They have committed their practice to providing the most up-to-date and advanced treatments and technologies in the San Jose, California area to ensure the well being of every patient.

Some of these advanced Treatments and Technologies include:

• Colonoscopy
• Upper Endoscopy
• Endoscopy Ultrasound
• Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
• Capsule Endoscopy- Video Capsule that you swallow

South Bay Gastroenterology has two convenient Silicon Valley locations to serve the San Jose California Area. To contact or schedule an appointment with South Bay Gastroenterology call one of their offices listed below.

Or visit us online at  www.SouthBayGI.com

Jackson Avenue Location

150 N Jackson Avenue, Suite 107

San Jose, California 95116

Phone: (408) 926-2182

Fax: (408) 926-8370

Samaritan Drive Office Location

2410 Samaritan Drive, Suite 201

San Jose, California 95124

Phone: (408) 626-8200

Fax: (408) 926-8370d

Dr. Ronjon Paul, a spine surgeon, has performed a variety of minimally invasive procedures for nearly seven years and has taught many of the techniques to more than 200 surgeons in the U.S. and United Kingdom. Dr. Ronjon Paul medical director of the Spine Center of DuPage Medical Group who performs surgery at Edward Hospital, says spine surgery has changed dramatically in the past 20 years, but still has a reputation for being a long, difficult process.

Minimally invasive procedures have several advantages over more traditional back surgeries.  When surgeons take a less invasive approach patients experience reduced operation time, blood loss, scarring, post-op pain, hospital and recovery time Dr. Paul says.

Before considering surgery an option often prescribes pain management, such as cortisone injections for inflammation and physical therapy.  Dr. Paul’s practice at The Spine Center of DuPage Medical Group has three in house board certified anesthesiologists and five specialized physician assistants who coordinate treatment and educate patients about their condition.

If  pain management and physical therapy aren’t successful, patients may be a candidate for one of several minimally invasive procedures:

• XLIF (eXtreme lateral interbody fusion)
• Minimally invasive TLIF (transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion)
• ILIF (interspinous lumbar fusion)
• ALIF (anterior lumbar interbody fusion)

Dr. Ronjon Paul has one of the leading Minimally Invasive Spine practices in the Chicago region.  He is one of a few spine surgeons in the Midwest who performs the XLIF procedure, which are performed at Edward Hospital than any other hospital in the Chicago area.  Dr. Paul takes referrals from other neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons for the more complicated cases.   His far reaching reputation has brought surgical patients from distances as far away as Hong Kong. Dr. Paul is often featured in the local news and is a favorite among the area’s physicians and their families.

Naperville/Edward Office
DuPage Medical Group in Naperville
at Edward Physician Center
120 Spalding Drive Suite 400
Naperville, IL 60540
630 967 BACK (2225)

Lombard Office
DuPage Medical Group in Lombard
on Highland Avenue
1801 S. Highland Avenue
Lombard, IL 60148
630 967 BACK (2225)

The Spine Center of DuPage Medical Group is a practice/specialty of DuPage Medical Group

Read the full article from TRIB Local – Naperville

Dr. Juan Rivera was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas  and received his doctorate in medicine and completed his residency training at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.  Dr. Rivera is an active candidate and American Board Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

South Texas Women’s Health Center provides a wide range of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Infertility services within a comfortable and relaxed environment.  You will feel at ease the moment you walk in and meet their dedicated and compassionate staff.  Their office and high level of healthcare standards is a natural reflection of their dedication to total care and well-being.  They also offer advanced technology of in-office procedures which include colposcopy, cryotherapy, the LEEP procedure for abnormal pap smears, and 4 dimensional ultrasound.

Dr. Juan Rivera is always accepting new patients and would be happy to provide you and your family with a exceptional healthcare.  Dr. Rivera and his team are above the crowd when it comes to finding and committing to a life long OBGYN.   This come with years of dedication and attention to trustworthy doctor patient relationship.

Please visit South Texas Women’s Health Center web site for more complete information about Dr. Juan Rivera and a description of all the services provided.

Are you looking for an Obstetrics Specialist in McAllen, Texas?

Please feel free to contact them at 956-630-0090 with questions or to make an appointment.

