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

CT Physic ians ’ Services Page 2

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.

Some other useful hints:

Inside Story Headline

Meaningful Use Stage 2

Cindy Denno, Applications Specialist

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!!!!!

http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm

-Chris Phillips, Project Manager

Data Warehousing and Analytics for Physician Practices

Christopher Phillips, Project Manager

To lower healthcare costs and improve clinical outcomes, decision makers need to possess accurate, timely and comprehensive

information about their practice and patient populations. To do this, today’s practices will need to use data captured from clini-

cal systems and make the investment of starting an Analytics Program with an optimized data warehouse solution.

Analytics allow physicians insight into cost drivers with the ability to measure and even improve clinical outcomes. With ana-

lytics, business managers can identify and empirically examine exorbitant spending. Clinical staff can stratify patients by demo-

graphics, diagnoses and co-morbid conditions into homogenous cohorts to study care patterns and variances in outcomes. These

results can be used prospectively for the evaluation of care options which leads to less medical error and more favorable clinical

and financial outcomes. For these analytics to be statistically measured in a valid manner requires a reliable data warehouse that

captures many sources of information to promote the most accurate and complete fact-based reporting available.

Today, CPS captures data from Practice Management Systems, Electronic Health Records and from many third-party applica-

tions. In the near future, we plan to integrate Health Information Exchange feeds and patient survey data as well. Normative

benchmark data and even retail consumerism transactions may be available; all these sources combine to reveal comprehensive

trends in populations and traits of individual patients creating a powerful data set to conduct analysis.

Practices may capitalize upon these sources of information through data warehousing. At CPS, we integrate these disparate data

sources into a robust framework, which offers the granularity required to service multiple reporting purposes with the efficiency

to promote timely reporting. Our framework model is flexible enough to allow for future integration of new data sources and

possess an infrastructure that is scalable. Analysts can then access the data warehouse using readily available third party report-

ing applications that allow for ad hoc queries and the capability to script canned reports to run on predetermined schedules.

Data warehousing and analytics do not come without challenges; challenges that practices can mitigate through documented

best practices. Acquiring multiple feeds across heterogeneous systems requires significant collaboration, working through legal

considerations of data ownership, security of access, and proactively developing mechanisms to ensure high quality. Let’s not

forget about the maintenance required for databases, user interfaces and corrective action for data quality issues. All of these

items must be managed as part of a comprehensive Analytics Program. End users must adhere to strict principles of analytics to

ensure accurate data is being entered into the system, which translates into less errors when reporting. Clinical conditions and

other metrics need to be operationally defined and routinely updated as industry guidelines evolve. The use of statistical method-

ologies also ensures reporting is valid

and reliable.

Implementing a robust data warehouse

solution and employing analytics in a

physicians practice setting may pose

challenges yet the outcomes do come

with rewards. Decision makers become

armed with the information required to

improve clinical outcomes and drive

strategic business objectives. Through

use of analytics, physicians now have

optimal information in order to make

the best decisions in an ever changing

Healthcare environment.

Page 4 CT Phys ic ians ’ Serv ices

“Terror at the Support Center”

Richard Charron, Customer Support Analyst

Do not fear talking to the CPS help desk! As our

customers use more diversified technologies, they

can take comfort in knowing they are not alone in

their endeavors. Because we support over eighty

(80) applications with a very diverse client base, the

CPS Support Center would like to offer as much

assistance as efficiently as possible. To do so, the

Support Center will ask essential questions to

troubleshoot and route the ticket. Our goal is to offer

our clients one phone number/e-mail address/fax

contact for information technology support; to be

successful at doing so, it is of the utmost importance

that an effective exchange of information is com-

pleted upon that initial contact. The more data we capture through that critical first communication, the

more accelerated the process will be to resolve the issue.

To our horror, we have been contacted from frustrated parties offering little detail, even the identity of the

caller. Although we understand the last thing anyone calling in crisis wants to hear a slew of questions,

they are imperative to the troubleshooting process. The following YouTube clip has actually happened to

support desks everywhere, including at CPS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W5XXnEXuWM.

