A Word From… Bryan Graven, Executive Director It is clear that times are critical in the medical community. Practices are seeing increasing over- head costs and lower reimbursements. The stakes are higher than ever for medical practices look- ing at forced consolidation to either join hospitals or larger practices to remain in business. De- spite these issues, there is still an overwhelming demand to evolve healthcare through the use of technology. Our company was formed nine years ago by several independent practices looking to save money on technology expenses and offer enterprise-level solutions that these practices independently could not afford. Almost a decade later our primary focus is still the same, although we now sup- port over eighty different business and clinical applications versus the six when we first began. How have we been able to build a scalable and efficient business model to support over 450 phy- sicians and other medical companies? Our core advantage is that we have the economies of scale that come with a shared infrastructure, technology platforms and resources that support all of the products used by our end-user community. The more providers we have, the less expensive it is to provide the services we offer (visit www.cpsmdit.com for a comprehensive list). We provide small and large practices the quality solutions they require while offering significant cost savings. A great example of using our economies of scale is creating an automated digital environment for the medical community. Healthcare providers have too many systems they need to worry about; CPS is connecting our supported medical community with any outside third-party that our physi- cians need to interact with to treat their patients. Our goal is to have all patient information in one place, which is in the chart of our physicians’ EMR. We already have over thirty different interfaces with hospitals, labs, radiology, and patient portals that will continue to grow until we are 100% connected to automate the transmission of data from all third-party vendors. This will create an environment offering convenient access to clinical information and better patient care. By being a comprehensive medical technology company, we have both clinical and business tech- nology experience to navigate through the complex demands of Meaningful Use, ICD-10, ACOs, data warehousing/analytics and enhanced workflows using proven technology as described by the example above. With a significant cost saving, quality service and access to the technology you need, we are here to help your practice. With the continued support of the medical community, we will continue to grow and offer solutions that meet your needs now and for the future. If you are a medical practice or healthcare company, please call us to schedule an appointment to see how CPS can benefit your organization. We would welcome the oppor- tunity to speak with you. Bryan In This Issue: A Word From the Executive Director P.1 iPad Tips and Tricks P.2 Meaningful Use Stage II P.3 Data Warehousing and Analytics P.4 CPS Help Desk Horrors P.5 Avoid the Back-Up Apocalypse P.6 Windows is DEAD P.6 Dress Up Your Photos! P.7 A Fall Gardening Tale P.8 Cheap Thrillers P.9 Horror Movie Match P.10 What CPS does on the Weekend P.11 CPS Employee News P.12 Halloween Fun Facts P.13 Autumn Word Search P.13 CPS Recipe Corner P.14-15 2012 Fall Newsletter Look for us on
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A Word From… Bryan Graven, Executive Director
It is clear that times are critical in the medical community. Practices are seeing increasing over-
head costs and lower reimbursements. The stakes are higher than ever for medical practices look-
ing at forced consolidation to either join hospitals or larger practices to remain in business. De-
spite these issues, there is still an overwhelming demand to evolve healthcare through the use of
technology.
Our company was formed nine years ago by several independent practices looking to save money
on technology expenses and offer enterprise-level solutions that these practices independently
could not afford. Almost a decade later our primary focus is still the same, although we now sup-
port over eighty different business and clinical applications versus the six when we first began.
How have we been able to build a scalable and efficient business model to support over 450 phy-
sicians and other medical companies? Our core advantage is that we have the economies of scale
that come with a shared infrastructure, technology platforms and resources that support all of the
products used by our end-user community. The more providers we have, the less expensive it is
to provide the services we offer (visit www.cpsmdit.com for a comprehensive list). We provide
small and large practices the quality solutions they require while offering significant cost savings.
