Monthly Matters:

• GreenField and the Social Media Era
• GreenField’s Rich History with Information Technology
• Family Matters: A Reminder on Sun Safety
• Office Notes

GreenField Health’s Health Matters

July 2010

GreenField and the Social Media Era

As our world turns to the internet for just about everything these days, GreenField has begun to embrace the trend referred to as social media or social networking and we invite you to participate.

Join Us on Facebook®
We would like to encourage you to join us on Facebook! Feel free to post comments on our wall, join in our current discussions by clicking on the “discussion” tab at the top of our wall, or even write a personal review about your experience as a GreenField patient by clicking on the “review” tab at the top of our wall. We do use our page as yet another way to keep our fans and patients informed on important GreenField updates. For example, during last year’s flu season we utilized our website, personal emails, and even our Facebook page to keep our patients informed about vaccine availability at GreenField. Don’t forget to suggest our page to your friends to further help us spread the word. Finding us should be easier than ever, simply visit: www.facebook.com/GreenFieldHealth.

Rate Us on Angie’s List
Angie’s List has been around for some time now and many of our patients have written personal reviews about their GreenField experience over the past few years. We are very appreciative of these reviews as they are the best reflection of the true GreenField patient experience. We would like to invite you to write about your personal experience, please visit: www.AngiesList.com/review.

Review Us on YELP
YELP is a newer search engine and social networking site that allows you to find all things local! Find everything from local restaurants, events, shopping, and nightlife to even doctors and healthcare providers. Read real reviews from real Portlanders, or join in and write your own reviews. For more information, or to search for GreenField Health and write a review please visit: http://www.yelp.com/portland.

The comments, ratings and reviews written by the people who mean the most to us -our patients- are extremely helpful as we continue to look for ways to strengthen our core values of service, relationship and reliability. In many ways we are ahead of our peers in the healthcare field as we begin to explore new ways to use these sites, but we still have much to learn, and we look forward to learning from you.

GreenField's Rich History with Information Technology

GreenField Health was the first practice in Portland to offer email care to our patients. We have learned a lot over the years, and now use email (and phone) for over 50% of our total patient care. Our level of care, access and technology simply would not be possible without the vision of our founders and the key technology partners that we have worked with since our inception, namely GE Healthcare and Kryptiq Corporation.

The technology GreenField uses is multi-faceted. There is no one "off the shelf" product that provides the functionality needed in the rapidly evolving world of healthcare. Instead, there is a symphony of hardware, software, partners and vendors all working together to make sure what you and your provider need is at your/their fingertips.

At the center of this orchestra is a cluster of products from GE Healthcare known as Centricity®. The Centricity duo includes the electronic health record database and integration with practice management software. These are companion products where one stores your confidential information securely; making it available to doctors and medical staff immediately, and the other takes care of the scheduling and financial aspects of the practice.

In addition, GreenField has helped develop and added a plethora of enhancements ranging from secure messaging, patient portal, electronic prescribing, online bill pay, electronic interfaces with most major laboratory service providers and disease management. Kryptiq Corporation has played a key role in our ability to offer many of these enhancements to our patients.

Maintaining this functionality and security requires many types of hardware and multiple high-end servers (12 at last count). Our servers are housed in an off-site data facility which provides critical network security features, redundant connections to the Internet, back-up power, a climate-controlled environment and electronic surveillance systems all in a high security location. Interactive monitoring software is used to track everything from CPU utilization to the last time a lab result was processed from the local hospital. This monitoring software will alert the GreenField staff to situations before they become problems.

GreenField has always had a rich history of innovation; a history which has awarded us national recognition from time to time. Technology helps facilitate the deep relationships GreenField physicians enjoy with their patients. While it seems counterintuitive, the technology actually allows the high touch. Relationships, access and technology remain the cornerstones of GreenField.

We continue to look for ways to make the technology easier to use. We are proud of the past innovations but realize the bar continues to be raised in the use of technology. The bottom line is does the technology make the patient/physician experience better? If you have any questions or feedback for us please email Technology@GreenFieldHealth.com.

Family Matters: A Reminder on Sun Safety

With all of this glorious Portland sunshine, we thought that it might be appropriate to remind all of our patients about the importance of using sunscreen and not overdoing it in the sun this summer as tempting as it may be.