To effectively tend to the caller’s matter, the Support Center needs:

1. The customer’s full name, geographic location (including suite number, if applicable), and organization

2. A phone number that will actually be answered by someone; if calling before or after work hours (or

during lunch for those offices that do so entirely), please do not give a number that goes to an answering

service

3. When possible, have the person experiencing the condition call or be available directly to assist us

4. Know what application (Allscripts, Microsoft Office, e–mail, etc.) or activity is being problematic, how

long the condition has existed, and whether anyone else is experiencing the same situation

5. If any error messages are encountered, please make a note of the exact verbiage — these are very helpful

troubleshooting specific conditions. If screenshots are available depicting the situation, they can be e-

mailed to us or given to the technician when he or she arrives

Please do not be offended if the Support Center asks “routine” questions or for a few rudimentary trouble-

shooting actions. Questions concentrating on commonly overlooked issues (e.g., “is the power strip on?”)

can save customers and field technicians precious hours and restore functionality very quickly. Many is-

sues can be resolved by the agent answering the call or another CPS staff member in our office via remote

assistance.

CPS knows everyone is very busy – Providers, MAs, Managers, PSRs, Surgical Schedulers. The Customer

Support Team’s goal is to keep everyone working quickly and efficiently, but it cannot be accomplished

without your help.

Page 5 CT Phys ic ians ’ Serv ices

Have you checked on your backups lately? This is a great

question that home users often neglect. Many users today have

the ability to back up their home systems in a variety of ways

but often do not. If users back up their systems they often

don’t check to verify the backups are working properly. If you

are reading this now and thinking “wow, I haven’t backed up

my system in a while” or “I haven’t ever checked to see if my

backups are good,” you should be afraid. Much like the guy

who is unprepared for the zombie apocalypse you are now

unprepared for a home computer disaster.

Some things you can do to ensure your data is protected are use a backup service such as Carbonite or Mozy. These

services allow you to back your files up to the cloud for a monthly fee. This is a great solution because not only does it

back up your data it also gives you offsite protection and the ability to access your data remotely. The second way to

protect your data is to use a backup program to mirror data to an external hard drive. This will give you structured

backups on a drive other than your PC or Mac (using Time Machine) that you can use to restore your system if it

should fail. Some products you could use are Acronis (third-party) and Windows backup (built-in). The final way to

back up your system is just copy your files to an external drive. This doesn’t give you the same capabilities as using

software but it will at least save your data should your hard drive crash (and they all do at some point).

Like any good preparation for a zombie apocalypse, plans must be tested and drilled; so should your backup strategies.

No matter what service you use you should at least once every couple of months test and see if you can restore a file to

a folder on your local computer. You also should check your backup jobs to make sure they are running correctly on a

weekly basis. All of these steps will help protect your machine and prepare you for catastrophe.

Page 6 CT Phys ic ians ’ Serv ices

Windows XP is Dead Bill Hall, Customer Support Specialist

Back in 2001 Microsoft released Windows XP. Normally software vendors

will support their products for 10 years. Typically that’s 5 years of main-

stream support and 5 years of extended support. In the case of Windows

XP Microsoft actually provided 6½ years of mainstream support and will

provide extended support until April of 2014. Microsoft ended sales of Win-

dows XP in June 2008 and Windows 7 was released 3 years ago this month.

Windows XP certainly had a good run and it is still on over 50% of the

world’s PCs. But with Windows 8 on the horizon, and Windows 7 having

achieved full market acceptance. XP is riding into the sunset just like a cow-

boy at the end of an old Western.

At CPS we have one more roadblock to get through before we can deploy

Windows 7: Internet Explorer 8 (default web browser in Windows 7). In

order for our clients to use IE 8 we need to wait for the next Allscripts upgrade which will also upgrade the IDX Framework from

version 4 (incompatible with IE 8) to version 5 (supported). We are working with Allscripts and hope to have it on the schedule

very soon.

