towards-dharmic-capitalism

Towards Dharmic Capitalism

The question of money and wealth is perhaps the most vexing of all issues confronted by those who aspire for a more conscious way of life. Money has a subtle corrupting influence even on the best of minds. It is for this reason that money is amongst the first things to be rejected by the spiritually inclined. Most spiritual disciplines celebrate poverty because of a deeply ingrained fear of money. But wealth is indispensable to life on earth and any spirituality that dismisses wealth will have to, by that very logic, dismiss the action of life itself.

According to the Mother and Sri Aurobindo, money is not just a medium of exchange but a powerful force at work on earth. This force can be harnessed and used consciously and creatively for human welfare and wellbeing, to generate physical, material and vital abundance for all humans everywhere; or it can be used for personal and collective aggrandizement. Being a force, money by itself is neither good nor bad: it is what we make of it and how we use it.

Sri Aurobindo said that the wealth force is essentially a divine force, a spiritual force, that must be used for the work of the Divine on earth. In other words, wealth is a force to be used for establishing Dharma. But, in the present scheme of things, this force happens to be under the control of the asuric or adharmic forces, forces ruled by greed and ego and opposed to Truth and Dharma. Those who have the money often do not have the consciousness of Dharma; and those who have the consciousness, often do not have the money!

In Indian spirituality, there are two dominant forces in the play of evolution: the daivic and the asuric. The daivic (from the word deva, meaning divine) represents the forces of Truth and harmony, unerringly aligned with the highest dharma; the asuric (from the word asura, meaning demonic) represents the exaggerated and unbalanced ego which typically needs to devour others to grow and thrive. While the asuric concentrates all wealth and power in its own hands for its own selfish use, the daivic distributes, circulates, shares so that all grow together, following wider and deeper laws of universal oneness and harmony. The asuric wealth is typically Kuber’s wealth, hoarded and jealously guarded, while daivic wealth comes from Mahalakshmi and must flow and circulate freely for it to return to her. Note that the very name Kuber, in Sanskrit, means deformed or demonic, whereas Lakshmi (लक्स्ह्मि, She-of-the-hundred-thousands) in Sanskrit represents prosperity, abundance and divine Grace (Lakshmi as shri).

The fact that the asuric forces rule the wealth force explains the present state of affairs in our world — the irrational imbalance of wealth, the inequality of distribution of resources, the rampant greed and corruption of spirit that marks most businesses and money making ventures. Because the forces controlling wealth are asuric in origin, the all round consequences are equally asuric — our entire work culture, based on a cultural obsession with making money at all costs, clearly sucks. Hardly anyone in our modern day corporate and business environment loves or enjoys the work she or he does. Most people work like donkeys, in dehumanizing and uncreative environments, for crassly utilitarian objectives. The objective of work should be creative fulfillment, the ananda or delight of creative and productive work that generates global prosperity and wellbeing. But few ever come to such delight of work in their lifetimes.

Consider the fact that we are living in a world where the richest 1% own 44% of the world’s wealth and resources [1]. If that’s not bad enough, consider further that adults with less than $10,000 in wealth make up 56.6 percent of the world’s population but hold less than 2 percent of global wealth. If this is what we have achieved over millennia of civilization and economic planning, then we seriously need to check our premises.

But this is precisely the result of asuric influence and control — distortion, exaggeration, imbalance, instability. Human societies are sitting on a powder keg. Such glaring inequality is bound to implode. It is a question of when. The socialist model in economics failed because human consciousness, dominated by the asuric ego, was not ready for it, and those who led the system were themselves unquestioning servitors of the asuric; the capitalist model too is failing because of the same reason: asuric domination. The way we work, earn money and live is a reflection and expression of asuric greed and insecurity: corporate systems and governance are based on mutual distrust, the corporate and social machinery is ruthless, exploitative and transactional.

Self-interest is the defining attribute of the asura, and it is self-interest that has largely defined us as communities, organizations and nations. We act compulsively out of self-interest, and this is what makes us and our systems exploitative. If we act out of self-interest, we will inevitably exploit each other. This is inevitable and we don’t need a Marx to tell us that.

In an ideal world, where the wealth force is possessed by the daivic and dharmic forces, those with a higher and wider consciousness would have access to the wealth force; only the enlightened would be given the power over wealth and resources. The most privileged would also be the most responsible, conscious and compassionate, and therefore the most grateful and generous. Generosity is the defining attribute of the deva, just as self-interest is the defining attribute of the asura.