320 Lindberg Avenue
McAllen, Texas 78501
Phone: (956) 630-0090
Fax: (956) 630-0099

www.southtexaswomenshealth.com

David S. Shields, MD is a Board Certified Gastroenterologist with his private consultative office located directly across from Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California.  He has provided quality medical care to the Bay Area community at this location for 20 years.

Dr. David S. Shields dedicates part of his practice to early detection and prevention of colon cancer.  He provides his expertise along with personalized and compassionate care.  And because it is so important with the sensitive nature of GI procedures, Dr. Shields maintains a commitment to a comfortable environment for his patients.

Dr. Shields utilizes the most advanced technologies in diagnostic colonoscopies that are available.  He does so within a warmth private office setting.  Dr. Shields, along with his caring staff, want their patients to know that they are important and well cared for.

Colonoscopy & Prevention

Prevention and early detection is key to reducing death rates.  Reducing the number of deaths from colon cancer depends on the detecting and removing of precancerous colorectal polyps, as well as detecting and treating cancer early.

Colon cancer can be prevented by removing precancerous abnormal growths, which can be present in the colon for as many as 10 years before invasive cancer develops.

When colon cancer is found and treated early, the 5 year survival rate is 90%.  Because screening rates are low, less than 40% of colon cancers are found early.

What is a Colonoscopy?

Colonoscopy is a procedure used to see the inside of your colon and rectum.  Colonoscopy can detect abnormal growths, inflamed tissue and ulcers. The procedure is used to look for early signs of colorectal cancer and can help doctors diagnose unexplained changes in bowel habits, abdominal pain, bleeding from the anus, and weight loss.

Please visit the web site of Dr. David S. Shields at www.gastroenterologistpaloalto.com for more information and to schedule your colonoscopy today.

Our office Locations:

Main Office:

770 Welch Road, Suite #250 Palo Alto, California 94304 PHONE: 650-324-1020

Palo Alto Endoscopy Center:

770 Welch Road Suite #380 Palo Alto, California 94304 PHONE: 650-325-0391

Robotic Laparoscopic Hysterectomy:

• Operation Time – longer to set up robot assistant
• Pain – Same
• Recovery Time – Same
• Risks – Same
• Costs – Thousands More

Laparoscopic Hysterectomy:

• Operation Time – Faster
• Pain – Same
• Recovery Time – Same
• Risks – Same
• Cost – Less

Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy (LSH), where only the uterus is removed is truly redefining hysterectomy. LSH is a partial hysterectomy that preserves your cervix, and often your ovaries, removing only the diseased uterus. It offers the shortest, least painful recovery. Laparoscopic hysterectomy (including the removal of the cervix) is also an option for those women who need or prefer it. Few surgeons are trained to perform these advanced procedures. In fact, the gynecologic surgeons at Women’s Health Specialists of Freemont were among the first (over a decade ago) to perform them in the San Francisco Bay Area. Click here to learn more about Women’s Health Specialists of Fremont & Laparoscopic Hysterectomy

So why not simply seek gynecologists who are experienced, skilled laparoscopic surgeons?

Meet Our Physicians of Women’s Health Freemont

• Margie Aleman-Martin, M.D.
• Siobhan L. Calhoun, M.D.
• Scott Kramer, M.D.
• Christina Wong, M.D.
• Elizabeth Kurkjian, M.D.
• Stacie Macdonald, M.D.
• Alison Slack, M.D.

Women’s Health Specialists
2299 Mowry Avenue, Suite #3C
Fremont, CA 94538
Phone: (510) 796-7057
Fax: (510) 796-5198

This speech was captured on video and can be viewed at the links below.

• Watch 5 minute excerpts from Dr. Gawande’s speech.
• Watch the full 1 hour speech at the San Francisco Otolaryngology web site.

About Dr. Gawande:

A surgeon and a writer, Atul Gawande is a staff member of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and the New Yorker magazine. He received his B.A.S. from Stanford University, M.A. (in politics, philosophy, and economics) from Oxford University, M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and M.P.H. from the Harvard School of Public Health. He served as a senior health policy advisor in the Clinton presidential campaign and White House from 1992 to 1993. Since 1998, he has been a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine. In 2003, he completed his surgical residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, and joined the faculty as a general and endocrine surgeon.

