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The average U.S. citizen manages about 168 personal passwords, while for work-related accounts, the average is around 87, bringing the total to approximately 255 passwords. This number has increased significantly due to the rise in digital services and online accounts.
Our dentist is transitioning from humans to software. We are being pressured to funnel all of our transactions and communications with his office through "the portal".
Our dentist is in Ingham county, in the city of Lansing.
I like my dentist a lot. I understand about cost pressure. I also know that businesses that put the customer/client/patient third-in-line are walking the plank toward insolvency.
At some point my dentist will retire. Maybe it makes sense to make the jump BEFORE driving to Lansing becomes totally intolerable.
Yeah, start looking for a dentist now; no great rush, but that downhill part with your present one will get probably steeper pretty quick.
ReplyDeleteMy CPA converted to "the portal" this year. About 10 years ago they started scanning everything to make it easier to submit returns electronically. Right now it's a just "shift cost to the customer" tactic, but I'm betting next year they'll levy a fee for anyone who doesn't use "the portal" and submits doc in paper form.
They also now use "the cloud" for storage which tells me they don't understand "the cloud" is Geek Speak for "some unknown guy's computer some unknown other place."
I've got about 340 days before my next tax data submission so I've got time to turn up a replacement.
The American healthcare model is morphing into a dichotomy. "Concierge" prepaid high quality healthcare for the wealthy and incompetent overpriced long wait time left overs for everyone else. And this is NOT happening by accident.
ReplyDeleteYou cannot win.
DeleteYou cannot break even.
You have to play the game (eventually).
The way to "win" is to delay playing the game as long as possible.
Eat well. Take care of your teeth and wounds in your skin. Get moderate amounts of sunlight. MOVE!!!! Stay away from crazy people. Take care of the people who might have to take care of you someday.
Doing this can tilt the odds a bit in your favor. But it doesn't change the fact that many people require the services of "healthcare". And that those services are becoming more and more expensive, less and less effective and harder and harder to acquire.
DeleteI started paying a private PT for my wife after her 30 day insurance visits ended. Night and day difference in treatment and care. The private PT is booked for an hour but rarely stays less that two. Comes to house and gives me a monthly progress reports. Insurance PT never stayed more than 45 minutes and said there was nothing they could do to a preexisting condition.
DeleteFormer colleagues in Brazil and England say most competent healthcare practices are moving to a private pay model.
Start now...just sayin...
ReplyDeleteMy advice: Use a password manager with MFA and a strong password that you don't use anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteFrom there, use unique passwords for every account generated from the password manager and enable MFA where possible.
Use a credit card as opposed to a debit card and have alerts for every purchase. From what I've read, credit cards deal with fraudulent purchases better than debit cards generally.
Reform of US healthcare: I don't have the effrontery to dole out advice, bar one thing - do not copy the British NHS. Just don't.
ReplyDeleteNor the Canadian one.
DeleteThats _where_ all of this is headed, you realize? By design, of the people running (and benefiting from) the current system.
DeleteYou already aren't able to make your own healthcare decisions - you do whatever the insurance company approves. Doctor be damned, or pay bajillions for it yourself (or go to Mexico).
Most people do not understand how truly f*cked we all are, and how far from purpose the whole system really is. Its about keeping you sick to extract all your wealth.
This same system came up with a childhood vaxxx schedule that causes retardation, and STILL pushes the KungFlu killshot and boosters on the population.
Grok that last one - we now KNOW from the *pstein files it was cooked up in a lab and released on purpose (Gates and Jeff talk about it before it was 'discovered')... we have evidence the entire episode was fraud, but CVS will get paid to give it to you!!! How is that 'Healthcare?!' How do you say that with a straight face? Why are these people still allowed to roam the earth free, let alone as rich and powerful socialites?!
A nice rant. So aside from clearing your bowels what do you suggest?
DeleteWhen I was a midlevel manager I had a sign on my desk, problems welcome, bring a solution.
