A Step Towards Improved Heart Health
At Stockton Cardiology, your initial visit is the first step towards receiving comprehensive heart care delivered with compassion and experience. Our commitment to your cardiac health involves looking beyond just your heart condition to understand your overall health and identify any related factors.
During your initial visits, your cardiologist will begin by evaluating your medical history, existing risks, and current health. Making a detailed assessment allows for the development of a personalized treatment strategy designed to improve your heart health. This process may adapt as your health conditions change.
What to Expect During Your Appointments
Your first visit marks the beginning of an investigation towards making a full assessment of your condition prior to determining the best course of action.
We will obtain a detailed medical history and the cardiologist will perform a thorough examination of your cardiovascular system. You will be asked questions about the health history of your relatives. The cardiologist will provide you with information about potential risk factors and disease processes that can lead to heart problems such as elevated cholesterol and other blood fats (high lipids, hypercholesterolemia), hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis), high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes, and smoking.
A thorough assessment may take more than one visit, depending on the need for testing, the results of those tests, and any indications that further investigation is required.
Providing Important Information
To help us provide you with the most effective care, it is vital that you share complete information about your medical conditions, current medications, and previous healthcare experiences during your appointments and through our intake forms.
It is important to understand that conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes directly affect your heart. Furthermore, factors such as smoking, your eating habits, your activity level, and your family’s medical background all play a significant role in your heart’s health.
Tests
Your cardiologist may recommend tests, prescriptions, or follow-up care. Many of the tests such as EKGs, Echocardiograms, Nuclear PET or SPECT scans, Stress Tests, and others can be done during a separate appointment at the same office location. Make sure to ask where your test will be given.
Preparing for Your Appointment
It is important that patients or caregivers be able to inform us of any details in your health history that could potentially impact your cardiac condition. To assist us in providing the best possible care, please bring a list of all the medications you are currently taking and their dosages.
Patient Information Page
If you need information about insurance, health networks, hospitals, and more, please visit our Patient Information page, which new patients may find especially helpful.
Patient Portal
When you have become a patient under our care, you will be registered in our MyHillChart patient portal. The link is at the top of this website. Through the patient portal, you can access your records, make appointments, check test results, prescriptions, send messages, and more. Soon, new patients will be able to register with us using the patient portal!