HIT Governance, Regulations and Policy

HIT Governance, Regulations and Policy Melchor Abejon   The management and leadership of an organization play a significant role in determining the effectiveness of information technology. The use of Health Information Technology (HIT) to improve the healthcare service delivery is constantly increasing, thus it becomes an imperative for every Health Care Organization (HCO) to have an effective Information Technology (IT) governance in place to ensure that the use of HIT aligns with the strategic goals and objectives of the organization, and to effectively prioritized the limited resources. As the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the academic healthcare system, the purpose of this paper is to: Define IT governance and describe the characteristics of a well-developed IT governance mechanism that are desirable for the organization. Create an assessment of the current state of HIT governance in the organization. Create an assessment of the organizations HIT governance capabilities. Definition of IT Governance Gartner (2017) defines IT governance as the processes that ensure the efficient and effective use of IT in enabling an organization to achieve its goals.   It is composed of the processes, relationships in reporting, committees and roles that an organization develops to make decisions about IT resources and activities, and to manage the execution of the decisions. These decisions involve defining project management approaches, setting priorities, determining budgets and addressing IT problems. Characteristics of a well-developed IT Governance Mechanism Wager, Lee and Glaser (2013) has given the following characteristics of a well-developed HIT governance mechanism as enumerated below: Objective and fair. Organizational participants should view governance as objective, fair, well-reasoned, and having integrity. The capability of governance to govern is highly dependent on the willingness of the organizational participants to be governed. Efficient and timely. The governance processes should be efficient and not bureaucratic. It should arrive to decisions quickly. Makes authority clear. A good IT governance enables committees and individuals who have decision authority to have a clear understanding of the scope of their roles and authority. Capability to evolve. A good IT governance mechanism should evolve as the organization, its environment and the use of technology in the organization evolves. Assessment of the Current State of HIT Governance and Capabilities of the Organization Methodology Basing from the described current IT governance structure of the organization in the scenario, and as the CIO of the organization, I believe that a good way to start in establishing a consideration to implement a new health IT governance structure for the organization is to assess the current health IT governance structure. The assessment will include identifying the organizations current maturity by completing a baseline assessment using a qualitative tool which is the Informatics Capability Maturity Model (ICMM) developed by the United Kingdoms National Health Service. The tool will not only assess the current maturity of the organizations health IT governance, but it also determines how capable the organization will be to improve its current health IT governance in order to achieve its strategic objectives. The ICMM also provides an easy quick starting point for organizational level discussions on informatics capabilities and highlighting the most essential areas for consideration . Procedure. Using the ICMM tool, I will evaluate my organizations HIT governance current status and capabilities by assessing five different dimensions. In each of the dimensions are five levels of maturity that ranges from basic (least mature) to innovative (most mature). For each maturity level, I will compare the characteristics and recognize my organizations appropriate position based on the maturity scale. Below are the five dimensions that will serve as my basis for my assessment: Management of information. In this dimension, I would assess the organizations procedures for data collection, data management, and sharing of information across the organization. Assessing this dimension would also enable me to understand the organizations capability in information security, information availability and reliability. A high score in this dimension indicates that the organizational participants or users have access to the right information at the right time. Use of business intelligence. In this dimension, I would assess the organizations approach to analyzing and presenting data to produce the needed information for decision making in the organizations business and clinical area. Assessing this dimension would also enable me to understand the organizations capability to monitor key performance indicators and metrics, ability to communicate essential information and as well as on how the organization invest in its strategic assets such as IT. Use of information technology. In this dimension, I would assess the organizations innovative use of IT. Assessing this dimension would also enable me to understand the organizations transfer of information, methods of information capture, and in sharing and reporting of