Long Island Community Hospital is pleased to announce a new diagnostic tool in our Knapp Center Cath Labs that literature shows can significantly reduce hospital readmissions and provide a better quality of life for patients with heart failure.
The CardioMEMS Heart Failure System is approved for certain patients who have been hospitalized for heart failure in the previous year. The process includes implanting a very small device in a patient’s pulmonary artery to measure subtle increases in that artery’s pressure. This increase in pressure can be an early sign of worsening heart failure. The device uses wireless technology to send the information to a receiver mounted in a pillow that the patient can take home with them. Doctors can then use the hemodynamic data transmitted to them from the device to adjust the patient’s medication or treatment plan before they actually experience symptoms.
CardioMEMS is the first and only FDA-approved heart failure monitor proven to significantly reduce heart failure hospitalizations and has been clinically proven to reduce admissions by 33% over an average of 18 months. Our patients only need to stay a few hours to have the sensor inserted and can resume normal activities the next day. Our Knapp Center has performed 16 of these procedures since the start of the program in December, placing LI Community among the highest on the Island for MEMS insertion.
The CardioMEMS program is not only good for our patients and physicians here at LI Community it’s also good for our hospital – serving as another example of our steadfast commitment to continually improving both the breadth and quality of health care services available right here in our own community.