• Learn more at Dr. Gawande’s web site www.gawande.com

Urologic care covers a wide range of conditions and treatments.  By having a broad scope of expertise in their team of physicians and distributing that expertise across a large geography in North Texas, patients from Texas and across state boarders have a level of access-to-care that is unmatched in the world.  Why rely on a random physician who may only have limited experience and “by chance” access to technology when patients can get access to a team with a deep bench and multiple facility technology resources.

UANT covers every corner of urologic care.  Here are some categories of excellence to choose from:

• Urologic Oncology (cancer)
• Robotic Prostate Surgery
• Robotic Kidney Surgery
• Elevated PSA, BPH, Kidney Stones, Urinary Tract Infections, Bladder Cancer
• Urinary Incontinence
• Kidney Stones
• Erectile Dysfunction, Male Infertility, Sexual Dysfunction, Counseling
• Pediatric Urology

Patients with unique needs and a desire for extraordinary care can be expected to travel from all parts of the world to get access to UANT’s urologists, their leading edge techniques, and  advanced technology resources.

Find a urologist at these UANT Texas locations:

• Urologists in Arlington at Arlington Memorial Hospital
• Urologists in Arlington at Video Incontinence Center
• Urologists in Arlington at USMD Hospital
• Urologists in Arlington at USMD Prostate Cancer Center
• Urologists in Carrollton at Baylor Medical Center
• Urologists in Cleburne
• Urologists in Dallas Tx
• Urologists in Denton Tx
• Urologists in DeSoto Tx
• Urologists in Fort Worth Tx
• Urologists in Fort Worth at Huguley Hospital
• Urologists in Fort Worth at Harris Methodist Hospital
• Urologists in Fort Worth Tx (Pediatric Office)
• Urologists in Grand Prairie Tx
• Urologists in Grapevine Tx at Baylor Regional Medical Center
• Urologists in Bedford Tx
• Urologists in Irving Tx at Las Colinas Medical Center
• Urologists in Mansfield Tx
• Urologists in North Richland Hills Tx at North Hills Hospital
• Urologists in Plano Tx at Baylor Regional Medical Center
• Urologists in Saginaw Tx
• Urologists in Waxahachie Tx
• Urologists in Weatherford Tx

The eye surgeons of Palo Alto Eye Group specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma and cataracts.  Their Experience is broad in that they offer many types of surgery involving the anterior (front) segment of the eye.  Having this scope of choice brings the bay area an asset unlike any other place in the world.

The physicians of Palo Alto Eye are proud to offer these advanced treatments for glaucoma and cataracts:

Glaucoma Treatments:

• Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty
• Diode Laser Mircropulse Trabeculoplasty
• Nd: Yag Iridotomy – Laser Peripheral Iridotomy
• Diode Laser Cyclophotocoagulation Capsulotomy
• Canaloplasty
• Glaucoma Filtration Surgery (Trabeculectomy)
• Glaucoma Drainage Implant Surgery

Cataract Treatments:

• Small Incision, Sutureless Phacoemulsification
• Premium intraocular lenses for correction of presbyopia
  • AcrySof® ReSTOR® Apodized Diffractive IOL
  • Crystalens™
• Premium Intraocular Lenses (IOLs)
• Limbal Relaxing Incisions for Treatment of Astigmatism
• Nd:YAG posterior capsulotomy

Working with the front of the eye is very delicate and precise work; as you can imagine.  This is why choosing a tenured and trusted eye surgeon is of the utmost importance.  Palo Alto Eye Group is proud to have worked to bring you their advanced skills and focus in diagnostics and surgical care.  They are available for patient referrals, second opinions, and for revisions of previous surgical procedures.

Palo Alto Eye Group has locations in Palo Alto, San Jose, Mountain View.  Learn more about Palo Alto Eye Group here.

Started by Dr. Terry Tressler in 1995, Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) has evolved from a small, consultative practice into an integral part of obstetrical care in the Harrisburg region. The team now consists of four MFM specialists, MFM Fellows, genetic counselors, perinatal nurses and sonographers. Perinatal consultations are non invasive and utilize specialized diagnostic ultrasound including diagnostic 3D/4D imaging.