But an ideal world will be created only under certain ideal conditions. The balance of forces will have to be restored, the asuric influences have to be replaced by the daivic, the generation of wealth will have to be aligned to Dharma — the True, the Right and the Just.

The first condition for reversing the balance of forces would be to ensure that those who are spiritually conscious are the ones who turn to generation of wealth. There is a cosmic law that governs the wealth force: wealth flows towards its votaries and not towards those who resist or reject it. This has been the great tragedy of our civilization for millennia, that those who should wield control over the wealth force are the ones who have deeply resisted or completely rejected it. This must change. The old idea of poverty as a condition for spiritual life must be rejected for what it is — a life negating belief; wealth is a divine force and must be used for the work of the Divine, and this can best be done by those who seek the higher Light and Truth in their own lives. The Truth of Life is not to be found in forests and monasteries but in the active field of life. Wealth is not a thing to be rejected but to be possessed by the mighty in spirit and used for the welfare of humanity.

The ancient Indians did not reject human desire or wealth in their pursuit of spiritual Truth and liberation, they harmonized and synthesized fulfillment of desire, generation of wealth, pursuit of dharma and spiritual liberation in a wide integral embrace of the whole field and scope of human existence. Kama (desire), artha (wealth and the generation of wealth), dharma (the order and harmony of all existence) and moksha (spiritual realization and liberation) were interwoven in the very fabric of everyday life in the world. This is the principle to which our modern civilization must return, for this is the true resolution of all our conflicts and crises.

The second condition would be to bring back the sage and the Yogi to the centre-stage of our collective life. We need to discover amongst ourselves the votaries of the higher Truth and not the votaries of money and power; we need to find and value those men and women of consciousness, those enlightened masters, who can be our new thought-leaders and role-models. We must collectively realize that possessing wealth, power and fame do not mean anything if one does not possess consciousness, wisdom and compassion. We must collectively understand that the rich, the powerful and the famous are not necessarily the true and the wise; on the contrary. We must insist on the values of consciousness, integrity and responsibility and must collectively and vigorously reject the self-indulgent, the false and the hypocritical; we must, with great vigor and passion, reject pettiness and falsehood and celebrate truth and wideness; we must learn to recognize the most conscious amongst us and honor them, value them, celebrate them.

A lot of us everywhere must now begin to speak up like the little child in the fable who publicly asked why the emperor was not wearing clothes. We must learn to see truly, without filters; we must learn to stand for truth, whatever we may possess of it; we must learn to speak for the true and the right, call a spade a spade, and live with integrity and courage. The poverty of consciousness must end, and we must grow rich in mind, spirit and body. The old division between wealth and spirit must go. The next generation should learn this invaluable lesson: that to possess the true wealth force, one must possess the true consciousness.

These would be the first conditions for establishing the next capitalism on earth — a conscious and enlightened capitalism created and sustained by groups of conscious and enlightened thought-leaders wielding the wealth-force; and this then will open the possibilities of a new and enlightened socio-economic order. Only such a conscious and enlightened capitalism based on Dharma, or a dharmic capitalism, will bring about the crucial changes in the way we collectively work and live on this planet. A dharmic capitalism will naturally encourage the principles of justice, fair play and equal opportunity as much as the values of hard work and excellence. Unfair wealth generation, crony capitalism, unbridled greed and corruption do not make for a healthy and sane society, and the aim of wealth is to create a healthy and sane society. This is a deep spiritual truth. Let us reflect on it.

Originally published on the Satyameva website

Health Care Compliance Regulations in the U.S.

Health Care Compliance Regulations in the U.S.

Prone to timely amendments, The U.S. health care industry falls amidst the most scrutinized industries in the entire country. It is consistently experiencing a surging growth leading to a significant increase in the requirement of compliance officers across the 50 states.

The role of such compliance professionals is to assist health care facilities in maintaining compliance against the ever-growing regulations issued by the government. Let us take a look at some of the major laws and acts that help health care facilities in navigating through compliance procedures issued by The U.S. health care industry.

The department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in collaboration with the distinguished Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is the pivotal wing responsible for ensuring quality care and safeguarding the privacy of electronic health records (EHR).

A. Granting public access to emergency services, the EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act) mandates hospitals to render emergency services without considering the financial stability or insurance policy coverage of a patient.
This act is specifically applicable to all hospitals that participate in Medicare.

B. The importance of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has had a huge contribution to bringing subsidized health care to the country. The law further requires providers to reimburse every patient (enrolled through federally funded programs) according to a specially designed ethics and compliance program.

C. CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) lays out EHR incentive programs to motivate health care facilities to protect and regulate electronic health records according to standards set by HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health). The HITECH Act is instrumental in improving the quality of health care delivered by providers. It further grants patients the legal right to extract their own records from doctors, hospitals, and other health care facilities.

According to CMS, in the year of 2016, U.S. health care reflected spending of $ 3.3 trillion and between 3% to 10% of this staggering amount is lost to fraud [1]. Figures on this colossal loss were generated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association.
With the sole intention of curbing the number of frauds, the government has also set-up various statutes, laws, and dedicated units.

A. Every state needs to have its own Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MCFU) which are meant to investigate frauds committed by Medicaid providers.
This unit also keeps a thorough check on issues related to patient abuse or neglect at the hands of health care facilities.

B. In addition to MCFU, The False Claims Act keeps a check on claims presented by facilities. The function of this act is to determine civil liability in case of a provider presenting a fraudulent claim to the government.

C. According to the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute, health care professionals are strictly prohibited from accepting money or products termed as rewards for referrals. This is concerning patients who are availing health care benefits under programs like Medicaid and Medicare.

Registered under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines workplace safety standards.

A. There is a multistep compliance process in place which helps in safeguarding health care workers whilst they handle x-ray machines and deal with infectious agents at the facility.

B. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is government agency which is responsible for setting up a systematic approach wherein government entities along with public and private sector organizations work in coherence to render a diligent response in case of catastrophic or large-scale epidemics or bioterrorism incidents.

References-
[1] cms.gov.research-statistics.pdf

How Predictive Analytics can Improve your Business

How Predictive Analytics can improve your business

Harnessing data has become one of the most pivotal tasks today. Companies are consistently searching for techniques that help generate huge amounts of data which can be studied and electronically processed to draw predictions.

Predictive Analytics is a dedicated term wherein businesses use historical data with the intent of guessing future outcomes. It is an advanced tool which helps companies in anticipating changes in market behavior. It also empowers companies to prepare, modify, and adjust, their operational, production, and marketing methods.

For organizations, Predictive Analytics is a sought-after tool as it’s extremely potent in creating a personalized experience for consumers. Let us take a look at why this advanced tool is being increasingly used by companies across the globe.

Outperform Competitors

An effective predictive model helps in anticipating the behavioral patterns of users amongst your target audience.
This is unequivocally a competitive advantage as it helps you track down the aspirations of a user.
By creating personalized content, your company stands a better chance of winning the loyalty of users.

Create Opportunities

As Predictive Analytics render crucial insights into buying patterns of potential and existing customers, you can push customers by offering discounts and privileges to generate additional revenue streams. By collecting valuable data of users, your company can diversify its product range as well.

Also Read: Why Health Care Organizations are focussing on Predictive Analytics

Understand Target Audience

Using historical or past data, predictive analytics can reveal the preferences of the target audience.
For instance, while recording a specific user’s data, you can note down the current preferences whereas once this data is processed using this advanced tool, you can make a well—informed guess regarding a user’s future preference.

This is a major benefit enabling businesses to understand its users or customers.

Retention

One of the most crucial aspects of running a business is to understand how to retain its stakeholders. Regardless of the type of company, it is not easy to acquire and then retain a customer or an employee. Both of these stakeholders need to be understood by the company.

Predictive Analytics as a method assists in understanding the reason behind the exiting of such stakeholders.
For instance, a retail venture can use its predictive analytical skills to take note of reasons that push customers to choose their competition.

Operational Improvement

A whole lot of companies use predictive analytics to improve the functioning of their inbound and outbound processes.
For instance, Airline companies use it to determine ticket prices in the coming months. Some companies use predictive models to anticipate the inventory levels necessary for sustaining through a financial year.

With such varied application, predictive analytics is undoubtedly a significant tool which can either make or break a business.
It does take years to accumulate valuable data and create a full-fledged roadmap but once that stage is through, you can be assured of positive results and steady growth.

Most Common UX Design Methods and Techniques

Most Common UX Design Methods and Techniques

Creating a convenient yet enjoyable experience for users is at the forefront of every designer’s vision. To achieve this objective, UX designers adopt certain methods and techniques which break down this process into multiple steps. With this, it becomes easier to quantify the amount of work done and ascertaining the overall progress of the project.

Let us check out some of the most common UX design methods and techniques used by designers.

Value Proposition

This retains the first position for a reason. UX designers use a value proposition statement to define the primary characteristics of the product.

