Congestive Heart Failure

The Congestive Heart Failure Program at St. Joseph's Mercy Heart Center provides comprehensive disease management
services for both inpatients and outpatients who have been diagnosed with heart failure. The program began as a result
of increasing numbers of heart failure admissions each year and the unique needs associated with this patient population. Services provided within the program include:

Inpatient education and exercise - Inpatient education and exercise management options are provided for all heart failure admissions by a registered nurse heart failure clinician.

Telemedicine Management - Telemetric management with follow up 7-10 days after discharge is provided for all patients who are admitted with heart failure. This allows our heart failure experts to identify patients who may be having recurring symptoms or questions about their medication regime or disease management and prevent them from being re-admitted into the hospital.

Outpatient Exercise/Rehab - Qualified patients are eligible to attend a nurse supervised exercise classroom three days a week. This class usually lasts 2 - 3 months and in most instances is reimbursed in all or by part in insurance. A tailored exercise regime and medical management plan is developed with physician collaboration to help facilitate recovery and improve quality of life.

Enhanced External Counter Pulsation (EECP) - EECP is an outpatient therapy available for patients who have chronic disabling angina (chest pain) who are not a candidate for surgery or other invasive procedures. EECP is a non-invasive outpatient treatment in which pressure cuffs are wrapped around the patient's legs and are then inflated with compressed air to apply external pressure to the lower body in order to propel the blood back to the heart. A course of treatment typically is one hour session a day, five days a week, or seven week period (or a total of 35 individual treatment sessions). This treatment is covered by most insurance plans.

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