Try a Little Tenderness!

As you go about your Thanksgiving holiday, I'm sure you're feeling grateful thoughts for everything important to you. It's good to be grateful! Gratitude is a light that can shine through the days you're feeling blue, the days you're feeling forsaken, or those times you feel you don't have enough of whatever. However, gratitude goes even further if you express it, especially if your gratitude target is a person. You may be glad that you have a wonderful teacher, or an efficient accountant, or a thoughtful assistant. But maybe, as time goes by, you take that person for granted; you may even allow negative thoughts to cloud over what a gift that person really is. Perhaps they came in late one day, or forgot an appointment, or acted grouchy one morning; that sort of thing seems to cling to our consciousness more so than the good things. It's probably out of some kind of primal defense mechanism -- our brain wants to protect us against bad things and feelings, so recalling those things first will allow us to react quickly to a possible repeat behavior. Now is a great time to recall, instead, all the good things, even the mundanely good things, people do for you every day. Maybe they simply come to work every day without fail, or maybe the teacher drew a smiley face on your child's homework. Give gratitude and you will surely get it back doubled. Tell your assistant that she's doing a great job -- pick something specific so she knows you're paying attention...Give your office cleaning person an unexpected raise....ask your postal worker what she's doing for the holidays. And smile when you do....for all you know it may be the only smile someone sees all day.
Happy THANKSGIVING!

Making Time for Patients

We've come so far!

Hahn and Nelson Family Medicine is committed to spending quality time with patients. We're always looking for ways to cut down on the time that we must spend other than seeing patients in the office: billing, filling prescriptions, answering the phone, getting referrals, stocking our supply room.  Instead of simply throwing money at a problem, or hiring more people, we like to try to find creative, innovative solutions. Many times, technology is the answer: for example, we recently implemented electronic fax retrieval which saves time and paper. Other times, a low tech solutions such as altering a schedule, may work just as well to solve a problem. Some of these improvements may take a little getting used to, both for our patients, and for us.

It seems that our phone is always ringing! Most calls are for one of several common issues. One of those is patients needing refills. We recently asked Rick, our Teleplus representative, to add an option to our phone line to allow you to leave your refill information as a message.
New Refill Line!
Refills should ideally be handled through your pharmacy. You should be able to call your pharmacy for any refills you have available; if there are none, the pharmacy should call us directly to make arrangements. However, if this is not possible (in the case of prescriptions that must be on paper), when you call us, just press "1" when prompted and you'll be greeted with the questions you'll need to answer in order for us to refill your prescription. Please remember, it usually takes at least one business day for prescriptions to be taken care of from the time we receive your message until the pharmacy completes the order.

The other common reason patients call us is to get an appointment. We know that a lot of our patients would love to book appointments online, and we're getting ready to make that happen.

 Online Appointment Scheduling Coming Soon!
We already enjoy Oxbow, our state-of-the-art EMR software (Electronic Medical Record) and the advantages it gives us over old-fashioned paper charts. We use PracticeMate software to schedule patients quickly and easily and file our insurance claims electronically. Now we're getting ready to extend the ability to schedule appointments to our patients with the online PatientAlly service. PatientAlly allows enrolled patients to register their information, and then schedule an appointment. Patients can also send their provider messages. We're looking for some patients to "beta-test" this new service, so if you're interested, please email us at bibi@hahnandnelson.com to setup a training session.

Walk Across Maryland Redux

We love it when people copy  us! What's that saying.... "Imitation is the highest form of flattery..."? Right. Two years ago we got a phone call from a group that makes a hobby of doing "Walks" all around the region. They had heard about our Walk Across Maryland, but were unable to attend on the weekend we traditionally have the Walk. They wanted to know the route, and whether they could perhaps have a few t-shirts. We usually have a surplus of shirts, so we said "sure!". Again this year they had the same request. As they walked past our office, which is on the route Across Maryland, they noticed that both Dr. Hahn and Dr. Nelson were in the office despite it being Saturday, so they stopped in to say hello. Enjoy their pictures, and if you're one of the Walkers, thanks, and enjoy!

An Apple a Day...!