Everyone should use sunscreen, regardless of skin type! We recommend a broad spectrum sunscreen, which protects against both UVA and UVB rays, and has a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15 or higher to all of our GreenField patients. Sunscreen should be applied to all exposed skin areas, including the face, hands, neck and ears. It should always be applied at least 15 minutes prior to going outside. Even on cloudy days up to 80% of the sun’s ultraviolet rays can pass through the clouds.

Sunlight consists of two types of harmful rays- ultraviolet A (UVA) rays and ultraviolet B (UVB) rays. UVA rays cause signs of premature aging such as wrinkles and age spots. UVB rays are the suns burning rays and are the primary cause of sunburn. A good way to remember it is UVA rays are the aging rays and UVB rays are the burning rays. Both types of UV rays can lead to the development of skin cancer. To avoid signs of premature aging and decrease your chances of developing skin cancer, sunscreen should be used every day.

Treating Sunburns
Sunburns can sneak up on you, especially after a long day in the sun. Skin that feels fine during the day can become painful and hot just hours later. Serious sunburns can even bring on symptoms of feeling ill such as fever, chills and sweats, and itching.

If you or your child gets a sunburn, stay in the shade, and out of the sun, until the sunburn has healed. Consider taking a cool (not cold) bath, or gently apply a cool, wet compress to the skin. Apply pure Aloe Vera gel to the sunburned skin. You may take a pain reliever such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, but do not give aspirin to children or teens. Apply a moisturizing cream to rehydrate the skin, and for severely sunburned areas, apply a thin layer of 1% hydrocortisone cream. If the sunburn is severe and blisters develop, please give us a call.

There is no safe way to tan. A tan is the skin’s response to injury caused by UV exposure. Tanning and sunburns are outward signs of internal skin damage. It is the cumulative sun exposure that is associated with an increased risk of skin cancer.

We recommend that our adult patients have a full body skin exam, checking for suspicious moles and/or lesions, each year at the time of their annual exam. Should we notice a mole or area of the skin that looks questionable we are able to do the excision and biopsy at either of our GreenField locations. In addition, should you ever notice a mole or area on your skin that is changing, give us a call and we will schedule a time for you to come in.

Office Notes

• In our ongoing efforts to be green, we no longer automatically send you a receipt when you pay your bill with us, but are always happy to email you a receipt if you request one.
• Our goal is to make your day easier- If your insurance changes, please make sure to contact us to provide us with your new insurance information. We will need the name of your new insurance provider, your ID and Group numbers, the subscriber’s name and date of birth, and the phone numbers and billing address for your new insurance which can be found on the back of your card.
• Please call us if you are running late for a scheduled appointment as we may be able to schedule you for later in the day. We want all of our patients to enjoy the GreenField benefits of longer appointment times and no waiting room or long wait times, and that includes you!

We hope that you all are having a wonderful summer. Please remember to enjoy the sun, but be safe and protect your skin.

We welcome ideas for future topics for our monthly Health Matters newsletter. Should you have a medical topic that you would like to see us address please feel free to email Marketing@GreenFieldHealth.com.

Sincerely,

Your GreenField Team

Angie Ashburn, CMA, your Health Coordinator
Blaine Douglas, CMA, your Health Coordinator
Carrie Destefano, CMA, your Health Coordinator
Chuck Kilo, MD
Connie Turner, MA, your Health Coordinator
Cynthia Ferrier, MD
David Hays, MD
David Shute, MD
Elizabeth Hays, MD
Greg Fishback, your Director of Information Technology
Joanne Millner, your Billing Coordinator
Kate Griggs, your Administrative Assistant
Kim Walgraeve, your Marketing Manager
Kristin Walker, your Program and Executive Assistant
Malcolm McAninch, MD
Marsha Box, MA, your Health Coordinator
Meena Mital, MD
Paula Koeller, MD
Steve Rallison, your Administrator

GreenField Health at Barnes Road
9427 SW Barnes Road, Suite 590
Portland, OR 97225

GreenField Health at NE Broadway
2606 NE Broadway, Suite C
Portland, OR 97232

Phone: 503.292.9560
Fax: 503.292.9510
Web: http://www.GreenFieldHealth.com

questions, concerns, comments always appreciated:
questions@GreenFieldHealth.com

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