Treatment Partnership

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Referring physicians and the Riley Heart Center

Referring pediatricians and primary care physicians, and often perinatologists, are effectively integrated into the treatment team from initial consultation to release. A nurse practitioner or physician contacts each patient's referring physician on a daily basis with reports on the treatment, the challenges and the diagnosis. A direct line to the lead cardiologist or cardiac surgeon is provided as well. A comprehensive discharge summary is called in and then forwarded to the primary care physician promptly upon the child leaving the Riley Heart Center.

The goal is to expand the treatment team so that every relevant clinician is informed, involved and in a position to contribute.

Monitoring without restricting: telemetry technologies

The telemetry unit is a vital component in the Riley Heart Center. This advanced technology allows patients to move around the unit while remaining under constant monitoring by a trained telemetry technician.

Heart rhythms and other key cardiovascular activity is carefully observed and recorded. Meanwhile, patients and their families are free to move around or relax in the family area, secure in the knowledge that they are never too far from watchful eyes.

[Keywords: heart, perinatologists, cardiologist, cardiac surgeon, cardiovascular]

US News - America's Best Children's Hospitals 2008

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