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Pacific Urology Doctor Wins 2nd Patients’ Choice Award

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Independent online patient reviews determine which physicians receive the award, given to less than 6 percent of nation’s doctors.


The Web site Vitals.com, where patients can independently review physicians, has given urologist Dr. Parminder Sethi the Patients’ Choice Award for the second year in a row for his extraordinary ratings.

After compiling more than 800,000 patient reviews and ratings nationwide, this award is given only to physicians who earn a four-star rating. The award results from patients providing online-feedback on a doctor’s quality-of-care, rating areas such as doctor-patient face time, bedside manner, post appointment follow-up and office staff courtesy.

Of the nation’s more than 700,000 active physicians, less than six percent were given a Patients’ Choice Award in 2009.

“We absolutely adore Dr. Sethi, and would recommend him to any individual,” A patient at RateMDs.com, a physician review Web site, said. The patient calls Sethi both “thorough” and “innovative.”

Only physicians “with near-perfect scores have been voted by their patients for this honor,” Erika Boyer, Vice President for Consumer Research at Vitals.com said.

Patients emphasize Sethi's bedside manner and the amount of time he is willing to spend answering questions and going over the details of medical procedures.

After a patient’s current doctor was unable to fix his urinary problem, he took a friend’s advice and drove 50 miles just to see Sethi; he was glad he did. Reluctant to have a prostate biopsy for fear it might hurt, the patient put his faith in Sethi’s expertise in minimally invasive urology.

“However, contrary to my belief, it was totally painless,” the patient said in an online review. “He diagnosed my problem and found prostate cancer. Dr Sethi advised me with a treatment plan. I have been under his care since then and I am feeling good and happy.”

After training in general surgery in the United Kingdom, Sethi completed his urology residency at Ohio State University and fellowship training in neuro-urology and urodynamics at the University of Iowa Hospitals. He has been included in the guide to "America's Top Urologists" in 2007 and 2008. Sethi’s special areas of practice include bladder dysfunction and incontinence, minimally invasive prostate treatments, and minimally invasive kidney stone treatments.

Dr. Sethi is available for consultation, for both adult and pediatric patients at Pacific Urology's San Ramon, Livermore and Walnut Creek locations.

About Pacific Urology

With clinics in Concord, Walnut Creek, Antioch, Brentwood, San Ramon, and Livermore, Pacific Urology is the Bay Area’s premier urology practice. Pacific Urology was formed in 1995 when six urologists in solo practice joined together to form a group practice.

 

New Prostate Cancer Test Bears Watching With Caution

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New research from Johns Hopkins could both raise and delay hopes for California men, who die from prostate cancer in highest numbers nationally.


CONCORD, California, May 18, 2010 – Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed what could be a promising new test to help determine the aggressiveness of prostate cancer, says a Bay Area urologist who specializes in treating the disease, although patients may not realize any benefits for another decade or longer.

The researchers claim their test, called the Prostate Health Index (PHI), would show which patients' cancer was likely to progress rapidly. The preliminary results of the study were reported in USA Today this month.

The test is expected to attract much attention in California, where more men die from prostate cancer annually than in any other state, according to the National Prostate Cancer Coalition. Nationwide, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men.

Dr. Judson Brandeis, a urologist at Pacific Urology in Contra Costa County, urges caution in expecting this new test to be available anytime soon due to the small study of only 70 patients. The PHI test requires further studies on many more patients and then must meet approval by the Food and Drug Administration, a process that could take ten years or more.

“Thousands of men every year are diagnosed with prostate cancer, but only a fraction of them will die of the disease,” said Brandeis. “We need to determine which men with prostate cancer will actually die from it instead of living with it.”

The current standard for detecting prostate cancer is a blood analysis of the Prostate Specific Antigen, a protein produced by cells of the prostate gland. The PSA test has been at the center of recent controversy following clinical reports casting doubt on its accuracy.

“For now, the PSA test is still the best cancer screening method that we currently have,” Brandeis said.

About Pacific Urology

With clinics in eight locations in Northern California, Pacific Urology is one of the largest and most experienced urological medical practices in California. The practice prides itself on its advanced technological expertise and surgical skills that draw patients from across the country. For additional information visit http://www.pacificurology.com.

   
Established in 1995, when a group of six urologists in solo practice decided to form a group practice, Pacific Urology is the premier urology practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the years since its inception, Pacific Urology has acquired the latest technology available in ultrasound and microwave therapy. In fact, the physicians at Pacific Urology began performing robotic surgery utilizing the da Vinci robot in 2002, long before the universities in the Bay Area. Pacific Urology is the Bay Area’s most trusted medical practice for patients from Northern California, the Western United States, San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Oakland, Sacramento, Concord, Antioch, Brentwood, and San Ramon. We are easily accessible for urology patients in Santa Clara County, Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Solano County, Napa County, Sonoma County, Marin County, San Francisco County, and San Mateo County. Urology doctors Dr. Taylor, Dr. Brandeis, Dr. Hopkins, Dr. Lieb, Dr. Sethi, and Dr. Hay are specialists in the treatment of prostate cancer, infertility evaluation, testicular cancer treatment, vasectomy and vasectomy reversal, erectile dysfunction, enlarged prostate (BPH), female incontinence, prolapse treatment, overactive bladder, children’s urology, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, kidney stones, bladder control, minimally invasive surgery, and robotic surgery.

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