information. Business and informatics alignment. In this dimension, I would assess how the organization considers and values informatics as a strategic asset in meeting its goals and objectives. Assessing this dimension would also enable me to understand the organizations focus of corporate resources on business activities, strategic plans, organizations activities that are relevant to current strategies and the organizations focus on outcome and results of activities within the organization. Change management. In this dimension, I would assess the organizations approach to realizing the benefits of informatics enabled business change. Assessment of this dimension would also enable me to understand the capability of the organization to realign its strategy and activities through periods of change and as well as capability of the organization to deal with complex changes and readiness for change. After a thorough analysis and determination of my organizations HIT governance status and capabilities based on the ICMMs maturity scale, the result of the assessment will be brought up to the senior leadership of the organization for discussion and identification of areas in the organization that have the potential for informatics capability improvement. A low score across all five dimensions would probably suggest for either a need for improvement or change in the organizations health IT governance structure. After discussing the results with the senior leadership and identifying the need for improvement or change, evidence or evidences will be collected to support the assessment and a proposal for capability development actions has to be created. The last step would be to develop strategies that would reflect the actions agreed upon by all stakeholders in the organization. This could be improving the current health IT governance or identifying a potential health IT governance structure that would be appropriate for the organization. Basing from the described health IT governance of the healthcare system in the scenario, an IT governance structure that enables effective prioritization of competing initiatives is absolutely needed. After improving or implementing a new IT governance structure for an organization, it is imperative that the progress has to be reviewed again through reassessment using the ICMM tool. References IT Governance. (2017). Retrieved February 27, 2017 from http://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/it-governance/ Nelson, R. Staggers, N. (2014). Health Informatics: An Interprofessional Approach. St. Louis, MO.: Elsevier Mosby. United Kingdoms National Health Service (n.d.). Informatics capability maturity model (ICMM) tool. Retrieved February 26, 2017 from http://content.digital.nhs.uk/article/4933/ICMM-tool Wager, K.A., Lee, F.W., Glaser, J.P. (2013). Healthcare information systems: A practical approach for health care management (3rd ed). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Innovative Human Resource Practices : Global Perspective.

Innovative Human Resource Practices : Global Perspective. â€Å"Any company that’s going to make it in the 1990’s and beyond has got to find a way to engage the mind of every single employee. If you are not thinking all the time about making every employee more valuable, you don’t have a chance. What’s the alternative? Wasted minds? Uninvolved people? A labour force that’s angry or bored? That doesn’t make sense. † – Jack Welch Positively correlated with the economic transition is the strengthening and diversification of human resource management practices, a break away from the more traditional, though extremely challenging fields of Personal Management and Industrial Relations. The maturity of various industries in India has also seen a maturity in the way the various players approach their human resource management. One excellent example is that of BPO Industry. In the beginning it was only meant to handle non-core activities like payroll management etc. ut as the industry-matured it saw the entry of various players coming-up with strategic core service support like NAD, RR&D etc. This led to a stronger focus on HRM. What is happening in India today is similar to the experiences of economically developed nations through several past decades; and will happen in least developed countries too, in times to come. Hence, it would be prudent to talk of modern human resource practices in a more general, i. e. , global framework. Of course, contextual peculiarities will only serve to enrich our knowledge pool. But the first thing we need to clear – both at a conceptual and at a terminological level – what we are looking for. The main task is to find a common definition of ‘innovative practices’, a definition that most of us could agree upon in order to avoid conflicting interpretations or misunderstandings, â€Å"Innovative practices are original, exemplary, successful, adaptable, new solutions gained from experience†. Undoubtedly, the â€Å"Innovative Practices† when considered are large in variety. They range from the introduction of new technologies to the assignment of new duties to the increase in competences, they test new organizational models, and they introduce innovative tools of social and political governance at a local level. Modern workplaces are extremely