Information About The Special Services We Offer

• All people over 20 years of age should have lipid screening.Atherosclerosis is a disease that begins in adolescence and progresses slowly over years and decades. All heart disease is preventable.
  
  Getting HDL testing (which does not cost any money out of pocket) is easy. No fasting necessary. This test is the best lipid analysis in the US. We can also test at risk patients using several new and powerful laboratories test such as PreDx which screens for diabetes with a 5 year window, Singulex which looks forward in time 6 months and screens for cardiac ischemia, the precursor of heart attacks and CORUS which is an RNA based expression test that looks at the risk for coronary artery occlusive disease (potentially bypassing angiograms). Even these tests are at no charge to our patients (with insurance and the private pay cost is very affordable) except for the PreDx test that can ranges from $0 to $49. Signing up is easy and does not require a prior office visit. When the tests are available we will call you for an appointment to discuss the tests in detail. We also test for diseases that can lead to heart disease and stroke such as hypertension and diabetes.

• Spirometry is a test used to access lung function in diagnosing asthma and emphysema and other lung disorders.

• Advanced lipid testing is blood work that goes beyond traditional lipid testing. Traditional lipid testing misses 50% of people at risk for heart disease. The new lipid testing measures via blood and urine samples parameters will predict with very precise consistency the risk for developing heart disease. We use the most advanced laboratory in the US called Health Diagnostic Laboratories or HDL for short. HDL also runs multiple genetic tests in their comprehensive panels for coagulation disorders and the likelihood of developing coronary artery disease.

• Genetic testing is also becoming a help in predicting patients who have a high risk for developing cancer. These tests are DNA based. We use a laboratory called deCodeME which runs genetic screening for most of the common cancers such as breast, colon and prostate cancers and many others. Insurance covers most of the costs. It only requires a cheek swab or blood test.

• CIMT, echocardiograms and ABI testing. These are ultrasound tests that screen for risk factors for many diseases. The CIMT stands for carotid intima media testing which basically tests for carotid plaque which correlates with stroke risk, echocardiograms are ultrasounds of the heart that test for defective heart valves and heart muscle function. It can show a heart that is in failure or a heart that has a serious heart arrhythmia. ABI testing stands for ankle brachial index which tests for peripheral artery disease or poor arterial circulation to the feet.

  • We utilize Boone Institute out of Denver that tests the Colorado Rockies and Denver Broncos. All the blood work is drawn in our office and the all the ultrasounds are done in our office. Patients save time and effort.

• AAA Testing. This test is done to look at plaque in the abdominal are that could affect the kidneys and the test also looks for abdominal aneurysms and plaque in the abdominal aorta.

• Note that unfortunately most doctors offices utilize few if any of the above listed tests. This is what makes our office unique in the we not only run these tests but implement the results to increase the chances of avoiding life ending or disabling diseases. We also have just started implementing Electronic Health Records which allow our office to have a complete record of one’s health with all the labs and x-rays readily available. Blood work from the major laboratories streams “seamlessly to each patients records. This allows for better patient records and better decision making by the health care providers.