Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Steps in Medical Billing Process Essay Example for Free

Steps in Medical Billing Process Essay There are several steps to the medical billing process step one to ten are as follows: Preregister patients, Establish financial responsibility for visits, Check in the patients, Check out the patients, Review coding compliance, Check billing compliance, Prepare and transmit claims, Monitor payer adjudication, Generate patient statements and finally Follow up patients payments and handle collections. Preregister patients is when you schedule and update appointments and collect insurance information for the patients. When you are scheduling appointments for new patient you need to get basic information and insurance information and reason for appointment. Establishing Financial Responsibility is an important step where you must determine what services are covered under the patients insurance and what service they are responsible for this also help if a preauthorization is need and ensures that are information is done and billed correctly. Check in Patients This is when you collect all necessary information from the patient such as copies for insurance cards. This is also, where you can collect copays and make sure the patient’s information is correct and updated if need be. Check out Patients This is where you record the proper medical codes for the visit. This is also where you provide information if the patient has made a payment or how much they owe and to make sure it is coded properly so the patient will be charged correctly. If payment or copays have been made then a receipt is given. Review Coding Compliance This is where guidelines must be follow when coding the visit. This must be checked for errors and the visit and the code should be connected so the payer understands the charges. Check Billing Compliance Each charge, or fee, for a visit is related to a specific procedure code. The provider’s fees for services are listed on the medical practice’s fee schedule. Most medical practices have standard fee schedules listing their usual fees. Even through there is separate codes for each fee not all are necessarily billable Prepare and Transmit Claims This is where the claims are prepared and submit in a timely manner listing the diagnosis, procedures, and charges for the payer. Most are sent electronically and each practice, as a policy as to when claims are filed be it daily, every other day etc. Monitor Payer Adjudication is where the where the health plans decide rather to pay the whole bill, part of the bill or deny the bill altogether. It is important for them to get their money as soon as possible, this is also where any discrepancies are address, and an appeal is then file if there are any discrepancies found. Generate Patients Statements This is where payments are listed from the payer, and what is still owed and what the patient is being billed it is them mailed to the patient. The date of service and any balances , and services provided are all listed on the statement. Follow up patients payments and collections this is where patients payments are monitored and checked and if they are behind they are sent a notice and if still no response collection procedures maybe started.

