Digestive Health Center
Why Stanford
We understand that digestive disorders can cause pain and frustration, impacting your quality of life. Our specialists combine expertise with compassionate care to find the cause of your symptoms. We are one of the few centers in the country offering a full range of treatments, including the latest minimally invasive procedures, to meet your unique needs.
What We Offer You for Digestive Health Care
- Nationally recognized expertise in both common and complex digestive conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), pancreatitis, and motility disorders.
- Team-based approach that brings together experts from gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy, and surgery to provide informed, thorough care from the start.
- Advanced treatment options including drugs, nutrition counseling, minimally invasive procedures, and surgery to provide expert care for any medical need.
- Extensive support services such as pain management, support groups, physical therapy, and mindfulness classes to relieve symptoms and help you live a full life.
- Preventive screening and thorough evaluations that keep your comfort and convenience in mind, with the ability to schedule an appointment quickly.
- Access to clinical trials for treatments such as an implantable device for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and endoscopic treatments for IBD.
- Ongoing research to advance the understanding of digestive health, including the strong connection between the mind and the intestines.
Our digestive health experts work to relieve your discomfort and help you return to a full, active life as soon as possible. Our team includes specialists from gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy, pain management, nutrition, and surgery. These highly experienced doctors work together to understand the cause of your symptoms. They then create a personalized care plan tailored to your needs and lifestyle.
Our Clinics
Endoscopy Services
We are one of the few centers in the country offering a full range of digestive health treatments, including medications, diet changes, minimally invasive procedures, devices, and surgery. Our doctors start with the least invasive approach first, drawing on their expertise to develop individualized recommendations for you.
Clinical Partnerships
Our digestive health teams feature a Stanford surgeon to help plan treatment for complex cases. If you require surgery, we seamlessly integrate your care with our Stanford partners:
- GI Surgery
- Bariatric Surgery
- Thoracic Surgery
- Liver Transplant
The health of your digestive tract is closely connected to the overall health of your body. When other complex conditions affect the GI tract, we partner with additional specialty clinics at Stanford to help address the impact. These clinics may include:
- General ENT
- Otolaryngology
- Neurology
- Gynecology
As national leaders in minimally invasive gastrointestinal care, we examine the digestive tract with techniques that avoid surgery. We perform more than 10,000 of these endoscopic procedures each year at our specialty clinics, offering comprehensive expertise for screening, diagnosis, and treatment.
People frequently come to us with the wrong diagnosis, as various digestive disorders may share symptoms. Our experts are well-versed in accurately identifying each condition, so you can begin the right treatment promptly.
Our Digestive Health Center is also a regional referral center for specialized diagnostic testing. Our services help local doctors pinpoint the cause of symptoms for challenging conditions, so they can plan the most effective treatment.
General Endoscopy Services
Our gastroenterologists and other specialists perform both routine and complex endoscopic procedures, using their extensive expertise and the latest technologies. Your care team may recommend a diagnostic procedure to view your digestive system and determine the best care plan for you. Your team may also use endoscopic treatment to deliver therapies directly to your gastrointestinal tract with minimal discomfort.
Our services include:
- Colonoscopy
- Screening colonoscopy
- Upper endoscopy
- Video capsule
Prioritizing patient experience: Our endoscopy suite offers comfortable and convenient care, with:
- Private rooms
- Dedicated nurses to guide you from arrival through recovery
- On-site pharmacy so you can leave with medications you may need
- Virtual reality program to help reduce stress in people undergoing endoscopic procedures
Advanced Endoscopy Services
As recognized leaders in interventional endoscopy, our doctors offer minimally invasive services only found at select centers worldwide. Their expertise includes endoscopic ultrasound, which uses sound waves to create detailed images of the digestive tract and surrounding organs. Our doctors also have advanced training in minimally invasive treatments, such as the endoscopic removal of GI cancer.
We are one of the few centers in the country offering a full range of digestive health treatments, including medications, diet changes, minimally invasive procedures, devices, and surgery. Our doctors start with the least invasive approach first, drawing on their expertise to develop individualized recommendations for you.
Clinical Partnerships
Our digestive health teams feature a Stanford surgeon to help plan treatment for complex cases. If you require surgery, we seamlessly integrate your care with our Stanford partners:
- GI Surgery
- Bariatric Surgery
- Thoracic Surgery
- Liver Transplant
The health of your digestive tract is closely connected to the overall health of your body. When other complex conditions affect the GI tract, we partner with additional specialty clinics at Stanford to help address the impact. These clinics may include:
- General ENT
- Otolaryngology
- Neurology
- Gynecology
close Our Clinics
As national leaders in minimally invasive gastrointestinal care, we examine the digestive tract with techniques that avoid surgery. We perform more than 10,000 of these endoscopic procedures each year at our specialty clinics, offering comprehensive expertise for screening, diagnosis, and treatment.
