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T H ET H E MM AA GG A Z I N EA Z I N E

FALL 2012

Pitfalls to Avoid When Selling a Practice

Disney Park

Vacations:More ThanCutesy Kids

Stuff

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3N OV E M B E R 2 0 1 2 • Drs.Reference T H E M AG A Z I N E

CoNteNts

November 2012 Issue

Drs.ReferenceT H E M AG A Z I N E

4 A healthy Practice

6 Pitfalls to Avoid When selling Practice

10 Disparities Cloud health improvements in Past Decade, Report Finds

13 help for Patients Who Can’t Afford their Medications

16 the Future of Medicine: homeopathy

18 What Are You selling Your Patients?

20 Why hire a Medical Billing specialist?

22 Vacation inspiration: 4 weeks back-packing in the Middle east

24 Golf swing Balance:solve Problems With one exercise!

26 top ten Best Used luxury Cars: intro

29 Disney Park Vacations: More than CutesyKids stuff

4 Drs.Reference T H E M AG A Z I N E • N OV E M B E R 2 0 1 2

sPotliGht

or the five founding partnersof The Health Law Partners(HLP)— Adrienne Drese-

vic, Jessica Gustafson, Robert Iwrey,Carey Kalmowitz and Abby Pendle-ton —it is a dichotomy that hasdefined the arc of their professionaljourney: specialized service withinone very specific area of the law.

The Southfield, Mich.-based firmtouts its ability to present a diverserange of experts focusing on a hostof legal specialties within thebroader healthcare segment as oneof its biggest assets. “But at the sametime,” says Dresevic, “we have builtour reputation on the fact that wecan say what very few other lawfirms can: everyone here focusesexclusively on healthcare law.”

Each of the five founding partnersmaintains a specialized service nichewithin the broader field of health-care law—a pattern of diversifica-tion and specialization that extendsthroughout the firm. HLP practicegroups cover Stark and Anti-Kick-back law compliance, healthcarebilling and reimbursement issues,and Medicare and Medicaid ap-peals—as well as licensing issues,physician and staff privileging andparticipation with third-party pay-ers. HLP attorneys also providepost-audit defense and appeals, aspecialty that provides them withvaluable insight and experience intothe compliance side of the legal

equation—identifying and address-ing avoidable vulnerabilities andexposures. The result is a comple-mentary and seemingly comprehen-sive assemblage of expertise thatspans the entire health law spec-trum.

It is this combination of professionalfocus with a rare breadth of legaland medical expertise that hashelped HLP carve out a distinctiveniche in the marketplace; a success-ful foothold that has fueled subse-quent expansion into both NewYork and Georgia. The foundingpartners make it clear that their goalall along has been to not just start ahealthcare law practice, but to do soin a way that met their own high

standards for service, responsivenessand experienced legal counsel for awide range of healthcare clients.

Perhaps not surprisingly, HLP’sclient roster mirrors the variationfound in its practice groups. The firmworks with everyone from solopractitioners to group practices,hospitals to hospice organizations,and pharmacies to physicians. SaysKalmowitz, “We have representedessentially every variety of stake-holders, from larger health systems,to individual physicians andspecialists.”

According to Dresevic, the speedwith which the healthcare industryitself has evolved has had a founda-tional and lasting impact on thefirm’s growth over the last fiveyears. “Healthcare is one of thefastest developing areas of the law,simply because the industry is sodynamic, and because it bringstogether so many disparate ele-ments—technology, finance andmedicine—that all continue to havea huge impact on the industry andon our practice.”

“Every single one of us has beenthere and watched the changingtrends over the years,” addsKalmowitz, “not just watching, butparticipating in some of the mostimportant and influential develop-ments of an evolving industry.”

F

A Healthy PracticeThe Health Law Partners is an expanding healthcare law practice

in a rapidly growing industry.

“Healthcare law is fundamentally a national issue”

Ron Lebow, Esq., Partner at The Greenberg,Dresevic, Hinrichsen, Iwrey, Kalmowitz,La Salle, Lebow & Pendleton Law Group -A Division of The Health Law Partners, P.C.

“We haven’t just worked in theindustry, we’ve lived it.”

Accelerating industry growth hasalso been a big factor in the firm’srecent decisions to expand into NewYork and Georgia, market-drivenstrategic choices that were moti-vated by less by the desire forgrowth than by the practical de-mands of servicing an expandingclient roster.

“Healthcare law is fundamentally anational issue,” says Dresevic. “Andwith so many emerging legal issueson the federal level, we have alwayshad clients from all over thecountry.”

She goes on to explain that strongclient and professional relationshipson the ground in New York made ita natural fit for HLP to get licensedin the state and establish a full-timepractice. HLP says that, while itsclient roster may be geographicallydiverse, the firm’s high client reten-tion rate and long list of satisfiedclients stems from an organizationalapproach that applies sometimescomplex legal principles toward avery specific goal: delivering whatclients need, whenever and wher-ever they need it.

“It boils down to solving problems,”says Pendleton.

This constructive, practical and solu-tion-oriented approach demandsnot just an established level of in-dustry familiarity and legal expert-ise, but a corresponding ability to beflexible—and even creative—whennecessary. The firm prides itself onmaking deals happen, an ability thatdemands both sophistication and in-novation. As Pendleton puts it, “Inan industry that can be a little bit‘paint-by-numbers’ at times, a littlebit of artistry and nuance goes along way.”

HLP says that the firm’s establishedrelationships with decision-makersis also a big plus, particularly whennavigating through the always-changing features of a complexregulatory landscape. And, in anindustry where time can literally bemoney, HLP’s speed to deliver isa point of pride with the firm’sattorneys.

“We have consistently demon-strated to our clients that we havethe ability to provide great resultsquickly, efficiently and affordably:on-time and under deadline,” saysDresevic.

But while the firm remains commit-ted to a practical and proactive ap-proach that delivers workablesolutions for its clients, in the end, itall goes back to the diversity of theHLP professional toolkit. “We areall healthcare attorneys, but also allhave sub-specialties,” explainsKalmowitz. He adds that this facili-tates a business model that providesmore professional resources and ca-pacity than a boutique firm, but witha level of specialized experience andexpertise that few—if any—bignational names can match.

That seems like a good place forHLP to be in going forward.

Because it is not just the industryitself that is changing. Healthcareorganizations of all sizes are consol-idating their services, integratingnew lines of service into existingpractices and restructuring in theface of stricter and more complexhealthcare regulations. HLP is bank-ing on the fact that clients, whenconfronted with the realities of op-erating in an environment wherenew legal and logistical obstacles arepractically a way of life, will requirethe experienced counsel of a trustedhealthcare attorney to operatesuccessfully.

“We believe that in this brave newworld of healthcare law, our provenability to help organizations inte-grate financially and operationallywithout violating healthcare regula-tions will continue to be extraordi-narily valuable,” says Dresevic. “Ifwe can continue to help our clientsnavigate treacherous regulatorywaters and identify innovative andeffective new ways to structure part-nerships and professional relation-ships that satisfies both theiroperational priorities and theirlegal responsibilities, we anticipatecontinued success.”

