27 Feb Promoting Subspecialized Radiology Services in Rural Cities

If you’ve been to Presence St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee, Illinois you might recognize a familiar face draped across the walls of the hospital. In an effort to spread the word about Presence St. Mary’s radiology services, they have unveiled a new marketing campaign promoting Onrad’s own, Dr. Farid Shafaie.

Meet more of Onrad’s Subspecialized Teleradiologists

Dr. Shafaie is well-known across the state for his expertise in radiology and interventional radiology. By bringing his services to Presence St. Mary’s, he makes it possible for patients in rural areas to get the advanced care they deserve without having to drive hours to a big city like Chicago.  The problem, is that a lot of patients don’t know they have these medical resources available to them in their own backyard until they’ve already made the mistake of traveling out of town for their procedures.

Through this awareness campaign, Presence St. Mary Hospital and Dr. Shafaie are hoping to educate patients, helping them to become more aware of the services offered within their own community.

IR Update: Under the leadership of Dr. Farid Shafaie and with the addition of new technology, Presence St. Mary’s will now be able to provide access to high quality, subspecialized imaging services 24/7, including:

Common IR Procedures:

• Dialysis access maintenance: Interventional radiologists are crucial in restoring and repairing fistulas and grafts that serve as a lifeline for dialysis patients. Many of these patients unfortunately require frequent interventions over many years. New technology improves the safety and efficacy of mainstay procedures, with improved durability of dialysis access.
• Long-term central venous access: Medication ports, tunneled venous catheters, and dialysis catheters can be placed in Interventional Radiology without the risks of general anesthesia or the costs of a full operating room.
• Nephrostomy tube placement: Frequently performed for obstruction of the kidneys, injury to a ureter, or to allow urologists access for removal of large kidney stones.
• Biopsy and drainage procedures: Using x-ray, ultrasound, CT, and MRI, interventional radiologists can access most areas of the body without a scalpel. Some procedures may now be performed with less radiation, utilizing fusion imaging, CT-like imagining, and 3D software packages.

Advanced IR Procedures:

• Chemoembolization/Radioembolization (Y_90) of liver tumors: Interventional oncology is the fastest growing subset of IR procedures. These procedures rely on delivery of a therapeutic agent (chemo or radiation) to tumors while minimizing damage to normal liver. New evidence shows improved patient outcomes when these therapies are utilized in combination with systemic chemotherapy.
• Vertebral augmentation (kyphoplasty): These procedures are performed to reduce pain and improve quality of life, often in cancer patients or elderly/osteoporotic patients who suffer spine fractures. Ability to perform these procedures not only improves service to our referring outpatient physicians, but also allows us to reduce length of stay for inpatients who are hospitalized with intractable pain related to spine fractures.
• Venous diseases: A broad range of therapies are available in IR, from treatment of chronic swelling or ulceration related to the malfunction of superficial veins, to treatment of acute deep vein thrombosis and life threatening pulmonary embolism.
• Embolization procedures for genitourinary disease: IR provides non-surgical, minimally invasive treatment of uterine fibroids, pelvic congestion syndrome, symptomatic varicocele, and prostatic enlargement.

Dr. Shafaie has also been working closely with the hospital administration, hospital foundation and the architects of an outpatient Women’s Center next to the hospital, to build a vein clinic and breast tomosynthesis unit for local patients. This would be beneficial to patients because it brings more onsite radiologists and subspecialized procedures to the community and makes it more convenient for patients to get the care they need.

Read more about Dr. Farid Shafaie