Although the products of globalization are far from new, globalization as a process in the Pacific-Asian Region is both dynamic and problematic. Pacific-Asia globalization outcomes at present include: intensification of changes linked to the influences of capitalism; information technology and innovative technological systems; migration, transnationalism, and refugees; tourism for those with newly apparent disposable incomes; altered philosophical and religious perspectives, including the new fundamentalism; paradigm shifts within indigenous languages and cultures; lifestyles that embrace and/or disengage from all of the globalizing factors listed above; and others. The Challenges of Globalization defines globalization as "supra-national ideas and processes that cross national borders with impunity." Such "ideas and processes" may appear to possess a will of their own, fostering closer links between cultures, societies, and economies. But, do they? How do individuals, communities, and nation-states actually respond to the forces of globalization? This book explores globalization within the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and education.

A Clinical Medical Assistant is a medical professional who performs a variety of functions to assist the physician in providing patient care and to keep the practice running smoothly. While a Clinical Medical Assistant may be required to perform some administrative tasks in a smaller practice, in large practices or facilities he or she will mainly provide services directly related to patient care. Where the Administrative Medical Assistant works mainly in the front desk and reception area of a practice, the Clinical Medical Assistant is often at the physician's side and works in close contact with the patients of the practice. This career is not ideal for everyone. In order to be successful as a Clinical Medical Assistant, one must have certain personality characteristics. First, he or she needs to be compassionate while still maintaining a professional distance. In this job, the assistant will work with people who are frustrated, anxious, tired, sick, and possibly dying. The assistant must have compassion and understanding in order to provide good treatment and to help meet the patients' needs. However, this compassion must be tempered with professional distance to keep the assistant from being overwhelmed by stress and grief. A successful Clinical Medical Assistant must also have a variety of specialized skills to perform this job correctly. He or she must have a good understanding of medical procedures and terminology in order to read and understand patient charts. The assistant must also be able to use the tools and equipment of the job, including stethoscopes, EEG and EKG machines, laboratory equipment, sterilization tools, and more.

Medical coding professionals provide a key step in the medical billing process. Every time a patient receives professional health care in a physician's office, hospital outpatient facility or ambulatory surgical center (ASC), the provider must document the services provided. The medical coder will abstract the information from the documentation, assign the appropriate codes, and create a claim to be paid, whether by a commercial payer, the patient, or CMS. While the medical coder and medical biller may be the same person or may work closely together to make sure all invoices are paid properly, the medical coder is primarily responsible for abstracting and assigning the appropriate coding on the claims. In order to accomplish this, the coder checks a variety of sources within the patient's medical record, (i.e. the transcription of the doctor's notes, ordered laboratory tests, requested imaging studies and other sources) to verify the work that was done. Then the coder must assign CPT codes, ICD-9 codes and HCPCS codes to both report the procedures that were performed and to provide the medical biller with the information necessary to process a claim for reimbursement by the appropriate insurance agency. This text is intended to dispel any ambiguity prior to taking your national certification. This text contains over 400 preparatory examination questions, covering ICD-9, ICD-10, Revenue cycle, Medical report extrapolation assignments, HCPCS, UB04, and CPT.