“We have consistently demonstrated to our clients that we have the ability to provide great results quickly”



MeDiCAl PRACtiCe

he opportunity to sell a prac-tice reflects the culminationof years of hard work and

can be one of the most satisfyingmoments of a doctor's career. Un-fortunately, since doctors typicallyonly do this once in their lifetime,they do not have a chance to learnfrom previous mistakes. As attor-neys working primarily withphysicians, podiatrists, dentists, chi-ropractors and other healthcare pro-fessionals and facilities, we haveencountered the fallout from "salesgone wrong" in a variety of circum-stances. The following are a few il-lustrations of how proper planningand structuring can help ensure thesuccess of your practice sale:

Avoid Arrangements That MightViolate "Fee-Splitting" and "Kick-back" LawsObviously, setting the price for yourpractice is a key consideration, but awilling buyer may not be confidentthat patients will remain loyal to anew, or younger, face. They may balkat paying a high price due to this un-certainty. You can alleviate theseconcerns by committing to an-nouncement letters with your per-sonal endorsement of the buyer andby staying on board for some periodof time post-transition (with com-pensation for your work, of course).However, some buyers may suggest"wait-and-see" pricing, pursuant towhich they pay a percentage of col-

lections or profits earned post-sale.This approach could constitute ille-gal "fee splitting" between inde-pendent third parties, or beconsidered a "kickback" in ex-change for continuing patient refer-rals, potentially subjecting both thebuyer and seller to disciplinary ac-tion for "professional misconduct"that could result in the suspensionor revocation of their respectiveprofessional licenses – or the risk ofan allegation by the buyer’s attorneythat the deal is illegal and unen-forceable.

Be Careful How You Transfer"Goodwill"The major component of a prac-tice's valuation is its "goodwill",which is that amount which reflects

the value of the business as a goingconcern in reference to historicalrevenue generation through patientloyalty and referral relationships. Isthe goodwill personal to the practiceowner, or does it belong to the prac-tice entity itself? Most would agreethat the owner has nurtured the re-lationships. Accordingly, in structur-ing a sale agreement, a selling entitymust be wary if it is classified as a"C" corporation or its equivalent inthe applicable state for tax purposes.A "C" corporation is taxed at thecorporate level and the owner istaxed again when distributions aremade to him from the sale proceeds.To avoid this double taxation, thegoodwill can be sold through a sep-arate agreement directly betweenthe individual owner and the buyer,

t

Pitfalls to Avoid When Selling a Practice

Make Sure That Key Personnel Are Retained Post-Sale By the Buyer

continued...

By Ron Lebow, Esq. of The Health Law Partners, P.C.

while the other assets would betransferred pursuant to an agree-ment with the practice entity.

Make Sure That Key Personnel AreRetained Post-Sale By the BuyerThe better the buyer does, the moreassured you can be that purchaseprice payments to be paid over timewill be there when you expect themto be. This makes it especially im-portant that those administrativeand professional staff members whohave endeared themselves to pa-tients over the years stick aroundwith the buyer to ensure continuityof the patient experience and themaintenance of goodwill. Familiarfaces breed confidence! The pur-chase agreement should thereforeaddress those individuals who areentitled to remain, and care shouldbe taken to assure their interest incontinuing to work with the newowner. On the opposite note, exist-ing professional personnel who de-cide to leave constitute a majorthreat to the practice's continuingviability, particularly if they are notsubject to a restrictive covenant (i.e.,a non-compete) and have access topatient and referral source contactinformation. Care should thereforebe taken before an announcementof the pending sale is made to en-sure that adequate protections arein place, including instituting assign-

able employment contracts contain-ing restrictive covenant clauseswhere needed.

Minimize Landlord InterferenceWhen Transferring Your OfficeLeaseEnsuring practice continuity afterthe sale is often dependent uponmaking sure that the office locationremains the same. Many profession-als fail to note that their lease oftendoes not allow for assignment to abuyer without the landlord's con-sent. Effectuating a lease transfer(and absolving yourself from contin-uing liability under the lease, if pos-sible) may become the biggesthurdle, and delay, in finalizing a sale.Any professional who expects to selltheir practice should make an effortto add a clause to their lease indicat-

Minimize Landlord Interference When Transferring Your Office Lease



ing that no consent from the land-lord is required (or that such con-sent will not be unreasonablywithheld) if the lease assignment isto another doctor as part of a prac-

tice sale transaction.If it is too late forthat, then as soon as aseller feels comfort-able, he or she shouldpromptly commencesecuring the requiredlandlord consent. Thelease may specify thetypes of informationthat must be providedto properly requestlandlord consent. Besure that the timing ofthe request for con-sent is carefully con-sidered, though, sothe landlord does not

have time to shop around the lease.

These are but a few of the consider-ations involved in selling your med-ical practice. With proper planning

and competent legal and accountingguidance, the experience can bepleasant, seamless and, most impor-tantly, rewarding.

About the Author:Ron Lebow, Esq.is a Partner in The Health Law Part-ners, P.C. (www.thehlp.com), a na-tionally recognized boutique healthlaw firm with offices in New YorkCity, Long Island, Michigan andGeorgia. Mr. Lebow practices acrossthe nation in all areas of health law,focusing primarily on medical andhealthcare business, contract, corpo-rate, regulatory and related matters.He can be reached for comments orquestions at (516) 492-3390 or byemail to [email protected].

With proper planning and competent legal and accounting guidance, the experience can be seamless and rewarding.”


heAlth CARe

inority and low-incomegroups continue to be lesslikely to have a regular

source of health care when com-pared to the general population, de-spite efforts over the past decade toremedy the situation. This and otherhealth disparities persist across race,ethnicity, income level and educa-tion, according to the final review ofHealthy People 2010, which wasreleased Thursday.

Healthy People 2010, the third sucheffort by federal officials, is adecade-long initiative which estab-lished an ambitious set of goals inNovember 2000 to improve thehealth of all Americans, and the re-port details how the country did.

Progress has been made on a num-ber of counts: Life expectancy atbirth went up a year from 76.8 yearsin 2000 to 77.8 years in 2007. Ratesof death from coronary heart dis-ease, stroke and other illness de-creased over the course of thedecade. Nonetheless, health dispari-ties remain a major problem.

“It’s a source of ongoing frustra-tion,” said Howard Koh, assistantsecretary at the Department ofHealth and Human Services, whichmanages the Healthy People initia-tive. Much of the movement ondisparity-related objectives “iscertainly not in the right direction,”or just stagnant, Koh added.

HHS officials expect to renew theemphasis on reducing health dispar-ities as they shift attention towardthe next installment of goals —Healthy People 2020. And with thecombination of the 2010 health lawand a recently announced HHSstrategy for minority health, officialssaid they were optimistic.

The report measures the success ofHealthy People 2010 based on 733health indicators, each one with a“very ambitious,” quantifiable targetfor improvement, Koh said. Baselinedata was collected in the 1990s andearly 2000s, and compared to themost recent data, 23 percent of tar-gets were met; another 48 percent ofhealth indicators showed improve-ment, which Koh viewed “very pos-itively.”

A disappointing 24 percent of indi-cators, however, moved further fromtheir goal.

A Look At Access And High Qual-ity Care

Among health indicators related toreducing disparities by race, ethnic-ity, sex, income and education, morethan 69 percent showed no changeat all.

Many of the health measures ana-lyzed by HHS are related to Ameri-cans’ access to high quality care, andprogress on this front was largelymixed. For example, the number ofpeople younger than age 65 withhealth insurance remained steadyover the past decade, with 83 per-cent insured in 2008, the latest offi-cial figure used in this review.

M

Disparities Cloud Health ImprovementsIn Past Decade, Report Finds

Minority and low-income groups continue to be less likely to have a regular source of health care

By Christian Torres

Certain aspects of coverage, how-ever, showed declines. The totalnumber of adults age 18 and olderwith a source of ongoing care wasdown to 84 percent in 2008; in 1998,the baseline used by Healthy Peo-ple, it was 85 percent. Blacks andHispanics saw 2 and 3 percentagepoint drops during that same timeperiod, down to 81 and 69 percentcoverage, respectively. Adults withearnings below the federal poverty

level ($10,890 for an individual) andthe nearly poor—those with in-comes up to twice that level — eachdropped 4 points to the lowest cov-erage rates of all populations. Theywere 71 and 76 percent, respectively.

