Access Newsletter
Oct 2011
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| Physician Highlight of the Month -- Asif Masood, M.D. |
 Dr. Masood was recently named as a leading physician of the world and one of America's top family doctors, an accomplishment achieved through his extensive experience, board certification, and his ability to relate complex medical issues to easy to understand care plans. As many patients come to find, these skills come equally matched by his compassion and friendly, upbeat personality. Dr. Masood is Board Certified in Family Medicine and received his medical degree in Lahore, Pakistan at Allama Iqbal Medical College. He has been practicing medicine for over 16 years and also brings research experience as a Clinical Research Fellow in Internal Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Dr. Masood joined Access HealthCare in 2008 after relocating from Utica, NY, where he was a Primary Care Physician with St. Elizabeth Medical Group. He brings a diverse physician background with experience in outpatient settings as a Primary Care Provider working with a rheumatologist, as a nursing home Staff Physician, inpatient setting experience as a Hospitalist, and an Educating Physician at St. Elizabeth's residency program as well as experience as a Public Health Educator. He also does local radio shows in Brooksville, FL regarding various medical issues. He gives lectures about diabetes mellitus to his patient population.
While in New York, Dr. Masood actively participated in emergency treatment, blood donation and rehabilitation of those injured in the terrori ...
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| The Pursuit of Health, Happiness, and Sport Injuries |
| With the changing leaves and cooler weather, Fall is the perfect time of year for outdoor fun. Millions of adults will participate in sports: football, soccer, basketball, baseball and softball, and running, to name a few. Whether you are skilled, an amateur, or enjoy individual activities—adults get active for all of the health benefits exercise has to offer.
However, for some people—particularly those who overdo or who don't properly train or warm up—these benefits can come at a price: sports injuries. The types of sports-and-exercise related injuries most commonly seen by a podiatric physician are the following:
Ankle sprain is a common injury to the ligament, one of the bands of tough, fibrous tissue that connects two or more bones at the joint and prevents excessive movement of the joint. Sprains that do not show improvement in three days should be evaluated by a podiatric physician. Investing in five to ten minutes of stretching and warming up, and wearing the right shoe for the sport in which you are participating can help prevent this common athletic injury.
Muscle strain is defined as either a partial or total tear of muscle fibers in the muscle itself or the origin of the muscle. Exercisers frequently strain their lower leg and foot muscles during rapid movement sports such as tennis, basketball, racquetball, running, and sprinting. Improper and inadequate warm-up and stretching are some of the contributing factors in this type of injury. Minor strains sh ...
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| V.F.W. Support Needed |
 We at Access Health Care want to tell you about V.F.W. Post #10209 and its tremendous need for support. Richard Mellinger, Commander of the Korean War Veterans Legion #5053 is requesting donations to help them fight to keep the building's doors open for veterans.
With the collapse of the economy came the start of the collapse of V.F.W. fund raising. They have worked very hard to build and maintain the upkeep of a home away from home for military service veterans, since many of these veterans are widowers and no longer have loved ones living with them. This is a place where veterans can reach out to one another and reminisce. The majority of Post #10209 members served the United States during World War II; they range in age from mid-70's to late 80's. Today, these heroes are consumed with finding jobs so that they can maintain some financial stability. The V.F.W. members are fighting their last fight with hopes to save the organization for veterans and their families, many of whom are struggling simply to pay the bills. With treble utility rates, high mortgage payments, and taxes, they have had to reach into reserve funds, and are now forced to call out for help. The V.F.W. is asking Access Health Care for assistance in its efforts to keep the Veterans Legion viable.
"Our V.F.W. Honor Guard has three or more veteran burials a week at the Bushnell National Cemetery, which is 62 miles round trip. Sometimes they have more than one a day," says Richard Mellinger. These dedicat ...
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| This Month's Riddle |
I am the most important thing
Though I am nothing.
I have no limits,
No center or boundary
I am shown as a circle,
Yet I overflow all circles.
I change things to themselves,
If they add themselves to me.
I change them to me,
If we join hands and multiply.
There is none smaller than I,
Yet no one vaster when divided
Into pieces as small as I.
I am the essence of meditation,
The formless in name.
Yet no one can know who I am.
Do you?
June's Riddle:
Space ...
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| Credit |
Editor-in-Chief:
Copy Editor :
Proofreader:
Writer:
Layout/Design:
Contributing Authors: |
Pariksith Singh
Joan Kosanovich
Christine Barnabo
Juan Triana
Shirley McGuinness
Cindy Smith, Dr. Nimesh Patel( Foot and Ankle Surgeon ) |
...
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| Access News |  August's News issue is bursting with exciting information Access is excited to share with our readers.