Monday, August 5, 2019

Experiment on Amount of Dissolved Oxygen in Water

Experiment on Amount of Dissolved Oxygen in Water Research: Water covers 70 percent of the earth and made up of 55% to 78% of the human body; it is the most abundant compound on the planet. It’s exists in liquid, solid, and gaseous states in nature; at room temperature, it’s a tasteless, odorless and colorless liquid (Water structure and behaviour, 2014). Water in chemical formula is H2O, two hydrogen atoms each share one electron with the oxygen atom to form two covalent bonds and make a water molecule. The outer shell of oxygen is now full with 8 electrons and remains stable; thereby it won’t further react with other hydrogen or oxygen atoms (graph 1). One of the important features of water molecule is that it forms and angle with hydrogen atoms at the tips and the oxygen atom at the vertex. The angle formed by oxygen and hydrogen atoms isn’t a typical tetrahedral angle of 109 degrees, because the presence of two lone pairs on the oxygen molecule pushes the hydrogen molecules closer together away from the lone pa irs. This results in a smaller bond angle of 104.5 degree (Graph 2). The reason that water is primarily a liquid under standard condition is because that oxygen is more electronegative than hydrogen; hydrogen is attracted strongly by oxygen results in the side of the oxygen atom is partial negative charge, while the hydrogen end is partially positive. This kind of molecule with a separation of electrical charges is called a dipole meaning two poles. The charge difference allows water molecules to be attracted to each other and difficult to be separated, forming one single body of liquid. Each water molecules bond to maximum of four other water molecules with two hydrogen atoms accepted and donates another two hydrogen atoms to others (Graph 3). This type of bond is identified as hydrogen bond occurs when hydrogen atom bonds with oxygen, fluorine or nitrogen atom. Hydrogen bonding functions as two magnets stick together due to the opposite pole attraction. It is stronger than normal dipole forces between molecules. The force is categorized as intermolecular force, a force act between neighboring particles (Hydrogen Bonding, 2013). The extensive hydrogen bonding between water molecules is responsible for physical properties in water, including property of high melting point, boiling point since more energy is required to break hydrogen bonds between molecules. Water will be in gas, if the intermolecular force (force that holds water molecules together) is less than the thermal force that pushing the molecules apart; while, the boiling point is determined as a point between behaving as a liquid and gas (Intramolecular Force, 2013). Another relevant property is that water has a very high specific heat capacity, due to the presence of extensive hydrogen bonding between water molecules; a large amount of energy (heat) is absorbed in breaking the bond (Specific Heat Capacity of Water, 2014). Water has a high solubility, due to its a polar molecule with both positive and negative charges. Dissolving occurs when water bonds and separates the anion and cation of a substance. Consider putting an ionic compound into water, the individual ions react with the opposite polarity regions of the water molecules with their ionic bonds broken. This process is called dissociation, where ions are formed with atoms breaking down from a molecule. The positively charged end of the water (H+) surrounds the negative ion of the ionic compound and the negatively charged end of the water (O2-) surrounds the positive ion of the ionic compound, this is called as a sphere of hydration, which separates the particles. This is the reason why water cannot dissolve non-polar molecule, because the polarity has no effect on a non-polar molecule (solubility, 2000). Abstract: In this experiment, potassium thiosulfate was used to titrate water sample collected in wetland at school; in order to simulate and determine the amount of oxygen dissolved in a normal river. The method used is called as Winkler Method, which involves iodometric titration; the amount of oxygen in the sample is determined indirectly via iodine. The method is considered to be the most reliable and precise method for DO analysis. DO presents in the river is relevant to the industry, river aquaculture, for the sake of keeping the oxygen level in a suitable range for aquatic animals to survive. There are a number of variables that affect DO presents in the river, temperature is the most crucial factor that should be taken into account. Since river’s temperature varies throughout the year with the change in the weathers or seasons. The temperature difference between summer and winter can be up to 10 degrees Celsius. Hence the experiment will focus on the effect of different temperat ures on the amount of DO in the water sample. Theoretically, the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water is inversely proportional to the water temperature (table1). It’s clearly shown in the graph that as the temperature rises, the solubility of oxygen in the water decreases (graph 4). It’s recommended that DO analysis experiment should be done within the same day. DO level in the water source, where sample water is collected, may alter dramatically at different time. It then consequently becomes a factor that affects the final result. Introduction: Dissolved oxygen in water is defines as the amount of oxygen molecules that physically distributed in water. Notice that oxygen does not chemically react with water, since oxygen is a non-polar gas; the intermolecular force of hydrogen bond in water molecule itself is stronger than the induced dipole attraction between the polar bond in water and the nonpolar bond gas, oxygen. Water molecules will rather remain hydrogen bonded to each other, then to allow a non-polar molecule (oxygen) to come between them (Aquaculture, 2000). There are three ways that oxygen gets in the water. First of all, it’s the difference of the concentration of oxygen in the air and the concentration of oxygen in the water causes diffusion to occur. Oxygen flows from high concentration (air) to low concentration (water). Secondly, it’s the partial pressure and surface area that causes oxygen to shift through the water. For instance, in a river that flows rapidly, water turbulence increases the surface area of water for oxygen to diffuse across. Churning also allows air to hit water at a high pressure, allowing more oxygen to diffuse into the water. At last the presence of water plants produce oxygen in the water by doing the process of photosynthesis (How does oxygen get into the water?, 1999). Nowadays, commercial