Advanced Heart Failure Program
Symptoms of Heart Failure
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, please contact your cardiologist or primary care physician.
For information about the Heart Failure Program, call 406-247-6390 or 800-332-7156, ext. 6390.
The Heart Failure Program is a comprehensive program providing education and assistance in managing heart failure. Heart failure is a major health problem that affects over 5 million Americans. More than 500,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
Although there is no cure for heart failure, there are many things you can do to relieve your symptoms. It has been shown that those who participate in a structured heart failure program have fewer complications and hospitalizations. Together with your health care team, you can make your heart's job easier and help yourself feel better.
Heart Failure Program Goals
- Improve the patient's physical and emotional well-being
- Decrease the hospital admissions and financial costs for patients
- Help patients become active partners in their heart failure treatment
The Heart Failure Program provides:
- Comprehensive education and care coordination individualized to the patient's needs
- Promotion of self care
- Close follow-up after hospital discharge or after periods of instability
- Assist with optimization of medical therapy and monitoring response and condition as well as answering concerns and needs
- Easy and increased access to heart failure providers and team members
- Early attention to signs and symptoms of fluid overload and management of changes in condition
- Assistance with social, emotional and financial concerns
- Easy access to the heart failure team and quick response to patient questions, concerns and needs
- Assistance with prescribing and monitoring the best medicines and therapies for heart failure treatment
- Collaboration with electrophysiologists to assist with optimization of heart function, which may include ablation, pacemaker or defibrillator to manage irregular heartbeats
- Collaboration with electrophysiologist to utilize pacemaker and ICD (internal defibulator) technology to provide cardiac resynchronization which may be used in some patients to treat symptoms of heart failure
- Facilitate access to advanced heart failure therapies, which may include research, LVAD or heart transplant, and assist with close follow-up afterwards in collaboration with the U. of Utah (for mechanical heart and transplant evaluation and follow-up support)
- Advocate for participation in cardiac rehab, LifeFit or similar exercise program
Home Telemonitoring System
This is a daily call-in program to help you and your heart failure team monitor your symptoms. All that's needed to participate is a touch-tone phone and a few minutes of time every day. Participants call in daily and answer five questions.
This information is provided to the heart failure care team members so that they can follow the progress of care and better manage each patient's heart failure. Talk to the team members to determine if this program is appropriate for you.
Heart Failure Program participants will learn how to successfully manage their heart failure through:
- Understanding the causes and symptoms of heart failure
- Knowing when to call your doctor or heart failure team member
- Understanding medications
- Lifestyle Changes - lower sodium diet ("shaking the salt habit"), shopping smart, dining out do's and don'ts, fluid guidelines, physical activities, smoking cessation, limit or avoid alcohol