Dr. John Hill, our chiropractic physician, is spearheading a community project geared to help save the lost art of canning for Hernando County's Little Rock Cannery. Barbara Behrendt reported on this exciting opportunity in the August 16, 2011 edition of the St. Petersburg Times, "On Tuesday, August 30, The Hernando County Commission will consider leasing the cannery to a nonprofit group, Auro Community Cannery Inc., supported by the Auroveda Foundation of Brooksville, which is affiliated with the physician's group Access Health Care" The cannery would be renamed Auro Community Cannery and would "work toward getting the facility established as a certified kitchen, which would allow enterprising users of the facilities to sell their canned goods. Without the county's involvement, the organization also agreed to negotiate with and possibly continue to employ longtime cannery supervisor Flossie Raines." Behrendt states, "Commissioners will consider a $1-a-year lease with the nonprofit and, in 21 months will consider turning over the facility entirely to the group. The nonprofit would budget $50,000 annually to run the cannery, which is about what it has cost in the past, would charge a fee for use of the facilities and would also be able to collect tax-deductible donations." Dr. Hill's goal is to see families working together planting and gardening, and to bring communities back to nature, which in turn may unify the entire community. The Access Health Care team appreciates Dr. Hill's efforts to bring the communities of Hernando County together.
Access Health Care's Kelly Savarese wants to remind everyone to visit myCareerCloset, located at 14690 Spring Hill Drive. Ladies, don't forget to donate any business or casual attire to myCareerCloset, the place that links women to success. Their mission is women helping women by providing mentoring, an interview outfit, m ...
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| Maria Jimenez |  Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego©….err…I mean…MARIA Jimenez? Access Health Care is pleased to announce that Maria Jimenez has stepped up to the Case Management role for PFFS and is already doing an amazing job! She has plunged herself into member contacts and case & disease management care plans. As you can see, she is pleasantly buried under paperwork! Way to go Maria!
Where In the World Is Carmen Sandiego©….err…I mean…MARIA Jimenez?Access Health Care is pleased to announce that Maria Jimenez has stepped up to the Case Management role for PFFS and is already doing an amazing job! She has plunged herself into member contacts and case & disease management care plans. As you can see, she is pleasantly buried under paperwork! Way to go Maria!
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| Human Resources Highlight on TimeKeeping |  Did you know that Gail Lasser, Human Resources, oversees the timekeeping process for payroll for between 350 and 400 employees here at Access Health Care? Gail handles timekeeping duties in addition to her very busy recruiting duties. Gail is a true professional and stickler when it comes to the task of processing all the timecards and PTO requests each and every payroll. She checks and double-checks every employee's time card to ensure that everyone is paid for the correct number of hours worked! This is a tremendous undertaking with checks and balances on hundreds of timecards each pay period to ensure that PTO is correctly taken on the day(s) requested, and that all employee IN and OUT punches are accurate.
Here's what YOU can do to make this a smooth process for everyone involved:
Time Keeping Supervisors need to mark their calendars each payroll Monday and fax all their team's timecards to Gail before 10 a.m. If you have time to do this on the Friday before, even better! Gail needs time to do her magic on each and every timecard turned in to her! The Human Resources fax number is 352-688-6189.
If ADP is down or if you miss a punch IN or OUT, please inform your timekeeping supervisor/team lead as soon as possible. Keep in mind you are responsible for punching yourself IN and OUT each day that you are scheduled to work.
If you don't have access to the ADP timekeeping system and you use a paper Bi-Weekly Time Sheet Form, please print neatly and legibly. Gail must to be able to read your handwriting to ensure accuracy in recordkeeping. Keep in mind that fax machines can distort your handwritten time card into a cryptic hieroglyph that can be hard to decipher.
PTO is a wonderful benefit provided by Access Health Care, and all requests must be approved and forwarded to Human Resources at least 30 days in advance whenever possible. Gail also tracks PTO requests, and approved requests should be turned into Human Resources timely. Keep in mind if you have an emer ...
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| Employee Spotlight of the Month |  It's again time for Access Health Care to recognize an exemplary employee who consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty. This month's featured team member is Christine Santiago, a medical assistant in Dr. Patel's podiatry office. Christine is a wonderful team player who takes the extra steps to help all of the patients. She is a role model, and sets the bar with her pleasant nature and positive attitude, even during the most rigorous days (which occur quite often). Christine stays on task, and completes all of her tasks and deadlines on time without any reminders. Her nickname is "Superstar" because that is exactly how Dr. Patel's staff and patients see her.
Christine has only been a member of the Access team for one year, and she has already earned a grand nickname. This proves how terrific she is. Dr. Patel's office staff and patients are fortunate to have such a
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