aquaculture is growing worldwide except in Africa. Fish and other aquatic organisms are a source of protein for human to intake. However, continues to harvest wild sources of fish will result in overfishing or even the loss of those aquatic species entirely. Aquaculture not only meets the human demand, but also allows wild species to breed and maintain the number of the wild aquatic species. There are a couple of aspects to look at in the aquaculture industry. The amount of dissolved oxygen in the water is relevant to maintain the water quality for fish and aquatic species to grow. Oxygen is important in respiration and metabolism processes in any animal. Particularly for fish, the metabolic rate is highly related to the oxygen concentration in water. For cold-water fish, the minimum DO requirement is 6mg per litre; for both tropical freshwater fish and tropical marine fish, it’s 5mg per litre. Once the level of DO is lower than the minimum requirement, fi sh may be affected by tissue hypoxia, their swimming activities will decrease and their immunity to diseases will also reduce (Aquaculture, 2000). It’s obvious that fish and aquatic species rely on the DO level in the water to survive. Fish farmers should realize all the factors that affect the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water; temperature is one of the main factors. The solubility of any gases is dependent on the temperature. At a high temperature, the solubility of a gas in the water is low, while at a lower temperature the gas solubility in the water is relatively higher (graph5) (The Effects of Temperature on the Solubility of Gases in the Universal Solvent (Water), 2009). As the temperature rises, the kinetic energy of the gas particles physically distributed in the water increases. This results in a more intensive gas particles’ motion, which allows intermolecular bonds between water molecules and gas molecules to be broken causing gas to escape into the atmosphere (Temperature and Pressure Effects on Solubility , 2003). The experiment consists of three parts, potassium iodate standardization, reagent blank determination and sample analysis. Begin with the KIO3 standardization, the exact concentration of potassium iodate is unknown, hence it’s titrated by sulfuric acid solution to determine it’s actual concentration. Reagent blank determination is done in order to minimize the error in the experiment. During the experiment, due to environment factors and contaminations, the result may be affected. Water is often used as a blank reagent and its responsible for determining the side effects on the final result. When doing the blank determination, water undergoes the same process as the sample. The value acquired is the blank value; it is then subtracted from the sample’s result. Once the processes of standardization and blank determination have been done, water sample can now be analyzed. The chemical reactions are as follows: 1) Manganese chloride reacts with sodium hydroxide to give a white perciptate of manganous hydroxide. MnCl2 + 2NaOH –> Mn(OH)2 + 2NaCl 2) The presence of oxygen in the water sample reacts with manganous hydroxide, manganic basic oxide is then formed. 2Mn(OH)2 + O2 –> 2 MnO(OH)2 3) Manganic basic oxide is dissolved by sulfuric acid, and immediately reacts with sodium iodide to yield iodine. 2MnO(OH)2 + 4 H2SO4 –> 2Mn(SO4)2 + 6H2O 2Mn(SO4)2 + 4 NaI –> 2Mn SO4 + 2Na2SO4 + 2I2 4) Sodium thiosulfate is used to titrate iodine with the indicator, starch, to the end point. 4Na2S2O3 + 2I2 ->2Na2S4O6 + 4NaI The titer determines the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water sample with one mole of O2 reacts with 4 moles of sodium thiosulfate. The amount of oxygen concentration can be calculated from the above analysis with the following formula: Dissolved oxygen = (mL/L) Notice that the unit is one milliliter of oxygen per litre of water, which can also be transferred into mg per litre. Hypothesis: It’s predicted that the lower temperature will result in a higher solubility of oxygen in water. Under the condition of high temperature, oxygen gas forms weak molecular bonds with the water molecules. As a result, oxygen molecules will rise towards the surface and escape to the atmosphere, consequently reducing the amount of oxygen gas dissolved in the water. The solubility of oxygen is compared between cold river water and heated river water within this experiment, whilst other variables are kept constant; including the size of the beaker, the location where river water is retrieved from and the solution used for titration. Materials: BOD bottle Deionised water Standard Potassium Iodate Sulfuric acid solution Sodium iodide-sodium hydroxide reagent Manganese chloride reagent Method: KIO3 Standardization (Titration) Label a BOD bottle with â€Å"KIO3 Standard† 15ml of deionised water added into the BOD bottle 10ml of standard potassium iodate with concentration of 0.00167M added into the BOD bottle with a pipette Swirl to mix 1 ml of 50% sulphuric acid solution added into the BOD bottle 1ml of sodium iodide-sodium hydroxide reagent added into the BOD bottle and swirl 1ml of manganese chloride reagent added into the BOD bottle and mix thoroughly Fill the BOD bottle with deionised water to the neck, and mix the solution by inverting the bottle a few times (BOD bottle now contains KIO3 standard solution, it’s identified as KIO3 standard bottle) Discard 50mL of KIO3 standard solution by using a 50mL volumetric pipette Add 50mL of KIO3 standard solution into a clean 100ml conical flask by using a 50mL volumetric pipette Set up the burette and fill it with sodium thiosulfate working solution Place a white tile under the burette with the conical flask that contains KIO3 standard solution on top Start titrating sodium thiosulfate into the conical flask until the solution turns a pale yellow colour, stop titrating Three drops of starch solution added to the flask, then continues to titrate until the solution turns colourless Volume of sodium thiosulfate added recorded Repeat the process until three readings within 0.05mL of each other acquired Reagent Blank determination – Titration Add 15mL of deionised water into a 250mL conical flask 1mL of KIO3 standard solution added to the conical flask 1mL of 50% sulphuric acid added to the flask 1mL of sodium iodide-sodium hydroxide added to the flask 1mL of manganese chloride reagent added to the flask Appendix Table1: (The Winkler Method Measuring Dissolved Oxygen, 2013) Graph 1: (Waters Influence on Temperature, 2013) Graph 2: (WATER: DESIGNED FOR LIFE, 2013) Graph 3: (Hydrogen bond, 2014) Graph4: (Lecture Water Chemistry Dissolved Gases Oxygen) Graph5: (Why oxygen dissolved in water is important , 1998)