complex situations in which all the elements: the nature of the job, the characteristics of the employee, the structure of the organization/ organizational sub-unit as well as the methods and aims of supervision are extremely diverse and/or fluid. And, as a response, have emerged, a wide variety of innovative HR practices. The first element common is the need for innovation and experimentation, which are required in order to cope with the change in the sector as workforce around the world, has undergone a serious transformation. Changing demographic patterns, income levels, aspirations & expectations have given rise to a more demanding & aware work force. Let’s take the example of a BPO where in order to retain employees, industry is adopting new and innovative ways. The following example helps us to understand how the industry is attracting people. â€Å"MSR works for four days every week and gets to put her feet up for the rest of the week. MSR is part of a 20-member team at a leading BPO, WNS Global Services. While the company claimed every employee followed a five-day week, an insider said that the new four-day system has been introduced as a pilot project for an US insurance firm. The insurer apparently offers a similar option to its call centre employees in the US. Workers opting for the four-day system get a normal weekend off and another holiday mid-week. However, they have to work for 11 hours on normal workdays compared to nine hours that their colleagues following a usual week put in. The pay is no different either. MSR says that she finds this comfortable as she is in the office for most of the day or night. It does not make much of a difference if she stays on for another couple of hours making it 11 hours a day. But she is happy to have a full day off that gives her more time to be with her family. † Just like above mentioned example many BPOs are following various innovative practices in the form of new HR incentives. They have tried many incentives such as encouraging people to get their family to work in the same place or creating recreational opportunities. A senior professor of organizational behavior at XLRI, India observed that after a point, money would not matter and personal life becomes very important. Companies are trying to reduce the gap between official life and personal life. They are trying to take care of employees’ personal life as much as possible. That is why the employers are trying to make the organization a fun workplace, offering facilities like gym, sauna and games. Some companies also arrange to take care of errands such as paying electricity and telephone bills to help the employees reducing their personal work loads. Let’s look at some of the issues calling for more innovative human resource practices: 1. Technology, Change and Resistance to Change. Needless to say, one big player is Technology. Hard technology created alienation amongst workers and it continues to do so in softer avatars. The introduction of amazing new technologies have increased the speed at which other organizations will copy your best practices so it is necessary to speed up the rate of innovation in everything in business. In short, innovation is the last remaining competitive advantage in business — and HR and recruiting are not exempt from this fact. Perhaps this quote will illustrate the speed in which companies are required to innovate: â€Å"Innovation is what is at the foundation of the U. S. economy. Just to give you a simple example of my company†¦ about 90 percent of December revenue comes from products which were not there in January. That sort of innovation, which is a total turnover of our revenue every year, is indicative of what innovation means to us. You miss a cycle of innovation, your revenue disappears. † — Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel Witness the sustained employee- resistance, covert or overt, to technology introduction. In earlier decades, workers resisted mechanization for fear of job-loss. These days, computerization efforts are given the boot as it requires new learning. Again witness the very high implementation – failure rates of what were once thought of as panacea for all organizational ills: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. What actually failed was the proper integration of the Human layer with the Technological one. And now the flipside- Technology helps organizations co-ordinate the complex task of human resource management. Human Resource Management solutions (HRMS) are available in flexible, web- based modules like: — Employee Performance Management (including eAppraisal, Trainning & Development, Goal allocation & Tracking, Multi- Rater Feedback, Performance Linked Bonus etc. ). A lot of companies / HR consultants get custom software built for the purpose on Oracle, but the functionality is similar, which filters and web support etc. Some of the software that support various HR Functions are : Instant HR Software 2. 0. 94 (Manage human resources, personnel records, leave and benefits. , ERP Flex – HR 1 (Manage detailed information of your employees, various evaluations, and trainings. ), The Garuda Preference Profile 2. 