A great example of using our economies of scale is creating an automated digital environment for
the medical community. Healthcare providers have too many systems they need to worry about;
CPS is connecting our supported medical community with any outside third-party that our physi-
cians need to interact with to treat their patients. Our goal is to have all patient information in
one place, which is in the chart of our physicians’ EMR. We already have over thirty different
interfaces with hospitals, labs, radiology, and patient portals that will continue to grow until we
are 100% connected to automate the transmission of data from all third-party vendors. This will
create an environment offering convenient access to clinical information and better patient care.
By being a comprehensive medical technology company, we have both clinical and business tech-
nology experience to navigate through the complex demands of Meaningful Use, ICD-10, ACOs,
data warehousing/analytics and enhanced workflows using proven technology as described by
the example above.
With a significant cost saving, quality service and access to the technology you need, we are here
to help your practice. With the continued support of the
medical community, we will continue to grow and offer
solutions that meet your needs now and for the future. If
you are a medical practice or healthcare company, please
call us to schedule an appointment to see how CPS can
benefit your organization. We would welcome the oppor-
iPad Tips and Tricks Nate Sebastiao, Network Engineer
With the influx of iPads here are some features that could assist you:
Be sure you have Multitasking Gestures on. Settings -> General -> Multitasking Gestures -> Turn this on to utilize the options below!!
Five-finger pinch: Here you just “grab” the screen at any point to get back to the Home screen. It is quick, fast and simple.
Four-finger swipe up: Want to see the multitasking bar, showing you the most recently used apps? This gesture replaces the double-tap of the Home button. You can pick a different app here or simply swipe four fingers back down to hide the multitasking bar.
Four-finger swipe left / right: Thanks to this gesture, I actually don’t use the multitasking bar much, if at all, anymore. By swiping four fingers left or right, the iPad quickly moves you through your running and most recently used apps. I strategically open my most used apps one after an-other, so I can quickly swipe between Mail, Safari, and the Medstrat app
for example.
In Pictures/Web browser:
Two finger widen: Here you put both fingers together on the screen and separate them. This will make the pic-ture/web browser larger.
Two finger pinch: Here you put both fingers wide on the screen and pitch together. This will make the picture/web browser smaller.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has pub-
lished the final rules outlining the requirements for Stage 2
of the Meaningful Use incentive program. The rules, part of
a federal incentive program for Medicare and Medicaid phy-
sicians to adopt electronic health records, were co-written
and issued in the Federal Register by the Centers for Medi-
care & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the Na-
tional Coordinator for Health Information Technology
(ONC).
The big push in the Stage 2 rules is to move beyond data
collection to improving care. The final rule contains 20
measures for physicians, of which 17 are core and 3 of 6 are
menu, and 19 measures for hospitals, of which 16 are core
and 3 of 6 are menu.
The timing for the start of Stage 2 continues to be 2014 as in the proposed rule. Also retained is the focus on health in-
formation exchange and access to health data. The Stage 1 measure for a test of exchange of key clinical information is
eliminated for a more robust core objective for transitions of care in Stage 2. And instead of providing patients with an
“electronic copy of their health information,” Stage 2 requires “electronic or online access” to their health data.
The final rule adds “outpatient lab reporting” as a menu option for hospitals and “recording clinical notes” as a menu objective for both physicians and hospitals. The final rule also reduces some thresholds for some measures and modifies some criteria for exclusions based on difficulty. For example, CMS had proposed that providers send a summary of care record for more than 65 percent of transitions of care and referrals. The final rule decreases that threshold to 50 per-cent. CMS also finalized two new core objectives from the proposal for physicians to use secure electronic messaging to com-municate relevant health information with patients, and for hospitals to automatically track medications from order to administration using assistive technologies with an electronic medication administration record.
To learn more:
Read the final rule - http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2012-21050_PI.pdf
Read the ONC Fact Sheet http://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/ONC_FS_EHR_Stage_2_Final_082312.pdf Read Stage 1 vs. Stage 2 Comparison Table for Eligible Professionals - http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/Downloads/Stage1vsStage2CompTablesforEP.pdf
Page 3 CT Phys ic ians ’ Serv ices
Get Your Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Kit Now!!!!!
etc.), but with the strong talent of developers committed to open
source projects, that is no longer the case. The freeware solu-
tions have really become a primary focus, especially for those
hobbyists who are looking to explore and expand their talents
without committing anything more than time to learn and play.