MFM was the first diagnostic ultrasound center to introduce the revolutionary 3D/4D obstetrical ultrasound imaging to the Harrisburg area. 3D/4D ultrasound imaging enables views of your baby’s anatomy that was not possible with previous technology and enables a more detailed evaluation. This also allows MFM to provide better communication with you concerning your pregnancy by visually understanding any underlying issues involving your baby.

• Learn more about Maternal Fetal Medicine at their High Risk Pregnancy Doctors web site.
• State-of-the-art pregnancy services and pre-pregnancy consulting.
• Making appointments and contacting with MFMPC.

“I was very impressed by his ability to accurately diagnose my condition, to effectively treat it, and to find the important information in my diary to help me change my behavior to lower the frequency of attacks.”

When it comes to testimonials from patients, Dr. Richard N. Silverstein is a hard act to follow. These gleaming statements are typical of his patient’s treatment results at the Westchester Headache Center.

Dr. Silverstein has specialized in the field of ophthalmology for the past 33 years and has performed surgical procedures for cataracts, glaucoma, orbital and ocular tumors, retinal detachment, diabetes, corneal transplantation, ocular plastics, trauma of the eye, ocular adnexa and corneal transplantation surgery.

He continued in his private practice of ophthalmology and microsurgery until April 1994 when he suffered a fracture of his left hand from a fall while horseback riding. This resulted in permanent nerve damage and his inability to perform microsurgery. Dr. Silverstein developed reflex sympathetic dystrophy, which manifests itself as severe nerve pain.

In May of 1998 he relocated his family to Chappaqua New York and was asked to join the faculty of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and The Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute. For the next four years Dr. Silverstein was involved in the teaching of residents and medical students, as well as the care of patients seeking attention at the Eye Institute.

Dr. Silverstein elected to reestablish a private practice in 2001, solely directed towards the care and treatment of patients suffering with headaches. This has been an area of interest for him since he established his first private practice in 1981 and strengthened by his personal experiences with similar afflictions.

Over 90% of all patients seen at The Westchester Headache Center are patients who were previously examined by other headache centers and headache physicians without a satisfactory resolution to their headache problem. Opened in 2003, The Westchester Headache Center is successful over 90% of the time in bringing those patients to a satisfactory resolution to their headache issues.

New York City headaches and migraines sufferers access Dr. Silverstein’s unique expertise conveniently in Chappaqua New York.

• Learn more about the Westchester Headache Center
• Dr. Silverstein’s Bio
• Patient Testimonials
• Appointments, Contacts and Location

With technologies improving at a rapid pace, those that don’t keep up will be left behind. There are many avenues for improved public exposure for your medical practice or healthcare organization and the internet has become the mainstream approach. Connecting multiple social platforms with a hub from your website can help funnel potential new patients directly to your network and from your network to your medical web site. Social media forums such as Facebook and Twitter have assisted many doctors, medical practices and healthcare organizations in improving their exposure to the general public, their markets, and more specifically their patients.

Specialized medical practices, cutting edge technologies and procedures may all be brought to the public’s attention through the proper use of social media. This may be done through direct links to your web site from social network web sites like Facebook, Twitter (a microblogging platform), as well as videos through sites like YouTube (where new procedures may be viewed by those in the medical industry and prospective patients). Although there are both, “pro’s” and “con’s” to the use of social networking sites by the healthcare industry, the pro’s should outweigh the con’s if the overall strategy is implemented properly.

First some “pro’s”:

• Facebook is the world’s largest social network.  It is growing at a meteoric pace with more than 350 million active users as of this writing 12/18/2009.  Therefore being in this space and managing your accounts can result in increased brand awareness and traffic to your medical web site.
• Facebook is an easy-to-use platform for supporting your medical practice or healthcare company identity, and there are several ways you can use it as part of your overall online marketing strategy. IMPORTANT NOTE: Understand the difference between a Facebook Fan Page (public access), Profile Page (for “people” where you control the information that is accessible and you must accept or be accepted by other Facebook users “friends”), and the Facebook Group (users with profiles can create groups that attract other members with common interests to join).
• Facebook (Twitter or similar) can increase the visibility of your practice or healthcare organization to local social networks, can generate buzz (and traffic back to your web site), and generate new patient referrals.
• Facebook is a perfect venue to announce promotions, news, and promote pages on your practice or healthcare web site. Remember, social environments like Facebook and Twitter (limited to 140 characters) are web sites where people are considered to be doing “information snacking”.  People are in these environments and are “snacking” on information that is typically recommended by their friends.  With that, realize that you have an opportunity to catch their attention with a great headline and a link back to your medical web site.  From here you are free to continue the story and offer a call-to-action.
• Lastly and an often overlooked fact, Facebook is technically a free advertising resource that may be utilized for both local, national, and global exposure of your practice/healthcare organization.

Now some “con’s”:

• Time management while utilizing social media such as Facebook can become overwhelming.  With a slow ramp up in “Fans”, “Friends” or “Followers”, you may find that there is a high demand on your (staff) time with no indication of a return on that investment.  Stick with the strategy of regularly adding to your web site and then announcing your promotions/interests on your social accounts (with web site linkbacks).  A take away regarding your perception and management of your medical social network presence is best put by famed marketer Seth Godin in his blog; “It’s a process, not an event.”
• Your Facebook identity needs to be managed and monitored regularly to ensure it’s current and your reputation is being managed.  There is a great opportunity to hear back from your patients /customers.  Poor public relations can spread like wildfire across the social web, so there is also a need to have someone responsible for doing damage control and listening to your markets (patients).
• Social networking web sites like Facebook places high demands on your creativity. It can be difficult to constantly come up with innovative and exciting content that will interest a variety of readers. Without relevance and value, your efforts would be wasted.
• Direct ROI on your efforts in the social media realm can be difficult.  While Facebook allows statistical insights for your Fan Page, overall conversions can be difficult do calculate.  Therefore you will want to implement tracking of inbound ‘referrer’ traffic to your web site and attempt to garner “how did you find us” information from phone calls and your online form.  Creating controlled landing pages for specific promotions can create better environments for more precise data collection.
• PRIVACY and HIPAA Compliance!  When you open up your practice or medical business to social media, your goal is to build a community.  A two way conversation between your markets and your medical business or practice.  However, the nature of Facebook and its limited privacy means that patients as well as your staff will be communicating in a non-private environment.  It is very important to understand, monitor and control your own content for its privacy implications.  More dangerous and needing control will be the reach of patient-to-patient identification and communication.  Your social network will have patients leaving a public digital footprints of themselves in your network.  You, as a medical practitioner, need to understand the degree to which you are protecting the privacy of patient information as well as the degree to which patients may be unaware of the privacy they are exposing when existing and posting information to your networks.

As noted above, the use of social media like Facebook and others can bring many benefits to any practice/healthcare organization with an online presence, but it does come with its fair share of challenges. If you’re considering utilizing Facebook (or others) as part of your medical marketing strategy, have a robust plan in place and a committed staff. With that, you’ll increase your chances for social media success.

Vital Element, Inc. provides Social Network Marketing for doctors, their practices, and the medical industry.

Over time and in a world of overspecialization, the best physician brands become know by by their work.  “Dr. Johnson is the best neurosurgeon in California.”  For those who were seeking what they considered to be better care by a better physician, they would end up at the end of a communications path leading to the best branded physician accessible.

In the age of the Internet, the paths to those brands have grown to excess.  What has become misleading is how the physician brand is being represented.  It can be hard to tell a hack from a da Vinci.  Especially if the hack has a great medical web marketing campaign and the truly talented physician has a web page that his nephew created in 1998.

With the public turning to the Internet as their primary source for information and their primary path to their new physician, it is important to define and present the physician brand from a perspective of integrity.  With a good match between the web brand and work delivered, the web brand will support itself via the community of patients that uphold the brand for the physician.

Here are 8 hints and reminders regarding the physician and their web branding strategy.