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Essay --

The theme for the final work of art "introduction to political science" is: feminist IN LATIN AMERICA. The theme is related to the number VI unit precisely with the text "citizenship and politics. Towards a citizens 'identity' Sebastian Barros. And with the unit VII, with the theme Social Movements. " I start looking for the answer to a question that haunts my head Why women have been relegated from the public sphere, has not had the same "rights" as men to venture into politics? And doubt perhaps more importantly, what was the reason that led to the woman, now to "liberate"? through which it has reversed the situation that happened before. In the late 60s', a generation of young women gave rise to the feminist movement in the large cities of the United States and Europe. Influenced by these experiences and contact with literature that came from the core countries, many Latin American-mainly middle-class began forming groups of reflection and activism for the rights of women. Initially women were middle class, a significant portion came from the wide sides of the left. The arisings of these groups occurred in the setting of acute radicalization of class struggle in the continent, was manifested in the labor and popular ascent whose expressions were most prominent Chilean industrial laces, cordobazo in Argentina, mobilizations student in Mexico, etc.. These facts can be considered as the most acute experiences and as a result, the arrival on the scene of many movements of urban and rural guerrilla. The massive and regionally movementist expression were the feminist meetings, every two years first, then three. They feminist advances, shared strategies, conflict perspective and visions enhancing strategies and discourses expr... ... women the same rights, capabilities, possibilities, ... that man. Always relegated to the care and upbringing of children, to serve her husband, etc ... In the situation where he was, how much she could give more came, and now it has been proven that women work more than men, but earn less by the mere fact of being a woman is as capable as the man performing any work that is proposed, etc.. So I think it important to note that although the status of women today in Latin America is not like a couple of decades ago, still has a long way to say that it has definitely exceeded oppositions that has had and continues to have . Thanks to movementist women today still continues to fight for the differences to shorten and hopefully get to the day when we can say that the feminist movement beat, and could change the way in which power is exercised, and thus change society.