Page 7 CT Phys ic ians ’ Serv ices
Page 8 CT Phys ic ians ’ Serv ices
A Fall Garden Tale
Cindy Denno, Applications Specialist
It’s that time of year when gardening is winding down until next spring. In
my garden the lettuce, cucumbers and squash are no more. The tomatoes
too are coming to an end, and over in the flower garden, the blooms of
Coreopsis and Bee Balm have been replaced by Sedum and Chrysanthe-
mums. Even as this is a bit disheartening, fall remains my favorite season.
Just the thought of autumn conjures images of mums, pumpkins, apples,
cider and bales of hay.
Over the years I have had little problem growing Mums in my flower gardens. No special fussing has ever been required.
I’ve simply planted as seedlings, fertilized, watered and beautiful Mums have
sprouted. In our last home we had several apple trees (which I dearly miss)
from which I garnered my own small supply of fresh apples! Pumpkins how-
ever are another story. I have always gone by the logic “if it doesn’t grow, don’t
fret or stress, simply move on to something that will”. Unfortunately I cannot
seem to apply my own logic to growing pumpkins! For years I had images of
having my own small pumpkin patch. There is an aesthetically pleasing quality
in gazing on plump pumpkins nestled in their patch. Vision in mind, I went out
and planted pumpkins – it was going to be awesome! Well, the vines grew like
crazy meandering way outside the confines of their garden and were abundant
with flowers. Even so that first patch produced only two small pumpkins. Not
exactly the result I anticipated but I was not deterred and decreed the next year
would be better! I read up on pumpkins, planting tips, growing techniques,
fertilizers – you name it I read it! Then the next year came and in my small
patch…..one lone pumpkin grew……which my son inadvertently ran over with
the lawn mower! This season, though sorely tempted, my ego was a bit bruised
so I took a break from my attempts at pumpkin nirvana! I opted instead to try a couple other vegetables I had not previ-
ously tackled – happily the results were good!
Moral to this story is that every gardener will inevitably experience their own
share of setbacks and disappointments but don’t let one, or even several, failed
attempts destroy your love of gardening! I may never grow that perfect patch
of pumpkins but then again…..there’s always next year!
“Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,--
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.”
-Macbeth IV 14-15
Page 9 CT Phys ic ians ’ Serv ices
Cheap Thrill-ers!
Gabraelle Washburn, Procurement Specialist
Wanting to dress up for Halloween, but experiencing a tighter budget this year? FEAR not! Being frivolous with creativity does not have to mean break-ing the bank.
Using the internet is a quick and easy way to get the creative juices flow-ing. Simply type “Halloween Costume” into any search engine, and costumes from adult to children to pet will cover the screen like a SEVERED ARTERY covers the floor with BLOOD. The majority of these websites sell premade costumes, and are a great way to see the finish product which will aide in the decision making process. Other sites, such as Pinterest.com, can also be a fun and helpful tool in getting ideas of what to be, and how to do.
Once the character for the costume has been picked, now comes the real stress. To buy a premade costume or to make one? Insert blood curdling SCREAM here! Unless, it is a last minute purchase, buying a good, premade costume can get a bit pricy. Not to mention the risk of running into someone else with the same exact costume. Oh, the HORROR that would be! Livin-gonadime.com posted an article listing twenty tips for making Halloween cos-tumes for the kids using items from around the house. The moral of the story is recycle old clothes, accessories, car parts, and cardboard boxes, and with a
little glue and stitching here, and a little paint and marker there, POOF, Little Red Riding Hood is now the reflection in the CRACKED mirror at nearly no cost.