  • What is it?
  • It’s usage?
  • The audience?

This initial phase is critical in mapping the direction of the design process and reaching an agreement regarding the nature of the product. Designers must churn out maximum detail (to curate) during this phase.

Product Strategy

This step is essential for providing details regarding the life cycle of the product and its additional development. It allows the designers to match the attributes of the product against the requirements of the target audience.

Competitors Audit

You just can’t start developing a product without observing what your competitors are offering. Even though this is a ‘no brainer’ for most, it is important to establish concrete comparisons with other products, existing or upcoming. The crux of conducting this audit is to observe the strategies adopted by market competitors and leaders.

Group Observation

Using data to leverage the design process, UX designers conduct cultural probes wherein they gather information regarding the expectations, thoughts, and values of the end-user. This technique comes handy in inspiring designers to chalk out new ideas. The data is collected through minimal interruption but it assists UX designers to foresee upcoming opportunities when it comes to their product.

If this phase progresses effectively, the designers can enjoy access to deepest user-based insights.

Usability Testing

This technique is profoundly liked by every designer. It involves observing users when they carry out tasks using the product. Provided the designers have access to the right mix of end-users, this technique can help deduce actionable insights into the expectations of users and clients. The feedback accumulated using this technique is like real-time data generated by users which is impossible to refute.

Such usability tests have the knack of rendering results instrumental in deciding the future course of action.

User Personas

Considered as a fictional representation of the target audience, user personas are designed to predict the goals of the user along with their attitude whilst using the product in the future. Backed by research, user personas are developed to standardize the expectations of a specific user base. This assist designers to have an image of the end-user in mind whilst designing and finalizing the specifics of the product.

There are several other techniques and methods used by designers but these are some of the most important ones, that have helped in generating valuable data for concluding UX projects.

Why Health Care Organizations are focussing on Predictive Analytics

As an integral part of every major healthcare facility, the process of Revenue Cycle Management generates a huge amount of data, constantly used by stakeholders within the health care industry.

This data is carefully managed, stored, and interpreted by every health care facility to improve the quality of patient care whilst simultaneously reducing claim denial cases to increase revenue collection.

The ever-growing need for establishing a better grip on data analytics also directed the health care industry to look deeper into Predictive Analytics. As a concept adopted and appreciated by health care industry stalwarts, Predictive Analytics, is touted to use data in ways never imagined before.

Black Book Research conducted a survey where financial juggernauts and revenue cycle leaders of approximately 1500 hospitals were questioned regarding the relevance of Predictive Analytics. 76 percent of these individuals shared concrete plans to invest 10 percent (or more) of their respective facilities’ IT budget towards Predictive Analytics. Here’s why-

Reckoned as a game-changer in health care, facilities use Predictive Analytics to forecast revenue collection and rectify errors that can affect the flow of revenue. Besides, more than 50 percent of health care leaders believe that predictive analytics could help reduce overall costs by 15 percent or more.

Predicting contingencies in the revenue cycle process

For health care facilities, it is pertinent to conduct eligibility checks during patient registration.
These checks need to be rechecked at the time of claim submission. If both these steps are not completed with coherence, providers are at risk of experiencing a claim denial as the patient might outrun coverage from a specific insurance payer.
This contingency hampers cash flow and increases administrative expense. But predictive analytics can recognize such breakdowns and bring them to your attention at the earliest.

Payers’ remittance pattern

Predictive Analytics enables providers to determine when a specific payer will complete claim submission. The approach is so accurate that facilities can even predict the date and time of a specific remittance. Innovative machine learning techniques are put to use to achieve a foresight of such sophistication.
This information empowers health care providers to manage their revenue cycle operations with ease and efficiency.

Predicting Claim Denials before they take place

On average, a hospital carries a risk of losing $5 million annually towards claim denials. Even though 63 percent of such denials can be rectified, the entire process causes a surge in administrative overheads which eventually eats into the revenue of the facility.
Predictive Analytics helps the facility in identifying claims (before submission) which have a higher probability of denial. This creates a window for employees to correct these claims driving an increase in the number of clean claims.

Foresee changes in payer rules

Payer-specific rules for claims adjudication are constantly changing and if the facility’s revenue cycle doesn’t improvise such changes, there is a good chance of a claim being denied or delayed. In both scenarios, the facility stands to lose a considerable chunk of revenue whilst incurring additional costs.
With the help of predictive analytics and machine learning, operators can make necessary changes in advance to adjust accordingly and improve the function of the revenue cycle.