PAMF Sleep Center Expands to Meet Growing Number of Sleep Disorder Patients
Starting February 1, 2011, many more Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) patients with sleep disorders will be able to have a sleep study to help speed their diagnosis and provide them with quicker relief from their condition.
“We’re very pleased to offer our patients six additional sleep study suites at our Sunnyvale Sleep Center, which will allow us to conduct a much larger volume of in-depth sleep studies,” said David Crichton, director of PAMF’s Sunnyvale Sleep Center. “There’s an increased awareness that excessive daytime sleepiness is often due to a sleep disorder that can be diagnosed and resolved. The additional sleep suites will help us meet that growing demand.” Read More about PAMF Sleep Center Expands to Meet Growing Number of Sleep Disorder Patients
Shared Medical Appointments Help Promote Weight Loss, PAMF Research Shows
Latha Palaniappan, M.D., M.S., Principal Investigator, PAMF Research Institute
Obesity is a growing problem in the United States. Two out of every three adults are either overweight or obese, and would greatly benefit from weight loss to prevent chronic disease, like diabetes. In order to address this critical issue, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) has piloted an innovative program using Shared Medical Appointments to promote weight loss.
Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs) are group appointments for patients with similar medical concerns. SMAs include components of a regular office visit, but provide increased time with the physician and allow patients to learn from others. SMAs provide patients with high-quality medical care and the support of a group environment.
In a specialized SMA designed for weight loss, Amy Muzaffar, M.D., a PAMF Los Altos Center Internal Medicine physician, adapted the Lifestyle Balance Program for PAMF patients. The Lifestyle Balance Program was developed by the Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group and is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Read More about Shared Medical Appointments Help Promote Weight Loss, PAMF Research Shows
PAMF Donation Helps Train Primary Care Doctors
Pictured left to right: Tony Marzoni, M.D., PAMF Palo Alto Division president; George Block, M.D., chief medical officer at O’Connor Hospital; Larry deGhetaldi, M.D., PAMF Santa Cruz Division president, and Bob Norman, M.D., residency program director at O’Connor Hospital
With the current acute shortage of primary care doctors, finding a good doctor to care for you and your family can be like finding a needle in a haystack. The Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) recently stepped in to ease this critical need by donating $125,000 to the O’Connor Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program in San Jose, the only local program in the South Bay that trains medical school graduates who are committed to becoming family medicine doctors.
“At PAMF, it’s our mission to provide the best possible care to our many patients including the growing number of elderly people and those with chronic diseases,” says Larry deGhetaldi, M.D., PAMF Santa Cruz Division president. “Currently only 4 percent of medical school graduates choose to become primary care doctors. We know how important it is to support a quality program such as the O’Connor Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program that attracts candidates from the best medical schools, many of whom choose to stay and practice in the Bay Area.” Read More about PAMF Donation Helps Train Primary Care Doctors
PAMF Vascular Center Achieves Accreditation for Vascular Testing
Quick action by a doctor results in patient’s life-saving vascular surgery.
The Palo Alto Foundation Vascular Center has been recognized for its commitment to providing a high level of patient care and quality testing for the diagnosis of vascular disease by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories (ICAVL). The PAMF Vascular Center, located in Mountain View, CA, is one of a growing number of vascular laboratories in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico to meet or exceed the ICAVL standards for noninvasive vascular testing.
“ICAVL accreditation is a great honor for our vascular laboratory and was a high priority goal when we started our Vascular Center in 2006,” said Tej M. Singh, M.D., Chief of Vascular Surgery and Director of the PAMF Vascular Center. “Accreditation assures our patients and providers that the Vascular Laboratory has high quality skilled personnel evaluating our vascular studies to insure accurate results and patient care. Our laboratory was able to reach this very important goal with the combined efforts of the Department of Radiology and Vascular Surgery. Truly a team effort! Special recognition has to go to our Technical Director Yelena Shub, RVT, for her efforts to complete this task.” Read More about PAMF Vascular Center Achieves Accreditation for Vascular Testing
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