Rates for children, on the otherhand, showed improvement be-tween 1998 and 2008, especiallyamong minority populations. The

rate for ongoing care among blackchildren went up 3 points and be-came even with that of the generalpopulation at 94 percent. Coverageof Hispanic children rose 3 percent-age points but remained at 90 per-cent in 2008. Among Asian children,there was a 6 point increase to 95

percent coverage, and poor childrensaw a 4 point increase to 92 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of peoplewho had a usual primary careprovider dropped 1 percentagepoint between 1996 and 2007 to 76percent overall; it also dropped onepoint to 73 percent among blacks.Hispanics saw a 1 point increase, al-

though the group’s access was stillthe lowest of all groups, reachingjust 65 percent.

HHS officials expect access to careto dramatically improve in comingyears with the implementation of

the 2010 health law, which has al-ready yielded a significant increasein coverage for young adults underage 26 who can now stay on theirparents’ plans.

“We know that very recently thereis progress in insurance coverage,and a lot of the [health] improve-

“There are many challenges ahead, and disparities continue to exist”



ments we’ll see in the coming yearswill be linked to health reform,” saidEd Sondik, director of the NationalCenter for Health Statistics at theCenters for Disease Control andPrevention. “Without insurance,we’re missing an important part ofaccess to care and preventive regi-mens.”

Making Gains In Prevention

Prevention was among the brightspots of the Healthy People 2010findings, according to Carter Blakey,acting director of the Office on Dis-ease Prevention and Health Promo-tion. The number of adults 50 andolder who had a sigmoidoscopy to

screen for colon cancer jumpedfrom 37 percent in 1998 to 55 per-cent in 2008, exceeding the 50 per-cent target. Full immunizationamong children between 19 and 35months rose from 73 percent in 1998to 78 percent in 2008, nearing the 80percent target.

Other health improvements include:

–The rate of pneumonia dropped

significantly among people age 65and over between 1997 and 2008,from 62 to 40 cases per 100,000; thegoal was 42.

–Access to mental health treatmentfor children age 4 to 17 increasedfrom 60 to 69 percent, passing the 67percent target, between 2001 and2008.

–Deaths from coronary heart dis-ease dropped from 203 to 144 per100,000 between 1999 and 2006; thegoal was 162. Deaths from strokealso dropped during those years,from 62 to 44 per 100,000; the targetwas 50.

Among major problem areas,Blakey noted, is nutrition. Between1994 and 2006, the rate of obesityjumped from 23 to 33 percentamong adults age 20 and older, andfrom 11 to 18 percent among adoles-

cents 12 to 19 years old. Those rateswere likely not helped by a disap-pointing change in care: The numberof physician office visits that in-cluded diet and nutrition counselingfor medical conditions droppedfrom 42 to 35 percent between 1997and 2005.

The final HHS report sets the stagefor further work this decade, withthe modified goals of Healthy Peo-ple 2020. Koh described how, since itcame about in its first form 30 yearsago, Healthy People has been “aroadmap, a framework, a nationalplan” for improving health – andnow it’s complemented by health re-form and other promising initiatives.

“There are many challenges ahead,and disparities continue to exist,”Koh said, adding that, in looking to-ward 2020, “we’re expecting to seeprogress.”

Between 1994 and 2006, the rate of obesity jumped from 23 to 33 percent among adults age 20 and older

PAtieNts

By Richard J. Sagall, MD

t’s a choice no one shouldhave to make – pay rent andbuy food or get prescriptions

filled. Yet all too often it’s a choiceAmericans, particularly older Amer-icans, have to make.

Nearly 50 million Americans haveno health insurance, and millionsmore have limited coverage. ManyAmericans just can’t afford healthcare, and, if they can, they don’t havethe money to buy their medicines.

Patient Assistance ProgramsThere is help available for manypeople who can’t afford their medi-cines. These programs, frequentlycalled patient assistance programs(PAPs), are designed to help thosein need obtain their medicines at nocost or very low cost.

Many, but not all, pharmaceuticalcompanies have PAPs. The manu-facturers who have programs do sofor various reasons. Some believe

that they have a corporate social ob-ligation to help those who can’t af-ford their products. Others believeit’s a good marketing tool. As onePAP director once told me, manypeople who can’t afford their medi-cines now will go on to obtain sometype of coverage. And when they doget this coverage, they will continueusing the medication provided bythe PAP.

In 2008, PAPs helped over 8 millionpeople. The programs filled pre-scriptions with a total wholesalevalue of over $10 billion.

The Basics of the ProgramsAll PAPs are designed to help thosein need obtain their medicines. Sinceeach pharmaceutical company es-tablishes its own rules and guide-lines, all are different. All haveincome guidelines, but they varyconsiderably. Each company selectswhich drugs are available on their

programs and how long a personcan receive assistance.

How PAPs WorkAlthough no two programs are ex-actly the same, most require that theapplicant complete an applicationform. The amount of informationrequired varies. Some programs re-quire detailed medical and financialinformation, others very little. Allrequire a doctor’s signature. Certainprograms require the doctor com-plete a portion of the form whileothers only need a signed prescrip-tion.

Most send the medicines to the doc-tor’s office for distribution to the pa-tients, while others send themedicine to a pharmacy. A few senda certificate to the patient to give tothe pharmacist.

Some patients need drugs for a longtime. Most, but not all, programs

i

Help for Patients Who Can’t Afford Their Medications

Visit DrsReference.com


that cover medicines used to treatchronic diseases offer refills.

What Medicines are CoveredThe pharmaceutical companies de-cide if they will have a PAP and, ifthey do, which of their medicineswill be available through the pro-gram. Some include many or all ofthe medicines they manufacturewhile others include only a few. Thereasons for these decisions are notsomething they reveal.

There are a few programs that sellgeneric medications at a fixed price– usually $20 for a three-month sup-ply. These programs are addingmore drugs all the time.

Sometimes a medicine or a certaindosage of that medicine will be on aprogram, then off, and then back onagain. Or one dose of the medicinewill be on the program but a differ-ent dose won’t be.

How to Learn about PAPsYour doctor is not the best source ofinformation on PAPs. Surprisingly,many doctors don’t even knowPAPs exist. The same applies forpharmacists. Many social workersknow about the programs. Books inthe library or bookstore on PAPsare probably outdated before theyare printed.

The best place to learn about PAPsis the Internet. There are a numberof sites that have information onthese programs. Many pharmaceuti-cal companies have information ontheir patient assistant programs ontheir websites. Unfortunately, it’soften difficult to find the page thatdescribes their PAP.

Types of WebsitesThere are two types of websites withinformation on patient assistanceprograms. Three of these sites list

information on patient assistanceprograms – NeedyMeds(www.needymeds.org), RxAssist(www.rxassist.org), and Partnershipfor Prescription Assistance(www.pparx.org). There is no chargeto use the information. These sitesdon’t have a program of their ownnor do they help people get theirmedicines.

NeedyMeds is a non-profit fundedby donations, sales of software formanaging PAPs, and other sources.The Pharmaceutical Researchand Manufacturers of America(PhRMA), an association andlobbying group whose membersinclude many of the larger pharma-ceutical manufacturers, runsHelpingPatients.org, which hasinformation on PhRMA membersprograms.

Then there are a number of sitesthat charge people to learn aboutpatient assistance programs andcomplete the application forms. Thecharges vary, as does the quality oftheir services. Some offer a money-back guarantee if they can’t get yourmedicines.

How to Use NeedyMedsMost PAP sites contain similar in-formation. They differ in how theyorganize the material, the ease in ac-cessing the information, and thetimeliness of their data.