1 (Analyze, describe, and measure essential competences, statistics and job-requirements. ) etc. — Human Capital Management including Employee Database (HRIS), Employee Self- Services, Payroll Manager, Online Compensation Planning etc. ) — eRecruitment ( incl uding Recruitment portal, Transfer Management etc. ) — Strategic HR Tools (including Organization Alignment, Succession Planning, Manpower Planning, Leadership Effectiveness Surveys, and Employee Satisfaction Surveys etc. 2. The Gen-Y gauntlet: ‘Challenge me; Develop me; Pay me’ All across the world, and especially in demographically young countries like India, the workforce has come to share certain common features: young age, high levels of intelligence as well as education, a comfortable upbringing, very high aspirational levels and high mobility ( not only physical but also emotional). Coupled these with a relative indifference towards hierarchy, bureaucracy, titles and bonuses and the HR manager has a serious retention and motivation problem at hand as these young people are different. Their motivation, their technical sophistication, and their demand for respect and responsibility are leaving many company executives to wonder: â€Å"What should we do with Generation Y? It’s clear that harnessing the power of these young people is an issue many companies have started to address. Generation Y is innovative and creative. They seek to make a difference and want to produce something worthwhile. Companies that don’t find a way to harness that energy very quickly are likely going to lose out. Generation Y is also impatient; they expect speed and change and won’t tolerate situations that don’t make sense to them. Technology advancements are in part responsible for the generation’s sense of urgency. This generation is connected 24/7. Their exuberant, impatient style may be frustrating to older executives who dismiss Generation Y as inexperienced. At work, Generation Y thrives on flexibility, having space to explore, and the opportunity to pursue new challenges. They expect to be respected for their ideas and insights from Day One, and they think face time and corporate politics are a waste of time. They’d also like to stay with one company – if that company offers them ongoing opportunities to grow and learn new things. So HR practitioners should adopt some practical steps to consider toward change. Start by determining the company’s need for Generation Y talent over the next three to five years, and don’t forget to anticipate the retirement of Baby Boomers or the shortage of Generation Xers. Try to assess the workplace relative to what Generation Yers want: long-term career development, multiple experiences within a single company, flexibility, sense of purpose and meaning in work, respect, and open communication. Finally, develop a generational change plan with the support of senior leaders in the company and pay particular attention to communicating the plan’s purpose and details so that people feel comfortable with the changes. 3. The ‘Creating a Great Place to Work’ Contest. Yes. Like Reality Shows on TV, this new contest has also entered HRM- space in India. Every self – respecting organization wants to be on the bandwagon (or at least seen to be on it). HR managers take this issue seriously as the quality of the workplace impacts directly on issues of customer service and productivity. The connection to customer service has been shown in numerous studies. A famous 1998 study published in the Harvard Business Review article â€Å"The Employee-Customer-Profit Chain at Sears† showed that an increase in employee satisfaction at a store resulted in an increase in customer satisfaction, which in turn resulted in higher profitability for the store. There have been similar studies in the hospital industry, showing that improvements in workplace environments result in better patient satisfaction. A Financial Services & Insurance / Morgan Stanley company of United States takes care of its work environment in order to increase productivity and retain employees. Employees at this investment bank are cared for with benefits that include two on-site restaurants, two health clubs, a medical clinic, dry cleaner, and back-up child care services – one of many initiatives set-up to promote better work/life balance. But what really keeps employees here is the sense among them that they are all seen as people first, not just employees. Phrases such as â€Å"we hire nice people†, and â€Å"talent is more important than specific skill† indicate that managers at Morgan Stanley are willing to invest in people to help them grow and learn, and thus create a career for themselves. This is not the only company there are various company all over the world which are focusing on this very issue of work life. Witness the following initiatives: Sasken’s ‘People First’ policy: shifting focus from consumer to employees; Marriott Hotels’ ‘Guarantee of Fair Treatment’ (GIFT); SCOPE’s (Standard Chartered Operations Co. ‘Switch Jobs Without Quitting’ (SJWQ); Godrej Consumer Products’ Policy on Sexual Harassment (POSH); Sapient Community Outreach Programme (SAPPORT); Sasken’s ‘Hibernation Leave’ concept etc. Thus organization need to understand that mere talk about creating a â€Å"customer- centric† organization is not enough y ou need to provide a working example of how it’s done. Now that we have seen few issues which are very important in today’s scenario to be taken care of let us see few examples of the companies that are following innovative practices in their organizations. The below mentioned examples give a view that companies are following across the world innovative practices that can help them to retain, develop and motivate their people. 