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Communities Should Welcome Wal-Mart :: Critical Thinking Essays

Communities Should Welcome Wal-Mart How would you like to be penalized because you do your work too well--for example, for running your business so effectively that it attracts hordes of happy customers? Well, this is what is happening more and more frequently to Wal-Mart. Recently the West Covina, Calif., city council voted to deny the sale of land to developers who were going to build a Wal-Mart store on the site. The council was concerned that the Wal-Mart store would "threaten" other businesses and replace higher paying jobs in the area with lower-paying ones. The banning of Wal-Mart is being considered by the Los Angeles city council and has occurred in some other California cities as well as in other locations around the country. Wal-Mart is one of the most impressive success stories in the history of business. Founded some 50 years ago as a single five and dime store in a small Arkansas town, it has grown into a world-wide behemoth under the leadership of its brilliant founder, the late Sam Walton, and his able successors. It is the largest corporation in America in terms of sales, $245 billion. Wal-Mart has over 4,000 stores worldwide, employs 1.3 million people, and serves 100 million customers per week. It is quite true that Wal-Mart has been successful in outcompeting other stores which sell the same products, such as toys, clothing, and groceries. But how has it been able to do this? By discovering new ways of using computer systems and other technology to better manage its inventory and costs and reap the benefits of economy of scale. Wal-Mart is especially popular among low-income shoppers who cannot afford the prices of the more upscale stores. It has put other stores out of business, but that is the way capitalism works. The automobile replaced the horse and buggy. Sound motion picture replaced the silents. No one has a "right" to business success or a "right" to be protected from competitors through government intervention. One only has a right to try to compete through voluntary trade. In a free economy, companies that offer the best value for the dollar win and the losers invest their money elsewhere. It is also true that Wal-Mart pays lower wages than many unionized stores. But it must offer a market wage or risk its employees going elsewhere, and it deals with employees on a voluntary basis. Those who do not like its terms are free to do business elsewhere.

Satire About Anorexia Essay -- essays research papers

Satire Local Anorexic Still Way Too Fat Staten Island, New York- Despite years of intense dieting and vigorous exercise, local anorexic Lucy Fernandez is still excessively fat. Reported Monday to the Staten Island Advance, Fernandez who stands five feet and weighs approximately ninety pounds is still overweight and needs to lose a few pounds. â€Å"I cannot believe how gross I look,† said the corpulent Fernandez, examining herself in a full-length bathroom mirror. â€Å"I am such a whale.† Pinching her bulky, misshapen body, Fernandez expressed frustration with her inability to transform herself into a reasonably svelte person. â€Å"I eat celery, I drink only water or diet coke, I do three hours on the Stairmaster everyday,† she said. â€Å"But despite all that, I have still got, like, these huge rolls of fat all over.† However, Fernandez could stand to lose a few pounds in nearly every area of her body, worst of all her arms. â€Å"I have got this totally disgusting flab on the back of my arms that swings back and forth when I move,† said Fernandez, wearing an oversized champion sweatshirt to conceal... Satire About Anorexia Essay -- essays research papers Satire Local Anorexic Still Way Too Fat Staten Island, New York- Despite years of intense dieting and vigorous exercise, local anorexic Lucy Fernandez is still excessively fat. Reported Monday to the Staten Island Advance, Fernandez who stands five feet and weighs approximately ninety pounds is still overweight and needs to lose a few pounds. â€Å"I cannot believe how gross I look,† said the corpulent Fernandez, examining herself in a full-length bathroom mirror. â€Å"I am such a whale.† Pinching her bulky, misshapen body, Fernandez expressed frustration with her inability to transform herself into a reasonably svelte person. â€Å"I eat celery, I drink only water or diet coke, I do three hours on the Stairmaster everyday,† she said. â€Å"But despite all that, I have still got, like, these huge rolls of fat all over.† However, Fernandez could stand to lose a few pounds in nearly every area of her body, worst of all her arms. â€Å"I have got this totally disgusting flab on the back of my arms that swings back and forth when I move,† said Fernandez, wearing an oversized champion sweatshirt to conceal...