To use the NeedyMeds site youbegin with the name of your medi-cine. There are two ways you cancheck to see if your medicines areavailable in a patient assistance pro-gram. One is to click on the drug list.This brings up an alphabetical list ofall the drugs currently on PAPs. Findthe medicine you take and clink onits name. This will bring up the pro-gram page.

On the program page, you will learnabout the specifics of the PAP – thequalification guidelines, the applica-tion process, the information youneed to supply, what your doctormust complete, etc. In addition, youwill learn if there’s a downloadableapplication on the website or if youmust get an application from thecompany. (Some companies acceptcopies of their application formwhile others require you completean original.)

If you know the medicine’s manu-facturer, you can click on the pro-grams list. From there, you can click

Many Americans just can’t afford health care, and, if they can, they don’t have the money to buy their medicines.


on the program you want to learnmore about. That should bring upthe information you need.

Once you have acquired the infor-mation, it’s up to you to completethe applications, get the necessarysignatures, and send the form to theprogram.

A Few TipsThe most common problem patientsencounter when completing the ap-plication forms is lack of physiciancooperation. Over and over I hearfrom people whose physicians justwon’t complete the forms – orcharge to do it. I am asked what theyshould do.

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Make sure you have completedeverything on the form that you can.Not only should you complete theapplicant’s section, but anything elseyou can fill in. This may include thephysician’s name and address,phone number, etc.

2. Bring all the information yourdoctor may need. For example, someprograms require proof of income. Ifso, attach whatever documents arerequired.

3. Bring an addressed envelope withthe appropriate postage.

4. Don’t expect your doctor to com-plete the form immediately. A busydoctor may not have time to readthe form while you are in the office.

5. If you encounter resistance, tellyour doctor that without his/herhelp, you won’t be able to obtain themedicines he/she is prescribing. Beblunt.

6. If all else fails, you may need tofind a physician more sympathetic

to your plight and willing to helpyou.

What if I Don’t Have a Computer

Many people without a computercan still use the information avail-able on these websites. Nearlyeveryone knows someone with acomputer – a family member, aneighbor, or a friend. Most publiclibraries have computers for publicuse and assistance for those notfamiliar with their use.

Summary

Patient assistance programs may notbe the best solution to the problemof inability to pay for medication,but they can help many people. Mil-lions of people use PAPs to get themedicines they need but can¹t af-ford. If you can’t afford your medi-cines, a patient assistance programmay be able to help you.

Richard J. Sagall, M.D., practiced familymedicine and occupational medicine for25 years. He cofounded NeedyMeds andcontinues to run it. He can be reached viathe website, www.needymeds.org. He livesin Gloucester, MA.




MeDiCiNe

ore than 3 billion dollars arespent annually on homeo-pathic medications in the

United States. Most people who usehomeopathy report being likely touse it again in the future to treatsimilar symptoms. In Europe, home-opathy is so popular that there arehomeopathic hospitals and pharma-cies, both covered by insurance. TheWHO has endorsed alternativemedicine, including homeopathy, asbeing affordable when compared toallopathic medicine for many condi-tions. More people use alternativemedicine, including homeopathy,than any other system of medicinein the world – approximately 80%!

In spite of these impressive and to-tally true statistics, many people stilldo not understand homeopathy. Theprinciples of homeopathy date backto early recorded history. Howeverhomeopathy was not given its nameby Samuel Hahnemann until 1807.The principles taught then are thesame that are taught today, thatusing minute (actually unde-tectable) amounts of a substancethat cause a symptom in the bodycan cure the body of that symptom.

“It makes perfect sense”, says lead-ing homeopathic expert John Herb-mann, “It’s just like how a vaccinecan prevent a virus from causing adisease. Except that instead of usingantigens that go through a rigoroustesting and approval process, we use

plants – the same plants that wereused 200 years ago. That’s how youknow they are good. Unlike allo-pathic medicine that is constantlylooking for ‘the next great drug’with their constant drug researchand clinical trials, we homeopathsnever trust any medication that has-n’t been around a few hundred

years. Obviously, if it was goodenough for Hahnemann, it’s goodenough for me.” After pausing a mo-ment to consider what he has said,Herbmann added, “Also, homeopa-thy does not cause autism”.

In fact, one of the main benefits ofhomeopathy is the complete ab-sence of any side effects. Becausethe compound used in the initialmanufacturing of the medication isnot present in therapeutic concen-trations (or even detectable usingsuch fancy and sensitive techniquesas GC-MS), it cannot react unfavor-ably with the patient’s body. Howthen does it have any effect at all askeptic might ask? The mechanismof action is not entirely clear. Theprinciples of homeopathy make itclear that “like cures like” and “lessis more”. It is unclear if skipping adose of homeopathic medication

M

The Future of Medicine: Homeopathy


By Chivas Owle

leads to an overdose or how to re-verse such an overdose should itoccur.

Homeopathic medications are pre-pared by taking a toxic amount ofthe substance in question, diluting itin water, shaking the water vigor-ously (a process called ‘invigorat-ing’), taking a drop of that mixtureand adding it to a new container ofwater, and repeating the invigorat-ing process. This is done over andover until none of the original sub-stance remains. How do we know itworks? Because Hahnemann said itworks, that’s how. Then the water isused to make tablets or something.That part is not important, it’s theinvigorating that is important. It isso important, homeopathic reme-dies list on the package how manytimes it was diluted invigorated onthe package. Hahnemann developeda C scale that had a factor of 100 di-lution of each invigoration. So a 6Cdilution would result in a one partper trillion “mixture.” Perhaps thisseemed too simple, because thescale never caught on. Instead mosthomeopathic product manufactur-ers use a system where each dilutionhas a factor of 10 and is reported onthe products packaging using a D orX. In this system a 6C dilution isequivalent to 12X or 12D.

Hahnemann had this to say aboutdilutions: “Don’t get caught up inthe numbers, just trust that we knowwhat we are doing.” When asked ifthere is any number that is consid-ered the “best” number of dilutionshe answered with, “Personally, Iwould never trust a compound thathas not been diluted at least 12times. It would just be too weak,having that many detectable parti-cles around trying to exert a physio-logical effect. Just remember thatthe more dilute the compound is, thestronger the effect on the healing

process. Your chemistry professorsmay have tried to teach you other-wise, but who are you going to be-lieve, people who have been usingthe same system for hundreds ofyears or someone who tests theirtheories against reproducible evi-dence?”

Homeopathic medicine was ex-tremely popular when it was origi-nally created due to the fact that itdidn’t cause people to die, unlike thehospitals and physicians of the day.Conventional medicine of that eraused such cutting edge proceduresas bloodletting to cure what ails you.Homeopathy somewhat fell out offavor around the time penicillin andother actual effective drugs cameinto use, because people could start

taking medications to save their life.But recently homeopathy has begunto surge back into popularity. Whyvisit an expensive ER (or God-for-bid make an appointment with yourPCP) when you can just buy some-thing that is cheap, available every-where, and has no side effects? “It’sa no brainer,” says Herbmann.“Your body has everything it needsto fight any ailment. Sometimes itjust needs a boost in the form of atablet made with water less contam-inated than what you would drinkfrom any sink in America.”

When asked to compare homeopa-thy to other forms of alternativemedicine, such as acupuncture(which predates homeopathy byroughly 2000-4000 years) and chiro-

practors, Herbmann was aghast.“What do you think we are, a bunchof quacks?!” He declined any fur-ther comment on the subject.

So what ailments are particularlywell-suited for homeopathic medi-cine? Anything that you would seeyour doctor for! Yes that’s right, ho-meopathy works on everything fromasthma to zygomycosis, anal cancerto xeroderma pigmentosa*. Why seea physician with years of education,training, and experience when youcan see a homeopathic “doctor” fora fraction of the price? Remember,no one taking homeopathic medica-tion has ever experienced a legiti-mate effect side-effect fromtreatment. No physician can makethat claim.

