney says, “This 51-year-old individual in the FERS retirement system was not told whether they are eligible for the SS [Social Security] annuity supplement, how much it would be or when it would start.”  He adds, “If VERA [Voluntary Early Retirement] eligibles in FERS knew they would get about $800/month more in their FERS annuities at Minimum Retirement Age (MRA), more would take it,” he adds.

"There is still the misconception among FERS employees of an age penalty in a Voluntary Early Retirement,” Cheney says. “The opposite is true in most cases.”

Also tending to discourage early retirements is the mistaken belief that the IRS charges a 10% early-withdrawal penalty for money taken out of a Thrift Savings Plan by early retirees, he says.

 “Congress made an exception for federal and postal employees that retire or separate at age 55 or later. For them, there is no 10% IRS early withdrawal penalty,” Cheney says. “Younger retirees can avoid the IRS penalty by withdrawing their money as an annuity.”

Slow processing of retirees’ paperwork and payments has also tended to discourage early retirements, but this time around at least some postal workers may benefit from the backlogs at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The 21st Century Postal Worker, a web site serving APWU members, passes along this message:

“For all that put their retirement paperwork in prior to the [incentive] announcement, call OPM ASAP and ask if your paperwork has been processed. If it has not been processed (there is a 6-8 week wait), the effective date of retirement can be changed to reflect the incentive memo. Do NOT DELAY! Do not hang up until you actually reach a representative from OPM. Do NOT leave a call back. Stay on the phone until you make sure the paperwork is reprocessed and you fax in a copy to change the date of retirement.”

8 Questions About Newsweek's Future

To contact us Click HERE
Google News indicates that more than 1,000 articles were published Thursday about Newsweek magazine abandoning print but continuing as the digital Newsweek Global. Still, many questions remain unanswered, including: 

Recent Newsweek cover -- and a parody

1. Will some of the millions of dollars no longer being forked over to the U.S. Postal Service, paper mills, and printers be reinvested in more and better content? 
2. Will Newsweek Global’s covers still inspire hilarious parodies? Or will lack of visibility at airports, grocery stores, and dentists’ offices mean its covers will no longer matter, regardless how hard Tina Brown tries?
3. What will happen to current subscribers who don’t have internet or computer access or just don’t want a digital publication? Will they get their money back? 
4. How will advertisers respond to Newsweek Global and its lack of ratebase (guaranteed minimum circulation)? 
5. What does this mean for TIME magazine? Will it benefit from its archrival’s loss of visibility, or will it get sucked down the same toilet? 
6. Will Newsweek Global be only a digital magazine – for example, with numbered pages and a regular publication schedule? Or will some subscribers view its content on an unpaginated, paywall-protected web site that is continuously updated? 
7. Is Newsweek truly abandoning print, or will it become a zombie on newsstands like Life and U.S. News & World Report, living on in “bookazines” (special issues)? 
8. Will Newsweek Global survive? 

Added thought: It turns out the Mayans weren't quite right: 2012 isn't the end of Time, it's the end of Newsweek.

Related articles:

• Newsweek Takes a Stand: Profits Are for Wimps
• What Exactly Did Barry Diller Say About Newsweek's Future?  
• Tina Brown Follows Husband's Footsteps -- Sort Of