People frequently come to us with the wrong diagnosis, as various digestive disorders may share symptoms. Our experts are well-versed in accurately identifying each condition, so you can begin the right treatment promptly.
Our Digestive Health Center is also a regional referral center for specialized diagnostic testing. Our services help local doctors pinpoint the cause of symptoms for challenging conditions, so they can plan the most effective treatment.
General Endoscopy Services
Our gastroenterologists and other specialists perform both routine and complex endoscopic procedures, using their extensive expertise and the latest technologies. Your care team may recommend a diagnostic procedure to view your digestive system and determine the best care plan for you. Your team may also use endoscopic treatment to deliver therapies directly to your gastrointestinal tract with minimal discomfort.
Our services include:
- Colonoscopy
- Screening colonoscopy
- Upper endoscopy
- Video capsule
Prioritizing patient experience: Our endoscopy suite offers comfortable and convenient care, with:
- Private rooms
- Dedicated nurses to guide you from arrival through recovery
- On-site pharmacy so you can leave with medications you may need
- Virtual reality program to help reduce stress in people undergoing endoscopic procedures
Advanced Endoscopy Services
As recognized leaders in interventional endoscopy, our doctors offer minimally invasive services only found at select centers worldwide. Their expertise includes endoscopic ultrasound, which uses sound waves to create detailed images of the digestive tract and surrounding organs. Our doctors also have advanced training in minimally invasive treatments, such as the endoscopic removal of GI cancer.
close Endoscopy Services
Left untreated, digestive disorders can cause pain and disrupt your life. Our doctors work closely with a wide variety of other Stanford providers to relieve your symptoms and help you live a full, active life. We listen to your concerns and take a comprehensive approach that covers all your care — including your medical, emotional, and lifestyle needs.
Care Tailored to You
Lifestyle and psychological challenges may cause a GI condition or worsen it. We work closely with you to understand the unique way your diagnosis affects you. We provide support services, such as nutrition counseling, psychological support, and pain management, to help manage your symptoms and improve your daily life.
Patient Navigator
From the moment you enter our center, we pair you with a dedicated care coordinator who manages the logistics so you can focus on healing.
One-stop services: Our Redwood City facility covers all digestive health needs in one convenient location, featuring:
- Gastrointestinal specialists
- Advanced tests and procedures
- Support services
- A pharmacy
Clinical Trials
Clinical trials test new drugs, devices, or other therapies before they become widely available. As a Stanford patient, you may have the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial — one of the many benefits of receiving your care here. Our Digestive Health Center offers a number of promising clinical trials.
Open trials refer to studies currently recruiting participants or that may recruit participants in the near future. Closed trials are not currently enrolling, but similar studies may open in the future.
By partnering with researchers across Stanford School of Medicine and the larger university community, the Digestive Health Center offers you expert care in an academic medical center setting. Our doctors conduct groundbreaking research and participate in national medical associations, helping define the standards of care for digestive disorders. By choosing our center for your treatment, you benefit from the latest insights into digestive health.
General GI
- Studies of the bacteria within the gut (the microbiome) and how they affect both specific GI conditions and overall health, including the immune system.
Liver Disease
- Research into the biology of end-stage liver disease to identify new therapeutic opportunities.
- Participation in the national Hepatitis B Research Network to study how this serious liver infection can increase the risk for liver failure, liver cancer, and cirrhosis.
- Development of the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD). This nationally adopted index helps assess the transplant eligibility of people with end-stage liver disease and prioritize allocation of organs.
GERD
- Development of new implantable devices such as vagal nerve stimulators and the EndoStim that may help regulate digestive function. We are the only program in the Bay Area currently enrolling for the EndoStim clinical trial.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
- Research into nutrition and herbal remedies that may help heal the intestines and allow IBD patients to avoid surgery.
- Studies of new endoscopic treatments for Crohn’s disease and colitis. Our doctors pioneered many of the treatments used today, including for digestive tract reconstruction.
Colon Cancer
- Research into the barriers that prevent certain populations from accessing colon cancer screenings, with the goal of increasing screening rates.
For Health Care Professionals
PHYSICIAN HELPLINE
Fax: 650-320-9443
Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Stanford Health Care provides comprehensive services to refer and track patients, as well as the latest information and news for physicians and office staff. For help with all referral needs and questions, visit Referral Information.
You may also submit a web referral or complete a referral form and fax it to 650-320-9443 or email the Referral Center at ReferralCenter@stanfordhealthcare.org.
HOW TO REFER
To refer a patient, please complete this digestive health referral form and fax it along with any supporting documentation to 650-320-9443. This will help us ensure your patients are directed to the correct subspecialty as quickly as possible.