Hopefully this article has informedyou of the many virtues of homeop-athy. Sadly due to space constraints,we are unable to publish any of thedozens of anecdotal stories of howhomeopathic medicine saves lives.Just trust us on this, it does.

Those interested in learning moreabout Supplements, Complemen-tary and Alternative Medicines, orSCaMS, are encouraged to checkoutMark Crislip’s Quackcast.

We look forward to your commentsbelow and in the forums. Please beon the look-out for next week’s ar-ticle, “Nurse Practitioners: WhyThey Are Better Than Physicians(And Save You Money!)”.

*Special note: For reasons unclear tothe author, the WHO does not sup-port the use of homeopathy in HIV,cancer or other life threatening con-ditions. They are probably in thepocket of Big Pharma and BigMedicine.

More than 3 billion dollars are spent annually on homeopathic medications in the United States.


the UltiMAte PAtieNt eXPeRieNCe

ll too often we as businessowners have tunnel vision,and just assume we know

what our customers or patients“want”. It may come as a big sur-prise, but your patients aren’t reallycoming to you for good quality med-ical care. In fact, most consumers re-ally aren’t “buying” the physicalproduct or the defined service at all.I know what you’re thinking…”Ofcourse my patients come to me forthe best care!” Well, yes. Kind of.One of the most important things toremember about your patient is this:You Are Not Your Patient.

Your patients do want good qualitymedical care, but that’s mostly sec-ondary. What they really want is agreat experience when they visityour practice. An experience thatprovides assurances that they’rebeing taken care of as a priority pa-tient, and most importantly, thatthey have peace of mind regardingthe hands their medical care is in,yours.

This is done by creating a great “Pa-tient Experience”. The importanceof this is the same whether your spe-cialty is orthopedics, family practice,pain management, spine surgery,chiropractic, a dentist or anythingelse.

Most of the medical practice mar-keting companies talk mostly abouthealthcare marketing advertising –

such as selling you billboards, yellowpage ads, and other costly mediathat they say will get you more pa-tients. Though you can get resultsfrom these, there are more funda-mental practice marketing strategiesyou should focus on first.

When your patient walks out thedoor, they should feel that they werethe only patient that was being seenin your medical practice today. Ifyou’ve ever stayed at a Four SeasonsResort Hotel, then you’ll know ex-actly what I’m talking about. Whenyou check in, everyone addressesyou by name, they don’t miss a beatgetting your bags to the room &

making sure all of your needs areanticipated. They even memorizeyour name and address you by namethe entire duration of your stay.

So the lesson here is this: As a cus-tomer at the Four Seasons, I’m notreally just looking for a very nice,clean hotel, though that is part ofwhat I want. What really keeps mecoming back, is their ability to caterto what I really want, which is thecustomer experience. I know I’m al-ways going to be treated, and takencare of much better than most otherplaces I would stay.

The same goes for your patients.They don’t just want good qualitymedical care. They want to have afantastic patient experience in addi-tion to the end product of the med-ical care. If you engineer yourpractice marketing to provide this,you can put a virtual corral aroundyour patients and they will never goanywhere else. They’ll also tell tonsof people about their experience,bringing you new patients by thedroves.

If you can effectively do this in yourpractice by providing the ultimatepatient experience, you can kissyour competition goodbye, no mat-ter what they economy is doing, andno matter how long they’ve been inpractice.

A

What Are You Selling Your Patients?

One of the most important things to remember about your patient is this: You Are Not Your Patient.



tiPs FoR sUCCess

ook to improve your med-ical billing profitability?Looking to control your

medical billing cost? To hiremed-ical billing specialist is best optionfor this. If you outsource medicalbilling requirements at trusted andwell known medial billing com-pany, then you can save valuabletime of your office employee andyou can use your efforts in signifi-cantly way to provide easy billingsolution.

Why we hire medical billingspecialist to outsource medicalbilling needs? How medical billingspecialists help you to get propermedical billing service? There aresome important factors are usefulwhich we have discuss here.

Medical billing specialist canmaintain high quality and accuracyof services.

You can get proper method ofmedical billing process to improvebusiness profits.

You can get advantageof experienced billingexperts and specializa-tion in themedicalbilling services.

You can access yourmedical billing practicewith best output andhigh accuracy.

By hiring medicalbilling specialist, youcan concentrate onyour core relative busi-ness task.

You can down your operating costby outsource medical billing tobilling specialist who can easilyprovide best medical billing serv-ices to the world wide clients.

If you look for improve perform-ance of your medical billingsystem and also medical codingsystem, you need to electronicmedical billing solution. The med-ical billing specialist allow you toutilize the benefits of electronicbilling while keeping its cost con-siderably lower than cost of man-ual claims costs.

Medical billing specialist can in-crease your efficiency by turningbill collection into a pleasure

rather than a pain. Doctor canfocus on what they do best, treat-ing your patients, and leave thebilling for the medical billingspe-cialist to accomplish professionaltask.

In the health care outsourcing in-dustry, medical billingbusiness isthe latest trend to booming yourbusiness or individuals. Thus, thisis how you can hire medicalbillingspecialist.

l

Why Hire a Medical Billing Specialist?



VACAtioNs

backpacking adventure inthe Middle East can be eye-opening, exciting, and at

times challenging. As you exploresites of immense religious, culturaland historical significance, you willfurther your educationand gain in-sights into other less familiar cul-tures and ways of life. Backpackingthrough the Middle East is nevershort of an adventure and you'relikely to experience some incrediblehospitality, sample some delectablecuisine and meet some fascinatingpeople along the way.

Fly into Istanbul in Turkey, a city atthe crossroads of East and West. Theperfect introduction to the MiddleEast, Istanbul is both westernisedand familiar, while at the same timeit's exotic and enchanting. After agood few days haggling in the grandbazaar and marvelling at the archi-tecture, head by comfortableovernight bus to Cappadocia.

Cappadocia: The natural beauty ofCentral Turkey is breathtaking.Goreme is a good base for a fewdays sampling delicious Turkish cui-sine, walking through the spectacu-lar landscape of "fairy chimney"rock formations and exploringchurches cut in rock by the earlyChristians.

From Cappadocia, head to Antakyafor your final night in Turkey before

heading over the border by bus toAleppo in Syria.

Aleppo: Syria probably contains al-most everything that comes to mindwhen you think of the Middle East:Legendary Arabic hospitality,mouth-watering mezze, conservativeIslam and rich history and culture.The people here are some of thefriendliest in the world, and to reallyget a feel for the place, spend sometime in the cafes and markets(souks). Around every corner, thereseems to be a point of historical in-terest, but just observing the cultureand chatting to the locals can be anexperience in itself.

Damascus: A must on any MiddleEastern traveller's itinerary. A fewdays can be spent in the coffee shopsand souks of Damascus, sipping in-tense Arabic coffee to the sound ofthe Muslim call to prayer. TheUmayyad Mosque is one of the old-est mosques in the world and the ar-chitectural beauty is awe-inspiring.

Palmyra: If you're into ruins, youwon't want to skip Palmyra. Theseruins of one of the ancient world'smost important centres of cultureare located at an Oasis in the SyrianDesert, and you can get there by busor taxi from Damascus.

A

Vacation Inspiration: 4 weeksbackpacking in the Middle East

The centre of three major world religions, Jerusalem is like nowhere else on Earth.

From Damascus, head south andcross into Jordan. Sharing a taxi isrelatively easy in Damascus and is agreat opportunity to make friendswith the locals. Catch a ride in Dam-ascus heading for Amman in Jordan.

