Dr. John de Beixedon says that by utilizing the time of the past and the knowledge of the present, he provides the health care of the future.
A board-certified internal medicine physician, de Beixedon has been in private practice in Pasadena since 1998. He specializes in diabetes and bariatrics, the medicine of weight loss.
“Essentially, (internal medicine) is medical care for adults and involves all of the body systems — the skin and everything inside of it,” de Beixedon said.
As medicine has changed over the years, he has learned to adapt aspects of his practice. Currently, his practice focuses on concierge care, weight loss medicine and, most recently, aesthetic medicine.
Medicare, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Aetna, Cigna and UnitedHealthcare are accepted for his internal medicine services.
De Beixedon cares for patients who are 17 and older, some of whom travel from Orange County, Thousand Oaks and Rancho Cucamonga to receive his care.
He earned his Doctor of Medicine from St. George’s University School of Medicine in 1988 and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Virginia.
Concierge care
De Beixedon’s practice is a part of Concierge Choice Physicians, a concierge program of a few hundred doctors across the United States. Concierge doctors are more accessible than traditional primary care physicians, offering services that are not available in a regular office.
“What the concierge practice allows you to do is it gives you the time that was available 20 years ago and the technology that’s available today, so you can make the medical practice of the future,” de Beixedon said.
Members of the concierge program are typically 25 and older, and can receive highly personalized and compassionate, attentive care for an annual fee of $2,200.
This includes an extended annual examination with a thorough health review and supplementary testing; longer appointment blocks; same- or next-day appointment scheduling; as well as de Beixedon’s personal cellphone number for direct, 24/7 communication.
With lengthened appointments, de Beixedon can spend more time with patients to discuss their health concerns and treatment options more thoroughly.
“If somebody is 80 years old and they go see their regular doctor who isn’t concierge (and they) come in for five or 10 minutes — an 80-year-old is going to come in on 10 different medicines with eight different problems, and there just isn’t time to deal with it,” he said. “However, with concierge medicine, it’s a 30-minute appointment. And so, with a 30-minute appointment, you can address almost everybody’s concerns.”
Physicals are organized similarly, with two-hour blocks dedicated to regular physical services in addition to a biophotonic scan (related to nutrition), EKG, pulmonary function test, metabolic test and a full evaluation of body composition.
Patients are then given a physical covering their overall health, in addition to an assessment and a plan.
“All people have to do is go to that assessment and plan and look at the problem, and then I will usually bold what I want them to do,” de Beixedon said. “As long as they read what I gave them, they’ll have good health, or as good as I can provide.”
“I have a very impressive attention to detail,” he added. “For my concierge patients, that’s one of the things that’s made a big difference in a lot of people’s lives.”
Medical weight loss
In addition to concierge care, de Beixedon has partnered with The Center for Medical Weight Loss for the past 15 years.
Through this partnership, his practice provides patients personalized weight loss programs. These can include body composition analyses, doctor-supervised food plans, metabolism regulation, appetite management, science-based activity recommendations, and lifestyle and motivational coaching.
De Beixedon’s practice offers three plans that are tailored to each person’s individual needs and preferences: accelerated plans, low-calorie diets and appetite suppressant plans. Because every person has unique needs, prices vary.
The benefit of weight loss improves the individual’s health overall. De Beixedon said that while helping body movement, weight loss also improves blood pressure and sugar control for diabetics, and lowers cholesterol and the risk of heart attack or stroke.
“I actually try to (help) people keep that weight off and not regain it, and that is super important,” he said. “Because usually what people do is they reach their goal weight and then they are just sent on their way. If patients don’t have follow up, they can regain the weight.”
What sets this weight loss program apart from others is that it is not only designed by doctors, it is utilized by them as well.
“When a lot of people go to weight loss programs, they don’t see a doctor or they see a nurse or medical assistant, who may or may not have any sort of training in actual bariatric medicine,” de Beixedon said. “Whereas, The Center for Medical Weight Loss, all of the practitioners are doctors and they all have done courses in bariatric medicine … so the difference would be it’s really done by a doctor.”
EvolveX
For six months, de Beixedon has also been offering aesthetic medicine with EvolveX treatment, which is a noninvasive body sculpting platform from the company InMode Aesthetics.
On one machine, EvolveX utilizes three technologies that treat skin appearance, tones muscle, and transforms body tissue and muscle. These can be customized and combined to meet patient needs.
Unlike liposuction, which can hinder recipients from engaging in strenuous activities for a couple weeks, de Beixedon said those who receive EvolveX treatment can work out the same day.
“It also is somewhat beneficial in that you’re eliminating (fat) permanently. Fat cells don’t regrow once you destroy them — you don’t get new ones,” he said. “So, if you have an area, a pocket of fat you need to get rid of, it’s a lot easier to do it without cutting somebody open or sticking a probe into them.”
De Beixedon added this service to his practice to better care for his weight loss patients from an aesthetic standpoint after losing weight.
“So now, not only do I do concierge medicine, not only do I help people lose weight, but I also can help people destroy fat, tighten their skin and build muscle all at the same time,” he said.
Dr. John de Beixedon
The Pasadena Center for Medical Weight Loss
675 S. Arroyo Parkway, Suite 320, Pasadena
626-577-9495, pasadenacenterforweightloss.com