Before some starry eyed soul mention Europe's "outstanding FREE Medical and social services" Divemedic did a nice basic review:
ReplyDeletehttps://areaocho.com/tanstaafl-3/
For those that do not read Heinlein TANSTAAFL means:
There aint no such thing as a free lunch.
You mean the drive into Lansing isn't already intolerable???
ReplyDeleteIf I may elaborate onNFO's comment above, to wit:"and a strong password that you don't use anywhere else."
ReplyDeleteABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY !
If you use any password in more than one place you're an idiot.
Passwords need to be stunningly unique.
Passwords need to be long, at least 12 characters, 16 is better, and 20 is not an example of paranoia. I have a couple that are 24.
Passwords need to be changed at least every six months, and if it's to something important - banks accounts, credit cards, tax stuff - quarterly is better. I've got a few I change monthly.
There are 94 characters on a standard US English keyboard - lower case letters, upper case, numbers, symbols. There is no extra charge for using any, or all, of them, they're free. The real trick is making them completely random.
And, you're using a VPN to access all those places, aren't you?
Here's why:
There are multiple "hacker dictionaries" on the web, especially on the "dark web'. Any password that gets broken gets added to one or more of those dictionaries within hours, meaning every hacker with a double digit IQ has your password on his box same day.
FYI, a "hacker box" with eight (and up to twelve) NVIDIA video cards can brute force a password attack over one million times a second. Changing today's password - "stoopid@#$987" to tomorrow's "stoopid@#$988" ain't gonna get it. The hacker algorithms do those kind of trial
things automatically.
Password managers: good idea, but how secure is it? And, where does it store your passwords?
"But I'm just a nobody with only a few dollars in the bank, why would anyone be interested in me?" Sure, go with that, right up until they use your info to buy houses, file fake tax returns, take out multiple auto loans and leave you to unwind all that.
Oh, and don't forget the passwords on your Wi-Fi; Joe Nobodies have been raided because some kiddie porn showed up with their IP address linked because Bad Bart used their Wi-Fi connection to download it.
Welcome to the 21st Century, and have a nice day.
There is a pretty good dentist in Olivet, Main Street Dental.
ReplyDeleteGrumpy Old Macdonald
One time I needed my boss' password because mine was totally borked. He was rather irked at giving it to me because "Now that you have it, you can figure out how I increment it every thirty days". Um, thanks, boss! Good thing for him I'm too lazy to care!
ReplyDeleteThe Dentist and The Cloud: A Short Story
At a recent dental visit, I had a question my dentist could not answer.
Dr: "We lost all our data from the last thirteen months when the portable hard drive we use for backup crashed."
Me: "You didn't keep two copies, one on site and one elsewhere? Things get stolen, buildings burn down."
Dr: "No. We're putting everything in the cloud now. "
Me: "Um... But you're still backing up with a physical drive, right?"
Dr: "We don't need to have a hard drive anymore, it's all on the cloud."
Me: "Y'know, a big chunk of the internet was inaccessible recently for many hours. My friend works at a clinic and they had to cancel many patients."
Dr: "Uh-huh. Open wide."
I inform my dentist, physician and specialists, politely and up front that I do not use 'portals,' and that I only respond to mailed paper statements. I inform them that (a) I have no problem paying bills promptly and paying copays in person by credit card, but (b) sending me an e-mail (especially from a "noreply@... ' e-mail address) telling me I have a balance to pay in a portal system is *not* equivalent to sending me an actual bill, and (c) I only pay actual bills. Be cheerful, be polite, be upbeat, you get better compliance.
ReplyDeleteTell them, especially front line receptionists, that you understand they are not responsible for the policy, and you can and will eagerly and pleasantly help them or the person in accounting to un-check a box on a profile that says you consent to electronic statements. Tell them it's easy, and they just have to get your request to the right person to uncheck that box. Make it sound like a simple task. I have been able to avoid 'patient portals' for several years now.