BeaconMediaNews.com
4 | december 30, 2013 - january 06, 2014
My favorite getaway of 2013 By Greg Aragon The New Year is upon us and that means it’s time to look ahead to new and exciting adventures for Greg’s Getaway. But before I do this, I would like to look back on my favorite getaways of 2013. After careful review of dozens of exotic spots and luxury resorts, I narrowed my favorite getaway of 2013 down to the island of Maui and Drakesbad Guest ranch, a rustic hideaway in Northern California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park. From here, I painstakingly selected Maui, where a friend and I spent a few wonderful nights at Hotel Wailea, Located on 15 lush acres on the island’s southwest coast, Hotel Wailea is an authentic tropical paradise, surrounded by palm and avocado trees, rolling hills, thick gardens, waterfalls and streams, and lots of Hawaiian charm. Because the property is a few blocks above the beach, it
offers an intimate, romantic atmosphere not found at larger, busier resorts. This is a place to enjoy the island and forget about life for awhile. The hotel also boasts a full service spa and fitness center, a sparkling pool, an award-winning restaurant, complimentary breakfast, and an efficient shuttle service to and from the beaches and shopping areas a couple minutes drive away. All 72 suites at Hotel Wailea feature 900 sq-ft, separate bedrooms and living areas, deep soaking tubs, kitchens, free wireless internet, TVs, plush bathrobes, and private lanais with chaise lounges and chairs. Ours overlooked the water, white sandy beaches and the island of Molokai a few miles offshore. When we weren’t lounging poolside at the hotel, we were exploring the rest of the island. One of my favorite spots was Iao Valley State Park, located in the center of Maui. This magical, 4,000-acre reserve is carpeted with thick, tropical vegetation and guarded by towering mountain peaks. It is home to one of Maui’s
most popular landmarks, the 1,200-ft Iao Needle, a giant jagged rock shooting above the Iao stream. A sacred, historical place in Hawaiian history, the Iao Valley is a great place for a nature hike, as there are well-maintained trails leading to the needle above and to an old village below. From the valley we drove to gorgeous Makena Beach. Also known as Big Beach, this beach is Maui’s largest and also one of its best, which to me means it’s one of the best in the world. With white sand stretching nearly a mile-long and 100 yards wide, this ocean-front playground offers great swimming, snorkeling, picnicking and sunbathing. After a day at the beach we drove back to Hotel Wailea for dinner at the property’s signature Capische? restaurant and bar. Serving creative Southern Italian cuisine, the restaurant is delicately woven into the hotel garden setting, so guests can dine in various romantic outdoor nooks, with memorable views of the ocean and rolling grounds. Our meal be-
gan with mushroom truffle risotto; and a Kona Maine lobster, with garden vegetable, preserved lemon and herb crème. We followed scrumptious appetizers with Caesar and arugula salads and white wine. For the main course I devoured a tasty Capische Cioppino, with Kona Maine lobster tail, Kauai shrimp, clams, local fish and house-
made saffron orrecchiette. My friend went with a divine Porcini Crusted Ahi, with mushrooms, roasted root veggies, polenta and pumpkin seed vanilla vinaigrette. After dinner we relaxed on our suite’s private lanai and watched the sun fall into the ocean behind Molokai, while sipping mai tais, breathing in the warm
fragrance of plumeria, and feeding breadcrumbs to wild chickens that dropped by for an unexpected visit. For more information on staying at Hotel Wailea and current specials, visit: www.hotelwailea.com. For more information on visiting Maui, taking the Maui/ Lanai ferry and other activities, visit www.gohawaii. com/lanai.
-Courtesy Photo
PRESCRIBING FOR SLEEP APNEA? YOUR DME COMPANY LETTING YOU DOWN? If you’re frustrated with your DME provider, find out why thousands of physicians prefer “Classic”
Why Classic?
We relieve you from the burden of answering day-to-day equipment issues.
“Sleep” is our specialty. That’s right, no oxygen, scooters, wheelchairs, beds or other DME. We supply only PAP equipment and related replenishment supplies. This allows us to be real experts in what we do and to concentrate on delivering the patient care that matters. The fact we serve more than 18,000 patients over 18 states and are growing rapidly is testament to our focus and commitment to delivering timely setup and having happy and compliant patients.
able to continue to collect usage data.
Compliance through great patient care
When calling patients we use data generated from our proprietary Download on Demand® software. This takes the raw data streams from patient’s modems, parses the data to produce compliance reports containing key data points and a graph that our clinicians use so that they can have an intelligent conversation with the patient based on that patient’s actual use of their equipment. Of course patients can (and do!) call in to our patient care center for help and advice from our clinicians at any time.
is what really sets us apart from the pack. Our licensed respiratory professionals (respiratory therapists and registered sleep techs) work with patients from the time of setup and throughout their therapy with one goal in mind…to ensure they quickly adapt to their therapy and stay compliant over time.
Our CPAP Circle of Care® program
was carefully designed to achieve this. The first step of the program is for one of our licensed respiratory therapists to complete the setup faceto-face with the patient, either in their home or their doctor’s office, usually within 72 hours of approval. Our R/T will set the machine to the prescription and then educate the patient on its use, care and maintenance. And educate the patient on what to expect over the first days and weeks of their therapy. We set up all patients on the highest quality machines fitted with wireless modems (regardless of insurance). And we leave the modems on the machine indefinitely so as to be
Interested in learning more? www.classicsleepcare.com
After setup patients are passed to our patient care center for ongoing compliance care. Our licensed clinicians make outgoing calls at 72 hours, 30 days and 90 days after setup to interdict any problems patients may be having. A field R/T will make a re-visit to a patient in their home where a problem cannot be resolved over the phone.
Download on Demand® - Driving Compliance
Our goal is to have happy, compliant patients while taking the brunt of the every-day questions patients invariably have. This relieves the burden from our referring physician’s offices who otherwise have to deal with this call volume, and depending on the experience of the doctor in this field, may not be able to answer typical questions the patient has regarding equipment issues (e.g. how to fix a leaking mask).
Skeptical?
So you’ve heard it all before? All the DME’s brag that they’re the best and have a great compliance and supply replenishment program.... everybody talks the talk...so who do you believe? Your patients...that’s who! We’ll prove it to you. Send us two or three patients and then ask your patients about the care they received and their opinion of the process... then compare the results to your existing DME provider. Talk to your staff about the interaction they have with our office. Look at our documentation. Reach out to Bill Kleiman (contact info below) to set up an inservice over lunch with your staff to go over our program and answer any questionvs you may have.
Not currently screening for Sleep Apnea?
If you are not currently screening your patients for sleep apnea and would like to learn more about how we can help you, please call.
liance Program PAP Comp
The prescribing doctor receives documentation by eFax (or electronically via EMR system integration), starting with confirmation of receipt of the referral through every touch we have with the patient. This includes a copy of the 2-page compliance reports containing our Download on Demand® data and a copy of the notes made by our clinician during a call. Our proprietary systems automate the flow of documentation keeping referring doctors completely informed about their patients’ progress and ensure physicians have the documentation they need for follow-up consultations with their patients.
Bill Kleiman, Regional VP of Sales
Cell (818) 515-6906 | Office toll free 888 707-2454 | Office Fax 888-249-3875 30851 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills CA 91301