7 creative ways that leading companies use to maximize the power of people. 1. Support and Accountability for New recruits at Trilogy Software Trilogy Software, inc among the world’s largest privately held software companies pushes the responsibility of grooming new hires into the organization on their sponsors. As a result, if the new hires make the grade, the sponsors are paid $ 1,000 bonus. If the new hires fail, the sponsors are required to pay $4,000. As most sponsors hold stock options worth millions of dollars so the penalisation does not mean much to them. However, what happens is those who fail examine why their recruit failed and take steps to avoid those mistakes. 2. Jeff Taylor, Founder and CEO of Monster on the importance of having a good time with employees. â€Å"We have a full breakfast bar at our company. We bring in 500 bagels and fresh cut fruit in the morning. We have a gym with a trainer. We have parties once a quarter, where we invite the employees to come and have a good time. † 3. Practice what CEO of SAS, Dr. James Goodnight calls â€Å"Management by Loitering† â€Å"It’s just to be seen walking around and talking to people, and finding out what they’re working on and basically being approachable. You know a lot of things that don’t really come up through the management ranks and some times you find out some very interesting things that people are working on. . 4. Larry Page on automating Performance Tracking at Google. â€Å"We did a simple thing that in retrospect was brilliant: We wrote a program that asks every engineer what they did every week. It sends them an email on Monday, and concatenates the emails together in a document that everyone can read. And it then sends that out to everyone and shames those who did not answer by putting him or her on the top of the list. It has run reliably every week since we started, so forever week of our company’s history we have a record of what everyone did. It’s good for performance reviews, and if you’re joining a project team, in five minutes you can read what your team members did last week or months. † 5. Andy Taylor, Enterprise Rent a Car on Relentless Customer Focus â€Å"So we decided that we had to add some metrics to our customer satisfaction. We created a measurement called ESQi, which is the Enterprise Service Quality index. It’s a statistically valid sample of customers’ opinions taken monthly, at every one of our branches. The customer gets called seven to ten days following the close of the rental. We have an outside company to collect the data, and there are basically two questions. The first asks about the customer’s satisfaction level, with five answers ranging from â€Å"completely satisfied† to â€Å"completely dissatisfied†, and the second asks how likely he would be to return to Enterprise. Beginning in 1996 we told all employees, if you’re not at corporate average or above on your ESQi, your not getting promoted. And all of a sudden, customer satisfaction went to the top of the list. The ESQi has given us a greater sense of urgency and I would consider that the greatest change that has occurred here. The process enables us to go from being a nearly $2 billion business in 1994 to a $7 billion-plus business today. † 6. Staying in touch at Walmart â€Å"At retail giant Walmart, every Monday, members of the senior executive team head out to Walmart stores around the world, where they talk with managers, employees and customers. To ensure that they get a complete picture, they also pay a few visits to competitor’s stores. On Thursday evening, they return to corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, armed with new insights about the market and their people. There, they discuss what they’ve seen and heard, thus allowing the organization to modify its strategies. On Saturday thousands of store managers participate in a videoconference and the senior team shares their observations and provides direction for the coming week. Come Monday, They’re on the road again. 7. Take Employee Feedback like IBM IBM held a three-day discussion via the corporate intranet to debate and discuss about the company’s values, the nature of the organisation and what it stood for. The forum dubbed â€Å"ValuesJam† attracted about 50,000 of IBM’s employees and elicited about 10,000 comments about the proposed values. Thus we can see how little innovation in your practices can enhance not only your employee performance but also your organization performance. Basics are always the same, the only thing we can do is bring or use innovative ways to improve your working and efficiency of your employees. References http://www. deloitte. com/dtt/cda/doc/content/us_consulting_hc_dbrief_150606. pdf http://www. specht. com. au/michael/2007/05/16/gen-y-in-the-workforce/ http://resources. greatplacetowork. com/article/pdf/levering_web. pdf http://www. citehr. com AUTHOR – SHALIKA GRACE PHILLIPS, ASSISTANT POFESSOR, LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY, BAREILLY.

