- Osteoporosis
- Medical Weight LossWe’ve all heard it many times that exercise is important. Indeed, exercise helps with weight management, improving our moods, reducing blood pressure, and maintaining healthy bones, muscles and joints. That’s all true and very important. As a physician, I can tell you... read more
- Family PracticeIt turns out that in 1980, the University of Pennsylvania did not have a family practice training program. They used to ship the students out to York, Pennsylvania if they wanted family practice experience. This, of course, was all before Managed Care. Now most universities have developed strong Family Practice training programs.
- Emergency CareBy the time I went to medical school I already had exposure to almost every part of the hospital, including the operating room, emergency room, radiology and so on — and I loved it. The sciences came easy to me in college and the rest is history!
- GynecologyIn many fields, such as general surgery and gynecology, there has been great success with laparoscopic techniques which has been the standard approach now for many procedures such as gallbladder removal, appendectomy, and fertility procedures.
- Internal MedicineDr. Cacchione earned his MD from Hahnemann University and his BS degree from Gannon University. Dr. Cacchione completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Case Western Reserve University. He also completed his residency in cardiology at the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY) and served as a Cardiac Research and Interventional Fellow at Case Western Reserve University. He is Board Certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology and has been recognized many times for his contributions to his field and the prestigious institutions he has served. He also has held numerous leadership roles on a national level and in Pennsylvania for the American College of Cardiology and has served on a number of national and community-based administrative health committees. He has authored and co-authored scholarly papers, and presented at national conferences and meetings on healthcare systems, new paradigms in healthcare, cardiology and cardiovascular disease and healthcare administration. He holds active medical licenses in Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania.
- Prostate Cancer
- Lung CancerDr. Singer’s practice interests include complex valve, coronary and aneurysm surgery, as well as prevention and treatment of lung cancer. He enjoys teaching and writing and has published over 70 peer review scientific and news journal articles while in practice.
- Depression
- UltrasoundHowever, due to the extension use of prenatal ultrasound, many of the most serious congenital defects are suspected even prior to birth.
- MRIHere is an interesting case of a man who had an aortic dissection repair in the past, but returned with an infection of a prosthetic valve. Below is the MRI of the aortic arch showing a chronic aortic dissection.
- RadiologyI later became a volunteer at Abington Memorial Hospital when I was 15 years old and continued doing volunteer work through high school and college. In my senior year at Cheltenham High School, I did a year-long work-study project in radiology at Abington Memorial Hospital.
- Computed TomographyIn Philadelphia, one patient won ten million dollars because she claimed that a CT scan of her head resulted in her inability to read the future. This was later reduced but it does illustrate how challenging financial verdicts can be. More serious suits that involved real injuries or even deaths resulted in settlements over 50, 80, and even over 100 million dollars, many times for “non-economic damages” as I have discussed above.
- General SurgeryDr. Singer completed both his General Surgery and Cardiothoracic Residencies at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society as a House Officer.
- OrthopedicsBefore his time at Ascension, Dr. Cacchione spent eight years at the Cleveland Clinic, a leading academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education, where he played a major enterprise role in business development while also serving as Chairman of Operations and Strategy for its Heart and Vascular Institute. Before that, he served as executive vice president and chief of quality and operations at Saint Vincent’s Health System in Erie, PA, where he oversaw the development of several service lines, including orthopedics, oncology, neuroscience and cardiovascular. Previously, he spent the first 20 years of his professional career as a private practice cardiologist and large private physician practice executive.
- Minimally Invasive SurgeryBelow you can see a video where I discuss how minimally invasive surgery is different from open heart surgery. You can read more on TAVR here.
- Robotic SurgeryWill robotic surgery overcome these limitations in the chest? Right now, that’s the 1.8 million dollar per machine question. I would say that as always with new technology, I am cautiously optimistic; however, the reality is that the technology at this point is still in its infancy. Its advantage over conventional approaches is still yet to be proven. The fact remains that we routinely perform large numbers of complex mitral valve procedures without robots using conventional techniques with reproducible results, short hospital stays, and rapid recovery.
- LaparoscopyHowever, the abdomen is different than the chest. The abdomen is soft and compliant. When the general surgeon performs laparoscopy, carbon dioxide is instilled into the abdomen creating a tent with a clear view of all of the internal structures. In addition, these internal structures do not move. The gallbladder, appendix, and ovaries just sit there quietly.
- LesionsBelow is the equipment I use when I perform radio-frequency Maze procedure. The machine generates the radio-frequency energy which is transmitted to a variety of instruments that are placed both inside and outside of the atria to create the Maze lesions.
- Back Pain