Amman: After a day or two explor-ing this fascinating, hospitable city ofcontrasts between old and new, con-tinue south by bus to the UNESCOworld heritage site of Petra.

Petra: Jordan's greatest tourist at-traction is the vast rock-carvedNabataean city of Petra. Marvel atthe awe-inspiring carvings, dazzlingred colours and beautiful rock for-mations as you explore the Petravalley on foot, or on horseback or bycamel.

Aqaba: From Wadi Musa (the townto use as base for visiting Petra),head by bus to the Jordanian RedSea resort of Aqaba. From here,you'll have access to some of thebest snorkelling and diving in theworld and the timeless crimsonbeauty of the Wadi Rum natural-landscape. Wadi Rum is virtually un-touched by humanity and can beexplored by 4x4 vehicle or camel.You can arrange to stay with thelocal Bedoiun people, spending anight in a tent after a traditionalcampfire meal.

Into Israel: Allow plenty of time forthe border crossing into Israel. It canbe helpful to have a clear idea ofwhere you're heading in Israel andwhat you hope to do there. Be pa-tient and polite and once the borderformalities are done, you'll want tojump in a taxi and head to the Israeliresort of Eilat.

Eilat: After a couple of weeks in theArabic countries of Jordan andSyria, Eilat will be a major cultureshock. You can see the Jordanian

flag and the town of Aqaba from thebeach in downtown Eilat but it feelslike a different world. Eilat is an Is-raeli beach resort, with westernisedrestaurants, bars and nightlife. If sun,sea, sand and partying is your thing,you'll want to linger for a few daysin Eilat.

Jerusalem: The centre of three majorworld religions, Jerusalem is likenowhere else on Earth. The old citycontains sites of huge historic andcultural significance to Jews, Chris-tians and Muslims. A visit toJerusalem provides an opportunityto explore sites of historic and reli-gious interest, while also gaining anunderstanding of the backgroundand the issues surrounding the pres-ent-day conflict.

Dead Sea: Easily accessible fromJerusalem, Ein Gedi is an Oasis onthe shores of the Dead Sea, the low-est point on Earth. Due to the saltcontent, the human body will floaton the Dead Sea, an experience notto be missed.

Galilee: Travelling around Israel iscomfortable and straightforwardand a trip north to Galilee providesopportunity to explore the areawhere Jesus lived and taught, includ-ing the Mount of Beatitudes (whereJesus delivered the Sermon on theMount) and the Sea of Galilee.

Tel Aviv: Known as ‘the city thatdoesn't stop' because of its reputa-tion for partying, Tel Aviv is theheart of secular Israel and the eco-nomic and commercial centre. Thehighlight is the sandy Mediter-ranean coastline and the fantasticbeach scene where you can relax fora day or two before boarding yourflight home.

Assuming you travel independentlyas a backpacker, this 4 week itiner-ary through the Middle East is likelyto cost in the region of $1500-$2000if you travel and share rooms with apartner and in the region of $2400-$2700 if you travel on your own.



ReCReAtioN

f you often lose your balancewhen swinging your golfclub, this article will give you

a quick exercise to address thisproblem.

The most important point to re-member is the fact that your initalsetup to address the golfball dictatesto a large degree the balance thatyou’ll have during your golf swing.Here is how to achieve a balancedposture position from which to startyour golf swing:

Stand up straight with your feetabout shoulder width apart;

Make sure that your knees aren't to-tally straight, bend them a little;

Take a club and place along yourspine;

Now bend forward, making surethat your spine remains straight. Avery, very important point whendoing this exercise is that you wantyour bottom to move back whendoing this as it creates a balancedgolf posture position. This positionresults in your weight to be on theballs of your feet;

Once you’ve bent over (by movingyour bottom back and keeping yourback straight), move your left hip(right hip for lefties) slightly towardsyour target. Doing this automati-

cally places your head behind theball, which is just what you want;

Once in this golf posture position,place a club on the ground in a posi-tion to hit a ball. You will have to ei-ther bend over more or stand upstraighter depending on what clubyou are using. For example you willhave to bend over more for a wedgethan you would for a driver simply

because a wedge is quite a bitshorter than a driver is.

Once you’ve done this exercise andyou're setup, get someone to lightlypush on both shoulders from behindand in front. This will help you to setyour weight to the insides of bothfeet which is where the weightshould be. Then get your partner topush lightly on your back - if you fallover, it’s because your weight is toofar forward, so set your weight moreback on the balls of your feet.

When you’re in balance, you’ll findthat when someone gives you a slightpush, you’ll be steady as a rock. Thisshould be your aim, so do the postureexercise and test yourself until youpass. When you do, your balance willbe a lot better during your golfswing!

i

Golf Swing Balance: Solve Problems With One Exercise!




AUtoMotiVe

ith more and more of today’scars incorporating featuresformerly reserved for luxury

automobiles, premium manufactur-ers have to innovate in ever greaterdegrees to differentiate their prod-ucts. Thus, the line between main-stream and luxury cars is becomingincreasingly blurred.

Further, in an effort to increaseprofitability, many premium manu-facturers are offering lower-pricedmodels in an effort to leverage theirbrand names into a larger pool ofpotential buyers. Still, a luxury car isa luxury car and the luxury sedanoccupies a hallowed place in theimaginations of the car buying pub-lic.

Good used luxury cars all share onecommon attribute—an aura of un-questionable desirability. So eventhough the best luxury car featuresare being used by less expensivemodels, their quiet, sophistication,and elegance along with theirdealer’s reputation for outstandingcustomer service remains exclusive.

What follows is a selection of ten ofthe best used luxury cars for saletoday.

Audi A8The first all-aluminum luxury sedanin the world, Audi’s A8 is a paragonof style, performance and features.

A showcase of outstanding technol-ogy, a used Audi A8 delivers excep-tional value, particularly becausemost car buyers aren’t aware of themodel. This has a softening effect onthe price of the A8, making it onebest used luxury cars for sale interms of price. Meanwhile, it has oneof the nicest interiors on the road,exceptional handling, great powerand stunning good looks.

Audi A6One of the most distinctively styledcars on the road today, Audi’s A6 de-livers cachet, outstanding comfort,all-wheel drive and a broad paletteof luxury features. One of the bestused car values out there, the AudiA6 also has a timeless quality. Evena six-year old A6 looks thoroughlymodern and up to date. Addition-

ally, the A6 offers a driving experi-ence rivaling that of many so-calledsport sedans. As good used luxurycars go, the Audi A6 ranks amongthe best available.

BMW 7 SeriesBMW’s 7 Series is the ultimate driv-ing machine company’s ultimateluxury car. Offering a sporting driv-ing experience with lavish interioraccoutrements, the 7 Series BMW isvery much one of the best used lux-ury cars out there. In addition to ap-pealing to traditional luxury carbuyers, the 7 Series also holds con-

siderable allure for driving enthusi-asts. Thus the versatility of the bigBMW ranks it quite highly amongthe best used luxury cars.

Cadillac CTSThe model that began the turn-around at Cadillac is universally rec-ognized as one of the world’s bestluxury sedans. In addition to the ex-ceptionally luxurious interiors oneexpects of a Cadillac, the CTS also

W

Top Ten Best Used Luxury Cars: Intro


delivers driving pleasure in the formof a Nurburgring-tuned suspensionsystem. With more than adequatepower and the option of a manualtransmission, the CTS signaled tothe world Cadillac had changed. Forthese reasons and more, the CadillacCTS makes our list of the best usedluxury cars.