Friday, August 2, 2019

American Civil War Essay

Many sources claim that the American Civil War is one of the most frequently written about topic in American history, and in that, the individuals who led both sides of the epic struggle have been immortalized in print as well. A pivotal work that meets both of these criteria is â€Å"A Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy†, by Michael B. Ballard. In writing this book, Ballard sought not only to provide a factual account of the 1865 retreat of the government of the Confederate States of America from its capital city of Richmond, Virginia, just ahead of the conquering United States troops with particular emphasis on the leader of the CSA, Jefferson Davis. This book review will not only put forth compelling reasons why students and casual readers alike should choose this book, but also a brief summary of the book and a discussion of the themes found within the book. It almost goes without saying that any book worth reviewing should be worth reading, Ballard’s book being no exception. The work is worthwhile for the reader- be it a student or Civil War enthusiast- because it is as much an account of an often-neglected part of a massively researched and discussed portion of American history, but also because the book is a tale of human experience, political differences, and the clashing of two ways of life which ultimately would only allow for one of the ways of life to move forward from that point intact. First, the book goes into detail about the man behind the CSA, President Jefferson Davis. Ballard uses vivid imagery to describe the frail appearance of Davis by the spring of 1865, due in large part to the strain that was being placed on him to guide a new nation, and especially a massive army, in the face of a highly motivated and larger, better equipped US armed force , which in a very short time would crush Davis’ army and entire government, culminating in the formal surrender of the CSA on April 9, 1865. The book then moves forward with accounts of the military maneuvers, commanders and defeats that made up the waning days of the Confederacy itself. By looking beneath the text of â€Å"A Long Shadow†, it is possible to gain a better understanding of the underlying themes of the book, leading to a much better understanding and appreciation of the work itself. Perhaps the most prominent theme of this book is the struggle of human spirit to overcome insurmountable odds to achieve a given end. For Jefferson Davis, his all consuming goal was to see his Confederate States of America gain recognition and independence not only from the United States, but also the other nations of the world, from whom Davis and his fellow officials sought diplomatic relations and nation status. The other theme that is a common thread in Ballard’s book is perseverance when one believes that their cause is just. It can definitely be argued that both the US and CSA felt in their heart of hearts that what they were fighting for was not only right, but the absolute correct course of human events. Indeed, both sides of the conflict claimed that God was on their side and felt that He would see them to victory no matter what. Perhaps this sort of divine protection is what kept Jefferson Davis constantly trying to keep his cause going, even to the point where Davis himself was at the point of collapse and his nation lay in shambles. In conclusion, it can fairly be said that this book is worthy of being considered one of the most relevant works on the topics of Jefferson Davis, the Confederate States of America, and the final days of the American Civil War as well as an epic tale of human endurance, struggle, triumph and defeat. Works Cited Ballard, Michael B. 1986. A Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Metapath Case Report Essay