Going for something with slightly more GORE than Little Red Riding Hood? How about a DEAD bride? Still easy and inexpensive. Take a trip to the local Salvation Army store to find a used gown and veil. Stores like Michael’s Arts & Crafts and Joann Fabrics are great places to pur-chase flowers and red spray paint, and these stores always have sales and coupons available year around. Want to take it a step further? Spirit Halloween stores open in almost every town this time of year, or check them out online and sign up for sale notifications via e-mail. Use these elec-tronic discounts to purchase the grossest SCAR and fake BLOOD the store has to offer.
This DEAD bride is surely a contest winner, and she did not have to ROB A GRAVE. MUHA-HAHAHAHAHA! Have a happy, safe, and bloody Halloween!
Scary Fact Gabraelle Washburn
Diagnosis: Technophobia
Symptoms: Fear or dislike of advanced technology or complex devices, especially computers
First Known Case/Use: 1965 (According to www.merriam-webster.com)
What CPS Does on the Weekend Mari Bogli, Executive and Technology Assistant
Connecticut Physicians’ Services and members
from Connecticut Multispecialty Group and Hart-
ford Specialists participated in the 12th Annual
Riverfront Dragon Boat and Asian Festival on Sat-
urday August 18, 2012. The festival featured Asian
music, dance, cultural activities, food, beverages
and the Dragon Boat races at Hartford’s
Mortensen Riverfront Plaza.
Sixty-nine teams brought more than 1,800 paddlers to race on the Con-
necticut River. A dragon boat team consists of 20 paddlers, a drummer
who sets cadence for the team, and a steersperson. The CPS team
proudly took fourth place in the Community Team Category after win-
ning one of our races and doing quite well in the other two heats.
Dragon boating is a 2,000 year-old Chinese tradition that is growing in
popularity throughout America and other parts of the world. The Riverfront Dragon Races were sanctioned by the East-
ern Regional Dragon Boat Association, giving teams with the highest points in their divisions the opportunity to repre-
sent the USA’s Eastern Region at the regional championships.
Way to go Techno Dragons!
Page 12 CT Phys ic ians ’ Serv ices
CPS Employee News!
CPS welcomes Chris Phillips as our new
Project Manager. Chris has over 15 years experi-
ence in the healthcare industry with a diverse
background in healthcare. His previous experi-
ences include IS Business Consulting, Project
Management, Account Management and Sales En-
gineering. He has extensive experience on the
healthcare informatics side with reporting and
building healthcare data warehouses. Over the last
5 years, Chris served as a Healthcare Informatics
expert at Cigna, where he implemented & oversaw
the Cigna corporate reporting program HEDIS
(Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set).
Additional talents include Six Sigma, quality man-
agement, process improvement and operations.
Chris is also a U.S. Army Veteran, who served in
Operation Desert Storm. During his personal time,
he frequently participates in shooting competitions
and enjoys the company of his fiancé Nancy.
Congratulations
to Nathan and Catherine Sebastiao!
Married on June 9, 2012
Halloween Fun Facts Nathan Sebastiao, Network Engineer
1. Because the movie Halloween (1978) was on such a tight budget, they had to use
the cheapest mask they could find for the character Michael Meyers, which
turned out to be a William Shatner Star Trek mask.
2. The first Jack O’Lanterns were made from turnips
3. Halloween is the second highest grossing commercial holiday after Christmas.
4. The word “witch” comes from the Old English word wicce, meaning “wise
woman”.
5. Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween
6. The owl is a popular Halloween image. In Medieval Europe owls were thought
to be witches, and to hear an owls call meant someone was about to die.
7. If a person wears his clothes inside out and walks backwards on Halloween,
they will see a witch at midnight.
8. Dressing up as ghouls and other spooks originated from ancient Celtic tradition
where townspeople would disguise themselves as demons and spirits to escape
the view of the REAL spirits wandering the streets during Samhain.