Avoiding the Backup Apocalypse Chris Van Scoy, Server Engineer

Inside Story Headline

Dress Up Those Photos without Paying for

PhotoShop

Lee Seidman, Manager, Technical Services and Customer Support

Computer users are usually familiar with the commercially-available prod-

ucts (after all, those companies have the funds to ensure advertising guaran-

tees recognition). Some offerings even have become so popular that the

brand has penetrated the American lexicon (e.g., Kleenex is a brand of tissue,

not the tissue itself; Photoshop is an Adobe product commonly referenced

with a neologistic predicate, like “someone photoshopped that picture!”

instead of stating “someone digitally retouched that picture!”). However,

there are a variety of open source (also known as “freeware”) options that

present similar capabilities without compromising one’s budget (Photoshop

retails for approximately $699, but has started offering subscriptions for as

little as $19.99 per month to appeal to smaller wallets). With respect to

digital photo retouching, a few top-notch software packages are Paint.net,

GIMP (or GIMPShop for those who want the Photoshop interface), and for those who prefer cloud-based applications

(meaning there is nothing to actually install locally), there is Pixlr Editor.

Paint.net is a good starting place for those who have started dabbling in photo editing and retouching, but want to go beyond

the canned Microsoft Paint’s capabilities without getting overly complex. It can be downloaded from www.getpaint.net and

offers a considerable online community for support and tutorials. One of the best features of the application is that it is very

easy to undo an action that produced undesired consequences without starting over again. Presently, Paint.net is available only

for the Windows platform, so any Mac OS X users will need to look elsewhere.

For the Photoshop diehards (or those who are looking for more powerful graphic editing capabilities), the GNU Image Ma-

nipulation Program (GIMP for short) is the closest thing to Photoshop a consumer can get. It is not biased towards the Mi-

crosoft platform and works with Mac OS X and various types of Linux distributions as well. Some of the professional-level

enhancements offered with GIMP include fixing perspective distortion, adding the ability to add colors to black and white

photos as a channel mix (for example, choosing to just add blue eyes to a black and white face), object warping, and extensive

layer and clone features. There is an expansive online manual and a multitude of tutorials available, but one may be better

served just playing around within the application. GIMP can be downloaded from www.gimp.org; GIMPshop is available via

www.gimpshop.com.

Pixlr Editor (pixlr.com/editor) offers features not available in the installable products, such as being able to open images di-

rectly from web pages (you just have to provide the URL to the image), social networking sites like Facebook, online photo

libraries (think Flickr), or one’s own computer. The site uses Adobe Flash to function and can have issues with very large im-

age files, but considering it not only is completely free and re-

quires no installation, it offers another tool requiring only an

Internet connection (broadband highly recommended) whose

advantages outweigh any detriments.

Free tools historically compare rather unfavorably to the com-

mercial offerings (Adobe Photoshop, Corel’s Paintshop Pro,

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)

Cure: Unknown (insert sinister laugh here…muh-hahahaha)

Page 10 CT Phys ic ians ’ Serv ices

The CPS Team’s Favorite Horror Movies!

The Fall of the House of Usher (1960)

- Bob

House on Haunted Hill (1999) - Mari

The Mist (2007) - Nate

Jaws (1975) - Gabraelle

Shawn of the Dead (2006) - Chris V.

Dawn of the Dead (1978) - Chris P.

The Exorcist (1973)

Any Lifetime movie based on a true

story where it always ends badly for

the husband.—Lee

The Shining (1980) - Joel

Sinister (2012) - Kam

Black Sheep (2006) - CPS Ghost

Puppetmaster (1985) - Bryan

When iPads Attack (2012) - Moiz

The movie theater prices scare me

away.—Bill

The Sixth Sense (1999) - Cindy

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Mike

Interview with a Vampire (1994)

- Dick

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1973) -

Alyssa

Manhunter (1986) - Wayne

CT Physic ians ’ Services Page 11

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

for 30 minutes to harden, break and enjoy!

WARNING!

VERY SWEET

AND

HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!

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