The Importance of Giving Back

The Importance of Giving Back

At Florida Skin Center, we believe in giving back to the community.  Throughout the year you will see Dr. Badia and her staff supporting local community events. Florida Skin Center has been participating in the Walk for March of Dimes, Adopt a Highway, and the Edison Festival of Lights for the past five years.  In addition, every year Dr. Badia holds a Children’s Day where she and her staff provide medical care for kids free of charge. 

Another annual event that her staff holds for the community is Grab a Gobbler.  The goal of Grab a Gobbler is to help those less fortunate during the holiday season by giving away free turkeys. We will keep you updated on this event in the upcoming holiday season.

Today we wanted to inform you of an upcoming event that is near and dear to our heart: The 2010 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.  This is a noncompetitive, inspirational event that raises awareness and funds to fight breast cancer and provide hope to all people facing this disease. The walk will be held on Saturday Oct 23^rd.  For more details please visit our website at http://floridaskincenter.com/default.asp

Current statistics show that aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. And is the number one cause of cancer death in Hispanic women.  I am sure that we have all meet someone in our lives affected by this disease.

In honor of this great cause, Florida Skin Center is donating a percentage of all proceeds collected on Oct 5^th 2010 to the American Cancer Society. So if you are due for your annual skin check or have never had a skin check, please schedule your appointment on this day and help us give back.

Hope to see you on Oct 5^th.

Florida Skin Center

Are Barefeet a No No for You. Not Anymore

Are you embarrassed to wear open toe shoes because of your toenails?  Unfortunately you are not alone. Toe nail fungus, also known as onychomycosis is a very common condition.  Onychomycosis causes fingernails or toenails to thicken, discolor, disfigure, and split. At first, onychomycosis appears to be only a cosmetic concern. Without treatment, however, the toenails can become so thick that they press against the inside of the shoes, causing pressure, irritation, and pain.

Until now, most treatment options for this condition are topical nail lacquers and solutions that need to be applied to the nail daily.  Other treatment options are oral medications such as Lamisil.  Although these are effective treatment options, many of us do not have the time to apply a medication on our nails twice a day or are hesitant to go on medications that could potentially affect the liver.

However there is an alternative treatment : Laser therapy.  Although, laser therapy has been used in dermatology for other conditions, it is a new treatment option for toenail/finger nail fungus.  Treatments are quick easy and best of all painless.

The affected nails are treated with the laser until the nail starts to feel warm.  This takes just a few seconds.  With each treatment, the laser destroys the fungus infecting the nails.  Generally 3 treatments are needed and are done 1 month apart. 

If you have any further questions about this safe effective treatment for onychomycosis please ask our staff or providers.

We hope to see you soon.

FSC

Your Skin For Life

Electronic Medical Records

There has been a lot of talk in recent months about physician offices going “electronic”, but what does that mean exactly?   An Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is a secured electronic file of patient history, medical transcription notes, billing information, and all other information necessary to have a complete patient profile.  EMR systems are becoming the way of the future and its benefits are numerous.

Florida Skin Center has been a “paperless”, office since spring of 2005.   Although Dr. Badia recalls the transition from paper charts to electronic charts as a slow process, she would never go back to the old way of doing things.  Dr. Badia believes that having electronic medical records not only saves time and energy, but most importantly benefits her patients as well.  Patients of Florida Skin Center can rest assured that all of their current and past medical history is up to date. Current medication lists can easily be updated and pop up alerts made for allergies. Lab results are directly imported into each patient’s chart which reduces the risk of medical errors with filing and reduces wait time for patients, because they are not waiting for someone to find their results.  Patients can call with questions over the phone and get their questions answered right away.  They do not have to wait for a staff member to “find” their chart. 

Our patients are extremely happy as well. Each patient that is prescribed a medication goes home with an information sheet and directions on how to use the medication that are easy to interpret. Another feature of electronic medical records is patient prescriptions can be sent electronically to a pharmacy that the patient chooses. We know patients have busy schedules and appreciate the time they are saved having a prescription ready to pick up at the pharmacy. Lastly, patients can be assured that their medical information is secure. All EMR systems require unique user names that are password protected to access any patient information.

We hope this gives you a little insight into the benefits of having a physician’s office using electronic medical records.

Hope to see you soon.

FSC

Your Skin for Life.

Our Team

We hope everyone is having a great week.  We wanted to blog about the type of providers you will find at Florida Skin Center. Our last blog was about physicians assistants. This week we wanted to talk to you about Aestheticians.

Aestheticians are licensed skin care specialists. In the state of Florida, aestheticians are required to complete 260 hours of training to receive their licenses.   They must also renew their license every three years by taking a recertification test. In addition, our aestheticians, at Florida Skin Center, receive training with Dr.Badia as a medical assistant first so they have a deeper understanding of various skin diseases and treatment medications.

We currently have two aestheticians, Danielle and Shanah, on staff. At FSC, we provide a variety of aesthetic treatments including facials, chemical peels, and extractions as well as various product lines and makeup for even those with the most sensitive of skin.  Our aestheticians are trained in tailoring a treatment regimen to suit the needs of your skin. To find out more about our aestheticians, please visit this link

http://floridaskincenter.com/meetourproviders.asp.

We hope to see you soon.

Have a great week.

Take Care,

FSC