Welcome
Welcome to the website of Dr. Gregory Szto, consultant and interventional cardiologist!
Dr. Szto (pronounced See-Toe) consults at Frankston, Mornington and Rosebud. The main office in Frankston (at Peninsula Private Hospital) has full investigation facilities like treadmill stress test, echo, tilt table test, and other mobile tests like Holter (ECG) and blood pressure (BP) monitor. Feel free to browse through the website, and learn as much as you can about the services that we offer, and the procedures that are performed to treat your heart condition. Learn about the various tests that are available to assist you in understanding your heart condition. This website has automatic news updates concerning advances in cardiovascular medicine, and you are encourage to come back often to determine if there has been new developments in the treatment of your heart condition.
Telehealth
From 1 July 2011, the Australian Government introduced Telehealth, a service where GPs and specialists will be reimbursed for using online consultations to communicate. For more information click on: http://www.mbsonline.gov.au/telehealth.
This means that a GP or specialist from outer metropolitan Melbourne or anywhere in regional Australia, may contact me via webcam, and with the patient initiate a consultation. This consultation will result in standard consultation fees for the GP AND me, as well as ADDITIONAL incentive reimbursement for each and every consultation! Additionally, in the first year that this is used, the GP will receive a once-off grant of $6000.
I have set up a webcam service using the free Skype account: cardiology247.
Simply set up a free Skype account, then find my name cardiology247 and add me to your list of contacts. Now you are ready to initiate a webcam consultation, simply make sure I am online (which I will try to do most of the time). Any practitioner – GP, specialist, nurse practitioner outside the metropolitan area, regional Australia, and Aboriginal service areas may use this service to contact me. Alternatively, you may also use FaceTime on iPad, this may actually be more stable. Find my email: drgregs@bigpond.com
Direct referral for tests:
You can ask you local doctor to refer you directly to our practice for tests such as treadmill stress test, echocardiogram, Holter (24-hour ECG) monitor, BP monitor, or multislice cardiac CT scan. Most of these tests are bulk-billed, including stress test, echocardiogram, and Holter monitor. A BP monitor test attracts a small fee. Most tests can be performed within a few days of ordering. Results are promptly sent to your doctor, often electronically within a day or two of your test. Unlike other health check clinics, your out-of-pocket costs are minimal.
Direct admission to Peninsula Private Hospital Coronary Care Unit:
If you have private health insurance, call 03 9788 3490 or 9788 3491 to arrange direct admission to Peninsula Private Hospital Coronary Care Unit (PPH CCU) if you have chest pains, shortness of breath, palpitations or other potential cardiac problems. Nominate a cardiologist of your choice to look after you. You can even nominate Dr. Szto to look after you even if you have not seen him before. It is that easy. Admission is contingent on the availability of a bed and a resident medical officer after hours. Typically the nurse in charge will inform you if admission is feasible, and you are asked to contact the ambulance for transport, or be driven into hospital.
Preventative Cardiology using Multi-slice Cardiac CT Scanning
Medicare reimbursement is available under certain conditions – click here for details)
Embrace the new technology in Multi-slice Cardiac CT scanning or CT coronary angiogram – look at your heart and arteries and check whether you have coronary artery disease even before you have any symptoms. Obtain treatment and evasive action before you develop into a heart attack victim waiting to happen. CT scanning is performed in collaboration with MIA Radiology at Peninsula Private Hospital, tests are reported promptly and you will receive a personal copy of your heart scan results, typically within 1-2 weeks.
"Interventional" cardiologist
Many cardiologists can perform coronary angiograms to diagnose your coronary artery blockages, but only a few can actually proceed on to fix them by inserting stents. These cardiologists have additional qualification in coronary stenting. If not, you may need to undergo a second procedure to correct your blockage. Make sure the cardiologist doing your angiogram is an interventional cardiologist. Dr. Szto is an interventional cardiologist, and often proceeds directly to coronary stenting or other intervention as required, saving you another trip to the lab, and another groin puncture.
Clinical Research
Our practice participates in clinical research – this is where new and experimental drugs or therapies are explored and tested, usually in internationally coordinated, double-blind placebo controlled clinical studies. These studies are rigorously monitored and proper checks and balances are in place to protect the welfare of the patient. To learn more about studies that might benefit you, click on our clinical research section. 27/09/2010 Update: The SAVOR study using a new diabetic drug Saxagliptin is commencing. This new drug from the class of DPP-4 inhibitors will be added in a randomised, double-blind study to determine whether better control of diabetes will result in reduced cardiovascular complications.