How Penicillin Changed the World Essay

Life before September 1928 proved to be a difficult time for many. The quality of life across the world was poor, and humans had a considerably shorter lifespan than today. Bacterial infections ranked as a leading cause of death. These infections spread easily, and diseases such as pneumonia, syphilis, gonorrhea, diphtheria, and scarlet fever as well as wounds and childbirth infections killed thousands every year. Surgical infections were also a major killer, and doctors had no protection from any of these infections. The discovery of the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928 changed the lives of people forever. Penicillin provided a cure for many deadly infections, and its discovery led to the discovery of many other antibiotics, such as streptomycin, which are used to treat everyday infections for countless ailments, saving and improving lives throughout the world. Before the discovery of penicillin, medicine was not very reliable for curing diseases or infections. Many people in t he late 1800’s- 1920s were dying from the common cold (Tames 12). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states,â€Å"Diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis (TB), and diarrhea and enteritis, which (together with diphtheria) caused one third of all deaths in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s†. 1918 proved to be an especially devastating time with 20 million lives lost due to a wide spread of influenza that no known medication could cure. During this time vaccinations were the most helpful medication but even with their help, thousands still died from many diseases and infection (CDC). The discovery of penicillin is described as being miraculous. Penicillin is responsible for curing thousands of diseases and infections since the 1940’s. It saves hundreds of thousands of lives that would otherwise be lost due to these infections. Treating everything from cuts and scrapes to major diseases such as syphilis, penicillin is used for just about everything in today’s world (Wong). Wong stated, â€Å"Without the discovery of this antibiotic thousands of people would still be dying from the same diseases that killed hundreds of years ago†. Despite the success of the drug, penicillin, discovered by Dr. Alexander Fleming, was an accidental finding. Fogel commented in his article, â€Å"Fleming was known as being an unorganized and messy scientist†. He was researching a culture of staphylococcus aureus , a pathogenic bacteria,  and left for a two week vacation. When he returned he observed that the specimen was contaminated by a species of penicillium and the penicillium prohibited the growth of the staphylococcus aureus (Wong). Fleming decided to further his research and discovered that this mold was capable of killing a wide range of harmful bacteria. He published his findings in the British Journal of Experimental Pathology, where other scientists observed them and decided to turn penicillin into something more than just a laboratory finding (â€Å"Discovery and Development of Penicillin†). In the early days of penicillin production, only small amounts of the drug were produced, which caused major issues for doctors and surgeons testing the antibiotic. Once penicillin was developed enough for testing, it became high in demand. Producers of the drug could only fermentate small amounts at a time, growing the penicillium bacteria in bedpans, milk churns, and food tins (â€Å"Discovery and Development of Penicillin†). Endocrine Today states, â€Å"It took seven months to grow enough of the bacteria to cure 6 patients†. This caused many issues for doctors and surgeons testing the drug, since they couldn’t complete their trials with the limited resource. Many patients who received penicillin died from relapse of diseases since doctors did not have the amount of the drug needed to completely eradicate the disease. It wasn’t until the late 1930’s that increased production of the drug occurred with the development of customized fermentation tanks that would allow 500 liters of penicillin to be produced per week (â€Å"Penicillin: An Accidental Discovery Changed the Course of Medicine†). Although penicillin was limited in resource, tests on the new drug proved to be successful. Performing the first test with penicillin were Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, who injected 50 mice first with harmful Streptococci then with penicillin. The test proved to be successful in eradicating the disease from the mice. According to Tames, â€Å"The first human test of penicillin was Albert Alexander, a 43 year old police officer that suffered a small cut from a rose thorn that turned into a life-threatening infection with huge abscesses affecting his eyes, face, and lungs† (24). Alexander was injected with penicillin and within days he made a miraculous recovery. Unfortunately, the limited amount of penicillin ran out, and he died three days later. Another test was performed on a four year old boy with a fatal  infection, and he was cured completely. Scientists who worked for major pharmaceutical companies wanted to purify the drug even more for widespread use all over the wo rld (â€Å"Discovery and Development of Penicillin†). Accordingly, penicillin’s use in World War II decreased the amount of soldier deaths that were the result of diseases and infections. In World War I, 200,000 soldiers died from disease and infection. The Center for Disease Control states, â€Å"The most common diseases for both world wars were pneumonia ,strep throat, scarlet fever, diphtheria, syphilis, gonorrhea, meningitis, tonsillitis,and rheumatic fever†. With the help of penicillin, in World War II the number of soldier casualties dropped significantly to around 9000. Death rate from pneumonia was 18% in WWI; and in WWII it was less than 1% (â€Å"Penicillin the Wonder Drug†). In addition to its benefits