Cadillac DTSWhile the name adopted the new al-phabetic nomenclature scheme forCadillac, the DTS was in fact theDeVille Touring Sedan. Anyone in-fatuated with what Cadillac used tobe, but still searching for a bit of thedriving pleasure defining whatCadillac is today, will thoroughly ap-preciate the size and feature-set ofthe Cadillac DTS. One of the finestused luxury cars out there, you willalso find joy in the dynamic suspen-

sion system fitted to the car to im-prove its handling. That it does sowhile maintaining the ride qualityCadillac cars are traditionallyknown for is a serious plus.

Chrysler 300The Chrysler 300 launched a careeras well as a turnaround at the Pen-tastar brand. Ralph Gilles, the namemost closely associated with the de-sign of the 300 was made presidentof the Dodge division after his work

on that car. Further, the bold style ofthe Chrysler attracted buyers indroves. The 300 quickly became themust-have car of its era and broughtmajor profits to Chrysler. As a usedluxury car for sale, the 300 has con-siderable appeal. With its broadpalette of engines and even a highperformance SRT variant, theChrysler 300 still pushes all the rightbuttons.

Lexus LSThe Lexus LS was so good when itwas introduced, the car forced Mer-cedes-Benz to abandon the marketsegment it had traditionally ruledand scurry farther upmarket. Whenthat didn’t work out the Germans

made the S Class even better andcame back to go toe to toe with the

Japanese luxury car. The leatherlined, wood trimmed, ultra quiet andthoroughly equipped Lexus LSmakes for a very good used luxurycar. Factor in the reliability inherentto its parent Toyota brand and you’llget one of the best used luxury carvalues on the road.

Lincoln MKSLong, low, sleek and beautiful, whatcements the Lincoln MKS’s spot onthis list is the fact its relative lack ofpopularity makes it easily the bestused luxury car value you’ll find. Re-markably, the Lincoln handles well,is palatially equipped, and featuresa stunningly beautiful interior treat-ment in addition to highly favorabledriving characteristics. The Lincoln’sonly apparent flaw is that its logo is

a four-pointed star, rather than athree-pointed one. In other words,anyone looking for one of the bestused luxury cars for sale can takeadvantage of the fact that percep-tion tends to lag reality by about 10years and get one of these wonder-ful cars for a song—before everyoneelse wakes up and realizes how goodthey are.

Mercedes-Benz E ClassThe beauty of the Mercedes-Benz EClass lies in its versatility. How a carcan carry such a premium image, yetbe a taxi in nearly every Europeancountry is mind-boggling. It’s as ifthe Ford Crown Victoria were to be




considered a highly desirable luxurycar in Germany. Yeah. Never.Gonna. Happen. As a used luxurycar, the Mercedes-Benz E Class isremarkably robust, offers a broadrange of trims, engines, and evensuspension tunings to choose from.The cars are highly reliable, which isgood because they are also a bitpricey to maintain. However as a

good used luxury car, few modelsare more desirable than the Mer-cedes-Benz E Class.

Mercedes-Benz S ClassThe car everyone thinks of whenthey hear the name Mercedes-Benz,the S Class is the benchmark bywhich all other large luxury sedans

are judged. And well it should be,after all, the founders of its companyliterally invented the car. An S ClassMercedes-Benz is easily one of thebest used luxury cars you’ll find forsale. They are powerful, good look-ing, highly agile, packed with ex-traordinary tech, and immediatelycommand respect for the driver any-where they roll up. For these reasonsand more, the Mercedes-Benz SClass is our pick for one of the tenbest used luxury cars.

Photo Captions Can Be Put On The Bottom Of This Page

DReAM VACAtioNs

hinking of things that couldgo wrong when you planyour family vacation would

need a magazine of its own. Think-ing of how you just can't go wrongwith your family vacation takesonly one word: Disneyland.But you don't need to limityourself to Florida or Califor-nia. Disney vacations can befound around the world fromParis, to Hong Kong, to Japan,and even Hawaii. Each vaca-tion features hotels resorts,shopping centres, restaurants,spas, amusement parks, andmuch more.. Featured beloware the best in Disney enter-tainment from around theworld, and everything youneed to get your Disney vaca-tion started.

Walt Disney World Resort

Located near OrlandaFlorida, Walt Disney WorldResort is the world's largest re-sort hotel. A tiny city in its ownright, this mammoth wonder-land features thirty-three themedhotels, ranging from beach resorts,boardwalk villas, and even one witha scenic African safari view. Everyhotel is built in the vicinity of an ar-cade, a variety of restaurants, out-door swimming pools and indoorhot-tubs.

Once you're done taking in theview from your Animal Kingdomresort hotel, you can go on a safaritour of at the Kilimanjaro SafarisExpedition attraction. Visitors can

ride an open-sided safari vehicleinto the depths of the HarambeWildlife Reserve with wanderingantelopes, lions, elephants, baboonsand many more animals from theAfrican Savannah.

Looking for a more hands on ap-proach to nature? Disney's Fort Wil-

dreness Resort and Campground of-fers an outdoor experience for thoselonging for the rustic life. But justbecause you're out in the wildernessdoesn't mean you can't enjoy your-

self with civilized amenities.Disney campsites come withbasic utilities, along with inter-net and cable television, andeven grills and picnic tables foroutdoor dining. Every night atFort Wilderness, campersgather around for sing-a-longs,and roast marshmallows overcampfires. Feeling a little toocampy for your taste? There arealso tennis courts, horsebackriding, winter sleigh rides, golfcourses, fishing, hiking trials,and vehicle rentals rangingfrom bicycles, to segways, tosailboats. Feel the need forspeed? Walt Disney WorldSpeedway lets visitors takeNASCAR and stock cars for aspin around the track. Not a fanof NASCAR? How about Fer-rari? Test drive Lambourghinis,Ferraris, Porsches and Audisaround one of two speedways

at Disney World's Exotic DrivingExperience.

Remember, just because you'rein one part of Disney World doesn'tmean you have to stay where yourhotel is booked. If you don't fancyshacking up in a log cabin for yourvacation, Disney World features

t

Disney Park Vacations: More Than Cutesy Kids Stuff



beach side hotel resorts and spas.The grandest of all is the Victorianthemed, triple A rated. and Dia-mond Award winning Grand Florid-ian Resort and Spa. Disney Worldbeaches lie adjacent to some ofFlorida's most majestic lakes, andfeature two water parks, beach vol-leyball courts, watercraft rentals, aswell as beach side spa services, andrestaurants. If you are looking for aplace to eat, The California Grill,The Flying Fish Cafe, Jiko, and Vic-toria and Alberts are all highly rec-ommended. Need to work off thecalories from all the good food youwill be eating? Disney World offersfive fitness centres to keep you inshape and feeling good on your va-cation.

No matter where you book yourhotel, Disney World's complemen-tary bus, monorail, and boat will

seamlessly connect you to thebeaches, the boardwalk, the down-town shopping centres and outdoorrecreation areas. Unfortunatly, Dis-ney World does not feature a carrental service. Vacationers who wishto taxi themselves around the mas-sive resort are advised to rent fromthe nearby Orlando InternationalAirport. On the upside, parking iscomplementary to anyone with a re-sort booking.

Don't feel like getting a tan? Hitthe boardwalk for a night of foodand dancing. Or you can explore bydaylight and take in the boardwalkatmosphere with street perform-ances, midway games and rides,along with street vendors and carni-val food. Looking for somethingmore substantial to satiate yourshopping lust? Head to DisneyWorld Downtown. Downtown fea-

tures shopping centres, gift shops,restaurants, movie cinemas and livetheatre. The most spectacular of allbeing La Nouba, by Cirque DuSoleil; an avant garde circus experi-ence in the heart of Downtown Dis-ney West Side.