9. Halloween is thought to have originated around 4,000 BCE, which means it has
been around for over 6,000 years.
10. Halloween celebrations in Hong Kong are known as Yue Lan or the “Festival
of the Hungry Ghosts”, during which fires are lit and food or gifts are offered
to placate ghosts seeking revenge.
Page 13 CT Phys ic ians ’ Serv ices
AUTUMN WORD SEARCH
Jhomar Fernandez, Intern
Autumn Leaves
Branches Forest
Breeze Maple
Chili Maze
Cinnamon Oak
Corn Orange
Crunching Red
Fall Raking
Path
September
Smoke
Woods
Yellow
Fire
Apple
Witches Fingers The Ghost of CPS Ingredients: 1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup whole raw almonds
Directions:
Combine sugar, egg, butter, almond extract and vanilla in bowl. Mix in
flour and salt. Cover and refrigerate dough for 30 minutes or until firm.
Tips: to shape cookies, only use a small portion of the dough at a time,
keep rest chilled. Score the top of the cookie with a knife to look like knuckles. Press an imprint into the top of the
cookie and press in an almond to form the finger nail.
Place on a cookie sheet lightly coated with no-stick cooking spray and bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until the
cookies are a very light golden brown. Let cool completely and serve to your most picky zombies.
Page 14 CT Phys ic ians ’ Serv ices
Vampire Kiss Martini Cindy Denno
Sharpen
your
fangs!
Ingredients: 1 part raspberry liqueur, such as Chambord 1 part vodka, such as Absolut 1 part Champagne, such as Korbel wax teeth, candy corn, licorice, and/or blood orange slice, for garnish Directions: 1. Layer raspberry liqueur, vodka, and Champagne in a fluted or martini glass. 2. Garnish with wax teeth, candy corn, lico-rice, and/or blood orange slice.
Lost Soul Sippers Cindy Denno
Ingredients:
Pulp Free Orange Juice
Black Vodka
Pitted Cheries
Cream Cheese or Frosting
Directions
Fill a glass halfway with orange juice. Pour black vodka over the back of a
spoon so it gently runs down the inside rim of the glass instead of plunging
into the juice and mixing right away.
For the eyes use pitted cherries stuffed with cream cheese or frosting (red
cherries make extra creepy ghouls!)
Cut up one cherry and use the pieces
as pupils (or you can use sprinkles for
varied colors). Pierce the completed
eyes with a toothpick and place on
the rim of the glass.
I’m watching you!
BOO!!!
CT Physic ians ’ Services Page 15
Editors: Bryan Graven, Lee Seidman, Alyssa Lynch
Newsletter Design and Layout: Mari Bogli www.mariskarp.com
Candy Corn Cupcakes Mari Bogli
For all you candy corn haters out there this recipe embraces the look of
candy but uses a regular white/yellow cake recipe!
Ingredients:
1 package white/yellow cake mix
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
red food coloring
yellow food coloring
2 cups prepared white frosting
candy corn, sprinkles
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake cups with paper liners.
2. Make cake mix following directions on box and split batter in half
3. Color half yellow with yellow food coloring
4. Color half orange combining yellow and red food coloring
5. Bake according to directions on box
6. After cool top with frosting, sprinkles and candy corn!
Candy Corn Chocolate Bark Mari Bogli
Ingredients:
2 cups dark/semi/or milk chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup candy corn
vegetable shortening
Directions:
1. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil
2. In separate containers, melt the chocolate in the microwave on high, in 5
second bursts with 1 tsp of vegetable shortening each for 1 minute, whip to
remove lumps.
3. Stir 1/2 cup candy corn into dark melted chocolate and pour into pan,
use a spatula to spread evenly, does not have to cover entire pan
4. Spoon small amounts of the white chocolate over the dark chocolate
layer, use a toothpick or knife to swirl the 2 chocolates together
5. Sprinkle the remaining candy corn on the mixture and chill in the fridge