in World War II, penicillin also dropped the death rate from amputation. Amputations were extremely risky in the late 1800s to early 1900’s because of the inadequacy of medication and sanitation in hospitals. Thousands of soldiers came home from the war needing amputations from sustained injuries. Tames states, â€Å"Before the induction of penicillin 75% of amputations resulted in death† (45). Penicillin’s use in these procedures reduced that number to 30% (68). Antibiotics made it safe to operate on limbs without the fear of infection for thousands of people. Furthermore, the discovery of penicillin paved the way to the discovery of other antibiotics. Penicillins success inspired many scientists and pharmacists to research other products that could be helpful in medicine. Many scientists tested bacterias and natural fruits for harmful bacteria fighting properties (â€Å"The fungus that changed history†). Endocrine Today states, â€Å"A number of pharmaceutical industries began to screen other natural products for antibacterial activity, which led to new antibiotics such as aminoglycosides and tetracycline† (â€Å"Penicillin: An Accidental Discovery Changed the Course of History†). These new antibiotics, just like penicillin, were successful in the treatment and eradication of many infections and diseases. As a result from the discovery of new antibiotics along with penicillin, many diseases and infections that killed thousands finally had a cure. Krebs states in his article, â€Å"Before penicillin,  tuberculosis, scarlet fever, diphtheria, syphilis, anthrax, strep, and staph often resulted in death†. Doctors and surgeons didn’t have the medication to cure many of the diseases that were major killers at the time. With the discovery and induction of penicillin, most if not all those diseases and infections are now curable (â€Å"The Fungus that Changed H istory†). Today, less than 10% of the worlds population die from the same diseases that killed in the late 1800’s-early 1900’s (Wong). Subsequently, penicillin is still as popular as it was in the 1930’s, despite the growing number of allergies and antibiotic resistance against it. The overuse and misuse of penicillin has caused many to develop antibacterial resistance against the drug. Allergies caused by penicillin are the most common of all drug allergies. Some scientists claim that penicillin allergies are caused by a person’s immune system genetic makeup that is designed to fight all bacteria. Despite this, â€Å"Penicillin is the most widely used antibiotic in the world†, and it continues to be effective in curing deadly diseases (â€Å"Penicillin: An Accidental Discovery Changed the Course of Medicine†). Penicillin has changed the world in an extremely positive way. It has provided the means for treating and curing deadly diseases and infections, as well as lead to the discovery of other disease killing antibiotics. Millions of lives have been saved and improved a result of this discovery. Without the â€Å"mistake† Alexander Fleming supposedly made the world would still be one with meager medical treatments; and thousands would still be dying from the fatal diseases that took so many lives in the 1800’s. Penicillin has truly fabricated the world of medicine into what it is today.

Young Goodman Brown Quotes

Young Goodman Brown is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne (author of The Scarlet Letter) that centers around a young Puritan in New England and his deal with the Devil. Young Goodman Brown is famous for being a representation of American Romantic literature and is often studied in American literature classrooms as an important short work involving the Puritans and other essential themes. Read the story and check out some of the most iconic quotes from the story, then compare Young Goodman Brown with another famous American story about a mans Faustian deal with the Devil, The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving. Quotes Prithee put off your journey until sunrise and sleep in your own bed to-night. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts that shes afeard of herself sometimes. Pray tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in the year. The traveler knows not who may be concealed by the innumerable trunks and the thick boughs overhead; so that with lonely footsteps he may yet be passing through an unseen multitude. On he flew among the black pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent to an inspiration of horrid blasphemy, and now shouting forth such laughter as set all the echoes of the forest laughing like demons around him. The fiend in his own shape is less hideous than when he rages in the breast of man. The young man sat a few moments by the roadside, applauding himself greatly, and thinking with how clear a conscience he should meet the minister in his morning walk, nor shrink from the eye of good old Deacon Gookin. With this excellent resolve for the future, goodman Brown felt himself justified in making more haste on his present evil purpose. He beheld the figure of a man, in grave and decent attire. But, irreverently consorting with these grave, reputable, and pious people, these elders of the church, these chaste dames and dewy virgins, there were men of dissolute lives and women of spotted fame, wretches given over to all mean and filthy vice, and suspected even of horrid crimes. It was strange to see that the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints. By the sympathy of your human hearts for sin ye shall scent out all the places-whether in church, bedchamber, street, field, or forest-where crime has been committed, and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot. The fiend in his own shape is less hideous than when he rages in the breast of man. Now are ye undeceived. Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome again, my children, to the communion of your race.