1. A great physician brand comes after the patient experience.  The patient experience influences the value of the brand.  The patient experience influences other patients on how to feel about the brand.
2. A great physician brand frequently comes from something unique about the physician or group.  Be sure to define, harness, and leverage that uniqueness in your branding campaign.
3. Keep repeating that YOUR BRAND IS NOT YOUR LOGO.  Think of your logo as shorthand for your brand.  When people see it or hear your name (or name of your practice), what is the emotional response?  The logo/name will trigger that internal association with your brand.  The idea is to create the best experience.  The response to the logo or your name will follow suit.
4. Today’s patients are smart.  They know when they see false or misleading advertising and can pick out the lack of credibility.  Don’t help them by either poor web design or misleading web site elements.  The more you put into how you present yourself on the web, the more patients know you care about their experience.
5. Don’t be afraid to develop the definition of the experience.  How will the experience look and feel from the Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP) to and throughout their office visit?  Build into your medical office culture a consistent defined experience from the web to their feelings long after the office visit.  Build that into the definition of the brand that you’re trying to achieve.
6. Focus on what you do best and include items that you are moving towards.  Sometimes you express everything you can do, which waters down what you do best.  What you do best is really the strongest and biggest branding opportunity.  Use your strengths to lever up the areas of expertise and technology that are on your practice and professional development path.
7. Once you’ve defined, developed, and are executing your web branding strategy, monitor the strategy and be flexible.  Don’t be so flexible that you are always changing everything, but be flexible enough to change what is not working and easily add in new ideas that come up.
8. Always remember that your brand is an experience and then a promise to fulfill that experience again and again.  In the physician practice there are a myriad of opportunities to create a great experience (and repeat).  The toughest but greatest experiences really come down to your patient relationship and the service (care) you provide.

So be honest about what you do, define it, design it, execute, improve it, and leverage your personal brand path from your medical web site to (and throughout) new patient experience.

Bay Area Gastroenterologist, Dr. David Shields of Palo Alto, now offers the CRH O’Regan System™, also referred to as Hemorrhoid Banding, is considered the “gold standard” for the treatment of hemorrhoids. This minimally invasive outpatient procedure is performed in his offices and scores a 99.1% success rate. This method, unlike traditional banding techniques (that use a metal-toothed clamp to grasp the tissue), Dr. Shields uses a gentle suction device, reducing the risk of pain and bleeding. This method has a ten-fold reduction in complications compared to traditional banding and recovery time is dramatically accelerated. Following this new method of hemorrhoid banding, it is recommended that you rest at home for the remainder of the day and resume full activity the next day.

The banding procedure works by cutting off the blood supply to the hemorrhoid, which causes the hemorrhoid to shrink and fall off (typically within a day or so). Once the hemorrhoid is gone, the affected area usually heals in a week or two. The CRH O’Regan System is applicable for approximately 90% of all hemorrhoid patients and only the most severe cases will require a more aggressive surgery (hemorrhoidectomy), which is another procedure offered by Dr. Shields.

Before opening his private practice, Dr. Shields served as the Director of Endoscopy at Stanford University Medical Center. He continues to enjoy actively teaching at Stanford and has been recognized with an “Outstanding Clinical Faculty Award”. Dr. Shields performs procedures at varying locations depending upon your insurance. The majority of procedures are performed in the comfort of The Palo Alto Endoscopy Center. Patients with Medicare are performed primarily at Stanford Hospital and some at El Camino Hospital. If hospitalization is required he admits his patients at Stanford Hospital.

Office Locations & Appointment Request.

Bye bye dog on skateboard, hello doctor!

Here are 3 Tips to using YouTube to promote your practice via recorded interviews:

1) Be sure to brand the video since this is really an audio presentation. Include logos, related images, and calls-to-action like phone numbers and your medical web site address.

2) Break up interviews into smaller targeted audience topics. Remember that YouTube typically only allows you to have 10 minute segments. Sometimes even shorter segments (2-5 minutes) allow you to deliver your messages to more listeners with short attention spans. With that, try to plug your web site and the main points at the beginning before getting into the lengthy details.

3) Consider having your medical web site design team develop your strategy, distribute your videos via their YouTube channel, and manage the video through SEO practices and their established networks.

Here is an example of Dr. Neel Anand (Spine Surgeon Los Angeles). The radio interview uses the above techniques via YouTube to promote and educate.