Managing Symptoms of Heart Failure and Keeping You Out of the Hospital
We’ll help you manage your heart failure—from diagnosis and treatment to cardiac rehab and personalized home care programs.
Virtua Health’s program ensures people with heart failure know how to manage their condition and have an ongoing source of support and care. We know it’s important for people living with heart failure to remain proactive, so we provide the support you need to stay on top of your health. Through close surveillance and adherence to standard-of-care guidance, our program has helped set the mark in heart failure management—reducing hospital readmissions by greater than 50 percent for the more than 1,000 people with heart failure we currently serve.
Inpatient Care
The Virtua Heart Failure program - recognized by the American Heart Association for outstanding care - begins while you're still in the hospital, with comprehensive education for both those who are newly diagnosed and those who are returning, as well as their families. We focus on improving your quality of life and reducing the risk of being readmitted to the hospital with complications.
If you require a procedure to improve the function of your heart, we provide advanced therapies such as implantable pacemakers, defibrillating devices, and cardiac surgery.
If your heart can’t pump effectively on its own, you may receive a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), a surgically implanted, battery-operated, mechanical pump. An LVAD may be used as a “bridge” until a heart transplant becomes available, or as a longer-term therapy. Through an innovative “shared care” program, LVAD patients attend follow-up appointments and undergo small procedures at Virtua instead of having to travel to their transplant center.
Outpatient Care
For outpatient heart failure services, we have four dedicated centers in Cherry Hill, Sewell, Willingboro, and Woodbury. In addition, we provide a home care program utilizing community-based care managers—registered nurses who make home visits. Whether you come us or we come to you, the Virtua Heart Failure Program is a dedicated team of advanced practice nurses, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation staff, physicians, pharmacists, and dietitians who create an individualized, evidence-based treatment program customized for you, which may include:
- Fluid status review and adjustment to be sure you're drinking the right amount of fluids
- Exercise endurance testing
- Drug therapies, nutritional guidance, and physical activity regimens
- Educational and emotional support
- Family support and lifestyle assistance
For more information about our outpatient centers, download our flyer.
Support
In addition, Virtua’s accredited cardiopulmonary rehabilitation program—made up of cardiologists, cardiac rehab nurse specialists, dietitians, and exercise physiologists—can show you how to improve your heart health and prevent future heart events.
We also offer peer support through two programs:
- Heart to Heart, a support group for persons with heart issues and open to all.
- WomenHeart, a support group led by female facilitators who are heart disease survivors, and who trained at WomenHeart Science and Leadership Symposium at Mayo Clinic.
