Redefining Healthcare

Last month, Dr. Noel Fajardo opened his private practice in Las Vegas. Just a few minutes of talking to the guy will make you instantly recognize a doctor who is at in tune with his practice and everything else around him. His views, his looks, his attitude and demeanor, even his brand new clinic – all embody a smart, hip, modern, attractive and friendly disposition that any patient could hope for in a doctor. Below is an excerpt of our interview with the hottest gastroenterologist in town.

How do you like practicing in Las Vegas and how does it compare to living in New York?

• Having been in Las Vegas for more than two years, I’ve grown to love the place a lot.
• Las Vegas is an interesting place as it is cosmopolitan as New York City yet also has a small town feel that allows communities to develop and flourish.  I do miss New York sometimes, but I see myself staying in Las Vegas for a long time.

How did your training from the Mayo Clinic impact your views as a doctor?

• The three tenets of Mayo Clinic are delivering excellent patient care, providing high quality education, and pursuing novel clinical and basic research. These are well instilled in any doctor who has trained from Mayo.  I hope that my training has enabled me to become a competent and compassionate healthcare provider.

In reading the material about your clinic, Las Vegas Gastroenterology, what does “Healthcare Redefined” imply?

• One of the important tenets that I have learned from Mayo Clinic is that “the needs of the patients come first”.  Basically, this introduces a different patient-doctor paradigm albeit different from the paternalistic model towards that of a partnership between the patient and doctor.
• In my field in particular, a number of patients complain of lifestyle related symptoms, such heartburn, abdominal pain and bloating, constipation, etc.  After excluding life threatening conditions, both the patient and I discuss ways that may in part address the problems presented, espousing the concept of health and wellness and mind-body connection.
• In essence, each patient care is individualized, with the goal of realizing that diseases in general, are preventable.

How do developments in technology play a role in your education and practice?

• Technology has played a significant positive role in my training and practice.  Since residency, I have only been exposed to electronic medical records or EMRs.  It was pretty interesting at first to have ease of access to previous medical records.  It may have been a novelty several years ago, but presently, it is a necessity to have EMRs, especially in light of our government’s effort to promote use of EMRs by providing incentives.
• Aside from EMRs, I predict that as more and more people become comfortable with technology, this provides an excellent avenue for delivering or obtaining care.  At Mayo Clinic, it was not unusual to have patients present thorough records of their medical history, but also, share and discuss information they have gathered from the internet.  This is interesting as the level of interaction is elevated, exemplifying the changes I was just describing above – that the patient and doctor are more of partners trying to achieve the best level of care for the patient.
• In the future, I see that other avenues of electronic communication, such as personal blogging, Facebook, Google or Twitter, will be utilized more extensively and its potential maximized.  The patients are likewise more comfortable now using portable patient medical records.  To date, several practices have online patient access not only to their records but also communicating with offices directly for appointments, prescription refills , etc.  I see that technology definitely will be a valuable tool in redefining healthcare delivery in the future.