1. PURPOSE The purpose of this briefing note is to provide recommendations for Metapath Software Corp. (â€Å"Metapath†) on its financing offers received in September 1997. These two offers came from 1) a fund consortium led by Robertson Stephens Omega Fund (â€Å"RSC†) and Technology Crossover Ventures (â€Å"TCV†) and 2) CellTech Communications (â€Å"CellTech†), a vendor of wireless technology which had recently gone IPO. 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Metapath has made good progress in developing its business since its inception – generating $6.4m revenue in the September quarter of 1997 with representation of three large customers. However, with the ambition to win a good chance of IPO within the next two years, more capital needed to be raised to gain traction in customer acquisition and smooth out current quarter-to-quarter revenues. Metapath has received two offers as at September 1997 and they are discussed as follows: RSC and TCV consortium offered to buy $11.75 million of stock at a $76 million pre-money valuation (â€Å"Series E Preferred†). The proposed stock instrument was a participating convertible stock (â€Å"PCPT†). This instrument functions the same as the convertible preferred stock in the event of a qualified public offering whereas in the event of a sale, RSC and TCV consortium not only receives the face value of the consideration, but also gets the equity participation. CellTech offered Met apath’s shareholders to receive common stock at closing in CellTech at $115 million. 3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS The problems associated with the offers from RSC and TCV consortium are listed as follows: Proposed stock instrument is extremely dilutive to the founders in the event of a sale where the liquidity preference will reduce  the amount of funds available to the other four tranches from previous investments. If the Metapath goes public, the percentage of ownership for C & D tranches will be further diluted, after RSC and TCV consortium exercises its liquidity preference. The problems associated with the offers from CellTech are listed as follows: CellTech’s liquidity and financing issues. Strategic/Business fit between CellTech and Metapath. 4. ANALYSIS Comparing the term sheet of the offer from RSC and TCV consortium to that of CellTech, RSC and TCV’s PCPT had a much more dilutive impact to Metapath upon exit. Under liquidation, the term sheet stipulates that the Series E investors is entitled to claim its initial investment of $10.75 million plus any accrued but unpaid dividend. Any proceeds after this claim will then be distributed to all common and Series E Preferred shareholders on an as-converted pro-rata basis. This double dipping means that RSC will not only recover its initial investment of $5 millions, but also enjoys the convertible benefits. As a result, if the sale occurs before 2000, the profitability for A-D tranches will be negatively impacted by the ‘preferred’ characteristic in the Series E. However if the sale occurs after 2000, A and B tranches will be gradually redeemed on an annual basis, which will leave C and D tranches to be mostly impacted adversely by the preferred characteristic in the Series E stock. Under the circumstance of an IPO, tranches C, D and E will convert to common at their negotiated prices while A & B will be redeemed. However, on the flip side, the price offered by RSC and TCV consortium was $6, which was significantly higher than the first three rounds of financing (tranches A,B and C) at $1.05 and final round (tranche D) at $1.62. PCPT instrument was created to enable the consortium to mitigate the risks in the event of a sale/liquidation that would be of the founders’ interests and  value destroying. CellTech’s valuation of $115 million was certainly attractive for a company like Metapath with a revenue run rate of $25.6 million. However, this represents approximately 30% of the totally capitalisation. The willingness from CellTech to sacrifice such a large amount of capital indicates that either CellTech genuinely believed that Metapath would contribute significantly to the synergies to the NewCo or there could be asymmetric information hidden from the management. It signalled CellTech’s underlying business might have limited upside. This issue needs to be further investigated if offer is accepted from CellTech. In addition, CellTech’s balance sheet indicated ongoing liquidity and financing risks. As we can see from the table below, the company continued to face liquidity pressure where its cash ratio and quick ratio deteriorated over the course from 1995 to 1997. CellTech had six consecutive quarters operating loss, which indicated that its unhealthy operating cash flow ratio. Doubts were raised whether CellTech was a good strategic fit to Metapath’s business model. This is due to the fact that CellTech’s products were mostly hardware-based and installed in the field with cellular base stations, whereas Metapath’s products largely consisted of software running on standard server platforms in the wireless switching office. The only benefit gauged regarding this point was that some of CellTech’s engineers could potentially be useful to Metapath’s development group. 5. CONCLUSIONS The recommendation for Metapath is to take the offer from RSC and TCV consortium. Even though CellTech has performed well since the IPO and bullish views from the stock analysts, its potential information asymmetry issues and liquidity risk could harm the value of Metapath post acquisition. The limited strategic fit is also of our concern, which might constrain Metapath’s growth potential. With our ambition to lead Metapath to IPO, we see RSC and TCV consortium as a better fit in this case. Tranches A and B’s  interests will be protected through their initial capital structures. Tranches C and D’s interests will be diluted; however it enables Metapath to continue its growth momentum with limited downside.