At Cardiac Rehabilitation Support Day held on February 3 at Abiomed’s Danvers, Massachusetts headquarters, patients shared stories of their cardiac rehabilitation, toured the facility, participated in lab demonstrations and the chance to meet the operators who built their left ventricular assist devices. right ventricular assist device and lung assist device.
Connecting patients to each other and to technicians
In addition to pictures, videos, and explanations of surgery, many interventional cardiology patients want to know more about the technology that helps restore their hearts.
That is evident from the 24 survivors who underwent planned or unplanned percutaneous coronary interventions and cardiogenic events and who attended the annual patient summit. the largest that Abiomed has organized in 12 years.
Shannon Kjellsen, Abiomed’s patient advocate manager, says the relationship between patients can begin when those receiving recent treatment are connected with Abiomed’s patient advocates, who many years without cardiovascular intervention. Healthcare IT News at the event.
Talking to a mentor gives them hope “that they can, in fact, return to a normal quality of life,” she says.
With more than 325 supporters involved, Kjellsen notes, she says she’s seen a relationship between patients recovering from heart failure and cardiac arrest — like a heart attack requiring urgent coronary intervention or cardiogenic shock situations evolve – getting stronger.
“We’ve had patients come to each other’s homes – get on a plane and see each other – because they feel such a strong connection.”
Kjellsen also said that based on feedback, referring patients to the operators who built their heart and lung assist devices was a highlight for all participants in the summit. about the patient. “It’s a win-win relationship because you see the patients cry, you see the pump operators cry. It brings what you do to life.”
Improve the survivor experience with hands-on education
When a heart attack or heart failure strikes, patients may wake up several days later not knowing what cardiovascular interventions have been performed to restore their heart function.
“They go through this experience, and some of them are surrounded by medical teams who are explaining all the different things that happened, so they just blur it out together,” Kjellsen said.
“To be able to come and hear it the way normal people do, the way our teams analyze it for them, that’s exciting for them. And it’s part of that education so they can interpret it. it’s better for their friends and family and turn it into something that will ultimately help them – they love it.”
They also really enjoyed the “Impella 101” talk, she said.
“They love being informed. It gives them the power to feel confident in telling their story.”
Increase survival and reduce re-hospitalization
Cardiovascular surgeon Dr Sanjeev Aggarwal, who joined Abiomed as vice president of surgical treatment last June, presented Impella 101 at this year’s summit.
After learning briefly about conditions that affect heart function and cause cardiac events, such as cardiomyopathy, he reviewed stenting procedures, open-heart surgery and use a pump to restore blood flow to the heart.
He showed a patient riding an exercise bike 12 hours after open-heart surgery and said patients with the Impella device could be discharged on the second day after surgery.
“Both in terms of cardiology and surgery, this technology is really changing the way we practice medicine,” he said.
Aggarwal used the automobile analogy to explain the benefits of heart pumps. “If your car breaks down, it will be extremely difficult to repair the engine and drive at the same time.”
He notes that LVADs have two purposes – they provide support for surgical correction and allow the heart time to rest and recover from surgery.
They allow medical teams to effectively “turn off the engine” by doing what the heart is supposed to do, he said, adding that decompression of the heart muscle puts at risk cardiac procedures. high becomes much safer and can give the heart time to recover.
Aggarwal points to the fact that more and more people are recovering from cardiac arrest.
“You guys are positive proof of that,” he said.
“Based on studies, especially with stenting procedures, we have fewer deaths, fewer strokes, and fewer heart attacks or repeat procedures.”
Patient simulates medical team experience
In the afternoon, patients attending Abiomed’s summit walked into the simulation lab in small groups to see the pumps and software for themselves.
Some people have had the opportunity to drive a heart pump through the femoral artery into the heart of a dummy and watch it on screen as former nurse and clinical coach Kate Wheeler reviews hemodynamics and transmits data from the patients. sensor in the heart pump.
Bill Schrimpl of Chicago described the pump simulation as “extraordinary”.
“These people here are so humble. We wouldn’t be here without them,” he said.
The “doctor” in the next group of patient conference attendees, largely composed of cardiogenic shock survivors, asked about the insertion rate during the simulation as he watched it move into the heart. the left ventricle of the dummy.
Wheeler says a surgeon moves faster.
“That’s true because seconds count,” said the attendee.
As a former nurse, she said, she can appreciate the real-time risk of death provided by the pump software. She also explained during the post-operative bed simulation that remote monitoring allows cardiologists and clinicians to monitor patients and support decision-making 24/7 on any device. any.
She says the longest pump run to date was 164 days.
Being able to check the pump from anywhere has also improved communication with families. Schrimpl’s wife expressed her admiration for how clear the patient’s condition was.
Impella Connect also provides direct access to Abiomed’s 24/7 call center functions like a telehealth platform, with video calling and other features, according to Dawn Bardot. , senior director of global service, who explained how it works on HIMSS TV’s Digital Check. .
Bardot said the platform supports doctors and nurses, and strengthens cooperation with Abiomed’s field support team.
According to Abiomed, the Impella device, which has helped more than 250,000 patients worldwide, recently became part of Johnson & Johnson Medtech.
According to J&J, the acquisition will help raise the standard of care for heart failure and rehabilitation worldwide.
Ashley McEvoy, executive vice president and global president of MedTech, said: “Together, we have a great opportunity to deliver innovations that save more lives around the world.
Andrea Fox is the senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS Media.
