John D. Chovan, James R. Cacchillo
Heart Disease, Congestive Heart Failure
Cardiovascular Diseases | Medical Pathology | Nursing
It is well known that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, with about 670,000 new diagnoses of congestive heart failure (CHF) each year (Suh et al., 2011). CHF results from a number of different causes, produces many different symptoms and occurs when the heart muscle cannot efficiently pump blood to the rest of the body (Suh et al., 2011). In the United States, heart failure (HF) and associated hospitalizations are leading contributors to high health care costs (Feltner et al., 2014). Up to one fourth of patients hospitalized with HF are readmitted within 30 days of discharge (Feltner et al., 2014). In an effort to reduce expenditures for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), new policies have been created to help reduce readmission rates of HF patients (Feltner et al., 2014). This has resulted in hospitals providing special HF education prior to discharge, HF coordinators, and HF clinics. In our age of technology, there have been many new innovations to help keep patients with HF out of the hospital and improve their quality of life. Some include new medications, telemonitoring, and implantable devices. The CardioMEMS HF System is a new device, recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which will optimistically prevent frequent hospitalizations for patients with HF (U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA], 2014). According to the FDA (2014), the CardioMEMS HF System monitors patient’s pulmonary artery pressures (PAPs) and heart rate after a small, battery-free device is permanently implanted into the pulmonary artery. The PA pressures and trends can be remotely reviewed by the physician, who can then adjust the patient’s medication regimen (FDA, 2014). Thus far, the studies related to the CardioMEMS HF System have been very promising in keeping patients with HF out of the hospital and improving his or her quality of life.
Leyland, Michelle, "CardioMEMS Heart Failure System: Keeping Patients out of the Hospital" (2014). Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Student Scholarship. Paper 40.