We can't promise you that eating an apple a day will keep your visits with us to a minimum but you won't be disappointed when you stock up on these lovely, go-to fruits. From the time the apple orchards grace us with acres of blossom clouds to the time we find them at the market, apples make me happy. Here in Berkeley Springs we have our Apple Butter Festival, where we celebrate the velvety outcome of some of our apples. And I love going to the Farmers Market this time of year, and seeing the apples piled sky high in their bins. The satisfying crunch when one bites into an apple, the smell of applesauce as it cooks down on the stove, my mother's apple pie baking in the oven.... ah!
Of course you can find apples at the grocery store. But when I was at the Farmers Market this weekend, I was reminded that there are apples, and then there are apples! Glascock's at our Market has Staymen apples right now, and these are terrific for cooking. While I'm thinking of my mother's pies, I'm reminded that she always uses this snappy variety anytime she makes a pie, or oh my, her dumplings. I love the Ginger Golds for eating. So if you're one of those who thinks apples are rather pedestrian, try reaching for a variety you haven't tried next time.
So let's say you've bought a bushel or so of apples. Now what? Ok, they are great for packing in lunches because they don't take up much room and they're easy to eat. But let's move on. Apples are so versatile.  I'll give you a recipe for every course!

• Curried Apple and Squash Soup I haven't made this particular recipe yet, but I want to try it.
• Apple and Endive Salad I make this. It's a refreshing change from the standard greens/red peppers/cucumber salad that I usually make! Apples are good thrown into almost any green salad, or try shredding them into your coleslaw.
• Apple Stuffed Pork Chops I am the only fan of pork in my house, so I don't ever get to cook it. But I order it when I go out, and this sounds like something I would definitely order in a restaurant. Go for it!
• Apples Bean Bake reminds me of something I used to make when I was a vegetarian. The apples rather mimic the texture and taste of pork. Try it even if you're a meat eater. It sounds good.
• My family recently discovered that we love brussels sprouts. Here's a recipe I'm going to try soon: Warm Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Red Onion.
• Apple Beer Bread benefits from a double shot of apples: once with the Granny Smith apples, and again with a shot of hard cider.
• And how about some lovely sauteed apples? I like to melt butter in my cast iron skillet, and then caramalize some brown sugar and cinnamon. Then I lay down the apple slices, and cook them until they're nice and soft, turning them once. These are great for breakfast, or as a side to chicken.
• Now, what about dessert? Well, you could take the healthy route, and offer your dinner companions a nice platter of assorted apple slices and a variety of cheeses. Cheddar goes particularly well with apples. Port wine is so lovely with this if you like wine.

Of course, there are so many decadent things you can do with apples I don't know where to start. There are those apple dumplings that my mom makes, and her apple pie is beyond comparison. She makes these the old fashioned way, with Crisco shortening.  And those sauteed apples are wonderful with vanilla ice cream. So I'll leave the dessert up to your imagination!

Bras for the Cause

This month, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, Rankin Fitness Center is collecting your gently used bras! For every bra collected, Shockley Honda will donate $1 to the FMH Regional Cancer Therapy Center Breast Cancer Unit. We at Hahn and Nelson Family Medicine will be more than happy to collect your bras here and deliver them to Rankins. Last year, $10,000 was raised with bra donations. So go home, look in your closets and drawers and bring them in! Please bring them in by October 23rd. Thank you!

Quotes about Walking

The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk.  ~Jacqueline Schiff

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.  ~Henry David Thoreau

My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty.  She's ninety-three today and we don't know where the hell she is.  ~Ellen DeGeneres

Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.  ~Henry David Thoreau

I have two doctors, my left leg and my right.  ~G.M. Trevelyan
Make your feet your friend.  ~J.M. Barrie
Thanks to the Quote Garden!

Walk Across Maryland!

In case you haven't heard, Hahn and Nelson Family Medicine's now famous Walk Across Maryland will be held this Saturday. So far the weather looks perfect, which is good news considering we could use a rest from all this rain. But we won't be resting until we've crossed the state of Maryland! Granted, we will be walking across the skinniest part of our beautiful state, but hey, it's all for fun. We'll have our new bright yellow Walk Across Maryland t-shirts available free for the first 200 walkers who show up. As in years past, we'll meet beginning at 8:30 at the Assembly of God parking lot (just keep driving up Pennsylvania Ave past Pittman's Grocery), and take a quick walk up to the Pennsylvania line. You can stop at our office about halfway and greet the staff from Hospice of Washington County, who will be accepting donations. From there, we'll walk all the way down Pennsylvania Avenue to the great Potomac River where we'll dip our toes. We'll have a shuttle available to drive folks back to their cars if you like. Once again Mike Cligerman will entertain us with his squeezebox, our loyal Hancock cheerleaders will cheer us on, and the Boomtown Hoop will join us too! I heard that some of those wild Zumba ladies might come along too, so watch out! All the office at 301-678-7007 or email bibi@hahnandnelson.com if you have any questions. See you there!