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Q.
Are you Board Certified physicians?
A. Yes. All Oakland
Gastroenterology Associates physicians are Diplomates of the American Board
of Internal Medicine and
Gastoenterology.
Q. What insurance
programs do you accept?
A. We participate in most
insurance programs, including Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Blue Preferred Plus,
Blue Choice, Blue Care Network,
Medicare, Medicaid, Selectcare PPO and HMO, Aetna PPO and Managed Choice,
Signa, Health Alliance Plan, M-Care,
Omnicare, Wellness Plan, PHCS, Great Lakes Health Plan, PPOM, Mail Handlers
Benefits Plan, Preferred Choices, Champus
and Teamsters.
Q. How long will I
have to wait to get an appointment with you?
A. Usually one to two weeks.
If your problem is of an urgent nature we will offer an appointment as
soon as possible.
Q. I'm a big chicken.
If I have to have an endoscopy procedure will it hurt?
A. Patients having endoscopy
procedures receive I.V. sedation. The amount of sedation used varies with
each individual and is based
on age, weight, history and the person's tolerance to pain. While
you may feel some cramping, bloating or minor discomfort, you
should not experience any pain. Many patients have no recollection
of their procedure afterward.
Q. What medications
are used for sedation?
A. Medications most frequently
used are one or more of the following: Versed, Valium, Demerol and Fentanyl.
Q. How long will I
have to wait to get the results of my procedure?
A. Your doctor will speak
with you before you go home and in many cases can give you a preliminary
result before you leave.
If biopsies were taken or polyps removed, it will take several days to
receive results from the laboratory.
Q. I've read about
the new, non-invasive endoscopic procedures for severe GERD (Gastroesophageal
Reflux Disease).
Are they a good alternative to traditional medical or surgical treatment
for severe reflux?
A. Both the Stretta and
the Endo-Cinch procedures are very new and studies are ongoing at the present
time. In our opinion,
there is currently not enough long-term data available on either procedure
to be able to adequately judge their safety and efficacy.
Q. Other than English,
are there other special language skills among the physicians?
A. Dr. Goo is fluent in Mandarin,
Cantonese, Taisanese, Fookienese and Tagalog. He is semi-fluent in
Spanish.
Dr. Desai
is fluent in Gujarati and French.
Dr. Yang
is fluent in Korean and semi-fluent in Spanish.
Dr. Akkary
is fluent in Arabic and French.
Dr. Stojanovic
fluent in Serbo-Croatian.
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