Services & Procedures

Baxter Regional Family Clinic has a wide variety of procedures available to our patients that can be performed in the clinic, including:

• Preventive & Primary Healthcare
• Acute & Chronic disease management
• In house X-Ray and CLIA approved laboratory
• Weight loss management
• Comprehensive preventative screening
• Electrocardiograms
• Pulse Oximetry
• Ear lavage
• Drug Screening
• School, Sports and Work Physical exams
• Skin lesion Cryosurgery
• Department of Transportation Examinations (DOT)

Electrocardiography

Electrocardiography is a transthoracic (across the thorax or chest) interpretation of the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time, as detected by electrodes attached to the outer surface of the skin and recorded by a device external to the body. The recording produced by this noninvasive procedure is termed as electrocardiogram (also ECG or EKG). An electrocardiogram (ECG) is a test that records the electrical activity of the heart. ECG is used to measure the rate and regularity of heartbeats as well as the size and position of the chambers, the presence of any damage to the heart, and the effects of drugs or devices used to regulate the heart.

Pulse Oximetry

Pulse Oximetry is a non-invasive method allowing the monitoring of the oxygenation of a patient's hemoglobin. A sensor is placed on a thin part of the patient's body, usually a fingertip or earlobe, or in the case of an infant, across a foot. Light of two different wavelengths is passed through the patient to a photodetector. The changing absorbance at each of the wavelengths is measured, allowing determination of the absorbances due to the pulsing arterial blood alone, excluding venous blood, skin, bone, muscle, fat, and (in most cases) fingernail polish. With NIRS it is possible to measure both oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin on a peripheral scale (possible on both brain and muscle).

Ear Lavage

Ear Lavage is the process of flushing the external ear canal with sterile water or sterile saline. It is used to treat patients who complain of foreign body or cerumen (ear wax) impaction. The purpose of ear lavage is to remove earwax that is obstructing the ear canal or to remove a foreign object lodged in the ear canal. Ear lavage is most commonly performed on those who experience a wax buildup that has impaired hearing and irritated the outer ear canal.

Drug Screening

A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen – for example urine, hair, blood, sweat, or oral fluid / saliva – to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. Major uses of drug testing are to detect the presence of performance enhancing steroids in sport or for drugs prohibited by laws, such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin.

Spirometry Testing

Pulmonary function testing is a valuable tool for evaluating the respiratory system, representing an important adjunct to the patient history, various lung imaging studies, and invasive testing such as bronchoscopy and open-lung biopsy. Insight into underlying pathophysiology can often be gained by comparing the measured values for pulmonary function tests obtained on a patient at any particular point with normative values derived from population studies. The percentage of predicted normal is used to grade the severity of the abnormality. Practicing clinicians must become familiar with pulmonary function testing because it is often used in clinical medicine for evaluating respiratory symptoms such as dyspnea and cough, for stratifying preoperative risk, and for diagnosing common diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Before a spirogram can be meaningfully interpreted, one needs to inspect the graphic data (the volume-time curve and the flow-volume loop) to ascertain whether the study meets certain well-defined acceptability and reproducibility standards. Tests that fail to meet these standards can provide useful information about minimum levels of lung function, but, in general, they should be interpreted cautiously. The interpretive strategy usually involves establishing a pattern of abnormality (obstructive, restrictive, or mixed), grading the severity of the abnormality, and assessing trends over time. Various algorithms are available. Automated spirometry systems usually have built-in software that can generate a preliminary interpretation, especially for spirometry; however, algorithms for other pulmonary function studies are not as well established and necessitate appropriate clinical correlation and physician oversight.

Sports Physicals

Most teens who participate in sports are anxious to get in the game. For their safety, however, many schools require a sports physical, also called a pre-participation exam (PPE), before an athlete is cleared to play. In the United States, millions of athletes — including teens — undergo sports physicals before they can begin competing.

Sports physicals are intended to determine if an athlete is healthy enough to participate in sports and to help minimize the risk of sports-related injuries. Athletes are seeking medical clearance so they can train and compete safely.

The physical is designed to identify any high-risk disorder or condition that might affect an athlete's ability to play. The exam might also help determine the athlete's safe level of activity, which can have an impact on performance. If an existing injury or potential problem is identified during the sports exam, action can be taken to avoid future problems and to rehabilitate an existing injury.

The extent of the physical varies among doctors, but the goals of the exam are generally the same. Among the goals of the exam are to evaluate:

• Athlete's general health
• Athlete's current fitness level
• Any existing injuries
• Any condition that might increase the athlete's risk of injury
• Athlete's level of physical maturity