SOLUTION TO CHALLENGING CARDIAC PROBLEMS

Due to the sporadic nature of most of the cardiac rhythm disturbances and other cardiac symptoms, their detection, documentation and accurate diagnosis are often elusive. Cardiac rhythm disturbances or perceived arrhythmias are a very frequent complaint in everyday physician practice.

 

 

 

 

 

It must be remembered that about 2,500,000 new cases of cardiac rhythm disorder occur each year. For most of them the most effective system is the telephonic ECG monitoring. Its on-line long-term capability makes it an ideal tool to detect and document symptoms, to adjust medication and intervene in life threatening situations. It is also superior to the 24 hour Holter.

According to the guidelines of the ACC/AHA (1): "For patients who experience symptoms daily, a continuous 24 hour ambulatory ECG generally provides useful information about the relation between the symptoms and arrhythmias. However, most patients seeking medical attention do not have typical symptoms on a daily basis… For patients whose typical symptoms do not occur daily and are not incapacitating, transtelephonic devices would appear to be superior to a single 24 h according."

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Detection of transient arrhythmias:Already in 1976 in a study published in the British Medical Journal Dr. David and coworker showed the benefit of the transtelephonic ECG monitoring ( cardiac telemedicine) in detecting arrhythmias: A survey of 200 patients indicated "a chance of 88% of detecting transient disturbances because of the long periods of surveillance (31 days)"

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Adjustment of antiarrhythmic therapy: In 1978 Dr. David and coworkers published the results of supervision of 80 ambulatory patients receiving antiarrhythmic therapy with the help of transtelephonic monitoring. In 94% of the patients a satisfactory therapeutic achievement was obtained. The proper antiarrhythmic agent was defined and its effective dosedetermined, and unnecessary hospitalization can thus be prevented.

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Diagnosis of Syncope "…Ultimately, in some cases recording of the ECG before and during a syncopal episode with a loop event recorder may be the only way to confirm or deny a cardiac arrhythmic cause of syncope."

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The founders of Cardiomedix have been instrumental in the promotion of these concepts. Their pioneering research and vast clinical experience in the use of transtelephonic ECG monitoring (TTEM) have laid the ground for the ever-increasing use of this technology in the ambulatory diagnosis and management of cardiac arrhythmias (2,3,5,7).

Moreover, the founders of Cardiomedix and others have shown that TTEM can be of great importance in the diagnosis of myocardial ischemia(4,6). This simple to use, universally available, ambulatory monitoring modality was shown to markedly reduce out of hospital sudden death (arrhythmic death) in post myocardial infarction patients. This remarkable finding is mainly due to the reduction in patient response time (time from beginning of symptoms to the seeking of help) achieved by the TTEM facilitation of immediate contact with expert medical advice. Presently, in the era of thrombolysis and emergent interventions in the acute coronary syndrome, the shortening of patient response time is of even greater importance. It must be remembered that about

1,500,000 heart attacks occur each year and that about 60% of the mortality occurs during the pre-hospital phase. Moreover, any prolongation of the symptom to thrombolysis time involves increased myocardial damage. Accordingly, the use of TTEM in these patients is of paramount importance.

Cardiomedix offers the most comprehensive approach to ambulatory cardiac monitoring:

Detection and documentation of infrequent symptomatic events suggestive of cardiac arrhythmia thus enable an accurate diagnosis.

Follow-up of the therapeutic and possible toxic effects of treatment with Antiarrhythmic and other cardioactive drugs.

Surveillance of patients at high risk for acute coronary events enables immediate diagnosis and intervention in life threatening situations.

Long term monitoring of patients with multiple risk factors.

Monitoring of treatment for severe cardiac arrhythmias (post ablation, ICD, post surgery, post angioplasty).

CARDIOMEDIX' ADVANTAGES

1. Monitoring patients in their natural environment: Using any telephone, patients are monitored at home, work, recreational activities or traveling abroad. This is of paramount importance to establish the correct diagnosis and initiate the proper treatment regimen.
2. Documentation of events as they occur: The size and versatility of the equipment allows for documentation of events anywhere, anytime!
3. On-line interventional capabilities: The on-line capability of the CARDIOMEDIX control center allows for prompt and effective intervention in emergency situations.
4. Highly qualified and experienced CCU nursing staff: Transtelephonically transmitted ECG's are transformed into computer generated recordings which are analyzed by a team of highly qualified, specially trained and experienced CCU nurses. Correlated with the patient's symptoms they form the basis for a comprehensive assessment of the patient's condition and the appropriate action to be taken. Complete patient files include all pertinent information, ECG recordings, physician orders as well as elaborate and up to date progress notes.
5. Prompt physician notification: Physician notification is handled according to predetermined criteria set individually by each physician. The CARDIOMEDIX team diligently adheres to the physician notification criteria determined for each patient.
6. After hours monitoring services: Option of monitoring patients after office hours and weekends for practices doing their own patient monitoring.
7. Enhancement of patient satisfaction, safety and confidence: The long-term experience accumulated by the nursing staff infers a feeling of competence enhancing the patient's confidence and satisfaction.
8. Maximizing patient compliance: Extensive and thorough patient training sessions by the CARDIOMEDIX nursing staff ensures maximal patient compliance and diagnostic efficacy.
9. Choice of equipment: The capability to handle any type of event recorder presently available, allows CARDIOMEDIX to use it's own wide range of equipment as well as any equipment already owned by physicians, clinics or hospitals.
10. Reimbursement by all insurers as well as Medicare: CARDIOMEDIX expert billing personnel will work with your staff to ensure the most efficient reimbursement strategy.
11. Generation of revenues without cost or capital investment: No specialized equipment, computers or phone lines and no special training of your personnel is required. Enrolling a patient takes only a few minutes and CARDIOMEDIX provides all needed equipment and supplies at no charge.
12. Choice of other ambulatory monitoring modalities: 24-hour Holter monitoring, 24-hour blood pressure monitoring, ambulatory pulmonary function monitoring, pacemaker follow-up and others.
13. Choice of billing options: A wide variety of billing options tailored to your needs.