Finally, no visit to Disney Worldis complete without a visit to one ofDisney World's four theme parks:Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom,Hollywood Studios, and Epcot. Eachtheme park is full of themed rides,movie halls, and restaurants. Andof course, you get to meet yourfavourite Disney characters in per-son. While there is little to to sayabout these theme parks that is notalready ubiquitous, it is important toremember that there is much moreto Disney World than the rides.

In the end if you are still unsatis-




fied with everything Disney Worldhas to offer, remember that you'reonly a few hours away from Univer-sal Studios in OrlandoFlorida. Maybe take a dayoff and head into the cityfor some fun.

Disneyland Resort

Disney World feeling alittle overwhelming? Wellthere's always Disney World's littlebrother: Disneyland. Disneyland re-sort has three hotels for accommo-dations and a massive amusementpark that as a whole trumps any sin-gle theme park at Disney World.Disneyland's smaller size gives it amore homely feel, than DisneyWorld. For the most part, visitorscan travel from place to place onfoot or monorail.

Apart from its famous themeparks, Disneyland offers quick andeasy access to some of southern Cal-ifornia's hottest attractions. Shop-pers will find all their looking for inthe Downtown Disney District,South Coast Plaza, Fashion Islandand the Beverly Center. Almost onethousand stores total in these fourlocations combined. Beach goers

will feel at home at Southern Cali-fornia's famous Huntington, New-port, Laguna and Santa Monica

beaches.

Noteworthy attrac-tions in South Californiaalso include UniversalStudios Hollywood, Sea-world, San Diego Zoo Sa-fari, and the Los Angelesnight life. Hollywood is

only less than an hour away fromDisneyland by car. Coyote HillsGolf Course and Black Gold Golf

Course are both less than ten milesfrom Disneyland resort for thosewith a craving for nine-iron. Disney-land itself is home to more thancutesy characters and children'srides. There are street parades, Dis-neyland's famous fireworks, liveshows, jazz bars, and street perform-ers to entertain vacationers.

In the end, one should not lookat the Disneyland amusement parkwhen thinking of staying at Disney-land resort. It's important to keepthe in mind the perspective that Dis-neyland resort is truly offering acentral hub to explore all of South-ern California's most prolific enter-tainment hubs.

Aulani

Aulani is Disney's picturesqueHawaiian resort on the island ofOahu. It's also notable for being theonly Disneyland resort without anamusement park. What it does offeris the classical Hawaiian resort ex-perience. Complete with spa, beach-life and even a snorkling lagoon.Enjoy golf, or immerse yourself inhawaiian culture with one of themany complementary Hawaiian arts


programs. Aulani also runs severalguided tours into the heart of theHawaiian islands. Otherwise sit backon the beach, or go sailboating andeven kayaking. Overall, Aulanipromises to be a very classical es-cape from the hustle and bustle ofcity life in seclusion and tropical cli-mate of the Hawaii islands.

Disney Cruise Lines

Take a cruise to Alaska, the

Caribbean, the Bahamas, Europe orseveral other fantastic destinationsaboard Disney Cruiselines. The number of ac-tivities available on theship alone are enough tokeep you occupied whenyou're not engaged inport side adventures. Dis-ney cruise ships havedaily deck parties, finedining, nightclubs, lounges, youth ac-tivities for the kids, and live Disney

musicals, and cinemas. Enjoy theserelaxing entertainment venues asyou cruise along scenic coastlines.Spend a day at the spa or work outat the fitness centre. Escape the tri-als of city life on the open seas in acruise ship.

The most exciting aspect of plan-ning a Disney cruise is the port sideadventures. Customize your cruisethe way you want it. The best part ofit all is that Disney provides fullguides to whatever port of call youdecide to adventure. No need toworry about getting lost in a foreignland with Disney Cruise Lines.There are literally hundreds of dif-ferent port adventures you and yourfamily can embark on, ranging from

mounting skiing, to off-roadadventuring, to scuba div-ing. For a full listing of allthe different activities youcan sign up for, refer to thelink at the end of the article.Regardless, Disney CruiseLines promises to be re-warding for those looking

for a vacation with a sense of adven-ture, and exploration.




Disneyland Paris

Ever feel like going to France,but shy away from the though of thelanguage barrier? Look no furtherthan Disneyland Paris. A fully bilin-gual resort with easy access to Parisand the surrounding area. To de-

scribe Disneyland Paris succinctly,imagine if Disneyland was picked upfrom California and dropped inParis and then a second Disneylandwas dropped beside it. DisneylandParis is effectively twice as large asDisneyland Paris. It features a ho-tels, resorts and spas for the casualEnglish speaking tourist, along with,excellent restaurants offering inter-national cuisine, and live entertain-ment. There are also a few sportingfacilities in the form of golf courses,tennis courts and ice skating rinks.

Of course there is also the famousDisneyland theme park, in fact thereare two, but there is so much moreto Disneyland Paris than amuse-ment rides.

Disneyland Paris offers guidedexcursions for Anglophones intoParis to fully explore the historiccity. Afterwards there are alsoevening excursions into the city tovisit the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Tri-omphe as they are lit up with deco-rations when the sun goes down.Disneyland Paris is also locatedright next to Europe's largest BigCat wildlife reserve which holdsover one hundred of the world'smost majestic lions, tigers, leopardsand more large cats.

Overall it's important to remem-ber why you're crossing the ocean togo to Disneyland. Ironically the an-swer is not simply “to go to Disney-land”, although your children willappreciate you more for it, but it isto explore Paris, and French culturein a very supportive and safe envi-ronment.

Disneyland Hong Kong and Shanghai

Although Disneyland HongKong manages to be smaller thanDisneyland California, there are stillenough activities to fill up your va-cation schedule. While DisneylandHong Kong offers the same triedand true amusement park and liveentertainment features of other Dis-neyland resorts, there is a noticeable“Zen” about some of DisneylandHong Kong's attractions.

Inspiration Lake RecreationCentre and the Resort Pier offersoothing boat rides to relax bodyand soul. The arboretum and thepark promenade provide lush scenicviews for visitors to stroll through.Most exciting are the seasonalevents. This October Disneyland


Hong Kong will be opening ahaunted house and redecorating itstheme parks with a spooky flair.

Despite all this, DisneylandHong Kong disappoints in that itdoes not offer any real explorationof Hong Kong or Shanghai. There isalso no guarantee of full bilingualsupport in English. There is no in-centive for an American vacationerto travel thousands of miles just tosee Disneyland in a different coun-try. Ultimately if you want to have afufilling vacation in Hong Kongwhile at a Disneyland resort, youwill have to look at third party tourservices to supplement your visit, orgo adventuring on your own.

Disneyland Tokyo

Disneyland Tokyo suffers thesame problems as the DisneylandHong Kong. Although they adver-

tise resort facilities and hotels, thefocus of these amusement parks isreally to bring the American Dis-neyland experience to East Asianaudiences, not attract Americantourists to something they can al-ready do in their own country. Assuch Disneyland Tokyo suffers fromthe same lack of full bilingual sup-port as Disneyland Hong Kongalong with a lack of any meaningful

guide services outside of Disneylanditself.

There is also a lack of sportingand beach facilities offered by theNorth American and European Dis-neylands. Overall the Asian Disney-lands are rather stunted and havenothing special to offer other thanresort accommodations in a foreigncountry.

What I really want to emphasizeis that when planning your Disney-land vacation, you really have tothink outside of Disneyland. Youhave to think of what a Disneylandvacation can offer that a regularresort cannot. While the themeparks are a start, there is also thefamily environment, the construc-tive approach to exploring localculture, and the friendly atmos-phere cultivated by the staff. Fora complete portal to all Disneyvacations, please visit www.disneyparks.disney.go.com forbooking information and a completelisting of entertainment facilities andpricing.



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