The Multidisciplinary Heart Failure Clinic at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation San Carlos Center offers teams of specialists to provide heart-failure patients with all-inclusive care. CPMC heart failure specialists work closely with the clinic and partner with you at every stage, from diagnosis to long-term management. In addition to heart failure cardiologists and nurse practitioners, you’ll have access to educational, dietary and pharmacy support to manage your condition. Our goal is to deliver comprehensive, streamlined and patient-centered care for anyone with heart failure.
Program highlights include:
- Functional and Risk Assessment — You’ll have access to a full panel of testing, including a six-minute walk test to assess your activity capacity and cardiopulmonary exercise testing to identify the right time for advanced therapies, such as transplant or mechanical circulatory support. Tests also help gauge your long-term heart disease risk.
- Genetic Counseling and Cardiogenetics — We offer laboratory genetic screening for inherited cardiovascular diseases, such as dilated cardiomyopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. You can consult with our genetic counselor to receive detailed information regarding diagnosis, prognosis and inheritance patterns.
- Patient Education — Led by our experienced team of heart failure nurses and nurse practitioners, we empower you with education that includes heart failure management, home monitoring and lifestyle recommendations.
- Pharmacy Support – Our clinical pharmacist provides you with a personalized evaluation and counseling on your medical therapy, such as a review of current doses, side effects and monitoring.
- Dietary Support — Our registered dietician offers private counseling on recommended dietary changes for heart failure management. We also partner with a local cooking school to provide classes in dietary salt reduction and fluid management.